Went to see an old classmate's new baby (four months old and cheeks like a chipmunk) tonight. Etsuko, Mayu, and our level 4 instructor were already there when I arrived, and it was an excellent, low-key evening. I reconfirmed that I have no maternal instinct whatsoever, but the baby was pretty chill, and Hiroko was drinking beer, and it was really no problem at all.

But I noticed that something happens when I spend an evening talking only Korean: my neuroses calm down. Thoughts simplify.

I read (very, very slowly) Of Mice and Men last summer in both Korean and English for the first time, and, forced to pay attention to all the words instead of skimming for content as I usually do with novels, I found myself noticing the symbolism and appreciating Steinbeck's style. I was present much more than usual. Engaged. Involved.

It's not exactly the same thing (in fact, it's almost the opposite, now that I think about it), but a related process happens when I speak only Korean with people with whom I can't fall back into English. Sometimes I can't put the thoughts into words and that's why I don't, but sometimes it's also that there's just no cultural basis for comparison in Korean for the particular anxieties or thoughts I have as a upper middle class and highly educated American.

I have a vague memory of Def (the guy half of Def and Stave) mentioning the same thing about communicating with his parents in Chinese; his desire to pursue a career that might be less lucrative and stable but probably more fulfilling than law sort of withered in the face of his parents' cultural worldview.

It's not that Korean culture is less deep than American culture, but there is a profound practicality verging on hastiness about it that makes expression of my search for meaning and truth seem adolescent (notwithstanding the fact that it is, on a certain level).

It's like this: buildings go up and down with astonishing rapidity here. One day there's a building, the next day it's gone, and two months later, there's a brand new building in its place. Yeah, it might not be a vision of architectural beauty, and yeah, the old building might not have been in such bad shape, but the point was to get a building up, and it's up now, so so what if it's not perfect? It's up, isn't it? Let's go drink some soju.

With such an attitude, modern Korean might not be producing the world's greatest philosophers, but it can boast one of the fastest economic success stories in history (well, up until the IMF crisis of 1997, anyway). The president under which this happened was President Chung Hee Park, who is credited for most of the amazingly rapid growth, as well as condemned for human rights abuses and repression of civil liberties. This dual identity is why many members of the older generation here have good memories of him (he set Korea on the road to modernity) and why many of the younger generation revile him (those human rights abuses and all).

In 1979, after 18 years of rule, President Park who was assassinated by the head of the Korean CIA. Yesterday, his daughter was elected the head of the Grand National Party, the conservative party of the Korean Parliament that was primarily responsible for the impeachment of current liberal president Roh Moo-hyun. It's very interesting indeed, the generational divide in Korea -- older people voted mostly for the Grand National Party, while younger people voted mostly for the liberal Uri Party.

The Uri Party, by the way, won the majority of seats in Parliament in yesterday's election, but the Grand National Party lost fewer seats than expected. To paint it with a very, very broad brush, it might seem that the younger generation, as younger generations are wont to do, are more concerned about those western humanistic values, like civil liberties, human rights, etc., while the older generation, with the practicality borne out of memories of hard times, voted for the party with the hard line on North Korea and more American-friendly sentiments.

It's tough to say exactly what kind of things we can expect from the first liberal majority in years. Democracy is still very young in Korea, and doesn't follow the same staid structure of American politics. With President Roh's party having won a significant victory, the Constitutional Court ruling on his impeachment is most likely to come down in his favor. (So goes the common wisdom, despite the fact that a high court should really rule on the basis of, like, law and stuff.) The Uri Party is much more in favor of kicking Americans out of Korea, and continuing the sunshine policy with North Korea (the former seems unlikely but the latter rather likely). So we'll see.

Wow, this entry made no sense whatsoever. Oops. I'm going to Sorak Mountain tomorrow with Maiko and Mayu, so I'll try to become more coherent over the weekend. Read this for an account of the elections that actually says something.

(After reading the entry again: Damn, it really makes no sense at ALL. Sorry.)