I've
always noticed that the man that works at the pizza place by my house
speaks English very well. However, he's usually busy, so I haven't ever
had a chance to actually talk to him. Tonight, the pizza place was empty
- perhaps because the monsoon rains are wreaking havoc on my
neighborhood right now - so after he took my order, we talked until my
pizza was done.
When I remarked that he spoke English very
well, he said, "No, I am a beginner." I assured him that he was far
more advanced than a beginner. After giving speaking tests all day to my
"upper intermediate" students, I wanted to laugh and say, "Trust me,
you're AT LEAST upper intermediate!" I asked him if he studies English
somewhere, and he told me that he has been to an academy before but
mostly studies by himself. He went on to tell me that he has learned a
lot from listening to the English radio station and that he listens to
that station all day at his day job and whenever he is in the car. Later
in the conversation, I learned that he also went to Georgia Tech 20
years ago to study computer engineering. He also told me that he visited
Florida while he was in the US and that the beach wasn't very
impressive but the houses were. So, he and his friend just drove around
looking at houses... until a cop pulled them over suspecting that the
Koreans were trying to rob the rich people, nice one America. Aside from
his brief stint in the US, he's lived in Busan for over 30 years, after
moving here from Daegu where he lived for over 30 years.
If
you're any good at math, you know this makes the man at the pizza place
over 60 years old. This is impressive for a multitude of reasons. A.)
He looks about 40. I swear Koreans stop aging at some point. B.) I can
assure you that English education was not the bustling industry that it
is today back when he was growing up. So, it is even more remarkable
that he speaks English so well and that he studied computer engineering
at Georgia Tech. C.) If you're any good at math and you also know your
history, you will realize that the man at the pizza place was born
shortly before the Korean War started. In light of that, everything he
said to me is awe-inspiring.
I thought the whole way home
about how this man grew up in the midst of the Korean War. I thought
about everything that he must have seen in his lifetime. I thought about
how much everything has so drastically changed over the last 61 years
here. I thought about a lot of things.
Then, after I had
already started typing this, I thought about the date. It just turned
12:00AM here, and so the date is now June 25th - 6.25 - the start date
of the Korean War. Today marks the 61st anniversary of the start of the
Korean War.
I've lived in Korea for two years now, and I
still constantly think to myself: "How has Korea come so far in such a
short time? How has Korea completely rebuilt itself and simultaneously
turned itself into a contender in the global world?" I still don't know
the answers to these questions, but I do know that Korea deserves a
standing ovation for its ability to rise from the ashes and do great
things even when faced with great challenges. Fighting! Korea!
