Allons-y!
We all have postcards in our minds. By that I mean there’s a tendency for certain images to come to mind whenever we think of a country. Japan? Sushi. America? G.I. Joe. Korea? Kimchi.
While pop culture can give you insight into a country’s life, you can only really experience a country by seeing things in the flesh. Last June, I spent a week in Korea on a study tour by Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS). Before the trip, I thought I knew a lot about their culture—at least, more than the average teen who may not be into K-Pop and Korean dramas the way I am.
And yet everything felt fresh. The colors were richer, the culture, more exciting. A pop star even waved at me—no, I’m not kidding. In short, it was even better than I imagined.
When we Filipinos (I and fellow Ateneans Lexie, Ali, Guada, Mel, Gil and our Department Chair Mr. Sarmenta) arrived at Incheon, we were greeted by EBS organizers Jin, Director Kim and Manager Jang. At our dorm, we met Jinny, another organizer, and the students we’d be working with: Lyla, Yong Chan, Hana, Min Jeong, Caesar and Ji Eun.
That night, I learned that despite Korea’s famously hot cuisine, Ji Eun had a low tolerance for spicy food. When we went to a noraebang (Korean karaoke) later in the week, Min Jeong—whom we all thought was shy—knew the lyrics to all the songs! It just goes to show that while postcards stay the same, people will always surprise you.
Sometimes, the surprise is literal. On our last night in Korea, our friends took us to watch Music Bank, a weekly hit chart concert. It was a present from Director Kim, who had worked with the show’s network. In spite of the language barrier, Jinny and I bonded over the K-Pop group B2ST. Our soft-spoken guide Jin (or Jin oppa as we called him) patiently translated anything we didn’t understand for an entire week. Hana shared tidbits of history; Caesar taught us Korean children’s games.
That one week taught me more about Korea than the three years I’ve spent reading culture books and watching music videos. Why does the real thing mean more? The answer is simple: people.
More than the images generated by mass media, it’s through people that you get a true picture of a culture. It’s one thing to say Koreans are giving; it’s another thing to see Ji Eun, the same girl who disliked chili, offer to switch plates when I couldn’t handle the spicy beef. It’s one thing to say Koreans are sweet and chivalrous; it’s another when Lyla shares her ice cream on a hot day and when Yong Chan walks with you when you have a hard time climbing up Namsan Mountain.
We often think postcards and travel books highlight the best a country has to offer. However, the true vibrancy of culture extends beyond the symbols we’ve grown accustomed to. Whether it’s Korea or the Philippines—while cute, can a tarsier fully encapsulate Filipino life?—the real house of culture is people. Yes, Korea’s palaces were gorgeous, the food was great and the celebrities were handsome. But because of the people, it was also more.
Postcards make you want to visit, but it’s the people that make you want to stay.
