Tonight was 회식 and so I am naturally drunker than I ever like to be before 10 pm and even after a sobering coffee, and maybe after a good burrow down in my bed I'll be cohesive enough to cover what all is going on, but I had to make a blog entry especially to brag, because anyone who's been following this blog for a while will know that saving face has been my biggest obstacle in acclimating to Korean culture. It's safe to say I didn't have the first fucking clue how to even conceive of it. But I've been working hard on getting it and coming around to it. Tonight, my two longest-term coworkers told me that I'm better at saving face than the average Korean. It was within the context of a conversation completely unrelated to saving face, or me as a foreigner in Korea, which made it a bigger compliment somehow. Or, at least it felt somehow more genuine. And the one who said it? The very dear co-teacher of mine who I have considered my face saving mentor, since I met her and learned what the whole thing was really about.
I'm fucking pleased with myself. But mostly I just feel lucky to have them around to guide me. And on that note, I'm off to drink cheap beer in my pajamas and watch bad television until I pass out. Goodnight.
- I'm no Picasso
- This is a tale of the seaports where chance brings the traveler: he clambers a hillside and such things come to pass.
Map
4 comments:
Congratulations!!! Really! You deserve it because you spend so much time caring about these cultural nuances and genuine attempts to blend in are really what's appreciated above all else. I find these things a challenge too, and I'm not even in the country I want to go to yet... Your grounded, thoughtful (and often slightly pissed-off) entries are such a breath of fresh air when it comes to expat blogs (Japanese, Korean, whatever). More often than I can be bothered to count, blog entries moan and complain in such a way that it's just like reading a bucketload of culture-shock vomit on a page. Adjusting is never easy but obviously with a good attitude it can be done. So yes. Hats off to you, ma'am.
maybe you can parlay that into work as a "face coach" for people looking to do business here, make a good impression on future in-laws, and the like.
So like, are you going to be teaching classes on this soon?? All I know is that I'm the best at unintentional ass-kissing. Please teach me how to turn that into facesaving instead.
Badass!
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