뉴스레터

On May 23, 2004, in a quiet resort town on France's Mediterranean coast, a country called Korea made itself known to many French people quite successfully. This was the day when the Korean film director Park Chan-wook won the Grand Prix and appeared in the 57th Cannes Film Festival closing ceremony held at the Palais des Festivals.

Korea, an Unknown World

If you ask people of my age, in their late 20s or early to mid-30s, "How did you learn about Korea?" or "What made you interested in Korea?", the answer you'll hear quite often is "It's Korean movies." I am not the exception. Korea had been 'an unknown world' to me that I'd hardly heard about and hadn't even known where to find on an world map, until Korean movies aroused my interest in the country itself. It's not an overstatement to say that Korea went on to have the biggest influence on my life in the next ten years.

Ten years later, in 2014, many young Europeans are introduced to Korea for the first time through Korean pop music rather than Korean movies. Although the media involved are different, there are similarities in the way they are introduced to Korea. Now, as then, they are introduced to a new culture, whether by accident, recommendation, or marketing, and then discover an unknown world through that culture. Of course, I guess many of them are simply content with enjoying that specific cultural element, whether it be film or music, and do not direct their attention to the Korean society and history that surround and support it. It takes something extra, whatever that may be, to venture into an unknown world instead of stopping at simply consuming culture. After all, "I came to Korea because I love Korean movies" is too simple an explanation. That something extra may vary from person to person, but young people's insatiable curiosity, enterprise, and fantasies for unknown worlds may be good examples.

There is a French saying that goes, "The grass is always greener on the other side." I bet this fantasy has led not a small number of people to come to Korea. Fantasies are meant to be shattered sooner or later, but by ditching them, you run the risk of trapping yourself in the dull reality. This is a revelation that I had early on.<,/p>

I was twenty years old and tired of the routine of school life when I was given a chance to visit Korea. The national university I was attending had a locally financed program that sent university students abroad to gain experience. I decided to visit Korea by taking advantage of that chance, determined that I would spend one semester exploring every corner of the unknown world of Korea before returning to my country.

On August 25, 2008, I entered Korea for the second time in my life through the Incheon International Airport. It was three years after my first visit. In those years, I had never doubted that I would come back to Korea. But the second visit felt different and weird, because I didn't have a return flight ticket this time. As true as it may be that the grass is greener on the other side, or, as the Korean say, the cake is bigger in someone else's hand, it isn't easy for anyone to say goodbye to family, friends, and daily life. But once I exit the airport and arrive at my destination, the feeling of nostalgia for homeland evaporates again. Instead, I feel wonderful to be back to Korea, the exploration of which was left unfinished during my first visit. I will enjoy the sting of spicy food that I haven't had in a long time, and appreciate the scenery of coming fall in Korea, a country with four distinct seasons. And once again, I will be surprised by the Korean people's so-called 'Mediterranean temperament,' or hot-temper.

Into Korean Society Beyond Interest in Korean Culture

Europeans call Korea 'the Italy of Asia' for a few reasons. First, both countries are peninsulas surrounded by the sea on three sides. Second, in both countries, family members have big influences on one another. The two countries have another thing in common that I'd like to talk about: the people's personalities. This can be seen most clearly on the streets. Anyone behind the wheels can't help but reveal their true nature. I'm sure that many foreigners have already pointed this out numerous times before, but the Korean people are short-tempered. Whether on the streets or in restaurants, the Korean people live in a very fast pace. It came as a shock to me since I came from France known for its slow living.

It was a culture shock. To me as a person who, driven by 'enterprise' or 'curiosity' about novelty, ventured into an unknown world, it almost had the effect of taking 'drugs.' Many foreigners in the early stage of living in another country find it thrilling to have all these bizarre experiences and find themselves in situations that go against what they've thought to be common sense. But culture shock, it being like taking 'drugs,' is bound to have bad consequences sooner or later.

The phrase 'culture shock' is known to have been first used in 1951 by the American anthropologist Cora DuBois to refer to the confusion experienced by many anthropologists encountering a strange culture. Later, in 1994, Winkelman suggested that culture shock involved four phases: 1) fascination with the new culture (honeymoon phase); 2) culture shock (crisis phase); 3) adjustment phase; and 2) acceptance and adaptation phase. Here, there is a very wide gap between phases 2 and 3. Jumping the gap requires, most of all, open mind, positive attitude, and meaningful relationships.

I am now in my tenth year in Korea. Looking back, I realize that the fantasies I had ten years ago are quite different from the images that I have of Korea now. When I see excited tourists roaming about the Gwanghwamun area, I can't believe that I used to be one of them. To me now, Gwanghwamun is nothing more than a plaza next to my office, a place where demonstrations often take place, I'd say. The reason I look at Korea differently is probably that I am a 9-to-6 office worker now. Or, perhaps France has long become 'the grass on the other side' or 'the cake in someone else's hand' to me.