Anyone who still reads this blog has undoubtedly heard from me about the pressure Korean parents put on their children. You know the deal. They spend tons of cash in their kids' education and force them to spend every waking moment studying. The kids live joyless lives and some of them jump off of apartment buildings.
If I'm the protagonist of this blog, then the oft-mentioned indiscriminate notion of Korean motherhood is the antagonist. My arch-nemesis, so to speak. But this year, being that I teach a few adult classes, I now have some Korean mothers as students. I'm in amongst them now; I can observe them close up. I'd draw a parallel between myself and Jane Goodall right now if it weren't so xenophobic to do so.
What I'm getting at is that the other day in my adult class the topic of health came up and we were talking about doctors and the emergency room and such. One of my students, a Korean mother, made casual reference to the fact that her son was a first year doctor, he had just finished medical school and was now working.
I replied, "Wow, a doctor. That's every parents' dream. You must be very proud of him."
She shook her head, "No, not really."
"Not really? Why not?"
"I don't think it's a very good job. Doctors don't make as much money as they used to."
I had the impulse to throw my book at her. Imagine being that poor bastard. He won, he did what every parent in this country wants their kid to do. He made it through the gauntlet of the Korean education system. Didn't just make it through, he conquered it. He became a doctor, and his mom can't even say she's proud of him.
On a lighter note, I'd like to pass along another K-Pop song, as I am wont to do. I'll gladly admit to being out of touch with the American Zeitgeist, so perhaps this is already well known by some of you. I can see that being the case because of how insane this song and group are.
Hunter S. Thompson, in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, at one point looks back five years and writes about what it felt like to be alive in San Francisco in the mid 60s. He talks about the energy of a generation coming together and how they knew they were right and on the side of good. He makes an analogy of riding on the crest of a high wave. He ends by saying that with the right kind of eyes you can still see the high water mark, where the wave broke. It is my belief that in five years the world of K-Pop will look back and see this as their high water mark:
That's ridiculous. -James
ReplyDelete