In the bus, headed to KMLA
And we’re on our first field trip out of Seoul. I’m typing in Word whilst traveling on the charter bus, and will simply copy & paste onto the blog tonight or tomorrow AM.
We’re headed to Korean Minjok Leadership Academy. It’s a small boarding school for the cream of the crop of Korean high school students, at least in terms of academics. Virtually every graduate attends American Ivy League colleges following graduation.
Which reminds me of something that’s been bouncing around my mind the last few days. I can’t help but wonder how representative of all South Korea is the slice that I’m seeing in these two weeks. I suppose an analogous trip to the states would look something like this: Arrive in Washington, DC – stay for a week and a half’s worth of touring historic spots like Monticello and Mt. Vernon, plus exposure to elite universities and maybe a secondary school like St. Alban's, interspersed with lectures by Georgetown and George Washington professors on American history, economics, education and select cultural topics – perhaps jazz or blues. Then go on a side-trip for three days to some area of significance in American history – Jamestown or Plymouth come to mind.
How complete and accurate an impression of the United States would such a trip give? Would it encompass the life of the liberal Manhattanite? The conservative rancher in Montana? An Appalachian trailer park (or ANY trailer park)? It’s hard to argue that the breadth of what it means to be American would be sufficiently covered. On the other hand, many off the principles that have shaped and under-girded America in its brief history and meteoric rise to Superpower status would no doubt be covered. Just because the average American is embarrassingly ignorant of fundamentals like divided powers, the Monroe Doctrine, woman’s suffrage and the civil rights movement doesn’t mean these aren’t key in experiencing and understanding America.
So my trip is admittedly narrow in scope. I’m not going to walk away from this two weeks with the same impressions and understandings I’d have if I instead spent two weeks living with a poor family in some rural area. But that would also in turn fail to reflect the reality of the many Koreans.
One key difference between the United States and most nations of the world, including Korea, is that we’re such a large nation in size and population, with a radically diverse range of experiences. S. Korea’s population is roughly one-sixth of ours, condensed into an area the size of Indiana, with the majority living in urban areas surrounded by forests. The picture I’m seeing in this two weeks may admittedly be more elite and academic than the lives of many S. Koreans, but I suspect what I’m seeing gives a more comprehensive view than its hypothetical counterpart to the United States.
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We’re headed to Korean Minjok Leadership Academy. It’s a small boarding school for the cream of the crop of Korean high school students, at least in terms of academics. Virtually every graduate attends American Ivy League colleges following graduation.
Which reminds me of something that’s been bouncing around my mind the last few days. I can’t help but wonder how representative of all South Korea is the slice that I’m seeing in these two weeks. I suppose an analogous trip to the states would look something like this: Arrive in Washington, DC – stay for a week and a half’s worth of touring historic spots like Monticello and Mt. Vernon, plus exposure to elite universities and maybe a secondary school like St. Alban's, interspersed with lectures by Georgetown and George Washington professors on American history, economics, education and select cultural topics – perhaps jazz or blues. Then go on a side-trip for three days to some area of significance in American history – Jamestown or Plymouth come to mind.
How complete and accurate an impression of the United States would such a trip give? Would it encompass the life of the liberal Manhattanite? The conservative rancher in Montana? An Appalachian trailer park (or ANY trailer park)? It’s hard to argue that the breadth of what it means to be American would be sufficiently covered. On the other hand, many off the principles that have shaped and under-girded America in its brief history and meteoric rise to Superpower status would no doubt be covered. Just because the average American is embarrassingly ignorant of fundamentals like divided powers, the Monroe Doctrine, woman’s suffrage and the civil rights movement doesn’t mean these aren’t key in experiencing and understanding America.
So my trip is admittedly narrow in scope. I’m not going to walk away from this two weeks with the same impressions and understandings I’d have if I instead spent two weeks living with a poor family in some rural area. But that would also in turn fail to reflect the reality of the many Koreans.
One key difference between the United States and most nations of the world, including Korea, is that we’re such a large nation in size and population, with a radically diverse range of experiences. S. Korea’s population is roughly one-sixth of ours, condensed into an area the size of Indiana, with the majority living in urban areas surrounded by forests. The picture I’m seeing in this two weeks may admittedly be more elite and academic than the lives of many S. Koreans, but I suspect what I’m seeing gives a more comprehensive view than its hypothetical counterpart to the United States.
next post
posted by Cowells at 8:43 AM
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