... But Itaewon's So Delicious...

For years I have avoided the district of Itaewon, the heart of expat commerce and socialization in Seoul.

Itaewon, with its vast import selection* and English speaking venders, is a natural watering hole for foreigners. The American base is right at the end of the main street, and the neighboring area, Hannam-dong, has mostly been a largely foreigner settlement. Foreigners seeking their own housing (considering that many English teachers are provided housing next to their schools) often go to these neighborhoods (Itaewon, Noksapyeong, Hannam-dong, Haebangchon aka HBC).

In the old days (not too many years ago) this area was the only place to find "big size" clothes, imported food supplies, and Western-style sports bars. Noteworthy, too, it is not just for "Westerners," but also the center of the Muslim community and other Southeast Asian immigrants. The mosque at the top of the hill is a well known landmark, and the import food stores are equally full of ingredients from the Middle East and Southeast Asia. It is understandable that this would be pretty important to expats who are looking for something from home. Fabulous.

Itaewon has become associated with this "Itaewon Freedom" concept, where misfits can find a place to fit in in Itaewon, where it is a more open minded community. This is true, based on the idea that the people who hang out there are far less judgmental than mainstream, conservative society. But when Itaewon became trendy among the rest of the public, it became a tourist destination. A place to gawk at foreigners and "odd" people, or... sometimes just a good place to corner foreigners into practicing English.

As soon as night falls, it's rowdy. Foreigners go to let loose, but alcohol usually makes people get a little too loose. Releasing all the pent up stress from their culture shock and frustrations with daily Korean life, they become the foreigners they would be at home times ten. Imagine your first time out without parental supervision as a teenager. I didn't find it attractive or charming that men from all different nationalities would stare or wink or say hay, just because I was walking on the same street. The area has been deemed by Korean and foreign men alike a place to prey on "open" and lonely women... meaning they half expect the women there at night to be especially promiscuous. The fact that many girls actually do have positive responses (hey, they're practically on vacation here), doesn't help curb the habit.

I did not go because I did not want to be seen as or associated with those kinds of partying foreigners. I knew that if I mentioned Itaewon, I would fulfill a stereotype and expectation that foreigners are those people and that I am dependent on a foreign bubble in which to thrive in Korea, that "Korea" was not a livable environment for foreigners. Out of stubbornness, I wanted to prove that I could live without it and live an independent** life like every other resident of Seoul.

I propose that there has become a misconception in the Korean community about what open means. I had a discussion with a friend about this over brunch one day. Young Koreans are these days trying to live an "open-minded life" resembling what Europeans and Americans often uphold to be important values: individual preference, acceptance of the LGBT community, interracial couples, and all sorts of lifestyles that conservative Korean culture would label "fringe" society or troublemakers.

The effort is there, and I do give kudos for that. But the whole concept is still missing. Koreans often think that what makes Americans or Westerners open minded is that we agree with or support everyone's opinion. That's simply not true. I don't agree with everyone nor would I recommend everyone's lifestyle. What makes Americans particularly "open" is that we don't mind that people have other opinions. We don't waste time worrying about what others think of certain lifestyles. It's choice. We believe in unconditional choice. We believe in equality, especially for things that people do not have choice in. Korean society still wants to judge the choices and backgrounds as trends to follow and categorize, or even rank, people based on their characteristics. As long as that happens, you can't really call it being "open minded," even if you think they're cool. LBGT isn't a trend. Having dark skin isn't a trend. Nor is it a justified reason to assume you know everything about someone. It's like a math problem: Some As are Bs. Some Bs are Cs. Therefore, some As could be Cs. But in old school Korean math, it's all or nothing. A=C.

It will take time for the mentality to change. Probably a few generations, so I'm going to be patient and just take off the wall comments with a grain of salt and avoid situations that might become uncomfortable.

In my last winter break of college, I had a part time internship in Itaewon. It gave me a few months to look around and discover that there were some pretty chic lounges, excellent bakeries and chocolatiers, and a few friendly faces. I still didn't like the stigma I felt from locals. That two-sided coin: "Oh, Itaewon's so interesting!" but at the same time thinking, "It's so dirty and old-fashioned." It's a nun-chi (눈치: reading between the lines in social environments) that most foreigners don't have enough time to pick up.

The past few years have shown a huge revival of interest from twenty and thirty something Koreans. The food has gotten much better, the classiness of the restaurants has really skyrocketed, and more authentic cuisine has cropped up all over. It's not just foreign food, it's real foreign food. Of course, this would not fit a student budget in the least. Now that I have steady income and a roof over my head, I feel like I can splurge with friends every now and then. I have a growing list of restaurants I want to go to. I just went there today to get my first custom made pair of dress shoes for work (next post teaser!). Basically, it's a foodie paradise--and at the same time, disappointingly, often one of the only place to find clothes that fit international women's body types.  Arguably, there might be other outlets, but for the average non-Korean speaker, they might as well not exist at all.

I still don't like to be in Itaewon at night. I don't like agree to meet the few foreign friends I know there. For me, it is a great place for casual lunches and sifting through the international markets, maybe even a place to browse some English books (but, eh. I shop online). I feel torn about it. I like to suggest excellent restaurants to my friends from work and school, but at the same time I feel like I'm promoting a stereotype of myself as the foreigner who naturally knows Itaewon.

But dear God, it's delicious. Here are some pictures from today. I went to The Baker's Table, a German bakery that serves a full menu of sandwiches and schnitzel and wursts. My friend from Germany gave her seal of approval, so that means it's gotta be authentic. She dies every time I show her what we consider pretzels in America, and so she brought me to some local places that are run by Germans to show me what's up.

The Baker's Table

Bakery selection. This place is very busy. Pretzels usually sell out.

Curry wurst and pan potatoes.

A real pretzel.

Directions to The Baker's Table: Leave Noksapyeong Stn. ex. 3. Cross the intersection (both times to get diagonally to the big wall at the far side) and walk away from Itaewon main street. Keep walking a few blocks. You'll have to cross a strangely askew crosswalk. It's about another block down right before the overhead crosswalk. This neighborhood has TONS of food. Pizza. Thai. Kebab. BBQ. Come hungry. Don't fill up on ice cream and churros on the way.

2014.9.28 | 지도 크게 보기     ©  NAVER Corp.

* Recently, big chain grocery stores also increasingly carrying import items, especially trending is imported beer. Costco would also be a good place to go find safe and reliable perishable food staples. And... if you know me at all, I'd say use the internet. But it's not non-Korean speaker-friendly.
** This is also where there could be room for cultural friction. We foreigners want to prove our grit by showing independence and capability. But Korea is a community based society, and friends and family help one another. Receiving help or staying around those that help you isn't as much of a weakness in the minds of a lot of Koreans, but it certainly can feel like an insult to some foreigners.

Kia Carnival: The State of Our Dads

I ran across this PR campaign a while ago. If you watch the video to the end, you'll see that it's for the Kia Carnival, a minivan type vehicle. More specifically, it's for a program that Kia launched, Carnival Academy. They call it an academy, but in Korean that could also refer to a seminar course.

Commercialism aside, the video starts off with a typical day at work for Korean men, busy working in a rather bland office environment. They get called into a conference room for a test. The men obediently begin answering survey questions about what is most important at work, how much do you agree with the following statement, etc.

Part 2 of the test asks "Please enter your child's height and weight." "What is your child's favorite pop idol?" "What was your child's favorite family vacation?"And the men are stumped. Most pass the office test, where it shows one man passing the office section with 85 points and only managing 35 points on the section about children.

This shows concerns that a majority of families are facing in Korea--balancing office life and family life. Most men come home from work well after 8 pm and are too drained to be active on the weekends. Women who are tough enough to continue their careers after having children are also expected to stay late. Obviously this has very serious implications for family life.

Even if the movement starts in a superficial and scripted advertisement, I really hope that over time the sentiment will be taken seriously by those in leadership roles so that we can restore family values in this "bbali bbali" society.

Pope Francis Visits Seoul

In honor of Pope Francis' visit to Korea this week, I'm sharing a music video, Koinonia (코이노니아). This song is a collaboration of some famous Catholic celebrities. When I posted this to my facebook, my dad was quick to notice that the cathedral where they filmed the video is the Myeongdong Cathedral. 

For those who are curious, "koinonia" is a Greek word for communion/sharing. The lyricist said, "So many people live just for themselves. If more people prayed for others, the world would be a better place to live." It's a respectable message to spread in today's increasingly egocentric society. 

Pope Francis' message to Korea for this trip is, "Rise Korea, clothe yourself in light, the Lord’s glory shines upon you."

Productive Mode

Man I've been productive the past few days.

Emergency freezer defrosting in an hour.
Packing my lunches and dinners.
More than a few loads of laundry (augmented by item number 1).
Boiling peanuts and experimenting with plum cobbler (as I'm trying to clear out fridge...).
Resumes.
Dry cleaner.
Blogging.
Actually answering my Kakao talk.
Finishing reading a book (Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, if you were curious).
All the while going to the gym like the loyal exercising trainee I should be.

I'm sure I'm missing something here.

The weeks sure are flying by, which is a blessing and a curse. I'm getting a lot of things done, but it also feels like some of the looming things like securing my next job are at a standstill. Arguably, they're not, but it feels that way.

My first grand resume push was last week, and I actually got a few responses. Follow ups after the first few responses have been weaker, but I at least find it encouraging that I'm getting more attention this time around than when I had first tried job seeking after graduation. I must have been doing my resume all wrong then! Or something.

But the bottom line is things are moving, and I got my feet put to the fire in one of the first responses I had. One company had called back the next day and spoke with me about taking a written test as soon as possible. The woman spoke to me in Korean the whole time (note that I intentionally sent resumes and cover letters in English, unlike when I sent bilingual documents after graduation). Gladly I would take this written test, I said.

I was expecting a copywriting test, like when I had done interviews before. Alas, the next morning, bright and early, I received the file by email, opened it, and saw that it was in fact a translation test. Two articles, one English, one Korean. Directions: You have an hour. Translate.

No time to waste on panic, I just started. It took me a solid hour to translate to English. Forget putting it into Korean. Times up. I obediently sent in my work after an hour. Two minutes later the phone rings.

"You didn't get to the Korean? Not at all?"

Sheepishly, I reply, "No..."

"Okay, I'll give you more time. Work on that and send it in as soon as you can."

It was a relief and a bombshell at the same time. I wasn't automatically disqualified, but I had a mountain in front of me. And... work to go to in 2 hours. I toiled and toiled and managed to send it off and I ran to work.

I wish I could tell you how it turned out, but I myself am waiting by the phone. That's a figure of speech these days, I couldn't live without my cell phone within an eyeshot even when I'm not expecting news.

Part of me wants to show my test to my friends to see how horrible my Korean is. But at the same time, I don't want to because I don't want to actually know how horrible my Korean is. I'm going to have to get over that and just force myself to practice knowing that I'm making mistakes, but to keep being corrected. It's a new stage--when you first learn a language, you're afraid of people fixing your pronunciation, then your grammar in speech. I've gotten over that, but now I have to humble myself again and accept criticism of my writing.

My Korean writing is only for my own personal use talking to friends on messengers or leaving short notes for people. I speak decently enough, but writing is completely different animal. Having skipped out on learning Korean in an educational setting, I have no confidence in my writing skills at all (don't tell my employers that). I do, however, have confidence that I can get better.

Just gotta establish a no-exceptions study hour to my day and dive back in. Wish me luck!

By the way, here's my Instagram feed if you would like to follow my day-to-day life a little closer. I'm just so proud of my kimchi veggie wraps that I packed for lunch today. Yumyumyum.

RASKB Daehakno and Hyewha Walking Tour

If you're into the performing arts, Daehakno is probably where you would spend your free time. It is known today for its hundreds of theaters with many private productions. I know a lot of my college friends liked to go there to see a show every now and then, and it's considered one of the hip areas of town.

Other than that, I didn't really have any idea about what else might lie there. Architecture, apparently!! 

I'll take you through a brief excursion I went on led by Dr. Robert Fouser with the RASKB. 

In all honesty, I got there a few minutes late. I got out of the Hyewha subway station. No congregating foreigners to be found... In a moment of despair, I just followed my gut as to where they might be. Luckily they had not gotten far, and I found the group discussing the old Seoul National University campus which used to be located there. Since then, it has moved to Gangnam, but the SNU Hospital still runs across the street from the old plaza. 

There's some interesting tidbits to be learned about the old SNU. There was a lot of political influence during the time under Park Chunghee. For example, there were actually no foreign professors. They weren't allowed. Interesting.

Dr. Fouser introduced a few famous buildings designed by an architect who had a lot of influence in Seoul's modern construction phases, Kim Swoo-geun (김수근). His buildings are actually quite unique. It's clear that he liked to use red brick. A nice characteristic is that the entrances to the buildings are often angled and disjointed so as to be more interesting than just a square block, yet still open like a breezeway. The main entrance is often slightly tucked away and not very prominent. Also, the use of textured stones for the walkways is a signature. I'm surprised I have no pictures. I was probably still trying to gather myself from the shock of being lost.

Our first stop: the Lock Museum! (Eng, Kor)

This is the foyer to the gallery, after you go upstairs to the third floor, passing an antiques collection on the second. 

A model locksmith's workroom. 

Chastity belts for men and women.

More pictures can be found on the same Flickr album. Beautiful craftsmanship. There were both indigenous Korean designs as well as locks from around the world. Keyless locks (puzzle locks) were particularly interesting. 

Onward ho!

Dr. Fouser explained to us how the redevelopment model works in Korea (or at least Seoul). Gather 70% of the signatures of residents, and an area can be taken away (with compensation from the construction company's real estate value quote) to make room for new towns (giant apartment complexes). That is how all of the apartments you see today have been made. Initially there were small neighborhoods with hanoks and less "valuable" properties (houses). If you are in the 30% that do not agree, too bad. 

This house is that of a prominent opposition member in the Hyewha neighborhood. Still his. Victory to you, sir.

Dr. Fouser showed us the appeal of these small, more traditional houses that are usually victims of redevelopment plans. They are not popular because there is nowhere to park. People also claim the neighborhoods are unsightly. 

Next, we visited former Prime Minister Chang Myon's house (AKA John Myon Chang, in Korean the house is called 장면가옥). Here is a good history of the home in Korean, and this government funded culture site is the best I could find in English.  It was actually a very admirable property. It was hanok style with a Western-style attachment for entertaining dignitaries. Sadly I don't have a proper shot of the yard... I guess the space was too confined for me to find an appropriate shot. But here is a photo from Robert Koehler's feed:

Inside there were some nice Korean-Western fusions. Catholic figurine with Asian wallpaper and furniture.

This top hat was quite popular. Velvety...

I wish I had this chair and window at my own place.

Retro fan. Subtle reminder that this place was a home up through the 1960s.

I can see that I now began to experience the fatigue of a warm day walking around a hilly neighborhood with a camera. Why? Not as many pictures in between. But alas, we found ourselves at the former official mayor's residence (서울시 장공관). This was the housing provided to the current Seoul city mayor. But this tradition ended recently. It's a nice property. It has a large yard, two stories, and sits right on the Seoul City Wall. 

It has some nice open windows and gardens, but look at the kitchen. Blegh. The kitchen and bath were shockingly ordinary. But cool. Ordinary is better than extravagant for official housing, I suppose.

At the end of this part of the City Wall, there's a gate. Hyewha-mun. Again. I was tired by then. It's beautiful, I promise.

And this is where we put up our feet after the tour. There was a nice little cafe that sold handmade crafts and had its very own free range cat. 

It was a good day with good people. There was lively discussion of city politics and culture. I highly recommend the excursions put on by the RASKB (Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch) for anyone interested in getting to know deep and insightful details about the city or Korea. 

And for those of you interested in the Seoul City Wall trail, this city website has some information about the landmarks along the way and the open hours (as well as which sections need ID). Click on the banners toward the bottom to find more details about each section of the wall. 

Seoul Happening

This past week has been a relatively busy one. With a lot of things in the air, I've been doing a lot of goal setting and resume reviewing. Luckily, I was able to talk to some great Seoul veterans who could give me advice on getting off the ground.

Basically, they were able to show me that I was panicking for no reason. Panicking might not be the right term. Slow self implosion is more accurate. But anyhow, now that I have some goals in place, I have to put my feet to the fire and get some serious discipline in to my routine--if you could consider myself not disciplined before. I suppose this new plan will map my schedule down to the minute.

Because of all of the stress trying to get some solid plans and the sudden hurdles I've had at work, I have to admit it's taken a toll on my health. In the course of two months, I have been sick from one thing or another for a moderate total of 3 weeks. (Yes, I have been neglecting my gym and diet duties. Terrible.) Now that I'm not death warmed over, I can start to sift through what I need to do.

There are a few projects that I have coming up, and this serves as a preview.

Photo blog content will be uploaded, including a recap of the trip to Gwangju last weekend with Robert Koehler and the RASKB, a walking tour of Hyehwa and Daehakno with Dr. Rob Fouser of the RASKB, and recently discovered pictures from my trip to Chungju last August... never got to that. Oops.

I will start working on translating Korean articles to share. Translating is not something that I can say that I have really spent a lot of time on, so I'm taking a dive and starting now. Seems like it will be challenging, but also pretty fulfilling. Any and all advice/input/criticism/requests welcome. 

And a healthy restructuring of the blog is probably in due course...

Lots to do! Don't let me slack and hold me to this project with feedback. Many people mention the blog to me in private conversation, and I am always surprised to hear that I have so many readers. The empty comments section would imply a ghost town! Please drop a line here on the blog and keep a dialogue going.

... in the meantime, here's a picture of Lee Myung Bak's old kitchen. Explanation in the next post. Stay tuned!

Thoughts on the South Korean Ferry Sewol Disaster

Tessa's Note: This blog is in the process of being edited for the sake of clarity. I wish I were perfect the first time I try to express my ideas, but I need practice. For the sake of relevance of time, I wanted to start the discussion sooner rather than later, so this post did not wait on a final revision before being published.

This week I started a new exercise regimen one-on-one with a trainer. The first class was rather early in the morning, and I've been waking up early because I go to bed so early after a hard workout and a full day at work. Now that I'm not regularly swimming at the crack of dawn, I have had the opportunity to finally tune in to Seoul's TBS EFM 103.5 English language news programs in the mornings this week.

The radio station seems to have a lot of good info. I remember a long time ago, they were educating expats about how to file taxes. Most information is for practical public knowledge and explanations of the political and social atmosphere in the city, and it's a good way to get all the recent news in days before it might ever hit BBC or the New York Times (or even get translated for the local English newspapers).

As most of you may well know, South Korea has been grieving the tragedy of the sunken ferry carrying mostly high school students on an overnight school trip to Jeju Island. In the last moments of the sinking, 174 passengers and crew were rescued of the total 476 on board (according to today's news from Yonhap). As of this morning, 156 bodies have been retrieved and the missing still stand at 146.

There has been a lot of action from various sources--Samsung has sent cranes to help pull up the ferry. Japan was said to have pledged resources, and though it may be of little consolation, even North Korea sent its condolences. However, this doesn't relieve the pain of those effected, and the outpouring of sympathy from the public has been enormous.

But nearly 9 days after the shock of the accident, and after most of us have lost hope in finding survivors, there is a major concern and anger over government responsibility. A new debate has unfolded about what the government should have done and what it should do.

So far there have been the following actions highlighted in the media:

• Prosecutors have filed charges against 11 of 29 surviving crew members, including negligent murder and failure to conduct safety inspections.
• The offices and homes of many responsible for the command and ownership of the Sewol ferry and its operators have been raided, and the government has confiscated a handful of hard drives. 
• Reports have uncovered the shady history of the owner of the ferry operation owner including embezzlement and tax fraud. The owner seems to be a businessman, whom I would say is nearly a business mogul who was one of the lucky people to ride the wave of wealth from South Korea's industry boom in the 1980s.
• Conflicting statements by rescuers and politicians are being thrown around about how the ship will be handled. Some want to keep it still until the last body is recovered (keep in mind, the divers have not yet been able to access all parts of the ship and have little visibility or control over currents, making that idea sentimental, but highly challenging). However, TBS radio has said that tomorrow will be the day that the workers will now be working on a recovery project, and it is no longer considered a search and rescue, as there is at this point nearly no chance of any survivors remaining. Note: All of those rescued were rescued within the first two hours after the mayday was sent.

As one could imagine, lots of fingers are being pointed and an extreme amount of blame put on the government. Though this sentiment is certainly not unfounded, my personal opinion is that this mentality is in the long run unproductive and unsustainable. There will be no end to this retroactive blame. 

The radio this morning had a guest on the show that put into words the thoughts that I could not until this point fully organize on my own. This applies for nearly all political systems, and I would not go so far to say that the problem we faced in the lacking regulation that led to the Sewol disaster is unique to Korea.

THE GOVERNMENT'S ROLE

In broad terms, it is the definition of government to protect its people. Laws and regulations are created to prevent damage and the government provides means to punish those who do not comply. The extent of clarity of these regulations and the executive power's enforcement of them are less than perfect. Go through any legal matter dealing with the police or legal courts, and you will quickly find that the world does not operate with the omnipotence of TV shows like CSI and Law & Order. 

The truth is, enforcement is mostly retroactive. Punishments are placed after someone does something wrong. It is hard, and in most cases impossible, for the government to be able to prevent any wrongdoing before it happens. Legally, I mean. (For example, I had to wait nearly two months after my paychecks started to go missing for me to file in full with the Ministry of Labor, even though I knew the money wouldn't be coming in after the first month. Legally, the payday had to pass--my employer had to do something wrong first, otherwise he is still innocent on paper).

In today's day and age, with the uproar of the NSA's projects and data collection, and even selective monitoring, proactive routes taken by the government are often faced with large opposition from the public. The potential for abuse and lack of transparency causes suspicion. So that leaves people to voluntarily report themselves (for example, US taxes, or in Korea, the TV tax) and then any misreporting runs the risk of getting caught in a random audit perhaps years down the line. This is the same thing that is happening with the owner of the Sewol operations. He had some baked books, and now that something has gone horribly wrong, the government (or perhaps, the media) is frantically flipping through files.

Now... I'm not saying that the government now needs to become something from Minority Report. Rather, I want to offer a different concept:

The government is needed as a safety net for when the system fails. But "better safe than sorry" should be the first thing people think, not "the government will handle it." We need to place a more balanced responsibility on the community to be able to prevent and react to accidents. Papers in a filing cabinet do not save lives. People do.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

It would be nice if the government could repel down from the sky to an isolated sinking ferry or to a terrorized subway, but that's just unrealistic. In Seoul, the government has put a lot of funding and investment in public safety. The subways are all equipped with platform doors that open only when a train is aligned at the station. They have even made bridges more psychologically comforting to prevent jumpers.

Sure, there's always more that we will say should be done. But as long as it isn't realized, the danger remains prevalent in our day to day lives. I will give the following comparisons:

Murder is illegal. There are court proceedings for those who violate that law. But there is no way for government to prevent it. There is a way to discourage, and there are sometimes ways to quickly respond. However, if there is no way to prevent murder, then why isn't homicide an epidemic? It's a social taboo. Society says that it's bad, and we personally feel a responsibility not to kill the person next to us, no matter how much you want to. I don't not kill the person who shoved me on the subway because I don't want to face the courts. I don't kill them because I feel it's wrong. I'm sure most people would agree here. 

Let's move to a little more practical and less extreme case. 

Why do you feel uncomfortable when you see someone throw their trash on the ground? Are you angry that they aren't being slapped with the legally mandated fine that was enacted in your state law? Or are you upset that they're contributing to an unclean environment?

Most people would realize, yes, I feel uncomfortable because I know littering is bad. This is a societal norm. People are educated about the effects of human waste on the environment, educated about how to prevent waste, and then, in turn, practice and encourage the same behavior. 

In South Korea, we have laws. We have fines. However, there is mostly a lack of concern for implementing the behaviors and habits that these laws uphold. Copyright is defended by the courts, but university professors let copyright infringement slip everywhere. They copy textbooks to make makeshift course readers and don't think once about actually paying royalties. Students copy things they find on the internet, and most kids don't even know how to make a citation. It's painful to watch... for me, anyway.

The point is, if people don't understand the implications of their actions, or if they are not educated about how to react to a dangerous situation, there is no amount of power that the government has to guarantee anyone's safety. The first responders are in fact the people present at ground zero, not professionals, not rescue teams.

CONCLUSION

The government (and the community) needs to work on instilling a mentality of social responsibility. What I'm thinking of works on two levels. 

1. Public safety: Things like having regular fire drills for students. Enforcing straight lines and following the right side of the stair well. These things are often taken for granted, but if not taught, lead to a very big debacle when the time comes for order and security. I have been working with kids here for a long time. We have not once had a fire drill. We (the faculty) have not been told what to do in the case of a fire. I can use my knowledge from my education in the States, but I cannot assume everyone else has the same ideas. My last school's fire extinguishers were not even fully pressurized.

2. Regulation: The shady practices of this businessman who owns the Sewol operations is not a surprising case. Bad practices often go unchecked and no one lifts an eyebrow until something goes wrong. There is no sense of guilt when you bake your books or stretch the truth in inspections because there is no pressure from others to be completely honest Why? In the end it doesn't directly effect me and if I say something, I'll be a labeled rat and cause a big uproar. This is a situation that is highly undesirable in Asian culture. **I have had a lot of feedback from my Korean friends about this part of the essay. They say that they have an unspoken burden when it comes to things like this, and they feel unable to change wrongdoing because they fear being troublemakers. I will be working on addressing it in another post later.**

My post has run long, but I hope that it sheds some light on the environment of this disaster. This disaster was the result of a long line of neglect across many sectors. The fault doesn't lie 100% on lack of regulation on the government's part, but also lack of foresight and preventative interest from society at large. I think starting with wholeheartedly upholding safety and transparency is the foundation for any progress in preventative policy. 

Actions, not words.