Teacher, Do You Know Big Bang?

This is a guest post by my friend Richard Pennington. I have known Richard many years back through Social Media. Richard is a Sport Historian who wrote several books like "Breaking The Ice", "For Texas, I will" and many others. Richard currently lives and works in South Korea. You can read from Richard by accessing his website  http://richardpennington.com/

Five years ago, I was doing my best to inspire reluctant Daegu kids to read, speak and write in English. In a few cases, I may have been successful. It was a two-way street, as I learned things from them. I had not been in the classroom long before one black-haired girl inquired breathlessly, “Teacher, do you know Big Bang?” I was then unfamiliar with that all-male musical group, but I went to Google and got hip. Ah, K-pop. It seems to be on every other television channel. And until recently, a music store stood across the street from my apartment. It hosted monthly gatherings of K-pop bands and scores of their enthusiastic female fans. I accosted a woman in the street and asked who they were. These guys must be really big, I told her. No. She informed me that they were newbies, just beginning on what they hoped would be the path to stardom. The girls were begging for autographs, shrieking and taking cell-phone videos of young men who had not yet done anything. Color me puzzled.

Now admittedly, there is a generational issue here as I am older than the performers and nearly all of their fans. A cultural difference surely is involved as well; were I of Korean descent, I might have a much greater appreciation for K-pop. But I honestly doubt it. K-pop seems so very shallow to me. These big companies have a system for choosing and promoting boy- and girl-bands. (They do seem to be exclusively single-gender.) With an eye on recent trends, they hold tryouts, choose a few good-looking kids and then give direction. The cut of their hair is dictated, as well as their clothes, their singing style, their dance moves, the personalities they project to fans and the media—everything. They are even told how to preen and pout. Many who seek that extra something undergo plastic surgery. It seems completely artificial to me, and I am a person who is inclined to like, admire and respect things Korean.

One may fairly contrast it with the system in Cuba. There, the singing, the dancing and the playing of instruments is learned from the ground up. It is organic, rich, deep and polyrhythmic. I would dare say contemporary Cuban music has soul. There are no businessmen in Havana seeking to manipulate the popular music scene. It happens and evolves naturally.

I despaired after reading a news article recently about the Gangnam district where I live in Seoul. It says that more than 100 hip-hop dance schools operate here, and the number of teenagers attending them is on the rise. Hagwons that once taught ballet, piano or classical guitar have given way to establishments that emphasize how kids can impress the aforesaid businessmen and become K-pop stars. Some of them attend classes every night of the week and spend their spare time studying K-pop videos on YouTube.

Korea, like all countries, has problems, some of them quite serious. Our best and brightest should be focused on solving those problems and creating a better future. We emphatically do not need them wasting precious time and energy on puerile dreams wherein they might become a part of the next Girls Generation, Super Junior, SHINee, TVXQ or T-ara—regardless of the fact that if they are among the chosen few, they will be awash in money and adulation, and sell out Madison Square Garden.

What’s that sound, you ask? It’s the sound of me, whistling in the dark. 

Embracing Diversity and Cross-Cultural Living

I was lucky to be born in a home full of diversity! While Mum is a very down-to-earth, hardworking and positive person, Dad was a big dreamer, good in sciences and the arts but not a practical person. This odd mixture led to five kids with totally different skills and orientations. Coming at the end of the line, with two older sisters and two older brothers, gave me a certain advantage over others because it taught me how to deal with diversity for as long as I can remember.  And, as I was born four years after my youngest brother, I was considered the “pet” of the house, where everybody wanted to take care of me and teach me what they loved. The best experience from all of this was the chance I had to mingle freely among them and their friends at home. It was always very busy with young aspiring artists, scientists, politicians and craftsmen.

“I think… if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.” — Leo Tolstoy

One other aspect of my life that helped nurture my diversity skills was living in London during the 1990s. After getting married, my husband and I moved there to pursue our graduate studies. We didn’t have enough money to rent our own flat, so we had to share a house with a large number of post-graduate students coming from different countries. I remember students from Italy, Greece, Morocco, Germany, India and China. Of course, there were some Brits in the group as well.  Our connection with all of these students came naturally because every day we had to share the kitchen, the TV lounge and other facilities. As a result, my first years in London were full of extraordinary encounters. I mingled with everyone, made many friends, organized parties, and learned some great recipes no cook books could have taught me. And, if I close my eyes for a moment, I can recall our students’ house next to Earls Court underground station, a very busy multi-ethnic area with beautiful pubs and exotic shops and restaurants. 

Moreover, my colleagues at the university came from various ethnic groups. So, I spent a good deal of my time mixing and learning from my housemates and classmates. This made my living and studying in such a mixed environment, a challenging and invigorating experience. It kept me on the creative edge and generated the best of me—whether in socializing or in academic matters.

Finally, toward the end of my Ph.D. research, my husband was offered a job back home. Thus, I was left alone in London for 9 months. Although I could have lived by myself, I decided not to do so and moved to an international student house where my previous experience of meeting, connecting and learning from people with very different backgrounds started all over again.

"He who is different from me does not impoverish me—he enriches me. Our unity is constituted in something higher than ourselves—in Man.... For no man seeks to hear his own echo, or to find his reflection in the glass." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Diversity can bring out the best of everyone if only we knew how to embrace it. However, standing against it can leave us broken and shattered.  No better example could be given for that than my country which hosts different religions and sects. The unfortunate result of taking sides, refusing to communicate and to acknowledge the right of “others” to exist has led to a long civil war and repetitive conflicts over the years, dismissing any hope for reconciliation and peaceful co-existence.

From my humble experience in dealing with diversity, I have learned that the best way to embrace diversity is to experience it. Move away from your cozy home and experience totally new places where you see yourself as part of a minority and deal with this fact in order to survive. If you have not had the chance to move away in real life, do it virtually by reading liberally; learn from diverse authors and try to appreciate all the different threads and colors of life’s tapestry. Whether in real life or using social media, make a constant effort to meet new people and embrace various cultures. This is your ticket to cross boundaries, practice acceptance and learn that differences in people are part of life's exciting variety.

"I can imagine nothing more terrifying than an Eternity filled with men who were all the same. The only thing which has made life bearable…has been the diversity of creatures on the surface of the globe." — Terence Hanbury White

Picture by Karim Abou Samra