Micro Memoir -- Mini Pedagogical Adventures in South Korea

Living Life Fast & Slow

The first Korean word I learned was 안녕하세요 — "Hello." The second, 감사합니다 — "Thank you." The third?

"빨리!"

Here is a word that would be heard multiple times throughout my regular work day. Romanized as "Bballi", it is a constant in the vernacular of people young and old. It spits out from the oral cavity with as much ease and impact as it sounds. It looks like a command, sounds like a command, and is a command — with no strings attached.

Any time someone is taking more than 10 minutes to eat lunch? 빨리! Climbing the stairs too slowly? 빨리!Taking too long to take a dump? 빨리! Stopping your car at the red light? No need, 빨리! Why go through life one step at a time when you could live it on the edge?

Korea is a nation in a hurry. You are always living in the next moment — where to go next, what to do after this, how quickly you could get to the place to do this thing you have to do next. No matter what you do, you have to hurry! There are not enough hours in the day for you to go to school, complete work, visit after-school tutors, take piano lessons, go to the gym, and fulfill obligations with your church group. You have to squeeze the most out of your current moment. You have to constantly remind yourself to hurry.

A lot of glamour can come out of this mentality. For one, the postal service delivers packages nation-wide in just two days, across-the-board, for about the cost of a cup of coffee ($2). Just a warning: online shopping can get extremely addictive with this setup in place. New restaurants and stores pop up in a matter of days. Getting your take-out food delivered? A helmeted man on a scooter will pretty much airlift your food to you moments later. K-pop groups release new songs every few weeks and hold concerts non-stop. Your life will never have a dull moment. The only caveat? Your life will be on speed-dial, forever.

Cars drive through red lights constantly. Parents spend less time interacting with their kids and more time chauffeuring them from obligation to obligation. Meals are not meant to be savoured but more to be slurped down, so you can hurry to the next destination — be it class, work or noraebang (Korean karaoke). If you don't do things quickly, you will be left out of the group, or bear immense guilt for having made the rest of the group wait. How dare you.

How many extra hours was I able to squeeze out of my regular living as a result of this? None. As the foreigner I was able to float through daily duties at my own pace. I spent my weekends taking leisurely trips around the country or hermiting at home, caring for my inner introvert. 

Why hurry when you can live life the way you want to?

(But once in a while, just once in a while, I miss the $2 two-day nation-wide shipping. Just a bit. Sending wish to Canada Post.)