My choices then became to stay squatted at the top of the totem pole, to slide back down to where I was, or to walk left, right, or straight out of the system. Staying and sliding are actions that require little effort. Although the top of the ladder may seem scary, an object at rest remains at rest and, although cascading may come with splinters, gravity handles the exertion of force. Unique, however, when compared to staying or sliding is walking.
Before muscles even engage to move one foot forward and then the other, the mind must contemplate the three hundred and sixty degrees of potential direction, and decide. After a decision is reached and physical strength is summoned to perform the actual act of walking, the mind must join forces with the body and transform the dream of endurance into reality.
Krexit, Karen leaving Korea, is a paradoxically vague yet dense topic of deliberation. It can be spoken of over ice cream cones and dissolved into a discussion of plane ticket prices, yet it has implications too great for any metaphor to encompass accurately.
With the exception of the eight months from May 22, 2013 through February 14, 2014, I have resided in the Republic of Korea since the autumn after graduating from university. Cell phone numbers starting with 010, all rising when the director enters the office, a cup of coffee meaning a $4 americano (iced if it's any season but winter and rarely consumed before noon), intentionally avoiding eye contact with strangers yet not being bothered about bumping into them, changing lanes while turning corners, removing shoes before stepping up onto the raised floor where meals are eaten criss-cross-applesauce, the mountains and tunnels, the language that expresses not only meaning but age relation, status differential, and level of closeness. Accepting cultural tidbits, first one and then two at a time, my habits have evolved and what I am used to is not what it used to be.
Tweaks of behavior and little adjustments of thought... Change.
Now, going back to where I grew up, I know the roads, houses, and some of the neighbors' names, but I wonder whether to meet the eyes of strangers in town and it troubles me why no one stood to greet the director who just entered the office. How can you tell two people's relationship if not from the words that they choose and the affix that they either insert or leave out? What do you mean come to a complete stop when the coast is so obviously clear? Just a minute! You forgot to remove your shoes.
Now, going back to where I grew up, I know the roads, houses, and some of the neighbors' names, but I wonder whether to meet the eyes of strangers in town and it troubles me why no one stood to greet the director who just entered the office. How can you tell two people's relationship if not from the words that they choose and the affix that they either insert or leave out? What do you mean come to a complete stop when the coast is so obviously clear? Just a minute! You forgot to remove your shoes.
Insignificant though they may seem, these examples begin to paint The Complexity of Krexit.
Thanks for reading :)
