Understanding culture...We have entered week 3 of our new lives and are beginning to find our groove. We are meeting new people, becoming acquainted with the city, and are understanding this culture more and more. We recognize that some cultural assumptions we made upon arrival are not what they appear to be. For example, many people, especially woman, walk around almost entirely covered: arms, shoulders, faces, heads, and sometimes legs. Initially we believed this to be an act of modesty (which I still think to be true to an extent). However, what we are now learning is that it is more an act of skin preservation. If you do not expose your skin to the elements, then your skin will remain youthful for much longer. Indeed, many individuals appear ageless for lack of wrinkles and beautifully smooth skin. Thus I have been recently pondering cultural notions of beauty. For, what is beautiful to one culture may be unattractive to another. In my culture, bronzed skin is seen as healthy and beautiful (even though we all recognized UVs to be harmful...hmm?). Some cultures see beauty as the length of one's neck, the size of one's lips, or the width of one's hips. In many latin cultures, skin color is compared to milk and coffee, with one extreme (leche) holding an opposing value to the opposite extreme (café). Many Koreans, that I have met and have observed, have very fair complexions. This leads me to believe that olive skin sets the standard of what is beautiful. I confront and question if this is wisdom or another side of white privilege and power. The reason we are here...This past Monday, I began my job at Busan Foreign School (BFS!! Go Sharks!). This long-awaited beginning reaffirmed (once again) my feeling that we made the right choice with our move. I feel supported by our leadership team; I feel at home with my Specialists team; and I feel inspired by my colleagues. I have set up my room and the energy is good. I am understanding our student management systems and the expectations placed on my roles within the greater school community. Further, despite all initial fears that I was taking on too much, I have realized that I can do this and that it is possible to do it well. Now comes the part where I dig deep into creativity, planning, and intrinsic motivation (motivation which comes from within). Up next (on Wednesday to be precise), I will finally meet my students and begin the process of co-creation, relationship sculpting, and the cycle of learning which flows both ways (as they will inevitably teach me as much or more than I will teach them). The minutia of daily life...
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AuthorHi, I'm Sarah, or Sarita as called by many. In an effort to cultivate multicultural empathy and deep respect in our daughter (Rosa), my husband (Brian) and I sold everything in order to embarked on a journey through life. Archives
November 2018
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