Impressions of South Korea: Conversations, Thoughts, Etc.

These conversations between my relatives and I have been pruned and restructured.

These conversations are paraphrased.

I ask my sister-in-law how many hours a day she works. She responds that it all depends on how much work need to be done. She usually starts work at around 8 or 9 in the morning. She works until 7 or 8 pm usually. If more work needs to be done, she works until 12 or 1 am.

I ask my brother-in-law the same question. He says basically the same thing. I ask him how many hours he works during a typical week. About 70 is his answer.

They both agree that full time is around 40 hours. But they have to put in alot of overtime. I ask them if they get paid for overtime. They respond that they don't. I get a sense that it is hard to get a raise or move to a higher position if they don't do overtime.

My sister-in-law says that most foreigners keep a regular schedule. They work 9-5. Sometimes she's not quite sure what some of the foreigners do. One French woman irks her. She seems to be doing nothing most of the time. There's one Korean-American employee. They use him as a translator. He's not a hard worker either. He loves Korean women and he's found alot of them. He goes to alot of clubs. My-brother-in-law tells me that Koreans are known as the hardest working nation on the earth. They score low on efficiency though.

My sister-in-law and my wife tell me that Koreans do a-quite a bit of personal business during work. They talk on the phone with friends, they email, they pay bills, etc.

My wife and I went to the Korean War Memorial. I was expecting to see names of the dead on a black stone. Inside the museum is a history of the many wars of Korean history. Fierce generals, warriors of the soul, defend Korea against foreign invaders. One life-like scene after another... one is reminded of how Korea needs to defend itself against foreign attacks. I wonder if this is where the Korean work ethic comes from. It really is hard for foreigners to compete with Koreans. Koreans have incredible endurance and passion. A foreigner trying to compete with their fellow Korean professionals would be completely tired out. It is not just work that tires one out. It's the long walks out of subways. It's running so that the elevator door doesn't close on you. It's the traffic and these food-delivery motorcycles that go between cars and whiz around like some overgrown, annoying fly. Koreans know how to hustle said Steve Forbes. He was right.

I ask them how high they can get in the corporation division that they work for. They tell me that they can get to a certain level, but they can never be Vice-President. I ask them why. They answer that you have to go to school in the United States for that. Why? English. Is this because of corporate plans for expansion? My brother-in-law nods.

-They tell me that the retirement age in Korea is 45.
-Why?
-Corporations like young workers.
-I'm a little bit confused. Don't Koreans respect the elderly? What does a person do after he retires?
-they work for a small company. Some people start their own businesses.
-I wonder if all these restaurants are owned by retired people.
-some.

Korea is complex, it occurs to me. It also occurs to me that I have Korean characteristics... I've just forgotten them. My brother-in-law tells me that 5% of the workforce is cut each year. I can sense the constant pressure to perform. They look tired.

I asked my father-in-law about the custom of having all these business meetings in rooms with alcohol and women. Surely he protests. This is adultery.

-That's the way it is. You can't change it. It been that way for years.