Pride and Prejudice 2

As a Korean-American, I often feel an anxiety of cultural influence from both South Korea and America. In one sense, I am very attracted to the innovative spirit of American culture which had its origins in the Enlightenment. In another sense, I am often awed by the "spirit" of the Korean people, and often feel that I've lost something very valuable. Often in American churches, I feel that the Holy Spirit is completely gone. It's all been rationalized. In Korean churches, I feel the spirit but I can't tell whether the spirit is "the Holy Spirit," "A Shaman," or a person feeling the depth of "Filial Piety" via Confucius. The pastor seems way too intense. I don't know, but my experience of the Holy Spirit came when I was reading Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" or even Romantic poets like Byron or Shelley.... a feeling born out of Love for the Spirit.

One thing I can't stand about Korea or Asia in general is its social conformity. There is no room for innovation in such a culture of conformity. Every time some new product from Apple comes out, every single cellphone or computer company in South Korea is taking it apart and analyzing it and then making a few modifications and rebranding it. It really sickens me because I think that there are really great individuals in South Korea who can do incredibly creative work except that they are asked to do "catch-up" work all the time.

Do these feelings about South-Korea make me a racist? I don't think so.