Living in South Korea

Stories and reflections on what it’s like to live and work in South Korea, creating a picture as to why I choose to make my life here. I always tell my students that it is up to them to decide which place in the world offers the best environment in which they can optimize their own flourishing. This is unique to each individual, and it is not always where we grew up.

Things or experiences?: Podcast ep. 60 now released

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Should I save now to have for later? Spend now for life experience at the expense of one’s future security? How much either way? And then spend on what? Acquiring things or experiences? And then at what balance? These are all questions one must answer for oneself, and there is no “right way” to live.

But depending on the answers, there is something that comes across in how much we experience in life in how much grace we carry ourselves with and in how we deal with others. It shows through in one’s carriage and being, so that we in effect “wear” that experience. It is also revealed to ourselves when no one else is looking in how much we are truly satisfied with the experience of our own lives.

Matthew’s wife said that while she used to spend much of her salary on designer bags and clothes, she now prefers to “wear her experience,” and he shares their discussion about that theme in today’s episode.

Listen to ep. 52, an interview with David Veksler

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Christmas is a universal, inclusive holiday: Podcast ep. 46 now released

Matthew BoultonLeave a comment

There is a war on against Christmas. And it’s coming from all directions. From one point, it is attacked for being too “commercial” and “material.” From another, and right in step with the general cancel culture that’s pervaded our society, Christmas is maligned for being “exclusive,” as it is taken as the purview of a single religion (and a majority one in the West, which is an even graver sin today): Christianity.

But what if we separated the holiday from religion?

Continue reading →

Health care can look like this: a brief personal tale from South Korea

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Estimated reading time 8 mins.

The medical profession doesn’t just sell relief from pain, but peace of mind. And we should certainly be willing to pay a price for that which, in some cases, only it can offer us. But how much? Around this time last year, I heard a story on Facebook of a friend in the US who mistakenly took the inhale plus exhale of his infant child’s breaths as two instead of one breath and, alarmed at the accelerated rate, took her to emergency only to be made aware of his mistake. Here is a case of this hospital delivering peace of mind to a relieved father, and grateful for that he ought to be.

But the story turns less cute and benevolent when it concludes in him being charged over $700, and I can’t quite wrap my head around it. I live in Korea, and stories like that often end in inverse fashion, the punchline being how little I pay for the relief, comfort, or peace of mind I receive from my health care providers. The following is a brief account of one such episode. Continue reading →

There’s always someone cooler than you

Matthew BoultonLeave a comment

Estimated reading time 16 mins.

The title may be familiar to some as the 2003 Ben Folds song it is. As a new experiment in my English conversation class this upcoming semester, I’m going to have students discuss these lyrics, while of course highlighting the lessons I take from it myself. As in many Ben Folds songs, the lyrics colorfully present a strong message, and I thought it would be a fun way to introduce a theme for discussion I think will prove relevant to them.

While comparing against others is a personal and social problem in Western countries, expressed (in one aspect) in the idiom “Keeping up with the Joneses,” Korea has its own distinct comparison culture. Korea is a hyper-modern economy that moves at warp speed. The uber-competitive education system centers all around scores and rankings based thereupon. And when they’re done with that, most feel enormous pressure at “getting a good job,” which means—if not a “doctor, lawyer, or judge”—at one of the bigger companies (e.g. Samsung, LG, Hyundai, etc.). Anyone can do the math to see that achieving this measure of “success” is not going to be a reality for almost everyone, so the stress is tremendous.

Continue reading →