Yesterday I attended Busan's "Socrates Cafe." Every Sunday, amateur philosophers gather to discuss a question that the group votes on for that day. Yesterday, our question was "Are all things quantifiable?" The leader-slash-moderator of the group had brought that question to the table, which to me betrayed, right off the bat, his shamefully materialist prejudices. This guy was an economist, and it SHOWED in what I thought was an MOST UNSEEMLY FASHION. The IMPULSE to quantify everything derives from some sort of neurosis of the soul, probably obsessive-compulsive in nature. His most telling quote: "I want everything to be numbers so that I can understand everything." This is an offense not only to the complexity of number-systems, but to MY TASTE as well.
The other big speaker of the group was the guy who I think actually founded it three years ago, Kim. Apart from referencing "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Repair" a little TOO much, his contributions to the discussion helped balance Mr. Materialism. Also, he was possibly the only person in the group who wasn't a twenty-something, which also added value to his words.
There were maybe fifteen attendees. The "conversation" was largely between maybe five people, with another five chiming in with their two cents every now and again and the last five TOTALLY SILENT for the duration of the two-hour meeting, which I thought was strange. But since a good portion of the participants weren't native English speakers, perhaps they weren't 100% comfortable expressing their thoughts en anglais.
Saturday night I toured some of the fashionable nightlife destinations of the Seomyeon area. It was a going-away party for one of the teachers at my branch. I had the rare opportunity to drink with the branch manager. I guess it's true what they say about Korean businessmen: they certainly have an intimidating seriousness about them, but that seriousness is very soluble in alcohol. We had a great time, but I hate that the subway in Busan stops running between about midnight and 6am. Because I was ready to go home at about 3, maybe, but not yet ready to pay for a cab ride across town. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, or, if I may: between a bar and club-place? Certainly not the WORST place to be stuck. It was a minor miracle that I managed to wake up for the Socrates Cafe on Sunday morning: a sort of secular penance for my very un-philosophical night out.
Also, I had a dream that Connecticut (specifically, Canterbury school) was actually technically inside Busan city limits, and was really right outside of the downtown area by maybe half and hour drive. Mostly, no one seemed to know about this. When I mentioned to my mother that Canterbury should make periodic field trips into Busan for the benefit of the Korean students, she was like, "Yeah, we can't really do that... I mean, traffic is really bad downtown, and those Korean bus drivers are CRAZY. Plus, it would run counter to the school's whole policy of cultural immersion for the Korean students, and might actually make their homesickness worse."
I've definitely had stranger dreams, but due to the subject matter I thought this one might be worth sharing with y'all. It does relate to a recurring theme I've had in my dreams ever since I got here. I will frequently dream that I've gone back home to the States, but I will be hyper-conscious that I'll only be in the States for a brief amount of time (a week, or only one night) before I have to go back to Korea. Even stranger, sometimes this knowledge will be accompanied by the feeling that for some reason it's WRONG for me to be at home... I should be in Korea.
Go ahead, my friendly Freuds, and psychoanalyze me! Submit your interpretations via comment!
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