Routine

My dad is someone who likes structure, tradition and routine.  Like clockwork, he is up every morning before the sun even thinks about rising to get that cup of coffee and his bowl of honey bunches of oats.  He reads the paper, fills his green metal thermos, kisses my mother and is out the door.  He is a man of routine.

My dad is also a man of few words.  He doesn't feel the need to say something in 10 words that can easily be said in 3.  I'm sure if you have had even the most casual of conversations, you know about his dream of someday having a secluded cabin in the Black Hills of his home state, South Dakota.  He loves our family.  With a burning passion.  He also is a big fan of  Harley Davidsons.  The list goes on and on.  Throughout my life, I learned all of this and more by just watching him.  He may not have realized it, but I was paying attention.  I watched how he talked to his friends.  Our family.  Strangers on the street.  I learned more about him this way than any combination of conversations.  I learned alot about how to treat the people around me by using what I learned from my dad. By simply following his example.

Now, I told you that story to tell you another.  The vast majority of Koreans hate the Japanese.  The current population hates the Japanese because their fathers hated the Japanese.  And because THEIR fathers hated the Japanese.  Get the picture?  When the earthquake shook the country and the tsunami ravaged the towns, there were Koreans that rejoiced.  According to my students, the people of Japan are finally getting what they deserve.  Here is a direct quote from one of my students.  "The Japans are bad people.  This is God.  He is happy."   Keep in mind that the majority of my students are around 5 years old.  Clearly they did not come to this conclusion on their own.  They didn't get it from me.  They got this from their parents.

We don't realize how much of what we say or do is soaked up by those around us.  Even now at the age of almost 25, I still don't like asparagus because my dad doesn't like it.  I think the hills of South Dakota are beautiful because my dad always reveled in its beauty and untold adventure.  Flannel shirts will forever make me think of Norm Abram and the New Yankee Workshop.  I still drink Folgers coffee when I am at home because I remember my dad and of those cups of coffee enjoyed at daybreak.

Life is about tradition.  Life is about routine.  The children I teach day in and day out have been routinely taught that the Japanese are bad people and that this tragedy is what they deserve.  My dad's morning routine involves coffee and cereal.  There are some Korean children whose routine involves being taught that the people of an entire country are disposable.  I sincerely hope that the next generation begins to bridge the gap with the Japanese people and begin to think of them as neighbors, instead of the enemy.  

It's unreal to think how different routines can be...

[Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs.  There are many Koreans who will never forgive Japan for the egregious crimes in the past.  However, it has been said that many Koreans would be willing to forgive Japan if it vows to never repeat the tragic history they share.  If you want to know more about the history behind why Korea and Japan have such an aversion to eachother click here.  While it did help me understand why both sides are so rigid in their beliefs, it made me more concretely believe that some routines or traditions do not need to be passed along to the next generations.]