a few months ago i was enjoying a peaceful afternoon in my apartment. i may have been reading, or watching lost, or some such activity. it was winter. it was cold out.
all of a sudden i heard a voice - no, not in my head - outside my building (so much for good insulation!). i figured it was someone getting in their car or just passing by. the voice didn't go away though. after about twenty minutes i popped my head out the window to see what the raucous was.
there was a guy standing in the alley one building over, yelling at nothing. i'm not a stranger to mental illness, i'm sure everyone knows someone who has dealt with mental illness... so i shrugged and went back to my book. a while later i heard a different voice yelling something in korean and then the guy stopped and went inside.
this has been a scenario that has occurred many times since then. i'm writing about it, cause it's happening right now. even though it's raining, he's out there - with an umbrella - yelling at the plants, or talking to the crowds of adoring fans, i'm not sure, but i wonder what he must be seeing there. who could he be talking to? what's going on in his head?
even more than that, i wonder who is supposed to be caring for this man? why would someone let him stand in the rain (even with an umbrella?) and talk to the alleyway. korea is a very closed society and you don't often see this side of it. for example, i've only seen one kid with downs syndrome in almost ten months. i think that most mentally or physically ill koreans are sent to live in institutions. at least this guy has someone who cares enough to let him live at home.
he's still going, no one has stopped him yet, like they usually do. i hope he goes in soon though, or he might get sick standing in the rain... if only i spoke korean.
all of a sudden i heard a voice - no, not in my head - outside my building (so much for good insulation!). i figured it was someone getting in their car or just passing by. the voice didn't go away though. after about twenty minutes i popped my head out the window to see what the raucous was.
there was a guy standing in the alley one building over, yelling at nothing. i'm not a stranger to mental illness, i'm sure everyone knows someone who has dealt with mental illness... so i shrugged and went back to my book. a while later i heard a different voice yelling something in korean and then the guy stopped and went inside.
this has been a scenario that has occurred many times since then. i'm writing about it, cause it's happening right now. even though it's raining, he's out there - with an umbrella - yelling at the plants, or talking to the crowds of adoring fans, i'm not sure, but i wonder what he must be seeing there. who could he be talking to? what's going on in his head?
even more than that, i wonder who is supposed to be caring for this man? why would someone let him stand in the rain (even with an umbrella?) and talk to the alleyway. korea is a very closed society and you don't often see this side of it. for example, i've only seen one kid with downs syndrome in almost ten months. i think that most mentally or physically ill koreans are sent to live in institutions. at least this guy has someone who cares enough to let him live at home.
he's still going, no one has stopped him yet, like they usually do. i hope he goes in soon though, or he might get sick standing in the rain... if only i spoke korean.
3 comments:
I'm glad you've made that observation about the that side of Korean culture. One of my professors adopted the most beautiful little Korean baby b/c she didn't have a thumb. Something so small (not that it's small) but in the big picture of life, small, that a mother would want to give up her own flesh and blood.
i totally felt like i was in your apartment, listening to this guy, after reading this post...liking it!!:)
and you're right about the 'darker' side of korea and the way they seem to deal with disabilities...it always strikes me as increcdible that both Seoul and Busan subway stations rarely have escalators let alone elevators...
//there was a guy standing in the alley one building over, yelling // i hate to generalize but thatz very common in greece... iam in athens for past a year or so and i notice this common.
/Yuva
Post a Comment