Just yesterday I received my first haircut in Korea. Now I’m known for never spending over $15 on a haircut in the US. Actually, $15 is pricey for me. I asked my co-teacher if she could tell me of a place to go, and she decided to make an evening out of it. We would go to her salon and then have dinner at a fantastic all-natural Korean restaurant tucked up on the mountainside. I was excited!
As I sat in the salon chair, iced tea in hand, and pretending to read the Korean magazine given to me on top of a silky, fluffed pillow, I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by what was happening to my hair—or actually, above it. It was one of those epiphanic moments when something just clicks and the world makes a little more sense, yet all the stylist was doing was cutting my hair. There was something about the way he studied each strand and cut so meticulously that unveiled a true passion for what he was doing. I began to see a quiet pride emit from the smirk on his face as his snips came faster and his snaps more rhythmic. He was excited to cut my hair! His passion for his daily work was more than inspiring—it was invigorating!
One of my fellow Korean teachers emits this same subtle, serenity when I watch her with her students. She is a fantastic teacher and I look forward to every chance I have to watch her teach in front of a full class or simply interact with a student in the hallway. She also gets a small smirk when a student raises his or her hand to ask a question or when she is typing tomorrow’s lesson plans at her desk. Her passion is her profession, and even the students find her passion contagious as they are more animated and excited in her classes.
Sometimes our routine catches up to us and we forget why we do certain things. I know I fall in that trap of comfort and routine sometimes as well. But then I stumble upon moments like watching a man gleefully cut someone’s hair or feeling an educator emit a curious sense of peace by encouraging a student, and it’s in these moments that I am reminded of the importance of having passion in life. As humans, we desire that feeling of attachment and purpose that having passion for something gives. For some, it may be a career, for others it may be family, a person, a sport, or a cause. Or, for others like me, our passion may come in more of a mosaic form. Whatever it is though, it’s important that we discover it and become in tune with it. Not only does it bring more peace within ourselves, but it also leaves those with whom we come in contact, feel a little bit better about their own life and world.
I suppose this realization was worth the 95,000 won (roughly $80) salon experience. Oops.
-Callie
It was worth whatever you paid just reading your discription and your passion for discovery and observation that you present to all of us with your descriptive writing that allows us who will probably never get to Korea to get a feeling for what you are experiencing during your time there. Thank you. (That is a really long sentence.)
ReplyDelete