Another cultural difference

This semester I volunteered to be the ESL student council advisor. Bear in mind that I've never been in student council, not in high school or college. I really have no idea what I'm doing. But luckily my students don't know any better. Most of them haven't the slightest clue what student council should be, so I can really do whatever I want (if you have any ideas, feel free to share them!).

My first order of business as student council advisor was to select the students to be involved. Most classes chose to have a mini election/debate to choose the student who would represent their level and section (giving me a total of 9 students). The immediate volunteers consisted of an Armenian (though not the one accusing me of wrinkles), Puerto Rican, Mexican, Haitian, Japanese, and a Congo-an (what do you call someone from the Congo??). I was quite pleased with these students; they all seem outgoing and involved. But you might notice there's a serious lack of Korean volunteers. Remember how UVU has dozens and dozens of Koreans in our ESL program? They're nearly half the student body! And not one single Korean wanted to be in student council. Not one!

At first I thought maybe it just wasn't they type of thing Koreans like to do, but then I decided it's more than that. I think Koreans are unlikely to volunteer for anything, unless there is either a clear academic benefit, or another Korean student volunteers. Having no Koreans to start with means no Koreans want to join. They don't like to operate something like this on an individual basis. At least it seems that way to me.

So I just thought this was interesting, that's all. I'm sure once I offer extra credit or something I'll persuade one or two to join. Or if I can get one to join, others will follow. I think Koreans respond better to peer pressure rather than American desire for individual attention (which is both true and not entirely true- yes, Americans, especially teens will give in to peer pressure in a heart beat. But they also love being an "individual." No matter that the "individuals"in society usually all end up being the same...)