Published : Feb. 17, 2016 - 17:37
Whenever I stroll around Tokyo, walk into shops or basically do anything that involves meeting people, I forget my age.
I thought it was because I was this incredibly cool person, but after a brief trip to Seoul, I realized it wasn’t me. It was because most people are actually older than me in Japan.
I am not about to reveal my age publicly, but I will say I am closer to 40 than 30.
But in Japan, I still feel youthful because, except for students and kids — of whom there isn’t an abundant supply anyway — nearly everybody is older. Shop attendants, colleagues, moms, teachers and so on.
Then I fly back to Korea and get hit by how much older I am. Recently, when I called the Korean Air call center, I had to stop myself from inquiring just how old she was. She sounded like a college kid at most.
The more the reality of my age sinks in, the more self-conscious I get. A few months ago, I got completely ticked off while inquiring about a freebie at the movie theater.
I asked how I could get a certain cartoon character and the clerk at the counter shot me an exasperated look, saying that it was a free download and not an actual character. I had thought it was a doll. So what could I do but regain my dignity by lacing into her for being misleading. I was really cursing myself for sounding as ancient as a Pentium desktop.
South Korean society is aging at breakneck speed, so I am told. In less than a decade, we are supposed to be one of the most aged countries in the world, along with Japan.
So it’s not hard to believe that a large part of the population will soon be older.
And that population includes people like, me the so-called Generation X.
People who are not in the baby-boomer generation. People who know about the Korean War from books and their parents. People who were actually the pioneers of the computer age. People who were brought up on rap and hip hop, people who feasted on hamburgers and fries. In short, people who consider themselves to (still) be kind of cool.
And now we are aging. Sure, we are still in our prime. I look around and see friends being propelled upward in life. Promotions, bigger houses and having a family. But at the same time, we are fretting how old age will disfigure us, both mentally and physically.
Aging is a universal concern. However, when you are brought up in a place like Korea where change happens at tumultuous speed and looks are an obsession, age becomes a much more sensitive issue.
But instead of trying to turn back time, the bigger focus should be on aging in style.
It doesn’t always have to involve work. The wage-peak system is an awesome idea and I truly hope retirement ages will keep climbing. For my sake, if not anyone else’s, but it’s not always about having a job.
Older people who are happier usually have something more in their lives than their kids or family.
At a neighborhood called Futako Tamagawa, a bustling shopping district, there is a small house where old ladies come to volunteer to teach Japanese conversation. I go when I can, and their zest for life always brings a smile to my face. They are all smartly dressed and take care to be polite and efficient.
They taught me that keeping a goal in your life, wanting to get up the next day — in short, finding your own unique brand of happiness is something we all need as our lives start to lurch forward at alarming speed.
By Kim Ji-hyun
Kim Ji-hyun is The Korea Herald’s Tokyo correspondent. She can be reached at jemmie@heraldcorp.com. — Ed.