2009.2.6
At first sight, he looks like just another foreigner sitting at a hotel cafe waiting for the airport limousine bus. But this gentleman is different. All this becomes apparent when the blue eyed German bows slightly and says "Annyeonghaseyo (Hello)" in a perfect Korean accent.
The man is Werner Sasse, 68, chair professor of the cultural anthropology department at Hanyang University. It has been only two and a half years since he settled down for good in Korea, but that he is fluent in Korean is not so surprising considering that he had come here every year since 1966 for research.
Sasse studied Korea at the University of Bochum in Germany. He was the first to graduate from the department, and naturally the first to get a professorship. He later established the Korea department at University of Hamburg, and taught there from 1992 until his retirement.
He fell in love with Korea in 1966, when he first visited here to help his father-in-law by teaching German technology to Korean technicians in Naju in South Jeolla Province.
To young Sasse, the Korean mentality at that time was very attractive.
"You wouldn't believe how poor Korea was then," he said during an interview with The Korea Herald. "But Koreans were still so cheerful, friendly, and very positive about the future."
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The strong personal ties are another aspect of the Korean culture he is drawn to.
"Let's take the current economic crisis for example. Germans would start saving money at the news, but Koreans, if one has money, he will invite his friends over!" he exclaimed.
Soon after his retirement, Sasse dashed back to Korea, leaving his own country and family behind.
"My kids are all grown up, and they live their lives. I plan to die here," he said without hesitation. As much as he loves the country, he has become even more like a Korean than real Koreans.
As he tugged on his standard Western style jacket, Sasse said, "I don't like this. 'Hanbok' (traditional Korean clothing) is much more comfortable and beautiful. I normally wear hanbok in the countryside, but I can't wear it in the city because people will stare at me thinking I'm crazy," he said with a chuckle.
If you think wearing hanbok is taking his love of all things Korea a bit far, you do not know the half. He lives in a proper "hanok," or Korean traditional house, in Damyang, Jeolla Province.
He almost seemed offended when asked if it is not uncomfortable.
"Why do you think it would be?" he asked in return. "I don't need air conditioning in the summer. I live half inside and half outside, always connected with nature, which I love. Because I get so much exercise passing the yard every time I go to the bathroom or the kitchen, I don't need to go to a health club. It's natural living," he said.
Knowing his love for Korea, his concerns for Korea could not sound more sincere.
"Back then (in 1960s), people were very proud of their culture, were interested in it, and knew their history. But now, people are still proud of the culture but are not interested in it, and don't know about their history," he said.
He cannot forget a remark from a Korean student who recently took his class on Korean poems. "At the end of the semester, she left a note that said 'I knew every single poem you taught in class through high school. But now, I love them.' Reading that, I thought 'There, I did something right!'"
These days, Sasse enjoys doing oriental style abstract paintings with black Chinese ink on "hanji," or Korean paper. His talents are quite remarkable. He held several exhibitions during the last few years on the recommendation of art professors and collectors, and they were finished in success.
"It just comes out from me," he said, mentioning how he once wanted to be a painter in high school but had to give up, because his father was against it.
"Once the brush touches the paper, it is the brush that does the painting. Besides, I simply love hanji." He plans on holding another exhibition this spring.
Involved in so many things, it is hard to describe him in one word. What does he think of himself?
"Seonbi," he suggests promptly. "Korean seonbi of Joseon dynasty, studied, painted, and read literature."
He hesitated, however, when asked to translate the word into English.
"It is hard to translate, that's why I said it in Korean," he said, drumming his fingers. "'Hmm ... 'Educated country scholar?' No, it seems too serious ... 'Bohemian?' No, too free ... Perhaps somewhere in between."
By Park Min-young
(claire@heraldm.com)
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