Comments on: An American in Seoul: Roy Tobias (Obit)

By: sewing

sewing — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 01:28:45 +0000

OhMyBlog: Thanks. I thought of that possibility, but forgot to mention it. Since I didn’t know the man, perhaps I spoke—er, wrote—out of place by speculating.

By the way, if there are any details of this post that are incorrect or incomplete, please let me know, and I’ll fix them.

By: OhMyBlog

OhMyBlog — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:54:33 +0000

I wouldn’t read too much into changes of nationality. They’re usually very pragmatic. I knew Roy in the ’80s and early 90s. If I remember right he had a house south of Seoul before foreigners were permitted to buy. Maybe he became Korean so he could own it.

By: sewing

sewing — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 17:54:26 +0000

I agree that it’s hard to see why someone would give up his or her American (or Canadian) citizenship for ROK citizenship. But if he chose to settle down and spend the rest of his life there (as he indeed ended up doing), maybe the decision made sense to him…as he wouldn’t have to constantly renew his visa, with all the up-in-the-air future uncertainties that entails. He had a Korean significant other, which might have influenced his decision to stay there permanently as well.

By: sewing

sewing — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 17:43:21 +0000

Baduk, thanks for the translation! It seems to literally mean “…counted as a teacher who cannot be omitted in the Korean ballet world,” which didn’t seem right to me.

By: baduk

baduk — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 17:36:51 +0000

한국 발레계에서 빼놓을 수 없는 스승으로 꼽힌다 can be translated as “one of the most important contributors in the field”.

I can believe he gave up American citizenship and became a Korean. I did the opposite. I like America, with its equality, progressiveness and fair play.

Despite racism and the gap between the rich and the poor, America still is the best country in the world.