Ode to My Phone

Today I had a third grader answer his cell phone in class. In the middle of a test. It was his mom. Why she was calling when she knew he was in class, I have no clue. A third grader! And he actually answered it, as if he expected me to put the whole class on hold while he took his call. Can you believe that?

The funny thing is, it's not the first time it has happened. I've had two other kids do it before. And I get phones ringing all the time. At break, half of the students take their cell phones out and turn them on to make calls, send text messages, or play games. Kids as young as kindergarten often have their own phones here, many of which cost upwards of $400. By middle school, virtually every kids has their own phone. They even sell "simple" phones designed especially for children, which have only the basic features, like calling and texting. (Remember that most of the phones here have a camera, Internet access and even TV now, so one that only calls and sends text messages is considered simple.) Remember Fisher-Price? My First Radio, My First Oven? I guess it's just the modern version of that.

As for me, I have finally gotten over my Luddite-like aversion to cell phones. In fact, living in Korea has turned me into a full blown cell phone fan. I LOVE text messaging, and I use my phone to keep my busy while I am trying to kill time. Ok, I don't take it into the bathroom with me, but I have reached the point where I feel lost and disconnected without it. Last week, I actually experienced phone separation anxiety! My charger blew out, and I had to go about an hour without my phone while I left it at the convenience store to re-charge. The whole time, I kept wondering if I was missing calls, missing text messages, missing whatever grand and amazing things people might be trying to tell me about, and couldn't wait to get it back.

When I lived in California, I kind of despised cell phones, mostly because I associated them with snotty Silicon Valley status seekers who wore their phones like jewelry and talked loudly in the grocery store. (Although people do that here too, but its less pretentious to me for some reason. ) I also used to be annoyed by the idea that a cell phone let anyone get ahold of me at anytime, so I usually left mine turned off, only keeping it for emergencies. My friends would sometimes get mad because they could not get ahold of me when I was not at home, and I kind of enjoyed the feeling of being "hard to reach." It made me feel elusive and independent in some weird way. Now, I love the feeling of connectedness that my phone gives me and I love the convenience it provides. I suppose it's part of feeling more at home in a new city, and when I am here I have more of a desire to be in-touch with as many people as possible. Plus, Seoul is a city where cell phone is practically essential, at least if you plan on having any sort of active social life.

When I come home, I wonder if I will go back to being a "cell phone hater," or if I will be one of those people that doesn't even bother to get a land line. Part of it depends on how much the US technology and service has improved since I moved away. My memories of using my cell phone in the Bay Area usually involve lots of static and disconnected calls, and various incidents where I almost threw my phone out the car window in frustration. Service here is excellent -- you can make calls while several hundred feet underground on the subway. Yesterday, we were making calls from the top of a mountain in the middle of a national park and getting crystal clear reception.

Either way, I will NEVER, EVER get over having a child answer a phone in class. That's just wrong.