tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499242434254415942024-03-08T16:24:13.242-08:00A Connecticut Yankee in South KoreaA record of the adventures of Becky's YAV year in DaejeonBeckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-62736539610575132742011-05-29T22:00:00.001-07:002011-05-29T22:00:10.719-07:00Glimpses of Korean history<p>Earlier this month, we set aside a day to visit the city of Kwangju, a place where our missionary predecessors flourished. The city has a long tradition of missionaries, who notably founded a hospital, a girl’s school, and a nursing school. We were lucky enough to get tours of these places, and also to visit the mission house (an interesting mixture of Korean and Western architecture) and the missionary graveyard, a beautiful site located on top of a hill.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-UJOe7oi0ddE/TeMkRaYklII/AAAAAAAABlE/hVGWdFQ-6LM/s1600-h/Missionarygraveyard4.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Missionary graveyard" border="0" alt="Missionary graveyard" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-u_qjjtGmpsM/TeMkSNa-80I/AAAAAAAABlI/GdTqsdxCA_s/Missionarygraveyard_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="295" height="168"></a> </p> <p>Kwangju is very significant in recent Korean history because of the democratic movement, culminating in the uprising on May 18th, 1980. In brief: On that day, a protest against the government, mostly by unarmed students, turned disastrous. Paratroopers were ordered to suppress the protest and they did so violently, with the use of clubs and bayonets, eventually even opening fire on the crowd. Not only were many protesters murdered, but innocent bystanders were killed in the crossfire. This led to enraged protesters organizing to fight back, and more than a week of hostilities ensued until the city was retaken by the army on May 27th.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-RQW5hUivvAQ/TeMkSlNAqhI/AAAAAAAABlM/CHNubnn2MzU/s1600-h/Democraticuprisingmemorial035.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="At the memorial park" border="0" alt="At the memorial park" align="left" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3GGDHHm4XFk/TeMkTXdP-AI/AAAAAAAABlQ/iaItfYJ4ATw/Democraticuprisingmemorial03_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="288" height="164"></a>The uprising was in response to the military dictatorship of Jeon Du Hwan, an ROK general who had taken control of the country via a coup in December 1979 (generally), and the May 17th announcement of the expansion of martial law in Korea (specifically). While the uprising did not achieve anything directly – martial law was not lifted, and Jeon remained in power for eight more years – it is nonetheless an important moment for Korean democracy. The courage of the protesters and the people who resisted the government’s brutality were continuing inspirations for the rest of Korea not to give up hope. The response to the massacre also revealed depths of kindness and generosity in people as they reached out to help each other – sharing food, donating blood, and so forth – and to comfort their grieving neighbors. We paid a visit to the memorial park that currently stands in Kwangju in testament to those terrible events, but also to the spirit of resistance that flourished there.</p> <p>Our other field trip this month was to one of the most significant lines in the world. I never realized that the DMZ was such big tourist business, but apparently it is; 500 tourists come through a day, on average. Mostly they’re foreigners – South Korean residents have to undergo a three-to-six-month background check if they want to visit, presumably so the government can ascertain that they aren’t spies or anything else suspicious like that.</p> <p>Even so, it’s not the most convenient tourist destination in the world. You have to go through an agency (which isn’t cheap, by the way), you have to sign a release saying that your family won’t sue if you get killed, you get inspected twice by soldiers on the way in, and there are lots o’ rules. To name a few:</p> <ul> <li>You have to dress properly. No sleeveless shirts, no shorts, no pants with holes, no flip-flops or sandals without backs to them, no national logos, and so on. <li>No carrying bags of any kind – anything that could be hiding a bomb or a weapon. <li>No pointing, waving, or making other weird hand gestures. <li>No cameras with large lenses and no taking pictures, except in a few very limited areas.</li></ul> <p>These are concerns having to do with security and with the very tense relationship between North and South, but also nobody wants the North Koreans taking pictures that could be used in propaganda. They are constantly watching the South Korean half with binoculars and cameras.</p> <p>But before we get there, let’s take a step back. That wasn’t our first stop. Before that, we went to Unification Park and <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-POn6cYxYztE/TeMkUFljKXI/AAAAAAAABlU/rvZOn7Tto3k/s1600-h/0024.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="At Unification Park" border="0" alt="At Unification Park" align="right" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-qqReDpZGcb4/TeMkUz1eAUI/AAAAAAAABlY/RkpWmpkw6UY/002_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="104" height="182"></a>Imjingak Park, which wait on the road north. Unification Park is home to numerous monuments to the heroes of the Korean War, such as the monument honoring journalists who were killed in the conflict; the monument to ten suicide bombers who gave their lives attacking a North Korean camp; and a couple of monuments to individuals who performed acts of incredible bravery. At Imjingak, you can see Freedom Bridge, which was built in a hurry by South Korean soldiers fleeing North Korean forces; a very old train, riddled with over a thousand bullet holes, that was left behind enemy lines after it was attacked; and four statues facing north, who represent South Koreans looking back towards family members they left behind. There are also numerous banners and ribbons demanding peace and unification for the two countries, once one. And there is an altar that serves an important purpose. It’s a Korean tradition (one that originates in Confucianism) to return to one’s hometown and honor one’s ancestors, for example on Chuseok. But after the division into North and South Korea, people with roots in the north could no longer return there. So an altar was built at Imjingak as a place for those people to come instead.</p> <p>Only afterwards did we continue our journey north, towards Camp Bonifas, the last outpost before the DMZ proper. There we were debriefed and presented with a history of the place before boarding a military bus and heading for the Joint Security Area. This is where diplomatic talks are held under the aegis of the U.N. Originally, the JSA was shared between North and South, and soldiers from both sides could cross the Military Demarcation Line freely within that neutral zone. But after a conflict in the 1970s in which several people were killed, the division became strictly enforced.</p> <p>The whole area, by the way, is a landmine zone. The roads and the outposts themselves are in areas that have been cleared, but wandering off the paths is inviting one of the tens of thousands of landmines still in the ground to go off under your foot.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lR7bJzh1JSE/TeMkVkzhDbI/AAAAAAAABlc/NIXOTWF5GnM/s1600-h/029%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="029" border="0" alt="029" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GGsnMpVXdQs/TeMkWbBwfNI/AAAAAAAABlg/FaR0AhvgoXI/029_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="139"></a>The actual JSA meeting buildings are very small. We were allowed to go into one, where two soldiers were standing guard. Specifically, they have one guy watching the door that opens on the North Korean side. They secure that door during tours, because there have been incidents where the North Koreans have tried to pull people through to the other side. (We only actually saw one North Korean guard, standing across the way watching us through binoculars.)</p> <p>As for the guards on the South Korean side, they are chosen from among the elite. They are often black belts in multiple martial arts, know multiple languages, and are tall and imposing-looking. They wear military police helmets and have huge sunglasses so no one can tell where they’re looking. On duty, they stand in a taekwondo ready stance.</p> <p>As we made our way out of the DMZ, heading back for Camp Bonifas, we stopped briefly at the Bridge of No Return. This was the location of the final POW exchange of the war. When the North Korean prisoners crossed the halfway point on the bridge to return to their own, and the South Korean prisoners did likewise, it marked the last time that people traveled freely between the two countries, once one.</p> <p>Another tour that is available (although we didn’t do it) is a tour that goes to the third infiltration tunnel. For those of you who don’t know, South Korea has so far discovered four tunnels drilled through the rock under the border, all of a sufficient size to move a lot of troops through them quickly, all well-positioned for an attack on Seoul. The South Korean government has blocked off these four tunnels, but it is believed there may be quite a few more that they have yet to find – possibly up to a total of 17 tunnels in all.</p> <p>Seeing all of this really brought home to me the wrongness of the situation. I had always known about the Korean War and the division of the country, but seeing a people armed to the teeth against itself is a lot more powerful than reading about it in a history textbook. After all, how frightening is it to draw a line of barbed wire across your country? How horrible is it not to know if your relatives on the other side of the border are alive or dead? And how messed up is it that we accept that as a matter of course these days?</p> <p>For more pictures of Kwangju, see <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Kwangju?authkey=Gv1sRgCMOV-ujb95jY2gE&feat=directlink">here</a>. DMZ trip pictures are <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Panmunjeom?authkey=Gv1sRgCJbwuJWH8rOWqQE&feat=directlink">here</a>.</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-470728041466191162011-05-28T22:25:00.001-07:002011-05-28T22:25:20.791-07:00Are you being served?<p><sup></sup>Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” – John 13:8</p> <p>A couple of weeks back – on Palm Sunday, actually – I came walking into church with a big bowl full of water and a towel. “Okay, folks,” I announced to my youth group. “Today I’m going to wash your feet.” It seemed appropriate, at the beginning of Holy Week, to reenact one of its defining moments of love; to think about Jesus, the servant Lord, and how we, in our turn, can serve others. A nice neat meaningful little Sunday school lesson, wouldn’t you agree?</p> <p>One problem, though: nobody wanted to get their feet washed.</p> <p>I really should have seen that one coming, honestly. After all, doesn’t the Bible story turn out the same way? Peter doesn’t want Jesus down on his hands and knees, scrubbing away his grime. He doesn’t go into details about why, but clearly the idea is an uncomfortable one.</p> <p>In the same way, my youth group friends were not down with the foot-washing thing. The moment I declared my intentions, I was confronted with panicked expressions. “Why didn’t you warn us about this?” they asked me. And although they repeatedly balked at the idea of me taking a towel to their feet, they offered to do mine instead.</p> <p>I took a couple of important lessons from this. First of all, don’t spring ritual cleansings on people – not even during Holy Week. But in a more general sense, this story has become representative of the struggles of my year of service.</p> <p>Every day I’ve shown up at my children’s center, eager for something to do. Anything, really, provided that it’s useful. It doesn’t have to be teaching English. I just want to help. Heck, I would scrub the bathroom floor with a toothbrush if that might be helpful.</p> <p>But it wouldn’t. You see, our children’s center is a fully-functional place. It already has a wonderful staff and facilities for all its needs. It does not, repeat not, need me. That was an important illusion of mine that has been shattered. Don’t get me wrong – I never at any point leading up to my YAV year thought that I was going to be saving the world or changing things with a capital C. But I did think I would be a little more useful than this.</p> <p>In fact, to date, I have done much less serving than being served. At first at the center, I was a dependent and a guest. People brought me drinks, washed my dishes, and just generally didn’t let me do anything, no matter how simple, for myself. That hospitality was hard to bear. I kept trying to say that I could handle myself – that I could even help out with things! But I got shot down pretty consistently. There were days when I thought I was going to go crazy sitting watching other people do all the work.</p> <p>Slowly, bit by bit, things did start to change. They began to include me in other aspects of center life, and to let me help out with chores that weren’t dependant on being fluent in Korean. I was so absurdly grateful . . . If you had told me a year ago that one day I’d be overjoyed at being allowed to mop the floor, I would have recommended that you take yourself to the hospital and make sure you didn’t get your head hit. But these days, I feel like I’m starting to wise up a little. And in my work (or, sometimes, lack thereof) at the center, I recognize a more complicated process going on than my former idea of simple serving.</p> <p>I may feel helpless and frustrated, even patronized, when I am not working, when others are doing things for me. And that’s exactly why I have to recognize that they must feel the same way. It’s not any better a solution for me to serve them one-sidedly. After all, how arrogant of me is it to assume that I am the only one who wants to be involved, working hard on something that is meaningful? I’ve come to realize that the concept that I am the only one who can serve, even if it is only unconsciously held, is one with unfortunate implications: it implies an offensive sort of superiority, and it’s the same fallacy that Jesus had to call Peter on: the most important lesson of serving is learning how to <em>be</em> served.</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-91490018173488072282011-05-27T22:54:00.001-07:002011-05-28T06:11:04.328-07:00Yes, I still work at a children’s center<p>. . . although you would never know it, to look at my blog. In fact, I am so far behind that I find myself condensing events of the last few months into one short, easy-to-digest post, whereas once I would have tried to write about them in detail. Oops. Shoulda kept on top of that. Here are some of the high points of the spring, anyway.</p> <ul> <li><u>February 25th concert</u>. We spent the winter vacation honing our musical skills all day, every day. Going to the center back in those days meant the constant sound of recorders, ocarinas, xylophones, bells, piano, violins, and singing: the kids were all <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-v6plVDVnv04/TeD0QmQJX4I/AAAAAAAABkc/Rq2S8UjAZTQ/s1600-h/0314.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="031" border="0" alt="031" align="right" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-P2thwQ2fABM/TeD0RZd9UYI/AAAAAAAABkg/ppV_2FA4qzA/031_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="139"></a>hard at work practicing the songs they were to perform (from memory). I was put in charge of the handbell choir, which was mostly made up of the younger kids. We spent hours every day practicing the songs “Butterfly” and “Morning Greeting” (better known in the U.S. as “Frere Jacques”). Then on the day of, everybody squeezed into their matching outfits and climbed onto the stage of the community center next door. I was very impressed with all the kids, and thought that the choir sounded especially good (although obviously no one was better than the bell players!). It was a great opportunity for the kids to show off for their families, their teachers, and each other.</li></ul> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-HsV6HD0w5P4/TeD0SBJfYfI/AAAAAAAABkk/UNDQsgexkS4/s1600-h/1125.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="112" border="0" alt="112" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qBahM76L6OY/TeD0Sw_YxWI/AAAAAAAABko/RhpS2ImTnqk/112_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="302" height="172"></a> </p> <ul> <li><u>Going to watch some soccer</u>. Daejeon is home to a World Cup Stadium, which was our destination for some Saturday afternoon fun one weekend in March. The Daejeon City Football Club (DCFC) was playing FC Seoul in one of the first games of the season. The outcome was disappointing for soccer fans; at the end of the game, the score was tied up, and since apparently they don’t do overtime, the match was called as a draw. But for those people who could care less about sports (me), it wasn’t a problem. Hanging out together was a lot of fun in and of itself.<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-VktH6kaIvm8/TeD0Tk0RQzI/AAAAAAAABks/vcszuwaCSGg/s1600-h/0109.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="010" border="0" alt="010" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ioeGJTWfW3M/TeD0UhRM4XI/AAAAAAAABkw/MmZw8-O-MoM/010_thumb7.jpg?imgmax=800" width="311" height="176"></a> <li><u>Earth Day drawing contest</u>. Around Earth Day, the Expo Science Park had a festival to educate people about environmentally-friendly behavior. This included booths where you learn about buying green products; craft stations where you made stuff (keychains, hankies, etc.) out of recyclable materials; free plant giveaways; and, last but not least, a drawing contest for kids. The topic: “The area where I live.” I suppose the idea was for kids to draw the things they found beautiful about their neighborhood. Interestingly enough, the kids I teach seem to share living space with dragons and robots. And the sky there is yellow.</li></ul> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-xKaTe3YMO4o/TeD0VTRP4BI/AAAAAAAABk0/NMeUvZYQh-I/s1600-h/Kidsdrawing198.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Kids drawing 19" border="0" alt="Kids drawing 19" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-XH4KOB5qxw4/TeD0W1zxcvI/AAAAAAAABk4/-7ZzTRmIzcw/Kidsdrawing19_thumb6.jpg?imgmax=800" width="327" height="185"></a> </p> <ul> <li><u>May 5th celebrations</u>. 5/5 around here is a national holiday known as “Children’s Day.” Everybody gets the day off work and school, and the kids often get presents from their parents and grandparents. Our center children went to a festival in a local park, where they were having a talent show, and showed off their skills dancing to a K-pop song. Then everyone chowed down on snacks (like tteokbokki!) and had fun doing the activities, like jump rope, walking on stilts, and making balloon animals. <li><u>Music camp</u>. We recently took an overnight camping trip to Muju Resort up in the mountains surrounding Daejeon. (Not actual, outdoor camping, to be clear – we stayed in a building.) We brought our recorders and our ocarinas and our singing voices to learn some great new songs (for next year’s concert, maybe?). There was plenty of time to play outside, too. And at night everybody curled up on the floor and giggled themselves to sleep. Ah, good times, good times.</li></ul> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YGba-bylmOw/TeD0XuMy7eI/AAAAAAAABk8/zgXlO5YAvEY/s1600-h/0664.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="066" border="0" alt="066" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-oynCGWT2pvs/TeD0ZUAot2I/AAAAAAAABlA/0Heq76kQhT8/066_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="320" height="182"></a> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>And now you know why I have no time to write. I’m totally busy, with all this on top of the usual stuff! At any rate, that’s a quick summary of what’s new (and not so new) in the world of Becky Francisco. Continue to stay tuned!</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-76892484307624766732011-05-27T22:49:00.001-07:002011-05-27T22:49:37.908-07:00Somebody start an import company, quick<p>Oh man, I am so behind on my blogging. I haven’t written a proper blog on my YAV work since Christmas, and believe me, I feel bad about it. I’m currently working on rectifying that. In the meantime, please accept this to tide you over.</p> <p>“This” is a list of things that I really enjoy about Korea and Korean culture, things that have often caused me to ask, “Why hasn’t this caught on in America?”</p> <p>1. <em><u>Tteokbokki</u></em>. A popular and cheap snack food that combines the soft squishy goodness of <em>tteok</em> (rice cake) with a kick of spicy flavor! (Actually, I could go on and on naming Korean foods I like that need to be more widely known in my home country. <em>Tteokbokki</em> gets special mention because I just think it is really delicious.)</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dMUVZuhfPcg/TeCMjjUPHBI/AAAAAAAABYk/ajMtl3TUtuc/s1600-h/Streetvendorwithtteokbokki3.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Korean street food, mmm" border="0" alt="Korean street food, mmm" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-i0K-iKVHWdM/TeCMlNVeRbI/AAAAAAAABYo/TBarvLPJdX8/Streetvendorwithtteokbokki_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="139"></a></p> <p>2. <u>Heated floors</u>. In our YAV house, and in many other places around Korea, heating comes via hot water flowing through pipes under the floor. This is brilliant because a) the rising heat warms the house very efficiently, and b) I’m the sort whose feet are always cold. Seriously, we’ve been very toasty this winter. I think this system works better than what we have in our house in the U.S.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-V3YgcWd3wxw/TeCMoO5mttI/AAAAAAAABYs/uV6crWgN7_k/s1600-h/Bugzapper16.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="Press the button for zapping action!" border="0" alt="Press the button for zapping action!" align="right" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-u7LvRQU-o9A/TeCMsM8TcFI/AAAAAAAABYw/RnJO1AcWLLw/Bugzapper_thumb14.jpg?imgmax=800" width="94" height="164"></a>3. <u>Mosquito-zapping tennis rackets</u>. We’ve all had the experience of that pesky bug bothering us, the one we just can’t seem to swat. Well what if you had something with a nice large surface area – much larger than your traditional flyswatter – and it electrocuted your bugs so that you didn’t have to worry about whether they were properly squished? If you live in Korea, this doesn’t have to be just a pipe dream! I’d bring one home, but I don’t think they would allow it on the plane. </p> <p>4. <u>Combination Bible/hymnals</u>. Why not cut down on the number of heavy books in your church? Place all your worship aides in one volume, like the Koreans do! </p> <p>5. <u>The <em>jjimjilbang</em></u>. When you’re all stressed out from working hard at your YAV placement, why not drop in at the <em>jjimjilbang</em>? For just a few dollars (seriously), you get up to 24 hours of access to the sauna-like facilities. The main focus is the hot rooms (the salt room, the soot room, the red soil room, etc.), which are available at varying temperature levels and degrees of humidity, all the way up the <em>bulgama</em>, or cooking pot, which is slightly cooler than sitting in boiling water. The idea is to get clean by sweating. There are also cold ice rooms to cool you down when the heat is a little too much to take; massage chairs; quiet rooms for resting; cafeterias to supply your food and drink needs; and often play rooms for children. You can also stay there cheaply overnight, if you don’t mind sleeping in the traditional Korean-style (i.e. on the floor).</p> <p>6. <u>Lobster crane games</u>. Okay, so maybe this last one is just for kicks. There is one of these on my walk home from work. Yes, it is what it sounds like. You put in some coins and you try to use the crane to pick up a live lobster. I really don’t know what the person who made this was even thinking. I wish I had a better picture than this to show you, too.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-f0I25kwt_vQ/TeCM2WxpeTI/AAAAAAAABY0/hsIeb8gYJQc/s1600-h/Lobstercranegame15.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Lobster crane game" border="0" alt="Lobster crane game" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sC25KGZ7PsE/TeCM7QA6wuI/AAAAAAAABY4/mVezEgkqt2Y/Lobstercranegame_thumb13.jpg?imgmax=800" width="139" height="244"></a></p> <p>That’s all for now, folks. And I swear, more is coming, including: an update on children’s center activities; info about our recent trips to Kwangju and the DMZ; and some reflections on my life as a volunteer. Until then!</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-12828887147895229932011-04-24T05:37:00.001-07:002011-04-24T05:37:52.870-07:00Tis the spring of souls today<p align="center">Now the queen of seasons, bright with the day of splendor,<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TbQZPXVmKsI/AAAAAAAABYE/G5p0ApP2vPE/s1600-h/Shintanjin%2014%5B11%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="Shintanjin 14" border="0" alt="Shintanjin 14" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TbQZQ_MLT9I/AAAAAAAABYI/bxeAlN-VnFg/Shintanjin%2014_thumb%5B7%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="435" height="247"></a></p> <p align="center">with the royal feast of feasts comes its joy to render;<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TbQZSOzM4eI/AAAAAAAABYM/7NEKaU2Opjg/s1600-h/Pink%20flowering%20tree%5B8%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="Pink flowering tree" border="0" alt="Pink flowering tree" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TbQZUO4rAjI/AAAAAAAABYQ/T31e3m9Y05k/Pink%20flowering%20tree_thumb%5B6%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="193" height="340"></a></p> <p align="center">comes to glad Jerusalem, who with true affection<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TbQZVxKadhI/AAAAAAAABYU/arMHbKAcaT4/s1600-h/English%20cafe%5B11%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="English cafe" border="0" alt="English cafe" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TbQZcg1swuI/AAAAAAAABYY/IG6_AMeazhc/English%20cafe_thumb%5B9%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="433" height="245"></a></p> <p align="center">welcomes in unwearied strains Jesus’ resurrection. <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TbQZmsDdeUI/AAAAAAAABYc/BbWr2wiLIwc/s1600-h/Tulips%5B6%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="Tulips" border="0" alt="Tulips" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TbQZn7zTGEI/AAAAAAAABYg/Lpf7HqKtekE/Tulips_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="430" height="244"></a>As spring returns to the earth, may it return in your heart also. Happy Easter, everyone!</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-76894850113832171562011-03-10T05:58:00.001-08:002011-03-10T05:58:58.061-08:00Japan Part 6: Hiroshima and Miyajima<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TXjZAa286oI/AAAAAAAABR8/c2ROPg_rpdI/s1600-h/hiroshimamap5.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="The red circle is us." border="0" alt="The red circle is us." align="left" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TXjZBW-ssbI/AAAAAAAABSA/3VVNYgzPOIk/hiroshimamap_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="534" height="510"></a> </p> <p>Sorry this blog is so late in coming! I honestly meant to get it up sooner, but got taken out of action for a little while with a nasty stomach bug. Feeling much better now, though.</p> <p>The main objective of our Hiroshima trip was to attend the peace forum, which was held in a beautiful little chapel at Hiroshima Women’s University. Many thoughtful and interesting opinions were shared, I think it goes without saying. Jenny, who has her masters in international development, took the opportunity to look at the root causes of violence in our world; Okdeuk took a more national approach, and discussed a problem very close to her country’s heart – the recent North/South Korea violence. The Japanese students who spoke talked about the local peace movement, how it was still strong so many years after the war, and how it opened their eyes and changed the way they thought about the world.</p> <p>To go along with this, it was only <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TXjZC18Rg2I/AAAAAAAABSE/56husWyQz5c/s1600-h/IMG_2689%5B6%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Peace Park (Genbaku Dome in background)" border="0" alt="Peace Park (Genbaku Dome in background)" align="right" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TXjZELkka3I/AAAAAAAABSI/IiXoROX4aAA/IMG_2689_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="139" height="184"></a>appropriate that we pay a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Park. And honestly, the only word I can think of to describe it is <em>tsurai</em> – that Japanese word that goes beyond just painful and into heartbreaking territory. One of the most striking images (and one I will carry with me always) is that of the Genbaku (atomic bomb) Dome. The dome was located almost directly beneath the epicenter of the explosion, which is why it can still be seen today; had it been further out, the concussion would have hit it sideways and knocked it down. So today the dome occupies the strange position of being one of the few relics of the event, yet also a testament to how deadly and destructive that event was. Seeing its crumbling walls looming over the river, seeing the clouds move through the skeleton of the dome, is nothing short of haunting.</p> <p>Moving on to something a little brighter: a big highlight of the Hiroshima trip was that we got to do homestays. I don’t want to knock the absolutely royal red-carpet treatment we got in some other places. However, for me, actually being received into someone’s home and sharing their life, if only for a day, was even more touching than any official welcome could be. The Shingu family – Yuu and her parents – took great care of me. They also let me use their <em>kotatsu</em>. (What’s that, you ask? Only one of the greatest Japanese inventions ever! It’s a table, you put your legs under it, and soon you’re all toasty and warm.) At any rate, Yuu and I had a lot of great conversation, because as it turns out, we have a common interest in linguistics – she studied French in addition to English. It was great to talk with her about the politics of language and share our cross-cultural experiences.</p> <p>The day afterwards, I said my goodbyes to Yuu and her family, and our gang headed out on a sightseeing trip to Miyajima. Miyajima is an island in the nearby bay – you take a short ferry ride to reach it – and it is well-known as one of the most scenic places in Japan, due to its lush natural preserves as well as its traditional architecture, all surrounded by shimmering waters. Even in January, the effect was magical.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TXjZFs-Vd6I/AAAAAAAABSM/RcURfEEJi0g/s1600-h/IMG_2739%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="Itsukushima Shrine" border="0" alt="Itsukushima Shrine" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TXjZHlfy72I/AAAAAAAABSQ/xYVDsqF_dVg/IMG_2739_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184"></a></p> <p>To be more specific, the island is famous for its Itsukushima Shrine, a very old Shinto relic that is perched half on the shore, half on piers over the water. The <em>torii</em>, or shrine gate, is out in the middle of the bay, and back in the day, people had to steer their boats through there on their approach in order to purify them. People still worship at the shrine in the modern era, too; it’s customary to make a <em>hatsumoude</em>, the first shrine visit of the year, on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, in order to pray for good fortune, health, wisdom, etc. in the coming year. </p> <p>We stopped in at the Buddhist temple on the mountainside, too, and got stared at by many little monk statues and several very large demon ones. Plus, I got my fortune told by an <em>omikuji</em>. That’s where you shake up a jar of sticks, draw one, and get an oracle according to the number on the stick. Seems like I will have good luck this year! (Well, fingers crossed, anyway.)</p> <p>Miyajima is also the place to pick up your <em>momiji manjuu</em>, which are little cakes shaped like maple leaves. These are then filled with just about anything you like – red bean paste, green tea, honey, custard, chocolate, you name it. We stopped in at a little cafe specializing in the confection. However, there was no way I was gonna choose just one of those scrumptious options, so I ordered one of everything off the menu. (I <em>did</em> have extra money left in my food budget. Well worth it.)</p> <p><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Hiroshima?authkey=Gv1sRgCLzWwsX92cHb_gE&feat=directlink">Here</a> are the pictures from Hiroshima, and <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Miyajima?authkey=Gv1sRgCOLVisaj3cChhwE&feat=directlink">here</a> are the pictures from Miyajima. Once again, the props go to Katie and Soo-min, so thanks for letting me use your wonderful photos, guys! This concludes the epic Japan saga!</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-4979200820879605082011-02-24T04:08:00.001-08:002011-02-24T04:08:03.866-08:00Japan Part 5: Tokyo<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TWZKGBZYVnI/AAAAAAAABJk/zU94t3j_t3k/s1600-h/tokyo-map%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="The red circle is us." border="0" alt="The red circle is us." align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TWZKHI2GmfI/AAAAAAAABJo/EHfmDA2DJYw/tokyo-map_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="539" height="514"></a> </p> <p>To be honest, Tokyo, the current capital of Japan and one of the biggest cities in the world, was not high on my list of places I wanted to see in Japan. Big cities are big cities, right?</p> <p>Honestly, though, I am glad now that I got to have a look at it. Tokyo is definitely a glamorous place – like New York in that I don’t think I’d ever want to live there, but it was cool to visit. Actually, I find myself wishing that I had had more than a single day to check it out.</p> <p>Our first stop was at Sensouji Temple in Asakusa. This temple is famous for its huge red paper lantern hanging over its huge red gate, also known as the “Thunder Gate.” The path to the temple is lined with stalls and shops selling everything imaginable to the “pilgrims” who have trekked their long way there.</p> <p>Afterwards, we headed to the Meiji Shrine, which was built to commemorate the Meiji Restoration of 1868. That’s when the rule of the emperor was restored to Japan, which triggered great changes for the country, including modernization of both industry and education. The shrine itself was a simple, elegant structure, surrounded by acres of woodland. A number of people were there, offering up prayers. We didn’t stay long enough to disturb them.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TWZKH0poC-I/AAAAAAAABJs/LHAW-7x1AGw/s1600-h/Tokyo%20skyline%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="Tokyo skyline" border="0" alt="Tokyo skyline" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TWZKIv2aZSI/AAAAAAAABJw/vhBBLD9UX7Q/Tokyo%20skyline_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="321" height="217"></a> </p> <p>Following a rather disappointing visit to the Imperial Palace (they wouldn’t let us in!), we decided to take in some of the city’s more modern side, and visit some of Tokyo’s famous districts, such as:</p> <ul> <li><em>Harajuku.</em> An extremely colorful place, even on a Monday. Everywhere bright colors called out to us and delicious smells tempted us (I wound up with some delicious Indian food and a crepe for dessert).</li> <li><em>Akihabara.</em> A Mecca for lovers of all things electronic – computers, cameras, you name it. It’s also a place for diehard gamers to meet for conventions.</li> <li><em>Shinjuku.</em> Kind of like the Times Square of Tokyo – it’s where things are happening. Specifically shopping and fashion things. There were a ton of high-end clothing boutiques.</li></ul> <p>The problem was that we only really got to glimpse this stuff. Tokyo is just such a big place, I could have used a week seeing everything I wanted to see, like the Rainbow Bridge or the gardens in Shinjuku.</p> <p>One other thing I got a peek at: Mt. Fuji, yes <em>the</em> Mt. Fuji, was visible through the train window on the way there. That alone made the trip to Tokyo worthwhile, at least for me. A fun story you may not know about Mt. Fuji: in one of Japan’s very old legends, <em>The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter</em>, the emperor falls in love with a woman who turns out to be from the moon. Eventually, she has to return to her home there, but offers him an elixir of immortality as a parting gift. Since he doesn’t want to live forever without her, he climbs the highest mountain (the mountain closest to the sky, and thus, her) and burns it. From that day on, the mountain was called by the name “immortality”, becoming Mt. Fuji.</p> <p>Actually, to be honest, my camera died near the end of the day in Osaka, and for the last couple of days in Japan I was unable to take any pictures. Thus I have to be indebted to Katie and Soo-min for lending me their photos from Tokyo – thanks so much, guys! Those pictures can be seen <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Tokyo?authkey=Gv1sRgCIKKmtzl0-n0wQE&feat=directlink">here</a>.</p> <p>The next (and last! finally!) part will be about Hiroshima. Also coming soon: the Beobdong Area Children’s Center has a concert tomorrow!</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-74145311812362679372011-02-19T05:36:00.001-08:002011-02-19T05:36:14.566-08:00Japan Part 4: Osaka<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV_HN4W4swI/AAAAAAAABG8/zNkjWLdLVrc/s1600-h/osakamap5.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="The red circle is us." border="0" alt="The red circle is us." align="left" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV_HO3yTYtI/AAAAAAAABHA/cQqiph1d3eY/osakamap_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="534" height="510"></a> </p> <p>The day after the Kyoto trip, we hopped on the train again – this time for only about 20 minutes – to visit Kobe’s neighbor, Osaka. Believe it or not, Osaka was <em>also</em> the capital once, a heck of a long time ago, even before Kyoto was. We’re talking around the 7th century here. At that time, it was called “Naniwa-kyo,” and was considered a vital seaport for trade, especially with Korea and China.</p> <p>Yes, as you may be able to tell, we had a very historical day in Osaka, starting with a visit to the infamous Osaka Castle. It was the home of Mr. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, warrior and lord, who unified Japan in the sixteenth century. This is also the crazy guy who had the solid-gold portable tea room built, so that he could have tea in style, anywhere, anytime. Umm, and he might have invaded Korea a couple of times. And killed those Twenty-Six Martyrs in Nagasaki (Christian missionaries and laypeople of various origins) that I didn’t mention when I wrote part 2. </p> <p>Since the castle got burned down once (or twice), the present-day Osaka Castle is a careful reconstruction of the original. <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV_HQDpn1zI/AAAAAAAABHE/naIHnHiofxY/s1600-h/172%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Osaka Castle" border="0" alt="Osaka Castle" align="right" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV_HROpl0-I/AAAAAAAABHI/5OoKr2pji8U/172_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="139"></a>However, we were unable to enjoy the gorgeous insides, unlike we could in Kyoto’s Nijo Castle. The inside has been reborn as a museum, which explains the history of the castle in (excruciating) detail. We followed that up with a trip to the Osaka Museum of History, where we strolled through the eras of Japanese history and glimpsed the many different faces that Osaka wore over the years. And we got to role-play a little, putting on the traditional Japanese kimono, before relaxing downtown and getting some ice cream.</p> <p>And on the last day of our trip (if I may be allowed to skip ahead a little here), we visited a significant mission site of the P.C. (USA) – the Yodogawa Christian Hospital. We were welcomed to the hospital by some very nice people (they put up “Welcome YAVs” signs in all the hospital hallways!) and got to tour their facilities. Afterwards, we had our own private worship in one of their chapels, with our own private minister, Rev. Choi, presiding. This before being treated to a lovely sushi box lunch (<em>obentou</em> in Japanese; some of you may be familiar with it).</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV_HSUf7aCI/AAAAAAAABHM/xHQ5Ob747mI/s1600-h/183%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="At the Museum of History" border="0" alt="At the Museum of History" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV_HTWckeeI/AAAAAAAABHQ/BZmVj0Avipw/183_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="139"></a> This hospital focuses on “whole-person healing” and the idea that both the body and soul of a sick person need care and nourishment. They are currently ranked number one in the nation out of all private hospitals. Because they are a Christian organization, a large percentage of the staff (13%) is Christian, although the patients are 99% <em>not</em> Christian (a reflection of the general populace). Nonetheless, patients give an overwhelmingly positive response to the hospital chaplains who visit them to pray with/for them. Every morning, they hold worship, which is available on TVs in every patient room. They also have a lunch-hour broadcast for those interested in tuning in. In fact, they just have so much going on and my descriptions really can’t do it justice, so if you want to know more, you can look at their website <a href="http://www.ych.or.jp/e/index.html">here</a>.</p> <p>Click <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Osaka?authkey=Gv1sRgCMfd9IuKmpanzAE&feat=directlink">here</a> for more pictures of Osaka. Part 5 to come soon; the topic: Tokyo.</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-15240952341969419232011-02-18T06:26:00.001-08:002011-02-18T06:36:23.362-08:00Japan Part 3: Kyoto<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV6Bo-FdBSI/AAAAAAAABDY/srdIVnITRoY/s1600-h/kyotomap1.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="The red circle is us." border="0" alt="The red circle is us." align="left" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV6BqH3ztQI/AAAAAAAABDc/SCNO0Jrg9D8/kyotomap_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="534" height="510"></a></p> <p>The city of Kyoto is one of the most famous in Japan. Its name literally means “capital city,” as it was the capital of Japan during its golden age, the Heian-kyo period, before the unified rule of the emperor was replaced with many warring feudal lords. In addition to being the seat of the government, it was also the birthplace of such literary masterpieces as <em>The Tale of Genji</em> and the <em>Pillow Book</em>, and it is still the home of many Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. During the war, Kyoto was considered as a target for bombing, but was ultimately passed over because of the city’s great beauty and cultural heritage. Naturally, with my background in Japanese language and literature, I was very excited to visit here – it was the number one place on my list, actually – and see the legends that I had so far only imagined come to life for me. So I was glad that we had, more or less, a “free day” to take in as much as we could of the city.</p> <p><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="Nijo Castle" border="0" alt="Nijo Castle" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV6CqJqT8xI/AAAAAAAABDk/TFxyMaPsTnk/114_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="303" height="172"></p> <p>It turns out that Kyoto is a city of fusion, thousand-year-old temples rubbing elbows with very modern skyscrapers and high-end fashion stores. My favorite place that we visited was Nijo Castle, which was built to house shogunate troops and visiting (i.e., hostage) lords and their families. Everything was lavishly decorated, but in an understated, subtle way. The dark wood was overlaid with gold and green carvings, mainly of animals – tigers, cranes, hawks. The floors were, of course, covered by the traditional tatami (bamboo mats), but the floors in the sleeping rooms had an extra feature: they were designed to squeak obnoxiously whenever someone walked on them, so that it was impossible (well, very difficult) to sneak up and assassinate the castle’s inhabitants. They call these the “nightingale” floors. We also saw the secret doors built into the walls of the meeting rooms. These doors were for the bodyguards to hide behind, and kept the meeting private while still allowing quick and easy access to the lord’s private army should things get ugly, politically speaking.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV6DnFUtAVI/AAAAAAAABDw/q1VHdy9IGXY/s1600-h/150%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="" border="0" alt="" align="right" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TV6Dn5nRseI/AAAAAAAABD0/mAYhLstf0K4/150_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="139" height="244"></a>Another highlight was Kiyomizu Temple, up on a cliff overlooking the city. The temple was founded in the eighth century, when a certain monk had a vision that told him to climb the mountain, bring down a log he found there, and carve it into the likeness of one of the Bodhisattvas. This he did (apparently), and founded a temple on the site. The temple’s chief feature is the water that comes down from the mountain. It is said that this water is holy water, and that drinking it will give you wisdom, good health, and long life. Of course we had to try it for ourselves. I don’t know about wisdom or good health, but as for long life, well . . . After drinking the water, I noticed that my camera (whose battery had been on the verge of dying) found the mysterious strength to carry on – the display showed the battery completely full again. Coincidence? I think not!! (Hey, no one said it had to be long life for humans!)</p> <p>To see photos of this stuff and more, head <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Kyoto?authkey=Gv1sRgCM6qvcrLzuHMVg&feat=directlink">here</a>. Stay tuned for Part 4: Osaka (featuring the Yodogawa Christian Hospital)!</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-71097821351855995702011-02-09T04:18:00.001-08:002011-02-09T04:21:41.269-08:00Japan Part 2: Nagasaki<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVKF7EIsqYI/AAAAAAAAA-s/yYoV_-iaDsg/s1600-h/nagasakimap1.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="The red circle is us." border="0" alt="The red circle is us." align="left" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVKF8S7yPgI/AAAAAAAAA-w/Q1l3DKny558/nagasakimap_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="531" height="508"></a>After our forum at Kansei University, it was time to head to our next destination: Kassui University in the city of Nagasaki. Now, this name is probably familiar to many of you as the site of a certain memorable WWII event. More on this later.</p> <p>In order to get from Kobe to Nagasaki, we took the Shinkansen (perhaps better known to some of my readers as the bullet train). The Shinkansen doesn’t go quite all the way there, down to the very western coast of Japan, but it does go most of the way. To me, it’s just amazing how quiet and clean these Japanese trains are. They’re so much nicer to travel in than airplanes. Also interesting: the staff members passing through the car all bow to the passengers (who mostly aren’t paying any attention). All in all, they’re pretty good places to sleep.</p> <p>After checking in at our hotel in Nagasaki (we had to take a trolley to get there!), we headed out again, walking to Kassui for our discussion on discrimination in different cultures. This time around, we actually had a fourth perspective: in addition to the American, Korean, and Japanese youth, Chinese exchange students also asked to participate, and of course we were happy to have them.</p> <p>This was an especially enlightening afternoon for me; the presenters brought up many issues that I had no real awareness of. Deogil spoke about the challenges faced by multi-national families in modern Korea. Many Korean men import foreign brides from other Asian nations, women who then face discrimination because they don’t fit in to Korean culture or speak the Korean language well. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVKF9eycWVI/AAAAAAAAA-0/ZTDTFRIBIKA/s1600-h/Japanese%20student%20presents%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Japanese student presents" border="0" alt="Japanese student presents" align="left" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVKF-Jd1z5I/AAAAAAAAA-4/p2ySiPEvRkE/Japanese%20student%20presents_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="165"></a> The Japanese student spoke about a couple of different groups that Japanese society discriminates against. First, the hidden Christians of the past. For many years, especially while Japan was run by the shogunate and was closed to the outside world, Christianity was considered an unacceptable religion, and people caught practicing it were executed. Suspected believers were ordered to defile Christian images known as <em>humie</em>, the logic being that a faithful Christian would be unable to do it. Second, the <em>hibakusha</em>, or atomic bomb survivors. The 1945 attack on Nagasaki claimed over 100,000 lives, but there were those who lived through the experience, scarred both physically and emotionally. More often than not, these survivors were shunned by mainstream society, which found in them a frightening reminder of the horrors of war.</p> <p>The Chinese presenter told us that there is a lot of discrimination in China against carriers of hepatitis B. About ten percent of the population has this blood-borne disease, and for those who carry it, it is pretty much impossible to get a job or to climb the social ladder. In fact, physical traits seem to be a pretty big deal generally. We were shown one sample advertisement put out by a company looking to fill a secretary/office worker-type position. The ad lists desired height and blood type, among other things. There is also quite a bit of regional discrimination. As you are aware, China is a huge country, and it encompasses many cultures and different ethnic groups – just like the U.S. has its own regional subcultures. Thus, stereotypes often arise about the people from this city or that province: “Oh, they’re all thieves,” “They’re dirty people,” etc. <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVKF_dL-58I/AAAAAAAAA-8/oug8LqWnsiQ/s1600-h/057%5B6%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="057" border="0" alt="057" align="right" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVKGAa0RNbI/AAAAAAAAA_A/HwLCrKpcQyc/057_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="103" height="180"></a></p> <p>That evening and the next day we had free time to take in the city and visit whatever we wanted to. So we took the trolley across town to Peace Park and the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum. Places like this should be required viewing for anyone with the power to make policy. It is impossible to visit here without being strongly moved by our common human condition. Those of us who name ourselves Christians are, I believe, called to look hard at the past – at this event and other acts of violence – and ask ourselves if we really live in a country modeled on Christian values. (Keeping in mind that the U.S. tested a nuclear device as recently as September 15 of last year?) And if the answer is no, what are we first? Americans or Christians?</p> <p>I took a lot of great photos in Nagasaki, which can be seen <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Nagasaki?authkey=Gv1sRgCK3l_Kifz5j8KQ&feat=directlink">here</a>. Part 3 will be about Kyoto!</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-1702297911628269792011-02-08T03:16:00.001-08:002011-02-08T03:16:24.152-08:00New Year’s Day, Korean style<p>So this past week (Thursday, to be precise) marked the beginning of the lunar new year, which Korea, like China, celebrates. Young people usually go to their grandparents’ house, bow, and receive an envelope of money. Not having a Korean family, this didn’t apply to me, but I still managed to get in on the action by cooking with my center.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVEl8MyOcnI/AAAAAAAAA-I/-LEIM5EWP9o/s1600-h/044%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="044" border="0" alt="044" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVEl9PNDtXI/AAAAAAAAA-M/AUc-bELPark/044_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="139"></a> </p> <p>One of the many delicious things we made was buchimge. It’s a great invention where you mix kimchi into pancake batter and then fry it up on the griddle. It has an awesome eye-popping orange color! Now (and this is a secret – don’t tell) I am not really the world’s biggest kimchi fan. It’s OK, I just don’t love it or anything. But when you cook it or fry it – like in a dumpling, or in your fried rice, or in a buchimge – it takes on a whole new dimension and becomes so savory and scrumptious. In fact, this is maybe my favorite Korean food so far. We also fried hobakja (a squash with a buttery texture), made mandu (dumplings), and pretty much ate until we were sick. Good times, good times.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVEl-CKdKgI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/ClgBLJuS22U/s1600-h/024%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="024" border="0" alt="024" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVEl_BAzVqI/AAAAAAAAA-U/0wyeBy40X4w/024_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="139"></a></p> <p>The next day we made snacks. We boiled water, sugar, and rice syrup together, and then used the resulting sticky goodness to make little cakes out of seeds, nuts, and bran flakes. Absolutely delicious (although chewing too many of them gives you something of a sore jaw).</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVEmAJsuhZI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/Ecbd9cxIn00/s1600-h/Gostop%20game%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Gostop game" border="0" alt="Gostop game" align="left" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TVEmBKGh4hI/AAAAAAAAA-c/oHuXbS0Nis8/Gostop%20game_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244"></a>Myung-ju onni also taught me to play go-stop, a Korean card game that is traditional on Chuseok and the lunar new year. There are a lot of rules (and that’s before you get into betting!), but the basic concept is to collect cards fast, by matching the ones in your hand to the ones on the mat, and win control of the game, at which point you can either <em>stop</em> while you’re ahead, or keeping <em>go</em>ing and take a risk in an attempt to collect more money. Also apparently you can overturn the blanket if things aren’t going well for you. That’s me playing over there on the left – Salgu (onni’s cat) is being the referee and making sure I don’t cheat.</p> <p>Also, the Chief gave me some really nice socks as a present! Score! (I desperately needed some new ones…)</p> <p></p> <p>Look for a Japan update tomorrow!</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-34187494055360391382011-02-02T21:59:00.001-08:002011-02-02T22:02:40.849-08:00Japan Part 1: Kobe<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TUpER5vNyNI/AAAAAAAAA6k/p5UPxfEY_Hk/s1600-h/japan-map%7Ekobe%5B34%5D.jpg"><img style="border: 0px none; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; width: 531px; height: 505px;" title="The red circle is us." alt="The red circle is us." src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TUpESmclKlI/AAAAAAAAA6o/CBTec1IPysE/japan-map%7Ekobe_thumb%5B32%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" align="left" border="0" /></a> So, as promised, here’s the first part of my Japan trip.</p> <p>On Tuesday the 18th, we flew out of Seoul and, about an hour and a half later, landed at the Osaka Kansai airport. From there, we took the bus to Kobe (yes, the place famous for its beef), where we had the use of a pretty spacious house that would act as our “base” during the time we spent in Japan. Most of us were there, anyway. Simon and Haejung were using an apartment on loan from the church, but the other seven of us were borrowing the house of a (currently absent) family.</p> <p>Speaking of which, maybe it’s time for a little dramatis personae. Joining me on this journey were not only Simon, Haejung, Katie, and Jenny, but also three Korean volunteers from Hannam University and their chaplain. Soo-min works with me on the Hannam blog project, as she has excellent English (she spent a year in the U.S., at Warren Wilson). Okdeuk (also known as OK) taught with me on Fridays when I was still working at the Youngrak Church. Deogil (a guy) has been working with Jenny at her children’s center, specifically helping out with the soccer class she teaches on Wednesdays. Then there’s Hannam’s chaplain, Rev. Choi, who’s shown us three Americans a lot of kindness since we arrived in Korea in September. He’s in charge of the Korean YAVs who work with us, and has listened to our feedback about the program and taken it very seriously.</p> <p>When we arrived on Tuesday, it was already getting late, so the day’s agenda consisted mostly of a delicious dinner with <a href="https://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/missionconnections/moore-william-and-ann/">Bill and Ann Moore,</a> P.C.(USA) missionaries to Japan for more than 20 years. They live in Kobe now, and as our gracious hosts for the evening, provided us with a scrumptious spread as well as the pleasure of their company.</p> <p>Then we headed to our home-away-from-home(-away-from-home) to fight over who got which room, and what order people were going to shower in. Our house was an interesting mix of Japanese and western styles: some people got beds, but others (including me) bunked down on the tatami mat floors.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TUpETuQhoWI/AAAAAAAAA6s/k9u6c5SLIeA/s1600-h/002%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="border: 0px none; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Kansei University" alt="Kansei University" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TUpEUN9WMwI/AAAAAAAAA6w/KilId1hM59M/002_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" border="0" height="181" width="318" /></a></p> <p> The next morning, we hopped on the local train and headed out to Kansei University in the city. This was to be the site of the first of three international youth forums. Kansei was founded by missionaries and identifies itself as a Christian school; however, only around 1% of the student body is actually Christian. (This is an accurate reflection of the Japanese population generally – 0.8% of Japanese people are practicing Christians.) We were warmly received there by the staff, and treated to both a campus tour and lunch. The campus itself was very interesting, its architecture having been based off of the Spanish mission-style buildings of southern California. And the lunch was amazing! We ate with the university chancellor in very high style indeed – it was the sort of meal where you need to know which fork to use when (I admit, I didn’t know what the heck I was doing; I ended up mistaking my spoon for a butter knife [What? it was totally a weird, angular spoon!]). We enjoyed some very fancy food while being waited on hand and foot, so absolutely no complaints there.</p> <p>In the afternoon, we moved into the actual purpose of our visit: a discussion of environmental issues. I represented the U.S., <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TUpEU0IUrVI/AAAAAAAAA60/Is1q4aDrB1w/s1600-h/Environment%20discussion%5B8%5D.jpg"><img style="border: 0px none; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" title="Guess which one is the American?" alt="Guess which one is the American?" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TUpEVna6p9I/AAAAAAAAA64/2ZEcwlyO4rI/Environment%20discussion_thumb%5B6%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" align="right" border="0" height="165" width="244" /></a> giving a brief overview of the current policies we have and the challenges we face. I was followed by Soo-min, who told us about the programs the exist in Korea to try and protect the environment, and one of Kansei’s own students, who talked about Japan’s policies. I have to admit, I was very impressed (although not really surprised) that Korea and Japan both have so many environmentally-friendly policies in place. For example, both countries have programs that award consumers “eco-points” for buying green products. These eco-points can later be exchanged for free stuff. They also do much better at sorting their garbage and recycling. Case in point: you eat at an American McDonald’s, you throw all your trash into one big can afterwards. You eat at a Korean McDonald’s, you throw your food waste here, your leftover drink and ice here, your paper stuff here. It’s like a puzzle, trying to figure out where everything goes! And don’t even get me started on the whole public transportation issue.</p> <p>Afterwards there was general discussion, and while we hardly came up with a solution to global warming or any such thing, many interesting ideas were shared and there were a lot of opportunities for the us to talk with the Japanese students and bond. Not bad, for our first attempt at this kind of thing!</p> <p>More pictures of Kobe can be seen <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Kobe?authkey=Gv1sRgCOz26oC5sO6PggE&feat=directlink">here</a>. Next time: We go to Nagasaki!</p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-55820810439637816742011-01-30T02:03:00.001-08:002011-01-30T02:03:18.803-08:00The long silence broken<p>Hi, everyone! An update at long last! As you may or may not have heard, I’m recently returned from a 10-day study trip to our neighbor Japan – an exciting and illuminating experience for me. I’m eager to share the details (and pictures), but the amount of information is so monstrously huge that I can’t write about it properly all in one post. I think I’ll do one post, and one photo album, for each city, so expect that series to be in the works over the next few days. I should have plenty of time to work on it, since with the lunar new year coming up, everything will be closed down…</p> <p>Also: thank you so much, everyone who sent me Christmas cards and letters! It means so much to me to hear from you! I have them all set up on my (increasingly crowded) desk and they brighten my day!</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-61450021764210282002010-12-16T05:32:00.000-08:002010-12-16T05:58:02.646-08:00Tales from a children’s center<p>So I just wanted to check in with everybody back home and let you know how my work has been going. A lot of my posts have been about special occasions -- festivals, field trips, etc. -- and while those are certainly fun, they aren't really representative of my day-to-day life as a YAV in Korea.<br><br>As you (hopefully) remember, my main job is working at the Beobdong Area Children's Center, where I teach English classes for elementary and middle school students. The kids come to the center Monday through Friday afternoons and have lessons. Each class has its own teacher, and during the afternoons they study and do homework, getting tutoring in the subjects where they have trouble.<br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TPXbwTcbhrI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/0kQ5s9IPN7A/s1600/245.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 294px; float: left; height: 165px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545580139076355762" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TPXbwTcbhrI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/0kQ5s9IPN7A/s320/245.JPG"></a>The center has lots of really cool things to offer besides academics, however. For example, on Thursday this week, they were having an art therapy class, where special teachers come in for the afternoon and guide the children through a project. I've seen them other days drawing, painting, pressing leaves, and so forth. Monday and Friday, they have orchestra class, and are learning to read music and play the violin.<br><br>Thursday night is soccer night, which is something the kids get really excited about. At 7 o'clock everybody runs to put on their coats and shoes, and we all walk about a block down to a little tiny park squished between two apartment complexes. This is free time for the kids to just run around and play, with each other and with me, and it's one of the things I look forward to most during my week.<br><br>The kids also come to the center some Saturdays. (In Korea, school and work are in session every other Saturday, and off every other Saturday. So the kids come on their free day once every two weeks.) It isn't a study day, though. Instead, the center does fun extracurricular activities like field trips, cooking lessons, etc.<br><br>In November, I joined the gang for an exciting field trip. They were kind enough to take me with them when they went to Bburi (Root) Park, and also to the Daejeon zoo, O-World. It was a joint trip with a local elementary school, and it was partially funded by local companies.<br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TPXc-izRV9I/AAAAAAAAAhY/AoF7TOo-xy8/s1600/223.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px; float: right; height: 180px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545581483228485586" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TPXc-izRV9I/AAAAAAAAAhY/AoF7TOo-xy8/s320/223.JPG"></a><br>Bburi Park is so named because it is a heritage park where people can learn about the origins of their families. For example, as you may know, "Kim" is a very common Korean surname. But not all Kims are the same. Because Korean families traditionally keep a chronicle of their ancestors and descendants, they can trace their family back hundreds and sometime thousands of years to a specific time and place. So for example, Kim Mi-ran (the Chief) married a man named Kim, but they are Kims that originated in different places. For me, this was a really cool experience. I think it's amazing that people can know so much about the history behind their families.</p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TQoa4ECeDkI/AAAAAAAAAhk/VKcFKGoaWXc/s1600-h/226%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="226" border="0" alt="226" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TQoa413E6vI/AAAAAAAAAho/L_9BD3XzINI/226_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="139"></a> <br>O-World is a sort of a combination of zoo, botanical gardens, and amusement park. We had lots of fun seeing the exotic animals on the safari tour, and afterwards got up close to pet and feed the more domestic animals. And later, the fifth-grade boys roped me into a few rounds of the stomach-churning Viking ship ride (because the line was too long for the roller coaster – but don’t worry, we made sure to sit in the bow of the boat for maximum queasiness). To sum up, much fun was had by all. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TQoa5iafztI/AAAAAAAAAhs/D1RDfa3awLA/s1600-h/005%5B6%5D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="005" border="0" alt="005" align="left" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TQoa6aW0NhI/AAAAAAAAAhw/RC0lS0pI6YA/005_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="119" height="209"></a>More recently at the center, we’ve been making Christmas preparations! These include decorating a Christmas tree, making Christmas cards, and singing Christmas songs. The Chief is a great singer and leads all the kids in a hearty chorus. I tried to teach the kids some favorite English-language Christmas songs, only to realize that they are really pretty difficult because they use antiquated vocabulary. How do you explain lines like “Round yon virgin” or “Deck the halls” to kids who struggle with the alphabet? We also spent quite a bit of time cutting out and decorating Christmas cookies (both the chocolate and cheese varieties). Over a couple of days, we easily made thousands of little angels, stars, trees, and yes, the traditional (?) Christmas giraffes.<br><br>I am so happy to be getting to know these kids. They are sweet and smart and funny, if sometimes a little on the loud side. I have so much fun with them and I can honestly say I love them all!</p> Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-51866889707771553652010-11-30T20:42:00.000-08:002010-11-30T21:09:19.140-08:00Things to be thankful for<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TPXW8iJCJII/AAAAAAAAAhI/72WlRbiRNKw/s1600/006.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TPXW8iJCJII/AAAAAAAAAhI/72WlRbiRNKw/s320/006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545574851621823618" border="0" /></a>I have happy news, everyone! I just found out in my most recent fundraising report that I have reached my goal of $9,000! I want all of you back home to know that I am so grateful for your loving support -- both emotional and financial. None of this experience would be possible without my generous church family, and I can't wait to meet you all again and share my year with you.<br /><br />And speaking of giving thanks . . . I recently celebrated my first Thanksgiving away from home! The three of us YAVs were busy working on Thursday at our respective centers, but we made sure to make time on Friday. Then in the evening, we hosted a dinner and invited the other Americans we knew: Mike and Sue (who are guest professors at Hannam) and Kristin and her family (who live on the military base nearby).<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TPXWvYzGNCI/AAAAAAAAAhA/7ZNAlsb5OB8/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TPXWvYzGNCI/AAAAAAAAAhA/7ZNAlsb5OB8/s320/003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545574625775596578" border="0" /></a> We had to be creative with our food preparation, since many traditional Thanksgiving foods aren't readily available here. But everyone worked hard to make it special, and altogether we had more delicious food than we could eat! For example, we had no turkey (you don't see those much in Korea), so Kristin provided fried chicken and bulgogi (grilled meat) instead. We had green beans and carrots as well, mashed potatoes, and a sweet potato casserole. I did fried mandu (dumplings) as an appetizer. And for dessert, our resourceful guests managed to rustle up a couple of pies (although the whipped cream was a little harder to come by)! All in all, it was a great evening of food and fellowship.<br /><br />Coming soon: an update on my work at the children's center. Stay tuned!Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-15305909544842426062010-11-04T05:35:00.000-07:002010-11-09T05:54:50.520-08:00Venturing abroad (more than usual)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaW2NXpO6I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/U6iKspIVneA/s1600/Gyeongbokgung+main+gate.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaW2NXpO6I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/U6iKspIVneA/s320/Gyeongbokgung+main+gate.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536778649944538018" border="0" /></a><br />This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Seoul with Simon, Haejung, Katie, and Jenny. We definitely did some touristy stuff, including our visits to Insadong (where they sell traditional Korean crafts to appeal to visitors and foreigners), the South Gate market, and Gyeongb0kgung. This last was the main palace of the Joseon dynasty, which ruled from 1392 to 1897 in Korea. After they moved the capital to Seoul, they had this palace built (I believe in 1396). We arrived just in time to see the changing of the guard, where soldiers in period dress march out to the beating of drums, carrying their banners proudly. It was an extremely colorful display! Afterwards, we toured the most important parts of the palace, starting with the throne room and eventually reaching the king's private chambers.<br /><br />The term "palace" is misleading, because it is not really one building, but many enclosed within a single compound. And the accommodations are surprisingly small and simple for royalty. Oh, there's definitely decoration and ceremonial stuff (see the many, many photographs I took), but compared to the lavish palaces concocted by European royalty in their heydays, this seemed very minimalist. The grounds were exceedingly beautiful, offering neatly trimmed lawns, quiet ponds, pagodas, and fine mountain views.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaWhURAmcI/AAAAAAAAAVI/-OQZn9setu0/s1600/Pond+and+pagoda+01.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaWhURAmcI/AAAAAAAAAVI/-OQZn9setu0/s320/Pond+and+pagoda+01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536778291018504642" border="0" /></a><br />We also went to Sungnyemun (aka Namdaemun), Korea's No. 1 national treasure. It is the Great South Gate, one of eight which were built in the ancient walls that surrounded the city. The Great South Gate was the main one for entrance into the capital. Ceremonies and public executions would be held in the courtyard in front of it. Two years ago, an arsonist burned it down, leaving really only the stone foundations of the gate. The loss inspired the Korean people to spring into action to rebuild their nation's pride. And as much as possible, they are using traditional methods and materials in the construction, so that the process is in and of itself a monument to past days.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaWECALyoI/AAAAAAAAAVA/tsHzKuTjPLU/s1600/PCK+logo.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 90px; height: 161px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaWECALyoI/AAAAAAAAAVA/tsHzKuTjPLU/s320/PCK+logo.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536777787899890306" border="0" /></a>The real highlight of the trip, however, was meeting our fellow Presbyterians! The PC(USA) has three couples who are mission co-workers in Korea: our own Simon and Haejung Park, Sookhee and K.J. Bae, and Art and Sue Kinsler. We had already met the Baes briefly at Stony Point, but this time around we got to hang out more. K.J., who currently works in the mission office of the PCK, gave us a tour of PCK headquarters, where were staying for the night (on mats on the lovely heated floors -- seriously, why don't Americans heat their floors??). He also gave us an overview of the PC(USA)'s mission work in Korea, which dates back to the 1880s. One of the very important things that mission projects in Korea have done is to promote education, especially for those who are at a social disadvantage. The PC(USA) was a pioneer in terms of Korean women's education at a time when women were expected to be concerned only with raising children.<br /><br />Especially exciting, we went to Sookhee's organization, the Woman Ministers' Association (WMA). The PCK is very male-dominated, even more so than in the church in the U.S., and they only started ordaining women in 1996. Before that, women who wanted to be ministers were simply not allowed, and often they were ridiculed and driven from their home congregations. Even now, women are still underrepresented and facing many struggles against discrimination and double standards. It can be really difficult for women to find a church, because so many congregations want the traditional male pastor.<br /><br />So, Sookhee opened her center to support and empower women, both generally and in ministry. The WMA encompasses two shelters: one for runaway young women, and another for domestic violence survivors and their children. Both are designed to be safe places where women are protected and loved by their sisters as they learn to stand on their feet again. And Rev. Han and Rev Nam, who run the shelters, are amazingly devoted to their work, and really take these women to heart as their adopted family. Both spoke warmly of how rewarding it is to see troubled people reclaim their lives, bit by bit. Sookhee's group also opened two retirement homes for women ministers, who, because of their unordained, outcast status, often don't have spouses and children who can take care of them. And in the basement of the center, there is the Yeji Church, which is a memorial church for women's ordination. I was so impressed and moved by all of Sookhee's work (read more <a href="http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/missionconnections/bae-sook-hee-and-kook-jin/">here</a>), as were Katie and Jenny. All three of us are very, very interested in participating in such a ministry, either with Sookhee, or with other women's shelters closer to home (Daejeon).<br /><br />That evening, we had dinner with our mission co-workers and bonded with them over galguksu (handmade noodles, which were cooked at our table in a broth containing a multitude of mushrooms, and served alongside enormous dumplings). At this point, we were introduced to the Kinslers, and got to hear extensively about Sue's work, which is very exciting stuff. She has been working towards reunification with North Korea, which she believes to be near, and towards helping the suffering people there. She makes regular trips across the border to help provide for orphans and the differently abled. (Read more details about what she does <a href="http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/missionconnections/kinsler-art-and-sue/">here</a>.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaVrCSP1MI/AAAAAAAAAU4/HxxxapXaVNs/s1600/Mountains+in+fall+03.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaVrCSP1MI/AAAAAAAAAU4/HxxxapXaVNs/s320/Mountains+in+fall+03.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536777358478922946" border="0" /></a><br />On Monday, I was invited to travel to Muju with the Chief (who is in charge of my center) and her daughter, Myung-ju onni. Muju is their hometown, about an hour away from Daejeon, and <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaVFyPYbmI/AAAAAAAAAUw/LtPM2gqvZxM/s1600/Me+and+Myungju+onni.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaVFyPYbmI/AAAAAAAAAUw/LtPM2gqvZxM/s320/Me+and+Myungju+onni.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536776718516776546" border="0" /></a>the weather is noticeable colder there, because it is in the middle of the mountains. In fact, when we got to the top of the mountain, there was actually snow there! If you're wondering what the purpose of our trip was, it was <span style="font-style: italic;">danpung nori</span> -- a trip to enjoy the fall foliage. We drove partway up the mountain, around and around it winding roads, and then we took a cable car further up. Unfortunately, the leaves nearer the base of the mountain hadn't changed color much yet, and the trees on top of the mountain had lost all their leaves already! So in that sense, the trip wasn't terribly successful, but it was such great fun hanging out with Chief and Myung-ju onni. Their smiles kept me warm even when the mountain winds were blowing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaUo2So8hI/AAAAAAAAAUo/TCTzc_OXo3g/s1600/Silla+side.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 156px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaUo2So8hI/AAAAAAAAAUo/TCTzc_OXo3g/s320/Silla+side.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536776221387977234" border="0" /></a>On the way back, the Chief and Myung-ju onni stopped to show me some points of historical interest. Long ago (read: time of Jesus), Korea was divided into three kingdoms: Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. Muju is actually quite close to the border dividing two of these three kingdoms, Baekje and Silla, and there is still a gate of sorts there -- not a free-standing structure like Seoul's Great South Gate, but a simple tunnel carved through the rock. It was really awe-inspiring to be in the presence of something made so long ago.<br /><br />The nearby town is named Seolcheol, which means "Snow Stream". There is a very interesting <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaUOaFFBpI/AAAAAAAAAUg/Bz-ltDJ6KVU/s1600/Seolcheon+scenery+01.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TNaUOaFFBpI/AAAAAAAAAUg/Bz-ltDJ6KVU/s320/Seolcheon+scenery+01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536775767138305682" border="0" /></a>story behind that name, it turns out. Long ago, on top of the mountain, there was a very large Buddhist temple, large enough, in fact, to house 9,000 monks. And every morning, 9,000 monks would emerge from the temple to wash rice for their breakfast in the mountain stream. The people of the town below called the stream "Snow Stream" because it was turned white from all that rice-washing.<br /><br />As always, continue to stay tuned! And please enjoy looking at my photos for these trips, which can be found here (coming soon, probably tomorrow):<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Seoul02?authkey=Gv1sRgCJKy28fqrpW0cg&feat=directlink">Seoul</a><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Muju?authkey=Gv1sRgCI3dwJSE7oWZkAE&feat=directlink">Muju</a>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-77252931240187298432010-10-28T06:53:00.000-07:002010-10-28T08:43:59.325-07:00Fun, fellowship, and festivals<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TMmXnpWYjyI/AAAAAAAAATE/P8dQ9GgSok8/s1600/International+food+festival.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TMmXnpWYjyI/AAAAAAAAATE/P8dQ9GgSok8/s320/International+food+festival.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533120324571795234" border="0" /></a>Whew, that last post was kind of a doozy. I'm pleased to report that this one is substantially more light-hearted.<br /><br />Last week Katie, Jenny, and I stopped in at the foreigner's festival being held near EXPO park. This festival combined an international food event with a hot air balloon extravaganza. Down by the river, there were hot air balloon rides (unfortunately pretty pricey for not going very far), hang-gliding, kites, building model airplanes, and other activities. On Saturday there was a taekwondo demonstration going on with little kids duking it out for an audience. Up higher on the bank, there were tons of booths for different foreign foods (although some were strangely labeled -- the Mexican booth had samosas??). There were so many delicious smells wafting through the air, it was impossible to decide what to eat. We went around collecting free samples, and invested in a couple of choice snacks.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TMmXLwf-csI/AAAAAAAAAS0/qDO0jVmCVOo/s1600/Hot+air+balloons+02.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TMmXLwf-csI/AAAAAAAAAS0/qDO0jVmCVOo/s320/Hot+air+balloons+02.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533119845454738114" border="0" /></a><br />This past Sunday the youth group from the university church took a field trip to Okcheon, where members Winnie and Katie (not YAV Katie) live, to have fellowship time. Okcheon is about 30 minutes out of Daejeon, and is the countryside in comparison. It was nice to get out of the city and see some green! First we stopped to visit a famous historical house where the former president's wife was born. I admit that the names of those people didn't mean much to me, but it was cool to see a large, traditional Korean house where the nobility lived (although it was actually a reconstruction). Afterwards, we went to Winnie's house, which is very close, to hang out. We ate mandu (dumplings) and delicious Korean grapes (juicier than the American kind), and then went outside to learn a trade . . . farming!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TMmaF4jvCdI/AAAAAAAAAT0/vswu-ySl4OY/s1600/Farmers.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TMmaF4jvCdI/AAAAAAAAAT0/vswu-ySl4OY/s320/Farmers.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533123043073657298" border="0" /></a><br />Winnie's father grows peanuts and sweet potatoes, and we had a lesson in harvesting them (fortunately, it's not very difficult). We happily yanked the peanut plants up by the roots and scrounged around in the dirt for the potatoes (got some really huge ones, too). The garden itself is very beautiful -- it is located in the house's backyard, and from there you can look out on amazing views of the mountains.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TMmYF2xLlmI/AAAAAAAAATU/FJpFWD2edP0/s1600/Mountain+view.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TMmYF2xLlmI/AAAAAAAAATU/FJpFWD2edP0/s320/Mountain+view.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533120843569927778" border="0" /></a><br />This week, Hannam had its school festival, lasting three days. During this time, there are many fair-like booths set up to sell food and drink, offer entertainment, and award prizes. You can play carnival-style games of chance and try to win big against slim odds. There are also demonstrations going on where the various school clubs show off their skills or otherwise attract people to their group. (The chaplain's office and the students who attend the university church, in particular, had a good thing going in the form of free coffee and homemade waffles with whipped cream and syrup.) The big highlight of the event is the famous Korean singers who come to perform and hold concerts at night. I visited on Wednesday afternoon with some of my Korean friends with whom I'm doing an English-language blog project. Very soon (as soon as she sends it to me), you will be able to read the article Hyojae wrote about it (and what we've written about other Hannam- and Daejeon-related topics) <a href="http://yav-hannam.blogspot.com/">here</a>.<br /><br />I'll be in Seoul for the weekend with my fellow YAVs, and I hope to post about that trip too! I will also be uploading more pictures when I have more time. Once again, stay tuned, and I would love to hear from you!Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-15497396349363150082010-10-08T18:50:00.000-07:002010-10-28T06:51:46.686-07:00English fever<div>...or, my thoughts on teaching English in South Korea. Let me preface this with the statement that being a Young Adult Volunteer is a mission of being, not doing, and that the three of us are here not to save the world or to solve problems that we perceive, but to live in harmony with a community<span style="font-style: italic;"></span>. Too often in the past, mission has been done with the idea that we are the enlightened ones and we know what is best for others. Therefore, the YAV program's focus is not on us and our idea of mission, but on actually listening to the people around us, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and working to fulfill their needs as they perceive them.<br /><br />And in South Korea, what people want from us is for us to teach English. To be honest, I have some very mixed feelings about this, and I'm going to try to explain them here. (Warning: lots of grammar babble and linguistic theory to follow! If that kind of thing bores you, skip to the next post.)<br /></div><br /><div> </div>I've been told that people here judge and are judged by their ability to use English -- i.e., if someone has no English skills, people assume they aren't well-educated in other areas, either. And companies would much rather have employees with good English skills, because it is a valuable asset in the business world. People live and die by their TOEFL and TOEIC (the standardized English-language proficiency tests) scores, which determine what opportunities they can have. Thus, there is a huge push in Korea for kids to be exposed to English at a young age, study it hard all throughout their school years, and hopefully live abroad in America, England, Australia, or somewhere else where they can become fluent. In such a society, three native speakers are too valuable to waste; hence, we have been put to work teaching classes -- primarily to disadvantaged children whose parents can't send them to the best schools and buy them all the English books and videos and games that richer parents do.<br /><div><div> </div></div><br /><div>Don't get me wrong, I am all for intercultural literacy. Heck, I'm spending a year in a foreign country, and working hard to learn the language! And I'm not trying to single out individuals as being in the wrong, either. During my work week, I get to interact with so many amazing people who are doing a very good thing in trying to give kids from poor and broken families equal opportunities. It's the overall concept, the societal trend, that I have a problem with. This movement worldwide towards English as the language that everybody needs to know is disturbing to me.</div><div> </div><br /><div>For one thing, even if we accept for the moment that everybody should have one language in common, English specifically isn't a great choice as a global language because it is very difficult to learn. Let's take a look:<br /><ul><li>Its spelling rules are difficult to master: it has an alphabet where letters are sometimes pronounced one way, sometimes another, with many exceptions and silent letters.<br /></li><li>It has many arbitrary grammar rules that have no real meaning for communication today (example: back in the days when Latin was considered the language of scholars, it was decided by grammarians that you can't split infinitives because you can't do it in Latin, where the infinitive is one word).</li><li>It has a strange mixture of "strong" (past tense formed by changing the stem vowel) and "weak" (past tense formed by adding -ed) verbs.</li><li>It has definite and indefinite articles, which are missing from many languages (I dare you to try to explain the meaning of "an" or "the". What do they contribute to a sentence, exactly?).</li><li>It has many helping verbs -- do, have, and will to name the most common -- that add extra steps to the process of composing sentences.</li><li>English verbs are conjugated sometimes, but not always.</li><li>English nouns are declined sometimes, but not always.<br /></li><li>English speakers depend largely on their vocabulary choices to convey connotations, which makes memorizing an enormous amount of vocabulary necessary for even a fairly basic level of conversation (as opposed to a language like Japanese, where connotation is often expressed in the grammatical form).<br /></li></ul></div>I'm not saying that every other language is completely free of such complications. Of course not! Every language has its confusing points, its irregular verbs, its structures that seem totally convoluted at first glance, its colloquial expressions that make no literal sense. What I'm saying is that comparatively speaking, English is a terrible choice for international language because of its relatively high learning curve (although I hear from the folks in Kerala that Malayalam may very well have the honor of being the most difficult language in the world).<br /><br /><div> </div>Which brings me to my second point. I have a lot of trouble with the idea that the way to resolve conflicts of communication is for everybody to be forced to communicate in the same way. And I firmly believe that any experiment or movement with such a goal, no matter how idealistic the motives behind it, is bound to fail. No matter how hard you try, it is simply impossible to divide language from the history and culture behind it. The very patterns of our grammar and syntax reflect the way we think and the way that we, as a society, perceive.<br /><br />For example, in Russian, feelings and conditions are often expressed indirectly, as opposed to the active form that is habitual with English speakers. You don't like something; instead, it is pleasing to you. You aren't hot; it is hot to you. You don't have a car; a car exists by you. At this time, I think I will refrain from making any sweeping judgments about what these grammatical examples reveal about the Russian psyche, because that is just asking for trouble, but the point is that you can easily see how language and thought are tied up together. The differences in the ways we speak reveal differences in the way we perceive. In this case, the Russians choose to speak of themselves passively. It's very strange to me, when I think about it, that they would give the agency of the sentence to an inanimate object, but it is a natural way for them to talk.<br /><br />Allow me to provide another example of the inherent difficulties here. You may have heard of Esperanto, the artificially constructed international language born over a century ago. The idea of Esperanto was a very noble one: its creator, L. L. Zamenhof, sought to create a politically neutral language that could be used for peaceful communication and mediation. Esperantists proudly claim that Esperanto is neutral because it has "no culture". But is this really true? Zamenhof was a talented linguist, speaking several languages fluently and several others competently, and he was intensely devoted to his project. I don't doubt that he worked things out to the best of his abilities. Yet all his experience was with European languages, and this is reflected in the undoubtedly Euro-centric nature of Esperanto, which is strongly influenced by the Romance and Slavic tongues -- never mind that Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, and Arabic are also among the world's most widely spoken languages alongside English, Russian, and Spanish. So can we really call his language neutral? And yet, drawing from all languages of the world to create a "fair" language isn't realistically possible, either.<br /><br />After all this, it may seem cheap of me to say, but I must admit that I don't have a solution to the problem. I'm here for the year, I'm teaching English, and I don't have the power to change anything, just to help these kids prepare for the realities that already exist, the realities they will eventually have to face. But for me, one of the great joys of language, and the reason I majored in language studies in college, is discovering a new way of life and thinking through the words we speak, because the richness of culture and history are closely bound up with the simple everyday activities of talking and listening.<br /><br />I don't know what the solution to all the misunderstanding in the world is, but I am sure that I know what it's not: for everyone to become the same. Teaching everyone English won't make us all magically think the same; it won't immediately making understanding each other easy. All it will do is confine everyone to a form that strongly favors some, creating a further power imbalance that will hinder communication. I love the English language; I think it is a beautiful language, a language of poetry. I wouldn't discourage anyone who wants to learn it, not for one minute. But to <span style="font-style: italic;">force</span> everyone in the world to speak it is denying a fundamental truth about the wonderful complexity and variety of the world we live in. I don't want to whitewash the world with English if I can help it.<br /><div> </div><br /><div> </div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-16361316805494379282010-10-05T06:14:00.000-07:002010-10-05T06:20:50.573-07:00곰세마리 (Three bears) song<p> </p><p>Today, with our heads about to explode from taking so many tests, our teacher decided to show mercy on us and fill the rest of the class time with a fun activity, in the form of learning a children's song.</p><p>Translation:</p><p>Three bears in one house</p><p>Papa bear, mama bear, baby bear</p><p>Papa bear is fat</p><p>Mama bear is skinny</p><p>Baby bear is very cute</p><p>Growing up straight*</p><p><object style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/1veRHe90Rug/hqdefault.jpg)" height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1veRHe90Rug?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1veRHe90Rug?fs=1&hl=en_US" width="425" height="344" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></p><p>*In the version of the song we learned. It's a little different from the one in the video.</p><p>Of course, I expect you all to practice this at home so we can have a sing-along when I get back~</p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-60766895635352801042010-10-05T05:23:00.000-07:002010-10-05T08:07:53.254-07:00This post contains pictures of cute children, consider yourselves warnedSo, as of today, it's been a week since I started working at the Beobdong Children's Center in Daejeon, finally beginning my volunteer work. I have to be honest: while I've been grateful to have some adjustment time, it's also been difficult for me to just BE without something to DO. So I was glad to be taking on one of my first major challenges.<br /><br />The Beobdong Center is about ten minutes away from Hannam University by bus. (Yes! I can take the bus now! And get off at the right stop! I feel so ridiculously proud of myself.) It occupies the second story of a multi-story building. It is run by Rev. Kim (aka "the Chief") and her daughter, Myung-ju onni (big sister Myung-ju). Both of them are amazing and sweet people who are capable of making you feel right at home. There are about four teachers there who give the kids lessons in science, math, and whatever other schoolwork they need help with. There's also a teacher for piano, and there's a cute little closet-sized practice room for the kids to do music in. The walls are decorated with photos of the kids and art that they themselves made. It is very small, but a sunny and warm place, both physically, now at the end of summer, and emotionally, because of the love the people there put into what they do.<br /><br />Let me just say that the first week had its ups and downs. Despite having about a month of Korean lessons under my belt, the average conversation is too complex and happens too quickly for me to grasp. Besides that, the Korean we're learning in the classroom is formal, polite Korean -- and it doesn't bear much resemblance to the informal, colloquial way kids talk. So I did struggle to communicate, particularly with my first- and second-grade class.<br /><br /><br />That's right, class. I was not really expecting to be asked to teach formal classes (I was thinking it would be more along the lines of playing with them and teaching them English words casually, through games), but serious lessons are apparently what my center needs most at this time -- desks, textbooks, and all that. Don't get me wrong, I'm here to serve them, and to meet their needs, and I'm perfectly willing to do classes. But it was a little bit of a sink-or-swim situation when I walked in last Tuesday, with no lesson plans prepared, and was asked to give lessons, starting immediately, to four classes' worth of students. See you back at shore. Hopefully.<br /><br /><br />So I dove in. God is pretty infamous for throwing curveballs and calling people to do the unexpected, right? A YAV needs to be flexible, if nothing else. My first class was with the first- and second-graders, three very cute but very hyper little boys who speak virtually no English (they don't start that subject at school until the third grade, apparently). They're very enthusiastic and they have more energy than they know what to do with, so keeping them focused on a task can be difficult. The first day started off well, with them telling me their names and then practicing writing them in English letters . . . but things kind of went downhill from there. How do you give kids directions or discipline them when they literally don't understand a word you say?<br /><br /><br />So the second day I came back with a different approach, and brought in a deck of cards. This time it was much better. I showed them the numbers one to ten, then spread the cards out on the table and had them slap the number I called out. This caused the entire classroom to echo with smacking sounds and loud, joyous screams of "Five!" and "Eight!" when they found their target. Okay, a crude method, maybe. But you know what? They got better at their numbers. At the beginning, they kept making mistakes and slapping the wrong ones, but they quickly learned (if only for the sake of beating each other to the punch). And I really don't care if they're loud as long as they're participating wholeheartedly. (And, you know, as long as the Chief doesn't mind, either.)<br /><br /><br />My next class was with the third- and fourth-graders. This may be the most promising group in the sense that they are better behaved and better able to focus than the younger kids, but they don't have the inhibitions that the older class has (more on that later). They love shouting out the words they know and trying out the new words I teach them. Today we we went over time- and date-related words like the days of the week, the seasons, etc. and then practiced listening and reading skills with that classic known as bingo (which was always a favorite in my beginning Spanish classes).<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524566256744955666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 385px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 211px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TKszvXdkfxI/AAAAAAAAASQ/z0I6N6KH9iU/s320/After+dinner+01.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br />After my first two classes, around 5:20, it's time for dinner. There is a kitchen in the center that feeds all the kids and teachers. Kids eat first, of course. So far, the food has all been very delicious. I've had mandu (dumplings), gooksu (noodles), and today there was -- well, I don't know what it was. I think it was some sort of seafood -- squid maybe? -- under the breading. Anyway, it was yummy. And the center serves a particularly fiery version of kimchi to go with every meal, so I am toughening up my taste buds.<br /><br /><br />After dinner, I have the fifth- and sixth-graders for a while. They have the best English skills . . . well, in theory they do. In practice, they are easily the shyest group that I teach, and getting them to say something . . . anything . . . requires quite a bit of (figurative) arm-twisting. Even when it's just reading a vocabulary word from the textbook. They're happy enough to repeat what I say, but they don't want to be put on the spot or have to generate anything. That's a feeling that I can definitely understand, of course -- I am never going to win a prize for being the world's most extroverted person -- but many years of studying language and of studying the study of language have taught me that, as embarrassing as it can be, you just have to put yourself out there and speak it, or you won't learn it. (My Korean professors know it, too. When I go home at lunchtime every day, my throat is sore from all the Korean I've been shouting for the past four hours.)<br /><br /><br />I have a middle-school class as well, consisting of five students from the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. However, since I arrived in the middle of their semester and they are all studying hard for their mid-terms, I won't start teaching this class until later in the week.<br /><br />Please don't misunderstand, though. Reading back over this post, a lot of it is talking about the challenges of the job rather than the rewards; but make no mistake -- I'm very happy to be where I am right now. All of the kids are unbelievably cute and sweet and funny, and they've welcomed me with open arms, and despite my struggles as a newbie teacher, I'm eager to go back for more. I know there will be tough times as I try to figure out the best ways to communicate and to make the lessons interesting and meaningful for the kids, but I think I will end up learning a lot in the process -- about Korean culture, about language and learning, about the kids, about myself.<br /><br />Tomorrow, I have my first class teaching English to the Sunday schools kids at Youngrak Presbyterian Church, and two weeks after that, I'll start going to the library to read English-language children's books to the kids there. I'll let you know how those adventures turn out! Stay tuned!Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-31399812271225708562010-10-05T04:37:00.000-07:002010-10-05T06:13:03.314-07:00I love 9 a.m. classes<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TKsXDQUuIzI/AAAAAAAAASI/eYaS-H7gFgg/s1600/Aaron%27s+speech.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524534712588968754" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TKsXDQUuIzI/AAAAAAAAASI/eYaS-H7gFgg/s320/Aaron%27s+speech.JPG" border="0" /></a>Wow, it's been a little while since I wrote! I've got tons to say, and I think that instead of making one huge post, I will split it up into a couple of smaller ones. This time it's about . . . school!<br /><br /><div><div>Korean language school has been pretty intense these last couple of weeks. I'm not even joking. Last week Hannam's Korean language school held its second annual writing and speaking contest. Everyone in the language school is required to participate in the writing part, and cash prizes are awarded to the people with the best spelling and prettiest handwriting. (I did all right on the spelling part, but pretty handwriting is not my strong point. Not when writing the teacher's dictation down as fast as possible, anyway.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Then everyone gets herded into the student building for the entertainment segment of the program . . . watching one representative from each class embarrass themselves in front of everybody else. That was the case for most classes, anyway<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TKsWp1U-qQI/AAAAAAAAASA/TOvAN4-0GgI/s1600/Speaking+contest.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524534275845564674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TKsWp1U-qQI/AAAAAAAAASA/TOvAN4-0GgI/s320/Speaking+contest.JPG" border="0" /></a>. A couple did group performances, like this scene of a marriage (left) acted out by one of the third-level classes. Our class, 1-C, was represented by Aaron (above), who talked about himself and his hobbies, and really challenged himself to use the most sophisticated Korean at his command. Unfortunately he didn't win. His nerves caused him to trip over his tongue in a couple places, so he ended up getting robbed by a girl from another class, who did indeed deliver a speech with very beautiful pronunciation, but in the simplest Korean possible. Bogus. Anyway, we enjoyed cheering our oppa on. In Korea, we say: Fighting! Fighting! to encourage people to hang in there and do their best, so we were yelling that from our section of the auditorium.</div><div><br /></div><div>As for this week, it must be Official Test Everybody On Everything Week, because in the last two days, I have had four exams . . . and more are coming before the end of the week. Yesterday I took a long written exam, then a reading exam where I stood in front of the class to sight-read a passage. Today there was an oral exam where the teacher interviewed us one-on-one, and also a dictation test. Katie and Jenny have been hit pretty hard, too, so it isn't just my class. Maybe they are trying to weed out the weaklings?</div></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-1857488316100387532010-09-25T05:08:00.000-07:002010-09-25T08:33:47.623-07:00Arboretum and pictures (finally!!)So, I finally got all my Korea pictures uploaded to the computer! I went back and added some pictures that were relevant to my blog posts, and posted several new albums on my Picasa account, so go check them out!<br /><br />On Thursday we went to the Hanbat Arboretum on the north side of town. Well, not right away. First we got on the bus and missed our stop . . . by a lot, thanks to our minimal Korean ability. By the time we figured out our mistake, we were at the end of the line, so we walked back towards our destination, mostly along the river (and sweated off a few pounds in the process). When we got there, we found that it was a very beautiful place, although very different from the arboretum I know (the Connecticut College one).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520863380851532402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TJ4L_n0eInI/AAAAAAAAAQs/d0w6R8Y6mR4/s320/Arboretum+plaza.JPG" border="0" /><br />The beauty of nature was on display there, but in a very orderly and tidy way. Someone worked hard to carve out a green place in the middle of a busy city. The lawns are all perfectly trimmed, the trees and flowers evenly spaced. Although it was hot and humid (still! at the end of September!), quite a lot of people were there walking, and children were riding their bikes on the track around the central lawn.</p><p>I'd love to write more, really, but at this point, I've been up half the night sorting and uploading photos...I'm exhausted. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?<br /><br />Links for my Korea albums to date:<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/CityOfDaejeon?authkey=Gv1sRgCNasl-fArYaybQ&feat=directlink">City of Daejeon</a><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Food?authkey=Gv1sRgCISQ1f72wLnoTA&feat=directlink">Food</a><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/Jeonju?authkey=Gv1sRgCKTVus7jl-ubDA&feat=directlink">Jeonju</a><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/DaejeonNationalCemetery?authkey=Gv1sRgCPnj2u_48Oq7Tw&feat=directlink">Daejeon National Cemetery</a><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/114580170898667043461/HanbatArboretum?authkey=Gv1sRgCOny3eeE0u6EDA&feat=directlink">Hanbat Arboretum</a></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-6862476986030309112010-09-21T22:52:00.000-07:002010-09-25T08:18:46.933-07:00Happy Chuseok!That's right, it's the holidays here in Korea! This week is Chuseok, the thanksgiving festival. Chuseok is a holiday of the lunar calendar and corresponds to the full moon, which means it is a date that shifts from year to year. This year it falls on Wednesday, but Tuesday and Thursday are also national holidays so that people can travel to be with their families. From what I've heard, Chuseok is all about giving thanks for a bountiful harvest, enjoying time with your family, and also honoring your ancestors and deceased relatives. I asked some of the Korean students here what they do for Chuseok. They said that back in the day, Koreans dressed up in the hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) and danced in a circle. They were very quick to reassure me that they didn't do that anymore, though. In modern times, it really is pretty similar to American Thanksgiving in the sense that people get together with their families and have a huge meal.<br /><br />Speaking of which, Haejung-imo invited us over to her house today to have another cooking lesson and to share in the feast. She taught us to make chapche, which is a very tasty and colorful dish. You cook sweet potato noodles in boiling water, while meanwhile preparing onions, peppers, carrots, mushrooms, beef, and egg. Then you add all of those things together and season with salt, soy sauce, and sesame oil. We also had sukju namul and kong namul, which are vegetable dishes consisting of different kinds of sprouts. Then there was a dish made with silverfish (I forgot the Korean name), and pickles seasoned with sesame, and pork and kimchi stir-fried together. For dessert we ate hotteok, cakes with red bean filling, dried persimmons (they taste kind of like apricots, I think), and we drank red tea. I stuffed myself, and it was probably the most healthful holiday meal I've ever had, too. (Haejung-imo promises that if we keep eating Korean cooking, we will be a lot slimmer by the time we go home.) Another traditional Chuseok food that we had earlier in the week is seongpyon (I think that's right -- I still haven't figured out how to romanize Korean words), which is a small rice cake with filling inside (I like the kind with honey).<br /><br />In other news, yesterday we took advantage of our time off from classes to visit the Daejeon National Cemetery. It's an enormous graveyard that also serves as a worship site, a war memorial, and a beautiful and peaceful natural preserve. Heads of state, soldiers, police, and other people who have made contributions to the country are buried there. Special ceremonies are held throughout the year to mark important dates, such as Memorial Day and the anniversary of the Korean War. They also have service projects where elementary school children come and tend the graves, cleaning them and leaving flowers, in order to teach them patriotism and respect for the country's fallen heroes.<br /><br />We started our visit by driving down a road lined with many Korean flags -- only appropriate for a patriotic place. The cemetery grounds proper, i.e. the sites that are considered holy, are accessed by entering through the Red Gate. Past the Red Gate is the Fountain for National Defense (which for some reason was not fountaining!). This fountain is topped with a bronze statue of Koreans holding up the globe. The center of the fountain is a beautiful relief carving that, according to our guidebooks, features symbols of longevity.<br /><br />Behind the fountain is the Memorial Tower, which commemorates the past, present, and future of the country, as well as being a monument to those patriots who have died and their <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TJ4SHYx0YyI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/qI_0lAETcgo/s1600/Memorial+Tower+01.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520870111322596130" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TJ4SHYx0YyI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/qI_0lAETcgo/s320/Memorial+Tower+01.JPG" border="0" /></a>achievements. The middle of the tower reaches up skyward, intricately decorated with bronze carvings, while at the base carved stone wings stretch out left and right. At the bottom of the tower a poem is engraved (I wish I could read it), and there is an elaborate incense burner for use during ceremonies. Inside the tower, there are memorial plaques for those soldiers MIA or KIA who were never retrieved, as well as a sepulcher for unidentified bodies. The tower also contains some very beautiful art, with guardian statues to watch over the dead. (Or so the guidebook tells me. We couldn't actually go in.) Even without anything going on there (it was a quiet day with very few visitors), the feel of the place, standing at the base of the tower, was overwhelming. It was, for me, a little like attending a Holy Week service, where breaking the reverent silence feels like sacrilege.<br /><br />After that, we walked around the cemetery grounds to enjoy the natural beauty around us. Most of the cemetery is surrounded by mountains, so it is in its own peaceful little valley. The day was overcast (and sometimes rainy), but at points the sun emerged to light up the mountains. We hiked up a little ways into the hills to enjoy the view, strolled through the cemetery's bamboo forest, and stopped to admire the wildflower garden and the ponds.<br /><br />We also visited the "future-oriented" Patriotism Hall. This building serves as a museum for teaching today's generation about the past, with a major focus on the Korean War. Unfortunately it was all in Korean, so I can't say that I learned much. Also unfortunately, we couldn't get into the Memorial Hall and Enshrinement Hall, where burials and religious rituals are held. We think maybe people are only allowed in there on official business.<br /><br />I took many pictures of this very beautiful and awe-inspiring place. I hope to upload them soon and share them with all of you!<br /><br />Next week, once the holidays are over, we move from this transitional period into actual work at our volunteer sites. Stay tuned to hear all about it!Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-4912318163068030242010-09-11T02:53:00.000-07:002010-09-25T08:28:36.537-07:00Getting some fresh airYesterday, after classes and after meeting with Haejung-imo and Uncle Simon to discuss our plans for the upcoming week, Jenny, Katie, and I decided to go out and explore the city a little. (We'd wanted to before, but, not knowing where anything was, we hadn't gotten very far -- until someone was kind enough to give us maps and tour guides.) Since we don't know how to use the bus system yet, we decided to splurge on a taxi to take us to the Daejeon station, where the "old downtown" is. After crossing over an enormous curvy white bridge and stopping for a few minutes to watch the synchronized fountains shooting off in patterns in the river below (it was a seriously awesome spot, just wait for the pictures), we found it. There's a certain broad street that's walled off to traffic so people can just take their time and stroll around without worrying about crossing the street and getting run over by the crazy drivers. You can find a ton of cafes and norebangs (singing rooms, where you go to do karaoke) there, as well as some sizable crowds.<br /><br />Afterwards we explored the underground mall. At first I was confused. I thought those stairs in the sidewalk went down to a subway. Well, it turned out to be this underground mall and arcade. It was pretty much like any mall -- lots of teeny tiny shops where you can buy clothes, shoes, cell phones, and overpriced snacks. We also ended up discovering an open-air market, where we walked for quite a while. Jenny bought some hotteok from a street vendor to share with Katie and me. This small snack is just genius. It's a little cake, and when you bite in it has a sweetness to it. It was fresh off the griddle, melt-in-your-mouth warm and chewy. Best of all, it was extremely cheap -- 5 for 1,000 won. That's less than a dollar people. We may have to go back for more of those.<br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="left"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520872097794588306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TJ4T7A9pfpI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/n0xHZe0B9Ek/s320/Underground+mall.JPG" border="0" /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520872103804606978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TJ4T7XWjGgI/AAAAAAAAARE/FQkK2reT4Dw/s320/Open-air+market.JPG" border="0" /> <div align="left"><br />Then today we had another field trip! We went to Jeonju, which is a bit more than an hour from Daejeon, to do some sightseeing. Our first stop was at a church built around the turn of the century, in 1908. It was interesting because of its shape: the church is L-shaped so that men sit in one wing, women sit in the other, and the pastor stands in the pulpit where the two wings meet. This was a concession the Christian missionaries made to Korean traditional values, where men and women are not of equal status.<br /><br />Next we visited the Jesus Hospital Museum. This is a brand-new museum commemorating the hundred-year-old history of Jeonju's Jesus Hospital (which is actually the Presbyterian Medical Mission, but that's a mouthful, especially for people who don't speak English). Jesus Hospital was founded by Presbyterian missionaries, and brought a lot of important medical innovations to the region, such as setting up Korea's first center for cancer treatment and initiating a program to get rid of parasites. At the museum you can see lots of the medical equipment they had back in the day. Some things, like the stethoscope, haven't changed much -- same simple principle applies. Other things I saw made me glad that I live in 2010. (Although someday people will probably look back and think the same thing about our times!) There were also many photos of the patients and the hardships they suffered -- malnutrition, tumors, leprosy, and much more. One particularly disturbing picture had to do with the hospital's campaign to reduce parasites in the area. Apparently, the program started because one day, a young girl collapsed in front of the hospital. When the doctors took her in to be examined, they found she had over 1,000 parasites in her body! The photo was of a pile of all those parasites that the doctors took out of her. (Fortunately this was not right before eating.)<br /><br />Afterwards we took a trip to the Korean cultural village, which is apparently a pretty big tourist attraction for Jeonju. We had a lunch of bibimbap, a dish the city is famous for. For those of you who don't know bibimbap, well, you can make it with lots of different things. But the basic idea is that you put vegetables and seaweed (or meat, or tofu, or whatever you prefer) on top of rice, and then a fried egg on top of that. Then you add spicy gochujang sauce (made from red peppers) and mix it all together before eating. With the bibimbap we had a delicious pancake (I forget the Korean name!) containing green onions and pieces of squid. It was soooo good, hot and flaky and savory. Then we took our time walking around the village. One of the main things to do there is to watch them make hanji, a special paper made from the bark of mulberry trees. <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TJ4UkX-IQDI/AAAAAAAAARM/lA4ekkWnIqo/s1600/Hanji+paper+art.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520872808345255986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ppXH2-RE2Hc/TJ4UkX-IQDI/AAAAAAAAARM/lA4ekkWnIqo/s320/Hanji+paper+art.JPG" border="0" /></a>And of course to buy hanji products. It seems that if you're sufficiently resourceful, you can make just about anything from it. There were many beautiful decorative boxes and fans made with hanji, plus much more. We even saw hanji socks! I wonder if they would fall apart if they got wet, like regular paper does? If so, they would not have been good socks for today. It was pouring more or less nonstop all day long, and our shoes got pretty soaked and muddy at times.<br /><br />Thanks to everyone who commented last time! I love hearing from you, so please keep telling me what you think!</div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-449924243425441594.post-63454995694097619662010-09-06T21:29:00.000-07:002010-09-25T08:30:20.996-07:00First daysSo, hey there, everybody. I'm in South Korea!<br /><br />The travel out there was pretty much as you would expect -- very long and tiring. We had a 14-hour flight from JFK to Narita, Japan, and then, after a brief layover, another three hours to Seoul. From Seoul it was about a three-hour drive to Daejeon, a drive that took place late at night. As we were driving through the Seoul area, high-rise apartment buildings surrounded us, each with myriad windows shining different colors of yellow, orange, pink, even pale green and blue. In the dark, the steel and concrete of the buildings were invisible, and instead we were inside a gigantic stained-glass cathedral formed by the city itself. In that moment, I just had a feeling that God had brought me to the exact place where I needed to be.<br /><br />Eventually we got to Daejeon, and the place that will be our home for the next year. The house we're staying in, which is on the campus of Hannam University, is amazing, almost too nice for poor missionaries! We have everything we need and more. Originally, the house was meant for guests of the university -- visiting dignitaries and so on. Simon and Haejung-imo ("imo" means mother's side aunt. We call her that because in Korea, it is considered rude to call older people by their first name only) live very close and we see them often. The first few days, we visited the chaplains' office and got introduced, and generally just got accustomed to the area.<br /><br />On Sunday, the three of us attended the university church. The worship service was all in Korean, yet had familiar elements. It was a really weird experience to hear the organ start up with the tune "Holy, Holy, Holy", a song that is so familiar to me, and then hear the congregation chime in in words that I don't understand. We also got to say the Apostles' Creed in English while everyone else was saying it in Korean. Partway through we left the service to meet with the youth group. As I understand it, we will be giving a lesson and talking with them every week. They are mostly high schoolers, and their English is very good. They seem eager to get to know us.<br /><br />After the service, there was a coffee hour featuring gimbap (which is a common snack or picnic food, and looks like what Americans think of as sushi -- seaweed wrapped around rice and vegetables) and tteok (rice cake). Then some of our new Korean acquaintances dragged us away to the Bible study for the college students. It was very well attended, probably around 50 or so youth. Every Sunday after church, the students gather together in one place, sing and pray and eat, and then break into small groups of eight or nine to talk about the scripture passage for the week. Each of us Americans was put into a different small group so that we could get to make friends with the Korean students. The people in my group are great (a little more on them later). And all of them were very interested in the question of whether the pizza we were eating was like American pizza or not. (It was, pretty much. I think takeout pizza is pretty similar anywhere you go, although I've heard that there are kimchi, bulgogi, and octo-squid pizzas out there.)<br /><br />This week, Jenny, Katie, and I are visiting some of the potential sites we can work at. Both today and yesterday, we went to inner city centers that have various programs designed to meet the needs of Daejeon's poor and socially disadvantaged groups. There are after-school programs for children from broken families; a fellowship and exercise program for the elderly; a program to support the poor migrant workers living in Korea; and much more. They are very exciting sites with many opportunities to interact with the community, and we're really looking forward to getting involved. For now, though, we're concentrating on our language classes and making connections in the immediate community. In a few weeks, around the end of September (after the Chuseok holidays), we'll begin our field work. Hopefully, when we begin, we'll have partners from Hannam volunteering alongside us. Having one of the Korean students would be great, and would help bridge the communication and culture gap.<br /><br /><p>Speaking of communication gaps, today was also my second day of Korean language classes. The classes are very necessary because, while the Korean educational system currently has mandatory English education from a fairly young age, the average person that you meet in a shop, a bank, or a restaurant still doesn't speak it fluently or even competently. The classes are in reading, writing, and speaking, and run Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 1 pm. In other words, it's pretty intensive! Right now, there's a lot of reading practice and repetition of basic words and phrases. I have three different sonsengnim (teachers), and all three are really amazing people who know how to encourage while still working you hard. Most of the students are Chinese, but there are a few from other countries like the U.S., Taiwain, Japan, India, etc.</p><p>As for entertainment, we've had our fair share of that, too. Yesterday, Simon and Haejung-imo took us to Daejeon's traditional Korean market. In the fish market, we saw every kind of seafood under the sun, and even some things that I didn't know people ate, like stingray. There were also incredible specimens of common seafood, like the giant Russian crabs. One of those is probably about the size of my torso! Then in the fruit and vegetable market, there were mountains of fresh produce stacked up on display. We bought some Korean pears for our dessert -- they're like a cross between an American pear and an apple, both juicy and crisp. It was a wholesale market, so it isn't really a place to do our regular shopping, but it was definitely fun to see!</p><p>In Korean restaurants, things are done a little differently than in the U.S. There are some more modern kinds, but in a traditional sort of restaurant, you take off your shoes when you come in and sit on the floor around low wooden tables. On the table is a burner, and the food is brought out to cook on it, right in front of you. In fact, you actively participate in the cooking process by grilling your own meat to taste, adding ingredients to your own soup, and so forth. The servers also bring out bowls of rice, and lots of small dishes for you to eat with the main dish. There's kimchi, almost always, and sometimes a vegetable slaw or scrambled egg-type dish. Korean radish is also common because it's a great way to cool down your mouth after you eat something spicy. And since Koreans love to put red pepper in their food, there are a lot of spicy offerings. Koreans eat with chopsticks (METAL chopsticks. I practiced all spring and summer eating with wooden chopsticks and, if I do say so myself, got pretty darn good . . . and then I find out that the metal kind the Koreans use are a whole different ball game. They are MUCH more slippery), but they also use spoons for soup and rice. Overall, eating out is much cheaper in Korea than in the states. You can get a nice big meal for 4,000-5,000 won (about $3.50-$4.50 US).</p><p>Haejung-imo has also promised to teach us to cook Korean foods, and so far, we learned to make changjorim. This is where you cook a piece of meat until it is tender, then pull it apart into little strips and cook in with vegetables (usually carrots and onions and whatever else you want) in a sauce of soy, garlic, and sesame oil. Then you serve it over rice (which is very easy to make when you have a rice cooker, which we do).</p>We've been exploring the city in our free time, although until we learn enough Korean to use the bus system, we can't go very far. Although one afternoon, two Korean students were nice enough to take us on a drive around downtown, where all the posh department stores are. We also saw the two symbols of Daejeon -- a giant metal tower and a bridge with two gigantic arches, one red, one blue.<br /><br />I also got taken out by my small group from Bible study. Besides meeting on Sundays to talk religion, they also meet during the week to share a meal and each other's company. We went out to eat bulgogi (grilled meat) cooked in gochujang (spicy red pepper sauce). My new friends taught me how to eat it Korean-style, wrapping some meat and rice and sauce in an edible leaf and eating the whole thing as a package. Besides that and numerous small dishes, we also had chige, which is a kind of soup. You can put all kinds of things in it, but it this case, we had ramyun (noodles), greens, and meat in a spicy broth. It was terrific, and very filling. When I tried to pay my share, I learned that when Koreans go out to eat together, they don't split the check. One person pays for everybody, and then next time, someone else treats.<br /><br />Afterwards, we went to a cafe to hang out, and -- surprise -- the new girl and the foreigner, yours truly, was front and center. Everyone in my group has been studying English for a few years at least, but since they haven't been immersed in an English-speaking culture, none are fluent. They know this, and it makes many of them self-conscious about trying to speak in front of me. Add this to the fact that I have next to no Korean, and it means that we have to work hard to understand each other. But slowly and surely, we can do it. Over the two hours we spent together, the shyer members of the group got more comfortable talking to me, bit by bit. One of the ways we got to know each other and feel less shy was by helping each other with language. I helped them with their English, and they were excited to teach me Korean words. We had a long talk about the differences between Korean and American culture. They were all really interested in hearing my thoughts about living in the two different countries, and they were all eager to share their insights as well. All in all, I had an amazing time hanging out with them and bonding.<br /><br />I would say that that's been my experience in general. Since I got here, everyone has been so ready and willing to open their heart to me and make me a part of their community. I feel so grateful and so blessed for all my new friends and new opportunities.<br /><br />That's all for today. Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving festival, is coming up later this month, so look forward to hearing all about that!Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07774676547123805543noreply@blogger.com7