Just went to my first class at 9 am, Pre-Modern Korean History, it was pretty chill and the same as in America. Go early. Stand outside. Be outgoing enough to introduce myself to the people who are there. Smile so I don't seem scary, because I apparently can be scary when people first meet me. Laugh inside at the awkwardness of some. Drink the rest of my drinkable yogurt (there is like no Yoplait-like yogurt here, it is all drinkable. Which is ironic, because I was starting to like the thick Greek yogurt [Chobani, yes this is an advertisement]) and sit in the kind of back because one never knows if where you sit will be your permanent seat from the start, and I don't like being in the front. Check out everyone else in the class and appraise. Greet teacher. Sit quietly and listen to syllabus reading. After self-introductions, ask a couple questions. Leave.
I found out I don't even need a book for this class! I can just go the library and read the book before class, take notes, and then take notes on the teacher's in class lectures. There is a group project which I hope goes well, since I don't like working in groups since there is always a slacker/a couple slackers if the group is too big :( The lecturer (not a professor... :[) is a Korean Canadian and pretty chill.
Yesterday I met with Jen and took her out to lunch as a thanks for letting me stay at her place during July/August. Then I did this cell phone testing thing that pays me for my two-hour session of playing around with an iPad-like development of Samsung's, and headed to Goseok Terminal to meet with Gi Yoon, Max and Jamie--we ended up eating at Omuto Tomato, a fusion mixed rice place, and then shopping around. We also ended up watching Inception, which I have already seen (but someone left his ticket in the ticket machine! We got a free ticket, woot!) but understood a lot better after watching once more. Very good movie.
I also talked with my sister last night for the first time since July. I miss her X_X
Oh and I found out that my sister's friend, Ji, is finally engaged! SO HAPPY YAAAY
I have two more classes today and then my Korean language evaluation test, then an orientation for the language exchange program I signed up for. I'm sleepy -___- and am kind of wistful for Wellesley, even though I love it here too. I miss my girls though...
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
And then there were four...
Grace from BU left this morning so now it is just Gi Yoon, me, Lydia, and Janice left in Korea. T___T
Last Wednesday I worked out in the little gym in SK Global five floors below mine, and I realized while there that there was no sanitizing station of paper towels and cleaning spray! AAAAH we are all going to die if just one person with some terrible random virus comes and works out there! I ended up going on the treadmill and only touching the button to start and the button to speed up the pace--I would gladly bring my own sanitizing wipes for before and after but that would get expensive. I felt grossed out though. There are all these people sweating all over these machines and there is no sanitizing station?
Anyway, so Friday day/night I just stayed in and caught up on this blog, my e-mails, and my news. Yesterday I met up with Gi Yoon, Grace from BU and her cousin from London, and a couple of the student reporters for the Ministry of Unification who are our good friends. I needed to buy a thicker blanket that the one SK Global gave because my roommate, although lovely, needs the AC on all night. So one of our Korean native friends told us to go to the 광장시장 near 종로5가역. I think this may have been the same place I bought a Korean blanket some five years ago with my bro, sis and dad. It's this big garage-like complex of stalls filled with hanboks, blankets, fabrics, ddukbokki, pig snouts (AH I was so startled when I saw these... I still feel kind of sick thinking about this), pumpkin and red bean juke, scallion pancakes, random non-Korean goods, shoes... etc. I went to three blanket places before deciding on a slightly off white one with a simple design of small flowers... 25,000 Won baby! The first place charged 35,000 W and the second charged 38,000 W. My brother wants a nice thick Korean blanket so I'll probably go back with my mom once she comes in September :)
Navigating our way back to the center of the place, we stopped for a small meal of pumpkin juke (SO GOOD WHOA), random pieces of pig that I later found out was the ears and parts of the face (AAAH thinking about it makes me feel sick, again, good thing I only ate a piece [I guess in Korea all meat is good meat?]), scallion pancakes and other fried things, and a little bit of rice alcohol (I didn't really drink any. Alcohol at 4 pm? Eh?). It was my first time eating the equivalent of street food even though we were kind of in a garage so I enjoyed the experience. :)
Afterwards we went to a mall complex in Dongdaemun although we didn't really shop but rather waited for another friend to meet with us. Once he came we left for Myungdong via the 정구천? Something like that (it is the newly opened waterway that used to be underground for years, a project of President Lee Myung-bak) which was nice. Went to Krispy Kreme so we could sit and talk inside, and although Gi Yoon and our friend Sehmee (we gave her the English name Jamie!) had to leave, a little later our friends Sukho (Ian) and his gf came. Ian, his gf, Jamie and another friend Junghwan (Max) all are planning to visit America in January, during their break, so we talked a lot about that. I hope they do and I hope most of my Wellesley friends can meet them, they are all great!
Ian's gf left early and then Ian Max and I waited for Grace from BU to meet us. We ended up going to a bar because there wasn't any place to go (Myungdong closes kind of early) to talk and say goodbye (Grace left for China today). T_T
Two things I've noticed: ONE All my Korean friends are older than me, so they keep buying me stuff (coffee... okay just coffee, but still). How do hoobaes reciprocate to their sunbaes? One day I just say, hey, let me pay this time? I feel like Korean etiquette may not allow that...? But I did tell them that my mom is coming in September, so Mom, can we maybe all go to dinner together and then you can meet them? And then I can pay for their meal? :D
When I told Jamie unni about my mom coming she said she'd be sure to say to my mom that she has been taking good care of me and not letting me get up to mischief. Haha thanks unni, thanks. I've been good anyway ^^
TWO I didn't notice this as much as I was kind of told by Grace from BU, but I think maybe I'm trying too hard to have 눈치. Because of the cultural divide I'm not completely sure, even after all this time, how to act, and so I'm always cautious and observing everyone else and oftentimes just keeping quiet. Grace thinks I should be more relaxed because our Korean friends know where I'm coming from, and I should just tell them to correct me when my actions or words are incorrect or just not culturally done.
So I thought about this more and yes, I'm comfortable with my Korean friends, but yes because they don't really speak English I AM trying really hard to listen and learn and watch how they behave. Which isn't bad, but yes maybe I give off a slightly tense or stressed feeling when I'm with them because I'm always watching myself and making sure I'm respectful enough and stuff. Like last night, when we went to the bar, we had a little rice wine, but when I was drinking it out of my bowl I turned away from them. Apparently you only do that when you are in front of really old people or in a business setting, since we're all friends I shouldn't do it. :)
Ian invited me to the meeting of the Korean student reporters (the Wellesley/BU group got business cards from the Ministry of Unification as well, since we're working for them for the next year, but our title is Overseas Student Reporters) that they have once a month. It will be this upcoming Saturday. If timing works out I think I will go! Although by then it will really only be me, no one else will be there to help me understand what is going on. Good thing all my sunbaes are really patient, understanding and nice. I'm so thankful for them!
It is 1:38 pm now. I'm visiting Onnuri Church for the first time today! Its service is at 4:00, I'm meeting Bryan from Tufts near the church and then we'll go together. I think I'll study Korean now... I'm taking an assessment test this Wednesday and I want to do well!
Last Wednesday I worked out in the little gym in SK Global five floors below mine, and I realized while there that there was no sanitizing station of paper towels and cleaning spray! AAAAH we are all going to die if just one person with some terrible random virus comes and works out there! I ended up going on the treadmill and only touching the button to start and the button to speed up the pace--I would gladly bring my own sanitizing wipes for before and after but that would get expensive. I felt grossed out though. There are all these people sweating all over these machines and there is no sanitizing station?
Anyway, so Friday day/night I just stayed in and caught up on this blog, my e-mails, and my news. Yesterday I met up with Gi Yoon, Grace from BU and her cousin from London, and a couple of the student reporters for the Ministry of Unification who are our good friends. I needed to buy a thicker blanket that the one SK Global gave because my roommate, although lovely, needs the AC on all night. So one of our Korean native friends told us to go to the 광장시장 near 종로5가역. I think this may have been the same place I bought a Korean blanket some five years ago with my bro, sis and dad. It's this big garage-like complex of stalls filled with hanboks, blankets, fabrics, ddukbokki, pig snouts (AH I was so startled when I saw these... I still feel kind of sick thinking about this), pumpkin and red bean juke, scallion pancakes, random non-Korean goods, shoes... etc. I went to three blanket places before deciding on a slightly off white one with a simple design of small flowers... 25,000 Won baby! The first place charged 35,000 W and the second charged 38,000 W. My brother wants a nice thick Korean blanket so I'll probably go back with my mom once she comes in September :)
Navigating our way back to the center of the place, we stopped for a small meal of pumpkin juke (SO GOOD WHOA), random pieces of pig that I later found out was the ears and parts of the face (AAAH thinking about it makes me feel sick, again, good thing I only ate a piece [I guess in Korea all meat is good meat?]), scallion pancakes and other fried things, and a little bit of rice alcohol (I didn't really drink any. Alcohol at 4 pm? Eh?). It was my first time eating the equivalent of street food even though we were kind of in a garage so I enjoyed the experience. :)
Afterwards we went to a mall complex in Dongdaemun although we didn't really shop but rather waited for another friend to meet with us. Once he came we left for Myungdong via the 정구천? Something like that (it is the newly opened waterway that used to be underground for years, a project of President Lee Myung-bak) which was nice. Went to Krispy Kreme so we could sit and talk inside, and although Gi Yoon and our friend Sehmee (we gave her the English name Jamie!) had to leave, a little later our friends Sukho (Ian) and his gf came. Ian, his gf, Jamie and another friend Junghwan (Max) all are planning to visit America in January, during their break, so we talked a lot about that. I hope they do and I hope most of my Wellesley friends can meet them, they are all great!
Ian's gf left early and then Ian Max and I waited for Grace from BU to meet us. We ended up going to a bar because there wasn't any place to go (Myungdong closes kind of early) to talk and say goodbye (Grace left for China today). T_T
Two things I've noticed: ONE All my Korean friends are older than me, so they keep buying me stuff (coffee... okay just coffee, but still). How do hoobaes reciprocate to their sunbaes? One day I just say, hey, let me pay this time? I feel like Korean etiquette may not allow that...? But I did tell them that my mom is coming in September, so Mom, can we maybe all go to dinner together and then you can meet them? And then I can pay for their meal? :D
When I told Jamie unni about my mom coming she said she'd be sure to say to my mom that she has been taking good care of me and not letting me get up to mischief. Haha thanks unni, thanks. I've been good anyway ^^
TWO I didn't notice this as much as I was kind of told by Grace from BU, but I think maybe I'm trying too hard to have 눈치. Because of the cultural divide I'm not completely sure, even after all this time, how to act, and so I'm always cautious and observing everyone else and oftentimes just keeping quiet. Grace thinks I should be more relaxed because our Korean friends know where I'm coming from, and I should just tell them to correct me when my actions or words are incorrect or just not culturally done.
So I thought about this more and yes, I'm comfortable with my Korean friends, but yes because they don't really speak English I AM trying really hard to listen and learn and watch how they behave. Which isn't bad, but yes maybe I give off a slightly tense or stressed feeling when I'm with them because I'm always watching myself and making sure I'm respectful enough and stuff. Like last night, when we went to the bar, we had a little rice wine, but when I was drinking it out of my bowl I turned away from them. Apparently you only do that when you are in front of really old people or in a business setting, since we're all friends I shouldn't do it. :)
Ian invited me to the meeting of the Korean student reporters (the Wellesley/BU group got business cards from the Ministry of Unification as well, since we're working for them for the next year, but our title is Overseas Student Reporters) that they have once a month. It will be this upcoming Saturday. If timing works out I think I will go! Although by then it will really only be me, no one else will be there to help me understand what is going on. Good thing all my sunbaes are really patient, understanding and nice. I'm so thankful for them!
It is 1:38 pm now. I'm visiting Onnuri Church for the first time today! Its service is at 4:00, I'm meeting Bryan from Tufts near the church and then we'll go together. I think I'll study Korean now... I'm taking an assessment test this Wednesday and I want to do well!
Friday, August 27, 2010
And thus my summer work has officially ended!
The first week of summer in Korea: Have preliminary meetings with the Wellesley/BU volunteer team.
The second week of summer in Korea: Meet the other college/graduate school students participating in the Ministry of Unification program, meet Ministry of Unification officials and the Vice Minister, attend workshops on social media, go on a 3 night 4 day trip all along the DMZ, starting from the west and going to the east.
The third week of summer in Korea: Go to Hangyeoulleh Middle and High School, live among the students there, all of whom escaped from North Korea, many of whom lived in China for years and years before they finally came to South Korea.
The fourth week of summer in Korea: Miss out on going to the Hana Centers and volunteering to work with newly arrived North Korean defectors (relatively new, they will all have been in South Korea at least three months beforehand) to go to CIEE orientation. Meet the students, go on a 2 night 3 day field trip to different parts of Korea.
The fifth week of summer in Korea: Have a final time with the Ministry of Unification, and the Governor and other people in charge of Gyeonggi Province, go to the JSA for the second time, see a comedic theatrical performance that incorporates traditional Korean instruments, have a workshop on Culture Shock for CIEE.
Intermittently: Going to church, eating good food, meeting with friends from Boston, friends made during the DMZ tour, moving from Jen's apartment in Jamshil to Yonsei's SK Global House. I haven't gone shopping once!
I'm sad the time of Wellesley/BU volunteer team in Korea is up. This end is bittersweet, but relieving in some ways. I have definitely learned a lot more about the complexities of North Korea and why, as someone told me last semester, focusing just on the refugees/defectors, or just on the human rights issues there, is admirable but not exactly the whole picture. The issue of unification is definitely one that I have been mulling over, and I think my view of what North Korea most needs and suffers most from has changed. Before, I was pained over the concentration camps, prisons, starvation, economic turmoil and lack of any freedom. Now, I still pray about those things but I also think about the difficulties North Koreans face outside of North Korea, and I also think I understand those other issues more thoroughly than before. Meeting people from North Korea is surreal in a way--these new acquaintances and friends have suffered so much, yet on the outside, at first glance, you would have no idea. Only after spending more time with them do you start to see how their past has shaped their present and future, and how they think. And throughout all this, I have seen the huge, huge difference that salvation makes in the lives of these defectors--some have accepted Christ into their lives, and their whole attitude and life has changed.
Three things that I am super glad about that are unrelated to the academic nature of the past few weeks: I met good sunbaes from the DMZ trip with whom I know I can call to hang out with or if I need help, I became closer with all the girls on the Wells/BU volunteer team (we were really random, none of us knew every other member beforehand), and I experienced a lot of Korean culture that was aided by having interaction with important people, North Koreans, Korean students, other college students, and traveling. I wish I could record my thoughts during the important moments in depth... but since that obviously isn't the case this will have to do.
Also...people should care about North Korea. It's not that I think everyone should be as involved (or not involved, lots of people do much more) as I have been (plus I really don't know how I'm going to incorporate this into my future, since I am not planning on having my whole life revolve around this issue, necessarily), but I realize that, at the very least, awareness of what is going on is important.
Awareness can lead to a broader worldview, a more purposeful life, thoughtfulness, and a change in attitude and behavior (for the better). Also, unification is something that needs to seriously be considered. Not that I strongly believe or disbelieve the possibility of a unified Korean peninsula, but that unification may be the best way to achieve peace, and is always a possibility even if it seems impossible--so we must be ready. And that unification shouldn't be wanted just because the Korean people are still one in blood and biologically the same, or that our families are split because of the divide, or that because we were once one means we must aim to be one again, but because the communist dictatorship will one day fall, and the scenario of unification may be the best outcome to work toward making possible. There are so many facets of North Korea that are completely heartbreaking yet fascinating, and I am definitely convinced that, even if it isn't my career or life, that I will work hard to spread awareness (not in an annoying way, don't be scared this is all I'm going to talk about when I get back lol) when I can.
After these past few weeks I am just more and more grateful everyday for my parents, my friends, America, the passion God has given me for this issue, the amazing opportunities that God provided for our team (which was originally going to just volunteer at a Hana Center for four weeks but ended up giving interviews on the radio, meeting important people, participating in official government programs), the people on the team, Utah, my sister and brother, my Wellesley friends, the weather of Boston and Utah since the weather is so bad over here, the new friends I have made here, my Koreanness and my Americanness...
I still don't know what I want to do with my life after graduating, but I am hoping and praying that during this semester and on further reflection of what I have undergone, God will reveal a little more of His plan for me...
_____________________________________________________________________
And now to digress to the FUN TIDBITS SECTION
Tidbit 1: Koreans don't have motions that are meant to be used in awkward situations, like the two-flippered awkward turtle sign so many of us know and embrace. Then again, all of the students in my CIEE group were completely clueless about awkward motions (outside of the turtle) too. Is this a Korean American church thing? (John Byun from BC, I'm talking to you, even though you'll probably never read this blog or this post. ^^) So I showed my Korean and CIEE buddies awkward snail, snowman, clam, lollipop, moose, parked car, parallel parked car, turtle, turtle has babies, balloon, koala, inchworm, shark, cactus, starfish, and jellyfish (JiYeon unni, I will never be able to be as good of an awkward koala as you are) and the looks on their faces... were amazing. AMAZING. Now everyone in my study abroad program (well, the guys) use awkward moose in the stupidest moments and I'm like seriously guys, you're abusing it now...
and the Koreans are like... uh... in Korean culture, when it gets awkward, we grab our glasses and drink more! ^_^
Tidbit 2: Almost everyone knows that I adore Choi Minho, the rapper and tallest guy in SHINee, a male K-pop group. Well, Christine went to the practice performance of Inkigayo, which is one of many music shows through which Korean pop stars perform for the masses, and she saw them! She was actually reprimanded for taking pictures and videorecording some of the performances beforehand, but when she saw SHINee was up next she was determined to record it for me. :)
Tidbit 3: A couple days after I hear about this, Grace from BU calls me at night and tells me she just saw SHINee on the street in Hongdae. They were filming a show and she said she knew she had a duty to take many pictures for me. :) My friends are so thoughtful...
Tidbit 4: I went to a performance called Fanta Stick Thursday evening, which had many performances of tradiational Korean instruments blended into a comedic plot. 송승헉 from 가을 something drama or other was there to watch the performance too, so I saw him and was sitting on the row to the right of his row. People went nuts, there were body guards and soooo many cameramen... and old ladies and young ladies taking pictures... and guys taking pictures with their cell phones... I guess this guy is pretty famous! He was pretty cute. Good body frame.
Tidbit 5: For those of you who were in my Korean Language class 2009-2010... I ran into our TA, Jaehyun Jo in 여의도. It was super awkward... I was so shocked I was spluttering. And I found out he is a graduate student at Yonsei, so he is actually taking classes here... and lives in the iHouse, the dorm that is right next to and connected to mine, the SK Global House. Is this a setup for more awkward moments in the future? Is God telling me I need to form a friendship with Jo 선생님 for some reason? This coincidence is weird, especially because I ran into him in Boston one time during the summer (coming back from my internship in Harvard Square) too!
The second week of summer in Korea: Meet the other college/graduate school students participating in the Ministry of Unification program, meet Ministry of Unification officials and the Vice Minister, attend workshops on social media, go on a 3 night 4 day trip all along the DMZ, starting from the west and going to the east.
The third week of summer in Korea: Go to Hangyeoulleh Middle and High School, live among the students there, all of whom escaped from North Korea, many of whom lived in China for years and years before they finally came to South Korea.
The fourth week of summer in Korea: Miss out on going to the Hana Centers and volunteering to work with newly arrived North Korean defectors (relatively new, they will all have been in South Korea at least three months beforehand) to go to CIEE orientation. Meet the students, go on a 2 night 3 day field trip to different parts of Korea.
The fifth week of summer in Korea: Have a final time with the Ministry of Unification, and the Governor and other people in charge of Gyeonggi Province, go to the JSA for the second time, see a comedic theatrical performance that incorporates traditional Korean instruments, have a workshop on Culture Shock for CIEE.
Intermittently: Going to church, eating good food, meeting with friends from Boston, friends made during the DMZ tour, moving from Jen's apartment in Jamshil to Yonsei's SK Global House. I haven't gone shopping once!
I'm sad the time of Wellesley/BU volunteer team in Korea is up. This end is bittersweet, but relieving in some ways. I have definitely learned a lot more about the complexities of North Korea and why, as someone told me last semester, focusing just on the refugees/defectors, or just on the human rights issues there, is admirable but not exactly the whole picture. The issue of unification is definitely one that I have been mulling over, and I think my view of what North Korea most needs and suffers most from has changed. Before, I was pained over the concentration camps, prisons, starvation, economic turmoil and lack of any freedom. Now, I still pray about those things but I also think about the difficulties North Koreans face outside of North Korea, and I also think I understand those other issues more thoroughly than before. Meeting people from North Korea is surreal in a way--these new acquaintances and friends have suffered so much, yet on the outside, at first glance, you would have no idea. Only after spending more time with them do you start to see how their past has shaped their present and future, and how they think. And throughout all this, I have seen the huge, huge difference that salvation makes in the lives of these defectors--some have accepted Christ into their lives, and their whole attitude and life has changed.
Three things that I am super glad about that are unrelated to the academic nature of the past few weeks: I met good sunbaes from the DMZ trip with whom I know I can call to hang out with or if I need help, I became closer with all the girls on the Wells/BU volunteer team (we were really random, none of us knew every other member beforehand), and I experienced a lot of Korean culture that was aided by having interaction with important people, North Koreans, Korean students, other college students, and traveling. I wish I could record my thoughts during the important moments in depth... but since that obviously isn't the case this will have to do.
Also...people should care about North Korea. It's not that I think everyone should be as involved (or not involved, lots of people do much more) as I have been (plus I really don't know how I'm going to incorporate this into my future, since I am not planning on having my whole life revolve around this issue, necessarily), but I realize that, at the very least, awareness of what is going on is important.
Awareness can lead to a broader worldview, a more purposeful life, thoughtfulness, and a change in attitude and behavior (for the better). Also, unification is something that needs to seriously be considered. Not that I strongly believe or disbelieve the possibility of a unified Korean peninsula, but that unification may be the best way to achieve peace, and is always a possibility even if it seems impossible--so we must be ready. And that unification shouldn't be wanted just because the Korean people are still one in blood and biologically the same, or that our families are split because of the divide, or that because we were once one means we must aim to be one again, but because the communist dictatorship will one day fall, and the scenario of unification may be the best outcome to work toward making possible. There are so many facets of North Korea that are completely heartbreaking yet fascinating, and I am definitely convinced that, even if it isn't my career or life, that I will work hard to spread awareness (not in an annoying way, don't be scared this is all I'm going to talk about when I get back lol) when I can.
After these past few weeks I am just more and more grateful everyday for my parents, my friends, America, the passion God has given me for this issue, the amazing opportunities that God provided for our team (which was originally going to just volunteer at a Hana Center for four weeks but ended up giving interviews on the radio, meeting important people, participating in official government programs), the people on the team, Utah, my sister and brother, my Wellesley friends, the weather of Boston and Utah since the weather is so bad over here, the new friends I have made here, my Koreanness and my Americanness...
I still don't know what I want to do with my life after graduating, but I am hoping and praying that during this semester and on further reflection of what I have undergone, God will reveal a little more of His plan for me...
_____________________________________________________________________
And now to digress to the FUN TIDBITS SECTION
Tidbit 1: Koreans don't have motions that are meant to be used in awkward situations, like the two-flippered awkward turtle sign so many of us know and embrace. Then again, all of the students in my CIEE group were completely clueless about awkward motions (outside of the turtle) too. Is this a Korean American church thing? (John Byun from BC, I'm talking to you, even though you'll probably never read this blog or this post. ^^) So I showed my Korean and CIEE buddies awkward snail, snowman, clam, lollipop, moose, parked car, parallel parked car, turtle, turtle has babies, balloon, koala, inchworm, shark, cactus, starfish, and jellyfish (JiYeon unni, I will never be able to be as good of an awkward koala as you are) and the looks on their faces... were amazing. AMAZING. Now everyone in my study abroad program (well, the guys) use awkward moose in the stupidest moments and I'm like seriously guys, you're abusing it now...
and the Koreans are like... uh... in Korean culture, when it gets awkward, we grab our glasses and drink more! ^_^
Tidbit 2: Almost everyone knows that I adore Choi Minho, the rapper and tallest guy in SHINee, a male K-pop group. Well, Christine went to the practice performance of Inkigayo, which is one of many music shows through which Korean pop stars perform for the masses, and she saw them! She was actually reprimanded for taking pictures and videorecording some of the performances beforehand, but when she saw SHINee was up next she was determined to record it for me. :)
Tidbit 3: A couple days after I hear about this, Grace from BU calls me at night and tells me she just saw SHINee on the street in Hongdae. They were filming a show and she said she knew she had a duty to take many pictures for me. :) My friends are so thoughtful...
Tidbit 4: I went to a performance called Fanta Stick Thursday evening, which had many performances of tradiational Korean instruments blended into a comedic plot. 송승헉 from 가을 something drama or other was there to watch the performance too, so I saw him and was sitting on the row to the right of his row. People went nuts, there were body guards and soooo many cameramen... and old ladies and young ladies taking pictures... and guys taking pictures with their cell phones... I guess this guy is pretty famous! He was pretty cute. Good body frame.
Tidbit 5: For those of you who were in my Korean Language class 2009-2010... I ran into our TA, Jaehyun Jo in 여의도. It was super awkward... I was so shocked I was spluttering. And I found out he is a graduate student at Yonsei, so he is actually taking classes here... and lives in the iHouse, the dorm that is right next to and connected to mine, the SK Global House. Is this a setup for more awkward moments in the future? Is God telling me I need to form a friendship with Jo 선생님 for some reason? This coincidence is weird, especially because I ran into him in Boston one time during the summer (coming back from my internship in Harvard Square) too!
CIEE Orientation
It's hard to update this blog because the internet on my computer is so spotty. I really don't know how to improve it--there is no wireless so we use ethernet cables, but even so the connection really stinks. I'm sitting in my friend's room using her MacBook Pro to type this.
Anyway, it's been a long couple of weeks! I met my CIEE study abroad group which consists of about 20-40 individuals... a lot of them are, surprisingly, from Minnesota. There are also many Hmong American students, and a few Korean adoptees, which was a pleasant surprise. I say pleasant because I volunteer with Wellesley's Korean Adoptee Mentor Program, and so it is great to be able to talk to a few adoptees who are my age about their experiences (so I can be a better unni to my little sister). The group is really diverse so I've enjoyed meeting everyone, although I admit that at times I found myself wishing I was with my Korean and Wellesley/BU friends. We had lots of different events and small lectures for our orientation, and we even had a 2 night 3 day trip to Jeonju and Hadong, which are places known for bibimbap, paper-making, and tea. We made paper, we experienced a Korean tea ceremony, we cooked and rolled and dried green tea leaves... we went to karaoke, we visited the JSA (which was the second time for me) and a few museums here and there... yep it has been a busy orientation! I'm having a lot of fun even though I'm tired from all these different things going on. I really want to post up pictures of what has been happening but because this computer I'm using isn't my own, I'll have to put the pictures on a thumbdrive first. I promise I'll do it soon so that everyone can see what I've been up to ^^
Today is Friday. Last Monday the Wellesley/BU volunteer team met up with the Ministry of Unification officials, and the vice minister, one last time for a lunch and debriefing session. We made all of them cup their faces with us in the classic "I'm cute and Asian" pose, which is awesome. As a parting gift they gave us these small but beautiful Korean jewelry chests.
Last Tuesday I met with the Gyeonggi-do Governor, 김문수, along with the other girls and we again talked about our experiences, took pictures, and were presented with a small tea cup with a filter and a lid as a parting gift. Yay for gifts :) The meeting was quite short, about 40 minutes? But I'm still glad we could meet him, the word on the grapevine is that he may run for President of South Korea soon... and if so that means we have a HUGE connection.
Daisy left on Wednesday. :( Christine left Thursday :( Grace Kim leaves today :( Grace Kwon leaves tomorrow :(
One day, soon, I will post all my pictures. Look forward to it?
Anyway, it's been a long couple of weeks! I met my CIEE study abroad group which consists of about 20-40 individuals... a lot of them are, surprisingly, from Minnesota. There are also many Hmong American students, and a few Korean adoptees, which was a pleasant surprise. I say pleasant because I volunteer with Wellesley's Korean Adoptee Mentor Program, and so it is great to be able to talk to a few adoptees who are my age about their experiences (so I can be a better unni to my little sister). The group is really diverse so I've enjoyed meeting everyone, although I admit that at times I found myself wishing I was with my Korean and Wellesley/BU friends. We had lots of different events and small lectures for our orientation, and we even had a 2 night 3 day trip to Jeonju and Hadong, which are places known for bibimbap, paper-making, and tea. We made paper, we experienced a Korean tea ceremony, we cooked and rolled and dried green tea leaves... we went to karaoke, we visited the JSA (which was the second time for me) and a few museums here and there... yep it has been a busy orientation! I'm having a lot of fun even though I'm tired from all these different things going on. I really want to post up pictures of what has been happening but because this computer I'm using isn't my own, I'll have to put the pictures on a thumbdrive first. I promise I'll do it soon so that everyone can see what I've been up to ^^
Today is Friday. Last Monday the Wellesley/BU volunteer team met up with the Ministry of Unification officials, and the vice minister, one last time for a lunch and debriefing session. We made all of them cup their faces with us in the classic "I'm cute and Asian" pose, which is awesome. As a parting gift they gave us these small but beautiful Korean jewelry chests.
Last Tuesday I met with the Gyeonggi-do Governor, 김문수, along with the other girls and we again talked about our experiences, took pictures, and were presented with a small tea cup with a filter and a lid as a parting gift. Yay for gifts :) The meeting was quite short, about 40 minutes? But I'm still glad we could meet him, the word on the grapevine is that he may run for President of South Korea soon... and if so that means we have a HUGE connection.
Daisy left on Wednesday. :( Christine left Thursday :( Grace Kim leaves today :( Grace Kwon leaves tomorrow :(
One day, soon, I will post all my pictures. Look forward to it?
Sunday, August 15, 2010
8/14, 8/15 Saturday and Sunday
SUNDAY 8/15: Visited Jubilee Church at 1:30 pm. Met up with Grace and Grace, Daisy, Christine from BC and her sister, and Bryan. Jubilee is apparently the church that Tim’s oldest brother I(Tim was a Korean singer back in the day) is pastor of, which I was surprised to learn. Service was short because they had missions teams come and share their experiences... I had to leave early to meet my uncle (finally! I wanted to meet earlier but our schedules never matched).
Grandma couldn't come, so I hope I can visit her later. I haven't learned the amount of Korean I know for nothing, I want to speak with my grandmother soooon!
I met with my uncle, aunt and cousin, which was fun. I haven't seen them in a long time. Now I'm back at the apartment after packing and cleaning. I leave for Yonsei tomorrow!!! I hope the team does well tomorrow--they will be going to different Hana Centers all around Gyeonggi Province every day this week.
Oh, and YAY Jen is going to help me move in tomorrow, and she says she is going to buy me kalbi for lunch! She takes such good care of me :) she even folds my laundry (I was going to do it but her whole family is extremely proactive)
***********************************************************************************
SATURDAY 8/14
Because I just spent the last week sleeping at 11 and waking at 6:10 am, I woke up at 7 am this morning. Which was good because I did bible study in the morning again, but I got tired around 10 am and took a nap. Sigh.
I was going to rest all day today, but Grace said she and some others from the DMZ field trip were going to meet up for dinner and a movie, so I headed over to 경복궁 at 4 pm. It was good to see everyone again! and I even met a couple new people. We ended up eating then going to Insadong, which is a really touristy place that is pretty cute. I want to go back during the day and go shopping sometime. We all had amazing mountain berry bingsoo that was sooo goooood (it had candied peanuts, normal peanuts, rice cake, chunks of fruit and berries, ice cream, sweet red bean, and ice). The oldest in our group, whom we dubbed "Ian" because he wanted an English name, brought along his girlfriend of three years and she paid for them. I still can't get used to this sunbae buying hoobae everything, but I guess I'll just express my thanks, try to not order expensive things whenever I'm out with them, and pass on the generosity. Although I'm hoping I don't meet too many hoobaes since I have no money for these things lol.
There was something being sold on the street that looks like a cocoon--the outside is made of 16,000 strands of honey that look like cobweb because they are so thin, the inside is some sort of sweet nut mixture. I don't remember the name but it was king's food back in the day. It was good--interesting texture though. A different 오빠 bought it for us all, since a pack had ten and there were eight of us.
Grandma couldn't come, so I hope I can visit her later. I haven't learned the amount of Korean I know for nothing, I want to speak with my grandmother soooon!
I met with my uncle, aunt and cousin, which was fun. I haven't seen them in a long time. Now I'm back at the apartment after packing and cleaning. I leave for Yonsei tomorrow!!! I hope the team does well tomorrow--they will be going to different Hana Centers all around Gyeonggi Province every day this week.
Oh, and YAY Jen is going to help me move in tomorrow, and she says she is going to buy me kalbi for lunch! She takes such good care of me :) she even folds my laundry (I was going to do it but her whole family is extremely proactive)
***********************************************************************************
SATURDAY 8/14
Because I just spent the last week sleeping at 11 and waking at 6:10 am, I woke up at 7 am this morning. Which was good because I did bible study in the morning again, but I got tired around 10 am and took a nap. Sigh.
I was going to rest all day today, but Grace said she and some others from the DMZ field trip were going to meet up for dinner and a movie, so I headed over to 경복궁 at 4 pm. It was good to see everyone again! and I even met a couple new people. We ended up eating then going to Insadong, which is a really touristy place that is pretty cute. I want to go back during the day and go shopping sometime. We all had amazing mountain berry bingsoo that was sooo goooood (it had candied peanuts, normal peanuts, rice cake, chunks of fruit and berries, ice cream, sweet red bean, and ice). The oldest in our group, whom we dubbed "Ian" because he wanted an English name, brought along his girlfriend of three years and she paid for them. I still can't get used to this sunbae buying hoobae everything, but I guess I'll just express my thanks, try to not order expensive things whenever I'm out with them, and pass on the generosity. Although I'm hoping I don't meet too many hoobaes since I have no money for these things lol.
There was something being sold on the street that looks like a cocoon--the outside is made of 16,000 strands of honey that look like cobweb because they are so thin, the inside is some sort of sweet nut mixture. I don't remember the name but it was king's food back in the day. It was good--interesting texture though. A different 오빠 bought it for us all, since a pack had ten and there were eight of us.
Day Three of 3박4일 Field Trip (Friday)
I still felt sick this morning. :( I didn't really eat breakfast. This was the first time we've been to a place with chairs :D
Because I was still feeling sick, Christine kept massaging the pressure point between my thumb and first finger. It hurt a lot, but she said it was only proof that I really did have indigestion, because if I was normal it wouldn't hurt. I don't believe that it does anything, or that the pain is an indicator, but I was desperate because the pill for indigestion I took didn't work.
My team leader (not the Wellesley team but the Peace [Green] Team) was sitting nearby, and he wanted to help so he took my hand and massaged it too. So hard that I wanted to cry. Then another friend who is one of the leaders of the 상생 기자단 group wanted to help too, so he massaged my hand too. So hard that I actually did cry this time. (After I finally felt all better on Sunday morning, I tested the pressure point and I swear it bruised.)
We went to a couple different places that morning and later, around two, we got to a place where Buddhist temples are. I’m not sure how they related to our trip but I’m sure there was a reason. I felt too sick to go hiking up there(indigestion is much more serious than I thought, seriously) so I stayed on the bus.
After a couple of hours of dozing, everyone returned and we left for the beach. I felt good enough to swim (mainly because I hadn't eaten anything) and we thankfully got a good three hours of free time to just swim and relax. I forgot how much I LOVE SWIMMING IN THE SEA!!! (Koreans have so many games for all occasions, I'm amazed. They are all kind of intense, though.) The cold water quelled my stomach.
After everyone cleaned up we sat on the beach waiting for dinner to be served. Fun observation: Koreans love to sing and dance, and they are very supportive of people showing these talents off. This must be why there seems to be speakers and a microphone everywhere we go... even on the buses...
We performed our skits after dinner and my team won :) We imitated the striking characteristics of each school group and some of the adults in a before and after kind of skit.
Afterwards everyone headed back over to the beach for a huge bonfire, which was awesome although very hot. And more games were played. I am learning many new games that even Wellesley KSA didn't teach me, lol.
Since I still couldn't eat much food and still felt sick, Christine said I had only one choice. The steps of dealing with indigestion, Korean style: first drink soda, then take medicine, then massage pressure points and pound back many times, and finally... poking your thumbs right below the nail to let out blood.
Um... what?! Can't I take Pepto-Bismol or something?
But apparently this is a very common ailment that is commonly cured this way in Korea. One of the adults on the trip even had the special pen that people use to poke their thumbs.
Anyone who knows me knows I can't stand blood and I have low pain tolerance. I was petrified. But what could I do? I had already tried taking medicine and it didn't work, so I agreed to have my thumbs poked. I bled a lot, which Christine said was another indicator that I had bad indigestion. Apparently, if I didn't, I would've bled very little.
Note: Koreans believe this helps because they (and Asian medicine in general) believe the feet and hands are intricately connected to the digestive system. Cold hands and feet? Bad indigestion.
I guess it kind of worked because I started burping (which ironically is what you want to happen, even though everyone gets mad at me when I burp) and fell asleep for a little. Since it was the last night, however, instead of sleeping Christine Gracfe and I went to a last Peace Team meeting, AKA let's bond over snacks and drinks and play games (formula for successful Korean bonding). I'm thankful no one forced us to drink because I've heard stories about sunbaes (older people) guilt-tripping/forcing/manipulating the hoobaes (younger people) to drink whether they like it or not. We all had water, don't worry parents. The others had beer though, as usual.
More games! More talking! It was fun, I'm glad I stayed awake that night. It was by far the latest I had stayed up in a while. Christine and I left to go to sleep at 4 am (Grace left at 2 am), but the rest (all older) stayed up longer and we also went by other rooms filled with the other teams that didn't look close to sleeping. I'm amazed by the endurance of Koreans and their ability to not sleep. O_O
***Christine and I asked what the others thought of us and they said there were some very good points about our American education. They said they admired our ability to just stand up and speak (referring to the two discussion times we had Wed and Thurs) when Koreans get really nervous and aren't really taught to be bold and individualistic and express themselves that way. They also thought we had a lot of good confidence and openness that they weren't expecting. Because we had this time to talk and be open with each other, I think I also learned a lot. I had a certain view of the drinking, hierarchical, familial, internalizing, competitive and look-based parts of Korean culture, but I think I understand more than before. :) All these people around me are great, I am blessed to be a part of this group!
Because I was still feeling sick, Christine kept massaging the pressure point between my thumb and first finger. It hurt a lot, but she said it was only proof that I really did have indigestion, because if I was normal it wouldn't hurt. I don't believe that it does anything, or that the pain is an indicator, but I was desperate because the pill for indigestion I took didn't work.
My team leader (not the Wellesley team but the Peace [Green] Team) was sitting nearby, and he wanted to help so he took my hand and massaged it too. So hard that I wanted to cry. Then another friend who is one of the leaders of the 상생 기자단 group wanted to help too, so he massaged my hand too. So hard that I actually did cry this time. (After I finally felt all better on Sunday morning, I tested the pressure point and I swear it bruised.)
We went to a couple different places that morning and later, around two, we got to a place where Buddhist temples are. I’m not sure how they related to our trip but I’m sure there was a reason. I felt too sick to go hiking up there(indigestion is much more serious than I thought, seriously) so I stayed on the bus.
After a couple of hours of dozing, everyone returned and we left for the beach. I felt good enough to swim (mainly because I hadn't eaten anything) and we thankfully got a good three hours of free time to just swim and relax. I forgot how much I LOVE SWIMMING IN THE SEA!!! (Koreans have so many games for all occasions, I'm amazed. They are all kind of intense, though.) The cold water quelled my stomach.
After everyone cleaned up we sat on the beach waiting for dinner to be served. Fun observation: Koreans love to sing and dance, and they are very supportive of people showing these talents off. This must be why there seems to be speakers and a microphone everywhere we go... even on the buses...
We performed our skits after dinner and my team won :) We imitated the striking characteristics of each school group and some of the adults in a before and after kind of skit.
Afterwards everyone headed back over to the beach for a huge bonfire, which was awesome although very hot. And more games were played. I am learning many new games that even Wellesley KSA didn't teach me, lol.
Since I still couldn't eat much food and still felt sick, Christine said I had only one choice. The steps of dealing with indigestion, Korean style: first drink soda, then take medicine, then massage pressure points and pound back many times, and finally... poking your thumbs right below the nail to let out blood.
Um... what?! Can't I take Pepto-Bismol or something?
But apparently this is a very common ailment that is commonly cured this way in Korea. One of the adults on the trip even had the special pen that people use to poke their thumbs.
Anyone who knows me knows I can't stand blood and I have low pain tolerance. I was petrified. But what could I do? I had already tried taking medicine and it didn't work, so I agreed to have my thumbs poked. I bled a lot, which Christine said was another indicator that I had bad indigestion. Apparently, if I didn't, I would've bled very little.
Note: Koreans believe this helps because they (and Asian medicine in general) believe the feet and hands are intricately connected to the digestive system. Cold hands and feet? Bad indigestion.
I guess it kind of worked because I started burping (which ironically is what you want to happen, even though everyone gets mad at me when I burp) and fell asleep for a little. Since it was the last night, however, instead of sleeping Christine Gracfe and I went to a last Peace Team meeting, AKA let's bond over snacks and drinks and play games (formula for successful Korean bonding). I'm thankful no one forced us to drink because I've heard stories about sunbaes (older people) guilt-tripping/forcing/manipulating the hoobaes (younger people) to drink whether they like it or not. We all had water, don't worry parents. The others had beer though, as usual.
More games! More talking! It was fun, I'm glad I stayed awake that night. It was by far the latest I had stayed up in a while. Christine and I left to go to sleep at 4 am (Grace left at 2 am), but the rest (all older) stayed up longer and we also went by other rooms filled with the other teams that didn't look close to sleeping. I'm amazed by the endurance of Koreans and their ability to not sleep. O_O
***Christine and I asked what the others thought of us and they said there were some very good points about our American education. They said they admired our ability to just stand up and speak (referring to the two discussion times we had Wed and Thurs) when Koreans get really nervous and aren't really taught to be bold and individualistic and express themselves that way. They also thought we had a lot of good confidence and openness that they weren't expecting. Because we had this time to talk and be open with each other, I think I also learned a lot. I had a certain view of the drinking, hierarchical, familial, internalizing, competitive and look-based parts of Korean culture, but I think I understand more than before. :) All these people around me are great, I am blessed to be a part of this group!
8/9-8/12 한겨레 중고등학교 Hangyeore Middle and High School
This post goes from 8/12 backwards to 8/9 so I'd recommend reading from bottom to top.
After returning to Seoul: To de-stress after an amazing but tiring two weeks, those of us who could went to a Korean spa (jjimjilbang, 찜질방). Such a good idea, only 12,000 won (less than $12) to go there for 12 hours. Since it was Daisy’s first time, she was extremely startled when she saw a naked woman walk into the locker room about two seconds in (hahaaa). For those who don't know, many Korean spas have certain areas that require full nakedness, and then other areas (like the locker room) in which you can be naked. It takes a little getting used to.
After we changed into robes, we went into the hottest room first. Yeah um... I thought I was going to die. There literally were eggs right next to us that were baking. Something is wrong if eggs can cook next to me.
Note: When we ate dinner there, we had a sugary rice drink (식혜) that had a lot of ice. To try and melt the ice, an unnamed friend put the whole bowl in between her legs, to the rest of our dismay. She was certain it made a difference after a few minutes, and we agreed, but truthfully, all we wanted was for her to put the bowl back on the table. -__-
1. Visits to hot rooms and steam rooms and hot tubs. Check.
2. Making the towel into sheep horns and putting it on like a hat. Check.
3. Standing on a vibrating machine that is supposed to work out your body but all it does is make your fat jiggle. Check.
4. Sweat loads of sweat. Check.
5. Rub off dead skin. Check.
6. Help a friend rub the dead skin off of her back. Check.
7. Get dead skin on back rubbed off by said friend. Check.
8. Feel disgusted by the skin getting rubbed off. Check.
9. Feel refreshed and rejuvenated and like a newborn baby with new skin!!! Check.
Friday 8/12: I’m sad today is the last day. I have a love/hate relationship with the discipline of Korean education. I'm glad I could experience it as a student even though I was also a teacher.
I was never late to gym (6:20 am, or after three K-Pop songs) after the first day, might I add. That required effort I assure you.
I wrote my student a letter in English and then had a friend help me translate it into Korean. I hope we will keep in touch. As I'm writing this it is Sunday 8/15, and she will be taking her baking test bright and early tomorrow morning. AJA to her :D
Closing thoughts: Compared to last week on the Ministry of Unification field trip, I felt less stressed because there was free time for me to unwind in between tutoring sessions. I wasn't sure what to expect when I came, even though I had visited the school a week and a half before with part of the team--in many ways it is just a normal middle/high school (except the middle schoolers had all gone home, everyone was in high school and there by choice for extra classes, since it was their summer break), but in many ways it was also a school filled with North Korean students. Many of them were in China for years before making it here so it is not like they had just arrived after escaping N.K. but that doesn't lessen their hardships or experiences at all.
Many of my fellow team members felt like the students were closed and apathetic in a way separate of just normal high school apathy. These students have been hurt many times, so of course it would be hard for them to open up--I'm actually thankful they weren't open hostile or suspicious of us (since most of us are American). None of us knew what to expect so we did our best to be personable but not prying. Obviously we were careful when we spoke with them, since touching about hometown or family could and probably would be sensitive topics. Due to the language barrier I couldn't really say everything I wanted to say to the students I met or to my student (she was also my roommate), but just meeting them and watching and listening was such a blessing and opportunity to *hopefully* be an encouragement and embodiment of God's person. Through the week I prayed that God would really use our team, not necessarily through words or action but just through our heart attitude and willingness to help. So even though I nor the rest of the team will necessarily see an impact on the school or the students, I pray that God's work was done there. After all, realistically, how lasting is one week of teaching English? I hope we all learned from one another and that we can be inspired and encouraged. I am very much thankful for my student and astonished by her strength and resiliency and openness.
Thursday 8/12: Last night at this school :( There was more baking today, woot, and Christine Daisy and Grace started playing games in the middle of the school on the floor. Christine was aggressively (but kindly) asking every single person passing by this very key point in the school's architecture if they wanted to play. Eventually we had a sizable group and I think we all had a good time together, even though the team had previously shared that we felt many fo the students were very closed and apathetic to us. Korean games are really fun... but I think part of the point is punishment. Because some pain or humiliation has never hurt group bonding. I made a Facebook for my student so we could keep in touch :)
Wednesday 8/11: My student improves really quickly, she has such a great attitude about learning English! I hope I'm being helpful -_-;
After role call at 6:20 there weren't any stretches so Daisy, Christine, Grace and I went running outside for a little and then did some stretching afterward. Yeah... I hate running X_X
At lunch Christine told me the sad story of how in elementary school (she went to el. school in Korea) the student were forced to drink every drop of their milk every day, and that they had to prove this by standing the carton ipside down on their heads. :(
Today I played badminton with Christine a little, and then we went to the library to read. There is a little store in the building that opens for a couple hours every night, so the whole team went to get Melona bars (melon-flavored popsicles.)
Tuesday 8/10: The schedule I have for the rest of the week: 6:10 wake up, 6:20 be dressed and down in the gym for role call and stretches, clean the room and bathroom and wash up by 7:30, eat breakfast, school begins at 8:20. Lunch at 12:30, school ends at 4:50, dinner at 5:30, cleaning time afterwards, free time from 6:30-9 pm, in room and lights out by 11 pm.
Um... as much as I like having a ton of time in the morning to do bible study, this schedule is kind of strict...
During free time today, instead of baking I joined some others to watch The Devil Wears Prada and She’s the Man. Ah yes, cultural education through movies.
Monday 8/9: We went to the school in 죽산, aka countryside, and met with the administration about the rules for the week. The school is really strict, but apparently most Korean schools, or at least boarding schools, are like this. Since we got there around lunch time, we then had lunch, were given a tour of the place (the rooms are so nice, each suite has a laundry machine! Whaa?), and then within an hour met our students with whom we'd be paired for the week.
My student was so cute and young looking! Very youthful. And then... I found out she is 24 years old. 헉. Everyone was a little unprepared because we really weren't told what to expect until we got there (which I find is kind of normal here. Meetings and plans are constantly changed and made at the last minute.) The session went well though, because my student had her books with her, so I helped her with her pronunciation. Ah, the pain of learning a language. Ah, the pain of going through it right now. It hurts. :)
After dinner: clean up the whole school time! WOOT! (Sarcasm.) Good point of cleaning up? The school plays K-Pop music through the speakers the whole time. YAY. I wonder if Korean pop stars know their music is being used like this?
Another reason I was lucky to have my student--she has some sort of patissier test on Monday, so she has to practice baking... this whole week. :) I watched/tried to help her make angel food cake and chocolate cake.
We have to be back in the rooms by 9 pm, so I returned with her around 8:50 after baking. Apparently the school also provides snacks every night--tonight's was baked eggs and orange Capri-Sun. Capri-Sun either changed its packaging or it is different in Korea...
Sunday 8/8: Saw Toy Story 3 in 3D with Jen and her sister Christine. Woot. Packed for the week.
After returning to Seoul: To de-stress after an amazing but tiring two weeks, those of us who could went to a Korean spa (jjimjilbang, 찜질방). Such a good idea, only 12,000 won (less than $12) to go there for 12 hours. Since it was Daisy’s first time, she was extremely startled when she saw a naked woman walk into the locker room about two seconds in (hahaaa). For those who don't know, many Korean spas have certain areas that require full nakedness, and then other areas (like the locker room) in which you can be naked. It takes a little getting used to.
After we changed into robes, we went into the hottest room first. Yeah um... I thought I was going to die. There literally were eggs right next to us that were baking. Something is wrong if eggs can cook next to me.
Note: When we ate dinner there, we had a sugary rice drink (식혜) that had a lot of ice. To try and melt the ice, an unnamed friend put the whole bowl in between her legs, to the rest of our dismay. She was certain it made a difference after a few minutes, and we agreed, but truthfully, all we wanted was for her to put the bowl back on the table. -__-
1. Visits to hot rooms and steam rooms and hot tubs. Check.
2. Making the towel into sheep horns and putting it on like a hat. Check.
3. Standing on a vibrating machine that is supposed to work out your body but all it does is make your fat jiggle. Check.
4. Sweat loads of sweat. Check.
5. Rub off dead skin. Check.
6. Help a friend rub the dead skin off of her back. Check.
7. Get dead skin on back rubbed off by said friend. Check.
8. Feel disgusted by the skin getting rubbed off. Check.
9. Feel refreshed and rejuvenated and like a newborn baby with new skin!!! Check.
Friday 8/12: I’m sad today is the last day. I have a love/hate relationship with the discipline of Korean education. I'm glad I could experience it as a student even though I was also a teacher.
I was never late to gym (6:20 am, or after three K-Pop songs) after the first day, might I add. That required effort I assure you.
I wrote my student a letter in English and then had a friend help me translate it into Korean. I hope we will keep in touch. As I'm writing this it is Sunday 8/15, and she will be taking her baking test bright and early tomorrow morning. AJA to her :D
Closing thoughts: Compared to last week on the Ministry of Unification field trip, I felt less stressed because there was free time for me to unwind in between tutoring sessions. I wasn't sure what to expect when I came, even though I had visited the school a week and a half before with part of the team--in many ways it is just a normal middle/high school (except the middle schoolers had all gone home, everyone was in high school and there by choice for extra classes, since it was their summer break), but in many ways it was also a school filled with North Korean students. Many of them were in China for years before making it here so it is not like they had just arrived after escaping N.K. but that doesn't lessen their hardships or experiences at all.
Many of my fellow team members felt like the students were closed and apathetic in a way separate of just normal high school apathy. These students have been hurt many times, so of course it would be hard for them to open up--I'm actually thankful they weren't open hostile or suspicious of us (since most of us are American). None of us knew what to expect so we did our best to be personable but not prying. Obviously we were careful when we spoke with them, since touching about hometown or family could and probably would be sensitive topics. Due to the language barrier I couldn't really say everything I wanted to say to the students I met or to my student (she was also my roommate), but just meeting them and watching and listening was such a blessing and opportunity to *hopefully* be an encouragement and embodiment of God's person. Through the week I prayed that God would really use our team, not necessarily through words or action but just through our heart attitude and willingness to help. So even though I nor the rest of the team will necessarily see an impact on the school or the students, I pray that God's work was done there. After all, realistically, how lasting is one week of teaching English? I hope we all learned from one another and that we can be inspired and encouraged. I am very much thankful for my student and astonished by her strength and resiliency and openness.
Thursday 8/12: Last night at this school :( There was more baking today, woot, and Christine Daisy and Grace started playing games in the middle of the school on the floor. Christine was aggressively (but kindly) asking every single person passing by this very key point in the school's architecture if they wanted to play. Eventually we had a sizable group and I think we all had a good time together, even though the team had previously shared that we felt many fo the students were very closed and apathetic to us. Korean games are really fun... but I think part of the point is punishment. Because some pain or humiliation has never hurt group bonding. I made a Facebook for my student so we could keep in touch :)
Wednesday 8/11: My student improves really quickly, she has such a great attitude about learning English! I hope I'm being helpful -_-;
After role call at 6:20 there weren't any stretches so Daisy, Christine, Grace and I went running outside for a little and then did some stretching afterward. Yeah... I hate running X_X
At lunch Christine told me the sad story of how in elementary school (she went to el. school in Korea) the student were forced to drink every drop of their milk every day, and that they had to prove this by standing the carton ipside down on their heads. :(
Today I played badminton with Christine a little, and then we went to the library to read. There is a little store in the building that opens for a couple hours every night, so the whole team went to get Melona bars (melon-flavored popsicles.)
Tuesday 8/10: The schedule I have for the rest of the week: 6:10 wake up, 6:20 be dressed and down in the gym for role call and stretches, clean the room and bathroom and wash up by 7:30, eat breakfast, school begins at 8:20. Lunch at 12:30, school ends at 4:50, dinner at 5:30, cleaning time afterwards, free time from 6:30-9 pm, in room and lights out by 11 pm.
Um... as much as I like having a ton of time in the morning to do bible study, this schedule is kind of strict...
During free time today, instead of baking I joined some others to watch The Devil Wears Prada and She’s the Man. Ah yes, cultural education through movies.
Monday 8/9: We went to the school in 죽산, aka countryside, and met with the administration about the rules for the week. The school is really strict, but apparently most Korean schools, or at least boarding schools, are like this. Since we got there around lunch time, we then had lunch, were given a tour of the place (the rooms are so nice, each suite has a laundry machine! Whaa?), and then within an hour met our students with whom we'd be paired for the week.
My student was so cute and young looking! Very youthful. And then... I found out she is 24 years old. 헉. Everyone was a little unprepared because we really weren't told what to expect until we got there (which I find is kind of normal here. Meetings and plans are constantly changed and made at the last minute.) The session went well though, because my student had her books with her, so I helped her with her pronunciation. Ah, the pain of learning a language. Ah, the pain of going through it right now. It hurts. :)
After dinner: clean up the whole school time! WOOT! (Sarcasm.) Good point of cleaning up? The school plays K-Pop music through the speakers the whole time. YAY. I wonder if Korean pop stars know their music is being used like this?
Another reason I was lucky to have my student--she has some sort of patissier test on Monday, so she has to practice baking... this whole week. :) I watched/tried to help her make angel food cake and chocolate cake.
We have to be back in the rooms by 9 pm, so I returned with her around 8:50 after baking. Apparently the school also provides snacks every night--tonight's was baked eggs and orange Capri-Sun. Capri-Sun either changed its packaging or it is different in Korea...
Sunday 8/8: Saw Toy Story 3 in 3D with Jen and her sister Christine. Woot. Packed for the week.
Summary of the rest of 3박4일 Field Trip
Saturday 8/7
After breakfast we began our way back to Seoul. Which only took three hours (Korea is so small, whoa) so we had a parting lunch too. :) The Ministry really treated us all very well, I am thankful almost everything went according to plan.
***Korean together = a lot of sacrifice on everyone's part. I feel like Americans would leave if their schedule didn't permit certain things, but in Korean culture it is rude to refuse things unless you really, REALLY can't go. So even though many of us kind of wanted to leave for home as soon as we got back, we must all say goodbye properly. During the final meal of kimchi, rice and soup made with blood sausage (I couldn't eat this) tripe and cartilage (wow, writing out the ingredients in English makes the soup sounds way nastier than it tasted) everyone got a chance to stand up and say their closing thoughts about the trip and what they hope happens in the future. I like that Koreans, out of manners, are very patient during long processes like this. Once begun, it must finish! I feel like everyone tries hard to pay attention.
Then people started filtering out, everyone exchanging hugs and phone numbers and many people going to the front of the restaurant on the ground floor (because Korea is so small there has hardly been a time I've eaten in a place on the ground floor, normally the restaurant is a few floors up) to go through byes again. Does anyone else feel like byes can get awkward if they take too long?
Because we are intense like that, the Wellesley/BU team and the 상생 기자단 people went across the street to a big Starbuck's and talked about how to improve the trip next year, how to keep our relationship going in the future, what we felt during the trip, etc. I decided to leave earlier than the others with Haesun, so we left together (in the pouring, gushing rain). Haesun thinks she will definitely stay in touch with a few of the defectors she met (since remember, the people on the trip were from the Ministry, from a South Korean school I don't remember the name of, from a school for North Koreans, from a program that has been running since March through the Ministry, and Wellesley/BU).
Thoughts
*I am so thankful for this experience. It was the first time I met Korean students, and they treated us really well. And because of the frustration I felt because of of my limited Korean phrases and vocabulary, I have learned to be silent and listen to others more. In retrospect, I should have asked the other Wellesley girls to help me more than I did, but I hate being a burden on people and asking people to translate, while they may not mind at first, inevitable does become tiresome. I'm grateful for everyone's patience with me when I spoke Korean, and, in a way, do appreciate this week of forced silence--since I am expressive and tend to talk often, it was a really humbling experience.
*Koreans are much more mature than Americans, in a way. Since the group mentality is so strong here, everyone is careful to not bring down the mood. This means oftentimes having to be very patient, pretend interest out of politeness, and putting one's desires on hold for the best of the group. Of course, this means that the culture (in a way) supports pretending and internalization of stress, which isn't good either. I like how America encourages people to be vocal and independent and to be outside the box, but that can also lead to selfishness and impatience, which I also think of as immaturity. There are good and bad points to both.
*Because I didn't speak often, I don't know how well others got to know me. It was strange to be the quiet one. I'm especially thankful to Christine for this last week, because I think she really tried to help the others get to know me by sharing things about me that they wouldn't know (like the fact that I'm actually really talkative, or that I like dancing, etc). Christine also translated a lot for me, along with Janice, so I am so thankful to both of them for their patience. :)
After breakfast we began our way back to Seoul. Which only took three hours (Korea is so small, whoa) so we had a parting lunch too. :) The Ministry really treated us all very well, I am thankful almost everything went according to plan.
***Korean together = a lot of sacrifice on everyone's part. I feel like Americans would leave if their schedule didn't permit certain things, but in Korean culture it is rude to refuse things unless you really, REALLY can't go. So even though many of us kind of wanted to leave for home as soon as we got back, we must all say goodbye properly. During the final meal of kimchi, rice and soup made with blood sausage (I couldn't eat this) tripe and cartilage (wow, writing out the ingredients in English makes the soup sounds way nastier than it tasted) everyone got a chance to stand up and say their closing thoughts about the trip and what they hope happens in the future. I like that Koreans, out of manners, are very patient during long processes like this. Once begun, it must finish! I feel like everyone tries hard to pay attention.
Then people started filtering out, everyone exchanging hugs and phone numbers and many people going to the front of the restaurant on the ground floor (because Korea is so small there has hardly been a time I've eaten in a place on the ground floor, normally the restaurant is a few floors up) to go through byes again. Does anyone else feel like byes can get awkward if they take too long?
Because we are intense like that, the Wellesley/BU team and the 상생 기자단 people went across the street to a big Starbuck's and talked about how to improve the trip next year, how to keep our relationship going in the future, what we felt during the trip, etc. I decided to leave earlier than the others with Haesun, so we left together (in the pouring, gushing rain). Haesun thinks she will definitely stay in touch with a few of the defectors she met (since remember, the people on the trip were from the Ministry, from a South Korean school I don't remember the name of, from a school for North Koreans, from a program that has been running since March through the Ministry, and Wellesley/BU).
Thoughts
*I am so thankful for this experience. It was the first time I met Korean students, and they treated us really well. And because of the frustration I felt because of of my limited Korean phrases and vocabulary, I have learned to be silent and listen to others more. In retrospect, I should have asked the other Wellesley girls to help me more than I did, but I hate being a burden on people and asking people to translate, while they may not mind at first, inevitable does become tiresome. I'm grateful for everyone's patience with me when I spoke Korean, and, in a way, do appreciate this week of forced silence--since I am expressive and tend to talk often, it was a really humbling experience.
*Koreans are much more mature than Americans, in a way. Since the group mentality is so strong here, everyone is careful to not bring down the mood. This means oftentimes having to be very patient, pretend interest out of politeness, and putting one's desires on hold for the best of the group. Of course, this means that the culture (in a way) supports pretending and internalization of stress, which isn't good either. I like how America encourages people to be vocal and independent and to be outside the box, but that can also lead to selfishness and impatience, which I also think of as immaturity. There are good and bad points to both.
*Because I didn't speak often, I don't know how well others got to know me. It was strange to be the quiet one. I'm especially thankful to Christine for this last week, because I think she really tried to help the others get to know me by sharing things about me that they wouldn't know (like the fact that I'm actually really talkative, or that I like dancing, etc). Christine also translated a lot for me, along with Janice, so I am so thankful to both of them for their patience. :)
Monday, August 9, 2010
Day Two of 3박4일 Field Trip (Thursday)
Breakfast at 7:00. It was yummy, we had spicy pork, 조기 fish, 북어국, kimchi, rice, other 반찬... I love eating Korean food all the time!
I have to check my schedule again to be accurate about Thursday's summary, but today was the day we visited the summer home of the first president of South Korea, President Seungman Rhee, and also visited one of Kim Il Sung’s summer homes. Explanation for why his house is in South Korea, not North Korea, later.
Dinner: At a sashimi place 금강산회집, my table got very competitive and starting playing rock-paper-scissors on everything. Like who would eat the gross orange-looking oyster-ish thingy. And who would eat a fish eye taken from the soup. (I lost, I had to eat it. It was surprisingly just like a jelly, it wasn't hard or anything.) And who would eat that huge chunk of seaweed right there. Etc.
Outside the place were tanks of seafood waiting to be killed and eaten (sad). I touched two stingrays because they were just there and swimming around. Their stingers were already taken off (it must've hurt, poor things). Christine and I also tried to grab squids, they were kind of cute. :P
Discussion that night: We got into our groups and had were assigned two issues to discuss and then present in front of everyone. Ours was how can we improve the resettlement programs for the defectors arriving here, and the other was the economy of N.K. I learned a lot about this but I'll update this info later.
I felt kind of sick after dinner (boo) so I didn’t eat the snacks and drinks that were provided there, although there was lots of things I wanted to eat :(. The presentation time went really long because we started late. We ended around 11:30 pm.
Boarded the bus, went back to our rooms and again met with Wellesley team. We were all exhausted but after our meeting we met with our teams again to finalize our skit. Where do these random snacks keep popping up, I'm amazed! This meeting began around 12:30 am, I think.
After our meeting, Grace, Christine and I talked and prayed together, journaled and slept.
I have to check my schedule again to be accurate about Thursday's summary, but today was the day we visited the summer home of the first president of South Korea, President Seungman Rhee, and also visited one of Kim Il Sung’s summer homes. Explanation for why his house is in South Korea, not North Korea, later.
Dinner: At a sashimi place 금강산회집, my table got very competitive and starting playing rock-paper-scissors on everything. Like who would eat the gross orange-looking oyster-ish thingy. And who would eat a fish eye taken from the soup. (I lost, I had to eat it. It was surprisingly just like a jelly, it wasn't hard or anything.) And who would eat that huge chunk of seaweed right there. Etc.
Outside the place were tanks of seafood waiting to be killed and eaten (sad). I touched two stingrays because they were just there and swimming around. Their stingers were already taken off (it must've hurt, poor things). Christine and I also tried to grab squids, they were kind of cute. :P
Discussion that night: We got into our groups and had were assigned two issues to discuss and then present in front of everyone. Ours was how can we improve the resettlement programs for the defectors arriving here, and the other was the economy of N.K. I learned a lot about this but I'll update this info later.
I felt kind of sick after dinner (boo) so I didn’t eat the snacks and drinks that were provided there, although there was lots of things I wanted to eat :(. The presentation time went really long because we started late. We ended around 11:30 pm.
Boarded the bus, went back to our rooms and again met with Wellesley team. We were all exhausted but after our meeting we met with our teams again to finalize our skit. Where do these random snacks keep popping up, I'm amazed! This meeting began around 12:30 am, I think.
After our meeting, Grace, Christine and I talked and prayed together, journaled and slept.
Day One of 3박 4일 Field Trip
Erm... we visited places that gave us good views of North Korea from where we were. I'll come back and edit this once I go over the schedule so I can be more specific. But yeah, today we saw exhibits of the animals in the DMZ (for those who are not aware, the DeMilitarized Zone, the 38th Parallel which divides the Koreas, has amazing wildlife because no human goes in that zone. Wouldn't it be great if Korea is unified one day and what one divided now unifies the country in a beautiful oasis of untouched nature?
We stopped at our place for the night kind of early. After unpacking we went to dinner (with the Vice Minister and some of his friends? officials?) and ate 닭도리탕. Which is really spicy chicken and potato stew, kind of. It was so red and spicy I couldn't really eat it. :(
Afterwards we chilled outside until we all met to have discussion time. Christine got stung by a bee but it ended up being okay because one of our unni friends had a green paste for it.
***I need to talk with the other girls about this so I'll update what we talked about later.
*Random thought: I like the Del Monde tomato juice here. They give us grape juice and tomato juice and apple juice during the discussion. :)
Afterwards, Wellesley + BU met to debrief a little, and talk about how the past three days had gone. I expressed my frustration with the language barrier and asked if the other girls could translate for me and Daisy more, since it was really frustrating all day to not understand even 50% of what was being said. (After we agreed on this the trip went much better.)
We talked about the need to pray more and to try and learn from everyone there as well. While we were meeting we were told to meet with our teams (we were all split up into four teams). In a room with Christine, Wellesley Grace, and about ten others, we (the Peace team, shirt color Forest Green) met and introduced ourselves and how we got interested in North Korea/Unification issues. We started brainstorming ideas for a skit we had to make.
By now it was about 11:00 pm (the earliest night we had the whole week). We went back to our respective rooms, showerd, and slept.
Fun nugget 1: When I say I ate food, I mean that I ate food sitting cross-legged on the floor. We only had one meal with chairs.
Fun nugget 2: I slept on the floor with four other girls this night and the next two nights. Just blankets, us, and the floor.
Fun nugget 3: The weather was hot and humid that I wanted to die. It was by far the most humid and hot and uncomfortable weather I've ever had to stand. Ever. EVER. I love Utah weather so much... I will never complain about weather again, it was that horrible.
Fun nugget 4: The Ministry keeps giving us stuff. Like hankerchief-like things for sweat. Banana milk (바나나맛 우유) which is sooo good. Little blow up U-shaped pillows for our heads on the bus. They are really considerate!
We stopped at our place for the night kind of early. After unpacking we went to dinner (with the Vice Minister and some of his friends? officials?) and ate 닭도리탕. Which is really spicy chicken and potato stew, kind of. It was so red and spicy I couldn't really eat it. :(
Afterwards we chilled outside until we all met to have discussion time. Christine got stung by a bee but it ended up being okay because one of our unni friends had a green paste for it.
***I need to talk with the other girls about this so I'll update what we talked about later.
*Random thought: I like the Del Monde tomato juice here. They give us grape juice and tomato juice and apple juice during the discussion. :)
Afterwards, Wellesley + BU met to debrief a little, and talk about how the past three days had gone. I expressed my frustration with the language barrier and asked if the other girls could translate for me and Daisy more, since it was really frustrating all day to not understand even 50% of what was being said. (After we agreed on this the trip went much better.)
We talked about the need to pray more and to try and learn from everyone there as well. While we were meeting we were told to meet with our teams (we were all split up into four teams). In a room with Christine, Wellesley Grace, and about ten others, we (the Peace team, shirt color Forest Green) met and introduced ourselves and how we got interested in North Korea/Unification issues. We started brainstorming ideas for a skit we had to make.
By now it was about 11:00 pm (the earliest night we had the whole week). We went back to our respective rooms, showerd, and slept.
Fun nugget 1: When I say I ate food, I mean that I ate food sitting cross-legged on the floor. We only had one meal with chairs.
Fun nugget 2: I slept on the floor with four other girls this night and the next two nights. Just blankets, us, and the floor.
Fun nugget 3: The weather was hot and humid that I wanted to die. It was by far the most humid and hot and uncomfortable weather I've ever had to stand. Ever. EVER. I love Utah weather so much... I will never complain about weather again, it was that horrible.
Fun nugget 4: The Ministry keeps giving us stuff. Like hankerchief-like things for sweat. Banana milk (바나나맛 우유) which is sooo good. Little blow up U-shaped pillows for our heads on the bus. They are really considerate!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Orientation, Day Two
Note: Even though I've written everything that's happened, I still need to edit a lot of it. So I'll gradually be posting up what happened last week during this week, instead of having one post for a week's worth of events. :)
Last Tuesday was very eventful!
1. Rode a taxi for the first time in Korea.
2. Was given two long presentations on the uses of Facebook and Twitter. Um... maybe this was to benefit the Korean students more than us? (Edit: Yep, apparently many Korean students there didn't even know about Facebook or Twitter. Kind of like most Americans don't know about Cyworld, or Me2Day.)
3. Was treated to little squids mixed with rice cakes, potato, onion and spicy sauce for lunch. I don't know the name of the little squids.
4. Met the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Unification.
5. Took pictures with the Minister. Was blinded by the flashes. Felt like a movie star... just kidding. (Edit: There was a photographer who followed us around the whole week. There are pics online, go to naver.com and look up DMZ or PLZ and there are probably articles about us.)
6. Went to the JSA (Joint Security Area) with everyone ("everyone" is the students participating in this program. Students from Wellesley, one from BU, student interns who act as student reporters for the Ministry of Unification, students from 경험대학교 [not sure I spelled that correctly] and students from a school for North Koreans)which is the part of the DMZ you see in documentaries. The buildings that cross the border. The steps of a North Korean building with North Korean guards clearly in sight, watching us with binoculars. It was very, very surreal. We entered the building and crossed the border into North Korea, technically! We were by the table that has speakers on it, used by North Korea for their security. Pics later.
7. The guide army man (in 군대 for like a year now?) spoke in Korean the whole time. And so I and some friends are giggling about how the people who work at JSA have to be a certain height and look good because South Korea wants to present a good, healthy, strong front to the North Korean guards there. Yeah um... the guide? An English speaker. Who attends BU. Yep.
8. Left the JSA and we are exhausted from another long day of lectures and traveling and wearing dressy clothes, which I dislike.
9. Are invited by the student interns, whom I thought attended the same school but actually are all from different schools and have become good friends because they've been doing stuff for the Ministry since March, to dinner. Which I was dubious about at first, but we decide to accept in good grace. :)
10. Had a lot of fun at dinner! None of us were able to meet other students in an informal setting. Daisy, GiYoon, BU Grace, Wellesley Grace, and me along with one girl and five guy interns all sat down and at samgyupsahl. And played the Korean equivalent of "Never Have I Ever" and the wink game, which is kind of like mafia.
11. Some of the guys drank beer, but none of Wellesley or the guys at my table did. :) That sentence was for you, parents. 사랑해!
12. We all paid together and then went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. We talked more, two guys decided to make a fan club for Lydia, and BU Grace realized she lost her phone. We went back, found it, and then departed. A guy named Changyul lived near me, so we went together. Which actually wasn't as awkward as I thought, partially because he is very nice and also because he knows a little English and tried to make conversation.
SLEEP TIME WOOHOO
Thought: I really felt included and like Koreans try and make conversation and keep the atmosphere, 분위기, good. While that happens in America too, the feeling is different--I think Koreans are really perceptive, since the group mentality here is so much stronger than in America.
Last Tuesday was very eventful!
1. Rode a taxi for the first time in Korea.
2. Was given two long presentations on the uses of Facebook and Twitter. Um... maybe this was to benefit the Korean students more than us? (Edit: Yep, apparently many Korean students there didn't even know about Facebook or Twitter. Kind of like most Americans don't know about Cyworld, or Me2Day.)
3. Was treated to little squids mixed with rice cakes, potato, onion and spicy sauce for lunch. I don't know the name of the little squids.
4. Met the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Unification.
5. Took pictures with the Minister. Was blinded by the flashes. Felt like a movie star... just kidding. (Edit: There was a photographer who followed us around the whole week. There are pics online, go to naver.com and look up DMZ or PLZ and there are probably articles about us.)
6. Went to the JSA (Joint Security Area) with everyone ("everyone" is the students participating in this program. Students from Wellesley, one from BU, student interns who act as student reporters for the Ministry of Unification, students from 경험대학교 [not sure I spelled that correctly] and students from a school for North Koreans)which is the part of the DMZ you see in documentaries. The buildings that cross the border. The steps of a North Korean building with North Korean guards clearly in sight, watching us with binoculars. It was very, very surreal. We entered the building and crossed the border into North Korea, technically! We were by the table that has speakers on it, used by North Korea for their security. Pics later.
7. The guide army man (in 군대 for like a year now?) spoke in Korean the whole time. And so I and some friends are giggling about how the people who work at JSA have to be a certain height and look good because South Korea wants to present a good, healthy, strong front to the North Korean guards there. Yeah um... the guide? An English speaker. Who attends BU. Yep.
8. Left the JSA and we are exhausted from another long day of lectures and traveling and wearing dressy clothes, which I dislike.
9. Are invited by the student interns, whom I thought attended the same school but actually are all from different schools and have become good friends because they've been doing stuff for the Ministry since March, to dinner. Which I was dubious about at first, but we decide to accept in good grace. :)
10. Had a lot of fun at dinner! None of us were able to meet other students in an informal setting. Daisy, GiYoon, BU Grace, Wellesley Grace, and me along with one girl and five guy interns all sat down and at samgyupsahl. And played the Korean equivalent of "Never Have I Ever" and the wink game, which is kind of like mafia.
11. Some of the guys drank beer, but none of Wellesley or the guys at my table did. :) That sentence was for you, parents. 사랑해!
12. We all paid together and then went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. We talked more, two guys decided to make a fan club for Lydia, and BU Grace realized she lost her phone. We went back, found it, and then departed. A guy named Changyul lived near me, so we went together. Which actually wasn't as awkward as I thought, partially because he is very nice and also because he knows a little English and tried to make conversation.
SLEEP TIME WOOHOO
Thought: I really felt included and like Koreans try and make conversation and keep the atmosphere, 분위기, good. While that happens in America too, the feeling is different--I think Koreans are really perceptive, since the group mentality here is so much stronger than in America.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Orientation, Day One.
6:40 am: Wake up, have breakfast and get to 광화문역 by 8:00 am.
8:10 am: Meet up with the other girls, open the day with prayer, board the 퉁일부 bus.
9:00 am: Travel to 통일부. Sit in a conference room with about 30 other students and some officials. This looks official! Every person has a microphone (not that anyone really uses it.)
9-10 am: We get some background on North Korea and the Ministry of Unification's purpose.
10 am - 12 pm: Listen to a presentation on the power and development of social media (me2day, cyworld, facebook, twitter, digg, blogspot, wordpress, livejournal, etc.)
12-2 pm: Get bussed to a restaurant and eat an amazingly delicious and nutritious lunch of 불고리, 삼, 밥, and 반찬. The bulgogi was sooo gooood. :) The Ministry of Unification is really spending money on us!
2-4 pm: Go to the National Korean Library near Goseok Terminal, listen to a presentation on the library's resources, watch a movie that named something like "A Day in the Life of a North Korean", peruse the Ministry's archives on North Korea. Depart for the day.
4-6 pm: While Grace, Lydia and GiYoon went with Ministry with the officials to be interviewed, the rest of us left for Goseok Terminal. We are sufficiently distracted for two hours--we're so hot we first get fruit bingsoo from IceBerry, and then wander into a bookstore. And, quite randomly, there we run into our friends Spencer and Christine from BC! (So coincidental, right?! I couldn't believe it! Also, I randomly met a girl from Tufts who is interning for the Ministry during our tour--she knows my Tufts friends. I think her name was SoYeon?)
6 pm: We head over to the apartment because Jen wanted to get chicken. On the way out of the station, I buy a pair of flats for 7,000 Won. AKA about $6.50. WOOT.
6:40 pm: When we got there, no one is there.
7 pm: We decide to go get chicken at a place near Seongnae Station. I finally get in touch with Jen--she forgot. :( But it's okay, because we order a huge seafood scallion pancake and a whole chicken. Yum.
8 pm: After a brief stop at Baskin Robbins for a small bit of ice cream, we part ways.
THOUGHTS
*The Korean students were all really energetic. I expected them to be serious and professional, but actually we were the ones overdressed, everyone else was wearing casual clothing, even flip-flops! They talked loudly on the bus and just played around--I thought Korean students chosen for this program would be quieter. I felt pretty comfortable.
*I have not learned that much about North Korea or the Ministry yet because of the professional words, although I understood the presentation on social media. We asked them to send us the powerpoint so that we can go over it ourselves later, though. Most of us didn't understand 100%, even the ones who speak Korean well.
*I feel sad for the people who have to work in the subway stations every day. No sunlight or fresh air, ever? That can't be good for their health.
*In Korean culture, the way you eat reveals your class--eat everything, fast, then you're probably low-class because you don't get enough food. Leave food behind and eat at a decent pace--you aren't starving and probably higher class because you don't inhale your food. Also, traditionally if you eat everything, then that means you haven't had enough and you need more food, aka people are going to refill your bowl/plate. When you leave a little behind, it means you had a good meal and are finished.
But the meat was so good we didn't care at that point, we killed everything on that table. :)
*Someone ordered a bottle of Coke during lunchtime and didn't open it. I took it because we were the last there, and gave it to Daisy. It's probably still in her bag. Coke tastes much better from a bottle.
*During dinner, the waitresses looked at us in fascination. I think they were surprised we ate so well. And that we didn't order anything but water. I guess beer and chicken is like... eggs and ketchup?
***The website that the students participating in this program contribute to: http://blog.daum.net/mounification/8723303
Sneak peek at things to come:
Tomorrow (Tuesday): Day two of orientation. We are also going to the 38th parallel (not to the DMZ), right on the border between N. and S. Korea. We will also meet the Minister of the Ministry of Unification.
Wed-Sat: DMZ tour.
Next Mon-Fri: Volunteering at the 한겨레 종고등학교, teaching English.
Next Mon-onward: Yonsei University orientation and school begins!
8:10 am: Meet up with the other girls, open the day with prayer, board the 퉁일부 bus.
9:00 am: Travel to 통일부. Sit in a conference room with about 30 other students and some officials. This looks official! Every person has a microphone (not that anyone really uses it.)
9-10 am: We get some background on North Korea and the Ministry of Unification's purpose.
10 am - 12 pm: Listen to a presentation on the power and development of social media (me2day, cyworld, facebook, twitter, digg, blogspot, wordpress, livejournal, etc.)
12-2 pm: Get bussed to a restaurant and eat an amazingly delicious and nutritious lunch of 불고리, 삼, 밥, and 반찬. The bulgogi was sooo gooood. :) The Ministry of Unification is really spending money on us!
2-4 pm: Go to the National Korean Library near Goseok Terminal, listen to a presentation on the library's resources, watch a movie that named something like "A Day in the Life of a North Korean", peruse the Ministry's archives on North Korea. Depart for the day.
4-6 pm: While Grace, Lydia and GiYoon went with Ministry with the officials to be interviewed, the rest of us left for Goseok Terminal. We are sufficiently distracted for two hours--we're so hot we first get fruit bingsoo from IceBerry, and then wander into a bookstore. And, quite randomly, there we run into our friends Spencer and Christine from BC! (So coincidental, right?! I couldn't believe it! Also, I randomly met a girl from Tufts who is interning for the Ministry during our tour--she knows my Tufts friends. I think her name was SoYeon?)
6 pm: We head over to the apartment because Jen wanted to get chicken. On the way out of the station, I buy a pair of flats for 7,000 Won. AKA about $6.50. WOOT.
6:40 pm: When we got there, no one is there.
7 pm: We decide to go get chicken at a place near Seongnae Station. I finally get in touch with Jen--she forgot. :( But it's okay, because we order a huge seafood scallion pancake and a whole chicken. Yum.
8 pm: After a brief stop at Baskin Robbins for a small bit of ice cream, we part ways.
THOUGHTS
*The Korean students were all really energetic. I expected them to be serious and professional, but actually we were the ones overdressed, everyone else was wearing casual clothing, even flip-flops! They talked loudly on the bus and just played around--I thought Korean students chosen for this program would be quieter. I felt pretty comfortable.
*I have not learned that much about North Korea or the Ministry yet because of the professional words, although I understood the presentation on social media. We asked them to send us the powerpoint so that we can go over it ourselves later, though. Most of us didn't understand 100%, even the ones who speak Korean well.
*I feel sad for the people who have to work in the subway stations every day. No sunlight or fresh air, ever? That can't be good for their health.
*In Korean culture, the way you eat reveals your class--eat everything, fast, then you're probably low-class because you don't get enough food. Leave food behind and eat at a decent pace--you aren't starving and probably higher class because you don't inhale your food. Also, traditionally if you eat everything, then that means you haven't had enough and you need more food, aka people are going to refill your bowl/plate. When you leave a little behind, it means you had a good meal and are finished.
But the meat was so good we didn't care at that point, we killed everything on that table. :)
*Someone ordered a bottle of Coke during lunchtime and didn't open it. I took it because we were the last there, and gave it to Daisy. It's probably still in her bag. Coke tastes much better from a bottle.
*During dinner, the waitresses looked at us in fascination. I think they were surprised we ate so well. And that we didn't order anything but water. I guess beer and chicken is like... eggs and ketchup?
***The website that the students participating in this program contribute to: http://blog.daum.net/mounification/8723303
Sneak peek at things to come:
Tomorrow (Tuesday): Day two of orientation. We are also going to the 38th parallel (not to the DMZ), right on the border between N. and S. Korea. We will also meet the Minister of the Ministry of Unification.
Wed-Sat: DMZ tour.
Next Mon-Fri: Volunteering at the 한겨레 종고등학교, teaching English.
Next Mon-onward: Yonsei University orientation and school begins!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
My First Time in a Korean (English service) Church
--Wake up. Have Choco Balls with milk (like Choco Puffs only way better! Lighter and less sweet and more nutritious :]). Eat watermelon. Leave for church. Get lost going to church. Ask three different people for directions. Think I'm at the church, when I'm actually at the Korean service. Finally find the English service. :)
--And then... be introduced to something completely different from what I have ever experienced! I went to Sarang Community Church in Gangnam, and they had special guests from New Zealand. From Cross Church (the name of an area, not a church. I think the church was called Majestic?), this team travels around the world and shares God through hip-hop song and dance, rapping and break-dancing, and just general entertainment and media (they write their own songs, some of the members are in the middle of recording CDs). I was very... astonished? I went with Daisy and Bryan, although Bryan went to an earlier service. His reaction (paraphrased): "I don't know what to think yet since I wasn't there the whole time, but yeah they are really new age. There was hip-hop dancing and break-dancing during worship. It's a little too intense for me."
Little did he know that the dancing wasn't the normal worship service for Sarang Church, it was a special service. LOL.
After church, I (on a whim) invited the woman sitting next to me, JongIn, who was also new to the church, to have lunch with Daisy and me. She accepted and we went to a Vietnamese place in the area. She is 26 and just started learning English a few months ago so we were all practicing Korean and English during the meal. I'm glad I asked her to come, she apparently was a piano major in college.
--Look around the stores in Gangnam Station. Get tempted by the waffles there but resist buying one. Go back home. Eat leftover pad thai for dinner. Drink 미숫 가루 (ground beans and milk drink that I've never tried before but was really good) for dessert.
--End of Sunday!
EDIT: Jen comes in to tell me that if I keep the fan on but the door closed, I'm going to die. (Her mom told her to tell me.) Um... what?
EDIT 2: Jen wonders if I have to wake up early tomorrow. Yes, why? Because she and her parents can't sleep, so they're eating squid and drinking 막골리 and wondering if I would like to join. I politely decline. :)
--And then... be introduced to something completely different from what I have ever experienced! I went to Sarang Community Church in Gangnam, and they had special guests from New Zealand. From Cross Church (the name of an area, not a church. I think the church was called Majestic?), this team travels around the world and shares God through hip-hop song and dance, rapping and break-dancing, and just general entertainment and media (they write their own songs, some of the members are in the middle of recording CDs). I was very... astonished? I went with Daisy and Bryan, although Bryan went to an earlier service. His reaction (paraphrased): "I don't know what to think yet since I wasn't there the whole time, but yeah they are really new age. There was hip-hop dancing and break-dancing during worship. It's a little too intense for me."
Little did he know that the dancing wasn't the normal worship service for Sarang Church, it was a special service. LOL.
After church, I (on a whim) invited the woman sitting next to me, JongIn, who was also new to the church, to have lunch with Daisy and me. She accepted and we went to a Vietnamese place in the area. She is 26 and just started learning English a few months ago so we were all practicing Korean and English during the meal. I'm glad I asked her to come, she apparently was a piano major in college.
--Look around the stores in Gangnam Station. Get tempted by the waffles there but resist buying one. Go back home. Eat leftover pad thai for dinner. Drink 미숫 가루 (ground beans and milk drink that I've never tried before but was really good) for dessert.
--End of Sunday!
EDIT: Jen comes in to tell me that if I keep the fan on but the door closed, I'm going to die. (Her mom told her to tell me.) Um... what?
EDIT 2: Jen wonders if I have to wake up early tomorrow. Yes, why? Because she and her parents can't sleep, so they're eating squid and drinking 막골리 and wondering if I would like to join. I politely decline. :)
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