Gwangju News June #256

From the Editor

June 2023, Issue 256

Published: June 1, 2023

Gwangju Together Day

Photo courtesy of Kim Hillel Yunkyoung

THE EDITORIAL TEAM

Publisher Dr. Shin Gyonggu

Editor-in-Chief Dr. David E. Shaffer

Managing Editor William Urbanski

Chief Copy Editor Isaiah Winters

Layout Editors Kim Sukang

Photographer Kim Hillel Yunkyoung

Online Editor Kim Sukang

The Gwangju News is the first English monthly magazine for the general public in Korea, first published in 2001. Each monthly issue covers local and regional issues, with a focus on the roles and activities of the international residents and local English-speaking communities.

Copyright ©2023 by the Gwangju International Center. All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by this copyright may be reproduced in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without the written consent of the publisher.

The Gwangju News is published by the Gwangju International Center: Jungang-ro 196-beon-gil 5 (Geumnam-ro 3-ga), Dong-gu, Gwangju 61475, South Korea Tel: (+82)-62-226-2733 Fax: (+82)-62-226-2731

Website: www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Email: gwangjunews@gic.or.kr

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Registration Date: February 22, 2010

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For volunteering and article submission inquiries, please contact the editor at gwangjunews@gic.or.kr

Welcometo June, and to the June issue of the Gwangju News! It was 22 years ago this month that the first issue of the Gwangju News was published – a mere two folded sheets of paper with text rather than today’s photo cover. June welcomes us with frolicking weather, such as that depicted in this issue’s cover photo. That photograph was taken on May 20 at Jungwoe Park – Gwangju Citizens’ Day.

This year marked the 58th Gwangju Citizens’ Day; however, the event has not always been held in May. The date change carries copious significance. Originally observed on November 1, Gwangju Citizens’ Day was moved to May 20 in 2010 in recognition of the May 18 (1980) Gwangju Uprising. It was on that day, the third of the ten days of turmoil, that the citizenry of Gwangju rose up in protest to the martial law forces’ brutal and fatal response to civil disobedience, forcing the military to retreat to the outskirts of the city. What better way to mark this event than with a celebration recognizing the will and determination of the Gwangju people – the Spirit of May!

This year’s Citizens’ Day was a triple event, as it was coupled with Gwangju Together Day and Gwangju International Students’ Day. Read our cover feature by two young writers, each focusing on one of the two latter events.

Here might be a good opportunity to reiterate that the Gwangju News is a not-for-profit publication within a not-for-profit organization –the Gwangju International Center. The staff and contributing writers are not professionals in the fields of publication or journalism but rather volunteers from other walks of life. I would like to commend them on the product they contribute to producing each month – this professional-quality magazine!

In several ways, the Gwangju News can be thought of as a mentoring publication, as we give support to our many young writers – such as our cover feature article writers – who may be students or writing for a publication for their first time. And quite a few of them are writing in their second or third language – English!

I would like to here also introduce our new layout editor Kim Sukang, who is not only new to the Gwangju News staff but also to the Gwangju International Center. She is also new to publishing, journalism, and digital design work. But as you can witness in these pages, she is already doing a magnificant job. We heartily welcome Kim Sukang!

Conserve water, stay Covid vigilant, and enjoy the Gwangju News!

David E. Shaffer Editor-in-Chief

Special thanks to Gwangju City and all of our sponsors.

Gwangju News

Cover Photo

Photo of the Month

By Neha Bisht

The photograph portrays the “Hub of Unity”

at Chonnam National University.

The flags of different countries represent freedom, equality, inspiration, and harmony among students.

The Author

A native of India, Neha Bisht is pursuing her PhD research at Chonnam National University’s Department of Material Science and Engineering. She loves to meet new people and make new friends. She wants to explore the whole world and learn more about the traditional and cultural differences across the globe. She always likes to contribute to the wellbeing of society in whichever way she can.

Gwangju City News

Parental Leave Replacement Employees Get Support

The Gwangju Working Moms Support Center provides a financial support project of parental leave replacement employees: The Center supports replacement workers for small and medium-sized enterprises that employ less than 100 people in Gwangju. The amount of support depends on the work period of the parental leave replacement employee. If one replacement employee works from 5 to 10 months, the Center supports 1 million won. If one replacement employee works more than 10 months, the center supports 2 million won. In order to get this support, small and mediumsized enterprises should guarantee to rehire the employees who were on parental leave.

For more information on this project, visit the Working Moms Support Center website (www. gwangju.go.kr/woman; Phone: 062-613-7982).

Bitgoeul Gwangju

Call Center: 062-120

The Gwangju Working Moms Support Center ▲

Dong-gu Humanities Lecture Series.

Photo by Kim Sukang ▲

Dong-gu Humanities Lecture Series on Wednesdays

On three Wednesday evenings in June, there are humanities lectures at the Gwangju Donggu District Office. These lectures are part of the Dong-gu Humanities Lecture Series (동구 인문대학). Dong-gu provides humanities lectures on literature, history, art, philosophy, and social science for Gwangju residents. Dong-gu expects that Gwangju residents can understand through these lectures who we are, and learn about our present and past, and our society. These lectures are from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday in the Grand Hall of the Donggu District Office (June 14, 21, and 28).

More information and registration for the humanities lecture series on the Dong-gu District Office website (www.donggu.kr; Phone: 062-608-2212).

Gwangju Culture and Arts Center Reopens

The Gwangju Culture and Arts Center will reopen in June 2023 after being closed for renovations since 2021. With the renovations, acoustic infrastructure is improved with a digital console. Carpet flooring in the concert halls was also replaced with wood. The Grand Hall now has 1,517 seats, 255 fewer than before. The new seats are wider with more legroom. The reopening concert with the Vienna Symphony will be held on June 11 at the Grand Hall of the Gwangju Culture and Arts Center.

For more information: Gwangju Culture and Arts Center website (https://gjart.gwangju.go.kr; Phone: 062-613-8333).

Translated by Sukang Kim.

Gwangju Culture and Arts Center ▲

Better Together

On Sunday, May 21, 2023, Jungwoe Park in northeastern Gwangju was the site of a tremendously successfully and extremely well-attended “tri-festival.” The park, directly adjacent to the Biennale, hosted Citizen’s Day, International Student Day and Together Day simultaneously and brought together thousands of people for plenty of entertainment, mingling, shopping, and the opportunity to sample all sorts of delicious international foods. In this feature, two attendees of the festival, Jo Lezada of the Philippines, writing about International Student’s Day, and Nahida Islam of Bangladesh, writing about Together Day, share their accounts of the events of the day.

Photography by Kim Hillel Yunkyoung

1. The India booth in the Global Food Zone.

2. Gwangju Henna

3. The Indonesia booth in the Global Food Zone.

4. Participants at Together Day.

5. The India booth in the Global Food Zone.

6. The Vietnam booth in the Global Food Zone.

Gwangju Together Day

By Nahida Islam

Has it ever happened to anyone that excitement kept you awake till late night, yet you still found yourself awaking earlier than ever? It has been a while since I felt this kind of excitement about an event that itself has a meaningful name: Gwangju Together Day.

Sunday, May 21, was a nice, sunny spring day with a breeze flowing around Jungwoe Park in Gwangju. The place, hosting thousands of people from around the world, gave them opportunity to come together.

My friend and I were walking with a crowd heading towards the diversified stalls set up by participants from different countries (Vietnam, Egypt, Indonesia, Mongolia India, Nepal, etc.) as a way to introduce passers-by to their cultures. Lots of local and international organizations staffed booths to raise awareness for the need to make a safe place for foreign people, like the Gwangju Association of Migrant Women, the Support Center for Foreign Workers, the Gwangju Buk-gu Police Station, the Gwangju Youth Service Center, and the Gwangju Culture Foundation – all of which are helpful places to visit if you are a fan of diversified culture or are in need of their particular services.

We tried the traditional Korean game tuho (투호) and made dalgona (달고나) candy for the first time. I am a big fan of the famous Netflix series Squid Game, so I was so happy to get the chance to participate. However, my friend beat me at both activities. As a reward, she got to wear a hanbok (한복), or traditional Korean attire. Just kidding – everybody was able to wear a hanbok and take photos with no limits. We could even paint our nails and get a fake tattoo to commemorate Gwangju Together Day.

Food played an important role in making the program more cheerful. No, I am not a foodie who only talks about food, but I would be remiss if I did not mention the food offered. As we were walking a lot, it is obvious that we got hungry. We got the chance to try food from places like India,

Pakistan, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Canada, Nepal, China, Mongolia, Morocco, Iraq, and the Philippines. Yeah, one could have gotten tired just reading all the countries’ name, but people did not get a bit tired of trying their foods. We had several different items ourselves.

The most noticeable part of the event was that the Gwangju International Center (GIC) made the event eco-friendly. They introduced a stall where you could get a food container for free, so after eating, we just had to return the container. It is an admirable step to reduce plastic waste that is killing our ecosystem.

For people looking for some community activities, groups like Gwangju Hikers and Dreamers are for you. Seo Ru-bin, a cute, little 11-year-old girl from UNESCO KONA told us a picture story about “a tiger and a dried persimmon.” She was sweet to hear. In the end, it was a day well spent, and all kudos go to the GIC, which arranged the whole program to give foreigners a place to interact with the people of Gwangju City.

At last, there is the word “together.” Is it just a word? It is more than that.

Together we can conquer every obstacle; together we can make the world more colourful; together we can be one heart. This is the message Gwangju Together Day wanted to convey. I think everyone who participated in this meaningful event got the message.

The Author

Nahida Islam is a PhD student at Chonnam National University in Gwangju. She is an introvert who always dreams of a world full of love and care. She does not think about achievement but cherishes the way to any destination. A country girl from Bangladesh, she should not be here, but she is.

Gwangju International Student Day

By Jo Lezada

The 2023 Gwangju Citizens’ Day convention held at Jungwoe Park presented a myriad of foods, fun, and entertainment for everyone to partake in and experience cultural diversity to the fullest. In this article, I wish to highlight a particular event in the name of International Student Day, which is none other than Gwangju’s prized university booths for the International Students’ Fair.

It was a pleasant surprise to see this section of the convention attract such a bustling crowd consisting of not only international students but people of all ages lining up at the university booths who came not only to inquire but to earn prizes, experience cultural tidbits such as wearing traditional clothing, and fun activities, including nail art and photo booths! I was greeted with sunny smiles and a friendly atmosphere that would have made me consider every university had I participated at every booth in sight.

In addition to the fun, the consultation I received was not only encouraging but overall helpful and informative. As an international student who aspires to earn a master’s degree at Chonnam University, the consultants who worked with me were patient, considered the language I was comfortable in, and made sure to walk me through the entire process without leaving out any important details. Now I know exactly what I need to do after I graduate, and it is all thanks to these kind and helpful people who were managing the booths and promoting their universities. I even got a freebie after the

consultation, as if the help I had received was not already enough. It was such an encouragement to see how much more accommodating these universities have been becoming to international students in spite of the language barriers that, perhaps, I may consider representing my own university at a booth someday!

All in all, not only was the weather sunny and bright that day, but everyone at the booths who represented their universities burned even brighter with pride, passion, and genuine enthusiasm that created a friendly environment brimming with enjoyment. It was the kind of impression and atmosphere I was looking forward to upon entering university life. Despite the academic pressure and difficulties that come with higher education, it is these people who reveal their passion and enthusiasm for their fields that make the entire journey worthwhile. Color me excited not only for next year’s convention but for the future of my academic career here in Gwangju –all thanks to this experience.

The Author

Johanna Angelaluz Lezada is a trilingual Filipino who is now in her third year as an IT business student at Nambu University here in Gwangju. She also works as a freelance translator and is the vice president of education for the Gwangju Toastmasters, both of which are based at the Gwangju International Center. Her hobbies include drawing, writing, traveling, and studying paleontology.

Gwangju International Student Day

1. The Chosun University Vietnamese Student Association.

2. The Honam University, Beauty Art Department Experience: Nail Art and Makeup.

3. Fifth-place winners in the International Students Talent Show: Traditional Dance of Kazakhstan, Zapranova Arukhan (Kazakhstan).

4. Winner of the International Students Talent Show: Song – Ysa and Evy (Philippines and New Zealand).

5. Traditional Dance of India, Mohanty Ayeskanta (India).

6. Second-place winners: Dance team, Atom-Crew (China).

7. Third-place winners: Magic show, Nguyenquangmi (Vietnam).

Photography by Kim Tae-hyung

Painting What Talks to Him

The Master of Ink, Kim Ho-suk

By Kang “Jennis” Hyunsuk

In this article for People in the Arts, I introduce Kim Ho-suk, who is having an invitational exhibition at the Gwangju Museum of Art throughout the summer. The artist’s warm gaze at his growing children, aging wife, and aged parents conveys emotion to those who view his paintings. He also metaphorically expresses the absurdity of our society through animals and insects. Artist Kim Ho-suk has found a way to make traditional Korean paper, hanji, accommodate in his paintings the portrait technique of the Joseon Dynasty period. I was able to interview him in Seoul’s Sinchon District at around the time he finished his work. The artist keeps working hours from 9–3 as a daily routine. Here is what we discussed.

THE INTERVIEW

Jennis: Thank you for this interview for People in the Arts in the Gwangju News. I was really moved by your exhibition at the Gwangju Museum of Art, which led to my asking for this interview. Kim Ho-suk: Thank you for coming all this way.

Jennis: This is a question I always ask when I interview an artist: I wonder what motivated you to become an artist. What was your childhood like?

Kim Ho-suk: I spent my childhood in Jeongeup in Jeollabuk-do. My great-great-grandfather, Chunujeong, Kim Young-Sang (1836–1911), who was a Confucian scholar, refused the monetary award given by the Japanese government for conciliation after the merger of Korea and Japan in 1910. He was arrested for committing blasphemy against the emperor of Japan for biting the arm of the Japanese police

▲ A Procession of History: Beyond Death, to the Sea of Democracy, 1993. Ink and wash on hanji paper, 185 x 97 cm.

officer who handed out the written edict. On the way to Gunsan Prison across the Mangyeong River, he jumped off the boat to take his own life. Chae Yong-shin (1850–1941), the last royal court painter of the Joseon Dynasty, depicted the scene in a painting entitled Chunujeong Dives into Martyrdom. [Chunujeong died in prison soon after the incident.]

When I was young, I went to the family shrine every morning with my grandfather. I kneeled and bowed to my ancestors’ portraits and silently told what I had done the previous day and what I would do on that day. I always wondered what the secret was that moved my heart while looking at the portraits hanging in the shrine.

Jennis: At the age of five or six, you said that you wanted to be an artist who moved people’s hearts. Then, how did you study painting when you were in school?

Kim Ho-suk: I moved to Jeonju and lived there before going to university. But I had a different painting experience than most people. I did not learn painting through the process of copying someone else’s paintings; I learned to paint by myself through the observation of nature. When I see fluttering leaves, I can measure the strength of the wind. And when observing the way birds are flying, I can feel the

warmth of the earth and feel that spring is nearing. When reading a book that is written in a soothing manner, it gives me something more impressive than something written in a grandiloquent style. I do not try to do paintings that are functionally good. The moment that nature lets me in, I can capture its message in my paintings.

Jennis: You majored in oriental painting at Hongik University, whose art college is famous in Korea, and you won second place in the Joong-Ang Fine Arts Contest when you were in your twenties. What kind of painting was that one?

Kim Ho-suk: That was the work titled An Apartment Building. At the time, there were few artists who painted night sceneries of the city with ink. I would say painting a night scene with ink was a kind of taboo. But art is a challenge to the taboo. And my challenge was said to be a modernistic expression of ink painting.

Jennis: You have made a change in themes from city nightscapes to portrait painting. What is the most important point in portrait painting?

Kim Ho-suk: I wanted to talk about humans, and there seemed to be no subject that talked about humans more than portrait painting. When I paint a person, one of the most important things is to

▲ An Apartment Building, 1979. Ink and wash on hanji paper, 2,130 x 226 cm.

express the person’s inner world externally. From the Goryeo Dynasty to the Joseon Dynasty, there was a traditional way to do portrait painting. They colored face and hands on the back side of the paper several times for the colors to permeate through the pores of the paper. This was to express the face softly on the front side. It is called the baechae method.

However, when I tried to draw in this traditional way, the hanji could not support the weight of the thick colors on the back and the paper tore, because the mass-production method for hanji employed during the Japanese colonial era had degraded its quality. Soon the high-end hanji manufacturing system was gone. But I have discovered our traditional hanji paper manufacturing method for my painting.

Jennis: It is amazing that you have been able to develop the quality of hanji needed for your work. In one of the many books that you have written, Every Wall Is a Door, I read that you painted Monk Seongcheol’s (1912–1993) portrait using the traditional method, baechae, which means “apply the paints hundreds of times on the back side of the painting.” And you visited Monk Seongcheol’s birthplace to acquire some soil as painting material. I think the act of collecting soil from his birthplace is itself art.

Kim Ho-suk: I would say it is a desperate craving. My desperation to depict the inner world of the characters in my paintings pushed me to find the traditional way of making hanji. Embodying in Monk Seongcheol’s portrait his mental depth was the biggest challenge for me. So, I visited his birthplace and collected some ocher soil near the kitchen fireplace. This soil is the secret of his skin color in the painting. This was a modern-day implementation of the baechae technique, the main technique used to make portraits during the Goryeo Dynasty period.

Jennis: You have painted a lot of works involving your family’s daily life, and more than 100 pieces of your artwork are in elementary, middle, and high school textbooks and teacher’s guides. This is amazing! Personally, I was touched by the work The Last Gift. What story are you telling in this painting?

Kim Ho-suk: This is the story of my parents. It is the scene when my father got sick, and he put the hearing aid he had used into my mother’s ear before

he went to the hospital for surgery. My father gave the sound of the world to my mother as his last gift. But my mother was also feeble and just nodded her head without understanding what her husband was saying. I captured the moment when my heart was broken.

Jennis: I saw the painting with several gunshot holes drawn on one side and dying mosquitoes on the other side. It also contained the text: “Mosquitoes don’t suck the blood of their own species.” I was surprised to read those words. Your painting creates an impression in itself, but the exquisite phrase that you added suits the painting so well.

Kim Ho-suk: When I was young, I thought that memorizing a lot of poetry could keep my mind clear. And the poems that I memorized in my childhood come up whenever I need them. The poem of monk and independence activist Han Yong-un (1879–1944) also rose up in my heart, and I conveyed that meaning in a painting.

Jennis: You have painted historical paintings like

▲ Buddhist Priest, Seongcheol, 1994. Ink and wash on hanji paper, 89 x 60 cm.

May Uprising of Gwangju and From Gobu to Seoul, which depicts the protests of farmers against the institution of WTO regulations. There is also the funeral procession of Kang Kyung-dae (1972–1991), the freshman college student who was killed by riot police during a street demonstration. Most historical paintings are huge and have a large number of people in them. But the facial expressions and movements of the people in your paintings are all different. How were you able to paint so many people in one painting? I heard that it is impossible to make modifications in ink painting.

Kim Ho-suk: That is right. Once the brush goes wrong, I have to start over on a new paper, so I use the brush as if I am using the tip of a knife. I have wanted to paint the history, hope, and vision of this land. You can see the flow of time in the work A Procession of History: Beyond Death, to the Sea of Democracy.

Jennis: You have also painted a lot of historical figures. I saw the painting Resistance: Ahn Changho (1878–1938), who was arrested during the independence movement and died in prison. What

did you want to convey through your historical figures?

Kim Ho-suk: There is the term “righteousness.” In our country, there are people who do the righteous act at every juncture of our history. And I think the spirit of righteousness is still in our DNA. So, the most important thing in my work is sanity. I can say that the act of painting is also the process of completing myself.

Jennis: You say that your painting is part of a process of completing yourself. I think you are like a Zen master who considers the act of painting as a means of fulfillment. What would your future plans be for your painting?

Kim Ho-suk: I cannot answer that question. For me, painting is not something that is planned, but something that happens at the moment the object talks to me.

Jennis: I am sure that there will be lots of moments and lots of objects that talk to you. Thanks so much for the interview. I hope to see you again in an exhibition hall sometime soon.

The Last Gift, 2018. Ink and color on hanji paper, 138.5 x 198 cm.

AFTER THE INTERVIEW

Maybe a wall, as in Every Wall Is a Door, is a device that allows us to realize what we really want. Artist Kim Ho-suk restored Korea’s traditional hanji paper with the desire to express the inner world of objects. Since he is an artist who has used every wall as a door, 115 pieces of his artwork can be found in public school art textbooks in Korea. I recommend that you take the opportunity to see his invitational exhibition at the Gwangju Museum of Art, which runs until August 13.

Kim Ho-suk’s Profile

1981. Graduated from Hongik University in oriental painting.

2008–2014. Professor at Korea National University of Cultural Heritage.

Publications

The Name of History, 1996. Aim an Arrow at Civilization, 2006. Rock Art of Korea, 2008.

Kim Ho-suk’s Ink Painting Laugh, 2012. History of Bangu-dae Rock Art, 2013.

Kim Ho-suk’s Ink Paintings, 2015. Every Wall Is a Door, 2016. Recoil of Reasoning, 2022. Lee Kang Is Lee Kang, 2023.

Acquisitions

The National Assembly, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul Museum of Art, Ho-Am Museum of Art, Arario Museum of Art, Korean Embassy in Turkey, Korean Embassy in the Philippines, Amore Pacific Museum of Art, Heungkuk Life Insurance, Gwangju Museum of Art.

The Interviewer

Jennis Kang is a lifelong resident of Gwangju. She has been doing oil painting for almost a decade, and she has learned that there are a lot of fabulous artists in this City of Art. As a freelance interpreter and translator, her desire is to introduce these wonderful artists to the world. Instagram: @jenniskang

▲ Resistance: Ahn Chang-ho, 1989. Ink on hanji paper, 242 x 120 cm.

▲ Kim Ho-suk

By William Urbanski

A Somewhat Biased Review

The closing of The First Alleyway almost two years ago represented nothing less than a tectonic shift in the Gwangju community. For it was more than just a place to grab pizza and drinks: It was a gathering place and a de facto community center for Gwangju expats. And that is why when The Alleyway opened its doors last April, the city was abuzz with excitement. While there is not much else to say about the legacy of The First Alleyway (it has been covered in numerous articles in both the Gwangju News and other news outlets such as The Korea Times), there is actually quite a bit to muse over when discussing this new restaurant.

Perhaps the most important thing to understand is that The Alleyway in Dongmyeong-dong is not a “reopening” of The First Alleyway, but rather a new iteration, with a different menu and fresh management. Instead of thinking of it as a sequel, a “First Alleyway 2.0” if you will, it is more like a spin off with a different cast of characters and different vibe. Kind of like how Joey had a spinoff from Friends, only not God awful.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

While The First Alleyway’s long-term downtown location was big enough to accommodate at least two medium-sized elephants, even a baby elephant would have difficulty making itself comfortable

at the new Alleyway. At the time of writing, The Alleyway has five tables and five bar stools, giving it a total of 27 seats. On weeknights, this means that it is usually not a problem to get a place, but on the last couple of Saturday nights, there has been a waiting list to get a meal.

From a business perspective, I think this makes a lot of sense. It seems clear to me that it is better to have a smaller establishment that is always busy (or full) than a bigger one that is not. That being said, after talking to a number of friends (who were, shall we say, very, very acquainted with the downtown location) they expressed that the atmosphere at times seemed a little more “rushed” than they were used to. For example, instead of being able to grab some food, have a couple of cheap beers, then sit around and chill or play board games for a while, they felt there is now a bit of pressure to eat then make room for the next people who want the table.

DAS MENU

From wings and poutine to sandwiches and pizza, the menu at The Alleyway is solid. From personal experience, I would say that the various pizzas are somehow even better than at the old place. The sandwich offerings are very decent, and the pastrami Reuben was my personal favorite.

The smaller kitchen means that there was no way the Alleyway was going to be able to have all the classics, so it was inevitable that some compromises and adjustments would have to be made. They have done a great job of keeping the core items on the menu, but fan favorites such as fish and chips as well as burgers did not make the cut.

As well, when it comes to the speed of service and overall quality, I would say that The Alleyway completely nailed it.

AMBIANCE AND LOCATION

The management made some really smart decisions about layout and decor. The space feels open, and all the tables and chairs are top notch (especially the bar stools, which are extra comfy). As well, there is a picnic table and some lawn chairs outside, which will be in high demand in the summer months.

A subtle shift I have noticed at The Alleyway is that there is much more of a focus on providing a solid dining experience and much less of a focus on drinking. Of course, there is still a large selection of beers and drinks, but it does not strike me as the kind of place where people would go just to hang out and bend some elbows.

• Address: Gwangju, Dong-gu, Dongmyeongdong, 200-21, first floor (beside the stairs) / 광주 동구 동명동 200-21, 1층 (계단 옆)

• Hours: Open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. / 오전11시부터 오후10시까지 영업 Closed on Sundays and Mondays / 일요일 월요일 휴무

• Last order at 9 p.m./ 9시에 마지막 주문

• Phone: (070) 4006-0612

Finally, I think the new location in Dongmyeongdong is actually much superior to the old place for a number of reasons. First, Dongmyeong-dong is undergoing a revitalization and has become a trendy place for the younger generation to hang out. That means it is a lively area that is just kind of a fun place to walk around and explore. Second, when compared to the downtown core, Dongmyeongdong is a mixed zoning area, meaning it is much more laid back with different kinds of buildings and not just store after coffee shop after restaurant. The last and most important reason that the location is better is because it is a mere five-minute walk from my house!

THE VERDICT

Instead of comparing The Alleyway to the old restaurant that was an intrinsic part of the Gwangju identity, patrons should just accept it for what it is: an amazing restaurant that pays tribute to the legacy of The First Alleyway while also doing things its own way.

The Author

William Urbanski is the managing editor of the Gwangju News. He has strong opinions about pizza.

The Alleyway

Yeongsanpo’s Steady Erasure

By Isaiah Winters

Yeongsanpo in Naju harbors a lot of history. The former river port is linked to Joseonera tax collection, Japanese-era origins of industry and Christianity, plus the modern-era erasure of much of this fascinating past. Seeing hints of redevelopment on the horizon, I recently stopped by to see how the area was doing and record some of its most at-risk quarters. All that I saw is far beyond the scope of this column’s humble June edition, but I’ll share with you some of the better finds in the limited space that I have.

DUELING DENOMINATIONS

My visits to Yeongsanpo always begin the same way: I park in front of Yeonggang Temple and weave my way on foot along the neighborhood’s curvy roads to the top of the nearest hill, where I check in on the abandoned “Moonie” church. Overlooking the entire port area, the unique A-frame chapel associated with the Unification Church must have cut an imposing figure when it opened on June 1, 1979. Now 44 years on, it still dwarfs any other building on the hill and stares out across the main road at its Presbyterian rival, the far older Yeongsanpo Church atop the

▲ Yeongsanpo’s abandoned Moonie church.

opposite hill. Made of dark stone and set among lush church grounds, the senior chapel has roots stretching back to Christianity’s arrival in Naju in 1908.[1] The location of each church appears to have been very deliberately picked, as they both form the pinnacle of their respective hills overlooking the river port. For now, the battle over Yeongsanpo’s soul goes to the more established denomination.

As for the Moonie church’s condition, it’s been abandoned for some time and seems to be emptier and emptier every time I visit. Once lined with pews stretching from front to back, the chapel is now almost entirely free of them, though I spotted one maybe half a kilometer away from the church in a roadside gutter. Apparently, elderly locals use it to sit, rest, and observe the changing hillside around them. Also long gone are the self-aggrandizing scrapbooks often found inside Moonie churches. They tend to contain news clippings about the church’s global reach with an inordinate focus on its founder, Moon Sun Myung (문선명). In this Yeongsanpo chapel, there used to be one such scrapbook detailing Moon’s sweeping tour of the U.S., though it’s since

disappeared. Sometimes the church is locked up and inaccessible; other times, it’s wide open. It’s always hit or miss when visiting the “Moonie bin.”

WHAT’S ALREADY BEEN LOST

Head down the Moonie hillside’s many winding, bamboo-lined alleys, and you’ll end up at the main road separating Yeongsanpo’s pair of prominent hills. After crossing over, I like to check in on a burned-out home nestled along an alley of old inns. The home is wide open and still contains many of the charred artifacts of the family that once lived there. I’m no expert in fire damage assessment, but the most badly damaged part of the house looks to be the kitchen, where the melted appliances suggest an electrical fire did the place in. This time, I felt a little braver than usual and so entered the main living area as cautiously as possible. The roof still stands overhead, though on deeply charred pillars the color of obsidian. Among the shelves of sootcovered knickknacks, I found two heat-warped family photos together in a single frame. Finds like these are always worth the risk.

Family photos found in a burned-out home. ▲

Another part of this area that’s done for is the old Yeongsanpo Cinema. Until very recently, the iconic cinema was located along Naju’s hongeo geori (홍어 거리), which is a string of restaurants still well known for serving fermented skate – arguably Korea’s hardest cuisine to stomach and a must-try dish for any visitors to Honam. According to one source, the cinema opened sometime before the Korean War, during which it was damaged by bombing.[2] It remained a cinema until the 1970s and, despite no longer screening pictures after that, retained an old-timey, retro façade with old movie posters and a tiny ticket box that visitors could peruse on their way to munch some ammonia-flavored ray. On a visit to Yeongsanpo years ago with my friend Ryan Berkebile, he managed to slip through an opening and get inside the shuttered theater. When asked to recall what he’d seen at the time, he said, “What I remember is that they’d turned it into a dance club with a karaoke stage. It had a major 90s vibe. There were naked women in frosted glass on the doors.” Sounds like it went the way of the “colatec” before being bulldozed earlier this year.

LOSSES TO COME

All the way up the hill behind the former cinema is a large swath of bulldozed earth that originally caught my attention, prompting me to stop the car in the first place. At the top of this hill is the aforementioned Yeongsanpo Church made of stone, a C-shaped clutch of hanok houses around it, and the, at times, impossibly narrow walkways connecting them all together. Some of the traditional homes around the church have already been bulldozed to make way for whatever’s next, though quite a few of these old structures remain. One in particular struck me as being oddly proportioned, which sometimes happens with really old homes. I’ve got no eye for dating Korean architecture, but my hanok-restoring friend, Kang Dong-su, does, so I messaged him and said he should visit the area while it was in the sweet spot between eviction and demolition.

Fortunately, he soon did and was able to observe huge historical shifts in the building styles of that one oddly proportioned hanok. In that house, which had been approved for use all the way back

▲ One of the lush alleys of Yeongsanpo.

in 1925, he saw thick beams and pillars typifying late-Joseon-era structures built for the nobility, and these were overlaid by thinner, Japanese-style rafters that extended out over the original Korean ones. Seeing Korean-style beams topped with Japanesestyle extensions and tiles speaks to the architectural palimpsest of structures built in the area just 100 years ago, which had one foot in the Joseon era and the other in the Japanese occupation era. In this way, Yeongsanpo’s history stares us in the face from every crumbling alley, but it’s often hard to meet its gaze. I hope this short article has helped pique your interest in the area’s rich architectural history, which you should explore for yourself before it’s too late.

Sources

[1] Yeongsanpo Church. (n.d.). 영산포교회 [Yeongsanpo Church]. http://yspch.kr/

[2] Wanna Maker. (2017, November 12). 나주극장 영산포국장 [Naju’s Cinema Is Yeongsanpo Cinema]. https://blog.naver.com/apoyando/221138410895

Ryan Berkebile’s Instagram: @naturaryan1600

Kang Dong-su’s Instagram: @baemui.naru

The Author

Hailing from Chino, California, Isaiah Winters is a pixel-stained wretch who loves writing about Gwangju and Honam, warts and all. He’s grateful to have written for the Gwangju News all these years. More of his unique finds can be seen on Instagram @d.p.r.kwangju and YouTube at Lost in Honam.

A The mixed building styles of a 100-year-old house. Photo courtesy of Kang Dong-su. ▲

▲ One of the lush alleys of Yeongsanpo

Foraging Through the Seasons

By Grace Chun

▲ My neighbor farmer showed me where to find more gosari.

While there are some that bemoan the length of winter, the appreciation that such winters build for the coming spring is unparalleled. The fact that spring miraculously comes when winter seems to have no end is a new experience for me. Growing up in Florida, and then moving to Hawaii for school, I did not experience the many changes of the four seasons. Florida goes from blisteringly hot and humid to drier and not so hot. Hawaii was pretty much eighty degrees and sunny every day. In moving to Gwangju in January of 2022, I finally experienced the four seasons in all their glory. With this experience, I also discovered the practice of foraging.

I define foraging as a practice of gathering plants for consumption. I had no experience foraging until I moved to Gwangju. My parents live in the countryside, and when spring came, I would enjoy running around our neighborhood through its many nooks and crannies. I would help maintain our family’s burial ground, and on the way there, my dad would always point out all the different types of trees and plants.

My mom mentioned that we could pick gosari (고사리), or bracken, by my family’s burial ground. However, other foragers beat us to it. We could not find any. I was not deterred, however. I was eager to go and find gosari elsewhere in our neighborhood.

My parents were wary of me wandering around remote parts of our neighborhood alone, so my mangnae gomo (막내 고모), or youngest paternal aunt, came along. She led me to the places she grew up foraging. It was an honor to learn my family traditions that my aunt continued to practice.

I felt more connected to my family and to Gwangju. I hit the jackpot when one neighbor farmer took an interest in me. My mom, for some reason, gave her my phone number. I started getting weekly phone calls to come meet her. One such meeting included helping her water her watermelon seedlings. In exchange, she showed me where I could forage for more gosari.

Between this farmer’s watermelon fields was a stretch of sloped land that grew an abundance of gosari. I put on my headphones, turned on my current favorite podcast, and got to picking. You want to pick the ones that have not flowered yet. The ends need to still be curled up. At this point, I had no idea how to cook or eat the gosari I was picking, but it was such a joy to forage. I zoned out to my podcast and time flew by.

▲ My first forage resulted in only this handful of gosari

After blanching in water, you lay the gosari out to dry in the sun. ▲

My aunt showed me how to lightly blanch the gosari in water and dry them in the sun. They shrink in size and weight, turning from a greenish brown color to a blackish brown color. After drying, it is best to store them in a dark, dry place until the fall or winter when you can rehydrate them to make muchim (무침, seasoned vegetables). Foraging for gosari was the highlight of my spring other than watching the five baby jebi (제비), or swallows, grow up in the nest in our roof. When summer rolled around, my aunt let me know it was time to forage for odi (오디), or mulberries. I already knew where the odi namu (오디 나무, mulberry tree) was located. I saw it every time I walked to our family’s burial ground. Once I started seeing bluish-purple stains on the road by the odi namu, I was ready to pick. These berries were harder to pick than anticipated. I wanted to shake the tree and make the berries fall. However, when I tried, the berries were crushed. Unlike with gosari, much effort yielded little fruit. Nonetheless, they were delicious, and I savored every odi I picked. My parents are allergic, so I ate the small bounty by myself.

Right around the time of Chuseok (추석) in early fall, I learned that we have a muhwagwa namu (무화과 나무), a fig tree, in our backyard. I was ready to forage. At first, I accidentally picked slightly unripe figs. My aunt let me know to pick the ones that are bursting open, very soft when pressed, and darker in color. They are the

most juicy and sweet. The leaves are very scratchy, so I learned quickly to dress in long pants and long sleeves when picking the figs. While much smaller than the figs in stores, the foraged figs were unmatched in taste.

The foraging for gosari, odi, and muhwagwa guided me through the spring, summer, and fall of Gwangju. Each season brought a gift from nature. I found the practice of foraging meditative and grounding, and I enjoyed how the changing of seasons helped mark the passage of time. So, when the winter chill feels never-ending, I remember the plants I foraged in my neighborhood this past year, and I am comforted that spring will come. And with spring comes the invitation to forage through the seasons again.

Grace Chun (전유리) has lived in Gwangju for a little over a year. She is a Korean American graduate student studying migration and borders. She enjoys farming with her dad, taking film photos, dabbling in coding, and running. Instagram: @gyc_photo

▲ While the muhwagwa are small, they were still delicious.

▲ My small but delicious odi harvest!

The Author

Changes: Cigarettes, Cars, and Cows

By Julian Warmington

“And these children that you spit on / As they try to change their worlds Are immune to your consultations / They’re quite aware of what they’re going through Changes (Turn and face the strange) / Changes, don’t tell them to grow up and out of it Changes (Turn and face the strange) / Changes, where’s your shame? You’ve left us up to our necks in it”

–

David Bowie, “Changes,” verse two and chorus, from the album Hunky

Dory, 1971

an people choose to change? Some folks don’t think so.

How have you changed over the last decade or two? We’re not talking about accidental or natural change in terms of simply growing up, or suddenly realizing you’re not as young as a decade ago, but rather: How have you consciously decided to live differently for the sake of a better lifestyle?

Society is made up of a collection of individuals. If individuals can choose to change, perhaps societies can also decide to change for the better.

Students from all over the world, from Santiago, Chile, to Seoul, have marched streets demanding immediate climate action. They want societal change on an industrial scale, in ways that reduce industrially produced climate pollution.

CIGARETTES

In the year 2000, smoking was an accepted norm in bars in South Korea and pretty much anywhere inside, for men, at least.

I would come home from an evening writing emails or reading online at the PC bang (internet café) down the road in Yang-dong, and followed the same routine as if I’d just been to the bar: I would put all my clothes

immediately into the washing machine. I didn’t smoke, but because of the number of young men there who did, my jeans and shirts would be heavy with the stink of cigarette smoke.

I asked a young Kiwi at a bar one evening whether she thought the 1990 law changes to smoking in public in Aotearoa New Zealand had been a good idea. Emphatically, she said those changes to law weren’t good, because she had lost her freedom to smoke wherever she wanted.

I asked her what she thought or felt about the impact of her smoking on others around her who wanted to share the same space as her but not breathe secondhand cigarette smoke. She said it wasn’t her problem. But eventually, culture followed policy change: Smokers in New Zealand now fully accept the need to keep their habit right away from non-smokers. That legal change was the result of informed, responsible, caring leadership, making the effort to lead a shift in thinking.

In South Korea, change in awareness about smoking around others, especially inside, arrived a little later. Both South Koreans and New Zealanders are now more considerate about the rights of non-smokers to breathe clean air, free of second-hand tobacco smoke.

CARS

The Hyundai / Kia / Genesis group make some of the best electric cars in the world. I’ve driven the pure electric Genesis GV60, and it really was totally fantastic. It’s by far the best car I’ve ever driven. Just yesterday a friend was gushing about driving an early model Hyundai Ioniq, while others have raved to me about their Niro or Kona.

teenagers marching in the streets that are hungry for meaningful structural change for the better.

And, this is also further proof that we cannot trust nor expect unregulated corporations to do the right thing for us, for our children, and for their future. Corporations need regulation.

COWS

The streams and rivers of New Zealand used to be 100-percent pure. We camped beside them when river kayaking and rafting when I was in university. We would simply dip cupped hands into the water and drink fresh, clean water whenever we were thirsty, and cook dinner in pots of water scooped straight from the river bank or water’s edge. That was barely three decades ago.

But in 1991, a new law removed regulations overseeing the dairy industry, ending restrictions on numbers of cows per hectare, or on each square block of land.

But Californians were saying exactly the same things about General Motors’ EV1 in the late 1990s. Those pure electric cars were so wildly popular instead of selling them to lease holders, GM took them back and crushed them in compactors.

GM feared the advent of the pure electric car because it demanded retooling of their factories, re-inventing the wheel of in-house design and manufacturing systems that they already had set up for gas-powered cars. It meant professional re-education or replacing engineers, and the end of sales revenue from spare parts that gas cars need more than the simpler yet more efficient pure electric cars.

GM even tried to kill demand and interest in leasing or buying the EV1. They did this by running negative advertising campaigns featuring, for example, the scene of a single, lonely, isolated car driving across barren countryside under dark gloomy skies.

This important, extraordinary chapter in the 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? illustrates the hunger that already existed and persisted for really good pure electric cars, despite lack of promotion, supply, and even deliberately off tone advertising, too. In other words, it’s not just stroppy, hormonal

Over the next decade or two, more and more trees were chopped down and land converted to dairy farms. Those farms had ever more force-bred cows crammed side-by-side into muddy fields.

Now, even dogs with astoundingly strong stomachs die from drinking heavily polluted lake water downstream from dairy farms. Streams and rivers are so badly polluted swimming in them is forbidden due to the health hazard.

What caused this sudden shocking destruction of previously pristine countryside? To grow enough grass to feed all those cows, farmers spread around nitrogen-heavy fertilizer to help the grass grow faster.

▲ Seoul Climate Strike, 2019.

▲ One cow makes the same amount of sewage as about 14 people.

When it rains, that nitrogen leaches into streams and rivers, killing native freshwater fish and eels, and human babies turn blue and die from drinking contaminated tap water.

But an even worse problem is the truly huge amounts of methane produced by cows. Methane is probably the very worst greenhouse gas.

Why talk about New Zealand’s dairy cow problems in these pages about Gwangju and Jeollanam-do?

South Korea recently started converting perfectly devoloped, productive ancient rice fields to modern high-rise apartments in some places, and milking sheds and cow barns in others.

As Gwangju News’ editor, William Urbanski, pointed out in a recent column, building ever more high-rise apartment blocks is folly. I agree, especially due to the carbon dioxide pollution created by all that concrete. But poohs and wees from one cow is the same as the pollution created by about 14 humans. One cow shed hidden in the countryside is like a whole apartment block of families, but without the sewage treatment system.

How is all that effluent dealt with in South Korea? Are Korean cows trained to sit on toilets? Or does all that liquid crap get washed into local waterways to poison the remnants of wildlife, eventually getting back into urban water supplies?

An even more urgent question for us in Gwangju is: If New Zealand can make such a mess of its land, water, and air, and take three decades before even starting to consider the situation, how quickly can South Korea learn from that Kiwi disaster and halt our journey down this wrong way street of history?

CONCLUSION

If South Korea and New Zealand can change for the worse, we can also consciously decide to change for the better. Both countries hugely reduced smoking and saw the recent rise of pure electric cars zipping cleanly, silently down our streets.

But both nations have also made massive messes of our natural ecology. The time for indulging any industry making industrial greenhouse gas pollution is over.

Corporations will pay public relations reps to lie about loss of “freedom,” but they’re talking in code about their sense of entitlement to pollute the air we breathe and water we drink. They’ve been privatizing profits while socializing costs such as pollution, simply saying it’s not their problem.

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report explains just how desperate our situation is right now due to such industrial scale pollution. The Jeolla-do drought that only just ended proves this. Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, has had a state of emergency declared three times already this year due to floods.

Later this year, New Zealand space agency Rocket Lab is due to launch MethaneSAT, a methane-tracking satellite system that can trace real-time emissions from leaky oil or gas wells and dirty dairy farms alike. Such tech tools are nice to have. But what we need is to use methods we know worked for reducing cigarette smoking, and apply them to cancer-causing dirty dairy and meat products: End advertising and keep increasing prices via taxes every year over a decade or so, as long as it takes to reduce and end that industry. Perhaps then we can say we are respecting younger and future generations – of all species – instead of spitting on them while indulging our industrialstrength addictions.

Julian Warmington taught for twenty years at the university level in South Korea, half of which he spent in Gwangju. He established the Busan Climate Action Film Festival, presented internationally on teaching environmental issues in ESL, and misses traditional Korean water-based ice patbingsu in summer.

The Author

▲ An info slide from a set as part of an ESL presentation including discussion of the dirty dairy industry in Aotearoa New Zealand and the climate crisis in South Korea. The complete set is available at GGESkills. Wordpress.com

Super Smoothie

By Julian Warmington

Spring is well sprung, summer is coming. Starchy complex carbohydrates like rice or potatoes are still important with every meal, but it’s the right time of year to review our daily intake of lighter colors and how much water is in our foods to keep us hydrated as the temperature really starts to increase.

While crunchy fresh salads are easy to enjoy, not everyone likes to invest the preparation time.

Whether you want protein or other macro or any of the micro nutrients your fit, healthy, active body needs, simply dropping them into a smoothie is quick and convenient.

Experimenting with different ingredients and quantities becomes both fun and interesting. “Add quantity according to taste” becomes a mantra. Some of these ingredients can be kept in the freezer. Buying frozen berries in bulk provides a great base

▲ Depending on the size of your blender and your own personal taste, you can use fewer or greater numbers of each of these fruits and vegetables.

and gives you an instant antioxidant boost for every drink. Leafy greens like spinach or kale are best bought once or twice a week, kept in the fridge, and eaten within a few days. Powdered ginger is certainly convenient and adds some quality, but fresh ginger adds more nutritional value and flavor.

If blending and the joys of experimenting with quantities and ingredients is new to you, it’s worth remembering how our microbiomes, or healthy gut bacteria, really do flourish and, in turn, directly influence what we develop a taste for, as we feed them more of each ingredient.

Within the context of a berry-based smoothie, adding black pepper and turmeric may seem strange at first, but, taken together, they offer your body the world’s greatest-known natural anti-inflammatory. A small, simple shake or two of each is enough for a first taste test. Add just a little bit more each new time you make another smoothie, until you find the perfect amount for your taste.

If you’re looking to up your game in running or any impact sport, this becomes highly valuable for recovery and reducing achy-joints downtime until your next training session.

Some blenders remove fiber. Please leave it in. Fiber is hugely important. You’re not making juice for spoiled international air travel tourists. Similarly, you don’t need to add expensive protein powder if you’re actually consuming fresh vegetables.

For more inspiration, understanding, or ideas on how to develop your smoothie skills, check out the Canadian ultra-long distance marathon runner and former professional triathlete Brendan Brazier’s book series Thrive.

Finally, quantities given below should necessarily vary depending on the size of your blender, your developing taste, and also how quickly you can drink the smoothie over the next day or two. This recipe is designed to be made in a large glass jar blender and drunk within two days.

SUPER SMOOTHIE: INGREDIENTS

• Blueberries and/or other berries: one or two handfuls

• Kale, spinach, or other leafy green: two or three handfuls

• An apple, cored

• One smaller beet, or half a large one, peeled

• Cacao powder, one or two tablespoons

• Freshly ground black pepper, and turmeric: one or two shakes only if this is a new taste for you

• Cinnamon and red pepper powder: one or two shakes

• Also consider adding: Carrots, celery (organic if possible), cucumber, one teaspoon only of powdered spirulina

PROCESS

1. Put everything in the glass jar.

2. Fill half full with water.

3. Put the lid on top.

4. Blend, adding more water to taste and consistency preference.

5. Pour some into a stainless steel or glass bottle for the gym or workout tomorrow.

6. Pour the rest into a bottle or glass to enjoy immediately.

7. Rinse out your blender and lid.

The Author

Julian Warmington taught for twenty years at the university level in South Korea, half of which he spent in Gwangju. He has been cooking fine plant-based cuisine for three decades, races in triathlons in his spare time, and misses doenjangguk in winter and a traditional vegan patbingsu in summer.

Traits That Make a Teacher Great

By David Shaffer

Every teacher wants to be a good teacher. But like all good things in this world, it takes effort. It takes an effort to consider what you have done, what your goals are, and what you can do to improve upon what you have done. Such reflection should be done regularly because, no matter how well we might think we are doing as a teacher, there is always some aspect that could be improved upon.

Last month, we discussed five traits that very good language teachers exhibit: a solid understanding of the subject matter, using current teaching methodology and techniques, using a well-balanced approach, being a life-long learner, and belonging to a professional learning community. I hope you have taken some time over the past month to reflect on these, and I hope you have been able to develop some action plans to level up your teaching skills.

The five skills discussed previously are by no means the only traits common to top-notch language teachers nor are they necessarily the most important. Here we will discuss several additional traits that superior language teachers exhibit. So, make yourself comfortable – preferably in a spot where you can intermittently pause to reflect on your own relation to the traits being discussed – and let us commence!

HAVING A PASSION FOR TEACHING

Some teachers have wanted to teach since they were old enough to go to kindergarten; others might not have considered teaching until a friend asked them for help in learning English. But regardless of when a teacher decided to pursue teaching as a career, exemplary teachers enjoy teaching; they have a passion for teaching; they want to help their students learn.

If a teacher enjoys being in a classroom with a group of students, this joy will shine through, and the students will notice it. And when the students notice this, the learning experience will be more enjoyable for them, too! On the other hand, if the teacher appears to be unenthusiastic about teaching, the students will also pick up on this, and their mood will cool, their motivation will drop, and their performance will be lackluster. So, we need to be aware of the impression we give to our students. It is not enough to just be passionate; we need to exude that passion so that it can be transmitted to our students. A teacher’s passion for teaching translates into student passion for learning.

Moment for Reflection: How successful are you at manifesting your passion for teaching?

KNOWING ONE’S STUDENTS

Good teachers know their students well. But what does it mean to “know” a student? Does it mean to merely be able to place a name on a face when nominating students, or is there more to it? Yes, there is more to it, but the importance of knowing one’s students’ names should not be underestimated. In a recent KOTESOL Reflective Practice SIG online session on student names, it was amazing to hear the differences in student motivation observed in classes where the teacher took it upon themself to learn their students’ names. Learning student names indicates to the students that their teacher has an interest in them as an individual, which results in the formation of a more congenial student–teacher relationship.

Things that come to mind when thinking of what knowing a student entails include teachers knowing what their students’ first language is, what their living situation is like, what their interests are (e.g., music, board games, dinosaurs, cartoons, cars, movies, travel), and these are all important to know. Good teachers know what a student’s favorite school subjects are, while a very good teacher will also know that student’s insecurities about school. A good

teacher will know a student’s academic strengths, while a very good teacher will also know a student’s personal strengths. A good teacher will know how to motivate their students, but a very good teacher will also know how to help them find self-motivation. In addition to knowing how to help students do well in their English class, a very good teacher will know how to help them succeed as individuals.

Moment for Reflection: How well do you really “know” your students as individuals?

UNDERSTANDING STUDENTS’ NEEDS

Dovetailing with “knowing one’s students” is “understanding their needs.” Have you ever admonished an elementary school student for not bringing their pencil case or crayons to school? Or have you ever reprimanded a university student for missing classes? It may be that the elementary school student’s family’s financial situation is such that they cannot afford all of the school supplies that families are expected to provide. And it may be that the university student is missing classes because they have a nighttime part-time job to help cover their boarding and tuition expenses. Students and their families may have financial needs that the teacher is unaware of but may come to realize these through dialogue with the student.

Although Korea is among the most extensively wired nations in the world. A teacher may therefore think nothing of giving a homework assignment that involves the use of a smartphone. However, there are still four percent of high school students who do not have a smartphone, though instead they may have a lower-tech mobile phone. Teachers need to know individual student access to technology.

Some students come to every class with their assignments completed and completed well; other students not so well. It is so easy for the teacher to label the former as “good” students and the latter as, well, “not-so-good.” However, it just may be the case, especially in the lower grade levels, that the “good” students have parents that are heavily involved in their children’s education, while other parents, for whatever reason, are not. Once aware of this parental involvement difference, the teacher can provide the extra help, which just might propel the “not-so-good” student past the “good” ones. Teachers need to be aware of the learning support that their students receive or do not receive outside of the classroom.

It is hard to say what the exact percentage of students with learning disabilities is because of differences in definition and in measuring methods, but it is safe to say that the prevalence of learning disabilities in

school-aged children is 5–10 percent. That is one to two students in every class of 20! Detecting student learning disabilities is not easy for the untrained teacher. If training is not supplied by the school, online tutorials are another option.

In understanding our students’ needs, simple classroom observation, as illustrated above, may be insufficient and misleading. For older students, a needs analysis in the form of a questionnaire can be enlightening; for younger students, dialogue with the student, their parents, and with former teachers of the student can be informative. The point is that very good teachers are aware of their students’ needs.

Moment

for Reflection: How

well are you aware of your students’ needs – be they financial, technology, or support for learning?

KNOWING HOW TO ENGAGE ONE’S STUDENTS

The keyword in this heading is “engage.” Over the years and decades, ELT has been moving from teacher-centered to student-centered learning. In the student-centered classroom, the teacher may see their students in small groups interacting with each other – and doing it in English. The teacher may take pride in seeing their students so involved.

What is the extent of their involvement? Are they merely interacting because the teacher told them to talk to each other? Or did the teacher explain why they are doing this activity and how it can be helpful in improving their language skills? Did the teacher give them choices (e.g., choice of topics to discuss, choice of discussion partners, choice in determining discussion time, etc.), which create a sense of agency in the student – the feeling that they are in charge, to a certain degree, of their own learning? Are the activities one-off, one-classperiod activities or do they include weeks-long projects, which also provide student agency as well as a better understanding of how instructed learning relates to the real world outside the classroom? The good teacher gets their students involved, while the very good teacher gets their students engaged – the students understand why they are doing what they are doing, they feel that they have agency, and they enjoy their involvement.

Moment for Reflection: Are your students truly engaged in their tasks in class – are they engaged with a sense of purpose, or are they merely involved?

CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING

The items discussed above go a long way towards creating a positive, welcoming learning environment in that they contribute to creating a strong, trusting teacher–student relationship. Students react positively to teacher passion, to teachers knowing about them and understanding their needs, and to being provided with a sense of agency and an understanding of why they are learning what they are learning. However, the physical environment should not be overlooked.

Many things in the physical environment can affect student mood and volition to learn. And very good teachers are aware of these. Is the room too bright or too dark? Is the temperature too warm or too cold? Is the room cluttered or clean? Is the seating arrangement conducive to the activity being undertaken? Is there a space for students to get up out of their seats for mingling activities? Are the classroom walls drab or are they covered with colorful English posters and student projects? Is the technology adjusted well – proper volume, clear focus, etc.?

Moment for Reflection: How optimal are the learning environments that you and your students are active in?

I hope you have taken a moment in each section above to reflect on your own personal situation and consider how you might be able to improve. As teachers, we all have room for improvement. After all, isn’t that what reflective practice is for?

The Author

David Shaffer, PhD, has been involved in TEFL, teacher training, writing, and research in Gwangju for many years as a professor at Chosun University. As vice-president of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter of KOTESOL, he invites you to participate in the Chapter’s teacher development workshops and events (in person and online) and in KOTESOL activities in general. Dr. Shaffer is a past president of KOTESOL and is the editor-in-chief of the Gwangju News.

GWANGJU-JEONNAM KOTESOL UPCOMING EVENTS

Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter Field Trip: Let’s Explore the Gwangju Biennale Together!

• Venue: Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall

• Address: 111 Biennale-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju [61104]

• Date: June 10, 2023

• We’ll meet at the main entrance to the Exhibition Hall at 2 p.m. and enter together. (Individual ticket price: 16,000 won)

Check the Chapter’s webpages and Facebook group periodically for updates on chapter events and other online and in-person KOTESOL activities.

For full event details:

• Website: http://koreatesol.org/gwangju

• Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL

Montessori Education

The Role of Movement in Children’s Education

By Kim Yul

Movement is an integral part of the Montessori Method. Through the lens of real-life methodology, it’s clear that movement is essential in order to self-actualize because movement is essential to life itself. As adults, we are so used to using our muscles that we often don’t notice. Opening the refrigerator door to get a drink of water, walking down the street, and even subconsciously using your fingers to type to do work are all muscular activities. However, for young children, these activities come as a great burden. Because their muscles are underdeveloped, they tire easily and require a lot of stamina even with small activities. That’s why it’s so important to give children the opportunity to use their muscles.

It’s important to emphasize the role of movement and muscle development in your child’s education, given that a child is always on the move unless somehow prevented. The Montessori teaching environment therefore encourages children’s movements, but these movements should be meaningful and purposeful. Just as the various activities discussed in my previous article have a purpose, movement must have a purpose. Whether carrying objects, picking up objects with tongs, moving around the classroom to get materials, or watering plants, all activities use muscles and require movement.

Coordination is one of the direct goals of reallife education, and given all the movement in the classroom, students will have considerable practice in this area. Students gain total motor skills through practical life activities such as free movement in their environment and balancing on a line, which in turn will help them learn how to control and utilize their bodies. However, refinement of fine motor skills

makes sense in itself. Dr. Montessori (1995) says, “He does it with his hands, by experience, first in play and then through work. The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence” (p. 27). This is a crucial concept to consider when making the case for the importance of the practical life area of a Montessori educational environment for children. As such, these improvements must be reached through the prior development of total motor skills.

Source

Montessori, M. (1995). The Absorbent Mind. New York: Henry Holt.

The Author

Kim Yul is originally from Gwangju and has taught in Cincinnati, Ohio, for many years. He is a Montessori elementary school teacher who believes education can change the world.

TwoFive

A Gwangju's Hardest-Working Punk Band Turns It Up to Eleven

By Jon Dunbar

Yes, there’s punk in Gwangju. It’s just hard to find sometimes.

After interviewing Dirty Rockhon for the Gwangju News’ January issue (and Monkey Pee Quartet in January 2020), I decided to hit up TwoFive, the City of Light's hardest-working punk band, for my next interview.

I caught the band last July 23 at Victim Records’ cross-country tour and came away thinking TwoFive

stole the show. Bassist Kwon Sunje was a sight to behold as he went through the setlist with maximum gusto, showing more life and passion even than the headlining band from Japan. His two bandmates didn’t have trouble keeping up, but nothing could match Kwon’s enthusiasm.

TwoFive is actually quite an old band, with over a decade of experience. If it helps, their Facebook page was created on July 17, 2012.

TwoFive threw down a great set at Punk Smash in Gwangju last February. ▲

Originally, they were a five-piece band called Match Point, but the band went through a metamorphosis when Kwon and two other members left for the military in November 2013.

Korea’s military conscription has been a constant source of setbacks for punk bands here, taking away young men for a couple years when they’re in the prime of their youth, right around when they should be going to university, protesting the government, and playing in punk bands.

But Kwon acknowledged the necessity of doing his duty for the country.

“It is important to understand that the reason for the existence of the military is war. Because the Korean Peninsula is under a ceasefire, military service is mandatory,” he said.

He sees military service as a necessary evil in order to prevent the threat of war. “I believe that war cannot coexist with anything,” he said. “War is a cruel act of killing and being killed among innocent people because of the conflicts of adults. The Korean Peninsula needs peaceful reunification, and the mandatory military service system must be abolished. We hope that no more people will die for no reason in wars. We oppose war.”

For the next two years, the band members would occasionally post updates on TwoFive’s social media pages, letting everyone know when they finished basic training and sending holiday messages when they had time off and access to computers. They maintained their musical activities in their respective units by participating in military bands, church choirs, music clubs, and so on.

In September 2015, the band ended its nearly twoyear hiatus with a show, but they also announced two members weren’t coming back. “Fortunately, they are two of the ugliest members, so it won’t affect our activities,” the band added in an online announcement.

Both members had decided to pursue careers in the military.

Kwon explained to the Gwangju News, “The reason they made that decision is because it was difficult to have a stable life solely from the income generated by their band activities. They gave up their dream and chose a financially stable life.”

In October 2016, the three remaining members of Match Point decided it was time for a name change. “The reason for changing the band name was that the words ‘Match Point’ were too common, making it difficult for album releases and online activities to be easily searchable,” Kwon explained.

That’s when they came up with TwoFive, a salute to their former bandmates. “The combination of the numbers "two" and "five" represents the memory of when we initially formed as a five-piece band, even though two members have since departed,” said Kwon, who has also been a member of another local band, The Nap.

He’s joined by guitarist Park Tae-min, also a member of Accelerando, and drummer Yang Ji-yeon, also in the bands Flight No. 8 and Heavy Gauge.

They’d released two albums as Match Point, I Do Not Know Exactly and Repressed Freedom. Since becoming TwoFive, they released the single “What Is at the End of the Universe?” in August 2020 and the five-song EP It Was Good That Day shortly after. Over the years, Gwangju has seen a handful of punk bands come and go. Meanwhile, the people remaining in the scene are getting older.

“It is true that many punk bands in Gwangju have disbanded or disappeared compared to the past,” Kwon said. “However, it is foolish to judge whether the scene is growing or aging based on this fact. Whether active or inactive, we always communicate and support each other and live on. The value of

▲ Photo by Jon Dunbar.

“Among the numerous festivals held in our country, I think IT’S A FEST! is more special than the others,” Kwon said. “It is a festival that should not be missed from the moment it starts until it ends.”

He disclosed that the band is now recording their next album, and after it’s released, they hope to tour nationwide and overseas.

Visit twofive1.bandcamp.com to listen to TwoFive’s music, or follow them at fb.com/BandTWOFIVE or on IG @twofive_official punk as an existence remains unchanged, even if friends we used to work with are no longer there.”

TwoFive has become an active promoter of the local scene, and its members communicate with bands across many genres and in many different cities to keep the scene alive and kicking. They organize regular shows branded “Boojik Day” at Club Boojik near Chonnam National University.

“What makes Gwangju’s scene special and unique are the people who represent Gwangju’s punk scene. They are very creative and pursue uniqueness. I think their individuality comes together to create the color of Gwangju’s scene,” Kwon said.

“Gwangju’s punk scene has many great bands, including TwoFive, Dirty Rockhon, Monkey Pee Quartet, Flight No. 8, and BettyAss. So, you should follow them and become friends with them. If you’re into punk, we are always ready to be friends.”

The band also joined Victim Records, a label supporting bands across Korea and bringing overseas bands to the country.

They’ll also play IT’S A FEST!, a three-day beach punk festival organized by Seoul-based label World Domination, Inc. at Hanagae Beach on Incheon’s Muui Island from June 16–18. There, Kwon will play an acoustic solo set on the first night, and the whole band will play on Sunday. They’ll be sharing the stage with 22 other acts, including Korean punk legends Crying Nut, Daejeon punk band Burning Hepburn, Malaysian post-punk band Social Circuit, Japan’s Green Eyed Monster, and the French-Korean one-man hardcore band Octopoulpe.

Jon Dunbar is a member of the Gwangju International Center living in Seoul. He contributes the monthly crossword to the Gwangju News. He’s also a council member of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea and an independent publisher. He founded the punk zine Broke in Korea in 2005 and published the novel Hongdae Fire in 2020.

The Author

▲ Photo by Jon Dunbar.

2023 GIC Summer Semester Global Cultural & Language Class

2023.05.16. (Tue.) - 2023.06.09.(Fri.)

2023.06.07. (Wed.) - 2023.08.26(Sat.)

GIC website (www.gic.or.kr)

Varies by courses

※ Card of bank transfer (Kwangju Bank 019-107-331789)

We provide a cash receipt.

Sukang Kim 062-226-2733 / skkim@gic.or.kr

For

◆English & Chinese

Date&time Age Fee Course

ENGLISH B

English Kindergaten with Shara

Instructor Period

John Lezada

John Lezada

Shara Sanchez

Shara Sanchez

Zhao Jingping

Zhao Jingping

Sat. 10:30-11:20

Sat. 11:30-12:20

Sat. 11:00-12:00

Sat. 14:00-16:00

Sat. 10:30-11:30

Sat. 13:00-14:00

·All classes are only for the GIC members (Inquiry for the GIC membership: 062-226-2732)

·Cancellation is possible at the latest one day before the start of the course. After the course begins, refund amount varies by week after the start of the course. No refund 3 weeks after the course begins.

·Class opens if 4 or more people register for the class, with maximum 10 people

·Chinese classes: There are no classes on July 29 and August 5.

Everyday Korean

Episode 66

금강산도 식후경이다

Even Beautiful Mt. Geumgang Can Wait Till After We Eat

By Harsh Kumar Mishra

The Conversation

사라: 드디어 남해 도착했네요. 우리 짐 놓고 빨리 바다 보러 갈까요?

Sarah: Finally! We’re in Namhae. Shall we leave our bags off and go see the sea?

정민: 금강산도 식후경인데 우리 밥부터 먹고 가자.

Jeongmin: The sea can wait (lit. Even Mt. Geumgang can wait till after we eat); let’s eat something first and then go.

사라: 언니 말 듣고 배가 고프기 시작했어요.

Sarah: Now that you mention it, I’m starting to feel hungry.

정민: 사라는 뭘 먹고 싶어?

Jeongmin: What do you want to eat?

사라: 남해는 뭐가 유명하다고 했죠?

Sarah: What did they say is popular in Namhae?

정민: 여기 멸치쌈밥이 제일 맛있다고 해. 한번 먹어 볼래?

Jeongmin: Jeongmin: Myeolchi ssambap* is tastiest among all the foods here. Want to give it a try?

(*Myeolchi ssambap: rice seasoned with diced anchovy, wrapped in green leaves)

사라: 좋아요. 저 멸치 아주 좋아해요.

Sarah: Sounds good. I really like anchovies.

Grammar

~기 시작하다: This expression is used with a verb stem to describe that some action has started. Most of the time, the verb it is attached to would end in an -ing suffix if translated into English.

Ex:

1.갑자기 비가 내리기 시작했어요. It suddenly started raining.

2.3년 전에 한국어 배우기 시작했어요.

I started learning Korean three years ago.

금강산도 식후경이다: This famous Korean proverb emphasizes the importance of food by saying that it doesn’t matter how amazing or interesting something is, it’s only enjoyable after your stomach is full. Geumgang Mountain mentioned in this proverb is a very beautiful mountain located in the Gangwon Province (Gangwon-do) of North Korea.

Ex:

금강산도 식후경이야. 밥을 먹고 출발하자. It (something important) can wait. Let’s first eat and then leave.

Vocabulary

도착하다: to arrive, 짐: luggage, 놓다: to keep; to put, 바다: sea, 보다: to see, 듣다: to hear, 먹다: to eat, 배가 고프다: to be hungry, 유명하다: to be famous, 멸치: anchovy, 제일: the most, 맛있다: to be tasty, 좋다: to be good, 좋아하다: to like

The Author

Harsh Kumar Mishra is a linguist and Korean language educator. He volunteers with TOPIKGUIDE. com and Learnkorean.in. He has also co-authored the book Korean Language for Indian Learners.

The Years

by Annie Ernaux

Reviewed by Michael Attard

pulse called life into the broader realm of personal meaning. But I do not think that she ever does, rendering me curious as to the appeal of her work.

While others may claim that she is acutely perceptive, I found her focus on all that was wrong in the world to be a denial of the happiness that people legitimately experience. The telling of a thalidomide joke on page one – which is really an oxymoron – sets the tone for her depressing selection of details, which are pieced together in her collage of life.

In an interview, the author stated that her work is neither a novel nor a memoir, but she is recognizable. Characters are invisible or cloudy at best, never revealed in a manner which introduces us to them. No names are given, and there is no dialogue. In the same interview, the author stated that she “was writing from her being, from her experience, but approaching it from the exterior of herself.” In the book, she speaks of “the story of her existence.” In memoir style, she says “an existence that is singular,” but on the other hand, a story “also merged with the movements of a generation.”

Specifically, the generation in question is French, born in the early years of World War Two. She has assiduously followed French politics and society, but the recounted details and machinations of each will certainly not appeal to most readers. There is nothing wrong with this, but it does limit the reading audience. Her use of “we” as opposed to “I” illustrates her feeling of belonging to her generation, but also reflects a sentiment that she is speaking for that generation. My question would be, why does she feel that she has the right to speak for the entire generation? Perhaps sticking with a memoir would be more honest and less judgemental.

ll the images will disappear.”

These words comprise the only sentence in the opening paragraph of Annie Ernaux’s book, The Years. Set as they are on the page, it made me think that the author wants the reader to stop and to carefully consider what she is saying. So, I did. With the literal clarity of the sentence, I was expecting that as I read the book, I would see how the author incorporates the ephemeral

Her exasperation with the lack of social change – or at least the slowness – is pervasive in her writing. For her, it seems that life is blanketed in a fatalism or a determinism. She bemoans the fact that contraceptive pills, sold in Germany, were not available to her. “On Saturdays, girls in white veils lined up to be married, giving birth six months later to robust, ‘premature’ babies.” With “the taunting of boys who claimed that virginity was bad for the health, and the dictates of Church and parents, we

were left with no choices at all.” She is very clear on the wrongs she sees, but this does not belie an apparent defeatism. She concludes the above partially quoted paragraph with, “So that’s how it is—nothing will ever change.”

The book is not divided into chapters. There are thoughts or memories expressed in a paragraph or two, separated from the next by a couple of blank lines. In one such paragraph, she speaks of how “selfknowledge may be fostered … by a person’s ability to discern how they view the past, at every time of life.” But there was no further explanation, and in the next paragraph, she says that “reserve soldiers continued to leave for Algeria.” I was hoping that she would return to the subject of self-knowledge, but instead, a few pages later, I read, “The life behind her is made up of disjointed images. She feels she is nowhere, ‘inside’ nothing except knowledge and literature.”

At times, she will pause to examine an old photo. On these occasions, my interest was piqued. But invariably, no fond memory is triggered by the framed image. “The raked-back hair, drooping shoulders, and shapeless dress, in spite of her smile, indicate fatigue and the absence of a desire to please.” The portrayal of herself is mystifying. She begins another paragraph with “Among her memories of the years that have just gone by, she finds none she considers to be an image of happiness.”

Somewhere in her forties, she has “picked up the thread of her adolescence… To the same desires … not ashamed to satisfy them.” But now, “She’s afraid of getting older.” No calamity has escaped her perception. With respect to the car, she says that it has allowed urban sprawl. And even though cars are quiet and have big windows, “All it would take … was for a tire to explode … for consciousness to vanish forever.” Perhaps she places too much emphasis upon her own consciousness to accept the fact that the world does not need her self-awareness.

From my perspective, I am glad that the book only had 232 pages. Perhaps I have failed to grasp her message, so, in her own words: “I hope that my work can shatter the loneliness of experiences endured and repressed, and enable beings to reimagine themselves.” Her work reminds me of

Friedrich Nietzsche and nihilism, a philosophy that rejects moral principles and sees no meaning in life. Certainly, the world can be a dark place, but I would rather see life as a glass half full rather than half empty.

Annie Ernaux is the author of twenty works of fiction and memoir. The Years has won an international award and was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. In 2022, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Reviewer

Michael Attard is a Canadian who has lived in Gwangju since 2004. Though officially retired, he still teaches a few private English classes. He enjoys reading all kinds of books and writes for fun. When the weather is nice, you may find him on a hiking trail.

The Onion Lady

By Francesca Duong

When I think of onions, I think of their stinging flavor and ability to make people’s eyes overflow with tears. Personally, I have no use for onions; the meals I prepare rarely require them, and I frequently leave them out because I do not want to buy ingredients only used for a single meal.

To stock up my fridge when I first moved into my new apartment in Gwangju, I noticed the sidewalk leading to the supermarket was cluttered with produce stands. Some stands were staffed by multiple ajumma (아줌마) with many tables filled with fruit and produce. Others were run by a single ajeossi (아저씨) who stood up from his chair each

time a customer walked near. When no customers approached, the owners of the fruit stands would sit on a stool underneath a large umbrella to block them from the harsh sun.

I walked slowly from stand to stand, browsing the collection and comparing different prices. My eyes traveled down a level, settling on a halmeoni (할머니) squatting on the floor. Unlike her competitors, she had no chair and no tables for her produce. She simply had a small umbrella, a bag of onions, and a vegetable peeler in her hand. The cardboard sign signaled it was 1,000 won for a bowl of peeled onions.

That was the first time I noticed “the onion lady.” It felt as if a spotlight encompassed her and focused my attention. Yet, others walked past her without a moment of pause. After I entered and left the supermarket with a bag of groceries, I still felt a string of attachment to the halmeoni peeling away at her onions. Just like the others, I was complicit in walking past her.

As an Asian-American, I grew up with a strong emphasis on taking care of the elderly. Family was of utmost importance, my father taught me. While my house only consisted of me and my parents, my relatives all lived in extended family households. My paternal grandmother and multiple family units live incredibly close to each other in Canada. Similarly, my maternal grandparents live in Southern America with my aunt, with the closest family member occupying a house down the street.

As time passed and my elders’ health deteriorated, they always had a community of family members to help. Someone was available to accompany them to the hospital, and someone could prepare food when they were ill. Because I grew up in this environment, it was shocking moving to South Korea and seeing senior citizens continue to fend for themselves.

Each time I saw the onion lady, a monster of emotions laid heavy on my chest. Each time I saw the onion lady, she was in the same position, curled into a tiny ball. Each time I saw the onion lady, it felt like the harsh sun rays were piercing through her thin umbrella into her skin. The disparities between her tarp on the floor and the other produce sellers were stark. For someone who was the same age as my grandparents, it felt wrong seeing her continue to work. And she was working alone.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development,[1] South Korea has a poverty rate of 40.4 percent for 66-year-olds or more, the highest among any country. Additionally, in 2021, South Korea also had the highest labor force participation rate for people aged 75+.[2] These figures suggest the need for seniors to continue working, with a portion fighting to stay afloat in the economy.

Along with the problem of the aging population and declining birth rate, the national pension fund is set to be depleted by 2057, according to The Korea Times. [3] There is certainly no easy solution to these issues; yet the problems are trickling into daily life. The bus ride to Mudeung-san was packed with the elderly and very few members of the youth. A stroll through the Malbau Traditional Market (말바우 시장) is filled with seniors running stands and buying groceries. A seemingly simple walk to a nearby supermarket, and I can see the onion lady that sits on the cold cement.

“Pity.”

I dislike that word. I dislike saying that I feel pity. While the definition of “pity” is neutral (“sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another, often leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy”),[4] the connotation is

packed with nuances. The word suggests a hierarchy in power, where the giver of pity is on a higher pedestal. It feels more judgmental. When others’ pity is rejected through the phrases “stop pitying me” or “don’t give me your pity,” it is the power imbalance that is being rejected.

I have no right to assume a hierarchy with a stranger on the street. I know nothing of their history, of their life. Similarly, to them, I am a simple passer-by. My face will quickly be forgotten.

And yet, some feeling – some sadness – compelled me to walk towards the onion lady one day with a 1,000 won bill in hand.

“Gomawoyo” (고마워요, thank you), she said to me as she tossed the onions into a black plastic bag.

No, do not thank me for anything. I do not deserve it.

The Author

As a writer, Francesca Duong, strongly believes in the power of narrative as a platform for truth and discussion. She loves lengthy conversations, being involved in the community, and discovering delicious foods.

Sources

[1] OECD. (n.d.). Poverty rate. https://data.oecd.org/inequality/ poverty-rate.htm

[2] OECD. (2023, May 15). LFS by sex and age – indicators. https://stats. oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=lfs_sexage_i_r

[3] Kim, B. (2022, August 16). Concerns grow over. Korea’s pension fund. The Korea Times. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www.biz/2022 /11/602_334511html

[4] Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Pity. In Dictionary.com. Retrieved May 15, 2023, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/pity

Hanok-Inspired Onhwa Café in Dongmyeong-dong

By Ophélie Papier

For coffee and sweet food lovers, Dongmyeongdong Café Street is definitely for you. Dongmyeong-dong was once a wealthy neighborhood of Gwangju but lost its dynamism when people left the area to move into apartment complexes. The neighborhood is full of wonderful small cafés that cater to all tastes and offer a unique atmosphere and different drink menus. I found myself lost amongst them, and I ended up visiting the famous Café Onhwa (카페온화 광주점) built in a gorgeous neo-hanok style, which offered a menu full of artisan coffees, teas, and soufflé pancakes.

Café Onhwa is a branch of the premium Onhwa café franchise established in 2019. You will find them in other cities such as Seoul, Suwon, Yeongjong, Daejeon, and elsewhere. Its logo is Korea’s national flower of Korea, the rose of Sharon or mugunghwa (무궁화), which means “eternal blossom that never fades.” Even ancient records show that even before the Gojoseon era (ancient Korean kingdom), the mugungwha was treasured as a “blossom from heaven.”

For this reason, Onhwa’s motto and name stand for “blossoming the flowers of happiness with a pleasant, warm taste” (입안에 감도는 따스함으로 천천히 행복을 꽃피우다), derived from the Chinese characters 溫 (on, warm), and 花 (hwa, flower).

The neighborhood is one to be admired during the day and night, as it brings us into a cozy atmosphere. These low-rise buildings offer a tranquil atmosphere, and it never feels overcrowded. The harmony and blend of both modern and traditional-style houses only adds to its charm.

The café is tucked away on a half-residential and half-café street. During the weekend, you may find it a bit crowded and perhaps have to wait a while before entering the café. If it is very busy, you cannot stay longer than two hours on weekends.

The café is surrounded by windows, and the exterior has a modern pillar-like structure that allows you to always see the outside while adding a private dimension to the interior. Inside, the café is quite small, but almost all the tables are located near the windows, which makes the atmosphere very charming. If you are a terrace addict like me, the café offers a small courtyard in the back. Also, behind the counter space, a beautiful white porcelain attracted my attention. It shows off Onhwa’s rose-of-Sharon logo, which you can also spot on their products for sale near the door.

WHAT TO ORDER?

If you are a coffee lover, go for a hand drip, moka pot, or einspänner coffee. There is a large panel of choice flavors for each of them. Even for the Americano, one of the most basic coffee options, there are five different flavors.

If you are a tea lover, you can go for latte, fruit, and herb teas. With my friend, we tried an iced matcha latte and an iced milk tea; the flavors was really enjoyable. The matcha latte was served in a glass and the milk tea in a bottle to pour into a glass. You are allowed to take the cute bottle home with you.

If you wish to eat something sweet, the café offers a variety of tasty soufflé pancakes made with flavors such as strawberry, chocolate, mandarin, and

honeycomb. As I am a strawberry lover, I chose the strawberry one. I discovered an explosion of flavor with the first bite. The pancakes were very soft and flavorsome, with a light Chantilly cream that blends perfectly. You can also watch your pancakes being prepared with loving care behind the counter. I really enjoyed eating Onhwa’s strawberry pancakes.

HOW TO GET THERE

From Gwangju Airport, it will take around 45 minutes to arrive at Café Onhwa. All you need to do is to take the subway’s Line 1 for 11 stops and get off at the Culture Complex Station. Take Exit 4 and walk 15 minutes. It will cost around 1,200 won.

If you are craving pancakes, it is time to visit Café Onhwa!

Information

• Address: 광주광역시 동구 동계천로 151-31

151-31 Donggyecheon-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju City

• Open Hours: Daily 11:00–22:00; last order 21:00.

• Telephone: 062-236-0012

• Instagram: onhwa_cafe

Sources

Café Onhwa. (n.d.). Introduction. www.cafeonhwa.com/kr/company/ intro.php

The Ministry of Interior and Safety. (n.d.). The national flower: Mugunghwa www.mois.go.kr/eng/sub/a03/nationalSymbol_3/screen.do

Ophélie Papier is a final-year master’s degree student majoring in languages, cultures, and societies of Asia at Aix-Marseille University, France, and is currently an exchange student at Chonnam University. She loves traveling and to learn about Korean culture, history, art, and cuisine. Instagram: @Hutopia_Planet

▲ Strawberry soufflé pancakes with matcha latte and milk tea.

The Author

▲ Interior of the café.

▲ Café Onhwa’s exterior.

Top of The Drop

By Daniel J. Springer

Each month, Daniel Springer of the Gwangju Foreign Language Network (GFN) picks his favorite newly released tunes that you may not have heard yet, along with some upcoming albums and EPs that you might want to keep on your radar. — Ed.

DANIELLE PONDER – “ROLL THE CREDITS”

Not one to rest on the laurels of success, the Upstate NY artist and former public defender now based down in the big city dropped one of our favorite albums of 2022 with Some of Us Are Brave. This latest single and first of 2023 for Ponder is a loving but rather brooding slap in the face with just a hint of western afterglow, with Ponder in a press release stating that finding the almighty in things is just a matter of paying attention. It’s nigh on impossible not to do so in enraptured fashion at this point with each release.

LES IMPRIMÉS – “FALLING AWAY”

Speaking of paying attention, if you’re amongst the very select crowd of this space’s regular readers, you both deserve a medal and will know that despite the French moniker, this is the project of Sweden’s multi-everything Morten Martens, who has thrilled with the first few singles to his previously unannounced debut album. Well, we finally have the information on the album, as Big Crown Records is out with Rêverie on August 11, and unfortunately, you’ll have to look up the very complex translation of that word from French to English, as there simply isn’t the space to do so here. This latest single out May 9 is a soaring yet soothing bit of rimshot- and sitar-punctuated smoothness, with the singles batting 1.000 so far.

LAUREL CANYON – “MADAME HIT THE WIRE”

Admittedly, we kind of slept on this album with our last column, but props for the reminder to

Arturo Andrade, who is the cohost of The Curmudgeon Rock Report.[1] This is a band out of Philly who most certainly does not sound like whatever music you’re thinking of upon reading the moniker, trust me. Their self-titled debut album is a thumping, thrashing bit of rock that puts the guitar right in the center of your living space, sure to up the amperage on even the drowsiest of days.

LUNAR ISLES – “WHEN IT’S GONE”

Another favorite of these pages, the Korea-based project of Scottish DIY producer David Skimming is out with his latest LP as of April 14 called Right Way Round. Skimming was formerly based in Cheongju but is now calling Seoul home, and this album continues in the vein of dreaming, beaming surf rock-inspired indie. Right Way Round also notably comes on the heels of Skimming putting out two albums and two EPs in the last three years, so don’t let the languid sound fool you, as this is a prolific artist to be given a serious ear.

FEEBLE LITTLE HORSE – “STEAMROLLER”

This is a band out of Pittsburgh that has this infectious sound that straddles noise pop and shoegaze, with this tune dropping on their latest album Girl with Fish, not out in full until June 9. The group has become something of a cult hit since their debut, and it seems that popularity is a reflection of this quartet of best friends simply having a ton of fun playing music together. Of course, that’s just to

start, and this album’s singles have been a reflection of a growing maturity and confidence in themselves, making this an album to keep an eye out for.

THEE MARLOES – “MIDNIGHT HOUR”

This is a trio out of Indonesia that has been working since the late aughts as Thee Marloes Rhythm, and the group has simplified the moniker after signing with El Michels and Big Crown. The accompanying video to this brass-enmeshed bit of nostalgic soul is a brilliantly colorful and hazy side kiss as the band readies to drop their still officially unannounced debut album later this year.

THE IRONSIDES – “OUTLINES”

This crew out of California has not put out a whole lot of work on their own, but the membership includes members of Monophonics, so you know they have been busier than most. Last month saw the Bay Area cinematic soul warriors drop their debut album via Colemine Records called Changing Light, and this tune, the final single in the lead-up to the album drop, features a 22-piece orchestra putting together a languid, lush bit of cinematic soul that is simply some of the best you’ll ever have the pleasure of hearing.

ALICE PHOEBE LOU – “OPEN MY DOOR”

Since being discovered busking on the streets of Berlin, this artist out of South Africa has simply gotten better and better with each release. With indie rock stylings that can be at once earnest, unflinchingly honest, and infectiously playful, Phoebe Lou is always a surprise no matter how familiar you are. This second single to Phoebe Lou’s upcoming album is a warm mix of soul and indie folk with a few unexpected twists along the way and sees the artist searching for a new way of living and self-care. The album, still unannounced officially, is due out later this year.

CLAIRO – “FOR NOW”

For most people watching the unceasing gun crisis from outside the United States, it is a completely befuddling thing to witness day after day. Rather than making a song that on its face is explicitly political after the Nashville school shooting on March 28, Clairo decided to put out this sparse and beautiful one-off single for charity to benefit For the Gworls[2] and Everytown for Gun Safety.[3]

BOSUDONGCOOLER – “JAMES”

Busan has for the longest time put out some of the best indie rock in the country, and a huge part of that is this veteran quartet, who debuted back in 2017. This latest single is a continuation of their focus on the multifaceted and conflicted emotions of simple existence, and the chorus is performed ably by fellow indie risers hathaw9y.

26FIX – “STONE KILLER”

For those listening to this funk-tinged bit of indie rock thinking this artist must have an expansive discography and years of experience, that’s somewhat incorrect but take heart, as you’re very far from being alone in thinking so. 26fix is the moniker of Erica Goodwin, who hails from Salt Lake City, and this tune would only be the artist’s fourth single to date. Obviously, a bright future beckons.

The Author

Daniel J. Springer (aka “Danno”) is the creator, host, writer, editor, and producer of “The Drop with Danno,” broadcasting nightly on GFN 98.7 FM in Gwangju and 93.7 FM in Yeosu from 8 to10 p.m. Prior to this, he was a contributor to several shows on TBS eFM in Seoul, along with being the creator and co-host of “Spacious” and “White Label Radio” on WNUR in Chicago. You can find “The Damyang Drop,” his monthly collaborative playlist with The Damyang House, on YouTube and Spotify. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook: @gfnthedrop

May Releases

Atmosphere – So Many Realities Exist

Simultaneously (May 5)

Jonas Brothers – The Album (May 5)

LA Priest – Fase Luna (May 5)

Westerman – An Inbuilt Fault (May 5)

SBTRKT – The Rat Road (May 5)

The Ironsides – Changing Light (May 9)

Fatoumata Diawara – London KO (May 12)

Kaytraminé – s/t (May 12)

Hannah Jagadu – Aperture (May 19)

Tinariwen – Amatssou (May 19)

Alex Lahey – The Answer Is Always Yes (May 19)

Dave Matthews Band – Walk Around the Moon (May 19)

Arlo Parks – My Soft Machine (May 26)

Sparks – The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte (May 26)

June Incoming (Watch Out!)

Bully – Lucky for You (June 2)

Protomartyr – Formal Growth in the Desert (June 2)

Beach Fossils – Bunny (June 2)

Avenged Sevenfold – Life Is But a Dream… (June 9)

Feeble Little Horse – Girl with Fish (June 9)

Jenny Lewis – Joy’All (June 9)

Squid – O Monolith (June 9)

Christine & The Queens – Paranoia, Angels, True Love (June 9)

Kool Keith – Black Elvis 2 (June 16)

Hand Habits – Sugar the Bruise (June 16)

Cable Ties – All Her Plans (June 23)

Wye Oak – Every Day Like the Last (June 23)

The Japanese House – In the End It Always Does (June 30)

John Carroll Kirby – Blowout (June 30)

For Whom the Bell Tolls

By Park Nahm-Sheik

This is the title of one of Hemingway’s major works of fiction. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. Jordan apparently is Hemingway’s alter ego and reflects his humanitarian activism for freedom and justice everywhere. On everyone’s lips, the title of this celebrated novel is attributed to John Donne, an Anglican clergyman and the father of metaphysical poets. To quote Donne from one of his better-known sermons:

No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,

As well as if a promontory were, As well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were.

Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, Because it tolls for thee.

Farewell to Arms is another one of Hemingway’s masterpieces of fiction. The protagonist is Frederic Henry, a young American volunteer serving in the Ambulance Corps of the Italian Army during World War I. His story is also about humanitarian volunteerism without borders. For him, injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.

In light of the unmistakable Hemingwayesque streak of humanitarianism, For Whom the Bell Tolls is more than aptly titled. And I have chosen the selfsame title for my contribution to the June 2023 issue of the Gwangju News for a reason. I wanted to highlight the GIC’s dedication to the same humanitarian activism in the cause of global justice. The Center is always prepared to lend a helping hand every time people somewhere are in dire straits. It believes in caring for those most in need of help, be they on shore or off.

take to the streets in the cities and to the hillsides in the countryside. Pitted against the junta forces armed to the teeth with modern tools of warfare, they evidently are outmatched almost beyond hope. They are determined, however, to fight it out until they get to drive the junta out.

Warfare is not the only thing of grave global concern today. Pockets of poverty, hunger, and disease present us with equally fraught situations. In countries like Bangladesh, abject poverty forces many children out of home and school while they are in their early teens. The boys are often dragooned into the dog-eat-dog labor market and the girls into inhuman early marriages to much older partners, not infrequently double or triple their age.

Speaking of the global community at large, two countries in particular are in desperate need of outside assistance. They are Ukraine and Myanmar. Our hearts go out to the residents of these two countries. We pray for a quick end to the hostilities raging in these faraway lands.

As for the war in Ukraine, Russians have been committing countless war crimes. They are so inhumane as to be way beyond description. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed or maimed. It is heartbreaking that among the victims are quite a few children, including mere toddlers. This is in addition to millions of Ukrainians seeking refuge in neighboring countries. One big irony here is that Russians themselves have suffered just as much as or even more than Ukrainians have. Russian casualties are already in six digits, hovering around 200,000. Thousands of Russian tanks, APCs, artillery pieces, aircraft, and naval vessels have been knocked out of action.

Myanmar is bogged down in a civil war between a military junta and a multi-ethnic popular liberation front. Sadly, no end appears in sight for this bloody internecine war. Armed with slingshots, Molotov cocktails, and a few hunting rifles, anti-junta fighters

To make matters worse, poverty-stricken areas are typically vulnerable to disease, epidemic, endemic, or otherwise, which ironically presents a fertile ground for humanitarian volunteers to come in and work their magic. Entering this vibrant month of June face to face with a difficult situation, we may as well take this occasion to renew our resolution to come to the rescue of everyone in need wherever they may be. No man is an island, remember? We are all fellow travelers bound to one and the same “spaceship” earth, are we not?

Long live ubuntu!

The Author

Park Nahm-sheik has a BA in English from Chonnam National University, an MA in linguistics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, U.S.A., and a PhD in applied linguistics from Georgetown University. He is now a Professor Emeritus after a long and illustrious career at Seoul National University as well as President Emeritus of the International Graduate School of English.

The Author

Yun Hyoju was born and raised in Gwangju and somehow ended up married to an Irish guy named Alan. She has been working on her short comic, “Alan and Me,” which is about their daily life. She publishes a new comic every week on Instagram. It can be found here: @alan_andme.

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