(EN) Gwangju News April 2017 #182

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Gwangju and South Jeolla International Magazine I April 2017 Issue No.182 I Josephine Kim: Jane of All Trades

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issue

#182

Letter from the Editor April 2017, Issue No. 182 Published: March 29, 2017 Cover Photo: Copyright of Josephine Kim Cover Art & Design: Joe Wabe

THE EDITORIAL TEAM Publisher Editor-in-Chief Managing Editors Online Editor Creative Advisor Layout Editor Photo Editor Chief Proofreader Copy Editors Proofreaders Researchers

Dr. Shin Gyonggu Dr. David Shaffer Kelsey Rivers, Anastasia Traynin Nathan Fulkerson Joe Wabe Karina Prananto Lorryn Smit Eden Jones Dr. David Shaffer, Joey Nunez, Gabi Nygaard, Kelsey Rivers David Joël La Boon, Dr. David Shaffer, Nguyen Huong Ahn Hyerang, Jang Jaehee, Park Chulhan, Yu Ri

Gwangju News is the first local English magazine 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 by 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.

Registration No. 광주광역시 라. 00145 (ISSN 2093-5315) Registration Date: February 22, 2010 Printed by Join Adcom 조인애드컴 (+82)-62-367-7702

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GwangjuNews

@GwangjuNewsGIC

Advertising and Subscription Inquiries: karina@gic.or.kr or 062-226-2733~34

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Speaking of change, Josephine M. Kim, who is the subject of our feature story this month (pictured on the cover) is making it. Read about this Harvard grad’s inspiring work as a psychologist and “cultural broker” here in Korea. In my opinion, she is just the stuff this country needs (you’ll have to read the article to find out why). In addition to our important feature story, you’ll find the rest of these pages chock-full of helpful information and inspiring stories like that of Claire Kim, who found the true meaning of success after being confined to a wheelchair. Honestly, this entire issue is one you’ll want to read from cover to cover so you can stay in the know. So, what are you waiting for? Dig in!

Eden Jones Chief Proofreader

April 2017

Special thanks to the City of Gwangju and all of our sponsors.

Often, with the changing of the seasons comes change in our daily lives, too. Most schools have just begun a new semester, and with that, Gwangju has welcomed a new crop of incoming teachers. Opportunities are arising all around us just about as quickly as the flowers are beginning to bloom. I, myself, recently took on the position as chief proofreader here at the Gwangju News – and can I say, although it is a time commitment, I love contributing in this way to such a wonderful publication.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Gwangju News is published by Gwangju International Center Jungang-ro 196-beon-gil 5 (Geumnam-ro 3-ga), Dong-gu, Gwangju 61475, South Korea Tel: (+82)-62-226-2733~34 Fax: (+82)-62-226-2731

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ello Gwangju, and Happy Spring! In fact, I’ve never been that fond of this season because I generally prefer cooler weather and, as an avid snowboarder with Wisconsin blood, I’m always a little sad to see the snow melt away. Not to mention, things tend to be brown and dreary as the earth recovers from being frozen over. Yet, this year, I find myself coming to appreciate spring more and more, especially the warmer weather’s reprieve from being bundled up under all those layers.

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Contents

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April 2017

April 2017 #182

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GWANGJU NEWS 03. Gwangju City News 04. Upcoming Events: April 07. GIC Talk Schedule 56. Community Board COMMUNITY 08. Community Leaders – Claire Kim: The Power of Now 10. In Town: Chris Rodgers 12. Nam-Gwangju Night Market 14. DoIndie Korea and the New Speakeasy: Bringing Live Music Back into the Spotlight 40. Bike’n Hike: Exploring the Korean Countryside

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FEATURE 16. Vagina Monologues 2017: Why We Take the Stage 18. Jane of All Trades 21. French Ambassador to South Korea Visits Gwangju 22. Paraguay Comes to Gwangju ARTS & CULTURE 24. Photo Essay: Fantastic Blooms and Where to Find Them 28. Photos of the Month 29. Book Review: The Slade House 30. Gwangju Writes: Ajeossi OPINION 54. A Special Kind of Love: Korean Jeong

TRAVEL 32. Around Korea: Templestay 42. Insights of a Traveler: The Third Trip 48. Follow Our Silk Road – Part 1: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan FOOD & DRINKS 35. Korean Food – The Spring Energy Booster: Jjukkumi (쭈꾸미) 36. Where to Eat: The HaDa 38. Kitchen Stories EDUCATION 44. Praise for KIIP at GIC 46. Expat Living: The Golden Residency Visa 51. Talk to Me in Korean: Tickets 52. KOTESOL: Major Roadblocks to Language Learning

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Gwangju City

News

Compiled by Jang Jaehee, Yu Ri, and Park Chulhan

Chungjang Recollection Festival Awarded the Korea Festival Contents Grand Prize

THAAD Puts Gwangju’s China-Friendly Policy in Jeopardy Gwangju’s China-friendly policy is encountering difficulties due to the progress in deployment of the US-led THAAD missile defense system.

A performance by the Chinese “Gwangju Jang Mu” squaredancing team scheduled for this year’s Fringe Festival has been cancelled, and as anti-Korean sentiment continues to grow in China, attracting Chinese tourists to Korea is becoming increasingly difficult.

▲ Photo by Jeong Hong-kyu According to Gwangju’s East District (Donggu) Office, on February 12, 2017, the Chungjang Recollection Festival was awarded a 2017 Korea Festival Contents Grand Prize, presented by the Korea Festival Contents Association. The awards celebrate their 5th anniversary this year, and the Gwangju festival was one of 20 grand prize winners from among some 1,000 local festivals across the nation competing for prizes in four categories: art/ tradition, contents, economy, and tourism.

The metropolitan government has put a great deal of effort into its plans to court Chinese tourism and business dollars, carrying out 18 projects and 63 programs to take advantage of the overseas market in a bid to enhance regional development.

Jeonnam Launches Free Wi-Fi at 170 Tourist Sites Jeollanam-do and KT Jeonnam Headquarters have signed a contract establishing Wi-Fi infrastructure for tourist attractions in order to provide high-quality information and communication services for tourists visiting the province.

Following the agreement, Jeonnam will proceed with the selection of tourist destinations and establish an annual business plan to handle expenses, while KT will implement a wireless Internet construction project at the selected tourist sites. Some three billion won is expected to be invested into the technology at 170 tourist sites by 2019.

In order to implement the project, the province has already conducted feasibility tests at 111 major tourist sites, 30 city parks, 18 camping sites, and 11 passenger ship terminals.

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Kim Seong-hwan, the director of the Dong-gu district office, said that the district will continue its efforts to develop killer competitive contents to boost the festival up to the standard of a world-class event. Meanwhile, the 14th Chungjang Recollection Festival will be held over five days this year, October 18 through 22, in the Chungjang-ro and Geumnam-ro downtown area.

According to City Hall, 1,000 Chinese tourists were slated to attend the opening ceremonies of the festival next month, but the trip has now been called off by the country’s authorities.

Gwangju’s once-rosy plan to attract 20,000 Chinese visitors by the end of the year now also seems unlikely.

April 2017

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Upcoming

Events April Boseong Cherry Blossoms Festival

GWANGJU NEWS

Yudal Mountain Festival

Yudal Mountain is the symbol of Mokpo. Situated in the center of the city, it is not so high at 228 meters above sea level, but it is magnificent with its various rock formations. When one climbs to the first rock, it is difficult to express the beauty of the view of the sea and the islands. When the spring blossoms of the forsythias, the cherry trees, and the magnolias open, the colorful scenery of Yudal Mountain is breathtaking.

Theme: The Start of Spring – Again, Mokpo!

Dates: April 8–9, 2017 Location: Yudal Mountain, Mokpo Website: http://tour.mokpo.go.kr Telephone: 061-270-8442

Dates: April 8–10, 2017 Locations: Daewonsa Temple (506-8 Juksan-gil, Juksan-ri, Mundeok-myeon, Boseong-gun, Jeollanam-do) Boseong-gun Baekmin Art Museum (168-14 Juksan-gil, Juksan-ri, Mundeok-myeon, Boseong-gun, Jeollanam-do) Admission: Free Website: www.boseong.go.kr Telephone: 061-853-0003

Sinan Tulip Festival

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April 2017

Cheongsan-do Slow Walking Festival 2017

The Boseong Cherry Blossom Festival, celebrating its 6th anniversary this year, is expected to catch the hearts of the people of Changchun as one can enjoy the feeling of spring by walking to Daewongsa Temple along a 5.5 km road with cherry blossoms on each side.

The 2017 Cheongsan-do Slow Walking Festival will be held at Cheongsan-do, Wando County. Take the picturesque walk along the blueness of the South Sea with the waves and the birds in the background. Held in April, the Festival lasts a full month. Go to experience the unspoiled nature, the culture, and the history of Cheongsan-do. Enjoy the festivals and take time out of your busy life to recharge it with happiness.

Dates: April 1–30, 2017 Location: Chunnam-myeon, Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do Admission: Free Website: http://www.slowcitywando.com Telephone: 061-550-5413

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Sinan-gun has renovated its Tulip Park and will hold the Tulip Festival at Daegwang Beach on Imja Island. Visitors can enjoy narcissuses, irises, the beach, and the sand as well as tulips. Also, there are various programs such as riding in a flower carriage, picking flowers, and horseback-riding for children.

Dates: April 7–16, 2017 Location: 216-17 Imja-ro, Daegi-ri, Imja-myeon, Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do Admission: Adults 5,000 won, Students & Seniors 4,000 won, Children 3,000 won Website: http://tour.shinan.go.kr Telephone: 061-240-4041~4043

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Jindo Mysterious Sea Road Festival 2017

The Jindo mystery is revealed when the water level drops and a 2.8-kilometer land bridge appears between Hwedongri and Yeuishinmyeon Modori in Gogun-myeon. To see this phenomenon, every year thousands of tourists from home and abroad gather to watch this hour-long miracle in which the waters part between the islands and the land crossing is completely exposed. It is known to be one of the most crowded places on earth with the multitudes who come to see this short-lived annual phenomenon. Here, one can also observe the local folk customs of Jindo-gun, designated as a special zone of Korean folk culture and arts, as well as see Jindo dogs and imbibe of the hongju spirits.

Dates: April 26–29, 2017 Location: Hwedong-ri, Gogun-myeon, Jindo-gun, Jeollanam-do Admission: 5,000 won Website: http://miraclesea.jindo.go.kr Telephone: 1588-9601

Musical: Montecristo

19th Hampyeong Butterfly Festival

This festival is evaluated as the world’s first environment-friendly festival with live butterflies, insects, and nature. There are many events related to flowers, butterflies, and insects. In the Eco Center, visitors can observe the metamorphosis of a butterfly from caterpillar to adulthood. Also, there will be agricultural and livestock products and local specialties for sale.

Dates: April 28–May 7, 2017 Location: 27 Gonjae-ro, Suho-ri, Hampyeong-eup, Hampyeonggun, Jeollanam-do Admission: Adults 7,000 won, Students 5,000 won Children & Seniors 3,000 won Website: http://www.hampyeong.go.kr/2008_hpm/hpm16/m1index.php Telephone: 061-320-3364

Black Box Cinema

Dates: April 22–23, 2017 (Sat 3:00 pm and 7:30 pm; Sun 3:00 pm) Location: Gwangju Culture & Arts Center (Grand Theater), 60 Bungmun-daero, Buk-gu, Gwangju Admission: VIP seats 140,000 won, R 120,000 won, S 80,000 won, A 60,000 won Website: http://gjart.gwangju.go.kr/cmd Telephone: 062-613-8333

Dates: Until April 30, 2017 Tue, Thu, Fri: 2:30 pm / Wed: 2:30, 5:00 pm (some at 4:30 pm) / Sat, Sun: 11:00 am, 3:00 pm Location: Asia Culture Center, 38 Munhwajeondang-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju Admission: Free Website: https://www.acc.go.kr/ Telephone: 1899-5566

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April 2017

The audience can see various films and videos in addition to commercial movies by attending this collection and introduction of different movie genres that link experimental movies and video art, two genres which are felt to be unfamiliar to the public.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Montecristo is a musical based on the famed novel of the same name, with influences from the 2002 film adaptation of the book. The music is written by Frank Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Jack Murphy.

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GWANGJU THEATER

The Postman

62 Chungjang-no 5-ga, Dong-gu, Gwangju (two blocks behind NC WAVE) TICKETS: 8,000 won INFORMATION: 062-224-5858 Synopses excerpted from Wikipedia.

일포스티노

Genres: Drama, Romance Director: Michael Radford Film Length: 114 minutes Starring: Massimo Troisi, Philippe Noiret, Maria Grazia Cucinotta The film tells a fictional story in which the real-life Chilean poet Pablo Neruda forms a relationship with a simple postman who learns to love poetry.

River Road

리버로드

Genre: Drama Director: Li Ruijun Film Length: 103 minutes Starring: Tang Long, Guo Songtao The movie tells a story of two Yugur ethnic minority brothers venturing out on camelback in search of their herdsman father.

마리안느와 마가렛 Marianne and Margaret Genre: Documentary Director: Yoon Se-young Film Length: 78 minutes Starring: Marianne Stoger, Margaritha Pissarek The movie focuses on the life of two Austrian Catholic nuns who spent more than 40 years working with people with Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy, on Sorok-do, Jeollanam-do.

A Woman’s Life

여자의 일생

Genre: Drama Director: Stéphane Brizé Film Length: 119 minutes Starring: Judith Chemla, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Yolande Moreau The movie is an adaptation of the Guy de Maupassant novel that tracks the turbulent life of a woman in the 19th century.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

다시 벚꽃 Cherry Blossoms Again Genre: Documentary Director: Yoo Haejin Film Length: 99 minutes Starring: Jang Beomjun

The movie tells the story of Jang Beomjun, from Busker Busker, the singer of the famous song “벚꽃엔딩” (Cherry Blossom Ending).

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April Schedule

A group of people of diverse backgrounds will gather together in Gwangju to stage the 6th annual performance of The Vagina Monologues. Paolo Mondragon and Dana Han will explain the show’s main goal of raising awareness about violence against women and girls, as well as inform audience members of how they, too, can participate in fundraising events. The proceeds of the show will go towards benefiting My Home, a center for single mothers in Gwangju, which will be introduced by Kim Sae-bom. Come and get involved!

::April 8

Energy sources, energy use, economics, climate change, sustainability, and ecosystem.

These are all closely related terms. We will consider them in the context of Korea and the world. I will ask you lots of questions, and you will have the chance to discuss them with the people around you. Do you know how much oil and coal Korea consumes each year? How much does it produce? How does Korea’s air pollution rank worldwide? How can we balance economics and ecosystem health? The status quo will not go. It is up to us to adjust things in the interest of future generations. “This Earth is borrowed from our children.”

::April 15

North Korean society has undergone a quiet transformation since the 1990s famine that cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and changed the relationship between the people and their government. North Korea’s urban youth in particular are at the forefront of these economic and information trends, and The Jangmadang Generation is the first documentary to share the youth’s perspectives, experiences, and hopes with an international audience. Through interviews with eight young North Korean defectors, we hear amazing stories of resilience, creativity, and quiet rebellion in the most difficult of circumstances. See how teenage smugglers, covert entrepreneurs, guerrilla marketing, and illegal foreign media have opened the eyes of a new generation of North Koreans to the outside world.

::April 22

On April 16, 2014, the Sewol ferry, carrying passengers from Incheon to Jeju Island, capsized and sank off the coast of Jindo Island. Out of the 304 people who perished on that day, most were second-grade students at Ansan’s Danwon High School traveling on a school trip. Nine victims’ bodies were never recovered. For three long years, bereaved families and their supporters have fought to reveal the truth about the incident, and spread awareness in Korea and around the world. For this GIC Talk, speaker Park Choon-ae, a Gwangju Sewol mourners’ group activist, will reflect on the symbolic mourning period of the past three years, and the future of Korea after this traumatic event.

Speakers: Paolo Mondragon, Dana Han, and Kim Sae-bom Title: V-Day in Gwangju and The Vagina Monologues

Speaker: Douglas Baumwoll Title: Energy Use and Climate Change: Korea and the World

Speaker: Amy Badenhorst - LINK Title: The Jangmadang Generation

Speaker: Park Choon-ae Title: Sewol, Three Years

::April 29

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April 2017

There are many problems connected to Islam, but this is not Muhammad’s fault. John Speaker: John Murray Murray, a non-Muslim, will use the Bible to prove that Islam, the Muslim religion, came Topic: The Bible and Islam from God. There will be a PowerPoint presentation, but it is recommended to bring a Bible along, as well as an open mind. If you disagree with him, come, listen to his evidence while looking at Bible verses, and then, if you still think he is wrong, tell him why or ask questions. Even many Muslims may not know about the evidence in the Bible. Everyone is welcome.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

::April 1

GWANGJU NEWS

Time & Location: Saturdays 4–5 pm, GIC Auditorium (1st floor) For more information and for a GIC Talk application, contact gictalk@gic.or.kr.

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Community Leaders

Claire Kim: The Power of Now

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

COMMUNITY

Words by Joe Wabe Photos courtesy of Claire Kim

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ost of us believe we are in control of our future, our goals and dreams are set, and we are certain that it is only a matter of time before we can reach the sky and become successful in life. For most of us, success has a lot to do with money, careers, business, and making a name for ourselves. We have taken the words “I will” and made them into a mantra that we live upon and repeat daily. And although there is nothing wrong with believing in a happy future, most of us take for granted the “now,” which in reality is the one in control.

Unfortunately, this is a concept that many people are not aware of, and for only a few, it is when tragedy strikes that it becomes their new mantra.

For Claire Kim, her future dreams were the Holy Grail she lived constantly pursuing. She saw herself as a future businesswoman. As an art major who had studied English abroad in Ireland and with more than six years of teaching experience, she dreamed of running her own English kindergarten business. Her mom was a very successful real estate entrepreneur, and Claire herself was hungry to follow her footsteps into the business world. That is, until tragedy struck.

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The taxi driver saw the yellow light, but at that speed, he was certain that the “Taxi Gods” would embrace him just like they had before. He was wrong.

A big truck came from nowhere, and the 130 kph of the taxi plus the mass of the truck equaled tragedy. The impact threw Claire from the backseat to the front, hitting the dash, and then being flung back, like a rag doll.

Back in the backseat, she was conscious; she thought for a moment it was just a bad dream. She could hear commotion, she could smell the strong smell of burnt tires, she was aware of people reaching out to help.

She tried to get a grip on the situation, and that is when she realized she could not move her legs. At the hospital, the diagnosis was heartbreaking: she had suffered a neck fracture that damaged her C7 vertebrate and her spinal cord.

She had lost complete control of her legs.

For the next three years, Claire had to spend most of her time in hospitals. She had to go through intensive physical therapy and a new kind of education she never thought she would have to learn: how to cope with disability.

Away from her friends, family and city, she learned the hard lesson of learning to appreciate the “now.” This powerful lesson made her become a strong person. After overcoming the initial state of shock and denial, she set up to write a new chapter for her life, and she was determined to set new goals.

The first goal on her list was to learn how to cope with weakness. She came to realize that these events in her life had only made her stronger, and there must be a purpose for all of these struggles. She had a strong feeling that she did not want to give up her teaching dreams. After the second year in the hospital, she began researching for ways in which she could be able to

teach. She strongly believed in herself and was not going to throw the towel in so easily. Soon after, she was able to find programs where she could use her experience to help others. Her search started to pay off, and she was introduced to someone in charge of a teaching program to spread awareness of disability to institutions and schools.

After leaving the hospital and her legal battles with insurance companies, she decided to move on her own and start a new life, against the advice of her parents. After getting her own apartment, she began studying to pass the required teaching tests, and not too long after, she was certified as an instructor in the field of disability.

Claire now travels around Jeollanamdo teaching disability awareness to institutions and schools. She realizes that, in Korea, to be an outsider is an issue that needs to be addressed strongly, and she believes this is a task that only strong people can achieve. She has also gone back to school, taking a new major in physical rehabilitation at the Nazarene University in Cheonan, and she has also completed a driving class for people with disabilities, allowing her to own a license for a car specially designed for her disability, which allows her to have full control of the vehicle by only using her hands.

A new movie recently came out entitled “Wonder Woman,” but I truly believe that Wonder Woman has nothing on Claire. “I used to believe in the future, now I only believe in the now,” she says. The universe was the result of a big bang that created chaos.

Chaos settles into harmony. I believe Claire carries the original blueprint of our existence. She has understood the fact that we have the key to turn tragedy into something powerful, and she is convinced that soon she will be able to reach out to even more people, making her dreams a little bit bigger every day. That is why I believe she is a true community leader.

April 2017

She jumped into the backseat of a taxi, and was simply enjoying the thought of getting together with her friends; after all, there was no work the following day. While she was chatting on her phone and getting excited about her

night out, she did not realize the taxi driver was going over 130 kph. What was about to come was unimaginable.

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On December 18, 2012, Kim got a message from her friends, asking to meet after work. It was the day before Election Day in Korea; everyone was celebrating the fact that the following day was a holiday. Koreans were preparing to cast their ballots to choose their new president. What was supposed to be a fun and merry night, turned out to be an event that changed Claire’s life forever – an event she calls an “awakening” from how she thought of the future, and how she turned into an advocate of the “now.”

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10 In Town

Chris Rodgers

COMMUNITY

Words by Amy Badenhorst; Photos courtesy of Chris Rodgers

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

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id you know Gwangju has its own Stop Motion animation studio? Well neither did I! So, everyone meet Chris. Chris is not an English teacher – oh no! He is a stop motion animation artist working in Gwangju. Chris moved to Gwangju two years ago to join a team of animation artists at a company called Central Animation Studios. They specialize in making TV animation programs and are currently the only studio in Korea that makes them in stop motion animation. For the folks who do not know what that is – google it – but roughly summarized, it is a series of photos captured one frame at a time, with the puppets being physically moved between each frame.

When you play back the sequences

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11 of images rapidly, it creates the illusion of movement.

Probably the most well-known production CAS has created is the children’s animation series “Galaxy Kids,” which airs on EBS. Recently they partnered up with a French production company to make a new series called “Big Five.” There are a lot of intrinsic parts in the making of stop motion animation, something I think we simply cannot comprehend or appreciate when we watch any kind of production made with this skillful art form. From puppeteers to set designers to the animation artists, plus writers and storyboard artists. I mean, this is a whole eco-system where the very lean studio produces two eleven-minute episodes a month. Meeting Chris and getting to know the man behind the animation was really a wonderful experience for me – one I am honored to share with you.

Chris grew up in northwestern Indiana in a small town called Portage. He went to Columbia College of Chicago, where he got his B.A. in film and animation. Then he moved to Seattle and opened a small animation studio, producing stop motion art for commercials, music videos, shorts, and documentaries. He first became interested in animation when he was a kid. He loved everything Jim Henson! One of his favorite films is The Dark Crystal.

He used to play with his He-Man and Star Wars action figures and imagined in his mind different stories that would bring them to life! He enjoys creating diverse types of puppets that have been used on stage, in live action films, and parades. Chris really enjoys being hands-on with his artwork, and this is one of the reasons he is so drawn to stop motion. He just really enjoys playing with dolls.

So how has life been in Korea for Chris? He was overwhelmingly excited to have the opportunity to come to Korea, though he did not realize how much adjusting it was going to take once here.

The time change was something that took a long time for him to adjust to, along with adjusting to the different style in which the studio operated, compared to what he was used to. He feels right now, only in the last couple of months, that he is finally settling in and getting used to the Korean way. Coming to Gwangju with its “small-town feeling” was not his ideal because once he moved from his hometown into Chicago, he only wanted to live in big cities.

However, he loves the beauty of Korea, hiking, camping, and fishing with coworkers – that is what makes Korea home to him. When he first got here, he did not know anything about the teaching community. For six months, he was consumed

by Korean society and at some stage he realized, “I need to speak English.” He felt he was going a little crazy, so he found Tequilaz and The First Alleyway. When he walked into The First Alleyway for the first time, he felt like he was transported to a new planet. His view of Korea had been, up until then, only the Korean culture and society. Now he felt like he was back in Seattle. It was a truly memorable and surprising feeling for him.

Chris has also been involved with GPP (Gwangju Performance Project), and their recent production of The Little Shop of Horrors. Chris was the lead in creating the Audrey 2 puppets.

THE AUTHOR

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April 2017

Amy is from South Africa but has lived in Gwangju for six years and considers it her home. She is a freelance English tutor and has written for the Gwangju News on and off for over 4 years. In her free time she enjoys walking around the Pungam-dong Lake with her dog Benji and reading anything written by Han Kang or Malcolm Gladwell. For inspiration she drinks whiskey neat while listening to Keith Jarrett.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

What does the future hold for Chris? For now, he is enjoying the experience at CAS and will be a part of the team making the new animation series called “Big Five.” But ultimately Chris would love to travel all over the world and work as an animation artist in different countries. Chris has a LinkedIn profile, which I recommend checking out to see what he has been up to. Also, if you see Chris around, say hi!

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COMMUNITY

12 Lost in Gwangju

Nam-Gwangju Night Market Words by Ahn Hyerang, Jang Jaehee, Park Chulhan, and Yu Ri Photos by Lorryn Smit

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April 2017

he Korean Ministry of Government Administration has been encouraging the development of traditional night markets to create more jobs and revitalize the local economy. Nam-Gwangju Night Market was designated as the national project’s seventh market and opened on November 18, 2016.

Nam-Gwangju Station is the place where the lives and affection of the residents of the South Jeolla Province still embrace the times when the Gyeongjeon railway line passed through Gwangju. A neon sign resembling a train tunnel installed at the entrance of the market, a line of vendors in train shapes, and star and moon-shaped decorations on the ceiling evoke the memories of NamGwangju Station throughout the 1960s to the 1980s.

It is destined to be the center of local culture, where the culture and arts integrate through dynamics that serve beyond the function of traditional markets. The NamGwangju Night Market aspires to preserve the old market scene and to stand out from other night markets by

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emphasizing the themes “night train” and “food culture tour.”

In order to make use of the theme of the market, the sales desks are modeled after trains, and the markets are decorated with words related to “train station,” “night,” and “memories” to create a pleasant atmosphere.

A reason why the Nam-Gwangju Night Market is especially meaningful, more so than other night markets, is the participation of young people. Each person’s unique ideas and experiences from various fields that went into its creation, and its supporting youth, seem to be the main attraction of the Nam-Gwangju Night Market.

Come and experience the Nam-Gwangju Night Market on Friday and Saturday nights; here everyone can enjoy, taste, and experience, both young and old.

THE TEAM’S REAL FOOD REVIEW 1. Crazy Chopped Steak

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13 5. Waterdrop Mozzi The visual is quite unusual, but the taste did not surprise us. The combination of chocolate sauce and cheese powder was worth a try – once. But it might not be the best choice of desserts to end the food tour with. However, if you like to take chances, and prefer foods that look pretty, it will definitely attract your friends on SNS. Operating Hours: Every Friday and Saturday, 6 to 11 pm Address: Yangnim-ro 117, Dong-gu, Gwangju How to get to Nam-Gwangju Market: – By Bus Chonnam University Hospital bus stop: 봉선 37, 지원 45, 수완 49, 수완 12, 첨단 95, 지원 150, 지원 151, 지원 152, 운림 51, 지원 52, 금남 59, 운림 54, 첨단 09.

Hak-gang-gyo bus stop: 금남 55.

Nam-Gwangju Station bus stop: 봉선 27, 봉선 37, 일곡 28, 지원 25, 진월 17, 송정 98, 첨단 95, 운림 50, 금남 59, 순환 01.

– By Subway Line 1: Nam-Gwangju Station – Exit 3.

Delicious steak at a low price. Contrary to our expectations, the serving was large. With the rich vegetables, it was enough for a meal. Plus the meat was cooked at the table. Where else could we get a steak at such a low price?

3. Samgyeopsal Roll (Pork Belly Roll) At the end of the row at the back gate of the Nam-Gwangju Night Market, there is a stall crowded with people. It is the samgyeopsal roll stall. Though a little pricy, it is worth a try for its uniqueness. It is the best samgyeopsal roll in town.

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April 2017

4. Calzone Pizza This eatery offers pizzas in three different flavors.

The combination of seafood and cheese may not suit everyone’s palate, but the other flavors are really great – especially the cream shrimp, our favorite.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

2. Real Barbecue If you want to enjoy delicious barbecue and marshmallows, this is the place to visit! The barbeque itself is good, but the marshmallows are the highlight. If you do not want to spend more than 1,000 won on such a treat, then this is the right place for you. Many come with their families and reminisce about their younger years.

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COMMUNITY

14 Live in Gwangju

DoIndie Korea and the New Speakeasy Bringing Live Music Back into the Spotlight

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

Words by Anastasia Traynin Photos courtesy of Speakeasy

W

ith the start of spring this year, there are two important dates in the Gwangju live music scene. The first was the March 4 Boozapalooza Night, celebrating the new ownership and relaunch of the well-established downtown bar Speakeasy. The second is the same venue’s upcoming April 15 concert, the start of Seoul-based Korea independent music webzine DoIndie’s monthly music series. Bringing down Seoul punk band DTSQ and featuring Gwangju-based electronic rock trio Ruberstick, DoIndie’s Patrick Connor hopes to put underground

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Korean music back in the spotlight in Gwangju.

Connor, who has already organized and played a few shows at Speakeasy, has called the bar one of his favorite places to play music in Korea.

“Speakeasy has a great vibe,” Connor said. “It looks like the new owners plan to take music pretty seriously – which is a great thing. I hope that we can send down quality music from Seoul each month and make the show that everyone is looking forward to.”

Sitting down at the bar with the new

owner on the night of the Thursday trivia restart, he confirmed the revival of Speakeasy as a live music venue and emphasized branching out with new genres: “Myself and Patrick would love to get people interested in different music. We know foreign bands that just do covers, bring a massive crowd, and that’s great, but it would be good to get a sort of diversity in the music.”

As a longtime Speakeasy regular before taking over from the former owner, he said that he knows what the crowd likes. He listens to every booked act and promises “no boring

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15 bands in this place.” With that in mind, the April 15 gig highlights different but complementary styles that should get everyone off their feet.

“DTSQ are one of our favorite bands,” Connor said. “They make great music and put on an awesome, energypacked live show. I think they will be the perfect fit for Speakeasy. As much as possible, we always want to have a local band on the bill as well, and Ruberstick came well recommended to me by some friends in the area and some friends in Seoul as well. Their music and energy will be a perfect fit with DTSQ.” Ruberstick’s sampler and vocalist Seo Jeong-hoon is also a concert organizer, putting on monthly Seoul– Gwangju music exchanges between Hongdae’s Freebird Club and various venues in Gwangju. Beyond playing and making shows, he also operates a music academy, a recording studio, and the media company Once Music Production in the Suwan district.

He hopes to continue playing with other bands in various places around Gwangju. “Making good music and performing, we hope to have an enjoyable time with everyone.

Ruberstick will become more and more active.”

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The relaunch includes an update to the bar’s overall look and feel, with clean toilets, a strictly enforced ban on smoking in the building and escorts for women who may feel anxious taking late-night taxis. The upstairs area is now a dedicated sports zone.

DTSQ & Ruberstick @ Speakeasy Date & Time: Saturday, April 15, 10:30 pm, FREE Facebook: Speakeasy and DoIndie THE AUTHOR

Anastasia Traynin (Ana) is the coeditor of Gwangju News magazine.

She has been a contributor to the magazine since fall 2013 and has been living in Gwangju since spring of that year. After teaching for three years at Hanbitt High School, she became a GIC coordinator in May 2016. She has passions for Korean social movements, alternative education, live music, languages, and writing.

April 2017

This traveling around with musicians will take Connor back to his native England this May, with several Korean bands playing Liverpool Sound City, Focus Wales, and the well-known Primavera Festival in Barcelona.

As for Speakeasy, beyond the DoIndie monthly concerts, the new management has been working hard booking gigs, and the weekends are now full through the end of June.

“We’ve started this idea of ‘Gwangju Live,’ and we are starting [Friday, March 10]. People who go to the open mics around town are obviously quite talented, but they have nowhere [else] to show off their talent. What we are planning on doing is getting those guys to play a whole set on Friday and Saturday nights.”

“It got a reputation as a bit of a dive bar, and I don’t mind that. It is a dive bar, but it can still be clean. We dropped the prices across the board.

We’re not interested that much in making thousands of dollars. If people can come in, have a great time, and we make a little bit of money, great. It’s all about music and sports. After all the feedback we got from people who came here for Boozapalooza, I truly believe we can continuing making this place great.”

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

For DoIndie, who formed three years ago, the expansion of concerts beyond the Hongdae mainstays is part of their overall long-term mission.

“I have always wanted to get bands playing outside of Seoul,” Connor said. “DoIndie’s aim is basically to help the scene grow in whatever way we can. I personally think that helping bands travel around and developing the scene elsewhere is one of the most important things we can do.”

Closer to home, Connor also coorganizes Seoul’s annual fall Zandari Club Festival, featuring international and Korean acts. From this year, they plan to scale back the number of bands and focus on quality. “The monthly series will help me with Zandari bookings for sure as I will get to see some more bands from Gwangju live in person.”

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FEATURE

16

Vagina Monologues 2017: Why We Take the Stage Words by Anastasia Traynin Rehearsal photo by Paolo Mondragon Ad photo by Lorryn Smit

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

T

he sixth annual V-Day Gwangju Theater is once again performing Eve Ensler’s original 1996 play, The Vagina Monologues. Same as last year, all proceeds from fundraisers and ticket sales will go to benefit Gwangju’s 우리집 (My House), a shelter for single mothers and children.

This year, we are amplifying the voices of cast members, asking why they joined this year’s production and what they feel its significance is for our community. The following are a selection of comments by Gwangju’s 2017 V-Day participants.

“I’m a teacher in Gwangju. I joined The Vagina Monologues because

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I think I have a lot of internalized shame, as most women do, I think, around our bodies and sexuality. So I thought it would be, for me, a good experience, a good way to get over some of that. I think, with a lot of what’s going on in the U.S. right now, it’s easy to feel really powerless living abroad. This is something concrete I feel that I can do that’s positive for women.” — Antonia Kurtz, USA “I am from California. I work for Gwangju Foreign School. I did the Monologues in college. I did it three times. It was just a really good experience; it was eye-opening, and at the same time, I felt like it was great to be a part of something greater. It was good to do something that was

helpful for me to grow as a woman but also help women who need help, through our fundraising that we did.

When I heard that Gwangju does it, I was really excited because I wanted to contribute to that collective again.”

— Lindsay Winfield, USA “I grew up in a conservative household where I had to whisper about my women’s issues, was told to be discreet about my private part because it’s disgusting to others, and was forbidden to do any rituals at the family’s altar when I was bleeding in my pants. And then, I was cast in this play where I’m enlightened with these stories about women who express freely, intellectually, and inspiringly about their vaginas and their stories.

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17 I’d like to be like them and show the audience how great it is if they join the narratives, as I believe women should be educated to talk about their own vaginas without shame, like the characters in this play. I hope people can find the way to not be grossed out by stories of vaginas, like our culture dictates us to be, and to learn to embrace the peculiarity, and yet familiarity, of it. There’s more to common narratives about women’s lady parts. I hope the Monologues will help bring Gwangju people out of their culturally safe comfort zone and talk about the one thing they are reluctant to discuss in colloquial conversations, sometimes even with their loved ones – their vagina. Only when we don’t feel ashamed speaking about vaginas, which represent who we are, can we be ready to ask and fight for what we want. Only when we realize it is heinous that our capacity is being confined solely because we are born women with vaginas in a male-dominated society can we be ready to break the chains, using the very power of vagina sisters standing together. Gwangju is not new in the battle of fighting for gender equality and against misogyny, and hopefully the Monologues will help kick in the sweet melody of an egalitarian society here in our city.” — Thanh Huong (Sen), Vietnam

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The Vagina Monologues Gungdong Art Hall April 29: 3 pm & 7 pm; April 30: 3 pm Admission:10,000 won

April 2017

“The main purpose of TVM is to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.

I have been asking myself a question: Who is responsible and what might be the reasons for all this violence we are trying to talk about?

Our society or education, our cultures or families, men around us or our mothers, our partners or ourselves? I read in a book once that violence is not one major problem, it is seven billion little ones. This sounded like an answer to my questions. I can blame something or someone, or I can try to do something

about violence in myself and around me. I often felt hopeless when I saw and heard stories about the way women treat each other. If we want to be treated with understanding, respect, and kindness, if we want to have freedom of choice, don’t we have to try to treat others this way first? Of course, this is what every religious tradition and self-help book will tell you to do. But what I found frustrating is that in the heat of conflict WE SIMPLY JUST DO NOT KNOW what to do and end up hurting others and ourselves. How can I be kind when I am angry and upset? How do I show respect to a person who tells me things I strongly disagree with? This year, I wanted to learn myself and to share with others some practical techniques on how to prevent and resolve conflicts in a peaceful way. I am grateful to all of the ladies for their willingness to experiment with NVC (nonviolent communication) together, for their honesty and open minds, for their sincerity. I hope our audience takes away some laughter and some sadness, but no guilt or shame. I hope they will have a lot of questions and will try to actively find answers afterwards. I want to be surrounded by like-minded people because I strongly believe in ‘being the change you want to see.’” — Dana Han, Director

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

“Joining the Monologues for me is an act of sharing. I want to share my talent and share something for a cause, and at the same time, be one of the women’s voices expressing a lot of feelings and needs. I hope people could cast aside the old self of being prejudiced and judgmental, and learn to always look at other’s situations and reasons. This kind of project helps in encouraging women to not just share talents for a cause but also to spread awareness regarding abuses towards women.” — Mylene Lee, the Phillipines

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FEATURE

18

Jane of All Trades Words by Douglas Baumwoll Photo courtesy of Josephine Kim

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

“A

dolescence…Child development.

Counseling and clinical studies. Cultural studies. Diversity…Ethnic issues.

Family issues. Immigrant issues…

Multicultural education…Racial discrimination…”

So reads the Areas of Expertise section of her faculty webpage at Harvard University.

I am sitting in the gymnasium of the Gwangju Foreign High School with a few dozen folks, many education professionals. Speaking to us is a composed, compassionate Korean woman, maybe in her thirties (it’s hard

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to tell), her speech unrushed, her tone soft, pleasant, engaging, empathetic.

“We all look through a cultural lens,” she says in unaccented American English, “and that is related to the reality you perceive... When we don’t understand cultural differences, we misunderstand and judge each other.”

Josephine M. Kim – Ph.D., licensed mental health counselor, national certified counselor, and holder of two faculty appointments at Harvard University – has dedicated her professional life to many ends. I spoke with her about three: the uprooting of ethnocentrism, the cause and effect of intergenerational conflict, and the

promotion of kids’ psychic wholeness.

In her case, however, the weaving of these threads together embodies an interesting twist. Although similar to the folks who inspired her – folks like MLK, Malcolm X, and Harvard’s own Dr. Joan Reed – in that her work involves interracial issues, it also involves intergenerational ones.

That is, apart from flat out racism, stereotyping, and discrimination perpetrated against Korean Americans by other races, she confronts a slightly different ilk of ethnocentrism: an intergenerational one within the same bloodlines. When Old World views of immigrant Korean parents clash with those of their Americanized children,

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19 you will find her there at the front line.

The result is often psychological and emotional strife, sometimes extreme, particularly in the area of educational expectations, and Dr. Kim fixes to amicably promote peace talks between the two warring factions.

“I am a cultural broker,” she proclaims.

What is a cultural broker? I ask her during our phone interview. “It’s someone who bridges two cultures, East and West for me, to facilitate how they can get along. I really do generational brokering. I’m bilingual and bicultural. I can tie the parents and kids together, speaking English to the kids and Korean to the parents.”

And she knows.

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Regarding education, “We need to harness parents’ desire for kids to do well,” she empathizes. “Education is so important to them, but their view of education is so narrow. But this is a reason for hope – the parents’ goodwill toward their kids as students.”

Korean parents living anywhere are looking through their own cultural lens when it comes to the educational lives of their children. Jo reiterates that they consider education as a primary means for “climbing the social ladder” and making a better life for both the student and the family.

About 82 percent of high school graduates in Korea enter university (2011 school year), but apart from the SKY universities in Korea, Jo suggests that “parents prioritize going to an American university. All things American are revered.” To get in to one of these, parents expect kids to study relentlessly, reading, memorizing, poring over materials, and attending multiple hagwons after school. For those of you readers working in the education field here in Korea, please consider this reality as

Furthermore, “research shows that Korean parents consider their children as an extension of themselves, and not as autonomous entities like in the U.S.” As one example, Jo mentioned that if a child is born with a physical disability, the parents view this as a reflection on themselves and their own failure. And another: at a high school reunion, classmates would look down on the professionally successful corporate executive whose son dropped out of high school but congratulate the man whose job is that of being a janitor but whose son was accepted to Seoul National University. Again, I implore our foreign readers to consider these facts during your cross-cultural interactions while in Korea.

A final aspect of educational expectations that causes strife between Korean moms and dads and their sons and daughters is that any activity perceived as detracting from this mission of entering the best university is admonished. So, when kids hang out with friends or play sports or computer games, they are not memorizing facts and figures and formulas. Ensue family fight and punishments.

I spoke with two senior students at the Gwangju Foreign High School after the workshop. I asked them about their apprehensions and positive expectations of attending university in the U.S. Both have resided abroad for years, and they feel their education at the Gwangju Foreign High School has prepared them well for their upcoming U.S. university experience.

“One concern I have,” says one, “is that I don’t want to join all-Korean activities groups there, but I am afraid joining American groups may be difficult.” This young woman is well aware of ethnocentrism. On the positive side, her motto is “yolo – you only live once,” and she is not

April 2017

Intergenerational Conflict and Educational Expectations I ask Jo if there are similar issues between Korean immigrant parents and their kids living in America, and Korean parents and their increasingly Westernized kids living in Korea. She says “definitely.” And possibly more so. A Korean parent living in America

“We all think our culture is better than others. Ethnocentrism brings on bias, prejudice, and discrimination. Even if you work for years to unpack your bias, some of it is still there. It’s very hard for both speakers to be on the same page.” During the workshop, Dr. Kim made this statement talking about her work in interracial relations and communications, but this bias clearly exists also between generations of Koreans living under the same roof, both here and in the United States (and elsewhere).

pertains to any classroom issues you may encounter with your language or subject learners.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Jo (as she asked me to call her immediately) lived in central Virginia from the age of eight to thirteen.

“When I looked in the mirror, I saw an American. I was totally assimilated into Western culture… [At 13,] my parents told me we were moving back to Korea, and I didn’t even know where it was on the map,” she confesses.

“When I got off the plane in Korea, the people looked like me, but I felt like they were aliens. I was used to seeing white people.” She lived the next five years in Korea, then returning once again to the United States to attend university as an undergraduate. “I experienced reverse culture shock then, not realizing the influence Korean culture had had on me until I left it.” Currently, Jo splits her time between the U.S. and Asia, teaching at Harvard and giving presentations like the one I had the privilege to attend here in Gwangju.

may impress their home-country beliefs even more so upon their kids, knowing they are exposed to different views during their daily lives in American society. This has to do with cultural issues from stoicism to directness of speech, to individuality, to the questioning of authority, to educational expectations, and more.

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20 too worried about it. The other tells me gleefully that she cannot wait to be in classes where a university lecturer will sometimes actually elicit student responses, and participate in the one-hour discussion group element of many U.S. three-hour courses. Neither of these aspects of university education is typical at many Korean campuses. They mention that their parents’ expectations of academic performance are high, and my gut feeling here is that they are experiencing more pressure than I did at their age, and my father is a Ph.D. who taught at a prestigious university.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

I asked Jo if she has seen difficulties that are cited for Koreans attending U.S. universities, primarily time management (too much free time during the day between classes compared to Korean universities) and financial irresponsibility – high costs and little practice in managing personal finances. “Sure,” she says, “and many students who begin to fail in these ways don’t know how to stop, and it snowballs. They don’t know where or how to get help, whether it is saving face or shame.”

The “Whole Child” And this brings us to the final thread of this article. Jo is very involved in promoting emotional health in children in order to have emotionally mature adults running around in society. For Korean children, university students, and adults who run into problems, Jo’s website explains that “our culture discourages us from speaking about such topics because of the stigma attached to emotional issues” Remedying this reality led her to found a nonprofit called Mustard Seed Generation.

Although she told me that recently time constraints have limited her work with this group, she founded it in 2007 to help both parents and kids confront holistic personality issues.

Back in the gym at the Gwangju Foreign High School, Jo talks to

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us about kids needing “to belong, be loved, be appreciated, and be accepted” in order to be content.

If these needs are not met – and for today’s kids, stated explicitly to them through talk from parents – then the kids will burn out. “A whole child has six parts: spiritual, moral, emotional, physical, intellectual, and social. And in Korea, the emotional part is maybe underdeveloped,” she explains.

During her Mustard Seed Generation events, 90 minutes of group counseling is required. At one event here in Korea, she said, “After a little while, the parents really opened up.” This is significant as one of the Old World values that parents grasp onto is stoicism. At one event, she mentioned that “some parents were sitting in their chairs weeping.” A good, cathartic, eye-opening cry, it would seem.

I ask, “Is it true you are known here in Korea as ‘Dr. Self-Esteem’? How did that happen?”

She chuckles on the other end of the line. “Back in 2008, I was shocked to find out that I was the only scholar in Korea talking about children’s selfesteem. It wasn’t like in America where this talk has been going on since the 1960s.” She had never considered writing books as a means of spreading her counseling Word, but after publishers approached her, the idea grew on her and, voila, her books were born. They are written in Korean; the first is entitled The Secret of Children’s Self-Esteem (2011). There is another aimed specifically at teachers in Korea. “I am currently working on a third, aimed at Korean fathers,” Jo tells me. These books address parents’ and teachers’ roles and responsibilities in instilling self-esteem in order to create “whole” children.

Well, reader, that brings this profile to a close. For me, researching and writing this article has brought me deeper insight into observations I have

made throughout my life and here in Korea. If I may leave you with a final thought: over 400 years ago, Michel de Montaigne, the noted French philosopher and traveler, wrote these words: “Each man calls barbarism whatever is not his own practice; for indeed it seems we have no other test of truth and reason than the example and pattern of the opinions and customs of the country we live in.”

Josephine M. Kim is dedicating her life’s work to building harmony among cultures and between generations. She is an astoundingly credentialed and qualified academic; the accolades and Ivy League certifications drip off her LinkedIn profile page and into the reader’s credibility consciousness. She does not, however, speak to us from The Ivory Tower, but rather keeps it real by working in the trenches, confronting these issues head-on through teaching or counseling thousands of students and family members. We can all take a lesson from her and apply it to our lives in order to dissipate both ethnocentrism in its pure form and superiority complexes in their many varied ones – whether pertaining to conflicting beliefs about religion, economics, science, society, ethnicity, or morality. So, starting today, don’t wait for the other guy or gal to start the conversation – you fire the opening salvo in a peace-building discourse.

THE AUTHOR Douglas Baumwoll has been a professional editor and writer for 25 years. He has worked as a lead writer, chief editor, and writing trainer at an international environmental consulting firm. In Korea, he has taught university writing courses and currently trains public school teachers. His personal writing interests include climate change, social justice, and fiction.

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21

French Ambassador to South Korea Visits Gwangju Original French interviews and photo by Kim Jaeguen, Song Daye, Hong Yohan, and Yoo Wonchul Under the guidance of and translation by Laureline Claeys

M

arch 8 was International Women’s Day, a worldwide event to commemorate the movement for women’s rights and celebrate their achievements. For this occasion, Monsieur Fabien Penone, the French Ambassador to South Korea, visited Gwangju for the first time since his appointment in 2015. On the morning of that special day, he met with some of the top influential women in the “City of Light” at the Alliance Française Gwangju. Among the attendees were Madame Choi, manager of the Alliance Française; Madame Yang, head of the Association of Gwangju French Teachers; numerous female journalists and editors of local media outlets; the manager of the YWCA; and Madame An Sang-lae, a retired nurse who is a symbol of the democratic movement of Gwangju.

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As students of the Department of French Language and Literature at Chonnam University, we were very grateful and honored to be given the opportunity to meet the French Ambassador and other members of the French embassy. Moreover, as Korean citizens and Gwangju residents, we were deeply moved by Madame An’s contributions to the lively discussion. One point of criticism that was raised is that Monsieur Penone was given just several minutes at each historical site and cultural attraction around Gwangju. The organizers of his visit might have mistakenly thought that the city is smaller than it actually is. We hope that the lack of time did not impede Monsieur Penone from truly appreciating our many attractive sites, from gaining novel insights, or from formulating answers to some arduous questions.

We sincerely look forward to the Embassy’s next visit to Gwangju, and thereby further strengthening our partnerships between the cultural and administrative bodies within our city.

Laureline Claeys is a professor of French conversation at Chonnam National University.

April 2017

Madame An asked the Ambassador about his perspective on the May 18, 1980 Democratic Uprising, and on whether France would consider returning Korean national treasures to South Korea, an act widely considered to be a positive step towards building stronger diplomatic relationships between the two countries.

Unfortunately, the embassy team could not delve deeper into this sensitive subject. Eventually, the issue of women’s rights was discussed, especially in connection with the current low birth rate in South Korea. The Ambassador graciously shared his viewpoints on this societal problem.

In particular, he advocated for the government and for the general public to better ensure women’s access to

the workforce, women’s freedom of choice, and gender equality when it comes to housework.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

During this meeting, the conversation among the participants focused on several noteworthy topics, including the Korean educational system, the recent increase in academic collaborations between French and South Korean universities, and international affairs regarding South Korea and nearby overseas nations.

They also discussed the city of Gwangju, the significance of the Asia Culture Center and its potential for becoming an attractive, world-renowned artistic/cultural hub, and their planned visit to some memorial monuments within Gwangju.

▲ The Ambassador (fourth from left) at the Alliance Française Gwangju

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22

FEATURE

Paraguay Comes to Gwangju Interview in Spanish and translation by Nahia Antoranz Photos by Gwangju International Center and courtesy of IPSNet.com

O

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

n Wednesday, March 15, we had the pleasure to welcome two gentlemen from the Republic of Paraguay at the Gwangju International Center, Mr. Blas Lanzoni Achinelli, Governor of the Central Department and Mr. Teodosio Romilio Gómez Ibáñez, Mayor of Villeta, an industrial municipality of the Central Department. During a tour of Gwangju by City Hall staff, including Yangnim-dong’s History and Culture Village and the Asia Culture Center, they came in hoping to learn more about how our center works. The visit started off with a short tour of our art installations and other facilities. After the tour, we sat down to chat with them in the GIC Lounge.

Why are you visiting Korea? What is the purpose of this trip?

Lanzoni: Well as you know, we are the governor of the Central Department and the mayor of Villeta, so for us to explain why we are here, we should start with where we come from. Paraguay consists of 17 different departments.

The most important is the Central Department, where the capital Asuncion is located, and it is also the most relevant economic and industrial area. The Central Department has 35 percent of the Paraguayan population and 65 percent of all economic production. It is divided into 19 municipalities, and one of them is Villeta, where Teodosio is mayor. We came to Gwangju to sign an agreement with this region of Korea, with the intention of creating programs and projects related to technology, knowledge and cultural exchange, and the strengthening of organizations and institutions.

As we heard, Blas Lanzoni has been coming to Korea every year for some time now, but for you, Teodosio Gomez, is it the first time?

Gómez: For me, it is the first time I have come to Korea,

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▲ Mr. Blas Lanzoni Achinelli (second from left), Governor of the Central Department, and Mr. Teodosio Romilio Gómez Ibáñez (most left), Mayor of Villeta, during their visit to the Gwangju International Center.

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23

◀ Villeta Mayor Teodosio Gómez

because this time I was invited to come by the Governor of Central, since Villeta is an industrial city and we attract national industries as well as multinational industries.

We are very interested in getting to know more about Korea because we know that right now it is at the top in industrial and technological development. We are very much interested in coming to Korea to be able to sign an agreement to cooperate with Korea and to be supported by them.

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What do you think of the Gwangju International Center?

Lanzoni: I am very impressed to find here in Gwangju an international

Is there anything similar to this in Paraguay?

Lanzoni: No, this is something very new to me. In the Central Department, we have a lot of citizen involvement but nothing like a center that connects the international people with locals in Paraguay, but this broadened my perspective, and maybe in the future, we could start a project like this one.

Gómez: Since we have a Departmental School specializing in electricity, industrial electricity, mechatronic electricity, industrial chemistry, and civil construction, what would be the possibility of promoting through scholarships students that could come to Korea to strengthen their knowledge on industrial and mechatronic electricity, since Korea is at the forefront in these fields?

Lanzoni: The first step could be starting some kind of exchange program with the Gwangju International Center, where students could come do their internships in different industries in Korea.

April 2017

Gómez: Well in my eyes, the first time has been incredible; to be able to see and feel the importance of technology

What is the relationship between Korea and Paraguay right now?

Are there any existing agreements between the two?

Lanzoni: Regarding the Central Department, there are multiple agreements already signed, among them, we signed one with the Ministry of Environment of Korea, and there are also some signed with multiple private companies, of which some of them are already in Paraguay, selling their products and, in some cases, making very significant investments in the region. And on the other hand, Paraguay is buying technology and knowledge in Korea. It’s important to mention that the biggest benefit that Paraguay has today is from receiving support and advice in environmental and water sanitation matters from the Republic of Korea.

center and to see that the private sector also has such interest in investing in developing more programs and projects to promote cultural exchange.

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What have been your first impressions of Korea?

Lanzoni: In my case, I have been in Korea five times prior to this trip, in different regions and for different reasons. My vision and outlook on Korea is very similar to the one on Paraguay. Right now, our country is going through a very important economic situation, it’s the country in Latin America with the strongest economic stability, greatest development, and with the best socio-economic outlook for the next twenty years. So, to take advantage of this “spring of development,” we want to take Korea as a guide and make the most of it.

has been very valuable. It makes me understand that we need to renew our existent Paraguayan technology, something more like what Korea is producing. So, this experience for me is of invaluable importance, and we also invite the Mayor of Gwangju to come to Paraguay and make the correspondent official visit.

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April 2017

ARTS & CULTURE

24 Photo Essay

Plum Blossom Photo by Joe Wabe

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25

Fantastic Blooms and Where to Find Them Words by Rachel Hill Photos by Joe Wabe, Lorryn Smit and Rachel Hill

T

here is nothing more exciting than seeing the first blossoms after a gray winter. Once they start blooming, they sweep the land in sweet-smelling happiness.

When we see those popcorn-like puffs up in the trees in varying shades of white, pink, and yellow, what are we really looking at? Let’s take a minimally science-y look at what specifically is blooming ’round these parts so you can impress your colleagues, wow your friends, or simply just have the knowledge in your arsenal.

OK class, today we are going to chat about a few different cherry tree types, cherry tree look-alikes, and how to identify them. And since I value your education, we will talk about a few bonus plants that will bloom in the coming months.

First is the standard cherry tree, known more scientifically as the “king cherry” or the “Yoshino cherry” (in Korean, simply 벚꽃). Most cherry trees in Korea have descended from these, and therefore, there are countless variations that one might see. These are the most common pink or white blossoms that we identify with the season.

Now that we have been introduced to the cast, let’s learn a little bit about their similarities and differences.

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Buds The buds of these blossoms are supposedly shaped differently (cherry buds: oval; plum buds: round), but from my entirely anecdotal evidence, I would say they both look the same. However, if you look at the buds, you might be able to determine the difference due to how many blossoms seem to be appearing. From one plum bud it is possible to have only one blossom. But from one cherry bud, it is possible to have many blossoms.

Look at the blossom’s stem. If you are asking “where is the stem?” then it is likely a plum blossom, as they grow directly from the tree branch. If there is a stem between the bud and the branch, congratulations, you have likely found a cherry blossom!

Fragrance If it were possible to insert a scratch-and-sniff, I would do so here. Unfortunately, you did not pay enough for this issue of Gwangju News to have that kind of cutting-edge technology. But in general, cherry blossoms have a very light fragrance, compared to the sweet flowery fragrance of plum blossoms.

April 2017

Let’s add an additional tree into the equation: the plum tree, otherwise known as maehwa (매화) or “Asian plum/apricot.” This tree’s blossoms are most commonly confused with standard cherry blossoms due to their similar size and color.

Petals The easiest way to differentiate between cherry and plum blossoms is petal shape. Cherry blossoms have a little split at the end of every petal, whereas plums do not exhibit these. There are several species of these trees, so the number of petals does vary. Imagine the cherry as a “W” and a plum as a “U” with petals facing downwards.

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However, lurking unbeknownst to most, is another “cherry” tree variety known as the sansuyu (산수유), or Cornelian cherry dogwood. This tree has bright yellow blooms and produces a sort of long-looking cherry that is used in some Korean traditional foods.

Bloom Time Plum trees bloom here much earlier than their cherry counterparts, giving us somewhat of a false spring. What a bunch of misleading jerks. But once they start blooming in mid-to-late February, they set off a chain reaction for the rest of the blossoms to come out; cherries generally starting in April.

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26 Color If you thought you would be able to differentiate solely on color, you are a little bit out of luck. Both cherry blossoms and plum blossoms can be varying shades of white, and light and dark pink. Generally, though, if you see a very dark bloom, it is likely a plum blossom. Do not forget about our buddy the trusty sansuyu, which is an unmistakable shade of bright yellow.

Tree Bark Say you want to identify a tree in the wintertime without any visible leaves or buds. A cherry tree is more easily identified by its lighter, almost grayish bark with distinctive horizontal lines, whereas the bark of a plum tree is a bit darker and rougher. In more pedestrian terms: the plum tree looks more traditionally tree-ish with thicker bark that looks like you could pull it off, while the cherry tree seems to have thinner skin.

Great! Now you can probably confidently assess whether one of our beautiful spring trees is a cherry or a plum bearer. As promised, here are a few other blooms that you can expect to see in the coming weeks that are not up in a tree.

Forsythias (개나리) Much like the sansuyu tree, forsythias have bright yellow blossoms. They also bloom right after the sansuyu in April. However, these blossoms do not come from a tree. Instead, they bloom from a sort of wiry bush bramble.

Springtime in Korea brings a whole lot of yellow blossoms, so if you want to identify forsythias, look for four petals that join at the base, as this is common for most species of forsythia.

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April 2017

Azaleas: Royal Azaleas (진달래: 철쭉) Delicate pink blossoms with small darker spots on the upper three petals are azaleas. I am told by the Internet that the shape is “obovate,” which sounds like a Harry Potter spell to me. Look for light pink blossoms that seem like they belong on a cherry tree but are instead growing from a shrub. Also, look for those dark speckles on an otherwise lighter blossom.

Magnolias (목련) Though this tree blooms in early summer, I felt it was worth a mention.

These bigger blossoms (when compared to most of the other blossoms mentioned here) similarly bloom from a large shrub or small tree. They are somewhat cup-shaped, and their petals are soft like velvet. Fun fact: This is the national flower of North Korea. These are one of my favorite flowers in Asia, as they remind me of the film Mulan, in which the father gifts Mulan a blossom. They also smell great.

I would like to add a disclaimer that I am no blossom expert. The information presented here is mostly anecdotal, tidbits from colleagues, and help from the Google machine. If you are into botany, take this article as a starting point, and get out there and explore! Next time, you get to teach the class.

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THE AUTHOR Rachel is on year three of living in Korea, the past two of which have been spent in Gwangyang, where she’ve enjoyed a quiet and normal life, at least for an expat. She enjoys driving through the countryside, making guacamole, and wasting time online looking at pictures of cute puppies.

▲ Plum Blossoms Bud: Photo by Joe Wabe

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27

▲ Japanese Cherry: Photo by Lorryn Smit

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April 2017

▲ Sansuyu: Photo by Rachel Hill

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28

Photo of the Month

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April 2017

ARTS & CULTURE

Words and photo by Amy-Leigh Braaf

▲ Location: Daehwa-dong, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

A

fter a 14-hour flight from Cape Town, South Africa, connecting through Hong Kong to arrive at Incheon International Airport, all I could think was “What were the series of choices and events that got me to this cinematic point?”

I had studied film production and English literature at The University of Cape Town – many people had an idea of the life that I would live. I was known more as a photographer to all my peers and collaborators, but what happens when you are too aware of the superficiality that is your life? Well, I will tell you. The first step is to find yourself looking for a job that puts an ocean between you and the burdening expectations that hang onto your shadow. Then, book a flight, and prepare yourself for potential back-pain (a blanket is provided in-flight but not a pillow). Do not get lost in the airport in Hong Kong for two hours because you are distracted by how futuristic the bathrooms are. Finally, arrive in South Korea, caffeinated-conscious Korea with neon-lit buildings and fashion-frenzies. Here I was, standing in between Starbucks and Gong Cha (evidently a metaphor for my own transition in life). I found myself in a place that I could not

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2017-03-30 �� 9:55:14

Book Review 29

Slade House

by David Mitchell Words by Rachel Johnstone

T

his Twitter-experiment-turned-novel is truly creepy. While David Mitchell uses established elements of the scary story genre, he also manages to combine these with a kind of realism that gives the novel a totally different feel, and one that is a lot more disturbing than at first thought.

Welcome to Slade House! If you are lucky, you will find the entrance, but you may just regret your good fortune. Perhaps some things are better left alone, although the novennial disappearances of Nathan Bishop, Gordon Edmunds, and the Timms sisters leave a lot of unanswered questions. The novel is separated into five sections, each narrated in first person, spanning the years of 1979 to the present day. And all of Slade House’s victims fall prey to a world of paranormal activity. Nathan Bishop begins to blame Valium for his initial hallucinations, but even he cannot deny the absurdity when he witnesses his own portrait hanging in Slade House. Likewise, Sally Timms assumes a drug is at play during a house party nearly 20 years after Nathan Bishop’s disappearance, yet her attempts to leave are futile: “What do you actually do if you find an impossible alleyway on an acid trip? Go down it? Could do. See if it takes me back to Westwood Road.” Our final story sees a shift in perspective, where the narrator moves from victim to culprit, and the game of cat-andmouse becomes blurred as the aggressor slowly realizes her victim is not so ignorant of the folly of the house at the end of Slade Alley.

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April 2017

As J.R.R. Tolkien once said, “Not all those who wander are lost.” And if I am lost, I am the happiest I have ever been.

While having received some mixed reviews, Mitchell manages to draw the reader in and has us connect in a way that we feel we are involved in the solving of the mystery of Slade House. As information is gathered from story to story, we are able to grasp an understanding of the workings of Slade House and build a repertoire for the proceedings a “guest” will encounter. It is not just a horror story, but a horror story that has the twists and turns of a murder mystery, with the reader witnessing firsthand the atrocities of Slade House and the reclusive owner’s unsavory ambitions.

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actually pronounce correctly with a café mocha in one hand and a camera in the other, and not a single thought besides “How are these streets so wide?”

With every new story in the novel, there is an added sense of urgency and a genuine hope that the victims – loners, and seemingly societally unimportant – will be the change in the twisted plot the Grayer twins are acting out. This building of climatic tension leaves the book hard to put down, as the reader is left forming emotional connections with the characters falling prey to this mysterious house.

Mitchell’s incredible descriptive prowess is certainly most noticeable in the novels finale, where there is a clash between the reality of the outside world and the feigned reality of the Grayers’ utopian setting inside Slade House.

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ARTS & CULTURE

30 Gwangju Writes

Ajeossi

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April 2017

Words by Eden J. Jones

I

t finally happened. One of the worst things imaginable came true. At the time, I was living in a small, rural city called Naju, which lies about an hour south of Gwangju via the No. 160 Bus. After a fun night out with friends, I was spent and headed home. It was perhaps 10:30 p.m. when I flagged down what was probably the last purple bus of the night and stepped onto it.

As I entered the bus, despite being tired, I nodded my head slightly to the driver, greeting him with a polite, “Annyeong-haseyo!” The driver responded with only a grunt and tapped the card payment reader with

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his finger, indicating that I should pay and move on to my seat. By now, I had become well-accustomed to these grumpy ajeossis who drove the buses. They could be incredibly rude, but perhaps I would be grumpy, too, after an entire day of driving the same monotonous stop-and-go route. I sighed, scanned my card, and made my way to an open seat in the back of the bus, grabbing onto the seatbacks for stability as we jerked forward into the night.

Sometime later, I heard the automated Korean voice over the bus’s loudspeaker say the name of a familiar bus stop, shaking me awake

from the nap I had been taking. I had only been living in Korea for about a year, so my Korean wasn’t great, but it was good enough to recognize certain words by now. I jumped to my feet in a panic, grabbed my things, and rushed to the front of the bus, calling out to the driver to stop.

“Yeogi-yo, naeryeo-juseyo!”

The bus driver responded by breaking and shouting angrily at me in Korean for giving him such short notice.

I quickly escaped the bus (and the angry ajeossi), my heart still racing.

Victory! I thought, congratulating myself for not missing my stop. But as I stood there in the quiet center

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31 of Naju under the dim street lights, something suddenly didn’t feel right.

This is when I realized I had left one very important possession on the bus – my purse!

I took off after the bus, hoping I could catch it at the traffic light at the end of the street. My whole life was in that purse: my wallet, identification cards, and the small tablet device I used daily as a form of communication.

Previously, I had boasted to friends and coworkers of how I had canceled my 40,000-won-per-month smartphone plan that I rarely used. I had found that, in most cases, I could easily communicate by using free online messaging applications, and it had felt good not to be one of those people super-glued to their phone.

However, at the current moment as I ran after the bus, my lungs burning, I suddenly felt differently. When I finally reached the stoplight, it was too late. The bus was already pulling away, leaving me gasping for air. As I helplessly watched it disappear, I could only hope that another bus would come soon.

I sat forward in my seat. “Isseoyo?”

I half shouted to him. “Isseoyo? Do

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I had never heard a word more beautiful in all my life.

Minutes later, our bus pulled into a shady-looking terminal in a part of Naju I had never seen before.

I got off the bus and immediately spotted another driver exiting the bus adjacent ours holding my purse.

“My purse!” I exclaimed as I ran to him. He handed over my bag, and I just sort of stood there in the parking lot staring at it while crying tears of joy. A small crowd of passengers and drivers had gathered around me and began to applaud. It was like a scene from a K-drama, with onlookers happy to see the main character of the story finally reunited with a lost family member – or in my case, a valuable lost possession. I bowed slightly to the friendly strangers and then quickly thanked the ajeossis who seemed humored more than anything else.

For the next while, I sat awkwardly on a bench outside the bus terminal while the ajeossis stood around nearby, happily drinking instant coffee and glancing over at me from time to time while pointing and chuckling. They thought the whole ordeal was hilarious, no doubt, but I didn’t care. I had my purse.

Suddenly, a steaming paper cup appeared in front of my face.

“Koe-pi?”

I looked up to see one of the ajeossis smiling at me. I returned the best smile I could muster and shook my head. Although it would be a while before I’d recovered enough to eat or drink anything, the gesture touched me, and I felt a sudden warmness toward the man and his

Before long, the bus drivers had begun boarding their buses and firing up the engines. I stepped back onto the ole 160 that would take me back to my apartment, clutching my bus card in one hand and my bag ever so tightly in the other. As I scanned my card, the ajeossi in the driver’s seat smiled at me, and I smiled back. Then I sank into a seat behind him, making a mental note to visit the cell phone store first thing in the morning.

THE AUTHOR

Eden came to Korea in 2014 as an English teacher and soon after began contributing to the Gwangju News as a writer. She later volunteered as a proofreader and copyeditor before being promoted to chief proofreader in February 2017.

When she isn’t proofing articles or writing stories, she may be found playing her fiddle about the city.

April 2017

“Isseoyo?” I heard him say after a moment.

The driver glanced at me with a slight smile. “Isseoyo.”

compadres. It was good to know that in a sometimes-cruel world, where bus drivers are grumpy and don’t say hello to you when you get on the bus, there is still sometimes a kind soul willing to help a silly foreigner girl in a moment of crisis.

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I waited impatiently until another 160 Bus appeared over the hill. But, would the hard-calloused bus driver take pity on me? The monstrous vehicle screeched to a halt at the red light where I was standing, and I immediately pounded against its door. Seeing my desperation, the driver mercifully opened it, and I leapt onto the bus while hurriedly explaining to him my situation in very broken Korean. The bus driver’s expressionless face, as he looked at me, seemed to indicate he hadn’t understood a word I’d said, and he motioned for me to sit down. I obeyed and watched as he then pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

they have my purse?”

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32 Around Korea

TRAVEL

Templestay

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April 2017

Words and photos by Stephanie and Ryan Hedger

S

pring is the season of rebirth. As the trees and flowers begin to reemerge from their recent slumber, a feeling of renewal and lightness blankets the Korean peninsula.

Nature cycles through the seasons much as humans do, and in the months following winter, people typically begin the same slow stretch.

Like with New Year’s resolutions, this time of the year beckons us toward self-improvement and the newly perceived possibilities inherently awakened by the changing season. In the months of March and April, we come back to life alongside the flora and fauna of this beautiful country, and we might have just the perfect suggestion for kicking off spring in a fitting way: a templestay in one of South Korea’s many Buddhist temples.

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Templestays are programs organized and promoted by Buddhist orders in Korea to promote Korean Buddhism by simply allowing insight into the customs and daily life of monks. While on a templestay you keep (loosely) the same schedule as a Buddhist monk living at a temple. You wake up at 3:30 a.m. for prayers, eat what the monks eat, wander the grounds in walking meditation, do activities like making lanterns or prayer beads, and have tea chats with monks. Obviously, you are never required to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, but the programs are designed to give you a taste of what Buddhist monks in Korea have been practicing for hundreds of years. You wear special clothes, learn to walk in certain ways, and see many of the customs in a very lighthearted and enjoyable way.

Buddhists are not known for their severity, and we were constantly told that if any activity was too much to handle

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33

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April 2017

With these activities aimed to introduce you to a simpler way of life and experience such an integral part of Korea’s culture, a templestay acts as a perfect way to be re-introduced to the world after a long, cold winter. In this way, we highly recommend enrolling in a templestay program this spring.

Not only does this type of program provide that gentle nudge toward something new or out of the ordinary that many of us desperately need each year, but it also taps into a sense of

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or we were not interested, we were free to step out.

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34 consciousness and mindfulness of our surroundings. After a long winter, it is important once again to reconnect with the environment from which we have all been hiding for months on end. A weekend at a temple provides this opportunity in spades, through walking the grounds of the temple and eating food grown by the monks and nuns. In every aspect of these programs, participants should be directed toward purposeful living, which is largely missing from our lives as we “survive” winter. This type of program, when done with an open mind, should be the jumpstart most of us need as the ground begins to thaw.

In modern times, the life of a Buddhist monk can seem archaic or even strange, but there is more to it than meets the eye. While learning and participating in these programs, you are likely to forget what you are not doing – sitting at home waiting for the weather to change. Sure, this may seem like a ploy for us to drag you out of the house, wake up before sunrise, and wear your legs out through prostration, but a weekend doing these activities is all but guaranteed to get even the most reluctant person into the spirit of spring.

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April 2017

To make reservations and participate in a templestay program in your area or at a beautiful temple you have always admired, visit this link: https:// eng.templestay.com/ THE AUTHORS Two wanderlusts from Oklahoma, Ryan and Stephanie sold all of their belongings and moved to South Korea in 2013. They are the duo behind Hedgers Abroad and have fallen in love with travel, photography, and South Korea. Be sure to head over to their blog for more of their travels.

Blog www.hedgersabroad.com Facebook: /hedgersabroad Instagram: /hedgersabroad

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2017-03-30 �� 9:55:21

Korean Food 35

The Spring Energy Booster

Jjukkkumi Words by Cho Namhee

W

ithout a doubt, eating live octopus is one of the “challenges” that expats in Korea experience in the Korean food scene. Not only do they have that eccentric octopus appearance, but their sucker-filled tentacles threaten the diner with suffocation. Of course, the creature is unable to do any harm if it is lifeless. Jjukkumi, or webfoot octopus, is the beginner level of the octopus challenge you can try without much effort, but the experience can still be full of surprises.

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April 2017

THE AUTHOR Cho Namhee is a coordinator at Gwangju International Center. He also currently studies communication at Chonnam National University.

The reason why jjukkumi could be called a starter in the world of octopus cuisine is because they are rarely eaten raw. They are blanched or sautéed for the best taste. However, it is a versatile ingredient that can be put into many kinds of dishes. To note, sautéed samgyeopsal and jjukkumi in red pepper paste is a common sautéed dish that is a bizarrely interesting balance of the two main ingredients’ tastes and textures. You can simply google “jjukkumi” and get a variety of recipes in less than half a second. Try it and rid yourself of fatigue with this eight-legged creature.

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This webfoot octopus did not gain much fame up until a few decades ago. During the period of the “barley hump” (late winter, when foods were scarce), jjukkumi was only a back-up food for residents along the coasts, especially along the south and west coasts. But, it has slowly gained attention for containing high amounts of taurine, twice as much as thin-legged octopi and four times as much as common octopi. Taurine is well known for cholesterol-level reduction, fatigue recovery, and revitalizing brain cells. Due to its abundance during the spring season, there is even a saying “봄 쭈꾸미, 가을 낙지” (Bom jjukkumi, gaeul nakji), meaning “jjukkumi in spring, thin-legged octopi in fall.”

Dodari, or flounder, which appeared in the original saying, has been replaced by jjukkumi, clearly showing the position of jjukkumi among the spring delicacies of Korea.

FOOD & DRINKS

Jjukkumi shares the same genus with the common octopus that the westerner is more familiar with, but it is much smaller in size. During May and June, it is their spawning season and in that sense, March to May is the peak season for having jjukkumi since its head is filled with their roe for breeding. The roe is often called jjukkumi ssalbap. Ssalbap, as in cooked rice, because of its look and texture. It is chewy, rich in flavor, and has a fun pop.

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36 Where to Eat

FOOD & DRINKS

The HaDa Words and photos by Sean D’Angelo

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April 2017

M “

odern Korean cuisine” is a term you hear brandished a lot in restaurants up in Seoul, but at its heart, it contains an inherent contradiction. While “modern” refers to Europeaninspired, deconstructive techniques and presentations that cast off the yoke of traditional preparation, Korean cuisine shines precisely because it adheres to centuries of refinement. It is like kimchi: well-aged and so unique that it does not pair easily. That is why Korean innovators have such a difficult time replicating the movement that has swept across the western world. As the old saying goes, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” While many chefs are content to continue the process of slowly fermenting Korean culinary culture, a select handful are taking the brave leap to try to shatter the proverbial mold, which, in the case of this particular metaphor, must be a kimchi pot. One such visionary has landed in downtown Gwangju, over at The HaDa, an affordable, modern, Korean restaurant inspired by traditional hanjeongsik, or “full-course Korean dinner.”

The HaDa’s brazen challenge to tradition is apparent in its pop art interior and shameless, self-aggrandizing atmosphere. Imagine the entire Jinju lantern festival

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stuffed into a New Orleans smoking lounge, and you will get the idea. Almost every available surface is tagged with The HaDa’s geometric logo, and a sign above the bathroom mirror reads “Welcome to the best day of your life” in blazing neon. While amusing, the decoration commits the sin of raising expectations beyond anything humanly possible. To their credit, the chefs make a whole-hearted effort to deliver, and if nothing else, your experience at The HaDa will be unique.

Featured set menus are designed around seasonally available ingredients to ensure quality and include odd dishes like crunchy cucumber bean-paste soup, sea snail aglio e olio, and black sesame porridge with strawberry jam. Not all the flavor profiles match, but every dish gets points for creativity. Fortunately, the set menus change every three months, so if fermented chili cream vongole does not sound appetizing, just wait a while and you can expect something different next time you visit. The HaDa also offers lunch set menus perfect for a trial run if you are just curious what the chef is cooking up. If you decide to go with a set menu, lunch will cost you 13,000 won per person and dinner just a little bit more at 15,000 won.

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37

FOOD & DRINKS

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THE AUTHOR

Sean is a traveling columnist and parttime model. He is the author of countless books you’ve never heard of, and a few you have but could have sworn were written by someone actually famous. Sean currently makes a living teaching bad jokes to children, like so many former poet laureates do these days. Little know fact: He used to be addicted to soap, but he is clean now. He survives off the kindess of others, and if it weren’t for the Gwangju News, he probably wouldn’t eat at all.

April 2017

While The HaDa does push the boundaries of tradition, it will not completely blow your mind. The kimchi pot is cracked, not really broken, and it will take a titanic effort to finish the job. Perhaps future menus will really let the bull loose, as it were. For the present, its real target could be said to be folks who are unversed in Korean cooking and want an easy gateway experience with subtler flavors.

In that sense, it would be a good place to take visiting relatives with weaker palates, or friends who just want a cool place to take some selfies. For the price, you really are getting quite the bargain.

THE HADA 광주광역시 동구 제봉로110번길 Jaebong-ro 110-beongil 7, Dong-gu, Gwangju Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 11:30 am–3:30 pm Lunch, 5–9:30 pm Dinner. Closed Monday.

Reservations: 062-232-7158 Online at: facebook.com/thehada062 or instagram.com/thehada_official

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A la carte items like pasta, fondue, and steak are also available year-round, including The HaDa’s most famous dish, mille feuille nabe: a layered hot pot stew of thinly sliced cabbage, steak, tofu, and mushrooms similar to shabu shabu. Nothing on the menu costs more than 25,000 won, so you will not break the bank in one evening by any means. For refreshments, The HaDa offers a couple of wines by the glass or by the bottle, a small list of beers, makgeolli, soju, and a selection of homemade sparkling ades with flavors like cinnamon apple, cranberry lime, and lemon.

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www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

FOOD & DRINKS

38

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Kitchen Stories

A Recipe Series Exploring Food and Identity Words and photos by Karly Pierre

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39

K

im Su-ha is an artist, although she hesitates to agree. Yet, the bright crocheted purses hanging from the wall in her cafe and the knitted hats on display for sale in the window are evidence of her talents. I pick up a pair of miniature jipsin (짚신), traditional Korean straw sandals, from the shelf. The weave is taut and painstakingly intricate – a feat she says she completed in one hour. At 61, Kim has owned Cafe Su for seven months. Though she calls Gwangju home now, she was born on Jeju, an island with a cuisine rich in the abundant seafood gathered off its shores and a notably lighter touch of spices than Jeollanamdo. She grew up in a large family with two brothers and four sisters. Her father was an illustrator, her mother was a teacher, and while growing up, gender roles were decidedly unconventional as far as cooking was concerned.

“My father was a great cook,” Kim says with a laugh, “better than my mother. He did everything. He went to the market to buy food, did the cooking, and even set the table. And I would help him.”

His specialty was chobap (초밥, sushi) and mandu (만두, dumplings).

She began cooking when she was in elementary school, and when she became the mother of two sons, she began a new family tradition.

“I make Korean sweets also. I’ll call you when I make some,” she adds.

It is an offer I cannot refuse.

2017�4��.indd 39

INGREDIENTS 1 beef leg bone 12 spring onions 1 cup garlic cloves 1 cup sea salt 2 ginger roots 20 peppercorns 1 cup red pepper powder 12 fresh red peppers 1 cabbage (outer leaves) dried leaves from 1 radish COOKING METHOD 1. Thoroughly wash the beef leg bone.

2. Place the bone in a large pot (2 gallons or 3.8 liters) of boiling water, briefly; then remove the bone from the water.

3. Place the bone in the pot again. Using high heat, boil for about 5 minutes; then simmer the beef bone for 3–4 hours using medium to low heat. After, add the ginger and peppercorns and bring to a boil.

4. Cut the cabbage and radish greens into medium-sized pieces.

Add the cabbage and dried radish greens to the pot and boil.

Boil for 3–4 hours more in the beef bone broth.

5. Roughly cut the spring onions, and add to the soup. Boil for about 5 minutes.

6. Mince garlic, then add to broth with salt and dried red pepper powder.

7. Serve in a stone bowl with kkakdugi (깍두기, cubed radish kimchi)

April 2017

As we sip the traditional jujube tea (대추차) in her cafe, she demurely mentions that she is also a poet. She invites me to visit with her again.

Serves up to 10 people Writer’s Note: Since cabbage can be dried and is plentiful, Kim says she chose this recipe because 사골 우거지국 can be eaten year-round.

She adds that this soup has many vitamins and can be shared with large groups of people. This soup is served every Monday in her restaurant.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

“My favorite memory of cooking for my family is making bindaetteok (빈대떡, mung bean pancake), mandu, and drinking wine.

On Seollal, we would make mandu together, but every day we would have bindaetteok and wine. I even let my children have a little wine when they were young,” she says with a smile. “These are recipes I learned from my father. He was from Gangwon-do, and these are regional specialties.”

CABBAGE AND SHANK BONE SOUP 사골 우거지국

2017-03-30 �� 9:55:27

40 Sports

Bike’n Hike

Exploring the Korean Countryside

SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

Words and photos by Sean Walker

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

T

he Damyang House’s “Bike’n Hike” concept – free, multiday cycling tours to the surrounding national parks – was born out of a failed backpacking trip to Jirisan in February 2014. The logistics of that trip, for whatever reason, were not coming together, and out of frustration, we got out our giant wall map of Jeollanam-do and started looking for alternatives. Naejangsan, the closest national park to Gwangju, was an obvious alternative. Within about 15 minutes, Jirisan was long forgotten, our bikes had replaced our car, and the first Bike’n Hike tour was organized and ready to go.

“Bike’n Hike,” admittedly not the most creative of names, was intentionally branded in such a literal way to aid in the introduction of this alternative form of bike touring to the local cycling community. Three-day tours are the

2017�4��.indd 40

ideal length and involve cycling to and from a chosen destination, usually a national or provincial park within 100 kilometers, and one full day of hiking.

These trips have been modified to oneday adventures around Jeollanam-do or longer, multi-day trips as far as Hallyeo-haesang National Park on Namhae Island. The Bike’n Hike tours are hosted by The Damyang House, so it is not uncommon to finish off the adventure there with a BBQ, bonfire, and a well-deserved beer.

These bike tours easily dominate any Korea-related top-ten list of mine, and it has been an amazing way to explore the country I have called home for over a decade. Finding willing participants, however, has been an uphill battle (no pun intended). This is due mostly to my naivety in assuming everyone enjoys hiking up a mountain after a long day of cycling, drinking copious

amounts of makgeolli (Korean rice wine), sleeping in dingy countryside minbaks (rooms in private houses), and then doing it all again the next day.

Also, my preference for countryside roads through the mountains is in stark contrast to the popularity of the river bike paths that crisscross the country and has perhaps further sabotaged my concept from gaining any traction. Factor in the summer humidity and mosquitoes, and you have just created most peoples’ worst nightmare.

However, after hosting 14-plus official tours (and many more unofficial ones) over the past few years, I can honestly say that while the aforementioned factors may have contributed to the continued lack of participants, the biggest obstacle has been people’s own self-doubt. On paper, it sounds like an intimidating endeavor, and probably

2017-03-30 �� 9:55:27

41 doubly so if you are not an avid cyclist. Luckily, cycling is a sport where improvements can be seen relatively quickly, and building the skill and confidence to tackle longer, more ambitious rides typically happens much faster than expected.

Additionally, I have long argued that Korea is the perfect country for this style of bike touring. For starters, the countryside in Korea is extremely accessible from most major cities, Gwangju included. A section of the Four Rivers Bike Trail runs directly through Gwangju and provides a safe and efficient way to get out of the city and into the countryside.

The trail heading north to Damyang makes for a scenic day trip and is an excellent route for confidence-building. If you want a taste of the mountains, you can simply exit the bike path and head in just about any direction. The climbs through the mountains in Korea are just big enough to show you who is boss, but small enough to be conquered with a bit of determination and enough gears on your bike.

As an added bonus, every grueling climb is met with an epic descent down the other side and, more often than not, through a scenic countryside valley. The modern expressways have left many of these countryside roads virtually traffic-free.

2017�4��.indd 41

Lastly, it may seem odd to give a shout out to Korean public transportation in an article about bike touring, but in the event you do overestimate yourself and get a little too far away from home or are caught in some unfriendly weather, you will be reminded of how amazing the public transportation is here. Buses are efficient, tickets are cheap, and bikes travel in the luggage storage underneath the bus for free. Even a halfcompleted bike tour makes for an adventurous story.

THE AUTHOR Sean Walker has been living and working in Korea far too long and enjoys bike touring, bass fishing, trailblazing with his two rescue dogs, and of course, relaxing at his countryside retreat.

Bike’n Hike Stats

Kilometers cycled: 1582 Kilometers hiked: 88 Fastest speed: 84.3 km/hr Flat tires: 1 National parks visited: 6 Provincial parks visited: 5 Beaches visited: 2 Nights in a tent: 5 Nights in a minbak: 11 Seasons cycled: 4 Provinces visited: 3 Calories burned: 50,000+

April 2017

Furthermore, Korea’s unique and affordable style of countryside accommodation, the minbak, was developed for the exact purpose of exploring the countryside. They are a way of providing a bit of much-needed income to residents in rural areas and give modern generations an opportunity to escape the city for a day or two without breaking the bank.

They are certainly in the no-frills category of accommodation, and it is unlikely the owner

will speak English, but they are also usually cheap, comfortable, and run by friendly and curious Korean grandparents.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Next, despite what you may imagine, judging by the Korean approach to sports, cycling does not require expensive equipment. A decent hybrid bike, saddlebags, and a helmet are more than enough to get you started on your first adventure. And in today’s world where smartphones are standard, even rudimentary map-reading skills make it nearly impossible to get lost. You are never far from the next countryside mart or even a delicious restaurant for a proper sit-down meal where you can binge on all the local delicacies guilt-free.

▲ Beach campsite in Buan ◀ Early morning start from The Damyang House ▼ A happy cyclist

2017-03-30 �� 9:55:29

42 From Abroad

TRAVEL

Insights of a Traveler The Third Trip

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

Words by Elizabeth Kaye Corpuz Photos by Joe Wabe

W

henever I file for leave, my colleagues instantly ask me where I am going, and when I tell them South Korea, they are always like “Again?!” Then I retort, “Yes!” with conviction. They might wonder why I always go back to the same country. They might not understand, as well, my reasons, so I always simply add that it will be a different city anyway. Every city has something different to offer.

On November 4, 2016, my sister and I were back in Korea, and this time, we had more time to explore. True to its tagline, Daegu was indeed a colorful place, thanks to its abundant foliage and parks worthy of boasting.

Nonetheless, Daegu was intimidating at first, since I associated it with its wide roads. I had this feeling that the roads were not built to be a connection but rather to be a passage of increasing industrialization.

To better enjoy this calm, my sister and I decided to climb Mt. Apsan.

Although the climb was exhausting, the peak offered a relaxing view.

When I was sitting at the top, I thought that if I were a writer, I would go to this place every day. I might be able to produce a collection of poems there since beautiful sceneries never fail to stir up our creative juices. Also, it gives a good view of the city.

So, six months have passed, and we are back again. Annyeong, Daegu and Gwangju!

The quietness and calmness I had felt during my first trip in Daegu did not change as we continued our trip.

Daegu is like a reserved person who is not easy to warm up to, and you might, at first glance, find him a bit

2017�4��.indd 42

2017-03-30 �� 9:55:29

43 snobbish. However, once you get to know him, you will definitely love him, and see how warm he can be.

Next up, Gwangju, baby!

At first glance, despite the cold weather, you can feel the warm reception of Gwangju people towards each other and towards foreigners.

What struck me the most when we arrived in the city was the bright smile of the man who was holding the door for us at the bus terminal.

When we were waiting for Bus 9 at the U-Square Bus Terminal platform, I was wondering what we would see in this city, and I told my sister that since Gwangju was relatively small compared to other cities we had been to, we could definitely see everything in four days. In the end, I was wrong.

I praise Gwangju for its simplicity.

Like Daegu, Gwangju gives off a calming vibe. The difference in their calmness is that in Gwangju’s, it is like a lively calmness: the peacefulness of seeing people go about their day.

Whilst in Daegu, it is more like a toned-down calmness: the feeling of wanting to relax, to appreciate the scenery, to reconnect with yourself.

I thought it was unfair because four days is not enough to know much about the city. However, since it is a lively and culturally active city, we were able to get the gist of Gwangju.

The best asset of the city is its people. I was happy to know that the oppa who was selling the curry in the Flea Market remembered us from our second visit. It gave me joy knowing that he still remembered us and gave us his big and bright smile.

Before we set out to go home, our host shared an interesting fact.

There was a time when Daegu and Gwangju were not on good terms.

I asked if those terms were still applicable today. Our host said that it is more toned down nowadays.

We realized that this trip was extra

▲ Mudeung Mountain ◀ Gwangju Folk Museum

special, then, for we had had the opportunity to visit what had once been considered rival cities. Upon learning this, I felt that Gwangju is your good friend. Though meek, he is loyal and will fight for you in times of need.

Our trip ended, but our curiosity continues. So, I am ready to return to South Korea, and I am ready to learn more lessons in the future.

Back to the original question: How is South Korea?

Importance of family. Elderly left in the provinces. A production team filming. People gathering to protest. A Korean family. A Korean student. Korean mass. Groups of elderly people hiking. Small-sized businesses. Promotion of an active lifestyle. My craving for jjajangmyeon (black bean noodles). These are some of the things I have experienced and learned during my trips to Korea, for the time being. What will I learn next?

“The world is a book, and those who don’t travel only read one page.”

— St. Augustine of Hippo

April 2017

2017�4��.indd 43

The distance of the guesthouse from the Asia Cultural Center (ACC) was only a stone’s throw.

Most of our days were spent in the ACC, and I must say that it was an enjoyable treat for me. Every night, after buying bread at Somac Bakery, we dropped by the ACC and played the outdoor piano even though we did not know how to make decent music. One night, just to appease me, we went to the ACC, and we enjoyed the flea market. We bought some food and ate it while listening to the soothing voice of a singer. I said to myself, “Ah, this is how a Friday night should be spent.” It was also at the ACC where I personally experienced the intermingling of the past and present because of the Fringe Festival, a gathering of families to pass on traditions to the young ones. We were able to witness how Koreans exude the communal spirit through gossaumnori (a folk game). I felt blessed to hear live pansori (folk music) and a performance of “Arirang” played on the violin.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

We enjoyed roaming around the area of Dong-gu. We also went to the Gwangju Museum of Art and the Folk Museum that exemplifies how Gwangju citizens dearly uphold their past and make it something useful for the present. Gwangju has definitely intertwined the past with the present for the future.

The persistent desire to uphold the historical 5.18 memory was quite evident to the eye. These memories will surely help future generations treasure their importance.

The arts and culture of the city were very much alive throughout the city. Hopefully, as time progresses, people will not abandon or take for granted these art pieces nor different activities.

2017-03-30 �� 9:55:30

44

Praise for KIIP at GIC

EDUCATION

Words by Peter Gallo Photo by Lorryn Smit

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

“A

ll in all, I think it is a wonderful program.

It teaches you everything you need to know to be able to live here comfortably and enough language to have conversations with.”

— Lorryn Smit, Gwangju News Volunteer and KIIP program graduate If you are interested in getting some Korean language skills through the GIC, then you have probably gotten yourself onto an email list and have been getting messages about free classes offered through KIIP (Korean Immigration and Integration Program). Just to be clear, these classes are separate from the regular courses offered by GIC that are also offered simultaneously.

2017�4��.indd 44

KIIP is still relatively new at GIC, so a WordPress website called gickoblog. wordpress.com has been set up to explain the details of the program and address some of the challenges with the application process. Chosun University, along with several other organizations with locations all over the Gwangju area, have been hosting KIIP classes since the program became available locally. KIIP was originally created to serve the needs of family members of immigrants, but it is basically open to all documented immigrants in Korea, and the GIC training site is open to all, not just GIC members.

Gwangju News’ own photo editor, Lorryn Smit, recently completed the KIIP program that she started about two years ago and provides

some encouragement and advice for the KIIP curious. Her participation preceded GIC’s involvement, and she stresses that with GIC hosting KIIP courses, “Not only will the quality of teaching be better, but just getting information about the next level [will be] so helpful.” Her goal was to achieve enough points for the desirable F-2 residency visa. According to korea4expats.com, “Completing KIIP is the only way to do this.”

The website goes on to explain that “in 2010, the Korean Government introduced a point system that allowed certain professionals who have resided in Korea for one year or longer [to] be eligible to get an F-2 visa. Points are given in different categories including: age, academic credentials, income, social integration, and Korean language

2017-03-30 �� 9:55:31

45 ability.” One of several advantages stated in the article is that “F-2 visa holders are exempted from having to bring 100 million won (equivalence in foreign currency) into Korea in order to start a business.” In Lorryn’s case, after completing the KIIP program in November of 2016, she acquired enough points for her F-2 visa and is now able to legally operate a photography business here in Gwangju.

One of the main challenges with the KIIP program is the application process. It is all online at www. socinet.go.kr but only in Korean until you register. Once registered, you can choose your language option specific to the information on your page. In order to sign up for KIIP programs, you must then join the website and set up a profile using your ARC (alien registration card) number and agreeing to the terms.

2017�4��.indd 45

After completing a required number of hours recorded by the instructor, you are then eligible to advance to the next level, but first you must pass the midterm exam. “After level 4, there is a language exam, testing what you have learned over the course.

It was not easy, and looking back, I really was not at a proficiency level at that time to be able to pass.” Lorryn explains that she failed the first time but “passed with flying colors” after retaking it.

There appears to be some confusion about the certificates because the GIC blog currently states that after completing the midterm, a “Korean Language and Culture Test [KLCT] qualification certificate will be issued.” This seems to imply that there are separate certificates: one after the midterm, and one after the final. However, “After completing the entire KIIP course and passing the final exam, the Korea Immigration and Naturalization Aptitude Test [KINAT] qualification certificate will

The final portion of the program content is instruction regarding mainly cultural elements of Korean society and appears to require a much higher level of commitment.

Lorryn even started working closely with a tutor at that point to ensure that her efforts would not be wasted and that she would pass the test. “I do not believe anybody can pass the first time if they did not devote three months of their lives to this.”

Lorryn’s experience was that to achieve certification towards Korean citizenship, you must log in an additional 20 hours in the classroom, beyond a “highly skilled profession” candidate that is seeking points toward long-term residency. “The last level of the KIIP program is separate since last year. If you want residency, you must study 50 hours, and if you want citizenship (naturalization), you have to study 70 hours. The last level is double the work to study, but you have half the time to study it in.” On the GIC blog, there is a breakdown of many possible benefits to completing the program, in which you would eventually receive a certificate.

Whatever your status, your position in Korean society, is sure to improve with the completion of this program.

The best part is that the program is completely free to attend. However, you may be required to purchase a textbook (4,000 won for Level “0” at the GIC).

THE AUTHOR Peter Gallo regularly contributes to the Gwangju News, and is documenting life in Korea at anjeongchingu. com. He is currently enrolled in the KIIP program.

April 2017

According to the GIC blog, “The pretest is exempted if you choose Level 0 [Foundation].” This means that while applying you must also choose if you want to take the pre-test to qualify for a higher-level starting point. In other words, taking the pre-test is optional; otherwise, you will have to start at the beginning, Level 0. Lorryn shared some of her experience with the pretest or level test. “[It] was in the format of a level 2 or 3 TOPIK test. Questions start out simple and easy, and work their way up. After the

This environment was a lot different than what she imagined Chosun University classes would have been like: “I studied with many of the marriage-migrants, which was interesting for me being able to learn more about this issue, but it could also be a bother as many of them have no choice but to bring their kids with them (those too young for kindergarten or school).” For Lorryn, a lot depends on the teacher: “I had a great teacher right through to level 4, so once I got the hang of it, I really learned a lot, and my Korean improved tremendously.”

be issued.” Lorryn asked her teacher about the two separate certificates, and “she said you only get one after completing the whole course.”

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

There are a few other websites such as Korea4expats.com and Keytokorean. com that refer to the KIIP program and offer some strategies for navigating the process, but slideshow. net has an article with step-by-step instructions called “How to register for the free KIIP Korean class.” GIC’s blog is the most thorough, however. It is also current and interactive. If you get stuck, you can contact GIC staff for assistance. Park Yang-Im’s email is language@gic.or.kr. The phone number for GIC is 062-226-2733.

50-minute multiple-choice test, there is a small interview. Three or four people at a time went in together, we had to read a piece, and they tested our comprehension and listening skills.” Lorryn ended up starting at level 2 and began taking classes at Yangsan-dong Multi-cultural Family Center.

2017-03-30 �� 9:55:31

46 Expat Living

The Golden Residency Visa

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

EDUCATION

Words and photo by Lorryn Smit

T

he ever sought-after F-2 visa is the ultimate way to upgrade your life in South Korea if you are looking to stay here more long-term. Expats with this visa have significantly more freedom in their professional lives: you are no longer dependent on visa sponsorship, which for many means you no longer have to be an English teacher.

In the past, expats who were seeking permanent residency in South Korea had to either marry a Korean national, or have a ton of money to invest. However, with the growing number of expat professionals, the government introduced the F-2-7 visa. This visa is obtainable if you can reach the prescribed number of “points,” through various categories.

Since this visa is relatively new, information is not easy to find, and what information can be found is constantly being revised. But not to worry! I am here to walk you through it step by step, based on my experience obtaining the visa this past year.

Who Is Eligible?

To be able to apply for the F-2-7 visa, you must have a current eligible visa status, have lived in Korea for more than a year, and reach at least 80 points out of the possible 120.

2017�4��.indd 46

The Eligible Visa Types E-series: E-1 through E-7 (excluding E-6-2 visa holders who work for hotel and entertainment establishments) D-series: D-2, D-5, D-6, D-7, D-8, D-9, D-10 (D-2 or D-10 visa holders who have earned a master’s degree or higher in domestic universities, including graduates-to-be, and those who are confirmed hires of domestic companies).

The Points System Explained The F-2 visa status application process is based on a point system.

You must obtain 80 out of 120 points in various categories to apply for an F-2 visa.

The process may sound easy, but accumulating enough points to pass can be a struggle.

Age: This is one case in Korea where age does not get you anything. Being older is not really helpful. The ideal age is being between 30 and 35 years.

This is also calculated based on Western age and not Korean age.

Education: The higher your degree, the more points you can receive, and if you have a bachelor’s of science, you can gain an extra two points. If you have studied in Korea, you can also earn points for that in another

category.

Korean Language Proficiency: This category weighs the heaviest. It also gets a little complicated. You will get points based on your fluency in the categories of basic, intermediate, and advanced. There are two ways to prove your proficiency level: TOPIK or KIIP. — TOPIK: You should have at least a level-4 TOPIK (which, if you ask around, is not an easy task at all). If you were looking to get into a Korean company or apply to universities, you would need a level-4 TOPIK. However, if you do not need it for the future, I say do not worry about it!

Another thing you should remember is that if you choose to apply with only your level-4 or level-5 TOPIK, you will be interviewed by the immigration officer, and unfortunately, it will be up to their discretion whether you pass or not. Some people have told me that their questions were really hard, and they were asked about Korean history, law, etc. Others told me that they were asked how long they had been in Korea and why they were applying for residency. If you choose to complete the Social Integration Program (which I will explain next), you are exempt from this step.

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47

Income: In the past, it was only based on your annual income, but that changed a few years ago. How much you earn and the amount of tax you paid the previous year is taken into consideration.

2017�4��.indd 47

*Point allocation is subject to change quite regularly, so please call the immigration hotline at 1345, and ask for an updated version at the time of application.

Application The application process can be a pain because, ultimately, you are at the mercy of the immigration office.

This is a standard list of required documents: 1. Passport 2. Degree (if you ask nicely they could pull it from their database) 3. Alien registration card 4. Annual income tax certificate 5. Working contract 6. Completed visa application form 7. 1 color passport photo attached 8. Proof of accumulated points (TOPIK/KIIP certificate, volunteer letter, etc.)

9. Visa fee and new ARC fee However, extra documents can also be required, and on a case-by-case basis. Some of these extras might include proof of residence, your employer’s business license, etc.

You can also be granted anything from one to five years’ stay on this visa, and your stay allotment is determined by the immigration officer processing your documents.

So be friendly, very patient, and humble. The Immigration Office makes a final decision after reviewing everything. Once approved, it takes about three to four weeks to get your new ARC (alien registration card).

In my case, the immigration officer went through my paperwork very meticulously and asked for more paperwork, but in the end, I was given five years. So, do not lose hope.

Hang in there. In the end, all the struggle, hard work, and sacrifice will be worth it. This freedom is the greatest feeling!

THE AUTHOR

Lorryn Smit is a South African who has called Gwangju home for seven years now. She is a recently turned fulltime photographer specializing in documentary style wedding and portrait photography. She is also the editor-in-chief of a popular photography blog called “Photographers in Korea” and freelances for a variety of publications in Korea.

April 2017

Volunteer Work: Volunteering does not score you major points, but it could help you get to your 80 if you are short one or two points. The hard part to this is that you have to

provide proof (usually in a form of a formal letter or certificate), and they will only count your volunteer work if you are able to log 50 hours at least 6 times per year.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

— The Korean Immigration and Integration Program (KIIP): There is already an article in this issue explaining this program in more detail, so I will only outline the benefits of completing it in regard to the F-2-7 visa. As mentioned before, completing this program exempts you from the interview because the government designed this program, and it basically teaches you everything that they want you to know. So, if you complete the program, they assume you are good to go. It also scores you an extra 10 points just for completing it, which, in my opinion, is the only way an English teacher or equivalent will be able to get this visa. The language part of the program is substantially easier than TOPIK, and the culture section is really helpful for your everyday life, and to have a better understanding of Koreans and their way of thinking.

2017-03-30 �� 9:55:33

48 From Abroad

Follow Our Silk Road

Part 1: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

TRAVEL

Words and photos by Áine Byrne and Fabio Tardim

W

hether you call it Central Asia, Tartary, Turkestan, or Transoxiana, the “Stans” are the lands that fill that gap between the Tian Shan Mountains and the Caspian Sea. These places have always been the backbone of the Silk Road, a place of transfer and a meeting point between Asia and Europe. Here you will find ancient cities and lands that for centuries have attracted traders, travelers, and invaders in equal numbers.

First, meet Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, two countries in the north of Central Asia, where sweeping steppes and valleys, striking mountains, and friendly locals will welcome you with open arms and bundles of bread. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are the first two countries on our Silk Road journey. The two countries are culturally connected and are also the most “Russified” of the Stans. It is also here that one of the greatest dichotomies of the Silk Road reveals itself: that of “settlerversus-nomad.” Kazakhs and Kyrgyz are renowned for their nomadic

2017�4��.indd 48

ways and horse-bound traditions, as opposed to the settled trading cultures of Tajiks and Uzbeks.

So, let us find out more about these two fascinating places.

KAZAKHSTAN Republic of Kazakhstan First stop is Kazakhstan, a precious, underrated jewel waiting to be discovered. One cannot miss it on the map (after all it is the 9th largest country in the world), yet many people ignore Kazakhstan. Why is this? Maybe poor national marketing combined with the fact that until a few years ago, visas used to be hard to obtain, not to mention “the good old” bad Soviet reputation. If you like a bit of adventure and the great outdoors, you should consider Kazakhstan.

Traveling here has just become much easier as visas-on-arrival are now available for many nationalities.

HISTORY IN BRIEF “Kazakh” means “free and independent nomad.” Inhabited by

herders and nomadic tribes since the Stone Age, and though surrounded

by China and Russia, it was Turkic culture that held its grip by introducing Islam into Kazakhstan.

Kazakh culture took shape in the 15th century, and the Kazakh language followed a century later.

In the 17th century, conflict with western Mongolian tribes resulted in a great victory for the Kazakhs.

In the 19th century, the colossal Russian Empire expanded and took over Kazakhstan. At that time, about 1.5 million Germans, Jews, Russians, and Slavs migrated into the country.

Conflict resulted in 300,000 Kazakh disappearances. Soviet colonization crushed Kazakh culture – artists, historians, poets, writers, and others being completely repressed.

However, Kazakhstan as an entity and country is a Soviet invention.

In 1991, the country reluctantly gained its freedom from Russia, but is now thriving economically, mainly because of its vast reserves of oil.

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49

▲ Zenkov Cathedral, Almaty, Kazakhstan

“Almaty is the best place in Kazakhstan.

I live here because it has the best universities in the country, it has plenty of job opportunities for me, plus beautiful nature all year round.”

— Dana, Student from Astana,

Kazakhstan Do not underestimate the sheer and epic beauty of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is at the crossroads of Eurasia and a political stomping ground for Russian-Middle Eastern affairs. Kazakhstan’s vastness, nature, and wildlife will simply take your breath away.

KYRGYZSTAN Kyrgyz Republic Vowel-defying Kyrgyzstan can be defined by its natural, unspoiled attractions. Mountainous landscapes, glorious glaciers, spa valleys, rolling jailoos (summer pastureland), yurtstaying, plus visa-free travel are all some of the wonderful features about this country. It is certainly one rugged place covered almost entirely by the Tian Shan Mountains. Let’s step further up into the high altitudes of the Silk Road and visit Bishkek, the never-freezing Lake Issy-kul, Karakol, Jalal Abad, and Osh. HISTORY IN BRIEF Native Kyrgyz people were originally Turkic settlers from the Tian Shan Mountains. They developed their skills as pastoral farmers, shepherds, and nomads. When the Russian Empire expanded further than

April 2017

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• Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui, Turkestan – An impressive 14th century mausoleum built to honor one of the most important Sufi saints of Islam.

• The Petroglyphs of Tamgaly – 5,000 ancient stone carvings in a UNESCO-protected canyon northwest of Almaty. Tours from Almaty are expensive, but you can rent a car, catch a taxi, or use local guides to show you the way.

• Museum of Victims of Political Repressions, Shymkent – few museums have been devoted to this topic, but the atrocities that the Kazakh people suffered at the hands of the Russians in the 19th century are displayed.

• Korgalzhyn and Nauryzumsky Nature Reserves, Astana – Not on our Silk Road route, but worth mentioning are the undisturbed lakes, semi-deserts, and steppes located near Astana. Antelopes, babok marmots, pelicans, pink flamingoes, and wolves roam freely – a must see for adventurers.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

HIGHLIGHTS If you decide to visit Kazakhstan, you can go boldly into the wild steppe or visit the southeastern part of the country – or both if you have the time. The southeast region was the most important during the days of the Silk Road, and it also contrasts greatly with the rest of the country.

While most of Kazakhstan is flat, arid steppes, the southeast is home to high mountains, forests, and lakes.

• Kyz Kuu (Chase the Girl) – A kissing game, played on horseback in traditional dress during their New Year (March 21st). The female gets a head start on a faster horse, then the male pursues on a slow horse and shows off jazzy horseback-riding tricks.

• Ile Altau National Park – Pass through woodlands and open alpine meadows to find glaciers and lakes, including the Big Almaty. The park is also home to snow leopards, Tian Shan bears, bearded vultures, Eurasian three-toed woodpeckers, and many other creatures.

• Zenkov Cathedral, Almaty – A colorful and exotic Russian Orthodox cathedral constructed purely of wood and no nails. This cathedral is located in Panfilov Park, which is host to some cool Soviet statues.

▲ Kozha Akhmed Yasaui Mausoleum, Turkestan, Kazakhstan

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50 mountains on the horizon.

•Ulak Tartysh – A popular team game similar to polo and rugby where two teams of horseriders wrestle for possession of a headless carcass of a goat.

•Oodarysh – Two horseback contestants wrestle and attempt to be the first to knock the other from his horse.

•Burkut and Falconry – Hunting with eagles is an ancient trademark of Kyrgyz nomads.

Famed for hunting with golden eagles (burkut), northern gashawks (qarshyghasy), and peregrine falcons (munushkor).

•Ala-Archa National Park – A quick escape for those needing time out from Bishkek.

Filled with breathtaking views and geological formations, there are dozens of nature trails throughout the gorge for hikers and trekkers.

• Lake Issy-kul, Karakul – For rest and relaxation in a beautiful alpine region with turquoise-blue water. Driving around the northern and southern shores is a must.

• Karakol – The gateway to explore both Lake Issyk-Kul and the surrounding mountains and valleys.

“Bishkek is an interesting place, I love the blend of Mama Russia and Asia.”

— Sokratis (Greek), Communications Student, Bishkek ▲ Topmost: Ala Archa, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan ▲ Around Issyk-kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

Kazakhstan, like its neighbor, Kyrgyz identity, farming, and its nomadic culture was swallowed by the Soviets. Modern farming and sophisticated industrial production systems were also put in place.

When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Kyrgyzstan joined the United Nations and became a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States while attempting to reignite its economy.

North and South Kyrgyzstan are reportedly divided, ethnically and economically. The north of the country is regarded as more developed with the bulk of the Kyrgyz population based there, whereas the south is considered underprivileged with several Uzbek and Tajik enclaves, and various ethnic groups. It is often said to be affected by radical Islamic turbulence. Be not deterred in visiting the south, however. Kyrgyzstan is a progressive and very welcoming place for tourists and explorers.

HIGHLIGHTS Kyrgyzstan is a paradise for trekkers and hikers alike. It is often dubbed “the Switzerland of Central Asia” for its snow-capped peaks, alpine valleys, and lakes. Wherever you go in the country, you can be sure to have a jaw-dropping background of beautiful

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“In Kyrgyzstan, the people make the place. I love the mix of Central Asian and Caucasian people, the rich food and culture. Oh, the food is just yummy!

Bishkek city is alive.”

— Christina (Romanian), Humanitarian Aid HR Manager, Bishkek

Traveling the country has its perks and challenges; however, Kyrgyzstan is definitely the easiest “Stan” to travel through. Local people are well used to tourists and do their best to help them. While English is not widely spoken, a lot of young people are fluent or have some sort of proficiency.

THE AUTHORS

Áine Byrne and Fabio Tardim are an intrepid traveling couple currently journeying across Central Asia while writing a series about each country for the Gwangju News. They will also publish articles for multiple media outlets about their trip in spring 2017. To find out more about Central Asia and how to get there, follow their travels via www.followoursilkroad.com.

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51 Survival Korean includes the most essential Korean phrases you need to know while traveling or living in Korea. The expressions come with detailed explanations as well as fun and useful information about the situation where they are used.

Talk to Me In Korean

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Whether you are just traveling or living in Korea, this book, the perfect size that can fit right in your purse, will come in handy whenever you want something.

영화 [yeong-hwa]: movie 영화표 [yeong-hwa-pyo]: movie ticket 기차 [gi-cha]: train 기차표 [gi-cha-pyo]: train ticket

비행기 [bi-haeng-gi]: airplane 비행기표 [bi-haeng-gi-pyo]: plane ticket 연극 [yeon-geuk]: theatrical performance, play 연극표 [yeon-geuk-pyo]: ticket for play or theater performance

EDUCATION

티켓 [ti-ket] / 표 [pyo]: ticket 티켓 and 표 are both understood equally. However, most people use the Korean word 표 when being more specific.

성인 [seong-in]: adult 학생 [hak-ssaeng]: student 어린이 [eo-ri-ni]: child(ren) Some tickets, such as movie tickets or amusement park tickets, will have different prices for adults, students, and children.

(number) + - 장 주세요. [(number) + - jang ju-se-yo.]: Please give me (number) ticket(s).

This phrase can be used for any number of tickets. Add the word 장 to the number of tickets desired and add 주세요 at the end. Let’s take a look at adding on words for specific types of tickets below.

SAMPLE SENTENCES 한 장 주세요. [han jang ju-se-yo.] = Please give me one ticket. 두 장 주세요. [du jang ju-se-yo.] = Please give me two tickets.

SAMPLE SENTENCES 겨울왕국 4시 2장 주세요. [gyeo-u-rwang-guk ne-si du-jang ju-se-yo.]

= Please give me two tickets for “Frozen” at four o’clock. 인셉션 11시 1장 주세요. [in-ssep-ssyeon yeo-ran-si han-jang ju-se-yo.]

= Please give me one ticket for “Inception” at eleven o’clock.

HOW TO BUY TICKETS

This book extract from Survival Korean is available at MyKoreanStore.com

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April 2017

For movie tickets, some people go to the theater and buy tickets in person or through an automated ticket machine (which has non-Korean menu options). Movies are often sold out and most reservations are done (days) in advance through smartphone applications (which do not have English options). Reserving for theater, concert, or sports tickets is typically done through interpark.com, Korea’s top ticket issuing website, which has English in addition to other languages.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

(movie title), (time) + (number) + - 장 주세요. [(title), (time) + (number) + - jang ju-se-yo.]: Please give me (number) ticket(s) for (movie title) at (time).

For movie tickets, add the movie title and time of movie to the front of the phrase.

1시 30분 [han-si sam-sip-ppun]: 1:30

2시 25분 [du-si i-si-bo-bun]: 2:25

7시 반 [il-gop-ssi ban]: 7:30

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52 KOTESOL

Major Roadblocks to Language Learning

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

EDUCATION

Words and photo provided by Dr. David Shaffer

T

here are very few of us – as language teachers or as language learners – who would suggest that learning a foreign language is an easy task, but there is far less agreement on just what makes it so darn difficult. It was exactly this question that was recently posed on one of the discussion boards I subscribe to, ELT Professionals. The question: What would you consider to be the biggest problem with language learning? The responses were as varied as the respondents, but all were noteworthy. Let us take a look at the most common responses and some others that seem most relevant to the Korean EFL context.

MOTIVATION Student motivation was the most often mentioned problem in the discussion. Lack of motivation and loss of motivation on the part of the student, and the challenge to the teacher to inspire in the student an intrinsic motivation to learn were all mentioned. When one is required to do something rather than do it of their own free choice, there is bound to be less enthusiasm in doing it. So it is with English. In Korea, students are required to study English in grades 3 to 12, and many parents require these same students to study English outside of school. (More household funds are spent on private English education than on any other school subject.)

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The loss of interest in learning English can be blamed mainly on the curriculum and the teaching methods. All too often, courses focus on grammar and vocabulary, and are test-driven. Lessons are teachercentered. What we as teachers need to do is offer lessons that are not only interesting but engaging through interactive activities, through classes that are challenging, classes that lead to acquisition of new skills and the discovery of new knowledge. The

rise in student motivation that the teacher witnesses can similarly lead to a rise in their own motivation.

LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES The greater the differences between a language and one’s mother tongue, the more difficult that language is to learn. This certainly applies to English and Korean. Among the 60plus languages that the U.S. Foreign Service Institute teaches, Korean is ranked among the top five in

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53 difficulty for English speakers to learn. English is equally difficult for Korean-speaking learners. There are great differences in their grammar and pronunciation systems, huge differences in their writing systems, and considerable differences in the cultures of Koreans and English speakers.

These language differences are givens; they cannot be changed. But what we as teachers can, and should, do is make ourselves aware of these differences and likewise make our students aware of them to make the language learning process a bit easier. It is in this area that native Korean-speaking teachers often have an edge over the native English-speaking teacher (NEST). An intuitive knowledge of Korean and the experience of going through the English-learning process themselves gives the Korean teacher the advantage over the NEST in explaining Korean–English differences and in empathizing with students in their Englishlearning trials and tribulations. The professional development challenge here for NESTs is quite transparent: they should familiarize themselves as much as possible with Korean to understand these Korean–English differences and draw on this knowledge in their teaching.

To build confidence and diminish ridicule in the classroom, it is quite advantageous to have students work in very small groups rather than having them produce English standing at their seat under the heavy gaze of the entire class and the teacher as well. Creating activities where students are paired up with a single partner, and without the teacher always listening in, forms a non-threatening environment in which students can shine without the fear of being teased. Pair work can gradually lead to work in triads and groups of four.

Group project work is also a great confidence-builder, both inside and outside the classroom. In addition to classroom practice, students need to practice their English in the real world, in real-life situations.

Encourage them to do so. The foreigner population of Korea is now over six percent, and many of them speak English better than Korean.

They can be found in places as

GWANGJU-JEONNAM KOTESOL MONTHLY MEETING Date: Saturday, April 15 Place: Gwangju National University of Education Two Main Session Presentations on EFL Topics SwapShop – Share with the group an activity or teaching idea that you have.

For full event details: Website: koreatesol.org/gwangju Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL THE AUTHOR David E. Shaffer is Vice-President of the GwangjuJeonnam Chapter of Korea TESOL (KOTESOL).

On behalf of the Chapter, he invites you to participate in the teacher development workshops at their monthly meetings (always on a Saturday). For many years, Dr. Shaffer has been a professor of English Language at Chosun University, where he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses.

He is a long-time member of KOTESOL and a holder of various KOTESOL positions, including First Vice-President and Publications Committee Chair. Dr. Shaffer credits KOTESOL for much of his professional development in English language teaching. He is also editor-inchief of Gwangju News.

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Many Koreans suffer from what I have dubbed the “perfectionist syndrome” – seeing everything as a dichotomy (black and white, good and evil, right and wrong) rather than as endpoints on a continuum. Accordingly, if a student offers an oral response that is not 100-percent correct and the teacher corrects it, classmates may label the student as imperfect, wrong, and/or bad. What we as teachers need to do is explain to our students that making English mistakes is part of the language learning process – a necessary and beneficial part of the process actually. We need to convince our students that ridiculing learners for their errors is detrimental to language learning for not only their classmates but for themselves as well.

varied as local churches, community international centers, and downtown taverns. Interacting with them (nonintrusively) will build confidence and stimulate motivation in the student as well as create an understanding of language differences. Let us work at removing some of these roadblocks for our students as they travel down the road of English language learning.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

CONFIDENCE Teachers from distant parts of the world say the same thing: that student confidence, or more accurately, the lack of it, is a huge barrier to learning and speaking English. This lack of self-confidence is more closely related to a fear of ridicule and other culture-based inhibitions than to one’s actual proficiency level. Korean culture has long promoted quietly listening to one’s elders as a virtue, and this has been nowhere more true than in the classroom. Getting conversation-class students, and students in general, to break out of this culturally constructed shell can

be challenging for any teacher. Even more formidable for those students who do build up the courage to speak is the fear of making a mistake.

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54 OP-ED

A Special Kind of Love OPINION

Korean Jeong Words by Jessamine Price

I

hate zombies. They have bad skin and deliver bad dialogue – my least favorite variety of villain. But they are everywhere in American pop culture the past decade, from World War Z to The Walking Dead. I sometimes joke that I left the USA to escape the American passion for all things zombie.

So I felt cheated when Korea’s big blockbuster movie last summer was Train to Busan, a zombie movie. The zombies followed me here to Korea. Is nowhere safe?

But when I finally sat down and watched Train to Busan recently, I enjoyed it. Despite the zombies, Train to Busan has that “special sauce” I see again and again in Korean entertainment: a stew of heart-warming feelings that Koreans call “jeong.”

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

“Jeong” is hard to translate. At its simplest, it means caring and affection. But jeong appears in myriad Korean expressions. It can mean hospitality, generosity, connection, or soulfulness.

Close friends are “bound by jeong.” A warm-hearted person “has a lot of jeong.” And old enemies can have a soft spot for each other known as “hate-jeong.” Jeong is bigger than mere kindness, and it appears everywhere in Korean culture – even among the heroes in a zombie movie.

Jeong differs from the individualistic idea of caring that I grew up with in the United States. Jeong is not something you feel alone by yourself. It is something that happens between people. Supposedly, jeong explains why we eat out of the same pot at a restaurant in Korea, and why we go on those boozy “team building” weekends with co-workers – even co-workers we might not really like.

Every culture in the world values compassion. But Koreans say jeong is different. For one thing, jeong imposes an obligation. Journalist Daniel Tudor offers an explanation in Korea: The Impossible Country. Jeong is like “a cord linking

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people to each other,” making it hard to turn your back on a family member or friend who needs a loan or a job.

Some people might even blame President Park’s recent downfall on jeong. Too much generosity to an old friend can cross the line into corruption. Nevertheless, Tudor concludes that jeong is “the most attractive aspect of Korean culture, for it encourages warmth and generosity.”

Jeong is not just about Koreans helping each other. It can also inspire generosity to strangers.

Before I came to Korea, I read warnings that Korea is very homogeneous, and people might have prejudices against foreigners. But the hospitality I have seen since coming to Gwangju has surprised me again and again.

One time on a trip to Haenam with fellow English teachers, my friends and I got a dinner invitation from the manager of the small hotel where we were staying. We worried he would ask nosy personal questions or make indecent proposals. When I was backpacking across the Middle East years ago, one overly friendly hotel manager asked me to marry him. Was that going to happen to my young friend with the striking blond hair? Would we have to trade her for samgyeopsal?

When we arrived for dinner, we found a couple barbecue grills fired up on the deck overlooking Seongho Beach.

Our new friend handed us a pile of meat and tutored us on grilling technique. We knew a couple words of Korean, and he knew a couple words of English. As the sun was setting over the water, we poured the beer and soju we had brought and toasted each other in two languages. Marriage never came up. We did not even have to talk. We just enjoyed the pleasure of eating.

It was a tasty, peaceful, companionable meal. It was also shocking for a cynical foreigner like me. Why was a stranger feeding me meat for no reason?

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55

I call this “jeong shock” – the disorientation you feel when a Korean overwhelms you with unexpected, above-andbeyond kindness that you can never repay.

I experienced jeong shock again this summer when friends of mine – a family of four – came to visit from Israel. We were sightseeing on a hot day in August when my friend’s 13-year-old daughter had a sudden-onset fashion crisis. The strap on one of her sandals broke. We needed a replacement shoe ASAP. We spotted a shop selling simple rubber shower shoes. My friend pointed them out. “If we get a pair of those, you can have something on your feet while we look for some real shoes,” she said.

As we stood in the heat talking about what to do, someone tapped on my arm. It was a young Korean couple, and the woman handed me a pair of sandals. They looked brand new, and they had cute sparkly flowers on them. Just the thing for a 13-year-old girl.

People in Seoul say that Jeolla people “have a lot of jeong,” and maybe these stories confirm it. But the idea of jeong is

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I still dislike zombies. But maybe I will have to make an exception for Korean zombies. Last week, Netflix announced an upcoming Korean–American joint production about zombies in the Joseon Era. Is this good news or bad news?

I will reserve judgement – until I see if the show has jeong.

THE AUTHOR

Jessamine Price is a writer and English teacher based in Gwangju. She has an MFA in creative writing from American University and an M.Phil. in economic and social history from Oxford. Under the name Odessa Jones, she writes about the global popularity of K-dramas at Kdrama.today.

April 2017

We did not know what to say. The couple quickly bowed and walked away, leaving behind five foreigners in a state of jeong shock.

And so it should be no surprise that jeong appears even in a movie about killing zombies. Train to Busan balances its action sequences with sub-plots about the emotional connections between characters. And the movie depicts jeong in all its forms, not only as self-sacrifice and heroism, but also as selfserving favoritism. The film’s edge of social critique comes from showing both the noble and hurtful aspects of jeong. www.gwangjunewsgic.com

But the thirteen-year-old was reluctant to wear anything ugly, even temporarily.

strong overall in Korean pop culture. Variety shows revolve around people being convivial together. Popular plot-lines revolve around romance and family bonds. K-dramas particularly love to tell stories about cold-hearted characters who develop compassion for others. Pop stars live and die by their ability to sing soulful ballads.

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56

Community Board

Have something you want to share with the community?

Gwangju News Community Board provides a space for the community to announce club activities and special events.

Please contact gwangjunews@gic.or.kr for more information.

UNESCO KONA VOLUNTEERS KONA Storybook Center (KSC) is a registered public small library supported by UNESCO KONA Volunteers (UKV). UKV is a registered organization that helps disadvantaged children to learn English independently through storybooks and story-maps. We guide the family and children to develop a love of reading storybooks in English. We also give guidance to volunteers in using storybooks. We are looking for long-term volunteers who desire to enrich their lives. We are asking volunteers to commit to helping at least once a month.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

April 2017

The days of KONA volunteering and the facilities are as follows: 1. KONA Storybook Center Every Saturday, 3–5 pm 2. Gwangju Children’s Home 1st, 2nd, and 4th Saturday, 3rd Sunday, 3–5 pm 3. Grandmother’s Community Children’s Center 4th Friday, 4–6 pm For more information, please visit http://cafe.daum.net/konavolunteers or our Facebook page of KONA Storybook Center and UNESCO KONA Volunteers, or contact Kim Young-Im 062-434-9887, or email konacenter@gmail.com

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GWANGJU INTER FC The Gwangju International Soccer Team (Gwangju Inter FC) plays regularly every weekend. If you are interested in playing, email: gwangju_soccer@yahoo.com or search “Gwangju Inter FC” on Facebook.

GWANGJU ART CLASS GIC, 2nd Floor, Room 3 12:30–3:00 pm, Saturdays Facebook: Gwangju Art Class Welcome art lovers and sketch enthusiasts from Gwangju and surrounding areas.

We are here to revive the art community in Gwangju and bring artists closer together through weekly drawing classes.

The classes are for anyone interested in developing their artistic skill, any age or level. Each class focuses on various exercises and art principles. We work with still life and nude model life drawing.

TUESDAY NIGHT YOGA GIC Hall, 1st Floor 7–8 pm, Thursdays Facebook: Gwangju Yoga with Emily This is a weekly class appropriate for all levels. Beginners and advanced practitioners alike are encouraged to join.

GWANGJU ANIMAL SHELTER VOLUNTEERING Every Sunday. Meet at The First Alleyway at 12 for brunch and carpool to the shelter. Walk dogs between 1–4 pm. Please wear comfortable clothing.

See you there!

GWANGJU NEWS WRITING WORKSHOP Are you interested in writing for the Gwangju News magazine?

Do you want to improve your writing skills for the future?

Come learn and practice the ins and outs of narrative nonfiction writing.

Date and Time: April 15 (Saturday) 2–4 pm Location: Office, 2nd Floor, Room 1 Cost per Workshop: GIC Members 2,000 won Non-members 5,000 won Instruction Language: English (please note that this is not an English class) Availability: 15 spots per workshop Instructor: Douglas Baumwoll (Jeollanam-do Educational Training Institute instructor and Gwangju News writer) Availability: 15 spots per workshop Inquiry and Registration: Ana Traynin at gwangjunews@ gic.or.kr or call to 070-42624333.

Please register by April 8.

2017-03-30 �� 9:55:42

Attorney Attorney Park’s Park’s Law Law Firm Firm We're ready to serve your best interests in legal disputes.

We provide affordable consultation & representation.

▶ Areas of Specialty contracts, torts, family law, immigration, labor ▶ Civil & Criminal Attorney Park, Duckhee

former judge, GIC board member Services available in Korean, English & Chinese

#402 Simsan Bldg, 342-13 Jisan-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju Location: next to Gwangju District Court

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Tel: 062) 222-0011 Fax: 062)222-0013 duckheepark@hanmail.net

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Share your cul 2017 4

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the youth! and

with the kid e r tu

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