Gwangju and South Jeolla International Magazine Gwangju and South Jeolla International Magazine
February 2022 #240
February 2022 #240 Adopt-a-Child: Something That Has to Be Done
Thank You for Not Smoking Hwajeong I-Park Falls “Mother of June”
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1 Gwangju & South Jeolla International Magazine
From the Editor February 2022, Issue 240 Published: February 1, 2022 Cover Photo Sunset over Gwangju.
Photo: Gwangju Tourism website 광주문화관광 홈페이지 https://tour.gwangju.go.kr/
THE EDITORIAL TEAM Publisher Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Chief Copy Editor Layout Editor Photographer Online Editor Content Support
Dr. Shin Gyonggu Dr. David E. Shaffer William Urbanski Isaiah Winters Karina Prananto Kim Hillel Yunkyoung Karina Prananto Melline Galani
The Gwangju News is the first English monthly magazine for the general public in Korea, first published in 2001. Each monthly issue covers local and regional issues, with a focus on the roles and activities of the international residents and local English-speaking communities. Copyright ©2022 by the Gwangju International Center. All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by this copyright may be reproduced in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without the written consent of the publisher.
For volunteering and article submission inquiries, please contact the editor at gwangjunews@gic.or.kr. Special thanks to Gwangju City and all of our sponsors.
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We also hope that throughout the year, this wealth will spread through the pages of the Gwangju News for the benefit of the magazine’s readership and the lives that they may touch. May the Year of the Tiger be one that roars of good fortune! Our cover photo for this issue depicts the sun setting over Gwangju, signifying the close of another lunar year, a close that was marred by sorrow and tragedy. Sorrow in that January saw the passing in Gwangju of an activist mother who took up the baton of her activist son when his life was terminated by a riot police teargas canister. She is known nationwide as the “Mother of June,” and we carry a special photo essay in remembrance. January also witnessed the collapse of yet another building in the city – a high-end high-rise still under construction in Gwangju’s newest I-Park complex that ended the lives of multiple workers at the site [Lost in Gwangju]. In line with the Year of the Tiger bringing improved health, we feature a piece on the perils of smoking and the perks of not [“Thank You for Not Smoking”]. And in relation to the strength that the new year forecasts, we feature a female artist and the power of her feminine art [People in the Arts]. Within our February pages is a wealth of additional articles, a wealth of information, images, and interest. As always, stay Covid smart, stay Covid safe, be Covid protected, and enjoy the Gwangju News.
David E. Shaffer Editor-in-Chief Gwangju News
February 2022
Registration No. 광주광역시 라. 00145 (ISSN 2093-5315) Registration Date: February 22, 2010 Printed by Jieum 지음 (+82)-62-672-2566
elcome to February, and welcome to the February issue of the Gwangju News. February 1 not only signals the beginning of a new month and the publication of a new issue of this magazine, this year it also heralds the beginning of a new year according to the traditional Oriental calendar that Korea has followed for many centuries. This year, Lunar New Year’s Day, or Seollal, ushers in the Year of the Tiger – and that is a good thing! The tiger foretells a year of strength, power, and prosperity. Let us hope that this year we will have the strength to overcome the ravages of the coronavirus and other maladies that may target our health. Let us hope that we have the power to reach our goals, however small or large they may be. And let us hope for prosperity in our lives, especially inner wealth, which is what truly makes us the person who we are.
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The Gwangju News is published by the Gwangju International Center: Jungang-ro 196-beon-gil 5 (Geumnam-ro 3-ga), Dong-gu, Gwangju 61475, South Korea Tel: (+82)-62-226-2733~34 Fax: (+82)-62-226-2731 Website: www.gwangjunewsgic.com Email: gwangjunews@gic.or.kr gwangjunews gwangju_news
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Photo of the Month By Isaiah Winters
Blood in the Snow
The Photographer
Born and raised in Chino, California, Isaiah Winters is a pixel-stained wretch who loves writing about Gwangju and Honam, warts and all. He particularly likes doing unsolicited appraisals of abandoned Korean properties, like this asbestos-clad, tumbledown chapel. You can find much of his photography on @d.p.r.kwangju.
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February 2022
CULTURE & ARTS
Abandoned for many years, this forlorn church along the railroad tracks in Unam-dong is always worth a visit when the snow falls. Its faded red tower revives when set against a backdrop of white.
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Contents
ISSUE 240, FEBRUARY 2022
NEWS 01. From the Editor 04. Gwangju City News FEATURES 06. Thank You for Not Smoking 09. People in the Arts: “The Most Personal Is the Most Creative” – Talking with Artist Kim Mi-ae 13. Blast from the Past: Jeolla and the Nosa School – Combatting Western Influence 16. Lost in Gwangju: Like a Ton of Bricks – Hwajeong I-Park Falls from Grace 22. Special Photo Essay: “Mother of June” TEACHING & LEARNING 26. Language Teaching: The Guest English Teachers’ Program 29. Everyday Korean: Episode 50. 발이 참 넓구나. “You Really Are a Social Butterfly.” 30. Flipping the Classroom: Walking in Students’ Shoes FOOD & DRINKS 32. Restaurant Review: 1st Recipe – Where Mediterranean Cuisine Meets Korea COMMUNITY 34. Opinion: Return of the King – In The Matrix Resurrections, Neo Reclaims His Title of Cinema’s Greatest Hero
CULTURE & ARTS 02. Photo of the Month: Blood in the Snow 41. Crossword Puzzle 42. Book Review: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes 43. Gwangju Writes: Bathroom Window 44. Gwangju Writes: No More Lies 48. Photo Essay: Jinju Lantern Festival 52. GFN Radio: Top of the Drop 54. Comic Corner: Alan and Me – Episode 8. A Rainy Day at the Maldives, Part 1
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www.gwangjunewsgic.com February 2022 www.gwangjunewsgic.com February 2022
37. Local Entrepreneur: The Quarantined Future
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Gwangju City News From the Gwangju Metropolitan City website (http://gwangju.go.kr)
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February 2022
MONTHLY NEWS
City Hall Offers Daily Life Recovery Subsidy From January 17 through February 28, Gwangju City is receiving applications for the daily life recovery subsidy, in the amount of 100,000 won per person, payable to all of the city’s registered inhabitants.
transferred within one to two business days after applying. For underage children in the same household, one parent can make their application in the same application as the parent’s. Participating banks and credit cards: KB Kookmin Card, NH Nonghyup Card, Lotte Card, Samsung Card, Shinhan Card, Woori Card, Hana Card, Hyundai Card, BC Card, Gwangju Bank, IBK Industrial Bank, NH Nonghyup BC, Hana BC Card, Saemaul Geumgo, Post Office banking, Korea Federation of Credit Cooperatives.
Applicants must be individuals with residency in Gwangju as of midnight, December 1, 2021, international residents who have registered their residence here, ethnic Koreans of foreign nationalities with residence in Gwangju, and newborns whose parents meet the payment conditions and can prove the baby’s birth within the application deadline.
Applications for on-site visits are open from January 17 to February 28. Within the submission period, the applicant must go to the administrative welfare center in the vicinity of their address with their ID card, complete the application form, and receive a prepaid Win-Win Card (Sangsaeng Card) immediately. Working hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays. One member of a household can apply on behalf of other members of the same household. This is possible only with a visitor’s ID and consent of delegation of power of attorney in the application form without separate proof of relationship.
The application procedure is of two types: an online application using credit/debit card points and visiting the administrative welfare center in proximity to the resident’s address for a prepaid Win-Win Card (Sangsaeng Card). (Note: International residents and ethnic Koreans of foreign nationalities can only apply by visiting their local welfare centers.)
The subsidy should be used by May 31, and it is restricted from being used at department stores, large supermarkets, corporate supermarkets, large home appliance stores, entertainment establishments, and speculative businesses (such as gambling establishments).
Online application for credit/debit card points is possible through the website from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily from January 17 to February 18. Visit this website to access the Gwangju Daily Life Recovery Subsidy application form: https://광주일상회복지원금.kr Those who select a credit/debit card company among the 15 participating enterprises will have the amount
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Gwangju Media Art Center to Be Reborn as “GMAP” Gwangju City has selected a new name for the Gwangju Media Art Center, a UNESCO Media Art Creative City platform, calling it “GMAP.”
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5 “GMAP” are the English initials of “Gwangju Media Art Platform.” Moreover, while “G” stands for “Gwangju,” “MAP” has the meaning of “mapping,” with the connotation of “drawing a map” and “applying image (media),” conveying the “drawing of Gwangju’s future with media art.”
Gwangju Dong-gu (East District) Office News
Sharing the “Books in My Life” Event
The newly selected name contains the futureoriented vision and will of the cultural hub Gwangju as a cultural tourism resource that leads the city’s competitiveness through the convergence of art, industry, and education.
▲ Construction site of the Gwangju Media Art Platform at Nam-gu’s Gu-dong, expected to open in March 2022. (Photo: Naver Map)
When GMAP opens in March, Gwangju is expected to add synergy as a creative media art city in conjunction with the creation of a creativity belt that will be introduced in the spring.
Translated by Melline Galani.
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Note: Please understand that copies of shared books cannot be displayed.
Benefits of participating in the “Books in My Life” event: 1. Priority in attending the Dong-gu Humanities Center’s programs 2. Stationery and souvenir gift Inquiries Cho Dae-young (Program Director, Dong-gu Humanities Center) Mobile: 010-4660-5792 / Email: jocorman@naver.com Phone: 062-608-2175 (Dong-gu Humanities and Urban Policy Division)
February 2022
Accordingly, brand image integration that conforms to the GMAP name will be developed as soon as possible.
How to participate in the “Books in My Life” event: 1. Select one book for the event. 2. State the reason for your recommendation (a handwritten message inside the book is preferred). 3. Submit the recommendation by mail or at the center. • Application period: January–March 2022 • Reception desk: Donggyecheon-ro 168-5, Dong-gu, Gwangju, Dong-gu Humanities Center
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
GMAP, which will be built in Nam-gu’s Gudong with two basement floors and three aboveground floors, will contain a creative space that incorporates equipment to produce, experiment with, and implement images; an exhibition space where experimental and challenging media art works will be displayed; and the Teleport Hall, a UNESCO Media Art Creative City exchange space.
The Dong-gu Humanities Center, newly born after remodeling an old house in Dongmyeong-dong, aims to become a base for humanities and cultural activities for Gwangju citizens. Those who love books are sure to know many works. Among those numerous, must-know compositions, please select one special book in your life, fill out the reason for the selection’s importance, and share it with the Dong-gu Humanities Center. The recommended books will be offered in the “Books in My Life” corner of the Dong-gu Humanities Center to be enjoyed by visitors.
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Thank You for Not Smoking
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February 2022
FEATURE
Written by William Urbanski
A
bout a dozen years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night clutching my chest: It was hard to breathe and felt like someone was pressing their knuckles into my ribs. It was the night after a particularly long day at the beach with my friends during which I had made my way through at least a pack and a half of cigarettes (Peter Jackson Light was my brand). Before this night, obviously, I knew that smoking was bad, but it all just seemed like a big joke and a way to stick it to the man. But lying there on my bed (then eventually on my floor), I realized that my smoking habit was catching up with me. While I did not quit right away, this was a major turning point in my so-called smoking career and one that I would think back on frequently in years to come. Fortunately for me, the decision to move to Korea was the second major turning point in my smoking career and the real impetus to quit for good. Since coming to Korea involved both diving into an unfamiliar culture as well as working around children, it was (and is still) my strong belief that being a smoker would not only create a bad first impression but the wrong impression. While Korea’s liberal attitude toward smoking in the early 2010s certainly tested my resolve, in the past decade there has been a substantial reassessment of smoking policies that has made it easier to not light up. If you enjoy smoking, I have no problem with that. Seriously, just do your thing. But if you are one of the many, many smokers who would like to drop the habit,
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the good news is that in Gwangju and many other parts of the country, the writing is literally on the wall that 2022 is your year to quit. THEN VS. NOW: SMOKING IN KOREA Seollal is a chance to reflect on the upcoming year and also a time to look back. Glancing into the metaphorical rear-view mirror, one of the biggest changes to have taken place in Gwangju, and in Korea as a whole over the past decade, is a reappraisal (at least officially) of smoking. When I first arrived in Korea in 2011, smoking was a lot more accepted and commonplace than it is today. Back in those days, it was very normal to see people smoking in restaurants, bars, noraebang (노래방, karaoke rooms), PC rooms, and many other indoor places. Teachers at one of my elementary schools even used to pop outside between classes for a butt, then come back in reeking of the stuff – a practice that was officially not allowed but tolerated nonetheless. In addition to being allowed to smoke in most places, cigarettes used to be dirt cheap: no more than two-thousand won per pack. Had I not quit smoking mere months before arriving on the peninsula, I would have thought this was smoking heaven. But surely enough, each and every year, there are more and more restrictions that are imposed and enforced. Smoking in restaurants, of course, is a no-no (just like in most indoor places). Many public spaces, especially
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7 parks and walking trails, have no smoking signs all over the place. Somewhere along the line, the price of cigarettes doubled as well (on a side note, they are still less than half the price as in Canada). Surprisingly, these measures have worked pretty well, and while it is still very common to see people smoking in Gwangju, on a day-to-day basis the rate is far lower than a decade ago. As well, those that do choose to smoke often retreat into “smoker alleys” where they can congregate (and disgustingly spit on the ground) in peace. Specifically, within Gwangju, there have been a number of major policy changes that have impacted people’s ability to smoke, my favorite being the designation of many apartment complexes (more than 60 at the time of writing this) as smoke-free living spaces. From what I can tell you, after living in the full gamut of housing types (officetel, live-in office units, where people smoke in the stairwells, a jutaek beside a road that doubled as a smoking area for a local restaurant, an apartment above a bar, etc.), I can say that living in a smoke-free building is wonderful. Even as a former smoker who completely understands the compulsion to smoke (and to a certain extent supports people’s right to smoke), I get furious when someone so much as lights up in my parking lot.
1. Do not put a cigarette in your mouth. 2. Do not light that cigarette on fire.
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Pretty simple stuff. What may actually be more helpful is to think about why to quit. The question of why to quit is a much more powerful motivator, and it is easy to think up a few reasons why you should stop pumping tobacco and nicotine into your lungs, but here are a couple to get you started: If you smoke for a long time, you will almost certainly develop cancer; if you are a smoker, by the time you get into your fifties, you are going to start developing all sorts of health problems; if you are a smoker, you are Big Tobacco’s little tool, and they are laughing at you; smoking smells bad; smoking demonstrates a lack of self-control; smoking is expensive and a waste of money; if you stop smoking, you will be healthier and happier. You get the picture. THE RIGHT TO SMOKE If cigarettes and vaping devices were to be introduced today as new products, it is very unlikely that they would be approved for sale to the general public. But, that is not the world we live in. People have a right to smoke, but once they get addicted (and they will), they do not have a choice to keep smoking. Let me explain:
February 2022
HOW TO QUIT I am not going to run through the various methods people use to quit smoking (they are extremely easy to find), but it is important to highlight a common misconception about quitting smoking. That misconception is that many people would quit if they only knew how to quit. The fact of the matter is that quitting is pretty simple and can be outlined in two steps:
▲ You guessed it, geum-yeon (금연) means “no smoking.” Signs like this are becoming increasingly common in Gwangju.
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VAPING: NOT A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO CIGS While the smoking rate nationwide continues to decrease, vaping has become much more popular, and it is easy to find vape shops all over the city. That vaping has skyrocketed in popularity is not all that surprising since it is marketed under the guise of being more socially acceptable (and healthier) than smoking. But make no mistake, it is still awful for you. When using one of these vape devices, people tend to take huge hits of vaporized nicotine simply because it is a smoother type of smoke. In many ways, vaping reminds me of smoking shisha – a practice that is extremely popular in many parts of the world but thankfully does not seem to have gained much traction in Korea. Whatever the alleged “benefits” of vaping are, the fact still remains that it involves filling your lungs with toxic smoke.
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▲ A “smoker’s alley” in downtown Gwangju. If you want to smoke, get used to hanging out in dirty alleys around people who spit all over the ground. Gross.
BAD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS If you make the good decision to give up smoking, the bad news is that the desire to smoke will never fully go away. I get an occasional desire to smoke, and this is tenplus years after my last cig. The good news is that as time goes on, these desires become increasingly fleeting and your ability to resist the urge will grow stronger, much like a muscle that grows with resistance. To be free from the need to hack butts to get a nic-fix is a wonderful thing. If you want to quit, you can definitely do it if you keep focused on the why. And if you need some extra motivation, just look at all the no-smoking signs around the city: The writing is on the wall.
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February 2022
Nobody in their right mind would dispute that cigarettes (and nicotine) lead to dependence. So, it follows that the more an individual smokes, the less of a “choice” it is and the more of a compulsion it becomes. This does not happen overnight, but it is this pernicious characteristic of smoking that makes it so dangerous. As well, just because you have the “right” to do something does not imply that you should. You can go buy a dozen donuts and stuff them in your face, but that is probably not a good thing to do.
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Photographs by William Urbanski.
The Author
William Urbanski is the managing editor of the Gwangju News. He used to hack butts but has been smoke free for over ten years. @will_il_gatto
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People in the Arts 9
FEATURE
“The Most Personal Is the Most Creative” Inter view by Kang Jennis Hyunsuk
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February 2022
Talking with Artist Kim Mi-ae
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▲ Sure, Why Not! by Kim Mi-ae (2018, acrylic on canvas).
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10 was changed into the Department of Art Theory in the College of Art. I remember that I joined in protesting the school’s policy with my fellow students. After graduating from university, I became a reporter at a broadcasting company, instead of becoming an art teacher. Jennis: Why did you decide to become a reporter? Kim Mi-ae: I had a great opportunity when I was a university senior. A professor, who taught us Western art history, recommended me to participate in a program promoting the Gwangju Biennale. In the program, I had the assignment of interviewing an art director named Jemma Han. That experience served as an opportunity to become a reporter for a TV program introducing restaurants and festivals in Gwangju and Jeollanamdo. But as you know, an interviewer should approach interviewees and ask a lot of questions. This was hard for an introvert like me. So, I quit the job and decided to do the master’s and doctoral programs at the Korea National University of Education. I wanted to study art education beyond the little I had received as an undergraduate student.
▲ Super Mom and Super Daughter, by Kim Mi-ae (2018, acrylic on canvas).
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February 2022
I
n this past year, relatively few art exhibitions were held due to the Covid pandemic, but fortunately, the Gwangju International Art Fair did take place, allowing visitors to see a wide variety of works all in one place. Among the many wonderful art pieces on exhibit, I was much interested in one artist’s works that expressed strong women through pop art. Perhaps this was because of my experience as a member of the Women’s Research Club in my university days. Seeing her works exhibited at the art fair, I wanted to meet the artist, Kim Mi-ae, and listen to the story of her art in detail. I recently had that opportunity; my extremely interesting interview with Artist Kim follows. Jennis: Thank you for making time for this interview. After seeing your artworks at the Gwangju International Art Fair, I became curious about how you came to embrace the theme of women in your works. I would love to hear your art story. Kim Mi-ae: I majored in art education at Chonnam National University. Having liked painting since I was young, I wanted to make a career out of painting. But my parents, who were school teachers, wanted me to be a teacher like them. My parents suggested that painting would still be possible as an art teacher. So, I majored in art education, following my parents’ wishes. However, while attending school, the Department of Art Education
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Jennis: So, you were able to learn how to teach art at last. Kim Mi-ae: Yes, it was a time to realize the importance of art education again. And at that time, I also discovered my desire to create art. I appreciate Professor Choi Chul, who helped me to realize that I had the dream of becoming an artist. However, in the back of my mind, I was still not sure about my ability as an artist because I was majoring in art education, not fine arts.
▲ The One, by Kim Mi-ae (2018, acrylic on canvas).
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11 The times continue to change, and the conflict between the values I learned from my parents and the values I have felt in my present life is constantly confusing to me. But this confusion is surely not just mine. So, I wanted to express the story of women’s social status through selfportraits in my art. Jennis: Your painting of a man in heels and wearing stockings is quite intriguing. Ever since I first saw it, I have wanted to ask you what you wish to convey in that painting. Kim Mi-ae: My painting tells the story of my parents, and it also contains the story of my husband. My husband is a delicate and quiet person. I think he is a person who has a lot of feminine aspects. Married couples seem to make up for the weak points in each other. I think my introverted husband needs a more active wife’s role. This has turned me into a more active woman.
▲ Do Not! by Kim Mi-ae (2019, acrylic on canvas).
Jennis: Your artworks contain difficult themes. I wonder why you chose pop art as a medium for conveying your issues. Kim Mi-ae: Pop artists such as Roy Lichtenstein [1923– 1997], Andy Warhol [1928–1987], Jean Michel Basquiat [1960–1988], and Keith Haring [1958–1990] used thick outlines and speech bubbles to create a new sensation in painting, breaking with traditional art concepts. Just like these pop artists, I hope that my paintings expressing women in this society will raise questions and awareness in their viewers.
February 2022
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Jennis: You said that you would like to gain freedom from the eyes of those who measure women only from the appearance that the world dictates, but some women in your paintings still show beautiful feminine qualities, boldly revealing their sexuality. Kim Mi-ae: I would love to freely express human beauty. However, since I am also a person who has been immersed in the ingrained customs and education of this society, there has been this inner dilemma in expressing human beauty. But this is my mission: to find the beauty in women as being strong, confident, and challenging. I think my art is in the process of breaking away from the long-held social perception engraved upon my body.
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Jennis: It has been said that conceptual art that captures the artist’s thought is the essence of modern art. My niece, who studied fine art in France, told me that in France art college students are not required to be good at art to gain admission. Students there grow into being artists by discussing philosophical, historical, and cultural contents. That might be why I am so interested in your artworks. I wonder whether there is a particular reason for you to paint on the subject of women. What would you like to convey through your art? Kim Mi-ae: People say, “The most personal thing is the most creative one.” With this, I agree. I would like to tell my life-centered story through my art. I grew up in a very conservative family. My parents asked me to behave as a nice girl in order to be “a wise mother and good wife” (현모양처, 賢母良妻), and they placed me under a strict curfew. It was an unbearable restraint for a young girl who was living in the modern world outside home life. They did not even allow me independence before marriage. I love my parents, but in order to gain independence from their excessive affection, I decided to get married. The type of partner I was looking for was a man who could help me to stand on my own. Fortunately, my married life is going well with respect to the two of us, just as I had dreamt.
We have been raised to believe that women should act feminine and men should be masculine. “Men don’t cry. Women should be meek and obedient” – like this, we have set women apart from men. But I have realized that I have some masculinity within me and that some men have feminine facets. In fact, the degree would depend only on the situation or context that each individual is in. What I wanted to do with that painting was bring out the inner man who has had to hide his feminine aspects from others. So, to do this, I combined the image of a strong man with some objects symbolizing femininity.
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12 Jennis: When I was in college, ladies were not supposed to enter billiard halls, and a prevalent myth of the time was “With a woman in the boat, fish cannot be caught.” But these days, we often see older ladies driving tractors and trucks in the country. The world has changed a lot and change will continue. Viewing your artwork conjures up the dichotomy of masculinity and femininity that we have been all too familiar with for such a long time. I thank you for this extensive interview. IN CLOSING… Artist Kim Mi-ae operates an art academy in Gwangju’s Ilgok-dong. She told me that she has more time now to devote to art due to COVID-19. Through her art, she asks what gender is, reminding me of a saying by the philosopher Ivan Illich: “Gender is in every step, in every gesture, not just between the legs.” Photographs courtesy of Kim Mi-ae.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
Select Exhibitions (Among 6 individual, 27 group)
2021 Gwangju International Art Fair, “Art Gwangju 21,” Kim Daejung Convention Center, Gwangju. 2021 “Would You Like Some Ramen?” Mino Gallery, Gwangju. 2021 Seoul International Art Fair, “World Road, K Art Road,” COEX, Seoul. 2021 Democratic Support Solidarity Exhibition with Myanmar Artists, Chonnam National University, Gwangju. 2020 The 6th Young Artist Exhibition, “Light Up,” Buk-gu Office Gallery, Gwangju. 2019 Art Gwangju 19, Kim Daejung Convention Center, Gwangju. 2019 Insa-dong Fair, Insa Art Center, Seoul. 2019 Art Busan, BEXCO, Busan. 2019 Seoul Art Expo, Personal Booth, COEX, Seoul. 2019 “Spirit of Art,” Korea Daily Art Center, Los Angeles, USA. 2018 Daejeon International Art Show, Trade Exhibition Hall, Daejeon. 2017 Seoul Art Show, COEX, Seoul.
▲ You Are the Champion! by Kim Mi-ae (2018, acrylic on arch paper).
Award
Grand Prize: The 15th Ansan International Art Fair
The Interviewer
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Kang Jennis Hyunsuk has been living in Gwangju all her life. She has painted as a hobby for almost a decade, and she has learned that there are so many wonderful artists in Korea. As a freelance interpreter, she would like to introduce the English-speaking world to the diverse sphere of Korean art. @jenniskang
▲ What a Man Is, by Kim Mi-ae (2019, gouache on paper).
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Blast from the Past 13
Jeolla and the Nosa School Combatting Western Influence
EARLY WESTERN INFLUENCE ON KOREA Unlike China and Japan, Korea was long hidden from the eyes of the West due to its geographical seclusion. It was only from the middle of the 19th century that the West actually started to take an interest in Korea. However, the relationship between Korea and European countries was not a friendly one. In fact, their relationship was like that of water and oil. The European countries were filled with imperial aspirations, while Korea’s Joseon government was heavily prohibitive of Western culture.
February 2022
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▲ Portrait of Nosa, Ki Jeong-jin, founder of the Nosa School. (Open Sunchang)
In the mid-19th century, European countries started to send more ships to the Korean coast. Officially, these ships claimed to be exploring the marine ecology, but in reality, they were measuring and investigating the shorelines and coastal regions of Korea in preparation for intrusions of various sorts. In the case of Jeolla Province, the English battleship Samarang unlawfully entered Jeolla waters and monitored several islands near Goheung and Jangheung on the south coast, and a Russian battleship twice invaded Geomun-do (an island near Yeosu). The locals feared these ships because they would often force trade and even plunder villages. In addition, Koreans became more anxious after hearing the news of attacks on Beijing by British and French forces. It was shocking to hear that these Western forces easily seized the capital of a big and powerful country like China.
blast from the past
We often think of Korea’s neo-Confucianism of Joseon Dynasty times as a singular concept, but in actuality, it was more of an umbrella term for the differing schools of thought that existed simultaneously as well as those that developed sequentially during Joseon times. One of these schools of neo-Confucian thought was that of the Nosa School, developed in the Jeolla area by Ki Jeong-jin. Its tenets proved to have a profound influence on late Joseon Dynasty government policy. Resurrected here from the archives of the Gwangju News is a two-part contribution by Hea Ran Won, “The Nosa School and Western Influence” (January 2016) and “The Nosa School and the Opposition Against Western Influences” (February 2016). We hope you enjoy this article on the Nosa School, a part of history that arguably hasn’t received the degree of attention that it deserves. — Ed.
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▲ Gosan Academy in Jangseong where Ki Jeong-jin taught. (Encyclopedia of Korean Culture)
In response, the government of Joseon banned Christianity, which was viewed as the key connection to European countries. Despite severe oppression, however, the number of believers in Korea grew, and the government became wary of its influence. It was feared that Christianity would disrupt the traditional Confucian mindset, and to prevent the further spread of Christianity, the government publicly executed thousands of Christians. European countries saw this oppression as an opportunity to invade Korea. In 1866, Father Felix Clair Ridel, who fled Korea for fear of persecution, informed French Admiral Pierre Roze in Beijing of the massacre of Christians that was happening in Korea. The French admiral decided to attack Korea and even notified the Chinese government not to take any action regarding the planned offensive. The assault by the French fleet lasted three months. Korea managed to secure its capital, but the French plundered Ganghwa Island to the west of Seoul and took away much of its weaponry and many books. This incident further aggravated the relationship between Korea and the West. Originally, Korea was divided into two camps: those who claimed that they should accept Western culture and embrace its advanced technology and weaponry, and those who wanted to prohibit any Western influence. The constant irritation and plundering of the Jeolla coastline and the French campaign against Korea in
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1866 caused the government to side more with those who wanted to prohibit Western influences. This initiated the rise of the Nosa School, which greatly influenced Korean diplomacy for years to come. THE INFLUENCE OF THE NOSA SCHOOL Joseon Korea had ostracized other ideologies since the beginning of the dynasty (1398–1905). Joseon’s politics and social structure were largely based on neo-Confucianism, which criticized other beliefs and religions. Following this logic, Joseon ostracized Buddhism and Taoism, and used neo-Confucianism to maintain and strengthen the authority of the ruling class. In the late 1800s, these beliefs were emphasized due to the advancement of Christianity, which was challenging the traditional values and, along with people’s distrust of European explorers and imperialists, were contributing factors that led to the birth of the Nosa School (노사학파, Nosa-hakpa). The Nosa School followed the logic of neo-Confucianism. Ki Jeong-jin (기정진, 1798–1879) was the founder of the Nosa School and was a well-known neo-Confucian scholar. He was born in Sunchang (North Jeolla Province), and later worked actively just south of there in Jangseong (South Jeolla Province). In his 40s, he published a series of writings that emphasized the function of Yi, the Nosa Collection (노사집, Nosa-jip; Ki’s scholarly moniker was “Nosa”). He believed that Yi (理), which was the reasoning of heaven, provided all of creation and that
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▲ The French Fleet at Ganghwa Island.
to the preservation of Korean culture and the growth of nationalism, it showed clear limitations in widening global insights. The Nosa School’s beliefs deepened conflict with Western imperial powers and formulated brutal policies that killed thousands of Christians in Korea. However, it was also the Nosa School’s beliefs that became the basis of struggles against invasion. Arising from the thought of Ki Jeong-jin in the Jeolla area, the Nosa School spread to form the Joseon government’s strong nationalism and inspire the militias of commoners who fought against coastal intrusions by Western forces in latter 19th century Korea. Arranged by David Shaffer.
▲ Page from a volume of the Nosa Collection, the writings of Ki Jeong-jin. (Encyclopedia of Korean Culture)
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every creation had its own place. Therefore, he saw incidents such as a wife taking her husband’s place, a subject taking his sovereign’s place, or barbarians taking China’s place as causes of the greatest troubles of the world. His writings fascinated many neo-Confucian scholars to the extent that he gathered as many as 600 students who studied his thought. This was the beginning of the Nosa School in the early 1840s. In politics, Ki Jeong-jin mainly argued for centralization of the government and Korean solidarity. He claimed that in order to correct the cultural disorder and defend the country against imperialism, a strong monarch should rule the country. Further, he argued that this strong monarch should care for his citizens as a governess cares for her charges and demanded the fast implementation of reforms that would benefit farmers. However, he also formulated some radical concepts such as the “human–beast theory,” which compared the West and Christians to barbarians or beasts. He argued that only those holding neo-Confucian beliefs were human and that communicating with the West would turn such neo-Confucianists into barbarians, as well. Ki Jeong-jin’s argumentation was supported by Heungseon Daewongun, who was the father of King Gojong and the center of Korean power at the time, and because of this, Korea became much more defensive and skeptical of Western influences. The effectiveness of the Nosa School’s policies is debatable. While the Nosa School contributed
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Like a Ton of Bricks
Hwajeong I-Park Falls from Grace By Isaiah Winters
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
TRAVEL FEATURE
16 16 Lost in Gwangju
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▲ View of Hwajeong I-Park’s collapsed backside and destabilized crane.
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▲ Street view of the collapse from where countless express buses would pass by Hwajeong I-Park daily.
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ast month’s partial collapse of an unfinished apartment tower in Gwangju has rekindled public discourse on the city’s ceaseless, breakneck construction boom. The apartment’s developer, Hyundai Development Company (HDC), was already in the news last year in connection with a demolition project in Gwangju’s Hak-dong that went terribly awry, resulting in nine deaths and eight injuries when a partially demolished building fell on top of a city bus. The latest collapse in Hwajeong-dong, occurring just seven months after the one in Hak-dong, has resulted in at least one death with five people still missing as of this article’s submission. While HDC Chairman Chung Mong-gyu has taken responsibility for the successive
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disasters and resigned from his position, many see his resignation as a mere formality so long as he remains a major shareholder in the company.1 Local civic groups affiliated with last year’s Hak-dong disaster are calling for much more: the detention and investigation of Chung, as well as the expulsion of HDC from the construction industry altogether.2 While the two disasters share core similarities – like subcontracting and appalling safety standards – the Hwajeong I-Park collapse is on another level. First, it took place after construction was over half finished, with floors falling from the 38th story down to around the 22nd. This greatly impugns the quality of the “luxury” I-Park brand, another complex of which is nearing completion
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19 in Gyerim-dong, where construction has been suspended. Meanwhile in Unamdong, HDC’s position as a contractor in the redevelopment project there will likely be cancelled over safety concerns.3 This is a major blow to the company, which was set to begin construction in March. Another major distinction between the two disasters is location, as Hwajeong I-Park is right in the middle of the city’s main transportation, manufacturing, and commercial hub. This means countless express buses connecting Gwangju to the rest of the country had been passing through the shadow of this looming disaster for months, so it truly is a miracle that nothing more severe happened. Now express buses to and from Gwangcheon Terminal have been rerouted to avoid the building’s likely demise – whether by painstaking demolition or further
collapse. What’s for certain is that this eyesore will be a serious hazard and focal point for far longer than the collapse in Hak-dong was.
“The Hwajeong I-Park collapse is on another level.” The area under construction in Hwajeongdong had already long been an eyesore for its seedy clutch of bars, love motels, karaoke rooms, and nightclubs. That image was set to change with Hwajeong I-Park’s construction, which inspired the local housing market’s fiercest competition at an average 68 bidders per unit. The high-end complex’s proximity to Shinsegae Department Store, E-Mart, Geumho World, and the city’s largest bus
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▲ Construction hoists surrounded by debris.
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▲ Workers at the apex of the site’s damaged crane begin the painstaking disassembly process. ▶ A worker helps to dismantle the crane jib involved in the collapse.
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terminal made its location second to none, with some of its apartments costing as much as seven hundred million won. In fact, homebuyers broke the local price record once bidding opened, with a single pyeong (3.3 square meters) costing over 16 million won – a whole two million won above the average price per apartment pyeong in Gwangju.4, 5 Given that Hwajeong I-Park has several other buildings under construction on the same site, one wonders what pricing readjustments are in store should they remain. Looking up at the high-rise’s gaping chasm and suspended debris, you can’t help but empathize with those trying to find the best way forward. As of this article’s submission, the streets around Hwajeong I-Park have been tightly cordoned off and are teaming with police, reporters, and firefighters – 200 of whom are scouring the site daily with rescue dogs.6 In addition to rescue efforts, clean-up and investigative operations are also underway, but with so much more unstable concrete and rebar still teetering on the brink of collapse, coming up with safe, rapid solutions on all fronts is a daunting challenge.
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Photographs by Isaiah Winters.
Sources 1
2
3
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5
6
7
매일경제. (2022, January 18). 사고 6일 만에 현산 회장서 물러난 정몽규… 사태수습엔 역부족 지적. https://
www.mk.co.kr/news/economy/view/2022/01/50676/ An, G. (2022, January 17). 광주 시민단체, ‘면피용 사퇴’ 현산 정몽규 회장 구속수사 요구. 한겨레. https:// www.hani.co.kr/arti/area/honam/1027623.html Yu, S. (2022 January 17). ‘현대산업개발 보이콧’ 운암 3 단지 ‘시선 집중’. 광주드림. https://www.gjdream.com/ news/articleView.html?idxno=612498 Park, Y. (2022, January 13). ‘로또’라며 웃돈 4억 붙었던 광주 화정 아이파크 운명은…. 경향신문. https://m.khan.co.kr/national/national-general/ article/202201130816001 Park, S. (2021, June 23). 광주아파트 평당 분양가 1 천400만원 육박. 무등일보. http://www.mdilbo.com/ detail/joFjOo/649475 Kim, T. (2022, January 18). 광주광역시 화정동 아이파크 붕괴현장 온정 이어져. 연합경베TV. http://m. yonhaptv.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=230834 Cheon, J. (2022, January 16). ‘관행이라는 이름으로…’ 붕괴 사고 편법 재하도급 정황. 연합뉴스. https://www. yna.co.kr/view/AKR20220116026800054
The Author
Born and raised in Chino, California, Isaiah Winters is a pixel-stained wretch who loves writing about Gwangju and Honam, warts and all. He particularly likes doing unsolicited appraisals of abandoned Korean properties, a remnant of his time working as an appraiser back home. You can find much of his photography on @d.p.r.kwangju.
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With so many lives still at risk in Hwajeong-dong, it’s crucial that we name the culprit behind such disasters: rampant expedient subcontracting to save time and money. According to one source, it’s been confirmed that the eight employees pumping and pouring ready-mixed concrete at
Nobody in their right mind would risk so many lives to save a little time and money, but the insanity of the real estate market shows that far too many aren’t in their right minds. For the disaster victims in Hak-dong and Hwajeongdong, let’s get our heads straight.
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Where do you even start with something as precarious as this? For ten days following the January 11 collapse, the accident site had a crane leaning into the building’s hollow exterior wall. At first glance, it seemed like the most unstable piece of the puzzle, as removing the crane might cause the attached wall to further collapse. On my last visit to the site before this issue went to print, the crane’s careful disassembly began. I looked on that day for half an hour, awestruck by the bravery of the workers. Working along the jib and tower apex of a secure crane is already a hazardous task – one requiring workers to constantly fasten and then refasten their safety harnesses to the crane as they move around. The thought that they were attaching themselves to a badly destabilized crane was nothing short of chilling.
the time of collapse worked for an equipment rental company that was only permitted to lend its equipment, not pour concrete, which should have been done directly by the more experienced renter. Luckily, these eight employees were evacuated in time, but six others working below on windows and doors weren’t.7
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Photo Essay
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February 2022
FEATURE
“Mother of June”
▲ Bae Eun-sim speaks at Yonsei University in Seoul on June 9, 2020, in commemoration of her son’s death. There, she declared, “Democracy does not simply happen. It arrives one step at a time, stained with people’s blood and tears and sweat.” (Photo courtesy of Lee Han Yeol Memorial Museum, (사)이한열기념사업회)
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▲ Citizens showing support for Lee Han-yeol’s sacrifice for democracy in downtown Gwangju. (Photo by Bitgaram News, 빛가람뉴스)
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Bae was pushed into the spotlight of the democratization movement in 1987 when her son, Lee Han-yeol, a student activist, died from being hit with a teargas canister fired by riot police during a June rally on the Yonsei University campus. Lee’s death sparked the June Democratic Struggle against the strong-armed rule of Chun Doo-hwan, who had come to power through a 1979 military coup and was the man behind the ruthlessness of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising.
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wangju mourned the death of a rather quiet but determined champion for democracy early last month: Bae Eun-sim; she was 82. Attending the funeral wake at the Chosun University Hospital funeral facility were President Moon Jae-in and other prominent political figures.
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▲ Funeral portrait of Bae Eun-sim with the Moran Medal certificate (right), awarded to her by President Moon Jae-in in June 2020. (Photo courtesy of Bitgaram News, 빛가람뉴스)
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With the death of her son, Bae carried on with the country’s fight for democracy, earning her the moniker “Mother of June.” While serving as chair of the Korea Association of Bereaved Families for Democracy, Bae led a 422-day sit-in in front of the National Assembly in Seoul. Her efforts helped in enacting legislation looking into suspicious deaths of pro-democracy figures and the restoration of honor to persons involved in democratization movements.
In a 2009 KBS interview, Bae was quoted as saying, “I always think that I am not alone, that Han-yeol is with me.” Two years ago, she received from President Moon the Moran Medal, the nation’s second-highest Order of Civil Merit. Bae was interred in Gwangju’s Mangwoldong Cemetery, where her son also rests. May she rest in peace, as Korea now rests in relative peace and democracy, to which Bae Eun-sim and her son have made no small contribution. Text by David Shaffer.
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▲ Citizens paying respect to the late Mrs. Bae Eun-sim at the memorial altar set in downtown Gwangju. (Photo by Bitgaram News, 빛가람뉴스)
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February 2022
▲ Bae Eun-sim speaks at Lee Han-yeol Memorial Day at Yonsei University in June 7, 1991. (Photo courtesy of Lee Han Yeol Memorial Museum, (사)이한열기념사업회)
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26 Language Teaching
The Guest English Teachers’ Program
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February 2022
TEACHING & LEARNING
Inter view with Program Manager Jonathan Moffett
N
ative English-speaking teachers in Korea are not something new. They made an early splash in Korea when the government invited the U.S. Peace Corps to supply them to public schools and universities (1966–1980). After outside assistance was no longer necessary, Korea developed its own program of placing expat English teachers in its public schools – commonly referred to as “EPIK” (English Program in Korea). Now we hear of “Gwangju Guest English Teachers,” and to understand the program better, we have interviewed the program manager, Jonathan Moffett. Interviewer: Thank you for making time for this interview, Jonathan. In this interview, I would like to delve into the Gwangju Guest English Teachers’ (GET) Program and your relation to it. But first of all, could you tell us a little about your life before coming to Korea? Jonathan: No problem at all. Well, I came to Korea basically immediately after I graduated from university in the United States, my home country. I originally studied psychology, and after a year abroad, teaching here and traveling, I was planning on going to graduate ▲ Jonathan Moffett school in psychology in the US, but I ended up changing directions completely and decided to pursue a career in education as a result of the positive experiences I had had with education in Korea. I am originally from a small town in the United States named after a specific breed of cattle: Hereford. Interviewer: So, what motivated you to come to Korea rather than to the many other destinations there are for
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teaching and travel? Did you originally come in the EPIK program? Jonathan: Well, I will answer the second part of the question first. I did indeed originally come through EPIK – I applied directly. What motivated me to do so, and how I knew about the EPIK program itself, was a little more fortuitous. In a nutshell, I found out that I needed to take two full semesters of a foreign language as a requirement to graduate my university. I had assumed my three years of Spanish and one year of Latin from high school were enough to fulfill the requirement, but apparently there were some recent policy changes. I did not find out about the change in graduation requirements until the only possible language classes remaining open for registration were Korean 101 and Intermediate German. Speaking no German, I went with Korean. Through this course, I ended up meeting a lot of Korean exchange students and became close to quite a few. My Korean professor, Dr. Grace Howard, was also super great, and I had an awesome relationship with her. Dr. Grace was very supportive and ultimately let me know about the opportunity to apply to EPIK, and more or less strongly nudged me to do so. Without her help, I never would have ended up here. Interviewer: So, you originally did come through the EPIK program. I am somewhat confused with the terminology related to your program. There is “Gwangju EPIK,” but I also see “GET Program” and “GICCE.” How do they differ, or do they differ? Jonathan: This is quite a confusing point for virtually everyone. To put it simply, EPIK (English Program in Korea) essentially now functions almost exclusively as a recruiter for Korea’s National Institute of International Education (NIIED), the real “power” behind the scenes. NIIED is responsible for accepting or denying applicants that EPIK delivers to them. EPIK used to be more expansive and responsible for more back in the day, but its role has been gradually decreased to it now basically
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27 being just a government-based recruiter. It is kind of strange because so many people use a recruiter to get accepted to EPIK, which is essentially a recruiter itself. The bit about GICCE is also confusing, but I hope less so once I explain it. “GICCE” stands for “Gwangju Institute of Creative Convergence Education,” which is a division of the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education (GMOE). Just a few years ago, almost every Gwangju public school teacher was employed directly by the GMOE, but now due to department changes and shuffling, the GICCE is technically our employer, though the GICCE itself is just a division of the GMOE. Interviewer: All right. That makes the letters in the alphabet soup a bit clearer: GET rather than EPIK. What are the main goals of the GET Program? Jonathan: I have never actually been told of any “main goals” of the program. However, many of our teachers are most assuredly making a positive impact on the lives of many students, and I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to work in the program for so long. Interviewer: I believe co-teaching or team-teaching is emphasized for GETs? How well is that being actualized?
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Jonathan: Wow. This is a great question, but I am going to stick to a very dull answer: “It depends.” If I must give an answer regarding what teachers like most about the program, I think something that I appreciated a lot myself when I was teaching was having a GET program manager available whose main purpose was essentially just to help GETs – not to mention the very generous vacation package (26 days), sick days (11 days), and very competitive salaries. The biggest challenge would probably be the fact that almost all of our teachers are the only NET at their workplace, which can often feel very isolating, granting that the forced cultural immersion might have other positives. Interviewer: You have spent the past year in a new position – that of GET program manager. What exactly is your role, or roles, as program manager? Jonathan: Well, this is a bit harder to answer. I honestly do a lot of things. My main function is essentially to coordinate and communicate matters between the GICCE and the NETs. I have met other coordinators from different provinces who actually teach full-time in addition to being a coordinator or program manager, but I think they actually do far less than I do as far as administrative matters are concerned. As the Gwangju program manager, I do everything from helping set up bank accounts for our new teachers and helping get ARCs [alien registration cards] issued at the immigration office to organizing training sessions and workshops, coordinating special events, intervening and giving counsel if disputes arise, assisting with creating and sending out paychecks, creating and providing official documents, translating official documents written in Korean, assisting with housing matters, answering the constant emails and phone queries, and substitute teaching at the Online Center and English
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There is often a lack of time to co-plan lessons together and engage in feedback about each lesson in such a way that each teacher involved is really bringing their best to the table – not to mention that the starting expectations about what even constitutes “team-teaching” or “co-teaching”
Interviewer: What aspects do GETs like most about the program? And what are the biggest challenges for them – in or outside of teaching in Korea?
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Jonathan: Aha! I love talking about this. I actually did a research study on team-teaching here in South Korea, so I feel pretty well equipped to answer this question. To be frank, the extent to which team-teaching or co-teaching (whatever you want to call it) is utilized effectively really depends on each individual team-teaching pair’s synergy, relationship, and expectations. I have worked with over 40 co-teachers directly, and each team-teaching relationship was more different than similar. There is actually a manual that is released each year for all Korean teachers who work with a native English teacher (NET) that gives pretty vague tips about what they should be doing as far as co-teaching is concerned – things such as “teach well together,” and “teach in a way that balances one another’s strengths and weaknesses.” The problem with this is that it can be interpreted in any number of ways by different teachers who may have different perspectives. The general impression that new EPIK teachers get during orientation tends to be of this team-teaching utopia in which the Korean English teacher implements highly adaptive and responsive pedagogy that perfectly complements that of the NET, but this almost never actually happens.
is almost always different. Discussing what constitutes good team-teaching is even more befuddling. I guess the gist of what I am trying to say is that there is no perfect recipe or formula that is being actively endorsed for our teachers here, besides EPIK’s “magical paradise” model of team-teaching that NETs get fed upon arrival. That said, I do what I can to help the new teachers have appropriate expectations once I meet them and have some time to talk. I think the key to successful team-teaching is really just open communication and flexibility. Sometimes it is beneficial for the students, and sometimes not, depending on what the students’ specific educational goals are. For example, in middle schools especially, test culture can sometimes minimize the limelight that co-teaching should really get to be more impactful for the students.
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28 The first, is that as NETs we are mostly responsible for teaching listening and speaking through communicative means. As such, adapting our materials and lesson delivery to be amenable to the online format was quite a challenge. Something like reading or writing would have been much simpler to adjust to the online format. Another factor that played into this was that we do not really assign homework as NETs or have access to grading our students on a consistent level, so there was no way we could really give assignments to our students and ensure that they did them. I know I spent hours and hours on each single 45-minute online lesson, and many of my students never even bothered to watch it because there was no motivation to do so. Interviewer: What do you do in your spare time, if spare time is something that you actually have?
▲ Jonathan’s daily walking course near the foot of Mudeung Mountain.
Experience Center. I could really go on. I do a little bit of everything. Literally anything that concerns our NETs I am involved with on some level. This is actually the reason why I think being in a program like ours with a full-time GET program manager is so beneficial. The teachers are never really alone.
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Interviewer: How big is Gwangju’s GET program, and has it been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? Jonathan: Currently, we have 82 teachers – though we used to be much bigger. Surprisingly, the pandemic has done little to affect our numbers because, if anything, it has made our retention rates much higher. Now, that is just numbers! The actual experience of being a teacher during the pandemic has certainly been variable for everyone. I do not know who has not been at least somewhat affected by the pandemic. What I am thankful for, though, is that we have pretty great job security during the course of our contracts. I was never worried about losing my job during the contract period while teaching. Interviewer: How difficult was it for GET program teachers to suddenly adjust to teaching in a pandemic? Jonathan: When the pandemic first began, I was still teaching, so I can answer this from a personal perspective. I think it was really difficult for a couple of reasons.
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Jonathan: Not yet a family man, I certainly have some spare time once I clock out for the day. Usually, I do some light exercise in my home, go for walks, eat delicious food, watch Netflix or YouTube, play some video games, read books, practice Korean, or go hiking. I actually live really close to Mudeung Mountain, which is something I am thankful for almost every day. Hiking in Korea is really a blessing. I think the availability of it is just wonderful. At home in the US, I would have to drive quite a way to get an actual hiking experience. Interviewer: Though I have been here in Korea since before EPIK was established, I have learned a lot about it – and about you – through this interview. Thank you, Jonathan! Interviewed by David Shaffer. Photograph and graphics courtesy of Jonathan Moffett.
The Interviewer
David Shaffer has been involved in TEFL and teacher training in Gwangju for many years. As vice-president of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter of KOTESOL, he invites you to participate in the chapter’s teacher development workshops (now online) and in KOTESOL activities in general. He is a past president of KOTESOL and is currently the editor-in-chief of the Gwangju News.
GWANGJU-JEONNAM KOTESOL UPCOMING EVENTS Check the Chapter’s webpages and Facebook group periodically for updates on chapter events and other online KOTESOL activities. For full event details: Website: http://koreatesol.org/gwangju Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL
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Learning Korean 29
Everyday Korean Episode 50
발이 참 넓구나. “You Really Are a Social Butterfly.” By Harsh Kumar Mishra
Grammar Points
네하: Neha:
N~밖에 없어요.
언니, 왜 그래요? 무슨 일 있어요? Eonni, what happened? Is everything alright?
This grammar point is attached to a noun and expresses that something is limited to that specific
정민: 영어하고 스페인어 번역 인력을 급하게 구해야 하는데 찾기 너무 힘들어. Jeongmin: I need to urgently find English and Spanish translators, but it’s too difficult to find any.
noun. It is another way of expressing “only” in Korean. The nuance of this expression is somewhat similar to “nothing but (that noun).” Ex: 지갑에 5천 원밖에 없어요. I only have 5,000 won in my wallet.
네하: Neha:
갑자기 번역 인력은 왜요? Why do you suddenly need translators?
정민: 회사 제품 설명서를 번역해야 해서 그래. Jeongmin: Our company has to translate its brochure, that’s why.
저는 한국 친구가 한 명밖에 없어요.
TEACHING & LEARNING
The Conversation
I only have one Korean friend.
발이 넓다. This is not a grammar point but a commonly used Korean language idiom, which means “to
네하: Neha:
제가 아는 미국인 친구하고 멕시코 친구한테 물어볼까요? Should I ask my American and Mexican friends?
have a wide circle” or “to know many people.” Ex: 민지 씨가 발이 넓어서 광주에서 모르는 사람이 없어. Minji is a social butterfly, so there is
네하: Neha:
네, 둘 다 한국어를 아주 잘해요. Yeah, they both are really good at Korean.
The Author Harsh Kumar Mishra is a linguist and Korean language educator. He teaches Korean with TOPIKGUIDE.com and LEARNKOREAN.in.
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Vocabulary 번역
translation
인력
human resource(s)
급하게
urgently
구하다
to seek (to find = 찾다)
힘들다
to be difficult
갑자기
suddenly
회사
company
제품 설명서
brochure, manual
물어보다
to ask
소개하다
to introduce
February 2022
정민: 그럼 소개해 줘. 난 너밖에 없다. Jeongmin: Then please introduce them to me. What would I do without you!
no one in Gwangju she doesn’t know.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
정민: 진짜? 네하는 발이 참 넓구나. 친구들이 한국어도 잘해? Jeongmin: For real? You really are a social butterfly. Are your friends good with Korean, too?
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30 Teaching and Learning
Flipping the Classroom Walking in Students’ Shoes
O
n returning in January 2021 from a two-year stint back home in England, I noticed my Korean language skills had seriously faded. The frustration of struggling to find words again told me loud and clear: This language learning fossil needed an urgent booster shot of Korean. An internet search for available Korean language classes in Gwangju revealed only a couple of viable options: language exchange by Zoom or a face-to-face class at the Gwangju International Center (GIC). Having had quite enough of Zooming of late, the GIC class it had to be. Fortunately, the application process was very smooth, consisting of a simple, self-administered level test from the GIC website and then selecting a time that suited me. The GIC staff were quick to reply by email and managed to squeeze me in at the last minute to join a Saturday class.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
TEACHING & LEARNING
By Chris Judd
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It was from here on that the lessons really began, but not just in terms of studying Korean. I quickly realized that this experience would provide a great opportunity to pick up some teaching tips and insights along the way. I had flashbacks to why I fell in love with teaching as a new EPIK teacher in Pohang back in 2012. It was while learning Korean in classes at POSTECH, and at language exchange meetups in cafes, that I experienced what fun and power there was in learning a language. This realization energized my
teaching practice and eventually made me join Korea TESOL to help develop my craft. LESSON 1: FIRST DAY NERVES After packing my bag in the morning, as I approached the GIC, the old familiar first lesson nerves kicked in. Who would be in my class? How would the teacher be? Having not been a student for some time, this gave me a good chance to empathize with how the students in my English classes at Chosun University must feel. Luckily, the class had a relaxed vibe, so after a quick round of selfintroductions, everyone in the class quickly settled. This must be a nervous time for freshman, too, so this was a reminder to be especially kind and patient in those first lessons of the semester. LESSON 2: BE UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR STUDENTS On the morning of the first lesson, I made a string of rookie errors – far from ideal when you are a teacher and know the value of making a good first impression with your new teacher and classmates. Having signed up at the last minute, not yet having bought the textbook, and
▲ Cookie decorating: A fun Christmas activity that created a fun mood for chatting in Korean.
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31
▲ GIC Korean Class Certificate: The completion certificate given at the end of the course.
▲ Presentation: Receiving my completion certificate.
LESSON 3: MAKE VISUAL MATERIALS SIMPLE Once lessons were underway, I felt the importance of another crucial part of second language lessons from the student perspective: keeping visual materials simple. Our teacher used very effective PowerPoint presentations with simple and clear examples of target expressions and nice photos. Compared to the textbook examples, these PowerPoints were a lot easier to make sense of
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LESSON 4: MAKE SOME TIME FOR FUN AND RELAXATION The last tip I picked up was to do something that is pure fun and not learning-focused at all. As we finished the course the week before Christmas, the teacher prepared a cookie decorating activity. It was during this time that we got to practice the most free-flowing, spontaneous conversations in Korean, with the cookie decorating turning into a sideshow.
Photographs by Chris Judd. Chris Judd is an ESL teacher and researcher who returned from his native UK to live in Gwangju in 2021. He has lived in five different cities in Korea over an eight-year period, enjoying learning a bit of the language and getting out and about on family trips along the way.
February 2022
“This warm welcome reminded me to be mindful of our students’ current circumstances.”
and something we could use as a bridge to making our own examples in pair work, which we were frequently encouraged to do. This personalizing of expressions was also a lot more fun for us students than simply going through the book.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
never having been to the GIC before, I left myself too much to do. Having parked the car a fair distance away, I speed-walked to the GIC, planning to visit a nearby bookshop to get the textbook on route. First problem, the bookshop was closed. After this setback and deciding that I would pop out at the break to get the book, I carried on to the GIC. Second problem, it was much further than I had thought, and I was walking down the wrong road. After all this, I finally arrived at the classroom, almost 15 minutes late and somewhat disheveled. Luckily, the teacher was very welcoming, greeting me kindly with “Finally a male student!” and arranged for photocopies of the book for those without for the first lesson. This warm welcome reminded me to be mindful of our students’ current circumstances; they may just be having a bad morning when they arrive late without the required materials.
So, overall, I got much more than the booster shot of Korean I had bargained for. I got a healthy reminder of how students experience lessons and some great reminders of tips to take into my classroom for the coming semester. If you are looking to take a Korean language class, I wholeheartedly recommend the GIC lessons; you may just benefit your teaching skills, too.
The Author
2022-01-24 �� 1:25:26
FOOD & DRINKS
32 Restaurant Review
1st Recipe
Where Mediterranean Cuisine Meets Korea
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
By Melline Galani
T
hough situated on two different continents, Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, and Korea have more in common than one may think: They are all peninsulas and they have four seasons, but what brings them together is food and their common passion for noodles, pastas, and rice. And, if you have lived here for a while, you know that Italian-style restaurants are hot spots for dates and other significant outings. Downtown Gwangju is a great area for trying different cuisines from Japan, China, Vietnam, the USA, Italy, and of course, Korea. Since I am always in search of nice places to eat, I like to explore what our amazing City of
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Light has to offer. Among the places I enjoy eating at is 1st Recipe, a Mediterranean fusion restaurant situated on the second floor of a building near Wedding Street, just a three-minute walk from the Asia Culture Center, Exit 3. The place has been around for some time and is well known in the neighborhood. The moment you step inside, you are welcomed by nice decorations (especially during Christmas time), beautiful plants, and a smiling staff who are always eager to help you and make your visit comfortable. If you are lucky enough to meet the owner in person, the experience will become perfect. I have not seen such a warmhearted and
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33 kind individual in a while. The ambiance is warm and cozy, giving the place a home-like feeling. The restaurant is spacious and the tables are remotely arranged, making the dining experience not only pleasant but also safe, considering social distancing regulations. The food menu is diverse, offering a wide range of options like fresh salads, pilaf, pastas, pizzas, and steak accompanied by an extensive selection of drinks – liquors, wines, and other beverages – to meet all tastes. All recipes are fusion-style Mediterranean food to meet the tastes of the locals. Some of the combinations are quite interesting. Since I like greens, I always order salads too, but be aware that the size is quite large, I would say for 2–3 people. I could never eat one by myself no matter how hungry I might be. Their servings are more than enough, so one will not leave the place unsatisfied. Appetizers are on the house and so are coffee or teas after the meal. Moreover, you will get a pack of Mentos on your way out. The pizza crust they make is different, being made of puff pastry and not dough, but it is nevertheless appetizing. I also enjoyed their assorted pastas, especially the lasagna, since it is among my favorite foods. Their pilaf is also delicious,
▲ Margerita pizza
especially if it is spicy. Honestly, the entire menu is inviting, making the eating experience very enjoyable. My favorite items include the salads, lasagna, vongole, carbonara, rose sauce pastas, and paella, the most popular dish of Spain, which is a blend of rice, saffron, vegetables, and seafood mixed in a delicious way. Adding a glass of wine to the meal makes the culinary experience pure pleasure. Prices are more than reasonable, ranging from 15,000 up to 35,000 won for the steak. The servings are more than generous, and the food is appetizing. One glass of red or white wine is just 3,000 won. If you are in downtown Gwangju and feel like sampling something other than Korean food, then give this restaurant a try. With nice staff, savory food, substantial servings, diverse and complex dishes, and decent prices, there is nothing more one could ask for. Photographs by Melline Galani. w
▲ Shrimp risotto
Address: Chungjang-ro An-gil 44-1 (Hwanggeum-dong 76-2), Dong-gu, Gwangju 광주 동구 충장로 안길 44-1 (황금동 76-2) Operating Hours: 11:00–22:30, closed Tuesdays Phone: 062-234-4567; 010-2222-9878 Instagram: @1strecipe_master
The Author
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February 2022
▲ Salmon salad
Melline Galani is a Romanian enthusiast, born and raised in the capital city of Bucharest, and currently living in Gwangju. She likes new challenges and learning interesting things, and she is incurably optimistic. She enjoys tasty food and is always in search of great places to dine, and 1st Recipe is one of the places she likes to eat at. @melligalanis
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
1st Recipe (퍼스트레시피)
2022-01-24 �� 1:25:27
34 Opinion
Return of the Kings
In The Matrix Resurrections, Neo Reclaims His Title of Cinema’s Greatest Hero
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
COMMUNITY
By William Urbanski
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T
he Matrix is the best movie ever made – far greater than The Godfather or even Citizen Kane. In addition, The Matrix trilogy, when considered as a whole, is the apotheosis of not only cinema, but of storytelling as a uniquely human phenomenon. If every Star Wars movie were combined with every single Star Trek book, comic book, TV show, and movie ever made, it would amount to no more than a stain on Neo’s underpants. To call The Matrix a mere cinematographic masterpiece would be an affront to the intellectual faculties of language and thought. It is the perfect movie, featuring the perfect cast, and each installment was released at the perfect time. The best chance humanity has to come closer together as a species is to study the lessons and implications of The Matrix films with the focus of a laser beam. It is difficult to articulate the impact that The Matrix (the best movie ever made) and its sequels (Reloaded and Revolutions) have had on me, my world-view, and my personal development. That is why the announcement of a further addition to The Matrix canon filled me not only with excitement, but with a renewed belief in the inherent goodness of mankind. Instead of just reviewing The Matrix Resurrections, I would like to divide this article into two parts. The first part (written before I saw the new installment on Christmas Day) is a tribute to and celebration of the original Matrix trilogy and an explanation of why I expect Resurrections to be a pivotal moment in the history of multicellular life on Earth. The second part, written after watching the movie, will comprise some deep reflections on Resurrections and of the nature of reality itself.
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35 escape from the perceived “real world.” When he awakens in his pod, the cords that provide life support break away, representing the casting away of physical and societal shackles. The religious themes (gratuitously borrowed from Christianity, but also from Buddhism and Taoism) are also not subtle but are tastefully presented in a way that does not patronize the audience. During a particularly well-known scene (for die-hard Matrix fans anyway), a character even refers to Thomas Anderson as his “savior” and “his own personal Jesus Christ.” Some of my personal favorite allusions are that a main villain in the first film is named “Cypher” (similar to “Lucifer”), and “Trinity” is a direct reference to the Holy Trinity. I could go on and on and on for days about all the brilliant, timely, and outright genius ways the story incorporates narratives and concepts central to the human experience, but the main takeaway here is that the rich tapestry of intellectual and religious ideas woven into the story is like nothing else before or after it.
▲ Downtown Gwangju on Christmas Day: Millions of people just living out their lives.
PART ONE - THE MATRIX: PERFECTION IN MOVIE-MAKING Note: Spoilers ahead, but seriously, if you have not seen this movie by February, you are blowing it anyway.
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PART TWO – THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS On a cold and clear Saturday afternoon that just happened to be Christmas Day, my wife and I strolled down to the lovely Geumnam-ro CGV. Walking downtown, seeing the streets filled with people, I could not help but think it was just like old times, or at least pre-pandemic times. Even the theater, which has been virtually empty during every movie I have been to over the last two years, had a good number of people in it – at least half full. Maybe it would
February 2022
It is no secret that The Matrix is built around major philosophical and religious concepts. Pluto’s cave allegory, as an obvious example, is mirrored by Neo’s
Before even seeing the new movie, I can say with absolute confidence that any attempt to extend this storyline is a gargantuan intellectual effort worthy of abundant and sincere praise. That the screenwriters of The Matrix did not receive a Nobel Prize for literature has Alfred Nobel turning over in his grave.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
While it would be extremely difficult to elucidate in a single article why The Matrix is the epitome of the motion picture industry, if Thomas Anderson (aka Neo, aka Keanu Reeves) has taught me anything, it is that anything is possible, so try I must. More than just a movie, The Matrix is a focal point of philosophical concepts, religious narratives, crucial societal themes, kung fu, ground-breaking special effects, and a love story far greater and more impactful than Romeo and Juliet and The Titanic combined. The only way to approach an even scanty appreciation of the beautiful amalgam that is The Matrix is to understand it as more than the sum of its parts.
At this point, it behooves me to address some of the controversy surrounding the sequels to the original Matrix film. Criticisms of The Matrix sequels are unfounded nonsense. In fact, it is my strong personal contention that they should be considered as a single movie that just happened to be broken up into three parts. What is hilarious is that while everyone loved the first movie because of the punch-kick kung fu and bullettime explosions, the second and third ones came out and suddenly everyone was Siskel and Ebert, complaining that they were not as good as the first. Well, guess what? Nothing under the clear blue sky could ever have been as good as the original Matrix. What these ridiculous claims about the second and third movies really make me think of is, just like the love between Neo and Trinity, when you love something, you have to love all of it, not just the parts you happen to enjoy the most.
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36 have been better to avoid crowded areas with all the omicron-a-bing-bong hysteria, but I had a movie to see. As for the movie itself, in the words of Keanu Reeves: “Whoa.” A lot to unpack in this one. While I am still processing it, a couple of salient features are worth writing down while still fresh in my mind. Upon close reflection, at the end of The Matrix Revolutions, the Wachowski brothers (who incidentally are now the Wachowski sisters – a story for another day) had painted themselves into a corner by, you know, killing off the two main characters. No matter what, it was going to be very difficult to continue the canon without resorting to deus ex machina. While I did find Resurrections to be extremely self-referential, at times to the point of being self-congratulatory, folding the story back on itself was an extremely clever way to explain how Neo and Trinity were, you know, suddenly not dead anymore.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
“In these crazy and uncertain times, what the world needs is more stories like The Matrix.” There were definitely some things in there I did not absolutely love, such as the ridiculous reappearance of the disheveled Merovingian and his henchmen. This guy had his time in the spotlight and should have walked off into the sunset while he had his chance. Also, the sentient robots that were helping the crew: What the hell was that all about? One of these sentient robots resembled a giant stick bug, and when a crew member gave him a fist bump, I actually cringed a little bit. These stupid robots reminded me of Jar Jar Binks of Star Wars notoriety: completely annoying. There are some other little nitpicky things in the film I did not care for, but let us be real: The Matrix has always pushed the envelope in terms of cinematic production and plot devices, and some of the stuff probably went a little over my head. As well, if the film had just given me what I wanted, that would not have been what I wanted.
great thinkers have concluded that the ultimate nature of reality is inherently contradictory, and I think on a deep level, that is what was reflected in this movie. Second, what these game geeks and nerds conveniently forgot in their fancy-dancy YouTube videos and high-and-mighty reviews published in major international newspapers is the real reason people see movies. When people go to see a movie, they do not care about such things as the “story,” the “plot,” and the “dialogue.” What they want to see are the stars. If you’ve got stars, you’ve got a great movie. Given the extreme thirst for Matrix content, Lana Wachowski (the film’s director who used to be named “Larry”) could have made a movie of Carrie-Anne Moss reading the phone book and people still would have been lining up around the block to see it. CONCLUSIONS In the end, The Matrix franchise is more than just a bunch of movies: It embodies a generational zeitgeist. Each film is a work of art and a medium that blurs the lines between entertainment and philosophy, thought and experience, reality and, um, unreality. It follows that Resurrections is not just a movie: It is a time capsule that helps us travel back to a simpler period in our lives and reflect on just how far we have come and just how much the world has changed in the past twenty years. In these crazy and uncertain times, what the world needs is more stories like The Matrix. Stories that make us laugh, love, and cry together. Stories that make us think. Stories that make us squirm ever so slightly in our easy chairs and sometimes even seize us, shake us, and snap us out of our trivial preoccupations. We need stories that remind us of a fundamental truth: There is no spoon. Photograph by William Urbanski.
The Author
William Urbanski is the managing editor of the Gwangju News and an unapologetic Matrix fanboy. ooo@will_il_gatto
Now, in the interest of writing a well-researched and balanced opinion article, I did read and watch a number of, shall we say, “unfavorable reviews” of Resurrections. Suffice to say, there were a number of iconoclasts who had some strong and negative opinions of the film, throwing around some big words such as “nonsensical” and “contradictory” when referring to the plot. Well, two things about that: First, on a philosophical note, many
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2022-01-24 �� 1:25:29
Local Entrepeneur 37
COMMUNITY
▲ In the background lies the former banquet hall, where newly joined families came together and toasted the bride and groom.
Written by Ryan Berkebile
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February 2022
Author’s note: My wife and I recently returned to Korea from a quick trip back to the United States to visit my parents. In the middle of our trip, the Korean government re-enacted mandatory quarantining for those entering or returning to the country. Once we returned, we had no choice but to stay shut in our apartment for the next ten days. Luckily, my wife works from home, so she continued to be a bread earner, but I couldn't go to my English teaching job, leaving me with a lot of time on my hands. As an urban explorer who loves being out and about traversing the forgotten and leftbehind areas of Korea, I needed to do something that maintained a sense of normalcy while also sustaining my passion for documenting and sharing my adventures. To stay sane while being cooped up, I decided to catch up on past urban exploration adventures by writing a daily post during quarantine for my blog at longdistancerunner.org. For you, fellow Gwangju News readers, I present some text and photos from an adventure to a semi-abandonment in Yeongamgun last July. I hope you enjoy this article, the fruits of endless amounts of time isolated from the (abandoned) world.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
The Quarantined Future
2022-01-24 �� 1:25:30
38
T
he essential moral imperative in the urban exploration subculture is to keep the exact location of abandonments secret. You never know what kind of troublemaker will ruin sites (through vandalism or graffiti) and bring negative attention to the whole urbex community. Of course, there are always some exceptions to sharing location information with the world. The reasons are countless and warrant an article in itself, but this isn’t the place, and I want to share with you a site that deserves some love and attention – some needed business as it’s barely hanging on.
At one time, a vast buffet and another undetermined restaurant offered sustenance to a hungry and tired vacationer. These days, the rest stop area is bare bones, only equipped to meet the basic biological needs of the passerby. A bathroom and a minimally stocked convenience store are all that survive. A dull cop statue resembling a California Highway Patrol officer, withering from the elements, stands between the rest area and wedding complex, guarding both with his hand ready to draw his gun.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
If you ever find yourself on National Road 13 in Yeongamgun, more specifically Yeongam-eup, and feel up for some low-stress, easy urban exploration adventures, set your sights for the Cheongpungwon Rest Area. This rest area was a one-stop location for food, groceries, swimming, and weddings (yes, you read that correctly). In the 1990s and early 2000s, I imagine this place was once a constant hub of activity for summer travelers en route to destinations like Jindo or Wando. Perhaps there was a big market for combination wedding hall/wedding parks, akin to the boat-shaped restaurant trend around the same time.
I don’t know if the Cheongpungwon Wedding Hall and adjoining water park were related to the rest area, but a shared parking lot linked them. Imagine an enterprising visionary who integrated roadside dining and the carefree frenzy of a waterpark with the grace and formality of a wedding/banquet hall. Theoretically, the entrepreneur took full advantage of the God-given right to participate in the free market by making the most money possible by casting a wide net for clientele. In my weird mind, it’s ideal where antsy kids are encouraged to frolic around after being on their best behavior during the exchange of wedding vows. If I were still a kid, this wedding hall/ waterpark would be the perfect place for a summer wedding.
▲ Take a walk down the aisle... of great savings! Next page, clockwise from top left: ▶ Looking towards the wedding hall, where vendors have a rummage sale on both floors. A weathered policeman remains on guard between the rest area and the wedding complex. The author seriously considered purchasing an Olympic outfit for Halloweens in the years to come.
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39
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
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40
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February 2022
▲ A quick peek inside the banquet hall.
The wedding hall/waterpark also has faint signs of life. While the banquet hall and duel swimming pools lay in decay, in the building where brides and grooms once exchanged vows, a rummage sale stood in its place. An assortment of randomness was on sale: practical merchandise like gardening supplies sat next to traditional Korean-style folding screens and viewing stones, known in Korea as suseok (수석).
“Imagine an enterprising visionary who integrated roadside dining and the carefree frenzy of a waterpark with the grace and formality of a wedding/banquet hall.” While I enjoyed glancing at the suseok, the adventure began on the second floor, where the current tenets displayed secondhand clothing. In the thrill of the hunt, we found a used Pyeongchang Olympics running suit –
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the ones worn by the torchbearers. I seriously considered buying it to have a costume for Halloween during my visit. I also saw a Montreal Expos baseball cap but failed to pull the trigger, rationalizing I didn’t need two. If you find yourself in the area on the way to the coast and need a reason to rest, why not stop by this semiabandonment and check out the goods for sale? At the very least, you’ll have a safe, mini urbex adventure, and if good luck shall bless you, an Olympic tracksuit or a cap for a defunct baseball club awaits you. Photographs by Ryan Berkebile.
The Author
When not cooped up in his apartment quarantine, Ryan Berkebile enjoys taking photos while exploring the forgotten and leftbehind areas around Korea. Ryan recently put out the third issue of his photo zine, The Bulldozed Future. He’s currently at work on the fourth issue. You can follow him on @l0ngdistancerunner and read about his adventures at longdistancerunner.org.
2022-01-24 �� 1:25:34
41
CROSSWORD PUZZLE Created by Jon Dunbar
Look for the answers to this crossword puzzle to appear in March in Gwangju News Online (www.gwangjunewsgic.com).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
ACROSS
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34 35 37 38 39 41 43 48 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
Biblical boat Japanese eel US spy agency Korean spy agency Balls Telecommunications and electronics Sarah Hale’s organization Recent Timothee Chalamet movie Opposite of in Singer Tori Inner prefix ___-Wan Kenobi Coal briquette donors “___ People” Watch Gov't org. that will be busy on March 9 57 Captain Hook’s sidekick
45 46 47 48 49
February 2022
Alike Int’l baseball tournament Concert Lavish affection Star Trek’s Tasha Islamic judge “Are you the ___ love?” (2 words) “C’est la ___” Mongolia’s ___ Bator Triple-layered BBQ meat cut “On ___ Majesty’s Secret Service” Actress P. Henson Salsa or guacamole Opposite of offs Gummy substance Downtime “Business as ___”
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
1 5 8 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 21 22 25 28 30 31 32
9 10 11 19 20 23 24 25 26 27 29 33 36 40 42 44
Fusses UNESCO-sponsored Storybook group News article Horse sound Predecessor to KBO’s Landers “Happy Days” actor Scott Prowled Place where Urbanski doesn’t want festivals Jeju peak Provided by KOICA Opposite of lose National Assembly location Creature that Boba Fett escaped Mountain in eastern Honam Makes a tattoo Pharmaceutical “I’m ___ particular hurry” (2 words) Gwangju News staffer Karina Solar power must-have Royal ___ Society Busan island that might get an airport Utensil for eating rice Melts Gwangju City’s official channel “Light ___” Mosque leader Myth HHI wants this Italian restaurant ___ Pisa “I only look out for numero ___”
CULTURE & ARTS
DOWN
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42 Book Review
The Sense of an Ending By Julian Barnes
CULTURE & ARTS
Reviewed by Michael Attard
T
he Sense of an Ending is fiction and a more refined categorization by the Library of Congress has included it under psychological fiction. In my estimation, the book also qualifies as a mystery. The inability to pigeon-hole the book may help explain why it was awarded the Man Booker Prize. I am always skeptical of committees that award prizes, but the book was considered to be the best novel written in English and published in both the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2011.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
The protagonist is Tony Webster, and the events are related in the first person. The location is England, and the story begins somewhere in the 1960s. Tony had two close friends, Colin and Alex, but in their last year of high school, a new boy, Adrian, arrived and became regarded as the philosopher of the group. He believed that principles should guide actions. While their lives were prosaic, they desired life as portrayed in literature. They longed for “psychological, emotional, and social truth.” The story is, for the most part, the recounting of events that occurred many years before. Tony is attempting to be as accurate as possible, but he is troubled by the concepts of time and history, which he fears may be causing him to miss the point of it all – the point of his life, that is. As Tony thinks about, recollects, and analyzes the passage of time, his mind whirls around the concepts of regret, even remorse, wondering if one can receive forgiveness. And how can any history be truth when, as Adrian had put it, “History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.” When the boys finished school to go their separate ways and to different universities, they of course promised “lifelong friendship.” Tony met Veronica Ford, and their precarious relationship progressed at least to the point
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where he was invited to meet and stay with the Ford family over a weekend. Tony was given a cryptic warning by Veronica’s mother. Fifty pages in, we learn of a tragedy. Tony wonders if complications are necessary in life if one is to experience any real depth. But he goes on to conclude that perhaps, “you can have complication and difficulty without any compensating depth or seriousness.” In a couple of pages, forty years whiz by, but everything seems accounted for. In fact, Tony thinks that things are just fine, until a letter arrives from a lawyer. Tony is thrust, or pulled back, by a powerful gravity into his past, which he had believed, up until then, was well wrapped and safely stored in history. The mystery involves something that is his, although it never was his before. He is entitled to it but someone else has it. He is unsure of its significance, and he could just let it go, but he wants it. And why will this person not give him what is rightfully his?
“As Tony thinks about, recollects, and analyzes the passage of time, his mind whirls around the concepts of regret, even remorse, wondering if one can receive forgiveness.” He later realizes that this metaphorical icon can possibly offer him corroboration. It could be the necessary evidence to put his mind at rest so that he would not need to depend upon an untrustworthy memory in order to understand his life.
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Gwangju Writes 43 But instead of getting what he wants, he receives another letter. The twist is that this is a copy of a letter he had written many years before. Yes, he was young and jealous at the time, but there was no escaping the fact that the letter was ugly. He did not feel that he was now the same person who wrote that letter. “But perhaps this was simply further self-deception.” His “younger self had come back to shock him.” He was feeling, “self-pity and self-hatred.” The past had come back and would not let him go peacefully. He began to believe that life is meant to wear us down, proving “that life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
Then what was bound to occur happened. It was not a scientific or religious breakthrough, yet still, it was an epiphany. The past looked him straight in the face. Although the story is not quite done yet, only revealing the last surprise on the third to last page. The book, like many philosophical adventures perhaps, poses more questions than it answers. But it is an easy read imbedded with humor and interesting turns of phrase. I am all for honesty when examining one’s life, but Tony seems to engage in self-flagellation. Although, as the famous dictum attributed to Socrates says, “the unexamined life is not worth living,” so I enjoyed the challenge that Julian Barnes has presented.
Michael Attard is a Canadian who has lived in Gwangju since 2004. Though officially retired, he still teaches a few private English classes. He enjoys reading all kinds of books and writes for fun. When the weather is nice, you may find him on a hiking trail.
Metallic rain batters against the flat rooftops threading down through villa gaps, spiked crosswise machine gun-like by gas exhaust vents. Grim Sunday, beginning fair – buoyant clouds set in blue relief, a day of sun, till no sun could be seen, behind the thickening matte of gray. The sky’s outburst stops, as quickly as begun but still the world darkens as the sun, defeated lets the day end without it.
Stephen Kagarise has been busy the past two years hiking and biking around Korea. But when he can’t get outside, he occasionally glances out the window at the mountains and sky, thanks to a clutch gap between the neighboring villas.
February 2022
The Author
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www.gwangjunewsgic.com
The Reviewer
By Stephen Kagarise
CULTURE & ARTS
Tony meets a group of people, and even though he was taken to them, he has no idea as to why he was meeting them. But something drew him back to the place over and over again. Sometimes he would see them and other times he would not. But the mystery of why he could not simply be given what was his somehow involved this group. And this determination to acquire his rightful property “had morphed into something much larger.”
Bathroom Window
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CULTURE & ARTS
44 Gwangju Writes
No More Lies
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
By J.D. Wabe
M
rs. Jones spruced up all the desks in a semicircular line-up and began the first day of class with an ice-breaker activity. “What does your father do?” was the name of the game, a task in which one student gives clues regarding their father’s everyday affairs and the rest will guess the occupation. Laguna Creek Elementary was a very prestigious school. Built in one of the most affluent areas on the outskirts of the city with the only aim of nurturing the knowledge of the rich and gifted children of this upper-class neighborhood. Since this was their first year of operation, they were all strangers to one another, including Mrs. Jones, who had just recently been hired. The school had superior standards of privacy, so she wasn’t given any of the students’ profiles. She only had a small list with the names of nine juniors that included their age and last name but no further details. Her initial-day activity had been vetted by her superiors with the condition that she would only ask for their parents’ profession; she could not ask for locations, names, or anything else that might be intrusive.
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The game began from left to right, and it was going smoothly. The newly arrived students appeared to be enjoying the challenge of identifying clues and playing detective, as well as providing ambiguous information to make the game more exciting. So far, there were a banker, a lawyer, a professor, and even a stay-at-home dad married to a prosecutor. The kids giggled at the stay-at-home vocation, but Mrs. Jones immediately reprehended them. Bullying and lying were to be avoided throughout their school year, she reminded them. The youngsters, acknowledging the light scolding, simultaneously replied in chorus, “Yes, Mrs. Jones.” When Mrs. Jones got to the middle of the semicircle, she squinted at the list in hand and asked the next pupil in line to stand up. Brandon Walker, a tall, slim, good-looking boy with a stylish hairstyle that rolled back on top and was short on the sides, stood up with a dull expression on his face. His white-frame glasses made his honeycomb eyes beam, and his brows knitted as he looked straight at Mrs. Jones.
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45 Mrs. Jones felt a sharp gust of uneasiness, but smiled nervously. Something about his presence threw her off balance. The teacher pointed her gaze again at the list, trying to avoid the sharp stare she was being subjected to and asked, “Who do we have here?” Reading his name on the roster, then meeting his eyes, she said, “Would you mind introducing yourself to the class?” “I’m Brandon Walker.” He icily said, and then looked away. Mrs. Jones quickly peered at her list once more, looking puzzled. The list read “Brandon Wagner,” not “Walker.” “Hello Brandon, and welcome! Excuse me, but did you say your name was Brandon Walker?” “Yes madam, that’s correct,” he promptly replied. “Oh, my goodness,” she responded, sounding embarrassed. “I have on my list ‘Brandon Wagner.’ I guess we misprinted your surname!” she added as her cheeks slightly turned pink. Brandon did not respond to her comment. Trying to save face as quickly as possible, she went on pretending nothing had happened. “So it’s Brandon Walker, just like our president. What a glorious name to have!” she said. There was again no response from Brandon. He stood there as if waiting for the next question.
“What do you mean? We wouldn’t want to skip your turn! We are all eager to know about you, and find out about your father’s daily routine; right kids?” No one said a word. Sensing the standoff between the two of them, all the students opted to remain neutral and quiet, turning the atmosphere in the classroom unexpectedly dense. Feeling a wave of uneasiness taking aim at her chest, Mrs. Jones tried to steer the boat into safe waters and hesitantly articulated, “Is everything okay, Brandon? Shall we continue?” The boy met her eyes, then glanced down to his feet. He tucked both of his hands in his uniform short pants and shrugged.
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Moving her eyes away from Brandon, she faced the others and asked, “What do we say about bullying?” “Bullying is never okay,” the pupils replied in chorus. Brandon remained motionless and quiet. There was a serious expression on his face. “Okay, Brandon, just because you have our president’s name doesn’t mean you have to be related. Many people are named after famous personalities, but that’s just a delightful title to have. You can still tell us about your father’s daily routine, and we can continue the game and guess his job, right?” She added. “But Mrs. Jones, my father is The President.” Mrs. Jones smiled awkwardly and let a single “oh…” escape her lips. As far as she knew, Mr. Brandon D. Walker, The President of the Republic, did not have any children. Did he? She was sure. Am I sure? She wished she had her phone with her to quickly google it, but there were no phones allowed in the classroom, including hers. She regretted her own rule, a rule she had implemented at the beginning of the class. All mobiles were muted and locked in her desk drawer. But regardless of the small cloud of doubt hanging over her head, she followed her gut, believing that this kid was playing mind tricks on her. He thinks he can make a fool of me? Let’s see who the boss is here…, she thought. She had to navigate her words with care, as she had been taught. The slightest slip of her tongue could cause the end of her dream job. A job everyone wanted, but few would get. “Oh, great!” she stated. She glanced right and left, checking on everyone’s expression, looking for clues on their faces, but they all appeared as confused as her. No, they know nothing, so this kid is making things up. He’s just playing with me, she thought. “Great, great, so your father is the president. Perhaps you mean he is like a CEO?” she added. “Every company has a president, and this person
February 2022
Mrs. Jones was baffled by his reply.
Mrs. Jones understood Brandon might be apprehensive about the others poking fun at his name and the possibility of being ridiculed because of it. But she would not allow any bullying, no matter how rich they were. “Ah, you mean because your name is the same as our president, everyone will think your dad is actually our president, right?” The class giggled but she quickly wrinkled her forehead and raised her index finger, signaling disapproval. Her angry reaction exterminated everyone’s laugh in a flash.
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Mrs. Jones felt awkward with the silence and worried that she might have suggested something that made him feel uncomfortable. She had been warned to be extremely careful with her language in class and her actions towards these rich kids in order to avoid possible legal action against the school from their powerful parents. She was aware she was tiptoeing on thin ice with this boy. Eventually, as she was about to speak again, Brandon swiftly proceeded, “Well, I guess, I will sit down and let the next person keep the exercise going”
“Well, Mrs. Jones, with all due respect, if everybody knows my name, anybody can figure out what my father’s job is, defeating the purpose of the game. It wouldn’t any longer be exciting. I rather offer the opportunity to my classmate,” he replied.
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46 is at the very top of the ladder, right Brandon? That’s wonderful, wonderful!” she continued, feeling again a climbing vine of anxiety growing from the bottom up. “Tell us, a bit more about him, maybe we can guess what kind of business he’s in,” she added. Brandon's eyebrows slowly drew together. He seemed annoyed. “My dad is not a president; he is the president, and he doesn’t work in a company. He works for the government,” he coldly replied. Wow, this kid is good! Mrs. Jones thought, but the fact also made her stomach twitch, and her cheeks burned again with his reply. She was running out of responses. What she really wished to do was to tell him that making things up was unacceptable. She craved to order him to take a seat and stop talking and to skip his turn. She was angry at how he was getting smart with her. But of course, she couldn’t say or do any of this – especially not on her first day. She had fought tooth and nail for this job, and she knew the huge salary and perks of teaching in Laguna Creek Elementary came at a substantial cost. Dealing with this kind of situation was something she had been warned about. She had to play it cool, and the finest way to navigate these waters was to dance along rather than question him and pursue any further stand-off. “Okay, Brandon, so your father’s not a president but The President. That’s wonderful, it’s a great job to have, well actually, it’s the finest role to have isn’t it, kids?” No one replied back.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
“I imagine that you have bodyguards outside this classroom waiting for you, right?” she continued. Someone let a short-lived giggle escape, but this time Mrs. Jones choose to ignore it. “No madam, I don’t” he countered. I knew it! she thought and smirked. It was a fake smile. She felt proud of how she was taking control of the situation and not the other way around. I’m going to crush him like a cockroach, she beamed inside. But then Brandon added, “I don’t have bodyguards. There is only one special agent in charge of my security, and he’s not outside guarding the door. He had been instructed to standby beyond the campus grounds, inside his vehicle. Having him following me around school would be very disruptive, uncomfortable, and embarrassing for me. My father as well as I like to keep our private affairs discreet.” His reply blew her mind: Creativity on a higher level, she thought. Mrs. Jones would not give in to this game of wits, so she was quick with a comeback: “Oh, I see, I see. Wonderful. Very interesting.” “So, I assume this special agent has a name, correct? Tell us about him, perhaps the others will be interested in knowing his duties, right class?” Again, no reply.
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“I’m not supposed to reveal that information, Mrs. Jones,” Brandon responded. But she insisted “Of course, of course! He’s a secret agent, and the word ‘secret’ means that something must remain hidden.” She wasn’t aware that her sarcasm was becoming more and more clear and probably was making Brandon feel edgy. Putting the back of her right hand on the edge of her lips, she whispered, “We won’t tell anyone.” Then glancing back at the others she said, still in a whispering voice, “Right, kids?” This time, they finally nodded in agreement, perhaps afraid of how her gaze went through them like a blast of ice-cold wind. Brandon did not respond right away. He was taking his time to process the suggestion. Analyzing the pros and cons of his follow up response. Then after giving it some thought, he came back, “Okay, madam, I guess it won’t hurt to say I call him ‘Agent Jones.’” Hah! Agent Jones! This genius couldn’t indeed come up with a new last name, she pondered. Mrs. Jones felt closer to victory. “Agent Jones! What a coincidence, just like my last name! Who would have guessed?” she responded with a wide grin on her face. “Now, you see, Brandon, we all share common names and last names. Like me and Agent Jones, and we are not even related!” Brandon did not reply to her comment. “I tell you what, Brandon, how about we invite Mr. Jones to come meet the class? We won’t take up much of his time. After all, we are pretty sure he’s super, super busy with all his secret agent work. Let’s call Mr. Jones and…” Brandon interrupted, “Agent Jones.” “Oh yes! My apologies, Agent Jones, of course! Let’s invite him into the classroom. He will be our guest of honor today!” she added. Brandon appeared concerned with the request. He glanced at the others, the door, then toyed with his smart watch for a second. Scratching the back of his head, he responded, “If I do that, I might get in trouble. I’m told not to call on Agent Jones, unless it is a genuine emergency.” The only trouble you are getting into today is with me for making this stuff up, she thought. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll make certain you won’t get in trouble. This is all part of learning and Mr. Jones… I mean Agent Jones’ visit will add some excitement to our learning experience,” she added. “I will make sure you won’t face any disciplinary action; I promise you!” she said, as her eyes twinkled evilly. Brandon stared at his smart watch for a few seconds then replied, “Okay, Mrs. Jones, I take your word for it.” Next, adjusting his watch to the center of his wrist, he tapped the screen with a series of strokes, as if calling for an app. Once the action was completed, he returned his sight towards Mrs. Jones and said “Done” and sank back into his chair.
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47 Mrs. Jones smiled at him, looked at the clock that hung on the wall and then peeked at her own watch. She crossed her arms, looking relaxed and triumphant, and began humming a made-up melody. She was planning to let one minute slide by and then move on with the game. There would not be a confrontation with Brandon for his made-up story. He was going to feel the embarrassment produced by his own imagination. Her hands were clean; she had won the game. A minute and a half went by in silence. Other than Mrs. Jones humming her odd melody, there were no other signs of noises coming from outside. No footsteps, no running, no special agent. Just as Mrs. Jones had expected. She gave Brandon a final smile as if saying “Game over, boy!” then she looked at her list again, ready to call out the next name. “Okay, class, Agent Jones might be a little busy today. How about we move on with our activity, and Brandon can introduce us to his special agent another day?” She said with a smirk. Brandon, recognizing the sarcasm in her tone, glared at her. But Mrs. Jones ignored his eyes and pretended to be reading the list again. As she was preparing to continue, the classroom door abruptly burst open and a large and muscular figure appeared in the door frame. Everyone jumped, shocked. The man in a dark suit standing at the entrance looked like an alerted, angry Doberman. His enormous nose and pointy ears bore the resemblance of an enraged guard dog. Although there was no foam coming from his mouth, he seemed ready to attack.
But Mrs. Jones wasn’t peering at Brandon. She was staring at Agent Jones, her jaw dropped in disbelief. Her face was like a mask of alarm mixed with fear and all the color in her face had faded to a pale semblance.
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Mrs. Jones kept rewinding the tape in her head: Brandon, Agent Jones, the frightened students, the shock. Her husband lay flat in bed, still with his clothes and shoes on, both hands resting on his stomach, absorbed in disappointment. Eventually, Mrs. Jones’ husband confronted his wife: “We agreed not to lie to each other,” he said in a soft and calmed tone. Mrs. Jones quickly replied, “I know, I’m sorry. But you lied to me as well.” He interrupted, “In my defense, I can argue that I wasn’t lying. There are certain things I can’t disclose to anyone, not even you. They are out of my reach, and they are important matters for our own safety.” “For your safety,” he added. Mrs. Jones remained quiet for a while. The angry face of Agent Jones was still haunting her. But she tried to get back to the conversation. She loved her husband; she wanted to understand him. Mrs. Jones let a gentle sigh escape her lips. It was the reset button of all the emotions she had endured. It was time for a switch from reaction to reflection. Time to make things right. “I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you I ultimately got the job at Laguna Creek. You see, I worked so hard to get it, and when I finally did, I was amazed. So I thought about surprising you on the day of my first check. I know I told you I was working at a kindergarten, but now you’ve learned that isn’t true. I feel so stupid. This is not how it was supposed to happen,” she said. Her husband took a deep breath, then slowly released it. With his sigh, his shoulders relaxed and his face lit up. They both turned on their sides and their eyes met. “No more lies,” said Special Agent Jones to his wife.” “No more lies,” repeated Mrs. Jones.
The Author J. D. Wabe is an author and Gwangju expat who has been contributing to the GIC and the Gwangju News for more than ten years with his work in photography and writing. Email: joedwabe@gmail.com
February 2022
Agent Jones, after having assessed that Brandon was not exposed to any danger, became self-conscious that he might have gotten a little carried away with his protective instincts. After returning to a semi-normal state, realizing that he was in front of children, he shifted his sight from his charge towards the speechless teacher standing by the blackboard. Feeling a shower of guilt mixed with embarrassment, he was going to apologize for the sake of appearance. His unprofessional emotional display could have put his job on the edge of a cliff.
That night, Mrs. Jones lay in bed next to her husband, both staring at the ceiling, unable to get a word out. They had had similar incidents at work during the day. Both had confronted unexpected situations, affairs that might have jeopardized their employment. They both had also discovered by pure chance that they had been lying to each other for a while now. Lost for words, they did not know how to confront the developments of the day.
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The children were paralyzed with fear at the sight of this husky physique, except Brandon, whose face shifted from annoyance to content. The armed intruder quickly scanned the classroom, looking for his aim. Once he found Brandon, his raucous, alerted voice inquired, “Is everything okay, Mr. Walker?” Brandon nodded, then looked at Mrs. Jones and smiled at her the same way she had done to him just a minute before: with a smirk.
However, when their gazes met at last, he stared at her with fear in his eyes; he was in dismay; he was speechless. At the same time, Mrs. Jones’ contorted face appeared as though she was struggling not to cry, and tears pooled in her eyes as soon as their eyes met.
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48 Photo Essay
Jinju Lantern Festival
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February 2022
CULTURE & ARTS
By Eric T. Friestand
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February 2022
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February 2022
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The Photographer/Author
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February 2022
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Eric T. Friestand moved to Korea in August 2021 to pursue his passion of learning more about Korean culture, food, music, and language. Eric’s goal is to be conversationally fluent in Korean and understand Korean entertainment without subtitles.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
anterns. Lanterns everywhere. Hanging in trees. On the ground. Floating on the water. Lining the walkways. This was a dream come true, as I finally had the opportunity to visit the Jinju Lantern Festival (진주유등축제) in December 2021. As I was learning more about Korea and discovered this festival, I knew that I had to visit due to its beauty and diversity of attractions. The variety of lanterns was impressive: dragons, dinosaurs, traditional lanterns, boats, planes, animals, birds, houses, people, fire. The list could go on forever. My favorite place was on the south side of the river looking north. Here you could see the bright lanterns on the river and the Chokseongnu Pavilion (촉석루) in the background contrasted against the dark night sky.
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52 GFN Radio
Top of The Drop By Daniel J. Springer Each month, Daniel Springer of the Gwangju Foreign Language Network (GFN) picks his favorite newly released tunes that you may not have heard yet, along with some upcoming albums and EPs that you might want to keep on your radar. — Ed.
CULTURE & ARTS
Lady Wray – “Joy & Pain”
This is the most recent single prior to the publishing of Lady Wray’s longawaited (some would say far overdue) LP Piece of Me, which dropped on January 28 via Big Crown Records of Brooklyn. A veteran vocalist who experienced great success with her debut album in 1998, Lady Wray took a bit of a hiatus following that initial madness so early in her career. Since the release of 2016’s Queen Alone LP, her debut on Big Crown, there have been a slew of high quality singles from the Virginia native, but nothing larger. Well, the wait is over with this one.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
Jazzanova (feat. Sean Haefeli) – “Creative Musicians”
Last year DJ Amir released Strata Records’ The Sounds of Detroit, Volume 1 to great acclaim, and the only way this could possibly be followed up properly is by signing up the veteran Berlin-based outfit Jazzanova to splash it with new and vibrant colors. The dance music veterans have announced their own reimagining of that mix, with The Sounds of Detroit Reimagined by Jazzanova slated for release on April 22, this being the new single to accompany the record, released in mid-January.
Parekh and Singh – “Je Suis La Pomme Rouge”
Some of the dream pop coming out of India’s scene the last few years has been amongst the best in the world, and the Calcutta-based duo of Parekh and Singh have been at the forefront of that movement. Released in mid-January with their signature ethereal blend of lush instrumentation and soft-to-the-touch vocal harmonies, this standalone (meaning “I am a red apple” in French) is the first tune released from an album to come out later this year, although further details are nonexistent beyond just that.
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Oliver Tree – “Cowboys Don’t Cry”
With his 2020 debut album Ugly Is Beautiful, and the smashing success of “Hurt,” the Southern Californiabased star has announced a new album with this single called Cowboy Tears, to be released on February 18. Will he be able to live up to the success of his world-breaking debut? Time will tell, surely. However, if the quality of this lead single is anything to judge the future by, it’s looking very bright.
Chai – “Whole”
One of the most absolutely fun and at the same time powerful groups in the world right now is this Nagoya-based female group. Last year, they released their third studio album Wink, their first on the US-based Sub Pop imprint. The buzzy success of that LP and the recognition it garnered internationally has the band announcing a new remix EP Wink Together, which is produced by budding indie star Scoobert Doobert out of San Diego.
Serpentwithfeet – Bless the Telephone
Experimental musician Josiah Wise has been creating some incredible heart-rending songs, most notably with last year’s Deacon LP, which many had at the very top of the list for album of the year. This tune is a cover of a Labi Siffre original released in the run-up to the holiday season in 2021, a reminder to everyone to keep in touch with loved ones no matter what time of year.
Khruangbin (feat. Leon Bridges) – “B-side” (Texas Moon version)
Back in 2020, the psyche trio that say they’re from Houston but are actually from somewhere much further
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53 afield teamed up with fellow Texan Leon Bridges to release the Texas Sun EP, the title track of which was an instant classic with even renowned tastemaker Barack Obama putting it at the tippy-top of his favorite summer singles. Now we have the Texas Moon EP ready to go on February 18, with this new version of “B-side” as the lead single.
Kendra Morris – “Penny Pincher”
Veteran vocalist Kendra Morris recently signed with funk and soul tastemakers Colemine Records and their subsidiary Karma Chief. A steady stream of absolutely fantastic singles followed the past year plus, and now we have Nine Lives set to drop on February 18. Don’t miss out on Kendra’s appearance on GFN to get both an early taste of some unreleased joints off the album and maybe get a vinyl copy of the record!
The Cactus Blossoms (feat. Jenny Lewis) – “Everybody”
Despite the moniker, this band is the brother duo of Jack Torrey and Page Berkum, who hail from Minneapolis in the US. The group announced the release of the One Day LP in early December with the release of “Hey Baby,” but this follow-up teaser featuring the luscious vocals of Jenny Lewis cannot be denied. The new album drops on February 11, which is shaping up as the first big album release date of the calendar year.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT
V/A– “Them & Us 3: Korea’s Punks at Binary Studios”
World Domination, Inc. has been putting out solid indie punk, ska, hardcore, and just generally great rock for over
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Eric Nam – There and Back Again (1/7) The Weeknd – Dawn FM (1/7) Bonobo – Fragments (1/13) FKA Twigs – Caprisongs (1/14) Yard Act – The Overload (1/21) Band of Horses – Things Are Great (1/21) Billy Talent – Crisis of Faith (1/21) King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Butterfly 3001 (1/21) Anais Mitchell – Anais Mitchell (1/28) St. Paul and The Broken Bones – The Alien Coast (1/28) Lady Wray – Piece of Me (1/28)
FEBRUARY RELEASES
Animal Collective – Time Skiffs (2/4) Black Country, New Road – Ants from Up There (2/4) Mitski – Laurel Hell (2/4) Cate Le Bon – Pompeii (2/4) The Districts – Great American Painting (2/4) Alt-J – The Dream (2/11) Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (2/11) Spoon – Lucifer on the Sofa (2/11) Foxes – The Kick (2/11) Kendra Morris – Nine Lives (2/18) Oliver Tree – Cowboy Tears (2/18) Khruangbin and Leon Bridges – Texas Moon (2/18) Broods – Space Island (2/18) Beach House – Once Twice Melody (2/18) Avril Levigne – Love Sux (2/25) Gang of Youths – Angel in Realtime (2/25) Tears for Fears – The Tipping Point (2/25) Soft Cell – Happiness Not Included (2/25)
The Author
Daniel J. Springer (aka “Danno”) is the creator, host, writer, editor, and producer of “The Drop with Danno,” broadcasting nightly on GFN 98.7 FM in Gwangju and 93.7 FM in Yeosu from 8–10 p.m. Prior to this, he was a contributor to several shows on TBS eFM in Seoul, along with being the creator and co-host of “Spacious” and “White Label Radio” on WNUR in Chicago. You can find “The Damyang Drop,” his monthly collaborative playlist with The Damyang House, on YouTube and Spotify. @gfnthedrop
February 2022
This is the new project of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood along with Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner. For those that miss the older days of Radiohead and the more straight forward rock that accompanied the younger version of the band, this one is for you, definitely a surprise coming from Yorke and Greenwood, who’s most recent work was much more on the film scoring and ambient/ experimental area of the musical matrix.
JANUARY RELEASES
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The Smile – “You Will Never Work in Television Again”
ten years now from their home base up at Seoul’s Binary Studios. The label’s co-founders Jeff Moses and Jeong-ah “Trash” Yang-Moses just released “Them & Us 3: Korea’s Punks at Binary Studios” last month with a launch party at Seoul’s Club FF on January 22. This compilation features 11 bands both from the label and outside playing two tracks: One cover and one original.
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www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
CULTURE & ARTS
54 Comic Corner
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February 2022
Yun Hyoju was born and raised in Gwangju, and somehow ended up married to an Irish guy named Alan. She has been working on her short comic, “Alan and Me,” which is about their daily life. She publishes a new comic every week on Instagram. It can be found here: @alan_andme.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
The Author
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2022 GIC Upcoming Events 광주국제교류센터 연중계획 February
August
Global Community Support 2022, 1st Term
“Come to Gwangju,” 2nd Term Gwangju Global Volun-tour
March GIC TESOL Course
September
Global Culture and Language Class, 2nd Term
GIC TESOL Course
Gwangju Global Volun-tour
Global Community Support 2022, 3rd Term
Gwangju International Internship Program, 1st Term
Global Culture and Language Class, 5th Term
Members Networking, 1st Term
Gwangju Global Volun-tour Gwangju International Internship Program, 2nd Term
April
Members Networking, 3rd Term
Gwangju Global Volun-tour
May
October Gwangju Global Volun-tour
GIC TESOL Course
Gwangju International Community Week
Global Community Support 2022, 2nd Term
The 12th WHRCF 2022 (Oct 10-13, TBC)
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2022
Global Culture and Language Class, 3rd Term Gwangju Global Volun-tour
November
KOICA Fellowship Program (TBA)
GIC TESOL Course
May Concert (TBA)
Global Culture and Language Class, 6th Term
The 15th Together Day (May 22, TBC)
Gwangju Global Volun-tour
June
December
Gwangju Global Volun-tour
ADIOS 2022 and Members Networking, 4th Term
Members Networking, 2nd Term
Gwangju Global Volun-tour
July
All Year Round
“Come to Gwangju,” 1st Term
Foreign Residents Support Service
GIC TESOL Course
GIC Citizens Choir
Global Culture and Language Class, 4th Term
GIC Library
Gwangju Global Volun-tour
Translation Service for Gwangju Office of Education
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Translation Service by Multicultural Families
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Important Notice on Vaccine Pass From December 13, 2021, the “Vaccine Pass” is being fully implemented, so it is compulsory to show your “Vaccine Certificate” when you visit the Gwangju International Center (GIC). According to government regulations, you are not allowed to enter the GIC if you have not been vaccinated. Children and youth younger than 18 years old are excluded from the Vaccine Pass system, but if their parents or guardians have not been vaccinated, they may be denied entry to the GIC. Thank you for your kind understanding.
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