Gwangju News November 2022 #249

Buskers World Cup

November 2022, Issue 249

Published: November 1, 2022

Cover Photo Walid Boussari World Cup Busker

By Kim Hillel Yunkyoung.

THE EDITORIAL TEAM

Publisher Dr. Shin Gyonggu

Editor-in-Chief Dr. David E. Shaffer

Managing Editor William Urbanski

Chief Copy Editor Isaiah Winters

Layout Editor Karina Prananto

Photographer Kim Hillel Yunkyoung

Online Editor Karina Prananto

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.

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From the Editor

Welcome to November; the penultimate month of the year is here already. The solar term, Ipdong (입동, Onset of Winter) on November 7 reminds us of the coming colder season, and Soseol (소설, Small Snow) of the coming white precipitation. Also here already is the penultimate issue of the Gwangju News for 2022, hopefully bringing you much-desired warmth through its contents to counter the chilling effect of the outside elements.

Our November cover feature brings you the lowdown on all those tunes you heard in the October air from the world’s largest music event of its kind – the Buskers World Cup, right here in downtown Gwangju. For more musical moments, we bring you the buzz surrounding the Seoul Forest Jazz Festival.

For our second feature of the month, People in the Arts is back! The featured artist is Haru K, discussing his delicious art style, which is food for thought. For art of a different kind, Restoring the Past smartens us up with details of the doors, windows, and gates of Gwangju’s hanok houses.

We take you on trips near and far. First to the islandy county of Shinan, where the hidden treasures of Jaeun-do are revealed [Lost in Honam]. Next, Around Korea introduces us to five select sites in Gwangju and nearby Jeollanam-do where one can go to best enjoy the flamboyant foliage that November and its cooler weather bring. And finally, From Abroad takes us on a solo trip to Central Asia’s almighty Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan.

Prof. Park Nahm-Sheik ponders how love can open doors to the heart, our managing editor ponders why traffic lights are not more strictly observed, and an expat exchange student considers how reality differs from their earlier expectations.

Ever wonder what happened to those language teachers who were once active in Gwangju, but left Korea and are no longer heard from? Language Teaching brings you five of them and their stories. Everyday Korean teaches us what makes it possible to keep a secret in Korean.

Our book review is of An African in Greenland, our photo essay is of GIC Week 2022, and we also have for you the Photo of the Month, Comic Corner, and our monthly crossword puzzle.

Keep warm, stay Covid smart, remember your flu shot, and enjoy the Gwangju News!

David E. Shaffer Editor-in-Chief Gwangju News

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Gwangju

Photo of the Month

By Kim Hillel Yunkyoung

Hillel Yunkyoung is a priest of the Anglican Church here in Gwangju and also a portrait photographer.

his photographs can be found at Instagram @hillelkim.

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Gwangju City News

Gwangju City Promotes Business Opportunities for People with Developmental Disabilities

Gwangju City announced on the 14th of September that a specialized workplace called “Gachimandeuso” (가치만드소) has opened in Gwangsan-gu with the aim of supporting families with developmental disabilities to establish businesses in the area.

About 50 people attended the Gachimandeuso opening ceremony, including Mayor Kang Ki-jung, National Assemblyman Lee Yong-bin, Director of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups Lee Dae-hee, Gwangsan-gu District Mayor Park Byung-kyu, Chairman of the Disabled Enterprise Business Center Seo Ki-young, City Council Vice Chairman Lee Gwi-soon, and City Council Operation Director Kang Soo-hoon.

Gachimandeuso is a project being promoted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support job creation and economic independence for people with developmental disabilities and their families through mentoring in areas such as startup education, technology development support, moving into entrepreneurs’ activity room, advising, counseling, and providing various promotional support.

Gachimandeuso in Gwangju has indoor smart farm facilities covering 330 square meters two floors

above ground. The main plant being cultivated, frilled ice lettuce, is expected to be produced in a quantity of 17 tons per year, generating sales worth 90 million won.

From now on, five families consisting of developmentally impairment people and their parents will each enroll a business operator to create a producer cooperative and receive profits for two years.

Gwangju City Provides Assistance Services for the Safety of Single-person Households under Jeonse or Wolse Contracts

Gwangju City announced on the 29th of September that starting in October, it would provide helpful services for single-person households to help stabilize the housing market and relieve housing anxiety for those with jeonse (deposit-based lease) or wolse (monthly rental) contracts.

This assistance service can be used free of charge by anyone regardless of age or gender, if they are a single-person household living or planning to live in Gwangju.

Applications can be submitted by visiting the Real Estate Transaction Counseling Center, which

From the Gwangju Metropolitan City Press Release ( http://gwangju.go.kr )

runs from 2–6 p.m. every Wednesday, or through the Land Information Division (062-613-5658).

Applicants who wish to be accompanied by experts while they look for a house can choose one or two places to live in advance, discuss the schedule with a counselor who is a certified broker, visit the site together to check the homes, and get help in the process of writing a jeonse or wolse contract.

According to data from Statistics Korea and a survey of single-person households in Gwangju in 2020, there are 194,000 single-person households in Gwangju, accounting for 32.4 percent of total households. Among them, the ratio of jeonse and wolse living arrangements was 64.9 percent, higher than that of home ownership (33.5 percent).

With the recent increase in single-person households, various social problems such as “can leases” (a neologism referring to situations where a lessee cannot receive the deposit back from a lessor even though the jeonse contract is finished), illegal building leases, and double contracts are also emerging.

Based on the above situations, Gwangju City expects that the provision of helpful services for jeonse and wolse single-person households and the Real Estate Transaction Counseling Center for citizen will help to establish stable housing for first-timers and single-person elderly households which have difficulties accessing real estate information.

Gwangju City has operated the Real Estate Transaction Counseling Center to help all residents since 2014 and has been giving consultations and legal advice on real estate transactions, precautions for transactions, and countermeasures against disputes.

Translated by Lim Se-ryeong.

Gwangju Dong-gu (East District) News

As the May 18 Democratic Square’s “Fountain of Light” has gone viral on SNS in the four months since its opening, it is receiving high levels of attention from both residents of Gwangju and tourists from other regions.

Since its opening on June 10, the “Fountain of Light” has surpassed 20,000 cumulative visitors, with an average of 500 visitors and up to 1,000 visitors per day.

As interest in the “Fountain of Light” increases, the number of visitors waiting before 8:15 every Friday and Saturday is increasing. Accordingly, Dong-gu organized the “Busking of Light” event every Friday and Saturday from 7:30 p.m. to provide attractions for visitors who are waiting for the “Fountain of Light” media artwork until late.

After the screening of media artwork, a photo zone is operated to allow visitors to take pictures, with the background of “Fountain of Light” from 8:40–9:00 p.m., and one of the three works is presented by sequentially changing the works of overseas artists from places like China, Japan, Germany, and Myanmar.

Through candlelight videos that react to the voices of Gwangju’s residents and visitors, messages speaking to Gwangju’s connection to democracy, peace, and human rights are delivered.

Gwangju

“Landmark of Gwangju!” High Interest in the “Fountain of Light”

By William Urbanski

This past October, Gwangju hosted the inaugural Buskers World Cup (BWC) in what can only be described as a massive step in the right direction when compared to the ordinarily bland, tedious, and quite frankly pedestrian “festivals” that plague the ACC. Beyond providing all sorts of great entertainment, the BWC brought about a noticeable change in the ambiance of the downtown area and acted as a platform for meaningful and international cultural exchange.

JUST WHAT IS BUSKING ANYWAY?

Busking (a catch-all term which includes all sorts of musical acts and street performances) is popular in virtually all major Western cities and provides an element of organic entertainment to urban centers.

In my mind, two things that characterize busking are the way the audience and performers feed off each other’s energy and the upbeat nature of the performances. Josh Butler, one of the participants from Brighton, England, who performs under the moniker Fukushima Dolphin, explained that busking can help create a special atmosphere in which the performer and audience go on a special journey together.

In what must have been a gargantuan logistical undertaking, buskers from all over the world were invited to Gwangju from October 8–17 in order to compete for a one-hundred-million-won first prize. The way it worked was that the initial field of participants were all given ten minutes to perform

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their best set, and over the course of three semi-final rounds, the performers were narrowed down to a group of sixteen who performed in the finals on the 17th. In talking to some of the musicians, it was clear that they felt ten minutes (starting from the moment they stepped on stage) wasn’t a lot time to perform, and some even felt they were cut short. I have mixed feelings about this aspect of the BWC because, while it wasn’t a lot of time, it forced the musicians to deliver only their strongest performances. As well, a few different artists felt it was hard to figure out what criteria was being used to judge the acts. Overall though, the organization seemed very on point. Butler mentioned that he was quite impressed in the way that the organizers managed the artists very well with stage times, getting everyone to play on time very smoothly. He also had nothing but good things to say about the sound crews.

Beyond the shows that were going on at the various stages around the ACC, there was a palpable change in the atmosphere downtown while the BWC was taking place. For one, there were definitely a lot

of colorful characters out and about downtown, giving the area a very cosmopolitan feel. Many of the buskers took to, well, busking on the streets, which people seemed to genuinely enjoy. As well, even though it was a pretty high-stakes competition, there was a strong ambiance of camaraderie among the participants with the artists cheering each other on.

FESTIVAL OVERLOAD

The BWC wasn’t a cheap event to put on. In addition to the prize money, the festival paid for the plane tickets for each and every participant to come to Gwangju. That’s not even including the costs associated with setting up the stages and paying the sound team and MCs. Besides the money, it was clear that putting the whole thing together was a massive and painstaking undertaking. For these reasons, I was mystified by the fact that there were no less than four other festivals taking place at the same place and time as the BWC. Now some of the events (like the food and culture festivals that were taking place) synched up well with the BWC, but

▲ Aancod from the U.K. is the winner of the 1st Buskers World Cup in Gwangju. (Photo courtesy of Gwangju Dong-gu District Office)

there were also various other musical performances happening that were the same tired, uninspired, cookie-cutter attractions that everyone in Gwangju and around Korea has seen a million times. It’s understandable that the powers that be wanted to have the maximum attendance possible during the course of the BWC, but I think it would have been a classy move to limit the musical performances in the ACC to only the buskers.

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

No doubt one of the key motivations for putting on the festival was to increase Gwangju’s international profile and, in this regard, I think it was a resounding success. The artists I spoke with all seemed quite impressed with the city and with Korea in general. Butler was surprised that even though there are few garbage bins downtown there wasn’t much rubbish left around (something that I appreciate about Korea as well). Clean streets may seem like a small thing, but it speaks volumes about how Gwangjuites feel about the city. The vast majority of the artists, few of whom would have likely ventured to Gwangju otherwise, had a great deal of positive experiences while here and will share these with their friends and family when they go home. It’s

difficult to put a monetary value on the creation of these positive narratives about Gwangju because it just so happens to be one of those things that money can’t buy. And let’s not forget the benefits to the Gwangju community of being able to meet and have meaningful interactions with performers from all corners of the globe right in the downtown core.

BUSKING INTO THE FUTURE

Hopefully future iterations of the Buskers World Cup will be bigger, better, and feature even more international artists. While other music festivals taking place at the same time and pretty much the same place as the BWC may have muddled the branding of the event, it’s difficult to deny that the event was an unmitigated win for Gwangju and the participants alike.

Photographs by Kim Hillel Yunkyoung and William Urbanski.

The Author

William Urbanski is the managing editor of the Gwangju News. He’s married and can eat spicy food. Instagram: @will_il_gatto

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Gwangju News,

Haru K’s

Landscape

By Kang Jennis Hyunsuk

There are several civic art museums in Gwangju. One of them, which has a beautiful garden, is located near the Seo-gu district office. It had once been used as the residence of the governor of Jeollanam-do. The move of the provincial office to Muan allowed the place to be open to Gwangju citizens as a museum. The name changed to the Ha Jung-woong Art Museum because Ha Jung-woong, a Korean-Japanese collector, donated a lot of worldclass artworks to Gwangju.

Every year, the Ha Jung-woong Art Museum invites several competent artists and supports their exhibitions. A few years ago, when I visited the museum, I encountered some very interesting artworks. They were traditional Korean landscape paintings combined with unique scenes in them. For instance, a waterfall from the sky was expressed as long noodles from chopsticks. The various foods and snacks in the landscape paintings gave me a fun shock, and they have remained in my memory for a long time.

Luckily, I have had the opportunity to have an interview with Haru K, the artist of Delicious Landscape, for this issue of the Gwangju News

You too will be able to meet Haru K through the following interview.

Jennis: Thank you for your time. I saw one of your exhibitions a few years ago, and your artworks with Korean traditional landscapes matched some of my favorite foods. Patbingsu (red bean ice shavings) and the noodles were especially interesting. Before talking about your artworks, I’d like to ask you the meaning of your name. I think “Haru K” is not a common name in Korea, so I wonder if it has a special meaning.

Haru K: The “K” is an abbreviation of my surname “Kim,” and haru is the Korean word for “one day.” If I divide my life into units of time, I think a minute is too short, but a month or a year is too

long. If I know how to live a good day, it could be the way to living a good life. So, I started using the name “Haru K” as self-encouragement to live more diligently day by day.

Jennis: You majored in oriental and Korean paintings at Hongik University in Seoul, a famous art school in Korea. I think your early paintings might be very different from those of today, what kind of paintings were they?

Haru K: At that time, I mainly painted rainy urban landscapes in ink. When I was an undergraduate, my mental state was a little unstable and depressed. I left my hometown at a young age and lived in the fiercely competitive city of Seoul. I worked part-time to pay my tuition, monthly rent, and to cover living expenses. After my part-time job, I went to school and did my homework. It left me feeling a contradiction in my life. I went to Seoul to do well in my artwork, but I didn’t have enough time to do it because I needed to work to survive. After finishing graduate school, I came back to Gwangju and started working again, step by step from the beginning.

Jennis: So, when did you start painting the Delicious Landscape series? I don’t think the series could have appeared all at once.

Haru K: My major was oriental paintings, and many people think traditional landscape paintings are for older people. So, I was thinking about how to express landscape paintings in my own way. I thought there should be a way for modern people to enjoy landscape paintings.

In the old days, people who wanted to depict Mother Nature had to make their landscape paintings develop. I think the old landscape paintings were telling stories about the ideal world that people of that age were imagining. Then, what could be the ideal world for modern people living in modern society far from Mother Nature? It would certainly not be easy for our lives in modern society to abandon the comforts of material satisfaction.

So, I wondered if I made a synthesis of objects representing natural landscapes and material goods expressing the virtues of capitalism, would not that be modern landscape painting? I thought that

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food, the basic unit of matter that a person needs to maintain life, might represent the material goods that symbolizes the beauty of modern society.

Around that time, a special exhibition was offered by a local food museum. I traveled to Hadong and the Hwagae old market that Seomjin River flows around and painted what I felt from the food trip. The exhibition gave me an opportunity to start the process of harmonizing natural landscapes and food that I had been thinking about. Since then, I have been working steadily to show the ideals of modern people who pursue both spiritual and material goods.

Jennis: In your early works of the Delicious Landscape series, I couldn’t see little humans who looked like Lego man. But you paint little humans climbing the ice wall of a patbingsu mountain in your latest works. It’s quite unique and interesting.

Haru K: Thank you. I thought it would be nice to have people enjoying the Delicious Landscape, so I make

those little creatures appear these days.

Jennis: I remember that you went to Beijing for a residency. People say that China is the cradle of landscape paintings. So, I wonder what their reaction was to your landscape paintings.

Haru K: Food can be the subject of everyday life in any country. But it is unfamiliar to people for food, which is such a occurrence of daily life, to be the main subject in landscape paintings. When people see familiar objects turned into unfamiliar things, it gives them pleasure. So, I hope the visitors to my exhibitions in various countries have some fun.

Jennis: Please let me know what you’re up to these days and your plans for your next exhibitions.

Haru K: I haven’t been able to do overseas exhibition activities for nearly two years due to COVID-19, but I recently went to India. I was part of a three-Koreanartists exhibition with Lee Leenam and Yi Chong-nok.

Jennis: I wonder how the viewers at the exhibition responded in India.

Haru K: We were the first Korean artists to visit India since the beginning of the pandemic, so the Korean Embassy in India and the general manager of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in India also came to see the exhibition, and we got a lot of publicity from over 30 media outlets, including India’s state-run broadcaster. I thought that the citizens of the world who like K-pop have also become interested in Korean culture and art.

My solo exhibition on Jeju Island was through October 16, the Art Gwangju exhibition was also in October, the Damyang exhibition runs until November 5, a Singapore Art Fair is in November, and an exhibition is scheduled for Taiwan at the end of this year.

Jennis: You’ve had exhibitions in many countries around the world, and I think the subject you’re working with includes an infinite number of dishes in the world. What do you think is the direction of your future artworks?

Haru K: I will continue the Delicious Landscape series with variations of my new attempt to do paintings that are more representative of linguistic humor. For example, in the Ssi Bala series, little creatures work hard to pick seeds from pumpkins and watermelons. “Ssi bala” (씨 발라) means “picking seeds out of fruit" in Korean, but the expression also sounds a lot like a course Korean swear word.

Jennis: Oh, so it’s a pun on words. I felt that your Ssi Bala series was a type of resistance to something or someone. Because the word bala in Spanish means “bullet.”

Haru K: Wow, that’s interesting! I want to convey my message in paintings similar to the old poets’ poems satirizing the times, or like a rapper’s lyrics expressing the feelings of young people living in this era.

Linguistic paintings have actually existed for a long time. If you see the old Minhwa paintings, where tigers and magpies are depicted, you can also see pine trees, right? The magpie symbolizes “good news” in folk tales. Also, the Chinese character for pine tree is song (송/松) As you know, there are

many different Chinese characters that have the same pronunciation. Another Chinese character pronounced “song” is the one meaning “send” (송/送). So, in the old days, people sent Minhwa as a New Year’s greeting, suggesting that they were “sending happy news.”

And the Korean word banhana (반하나, fall for someone) sounds similar to English banana (바나나). So, I incorporate the dual meaning in one of my linguistic paintings. Banana bwara (바나나 봐라, Look at the banana) sounds similar to Banhana bwara (반하나 봐라, See if I fall for you). I hope my paintings also convey happy greetings to their viewers.

Jennis: Oh, so Minhwa paintings are also like a language game as a riddle or a quiz.

Haru K: Yeah, I think my work is a process of taking classical stories and arranging them in a modern way. I think oriental paintings are shunned by the general public in modern society. Therefore, I think

▲ Banhana bwara (See if I Fall for You), 90.9x72.7 cm, Korean polychrome painting on hanji, 2022.

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▲ Haru K’s Lunchbox, 60x45 cm, Korean polychrome painting on hanji, 2017.

it is necessary to make efforts to convey the spirit and ideas of oriental paintings in an easy-to-understand way for modern people.

Jennis: What do you think is the spirit of oriental paintings?

Haru K: The ultimate goal of oriental paintings is to pursue the spirit of utopia in the paintings. However, I don't think it’s right to classify oriental painting only by material characteristics.

Jennis: I don’t know why we’re dividing paintings into oriental and western paintings, but most people divide them based on the materials they use.

Haru K: Yes, that’s right. If Kim Hong-do, the famous artist of the Joseon Dynasty, lived in this age, he might have expressed his spiritual world in oil paint. So, the important factor that separates Eastern and Western

▲ Noodles in a New Era, 160x130 cm, Korean polychrome painting on hanji, 2019.

paintings is not materials but the contents.

Jennis: What materials do you usually use when you paint?

Haru K: I use various materials, but I often use canvas or Korean traditional paper, hanji.

Jennis: I heard that your wife is also an artist. How did you meet Lim Hyun-chae, and what are the advantages of being an artist couple?

Haru K: I met her in 2012, when I was working at the Residency of the Gwangju Museum of Art. I think the advantages of married artists are that we can talk about each other’s artworks and understand each other’s lives.

Jennis: Thank you for your time for this interesting interview!

AFTER THE INTERVIEW…

Learning about Haru K’s Delicious Landscape series was a pleasant food trip for me. I am sure many people will also love his paintings with the imaginative messages the little creatures in his paintings send to us. Why don’t you try to discover the messages in Haru K’s Delicious Landscape.

Photographs courtesy of Haru K.

2015 Delicious Landscape, Shinsegae Gallery, Gwangju

2014 One Day, Traditional Folk Food Museum, Gwangju

2013 Delicious Landscape, GMA Gallery, Seoul

2010 Object, Kumho Gallery, Gwangju

2009 Haru’s Memory, Gallery M, Seoul

2007 Live in the City, Kwanhoon Gallery, Seoul

MAIN COLLECTIONS

HARU K’S PROFILE

Solo Exhibitions

2022 Dining Scenery, Art Space House, Gwangju

2022 Delicious Food Travel, Cheongju Art Studio, Cheongju

2019 Weird Gourmet, GMA Ha Jung-woong Museum of Art

2018 Landscape Collection and Editing, Soohoh Gallery

2017 Stroll Around the Landscape, Gallery Riche, Gwangju

2016 Delicious Landscape, Kiss Gallery

MMCA-Artbank, Samsung Electronics, ETRO, Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju City Hall, Gwangju Seogu District Office, Seongnam Cultural Foundation, Shinsegae Department Store, Young-mu Engineering and Construction, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Shinsung FA

The Interviewer

Jennis Kang has been living in Gwangju all her life. She has been painting in oil paints for almost a decade, and she learned that there are a lot of fabulous artists in this city of the arts. As a freelance interpreter, she wants to introduce Gwangju’s wonderful artists to the world.

Gwangju

The End of Jaeun-do

By Isaiah Winters

Last month’s edition of “Lost” had us feeling our way along a dark coastal cave at the southernmost tip of Imja-do. This month, we’ll trek to the extreme western edge of Jaeun-do, another of Sinan-gun’s many superb but undervisited islands. Jaeun-do has at least a half dozen sites and experiences of note I could talk about: the large, abandoned school complex that haunts the landscape, what Mariposa Resort was like back when I found it a burned-out derelict, the excellent hike to the peak of Dubong-san, dodging bats at the island’s decommissioned military site, discovering one-of-akind temple ruins amid a forest of bamboo, and two vast beaches that merge into an epic promontory scarcely anyone visits. For this article, we’ll focus just on the temple ruins and beach promontory.

WAIT, WHERE IS JAEUN-DO ANYWAY? In Sinan-gun, if you take the colossal “Angel Bridge” from Aphae-do to Amtae-do, you’ll end up at a wellknown fork in the road featuring a lifelike painting of a welcoming elderly couple whose bushy hair blends with the trees behind them. Hang a right at the fork and you’ll be on your way to our destination: Jaeun-do. You’ll know you’ve arrived once you cross a second bridge and see an even more detailed painting, this time of an elderly, bushy-haired trio, though with the intended trees oddly missing from the background. Not long after this, you’ll see the abandoned school complex mentioned earlier. Hang a left there and you’ll reach the Jaeun-eup Office located smack in the middle of the island. From there, you can go any number of directions.

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BAMBOO FOREST TEMPLE RUINS

If I had to rank my most unique finds across all of Honam, the temple ruins on Jaeun-do would definitely be among the top five. The first reason why is for the absurd luck I had in finding it, as it’s not listed online, it’s nowhere near anything of note, and even if you do get close by, you can’t really see it. Dumb luck and a bad sense of direction sometimes deliver, however. It was only after I misread my map and went off course that I discovered this one-of-akind derelict, which is how a lot of my luck works: like the way lost-and-found items are always somehow together in the same place. Anyway, serendipity alone isn’t enough to warrant a top-five ranking, so there’s a lot more to this find than its elusive coordinates.

The second reason why these ruins rank so high is due to their level of preservation. Though the floorboards are weak and badly warped by the island’s constant humidity, the walls, pillars, and roof still seem very sturdy. The thick forest surrounding the main building has protected it from decades of strong, onshore winds and even stronger typhoons. Though part of the roof in two areas was smashed open years ago,

likely by fallen trees, most of the nearby vegetation is bamboo, which grows tall but doesn’t fall nearly as hard – perfect for wind protection without causing major damage. Another testament to the temple’s fortuitous placement is that bats like to take shelter in it, which was an unpleasant surprise the last time I visited. One flapped silently by my wife, who quickly turned around and asked, “What was that?!” I knew what it was but feigned ignorance to save her from a heart attack. When another bat flapped by my head a few minutes later, we noped right on out of there.

In addition to the temple ruins being an exceptionally lucky and well-preserved find, the many religious artifacts still inside help solidify it among my top-five unique discoveries. The main building still has four Buddhist statues, only one of which is smashed, a few hanging paper lanterns, and a pair of traditional drums. One is a busted janggu (장구) still with its connective ropes but missing its hourglass-shaped midsection, and the other is a large, barrel-like buk (북) that’s valiantly resisting the elements despite being closest to the temple’s worst-damaged corner. The walls are also still adorned with two colorful

▲ A peek inside the abandoned temple.

paintings of a hoary, Gandalf-looking man known as “the mountain spirit.” In one picture, a tiger looks to be protecting him beneath a tree, while in the other he stands upon clouds with two dragons seemingly at his beck and call, or something. I think they represent “something, something spiritual – something, something enlightenment.” (I really wish I were more knowledgeable about these things.)

Anyway, these temple ruins are one of Jaeun-do’s hidden gems that I bring only close friends to see. As of now, nothing is being done with the property, and it looks to have been entirely forgotten by its owner, making me its only regular steward in a way. My friend and hanok restorer Kang Dongsu, upon seeing my first photos of the site, wrote, “Looks like it was built in the 1960s–1970s. Hope it can meet a good owner again.” I hope so, too.

HIKING TO THE WINDSWEPT, WESTERN END OF JAEUN-DO

The further west you go along Jaeun-do, the more the island tapers to a point, sort of like a left-facing arrow. Along the upper portion of that arrow, the broad shore of Yangsan Beach slopes down to meet Bungye Beach, the lower portion of the arrow tip. However, right where the two beaches should meet, a rocky bluff stabs up between them before attenuating further into an incredibly narrow peninsula. Follow that peninsula as far as you can go and you end up at the peak of Eungamsan, the windswept, western end of Jaeun-do. (I’d like to emphasize windswept.) We went during a particularly odd weather formation where cool, norther winds from Manchuria clashed right over Korea with warm air rising from the Pacific. Together that made for gloomy, typhoon-like skies and non-stop gusts of uncomfortably humid wind. We were soaked with sweat by the end.

Nevertheless, the summit views from Eungamsan were very rewarding. Look west and you have a perfectly unobstructed view of the vast Yellow Sea with scarcely an island in sight. It’s as if Korea completely stops there. To the south you see a few islands off the opposite bluff hemming in the southern side of Bungye Beach, which sits nestled between the two verdant promontories. The view east is arguably the best, as it guides

your eye back along the long, winding peninsula you just traversed and then diverts left and right along the arrow tip’s two beaches. Unfortunately, views to the north are largely blocked by trees, but three directions out of four isn’t bad. After a few moments soaking it all in, we headed back down to get some dinner.

One of the best things about this coastal hiking trail is that it conveniently begins and ends at the beach, so when the weather is warm enough, you can cool down in the water after the hike’s over. We didn’t have the time or gear for an additional beach excursion, so we just enjoyed walking along the long, sandy stretches of Bungye Beach until we got to the big seafood restaurant near the parking lot. You can’t miss it. Our dinner of grilled fish coupled with views of the sunset-lit beach was Honam at its best. As an interesting aside, when we went to pay our bill, the owner seemed a bit concerned upon seeing my camera and asked us if everything was to our liking. Apparently, a YouTuber had visited the restaurant and given them an unflattering review, which was a little sad to hear given the quality of the meal we’d just had. Anyway, we think the place is worth a visit.

By the way, if you want to see me try my hand at a new medium, I’ve made a video version of this article called “The End of Jaeun Island” over on my small, new-ish “Lost in Honam” YouTube channel. There are also other videos on the channel that mirror a few of my Gwangju News articles, like last issue’s coastal cave expedition on Imja-do. Besides these, there are videos of other abandoned, historical, and natural finds across Honam that I think are interesting. I hope you enjoy them, too.

Photographs by Isaiah Winters.

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. You can see some of his unique finds on Instagram @d.p.r.kwangju and YouTube at Lost in Honam.

Gwangju

Enjoy Autumn Leaves in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do!

By Lim Se-ryeong

Korea is known as a peninsula which has four distinct seasons and four distinct landscapes according to each season. Since Koreans enjoy seeing red and yellow foliage in the autumn, there is a specific Korean word called danpungnori (단풍놀이, directly translated as “autumn foliage play”), which refers to the act of going out to enjoy the autumn leaves. For this year, it is expected that we will be able to see the first fall leaves from late October (in the southern provinces). Below are the spots that are famous for danpungnori.

GWANGJU CITIZENS’ FOREST (광주 시민의 숲)

Address: 190 Chuam-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju (광주광역시 북구 추암로 190)

Gwangju Citizens’ Forest is a small, eco-friendly forest located near Cheomdan Daegyo with campsites and playgrounds. You can enjoy the autumn leaves by walking along the walkways there, including the Yellow Poplar Road (백합나무길), which takes around an hour and a half round trip. If you have a bicycle, it is also recommended to ride the Yeongsangang Bicycle Path (영산강 자전거길).

MUDEUNGSAN’S WONHYOSA (무등산의 원효사)

Address: 846 Geumgok-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju (광주광역시 북구 금곡동 846 원효사)

Mudeungsan is the mountain that stretches across Gwangju, Damyang, and Hwasun. Peak dates for seeing autumn leaves on the mountain vary from place to place, but it is generally expected that we can enjoy the most autumn colors in early November. Wonhyosa is a well-known temple located on the mountain and one of the most famous spots to visit in fall, as you can see the autumn leaves of the mountain from the beautiful temple grounds.

▲ Autumn leaves in Mudeung-san. (Photo by Lim Hee-jin)

GREENWAY PARK IN DONG-GU, GYERIMDONG 동구 계림동 푸른길공원

Address: 525-1 Gyerim-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju (광주광역시 동구 계림동 525-1 )

If you want to enjoy autumn colors in the middle of the city, you can also visit Greenway Park, which is located near Gyerim-dong in Dong-gu. It is a long path stretching from Gwangju Station to Chosun University. You can find a special spot called Maple Tree Way (단풍나무길) within the park (located at 525-1 Gyerim-dong, Dong-gu / 동구 계림동 525-1) which is popular among locals for enjoying the fall foliage.

GWANBANGJERIM FOREST IN DAMYANG, JEOLLANAM-DO (담양시 관방제림)

Address: 1 Gaeksa-ri, Damyang-eup, Damyanggun, Jeollanam-do (전라남도 담양군 담양읍 객사리1)

Gwanbangjerim Forest is located near Metasequoia Road in Damyang. There a stream flows between walking trails lined with warm fall foliage. Also, as Damyang Noodle Street is right next to the forest, you can also eat delicious Korean-style noodles outdoors after enjoying the colorful views.

NAMPYEONG GINKGO ARBORETUM IN NAJU, JEOLLANAM-DO 나주시 남평 은행나무수목원

Address: 659 Gwangchon-ri, Nampyeong-eup, Naju-si, Jeollanam-do (전라남도 나주시 남평읍 광촌리 659)

At Nampyeong Ginkgo Arboretum, you can enjoy yellow-colored ginkgo trees this autumn. Besides the ginkgo-tree-lined road, there are various other walking courses such as a bamboo forest as well as a maple forest in the arboretum. In order to get into the Nampyeong Ginkgo Arboretum, you have to buy an entrance ticket (3,000 won), and you can get a 10 percent discount from the café located within the arboretum with this ticket.

The Author

Lim Se-ryeong is from Gwangyang, South Korea, and has been doing an internship at the GIC since August. She majored in business administration and is interested in communicating with foreigners based on her experience being overseas. Instagram: @ sr_chlo_e.

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Gwangju

▲ Autumn leaves at Greanway Park. (Photo courtesy of Gwangju Dong-gu District Office)

Sunshine and Scat at Seoul Forest Jazz Festival

By Adam Nash

Itis fair to say my taste in festivals has matured slightly as I have grown older. I have come a long way from the spotty, mud-caked kid who hurled himself around mosh pits. Three days with no sleep or showers, surviving only on cheap vodka and Jaffa Cakes; it is just not my tempo anymore. I need something more chilled, laidback and, ideally, just a short bus ride from my home.

So, thank you, Seoul Forest Jazz Festival 2022, for providing all this and much more.

The festival was to be my first in over two years, but it had felt like an eternity. After the UK quickly opened up after Covid-19, I have had to put up with seeing photos of my friends’ smirking, glitteredpasted faces pop up on my Instagram feed. So, even

though I only had a day ticket to a small festival, I could not have been more excited.

Now any seasoned festival-goer will tell you, getting to the site is always a gruelling slog, which leaves you exhausted before the first chord is even strummed. I have had motorway breakdowns, cancelled coaches, and overcrowded trains. But this festival was different – we actually arrived in style. At the entrance of the park, we were met by a New Orleansesque brass band, strutting their stuff on a small stage, while a smartly dressed man with slick-black hair and a megaphone hyped up the crowd. They then led a procession around the park and danced us right through the main festival gates, while smokefilled bubbles floated all around us. It was quite an entrance!

The festival definitely had a different vibe to the lairy, booze-fuelled events I am used to back home. Everyone set up their picnic blankets neatly by the main stage and sipped wine while watching the bands play in the sunshine. Then, once a set had finished, everyone would make their way over to the secluded Dear Deer Stage beneath the trees to watch an intimate performance by another sickeningly talented act.

The key to any good festival is variety. If I wanted to know every word to every song, I would just go to a noraebang. I come to festivals to be surprised, to see strange things and have my ears opened to new music and different styles. I was a little apprehensive about going to a ‘jazz festival’, as I thought it might be nothing but smooth, lounge acts. Do not get me wrong, I do like a bit of scatting every now and again, just not seven hours of it. Well, the Seoul Forest Jazz Festival did not disappoint.

The lineup had everything, from a virtuoso tap dancer covering The Beatles to the ‘Ambiguous Dance Company’ who started out as a flash mob in the audience before treating us to some stunning, and often hilarious, hip-hop dance routines. I am not exactly sure how this fell under the genre of jazz, but it was so damn entertaining that no one seemed to care. There was also big band music, jazz funk, contemporary pop sounds, and old-style, bluesy classics. And that was only day one!

After the sun set behind the main stage, the acclaimed producer/songwriter, Sunwoo Jung-a, brought Saturday night to a close with an effortlessly cool set. The lights came up and everyone started packing down. It was then that I realised it was only 8:45 p.m.! I had time to grab a bite to eat at nearby Seongsu and still get back home in time to have a good night's sleep.

So, for the first time ever in my long, festival-going career, I woke up on Sunday morning refreshed and ready to go again. I was really starting to regret not buying a two-day ticket. That was until I looked out the window. Unfortunately, the weather gods did not look down as favorably on the Sunday lineup and the festival was a complete washout.

As festivals go, this was definitely a new experience for me. I am not going to lie, there is still that spotty sixteen-year-old kid inside of me that wants to be chugging warm beer and head-banging in a muddy field somewhere, but it is good to know that as I get older, I can appreciate the finer, more easygoing things in life. Maybe this means I am getting more sophisticated. On second thoughts…

The Author

Adam is a proud Yorkshireman, born and bred in Sheffield, England. He loves traveling, football, and playing music. He’s been a drummer for over 20 years, but recently picked up the guitar, as a drum kit won’t fit in his apartment. Instagram @adam_nash62

Gwangju

▲ SoWhat NOLA’s song “Second Line” getting the party started.

Solo Trip to Almaty Kazakhstan’s Largest City

By Ellie Goodwin

WHY KAZAKHSTAN?

During my three years living in China, I was fortunate enough to travel to a few countries in Southeast Asia, and though I am far from saying that I have “seen” this part of the world (revisits are definitely needed), I can say that I did want to see a part that was new to me. With that in mind, I turned my attention to Central Asia.

If asked what I had known about Kazakhstan prior to my visit, my answer would have been woefully ignorant and misinformed with one “source” as a point of reference: Borat. (Unsurprisingly, any Borat quotes will earn you an eye roll from the locals). However, a few hours spent researching gave me an insight that was previously a blank space on the map. The five nations of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan – were once part of the USSR. Their being late to obtain independence has meant that they are arguably still overlooked, though they are hidden gems in their own right. Kazakhstan, like its neighbors, is home to scenery that is nothing short of epic: Mountains capped with snow, glacial lakes, and gorges make it a dream for keen hikers and novices alike. It is a country where the influences of Islam and communism still clash wonderfully with each other, making way for some truly beautiful architecture, the likes of which I have never seen anywhere else.

When planning my trip, I was torn between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Both offered cities with rich histories and distinctive characters as well as the chance to surround myself in nature. Additionally, the cost of flights and accommodation worked out roughly the same. Despite writing dozens of pros

and cons list, I was still undecided, leading me to the last resort: tossing a coin. Tails. Kazakhstan. A few minutes later, I had a flight booked to Almaty.

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN

Almaty has been described as one of Kazakhstan’s main transport hubs, though there are an array of reasons that make it a city worth visiting. It is a city with mountains for a backdrop, high-end shopping malls (where I was suitably out of place with my oversized backpack and hiking boots), with stylish bars, restaurants, and apartments with a price range that will forever be out of my reach. Hiking and skiing are popular activities given that the Trans-Ili Alatau range is a stone’s throw away.

PLACES TO VISIT

I had three full days in Almaty – not nearly as long as I would have liked, but still enough time to cram in as much as possible with the promise to return again and see more of Kazakhstan, as well as the rest of Central Asia. What I saw, I loved, and below are my recommendations for what is undoubtedly a long and extensive list of places to see in Almaty, though not including the rest of Kazakhstan.

BIG ALMATY LAKE

Big Almaty Lake is a natural alpine reservoir in the Trans-Ili Alatau range close to the Kyrgyzstan border. I can think of a few occasions where the overhyped beauty of a place falls short of expectations, but this was certainly not the case with Big Almaty Lake. The whole landscape is enough to leave you stunned into silence for a few seconds. It reminded me of one of those auto-generated Windows desktop backgrounds: too perfect to be a place that actually exists on the planet, despite the location provided

in the corner of the screen insisting that it does. The lake’s distinctive turquoise-blue color turns a different shade every season, which make it an allyear-round destination, and being 15 km from the Almaty city center makes it a convenient one, too. Like I said, the lake is close to the border, which means you need to bring your passport, as patrol guards will ask to see it.

At the time of this writing, the only road leading to the lake was closed for planned renovations which are not due to be completed for another three years. This left me with three options for getting there: 1) taking the number 28 bus from the Park of the First President to the final stop and walking uphill for the remaining 8 km, 2) hitchhiking which, to my surprise, is a very common and safe practice in Kazakhstan, and 3) paying for an organized tour to do all of the legwork for me. Given the limited time I had, I went for option number three. For 45 USD, I had transportation provided for me, as well as lunch and national park tickets. We also had a local guide who took us on the best trails while giving a surmised history lesson of Kazakhstan, taking the

time to answer our bombardment of questions along the way.

GREEN BAZAAR

This is a wonderful place to visit on an empty stomach with free samples all around and food to be purchased at a very cheap price. The Bazaar has two floors packed with stalls. Some were piled with nuts or fresh and dried fruits, while others sold smoked meat and fish. Ready-made food can be bought, too, including Korean cuisine. (I thought I had temporarily seen the last of kimchi but apparently not!)

CENTRAL MOSQUE Baiken Mosque is one of the largest in the country and, according to the free and helpful tourist information guides I picked up, has a space for 3,000 worshippers. It is unmissable from a distance, with its golden dome topping white marble, and can be visited outside of prayer hours. You will need to dress appropriately if you want to see the interior, which means covering arms and legs (heads for women, too).

Gwangju

▲ View from Big Almaty Lake.

▲ Free samples galore at Green Bazaar.

ZENKOV’S CATHEDRAL

Located in Almaty’s most popular park, Park of 28 Panfilov Guardsmen, is Zenkov’s Cathedral. It is one of Almaty’s few remaining tsarist-era buildings and built entirely of wood, including the nails. The park was named Panfilov in honor of the 28 soldiers of an Almaty infantry unit who died fighting the Nazis in a village outside of Moscow in 1941. There is also a striking, almost haunting, war memorial in the park to commemorate this loss alongside an eternal flame to honor the fallen soldiers of the Russian Civil War (1917–1922) and the Second World War.

FIRST PRESIDENT’S PARK

Named after the First President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, it is a lovely place to take a relaxing stroll. I spent a few hours there walking in the shade from the trees – much appreciated given the thirty-degree temperature. The park is a beautiful spot to visit with some impressive architecture and lawns to stretch out on.

WHEN TO VISIT

September and October are considered the best months to visit Kazakhstan (not to mention the other “stans”). The worst of the summer heat is over, accommodation prices drop, and the autumnal colors make for beautiful scenery when hiking in the mountains.

PEOPLE

Kazakhstan is a diverse, multi-ethnic country. In the short time I was there, I met locals with various roots: Russian, Ukrainian, German, and Polish, to name a few. Hospitality is an important value and it shows. My Kazakh hosts would invite me to eat dinner with them every evening (explaining that I did not eat meat was always an interesting conversation which attracted much confusion and pity) and often asked if my room was comfortable. Like all countries, Kazakhstan has its problems (petty crime, bribery, and so forth), but this was a side that I did not see during my visit. I was traveling solo and felt safe the entire time.

VISAS

I am fortunate to have a British passport, which means that visas are rarely something I need to worry about. At the time of visiting, British citizens were eligible for a single-entry tourist visa for up to 30 days. No paperwork, no documents – just a

passport with at least two blank pages and threemonths’ validity remaining. The same can be said for citizens from EU countries, Canada, the USA, Australia, and the UAE (the latter have 90 days rather than 30). This may have changed since the time of this writing, so it goes without saying that a quick peruse on the Kazakhstan government website is an imperative before traveling.

MONEY

Finding somewhere to exchange my Korean won to Kazakhstan tenge was my own equivalent of Mission Impossible, albeit with a far more mundane plotline. My local exchange stores only dealt with US dollars, British pounds, Chinese yen, and the Euro. Though countless quick internet searches promised that exchange stores at Incheon Airport had hundreds of currencies available, this did not

Zenkov’s Cathedral.

extend to the Kazakhstan tenge. When I arrived at the airport, I found out to my cost (pun intended) that none of the numerous exchange stores sold the currency that I needed. My only option was to exchange my Korean won when I landed at Almaty Airport. The interest rates were high (as expected), but I was not in a position to decline and so was forced to swallow that bitter pill. Unsurprisingly, my advice would be to bring some form of debit card that can be used abroad without sneakily charging a fee with each purchase. Monzo is one such card that has been recommended to me.

TAXIS

The Uber app is no longer available in Kazakhstan. The reigning taxi app used by locals and tourists is Yandex Go. This app is a must. Hailing a taxi or taking one from Almaty Airport can be three times more expensive. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to download Yandex Go, and I was not the only one. Lots of tourists were greeted with the message “App not available in your region” whenever a download was attempted. In these situations, I asked the locals to order taxis for me and thought the language barrier made way for lots of wild looking hand gestures on my part, yet I still managed to get one in the end. If you are planning on spending a long time in Kazakhstan, then it would be worth investing in a SIM card so you can download the Yandex Go app.

LANGUAGE

On the subject of language barriers, be prepared for one if you cannot speak either Kazakh or Russian.

English is not widely spoken here. During my time in Almaty, the only locals I met who could speak English were around the twenty-year-old mark. Those who could speak English were eager to strike up a conversation to practice.

SUMMARY

My time in Almaty was a small snippet of what Kazakhstan and the rest of Central Asia has to offer: a clash of cultures, the remnants of fallen regimes, and an awe-filling landscape to top it all. That it is still an overlooked part of the world makes now the ideal time to visit, before the swarms of tourists descend and the character of the place is dimmed. I know that I will definitely be making a return trip to Central Asia in the near future.

gwangjunewsgic.com

The Author

English teacher by trade and keen traveler the rest of the time, Ellie Goodwin has been to 36 different countries, lived in China for over three years, and has lived in Gwangju for eight months. In her free time, she enjoys (you guessed it) traveling, hiking, reading, and the occasional soju. Instagram: @elliee_goodwin

Gwangju

"It is a country where the influences of Islam and communism still clash wonderfully with each other, making way for some truly beautiful architecture, the likes of which I have never seen anywhere else."

▲ The entrance to First President’s Park.

Photographs by Ellie Goodwin.

Gwangju Peeps, KOTESOL Peeps

Where Are They Now? ? ???

Expats are a quite transitory group. Many are very active in their adopted community, and then one day they are gone. You lose touch with them, and as the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.” Well, what we have done is contact a number of former Gwangju residents who were also active members of the Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL Chapter and asked them what they are up to now and how their experience here, including their KOTESOL experience, may have helped them in life after Gwangju. In this article, we have compiled contributions by Adriane Moser Geronimo, Kim Syejeong, Vivien Slezak, Doug Stuber, and Dean Derkson. Below are their stories. — Ed.

Adriane Moser Geronimo

Adriane Moser Geronimo spent almost six years in Korea between 1995 and 2009, all of them in Gwangju and as an active KOTESOL member. Although she in now back in the U.S., she is still an active lifetime member of KOTESOL. Here is her story.

In Korea, I first worked in language institutes for children grades K–9 and later taught children, undergraduates, and graduate students in the English Department and the Language Education Center of Chonnam National University. I also completed my master’s degree in English language at CNU.

I served as treasurer for the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter of KOTESOL from 2006 to 2008 and then as chapter president (2008–2009). I helped plan monthly workshops, annual conferences, and outreach events for the chapter.

After leaving Korea, my husband and I stayed in Southern California. While I was unable to acquire California state teaching licensure, I worked at a Korean-owned and -managed proprietary intensive English program adjacent to UC Irvine. We eventually resettled in Virginia, where I taught PreK–12 ESL and community college English, thanks to connections forged in Korea and my degree from CNU.

I have taught high school English Language Arts and Language Development courses in Texas for eight

years now. I have used leadership skills developed through participation in KOTESOL at the campus and district level, serving on Campus Educational Improvement, District Educational Improvement, Language Proficiency Assessment, Grading, and Attendance Committees. I have also been active in five state and regional TESOL affiliates since returning to the United States.

The global pandemic made it impossible to travel for several years; it also opened up new opportunities for professional learning and collaboration online. I have participated in the Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL Reflective Practice Special Interest Group and have presented at the Global English Teachers Association 2020 Conference, the KOTESOL International Conference, and the 24Hour MATSDA International Language Learning Conference. My involvement in these online events was made possible by connections with KOTESOL members.

Working overseas is not in itself sufficient to make one a global educator. I have pivoted my international experience and leadership skills gained with KOTESOL into the area of global education. I was selected for the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program for the 2019–2020 school year, eventually completing my international field experience in Peru in the summer of 2022. This entrée into the world of global education opened doors to participation in activities with the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia at the East

Asian Studies Center at Indiana University. Through that connection, I now mentor a Korean graduate student each semester with the non-profit Pathways to Cross-Cultural Understanding. I also participate in the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Global Studies. Once I opened the door to global education, the opportunities have not ended!

I am a National Board-Certified Teacher in English as a New Language. In my initial portfolio and first maintenance of certification, I showcased and reflected upon my participation in KOTESOL. As I add a certification area and maintain the first, I continue to utilize my ongoing professional growth experiences though KOTESOL.

Connections, knowledge, and skills I have developed through participation in KOTESOL have helped my further development, both personally and professionally, into a well-rounded, well-informed member of the global community. I wish to thank all who are a part of my past, present, and future journey.

Kim Syejeong

Kim Syejeong grew up in Gwangju, became an English teacher after university, joined KOTESOL soon thereafter, and moved to the United States in 2014. Here is her story.

Coming from a family deeply rooted in Gwangju, I have always enjoyed opportunities to interact with diverse members of the community in my hometown. While working as a new English teacher in the early 2000s, I was motivated to get involved in organizations that could foster a sense of belonging with fellow English teachers who could create a feeling of being connected and provide support for each other. That is why I gladly joined the local KOTESOL chapter’s meeting when my Canadian friend, who was also an English teacher, invited me to the event. I quickly fell in love with the welcoming atmosphere of the chapter leadership combined with the opportunities for professional development and signed up for membership without hesitation.

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Gwangju

▲ Adriane (front right) at Machu Picchu, Peru, this year upon completion of her Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program.

My involvement with the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter afforded me a host of opportunities to attain highly desirable professional skills in today’s job market outside of a classroom environment. For example, while serving as the membership coordinator for the chapter, I gained invaluable hands-on experience in database management, financial management, and mass email communication. When I was selected to serve as the vice-president of the chapter, I worked to increase the diversity of membership by reaching out to non-native English-speaking teachers in the region, mainly from the Philippines, so that the group’s composition could more closely resemble that of all English teachers in the Gwangju region. Additionally, through my involvement with KOTESOL, I was introduced to the Gwangju International Center, where I was engaged in a wide range of volunteer opportunities that helped me grow professionally within the international community in Gwangju.

Department of State-funded study abroad program called the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program. Leveraging my previous connections with community organizations in Gwangju to arrange volunteer opportunities for the CLS participants during their time in the city and help them interact with the host community made me realize that I have come full circle from my early days as an aspiring community builder. Currently, I am continuing my path in public service and community-building by working as a recruitment specialist for AmeriCorps, an organization which sends people power and funding to communities across the U.S. to help communities tackle their toughest challenges.

Doug Stuber

Doug Stuber spent about eight years teaching English at the tertiary level in Gwangju. It was not uncommon to see him and his bright sweatshirts at the Gwangju International Center, at KOTESOL meetings, and around town. Those who knew him knew that he was also an accomplished artist and poet. Now back in the U.S., he is into publishing poetry. Here is his story.

When I first joined KOTESOL, at the kind request of Park Yeon Seong and Ynell Lumantao, I hoped to bridge the gap in my curricula caused by the difference in teaching styles in the U.S. and best practices in South Korea. Superior guest presenters, fun games full of tips, and specific goals and strategies often presented by members meant that there was a lot more to gain from KOTESOL than lesson plan ideas. I took notes in the meetings to the point of hand cramps.

Looking back, my involvement with KOTESOL was a stepping stone in community-building that opened doors to a new career path. Upon completing my term as the chapter vice president, I landed a position at Chonnam National University as an international coordinator. In this role, I organized accessible international exchange programs and witnessed people building meaningful relationships across the globe. More recently, I worked at a non-profit organization to implement the U.S.

A teaching deficit that started to be repaired at KOTESOL was that I had majored in journalism, with a master’s in creative writing. In other words:

I had not a single education class along the way. Though I had taught seventh grade for five years and at a community college for six, it became clear that teaching English as a second language required specific methods that I had not yet used. KOTESOL and conversations with veteran second-language

▲ Syejeong (front right) with chapter members after a KOTESOL event in 2008.

English teachers outside the meetings were vital in helping me teach more effectively, and on a level the students could understand and enjoy.

My time in Gwangju was from 2008 to 2015, my son, Hyuntae, was age 3–10 in that stretch,

so he became familiar with both cultural norms and his mother’s native tongue. I taught English for the Media, Debate and Speech, Business English, and English in Academics at Chonnam National University. It was fun to have four different possible lesson plans to map out. Usually, I taught two of the four levels, but one semester I had the pleasure of teaching all four levels at once. I changed the curricula by 80 percent or more every single semester, so four separate lines of study felt like acting in four plays at the same time.

I made it to KOTESOL meetings more than half the time once I started. National conferences and events were often a highlight of my year.

Although I have switched from teaching into publishing “Poems from the Heron Clan,” running poetry critique groups, and publishing individual poets of merit, KOTESOL gave me the support needed to run effective groups and keep divergent groups of poets coming to meetings. I recommend KOTESOL, especially to English teachers who have not had education classes, or who might not have majored in English.

By the way, if you write poems, why not submit to the Heron Clan by sending three and a 50-word bio to katherinejamesbooks@gmail.com?

Vivien Slezak

Vivien Slezak spent four fruitful years in Korea, the last two of them in Gwangju. For most of her time in Korea, she was a tertiary educator and involved in KOTESOL. Afterwards, she returned to Canada to further her career. Here is her story.

I lived in Gwangju from the fall of 2010 to 2012, after two happy years living in Daejeon and working at Woosong University. My move to South Korea was my first time on Asian soil, and my first intention was to gain teaching experience and immerse myself in Korean culture for one year. Without hesitation, I ultimately stayed for four years.

In Gwangju, I worked at Chosun University, teaching English to first-year students of all majors as well as in the English Language Institute teaching English to adults and children in the community. During my second year at Chosun, I moved to the ESL department where I taught English to prelaw and pre-medical students. My time at Chosun was a very fulfilling experience teaching-wise but also because of the opportunities to continue my involvement with KOTESOL.

Back in Daejeon, I started getting involved with KOTESOL as part of their International Conference Committee, which organized the annual

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Gwangju

▲ One of Doug’s abstract paintings.

▲ Vivien (front center) with a hospitality cohort in the EAP program at George Brown College.

international conference held in Seoul. My role as guest services chair enabled me, above all, to meet many interesting and engaging individuals, teachers, academics, and international superstars sharing their ideas and research contributions to the fields of teaching and learning. Some of these meetings resulted in ongoing professional relationships and friendships.

While in Gwangju, I was active in the GwangjuJeonnam Chapter as the treasurer. This was a great opportunity to meet and work with individuals on a more local level, and the chapter meetings provided great platforms to share ideas, hold miniconferences, and continue to develop and improve our teaching practices in our EFL or EAP classrooms.

My teaching experience in Korea certainly helped me find employment in Toronto, specifically at the International Language Academy of Canada immediately upon returning to Toronto, and soon after at George Brown and Seneca Colleges. Specifically, I felt better equipped to teach large groups of various language proficiencies and learning needs. Additionally, my involvement with KOTESOL, both attending conferences and organizing them, helped me apply theories, methods, and new approaches to teaching in the classroom. Finally, my years in Korea helped me obtain various short-term teaching positions in China, where I could further practice and develop my skills as an educator.

It has been a decade since I left Korea, and I have carried the knowledge and experience from the universities and KOTESOL to further develop myself professionally and pursue my academic passions. In 2014, I started my own small business that offers private or small group English coaching, mentoring, and tutelage for adults with specific academic or professional needs (www.newlifeabroad.org). In September of this year, I started a PhD program in education at the University of Ottawa. My research interests include online learning, emerging technologies, and reward systems.

All in all, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities living, working, and volunteering in Korea and at KOTESOL. These experiences have doubtlessly contributed to my personal and professional growth and my ongoing passion for learning. I believe that

the communities of people who are equally excited to share their ideas and strive for continuous learning, including KOTESOL, are invaluable for networking, progress, and inclusivity.

Dean Derkson

When Dean Derkson first arrived in Korea in 1997, he worked at a small hagwon (language academy) on the east coast, then at BCM Academy in downtown Gwangju in 1998, but most of his time in Korea was spent teaching English conversation at Chosun University from 1999 to 2017. He also obtained his master’s degree at Chosun while working there. Here is his story.

It was while teaching at Chosun University that I became associated with KOTESOL. I learned a lot at its teachers’ conferences that I could easily apply to make my classes better. I met many interesting people helping out there and soon became one of the many volunteers needed to keep the organization running smoothly. I still volunteer with Air Cadets Canada in the parent committee of the local squadron. My kids attend Cadets to learn skills like survival, shooting, and first aid as well as meeting other kids their age.

On arrival back in Canada in 2017, I needed to setup a household and ended up near Nanaimo, British Columbia. I got a car, a house, and a job as a painter to make ends meet and stop the bleeding from my bank account. Painting is a trade I had learned from my father, and in the past, I had a painting company

"All in all, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities living, working, and volunteering in Korea and at KOTESOL."

that I used to pay my way through university. In 2019, after applying for a number of more professional positions, I interviewed at VIU (Vancouver Island University) and got a job teaching mathematics. My experience teaching at a university in Korea really helped me get this job, as well as understand what I needed to do to prepare for my classes, and to do the required paperwork in the office. Teaching math was easy, and a lot of fun, for me at least – for my students, not so much.

As cases of COVID-19 spread in Canada, my university decided one day that all classes would move online. We were given one week to make the change and learn to teach and test through Zoom. The following term, Spring 2020, many classes were cut, as 20 percent of our students were foreign and many had returned home. By summer, there was no more work for me, as I was still only hired on oneyear contracts.

Following that, I got a job as a log peeler for a log home builder north of Nanaimo. It is basically being paid to work out at a gym. You debark and then peel, by hand, two 12-meter, 1000-kg logs each day with 50-cm draw knives that are razor sharp.

In the fall of 2021, my wife and I bought a different house built in 1880 that needed “some” work, and since then I have simply been working away on the house. I am 11 months into that project now. The next tasks are putting shelving and a clothes rack in my daughter’s closet, installing carpet on the stairs, and swapping out some questionable house support columns in the basement.

Life is good here, but I still miss Korea: There is no Geumsan Naengmyeon (cold noodles) available here in the summer!

Compiled by David Shaffer.

Photographs courtesy of Adriane Moser Geronimo, Kim Syejeong, Doug Stuber, Vivien Slezak, and Dean Derkson.

GWANGJU-JEONNAM KOTESOL UPCOMING EVENTS

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

For full event details:

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

• Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL

The Column Editor

David Shaffer has been involved in TEFL and teacher training in Gwangju for many years. As vice-president of the GwangjuJeonnam Chapter of KOTESOL, he invites you to participate in the chapter’s teacher development workshops and events (online and in person) and in KOTESOL activities in general. He is a past president of KOTESOL and is currently the editor-inchief of the Gwangju News.

gwangjunewsgic.com

Gwangju

&

Everyday Korean

Episode 59

입이 무거우니까 괜찮아요

Because They Can Keep a Secret, It Is Okay.

By Harsh Kumar Mishra

The Conversation

정민: 아 나 큰일났어. 나 진짜 바보야.

Jeongmin: I am in big trouble. I am so stupid.

멍지에: 왜 그러세요, 언니?

Meongjie: Why is that, Eonni?

정민: 어젯밤에 민지랑 술 마시러 갔는데 술에 취해서 별것 다 이야기해 버렸어.

Jeongmin: I went drinking with Minji yesterday evening, got drunk, and overshared many things with her.

멍지에: 회사 1층에서 일하는 민지요?

Meongjie: Are you talking about Minji from the first floor (of our company)?

정민: 응 맞아. 한 프로젝트를 민지랑 공동으로 하고 있어. Jeongmin: Yeah. We are collaborating on one project.

멍지에: 그럼 괜찮아요, 언니. 민지는 입이 무거우니까 걱정하지 마세요.

Meongjie: Then it is okay. Minji can keep a secret, so do not worry.

정민: 아 그래? 민지랑 친해?

Jeongmin: Oh, really? Are you guys close?

멍지에: 네, 친해요. 민지는 순수하고 착한 친구예요.

Meongjie: Yes. Minji is an innocent and kind person.

Grammar Points

Verb ~아/어/해 버리다

This grammar pattern works as an auxiliary verb attached to a main verb and expresses a speaker’s feeling towards the completion of something. Depending on the situation, the feeling can be “happy/relieving” after completion of an event or “sad” because something happened till the end, but the result was unexpected.

Examples

- 오늘 집 청소 다 해 버렸어요

I cleaned the whole house today. (relieved)

- 기차가 떠나 버렸어요

The train has already left. (sad)

입이 무겁다

This frequently used idiom of Korean is used to express that someone is “good at keeping secrets” or is “a person of few words.”

Examples

- 네하는 입이 무거우니까 아무한테도 말 안 할 거예요. Neha is good at keeping secrets, so she will not tell anybody.

- 저는 입이 무거운 사람을 너무 좋아해요.

I really like people of few words.

Vocabulary

큰일나다: to be in big trouble, 바보: stupid, 어젯밤: last night, 술: liquor, 마시다: to drink, 술에 취하다: to get drunk, 별것: many things, 이야기하다: to talk, 일하다: to work, 공동으로 일하다: to collaborate, 걱정하다: to worry, 친하다: to be close; to be friendly with, 순수하다: to be innocent; to be pure, 착하다: to be kind, N~랑: with (noun)

The Author

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

Love Opens Doors to Human Hearts

By Park Nahm-Sheik

Loveis a many-splendored thing," as is intoned in the title of a popular 1955 Hollywood film.

The theme song of the movie goes on to declare: “It’s the April rose that only grows in the early spring Love is nature’s way of giving a reason for living The golden crown that makes a man a king”

I like this perspective of love as a miracle incubator. Love as such apparently sheds light on why NGOs in general are so well received wherever they find themselves. The Gwangju International Center, for one, is so popular in the Gwangju-Chonnam area for the simple reason that all its projects are founded on a deep-seated love for the region. The U.S. Peace Corps, for another, has enjoyed global popularity for a similar reason. Peace Corps Volunteers were genuinely welcomed wherever in the world they went to work, for what they always had at heart was helping to take to the next level the well-being of the population they went to serve. Doctors Without Borders, Action Against Hunger, and the International Community of the Red Cross are also among major movers and shakers in the sphere of global volunteerism. Their operations are all undergirded by a boundless compassion for people everywhere, regardless of skin color, ethnicity, religion, politics, etc.

Numerous individuals also have left indelible marks on the charity map of the world. Cases in point include Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa, and Father Lee Tae-seok, to name just a few. They have earned worldwide admiration for their selfless services in the most neglected corners of the globe. Love is indeed a thing of beauty – nothing less than an elixir that gives

rise to bundles of goodies in its wake. Love has a way of rooting and spreading, forever bonding those it touches. A place under its spell gets morphed into one of utmost bliss, literally a Garden of Eden for all. Which is basically why “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is such an impactful teaching for us all.

Speaking of our neighbors, nature is the nearest of them all, bar none, and by far the most priceless to boot. It is an overarching dome of a home we are all destined to dwell in for as long as we live. Indebted to her as we always are, we have gotten to be such ingrates as to think nothing of taking her for granted – abusing and exploiting her even to the detriment of our precious biome itself. The wanton destruction of the Amazon Rainforest comes to mind here. We allegedly get a little economic gain in return which is extremely miniscule and ephemeral at that. Is that not too steep a price to pay for the precipitous degradation of the global environment? I do not particularly enjoy being a doomsayer, but what looms on the horizon is nothing less than an apocalypse, a modern-day Noah’s Ark, as it were, dooming every living being to disappear from the surface of the planet. If only we could turn back the clock and do things over in a more environmentfriendly manner. Regrettably, though, we may already be way past the point of no return.

The Author

Park Nahm-Sheik is professor emeritus in the Department of English at Seoul National University and formerly instructor of English as a foreign language at Georgetown University, U.S.A.

Far above the streets and suspended in midair like a guardian angel, there lies a timeless piece of technology that acts as a focal point between psychology, physics, and electrical engineering. Often disregarded or outright ignored by the populous at large, this silent sentinel does not judge, does not get tired, and asks for nothing in return while keeping a watchful eye over all of us like a fearless eagle protecting its young. While it is easiest to observe this spectacular device while on foot, those with the keenest of observation skills may even be able to catch a glimpse of one from behind an automobile windshield. Of course, I am referring to the magnificent and majestic red traffic light: truly one of the greatest and most important inventions in the history of mankind.

WHERE TO FIND A RED TRAFFIC LIGHT

For those truly curious, it is possible to see a red traffic light with the naked eye, provided one knows where to look. Most often, red traffic lights can be located approximately five meters above the ground where two or more roads intersect. The reasons they exist are shrouded in mystery and, I must warn you, trying to understand the purpose of a red traffic light is much like holding sand in your fist: The harder you try to grasp it, the more it slips through your fingers.

What Is a Red Traffic Light?

By William Urbanski

WHY RED?

A strong case could be made that human beings are biologically inclined to stop moving when seeing the color red. This deeply ingrained instinct owes itself to a remarkable natural phenomenon called aposematism (or aposematic coloration), which refers to living things that develop brightly colored skin as a warning to predators that they are poisonous. A classic example are bright red tree frogs that also happen to be toxic if touched or consumed. Over time, snakes, birds and other would-be predators learn that eating these cute little frogs causes them to, well, die. What is remarkable to think about is that if it were not for this brightly colored skin, these cute little frogs would be utterly defenseless against predators.

Now let us do a quick thought experiment: If you were walking around a jungle and saw a cute, brightred frog jumping around, would you try to pick it up or would you leave it alone? Well, hopefully countless generations of genetic evolution would incline you to leave the little critter just the way you found it.

Red is far from the only aposematic coloration. Yellow is also commonly found on all sorts of dangerous species such as wasps, bees, snakes, and our friend the humble tree frog. Now where else can

you see the color yellow? You guessed it! On traffic lights!

Of course, not all red things are dangerous, but it appears that millennia of evolution have hardwired human beings to be cautious of things that are bright red, especially bright red things that hang above intersections, and to resist such instinct is to go against one’s biological nature.

MASTERING THE BASICS OF A RED TRAFFIC LIGHT: THE BRAKE PEDAL AND THE GAS PEDAL

When a person is seated in the driver’s seat, he or she should be able to touch two oddly shaped pedals with his or her right foot. Mastering the function of these pedals is of the utmost importance. The pedal on the right is called the “gas pedal” and causes the car to make a really cool “vroom vroom!” sound when pushed down. Pushing this pedal generally causes the car to move in a forward direction (at least most of the time). The gas pedal is also the one that should not be pressed when a driver sees a red traffic light. No matter what the situation, what car a driver has, or who the driver’s uncle is, a driver is legally, socially, and morally obligated to push the other pedal, called the “brake pedal,” when a traffic light is red. What is more, a driver must maintain pressure on the brake pedal until the car comes to a full and complete stop.

After about a minute or so, the red traffic light will disappear. At almost the exact same time, a green light will start to brightly glow. When this occurs, a driver may lift his or her foot off the brake pedal and gently press down on the gas pedal.

This is a lot of information to digest, and it is easy to forget which pedal is which. So, what I suggest to beginner and novice drivers is to get two cans of spray paint, one green and one red, and then paint the gas pedal green and the brake pedal red. This way, remembering what to do at an intersection is as easy as looking at your shoes!

***SPECIAL Q&A SECTION: TURNING RIGHT

ON A RED LIGHT***

Can I turn right on a red light?

Yes! A driver may turn right on a red light provided that he or she comes to a full and complete stop

before starting the turn. In other words, a driver who wishes to turn right on a red light must activate the automobile’s right turn signal, push down the brake pedal until the wheels of the car stop moving completely, check to make sure it is safe to turn, then gently take his or her foot off the brake, and slowly push down the gas pedal while turning the steering wheel.

When the driver in front of me makes a full and complete stop at an intersection so that they can safely check the intersection before making a right turn, I should blow my horn at them like a big jerk, right?

No. You should not blow your horn at someone who is taking three seconds to make sure they can safely execute a right turn. Using the automobile’s horn this way is what big jerks do when they want everyone to know what big jerks they are.

If I hit a pedestrian who is crossing the street because I did not take three seconds to make sure the intersection was clear, that is the pedestrian’s fault, right?

No. That would be the driver’s fault. As a general rule, if a pedestrian is hit by a car, it is the driver’s fault. This is why a driver should come to a complete stop before making a right turn on a red light.

CONCLUSIONS

Red traffic lights are mysterious, enigmatic, and beautiful. While fancy mRNA vaccines and modern surgical techniques get a lot of credit for saving lives, it is important to remember that since its inception, the red traffic light has saved no less than five hundred million lives annually.[1] Learning new things is always difficult, but keep in mind that whether you are learning to tie your shoelace or trying to figure out what to do at a traffic light, the goal should be progress, not perfection. You can do it!

1 I actually just made that up, but you get the picture.

The Author

William Urbanski is from Canada, married, and can use chopsticks to eat spicy food. He is also a traffic light aficionado. Instagram: @ will_il_gatto

gwangjunewsgic.com

Gwangju as an Exchange Student Expectations Versus Reality

By Lisa Ghilardi

IIhave just come to Gwangju to do a four-month student exchange program. It got me a lot of “whys,” like “Why South Korea?” and “Why not Seoul?”

It is true that, although South Korea is known around the world now, it is not only for good reasons. Why go to the region of the world most threatened by a nuclear power such as North Korea? As a woman, I was also concerned over how women are treated in Korean society: After all, South Korea has the highest wage gap among OECD countries.[1] Married women can still be called jip-saram, literally meaning “person of the house,” while married men are the bakkat-yangban, which means “gentleman of the outside.” Curiously, it was also the fact that South Korea was known as one of the most modern countries in the world that worried me: Really, how was I going to be able to make friends in the most digitally advanced country in the OECD[1] when I am not a social media person?

But the latter is also what drove me here: curiosity about the world’s modernity test tube. Whose interest would not be caught by the economic miracle that had the national economy grow about 800 times in six decades, going from $2 billion USD in 1961 to $1.6 trillion USD in 2019?[1] I could only wonder from afar what it would be like to be immersed in a society capable of such radical and fast-paced change. And what a cultural shock it would be! I was always fascinated by the differences between Asian civilizations and those of the Occident: Our ways of thinking and our cultures are a study in contrasts. All this seems particularly true in South Korea, where

the ultra-rapid modernization sometimes feels like a veneer over what is still a country entrenched in traditions.

That is what I came looking for in Gwangju: the traditions and culture that South Korea is currently evolving from. Gwangju is not the increasingly global society of Seoul; a foreigner here can still get the experience of alterity that should go with any real travel. People can still be surprised here with your altogether “otherness,” be it the way you dress, the way you talk, or the color of your eyes. One Korean friend, in fact, told me that the blue or green color of the eyes of some of his Occidental acquaintances was what struck him the most when meeting them.

This sentiment of “otherness” is fortified by the fact that few South Koreans can speak English, at least in Gwangju. Yes, it is true that the troubles to communicate make it more difficult to make South Korean friends: As a lot of them consider themselves not to have a good enough level of English, they are too shy to talk to foreigners. But those who are not make for fantastic conversations and very thoughtful friends. I, for example, am learning Korean with my “buddy” – a person who volunteered to help me navigate the university and life in Gwangju in general – whom I help in return with English.

Difficulties aside, the language barrier does not stop South Koreans’ extreme kindness from shining through, like that of an elderly couple who gave me water and milk when I was thirsty. They did not speak a word of English, but we communicated through body language and one-word sentences. There was

something touching about me simply managing to learn their names and them mine. I am not sure I would have found the same kind of generosity in Seoul due to the bbali-bbali (“hurry-hurry”) lifestyle more prominent there. I would have to get this train, this cab, or this green light or I would be late!

When I went to Seoul to visit, I was unsurprised to find the metro filled with people glued to their phones, insensitive to the plight of the person having a problem with their ticket right next to them. Seems like it is the same in every capital.

But part of this nonchalance when confronted by another’s problem could also be cultural: At least, that is what some of those who warned me before coming here believed. In their words, South Koreans took the appearance of faraway statues: beautiful but cold and silent. I have to say, before coming here, I had this image of the perfect Korean person with delicately pale skin, tastefully applied make-up –not only on the women – and stylish yet discreet clothes. She or he would appear shy, nice almost, but as unapproachable as the moon.

South Koreans’ reputation does nothing to help disabuse us of those kinds of notions: There is a true worship of the appearance here, of how to look perfect. Be it on social media or in photo studios, there is no shame here in embracing our narcissistic side and looking at ourselves in the mirror at our own leisure. South Koreans do more than look, too: In Seoul, 20 percent of women aged 19–49 have undergone plastic surgery, which is one in five women.[2] It is less true in Gwangju, but there is still a flagrant dichotomy between this quest of having a doll-like face that is impassive and serious, and the locals’ multiple acts of kindness.

Indeed, like Janus, Koreans seem to have two faces: The one they want to present to the world, smooth and placid, and one caught in a stroke of passion, which randomly bursts during the day and can take over at night. I was, in fact, shocked to witness the

difference between South Koreans at a concert, a bar, or a restaurant, and their general attitude: They talk loudly, laugh with abandon, and invite you to drink with the same generosity that I talked about earlier. It is literally night and day. It is not for nothing that South Koreans are nicknamed “the Italians of Asia”: Like their food, they appear sweet, but are spicy underneath. I can only hope to enjoy it and not get burned too much during my stay.

Sources

[1] Gender equality: Korea has come a long way, but there is more work to do. (2021, October 25). OCED. https://www. oecd.org/country/korea/thematic-focus/gender-equalitykorea-has-come-a-long-way-but-there-is-more-work-to-do8bb81613/

[2] modernworkers (2012, July 20). 1 in 5 Korean Women Had Plastic Surgery. Before It’s News. https://beforeitsnews. com/china/2012/07/1-in-5-korean-women-had-plasticsurgery-2416189.html

The Author

Lisa Ghilardi is a French exchange student at Chonnam National University. She loves traveling and has lived in Spain, the United States, and of course, her native France. She wants to keep writing about her travels in her free time. She is also addicted to cookies and udong noodles. Instagram: @lisa_gf

Gwangju

Upcoming Events November 2022

Compiled by Lim Se-ryeong

2022 gwangjunewsgic.com

GWANGJU FESTIVALS

2022 ACC CONVERGENCE: THE EXHIBITION OF DIGITAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY “THE GREAT CHRONICLE WITH EARTH” 2022 국립아시아문화전당 융복합 콘텐츠 전시 《지구의 시간 》

Dates: Until November 6, 2022 (closed every Monday)

Location: 38 Munhwajeondang-ro, Dong-gu, Asia Culture Center Space 2 광주광역시 동구 문화전당로 38, 아시아문화전당

Admission: Free Telephone: 1899-5566

Website: https://www.acc.go.kr/en/

ACC CULTURAL EXPERIENCE TOUR ACC 문화체험투어

Dates: November 5–26, 2022

Location: 38 Munhwajeondang-ro, Dong-gu, Asia Culture Center 광주광역시 동구 문화전당로 38, 아시아문화전당

Admission: 8,000 won (pre-registration required) Telephone: 1899-5566

Website: https://www.acc.go.kr/en/

GWANGJU WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL 2022 광주여성영화제

Dates: November 9 – November 13

Location: Gwangju Theater and CGV Geumnam-ro Branch 광주광역시 동구 충장로46번길 10 광주극장 광주 동구 중앙로 160번길 16-7 부로타워 2층 CGV 광주금남로

2022 ACC×GB GWANGJU - ASIA “BITTERSWEET” EXHIBITION ACC ‘쓰고도 달콤한’ 전시

Dates: Until November 27, 2022

Location: 38 Munhwajeondang-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju Asia Culture Center Space 6 광주광역시 동구 문화전당로 38, 아시아문화전당

Telephone: 1899-5566

Admission: Free

Website: https://www.acc.go.kr/en/

JEOLLANAM-DO FESTIVALS

HAMPYEONG CHRYSANTHEMUM FESTIVAL 대한민국 국향대전

Dates: October 21 – November 6, 2022

Location: 1160 Hamjang-ro, Hampyeong-eup, Hampyeong-gun, Jeollanam-do 전라남도 함평군 함장로 1160 함평엑스포공원(축제장)

Admission: 7,000 won for adults (free for Hampyeong residents)

Telephone: 061-320-2245

Website: https://www.hpftf.or.kr/

GANGJINMAN BAY DANCING REED FESTIVAL 강진만 춤추는 갈대축제

Dates: October 28 – November 6, 2022

Location: 47 Saengtaegongwon-gil, Gangjin-eup, Gangjin-gun, Jeollanam-do 전남 강진군 강진읍 생태공원길 47

Admission: Free

Telephone: 061-430-3354

Website: https://www.gangjin.go.kr/en/tour/festival/dancing

HAENAM FOOD FESTIVAL 해남미남(味南 )축제

Dates: November 4 – 6, 2022

Location: Entrance around Daeheung Temple, Samsan-myeon, Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do 전남 해남군 삼산면 대흥사 입구

Admission: Free

Telephone: 061-530-5157

Website: https://www.해남미남축제.com/

THE 2022 HWASUN CHRYSANTHEMUM FESTIVAL 2022 화순 국화향연

Dates: October 28 – November 13, 2022

Location: 89 Gwangdeok-ri, Hwasun-eup, Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do (Around Namsan Park) 전라남도 화순군 화순읍 광덕리 89, 남산공원 일대 Admission: Free Telephone: 061-379-3575

Website: http://www.hwasun.go.kr/festival/index.do?S=S11

MOKPO MARINE W SHOW 목포 해상 W쇼

Dates: All Saturday in November 2022

Location: 115 Mihang-ro, Mokpo-si, Jeollanam-do (Around Peace Square, Mokpo) 전라남도 목포시 미항로115 (목포 평화광장 일대) Admission: Free Telephone: 061-270-8441

Website: http://mokpowshow.co.kr/us/

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Gwangju News,

Chapter 5

Detailing the Doors, Windows, and Gates of Gwangju’s Mass-Produced Hanok

By Kang Dong-su

Lasttime, we briefly learned about the origin and history behind the structure of Gwangju’s mass-produced hanok (한옥, traditional Korean houses). Influences from China, Japan, and Western culture made a lot of distinctive hanok in Gwangju and Jeonnam during the modern period. In addition, those designs survived through the 1960–70s after being selected and simplified by developers and became a standard for city hanok in Gwangju. There are two main types of 1960–70s hanok: “round type” and “square type.” Round-type models have an especially distinctive style compared to other regions, and we can say these were one of the last evolutions of hanok as normal houses in Korea.

In this chapter, I want to explain about door, window, and gate designs of Gwangju’s mass-produced hanok.

DOORS AND WINDOWS

Sliding Doors

It goes without saying that doors and windows are one of the main features of hanok. Like most of the components of hanok in the modern period, window and door patterns, materials, and sizes developed throughout the last century. Usage of glass sliding doors for front corridors along with glass windows is one of the main differences of hanok from the Joseon Dynasty. In fact, most of the designs for glass windows and sliding doors came from Meiji-era Japan.

Until the Joseon Dynasty, a toet-maru (툇마루, front corridor porch) was a space left open yearround without any doors. However, this building custom changed to having a four-door sliding system following influences from Japan that began in the late 19th century. The first model of glass sliding doors was a copy of Japanese 亞-pattern doors, which was broadly used in most colonialera hanok in Korea and especially in Seoul, as most of the massproduced hanok there were made during the colonial period.

Like in many other countries, this kind of glass parting design was inevitable, as it was expensive to make full panes of large glass. However, starting in the 1950s, this design was simplified as Koreans began making their own glass around that time. Thus, most

▲ Toet-maru sliding doors and gwangchang from the 1970s. The first photo was taken in a nowdemolished part of Gyerim-dong, which is a good example of the influences of Japan lasting even until the 1970s, with Japanese-style sliding doors and gwangchang patterns.

– 1970s. Until the 1960s, wooden structures for munganchae were dominant. But starting in the 1970s, they changed to using concrete. The floor plans, ornaments, and shapes are all different depending on the city structure, the purpose of the munganchae, and the developer’s style.

of Gwangju’s mass-produced hanok usually have simple, single-sheet glass sliding doors or sometimes two or three divisions of glass.

Windows

The same design change happened to windows, too. Joseon-era windows were outward opening plus sometimes sliding windows inside. This style changed during the colonial period to have only one single pair of Japanese 亞-pattern windows. However, old-style, three-millimeter glass windows were not enough for the freezing winters in Korea, so after they were able to make large sheets of glass, Gwangju hanok started to have two layers of sliding windows. The outside window had a full glass pane or two to three divided glass panes, while the inside window had traditional paper. By doing this, they did not have to change the paper very often, as the glass protected the inside windows and showed off the beautiful inside windows’ pattern. Also, they could choose to have warm, dispersed light from the paper or a clear view of the outside. For massproduced hanok in Gwangju, patterns for inside windows were mixed in style with both Joseonera and colonial Japanese influences. This double window style lasted until the 1980s, and you can even see their traces in 1970–80s concrete buildings.

Doors

There are two types of doors for traditional Korean houses: panmun (판문) and salmun (살문). Panmun

are doors made of wooden boards, and salmun are doors made of thin, wood grids and paper. Salmun were used until the 1970s for doors inside mass-produced hanok, but not all hanok had only traditional doors. Influenced by colonial-era houses since 1950 following Korea’s independence, people tried to use Japanese-Western hybrid doors or copies of Western-style plywood doors. Some owners of mass-produced hanok changed their traditional doors to Western-style ones and Japanese-style twin sliding doors with glass when renovating their homes to be more like so-called Western styles in the late 1970s and the 1980s.

▲ The interior of a sitting room in a mass-produced hanok in Gwangju from the 1970s (previously where the numaru was located). The first set of windows are glass, and the second are traditional paper windows. This double-layer system was not available during the colonial era and started after Koreans were able to make larger glass sheets in their own factories.

Special Doors and Windows

In mass-produced hanok, there was an attic above the kitchen and a built-in closet for each room. These design features derived from the Joseon Dynasty. Doors for the attic and closet were usually made of wood frames and plywood, though there were some exceptions. (For example, I once found doors made of mother-of-pearl and black lacquer in the Im-dong redevelopment site in Gwangju.)

Generally, they applied Western-style wallpaper to these doors the way they did for the room walls or if the room was a sitting room or library, they applied varnish, as these rooms usually had Western-style varnished plywood decorations on the ceiling and exposed wooden structures. Some houses even used this built-in closet structure for displaying their books or ornaments with wood-framed glass sliding doors in the sitting room.

▲ Mass-produced houses in Gwangju and Mokpo from the 1960s

One other difference from the days of the Joseon Dynasty are the tiny windows that link the kitchen and the living room. Through the House Improvement Movement (주택개량운동) started during the colonial period, architects and developers tried to make traditional houses more efficient, and one of the solutions for improving kitchens, which had to be separated from rooms because of the ondol (온돌, traditional Korean floor heating system), was to have a tiny door linking the kitchen to the living room for serving meals.

to make munganchae into a brick wall / concrete slab structure. It solved the problem of lack of yard space, which was an essential place for drying food, making kimchi, and producing other fermented foods.

There is a special place in older Korean homes called jangdokdae (장독대), which is an open area for traditional pottery pots containing soy sauce, kimchi, and fermented foods. You can imagine how the jangdokdae was an essential component of the Korean home by the fact that even until recently, before the traditional pots were replaced by kimchi refrigerators, apartment balconies were a place that served as families’ jangdokdae . Rooftops on the munganchae were also a perfect place to put their pots. Some even made this flat, open space into a garden to grow vegetables and fruits. It was also a good place to dry their laundry, so the developer usually made steel washlines strung with electrical wires.

GATES

Munganchae and Front Yards

A main gate has long been one of the most important components of hanok buildings. It is usually not just a gate, but a house in itself which is called munganchae (문간채). Servant rooms, a garage, and other storage space belonged to this gate-building. This custom lasted until the 1960s, except for the fact that servant rooms became tenant rooms. But starting in the late 1960s, the era of mass-production hanok developers emerged, and they had to make dense, compact houses fit the land size that the government recommended.

Unlike China and Japan, Korea never had crowded cities before the twentieth century . Except for Seoul, which already suffered from overpopulation during the colonial period and so developed a city hanok in response; most of the hanok in other regions were not planned as city houses until after the Korean War. One of the solutions they pursued was

Depending on the size of the house, this concrete munganchae still became a tenant room, but usually if the house was too small, it was used as a toilet and storage space for coal briquettes. Unlike nowadays, Korean toilets and baths were separated. Massproduced hanok usually have at least two concrete structures, a munganchae and a toilet. Toilets were usually placed on the opposite side of the gate from the munganchae. The custom of putting the toilet as far as possible from the kitchen also derived from the Joseon Dynasty because the toilet was regarded as unhygienic and something that should be far away from the main living space. Therefore, the kitchen and the main room for the owner were placed opposite the gate and the toilet.

Jangseok

The original gate design and details of hanok changed throughout the colonial period as well as the following period of rapid economic development. During the colonial period, the Joseon Dynasty’s simple wooden plank doors were elaborated with stylish jangseok (장석), which is an ornamental nail or hinge used on woodwork. Even though Korea did have a tradition of using jangseok earlier, it was only

▲ A munganchae in Gwangju from the 1970s with a metal gate. The style came from Western-style houses, which were competitors to mass-produced hanok in the 1960s–1970s.

used for a few houses or palaces because the society back then had disdain for such craftsmanship, unlike Japan.

During the Korean Empire and Japanese occupation era, craftsmanship got more of the spotlight. Global events like the Exposition Universelle de 1889 influenced Japanese craftsmanship and, being part of the international trade system during its attempts to modernize, colonial Japan made Korea work on craftsmanship, which influenced the door ornaments and their design. Therefore, the base design of jangseok is from Japan, but it slowly developed in its own way in Korea and became a distinguishable vernacular style during the colonial period. Even after the war and until the era of massproduced hanok, colonial-era jangseok styles and culture remained and became one of the symbols of Gwangju-Jeonnam vernacular architecture, especially ornaments on gables.

Gate Door Design

Through the influence of Japan, design of the gate part for munganchae changed during the colonial period. Before there was only one pair of doors forming the gate, but this changed to a three-door system by making a small door in the middle of the right door. It was this small door that was used to enter the house. The small door design lasted throughout the era of mass-produced hanok. Materials for the doors also changed to metal during that later period. Almost half of the hanok built during the 1970s had metal-crafted doors. Metal-crafted doors and concrete-gate buildings were a set for mass-produced, Western-style houses – so-called, French-style bullanseo-jip (불란서집) houses or Italian-style iteli-jip (이테리집) houses –and these were mixed with mass-produced hanok as well. Door designs changed dramatically during the mass-production era, too. Though the wooden doors of mass-produced hanok dating back to the 1960s–1970s kind of look like they have Japanese influences, there actually is nothing like them in Japan. They look more like a design pattern from modern-era concrete buildings.

Ornamental Structures on Gate Doors

From olden times, above the gate doors of hanok buildings, there were sometimes ornamental structures to show the authority of the family and protect it from evil spirits, or to have good energy,

▲ Gates from 1940s colonial-era houses in Jeonnam and Gwangju. The three-door system was not common in the Joseon dynasty for domestic households. Influenced by Japan and globalization, people started to use exotic shapes for ornaments on the doors and a three-door system from Japanese houses.

fortune, and luck. The most common ornamental design in Gwangju and Jeonnam is based on hongsalmun (홍살문), a sacred, roofless, red gate standing on two pillars. Adopters of this design placed the ornament at the top of the hongsalmun – a row of arrows with a trident in the middle – to ward off evil spirits. During the colonial period, Japanese-influenced houses started to use Japanesestyle wooden ornaments or Japanese-pattern gwangchang (광창), which are narrow windows with wooden patterns or sculptures within them. Even after Korea gained its independence and then went through the Korean War, people still used these ornaments. One thing that changed from before is that builders started to use mass-produced-hanokstyle soro (소로, small capitals placed between the main capitals) and gwangchang like a facade for the main building. The custom applied to wooden gates built within concrete walls and even buildings until the 1970s.

Photographs by Kang Dong-su.

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The Author

Kang Dong-su is a traditional Korean carpenter born in Gwangju in the year 1996. He is currently the representative of his company, Baemui, which researches and renovates homes and historical architecture that is either not protected by the government, forgotten, or abandoned in South Korea. In addition to being a specialized carpenter focusing on restoration, he is also a 3D-modeling achiever and treasure hunter for old, unknown architecture. Instagram: @baemui.naru

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GIC Week 2022 A Week of Multicultural Immersion

By Karina Prananto Photographs by Park Tae-sang

TheGwangju International Center (GIC) successfully organized the 2022 Gwangju International Community Week this October. Starting from Tuesday, October 11, when the GIC held Culture Night featuring four regions in the world, to that weekend’s Global Gwangju event at the Asia Culture Center, it was hard work for all involved, but it was also considered a job well done!

CULTURE NIGHT

From October 11–14, the GIC organized African Night (11th), Southeast Asian Night (12th), Central Asian Night (13th), and Arabian Night (14th). It was quite a feat to find such an array of international communities in Gwangju that many may not know about, and there was a great turnout – around 400 people attended – consisting of both Koreans and international residents who were very eager to know about the various international communities in Gwangju.

In short, we sang, we danced, and we fundraised. The experiences that allowed us to know more about these various regions in depth were the highlight of the week.

GLOBAL GWANGJU

Probably the most anticipated (and the biggest and busiest) events to end the week were the Global Gwangju days, lasting from October 15–16. Forty booths featuring Global Food, Global Culture, Global Community, and Embassies and Organizations participated to make this event very, well, global. It is not your everyday sight to see many international visitors in one spot selling delicious foods from their countries. We loved the amazingly delicious brownies from the Canadian booth, and we tasted sambousa from the Yemeni one. We got to try making a lovely phone charm at the Ukrainian booth, and learnt taekwondo from the master himself, Mr. Kim Jae-min, in the taekwondo and taekkyon booth. It was amazing to see such an impressive turnout, which we estimated was probably more than a thousand people! We loved all the interaction, the sharing, and more importantly, the happiness shown on each of the participants’ faces in each booth!

“Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to participate in this event. We were able to introduce Ukraine through our booth, and it was a very good experience and fun for our friends who have recently come from Ukraine. I hope to participate again when there is an opportunity, and I would like to prepare a more interesting and meaningful program.”

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Gwangju News,

– Li Daria (Ukraine, Global Culture)

“It was our great pleasure to be a part of this event, where we Nepalese students got a chance to demonstrate our costumes, culture, traditions, art, and crafts at our booth. Nepalese people with their cultural dress added to the beauty of the booth. We would like to thank the Gwangju International Center for providing such an amazing opportunity.” –Rajaram Shrestha (Nepal, Global Culture)

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Gwangju News,

“Thank you to the GIC members and everyone for organizing and participating in this festival. We had a lot of fun. Hope to see everyone in the next one.”

- Woldeamnuel Minwuye Mesfin (Ethiopia, Global Food)

“Thank you for giving us this wonderful opportunity. It was so beautiful to reconnect with the community. Seeing all the smiling faces really warmed my heart. I wish I had more time to meet all the other sellers! I hope you all enjoyed the experience!”

– Kelly Jean Kim (Canada, Global Food)

With the nearby events happening at the same time (Chungjang Festival and Buskers World Festival), this year’s event really brought many people of Gwangju to truly experience the beauty of diversity. What is more, this is the very first GIC event where we truly “went green.” We basically did not use any disposable containers in the selling of the foods, which meant a great reduction in trash! This concept is still very new to Korean events, but we believe that with the right steps, we can make a change, and hopefully other event organizers will follow suit!

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An African in Greenland

By Tété-Michel Kpomassie

Reviewed by Michael Attard

Thetitle of the book An African in Greenland sparked my curiosity. How did he go? When did he visit? What did he do there? And mainly, why did he go? Reading this travel memoir by Tété -Michel Kpomassie answered my questions and more. This is not merely a story of human novelty or idiosyncrasy but an adventure of exploration that took the author from within his life and cultural paradigm and transported him almost literally to the top of the Earth from where emerged a new and liberating life perspective.

Most people hopefully have a sense of where Greenland is on a map and are familiar with the terms “midnight sun” and “endless night.” Many of us are less familiar with the small country Togo, a tropical, sub-Saharan nation on the Gulf of Guinea. Thus, it is the geographical dissimilarity which underlies the premise of what will happen when a man from tropical Africa travels to the Arctic.

The author, born in 1941, spent seven years working his way along the African coast and through parts of Europe. He must have had a charming personality, as he recounts how perfect strangers helped him out immensely, including places to stay for up to a year. It was spring 1965 when he arrived in Greenland at the age of 24. Open hospitality towards strangers is a part of Greenlander culture, so again he had no trouble meeting people who insisted that he stay with them.

His height of 5’ 11” or 1.8 meters impressed the Greenlanders. “It spread terror in the children, astonished the men, and was attractive to the women.” The average height of the indigenous people was 5’ 3” or 1.6 meters. A picture of the Lilliputians surrounding Gulliver came to his mind.

The southern part of the country disappointed him. He did not find the hunter-fisherman living in harmony with nature. In one town there were only two kayaks, which means that there were only two hunters. It seemed to him that most of the time the people were not working but instead living off of government allowances and almost continually drunk. He was not impressed by the promiscuity either. He said, “The idle life … was getting on my nerves.” So, he left for further north.

For those interested in anthropology, there are sections of the book related to the customs and beliefs of the people, and he sometimes compares and contrasts these with his African culture. Descriptions of eating blubber, rabid dog, and raw seal liver with the blood dripping out are not for the faint of heart. Sleeping arrangements were different from his Togo culture. If there was a bed, as many of the family as possible would share the space. The Greenlanders often thought nothing of their naked daughter lying down with the author. In one village, he was surprised to learn that wife-swapping had become codified into the culture. Eventually, he

came to see that such a custom offered protection for widows who may lose their husbands to the sea. There was not much said about the cold, although he certainly experienced it. It seems that what actually has the greatest effect on the people is the approach of the long polar night. In autumn, some people develop a “nervous depression called polar hysteria.” The “oppressively dreary autumn light” can cause people to “alternate from a passive, listless state to an unbridled fury.” One might surmise that the short summer with its long days would be welcome. But instead, people have trouble sleeping, and this creates other problems.

Throughout his 16 months in Greenland, he met and stayed with many people. He often paints a disturbingly unflattering account, but I think he portrays the characters objectively as opposed to through the cultural lenses of others. When writing of the barren landscape, it is an easy and enjoyable read, as he depicts the intrinsic beauty. In one chapter, he vividly recounts the first time he saw the aurora borealis. “I saw long white streaks whirling in the wind … It was like the radiance of some invisible hearth … a deep folded phosphorescent curtain which moved and shimmered.”

harnessing the dogs, how the beasts kept up a steady trot, and how beneath their jaws, “coatings of snow were cemented by saliva and frozen solid on contact with the glacial air.”

At the northernmost point of his travels, he found something that he had been looking for since he arrived in Greenland: a cottage made of turf. It was more than fifty years old and the only one left in this town. It “vaguely reminded him of an African mudwalled hut … he had an irresistible desire to share the life of its occupants.” The owner had heard of his arrival in Greenland and told him, “I’ve been waiting to see you for over a year!” But at first, the owner was reluctant to let him stay. “You’re too tall … you’ll knock out my ceiling with your head.” But stay he did, and by listening to the stories of this old man, he learned more about Greenlander culture than he had anywhere else.

He says, “I came to feel that nothing could stop me spending the rest of my days here.” But after many months, he felt that it was his duty to return to Africa to become a “storyteller.”

As a travel memoir, this is an interesting and easy book to read. There are no brilliant insights or moral lessons that the author wants us to learn. But he shares his story to entertain and, hopefully, pique our interest so that we too will want to explore lesser-traveled roads.

The Reviewer

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

Further north, he found the Greenland that he was searching for, and he tells us the story of his first long journey by dog sled. He explains the intricacy of

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"There are no brilliant insights or moral lessons that the author wants us to learn. But he shares his story to entertain and, hopefully, pique our interest so that we too will want to explore lessertraveled roads."

The Author

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

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C R O S S W O R D P U Z Z L E

Created by Jon Dunbar

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