Gwangju and South Jeolla International Magazine I September 2019 #211 Martina Mittenhuber: Guest Speaker to Gwangju’s World Human Rights Cities Forum
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1 Gwangju & South Jeolla Intern ational Magazine
From the Editor
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nter September. There is change is the air. The mercury begins to fall, schools open their second-semester doors, and the Gwangju News offers a brandspanking-new issue for the new month.
September 2019, Issue No. 211
Published: September 1, 2019 Cover Photo Martina Mittenhuber
Photograph by Christine Dierenbach, ©Human Rights Office (HRO)
THE EDITORIAL TEAM Publisher Editor-in-Chief Managing Editors Production Editor Layout Editor Photo Editor Photographer Communications Proofreaders Online Editor Researcher
Dr. Shin Gyonggu Dr. David E. Shaffer William Urbanski, Karina Prananto Isaiah Winters Karina Prananto Sarah Pittman Kim Yunkyoung Park Min-young Ynell Mondragon, Elisabeth Loeck Karina Prananto Baek Ji-yeon
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 © 2019 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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For advertising and subscription inquiries, please contact karina@gic.or.kr or 062-226-2733. Special thanks to Gwangju City and all of our sponsors.
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Kimchi is always in season. This month, we serve you up an interview with another kimchi expert, Kim Kyeongmi, winner of the Gwangju World Kimchi Festival’s 2018 Presidential Award. Find out why she declares that you can’t call yourself a Korean culinary expert if you can’t make your own kimchi! This year, early September accommodates one of the two most cherished holidays of the Korean calendar – Chuseok. To celebrate this occasion, the Gwangju News furnishes excerpts from three articles in its archives to sum up the harvest moon festival from origin to modern-day, all in one concise account. What else do we have for you? We take you to “the best beach on Korea’s west coast” – Daecheon Beach. And we take you to an island on our south coast, hidden in plain sight – Wando. Closer to home, we take you to an abandoned hospital hidden in Gwangju with photographic proof of its gory “innards.” For our hungry readers, we always carry food. We bring you the ho-tteok (호떡) story of traveling to Scandinavia to open a shop in Gwangju. We introduce you to a traditional noodle shop that has been around Gwangju longer than most of us: Gwangju-ok 1947. And we tell you how to make a steaminghot fish roe soup: al-tang (알탕). Still hungry for more? Well, our September issue has much more! You know the large, open square in front of the ACC – read why one author now labels it a “public bad.” Read our book review; learn about the Korea TESOL conference; feast your eyes on our photo essay and photo of the month; get some well-worth-the-read advice from a former expat on how to make the most of your time in Gwangju; read up on the news and happenings around town – all in this issue of your favorite magazine. Enjoy!
David E. Shaffer Editor-in-Chief Gwangju News
September 2019
For volunteering and article submission inquiries, please contact the editor at gwangjunews@gic.or.kr.
Finnish journalist Rauli Virtanen recently visited Gwangju, not for a curtain-raising event, but for a return visit after more than 39 years. Read the interesting story on how he got into a sealed-off Gwangju during the May Uprising and his account of the tragedy.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
The Gwangju News is published by Gwangju International Center, Jungang-ro 196-beon-gil 5 (Geumnam-ro 3-ga), Dong-gu, Gwangju 61475, South Korea Tel: (+82)-62-226-2733~34 Fax: (+82)-62-226-2731 Website: www.gwangjunewsgic.com Email: gwangjunews@gic.or.kr GwangjuNews gwangjunews
Four engrossing features this issue brings you. While Gwangju has lowered the curtain on the World Swimming Championships, it raises another on September 7 for the Gwangju Design Biennale for a two-month run. Learn all about it from the event’s director, Lee Gil-hyung. As a prelude to another Gwangju curtain going up in October, this one on the World Human Rights Cities Forum, Martina Mittenhuber, guest speaker to the forum, explains in our cover feature what Nuremberg is doing to promote human rights and provides a global perspective.
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Photo of the Month
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
ARTS & CULTURE
By Kim Yunkyoung
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Rest
his picture was taken at the Buddhist temple Seonun-sa in Gochang – a cool respite from the heat of summer.
The Photographer
Kim Yunkyoung (Hillel) is a priest in the Anglican Church and also a portrait photographer. He just moved in Gwangju with his wife as he was assigned to a church.
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CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2019. Issue # 211
MONTHLY NEWS 04. Gwangju City News 54. September 2019 Happenings 56. Community Board
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Kimchi Master Kim Kyeong-mi
FEATURES 06. Meet Martina Mittenhuber: Guest Speaker to Gwangju’s World Human Rights Cities Forum 10. An Account of Gwangju’s 5.18 Democratic Uprising: Interview with Finnish Journalist Rauli Virtanen 14. An Expert at Korean Cooking Is an Expert at KimchiMaking: Interview with Kimchi Master Kim Kyeong-mi 18. Designing the Gwangju Design Biennale: Interview with Director Lee Gil-hyung BLAST FROM THE PAST 24. A “Blessed Occasion” (Chuseok)
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Gwangju Design Biennale
TRAVEL 26. Lost in Gwangju: Sorting Gwangju’s Cancer Jars – Day 2 30. Around Korea: Island Life – Discover Hidden Wando 34. Around Korea: A Day Trip to Boryeong – The Best Beach on Korea’s West Coast EDUCATION 36. Language Teaching: Why Go to an ELT Conference? 38. Everyday Korean: Episode 21 – 미용실 (The Beauty Parlor / Hair Salon)
Cancer Jars - Day 2
Island Life: Wando
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ARTS & CULTURE 02. Photo of the Month 46. Photo Essay: Honey Hunting on Himalayan Cliffs 50. Book Review: Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age 51. Gwangju News Crossword Puzzle OPINION 52. Public Bad – Is the Flower Power Tower the Harbinger of a Modern-Day Tragedy of the Commons?
September 2019
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FOOD & DRINKS 42. Gwangju-ok 1947: Traditional Naengmyeon in a Modern Setting 44. Al-tang: Fish Roe Soup
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COMMUNITY 22. Dongne Hotteok: Adventures in Entrepreneurship 39. Expat Living: Tips from an Ex-Expat
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Gwangju City News Reprinted with permission from Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall Photograph courtesy of Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall
MONTHLY NEWS
Gwangju Curtain Lowers on World Masters Swimming Championships
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September 2019
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he festival of global swimming enthusiasts, the 18th Gwangju FINA World Masters Swimming Championships, in which unity, friendship, and excitement filled Gwangju with joy, came to an end with the closing ceremony on August 18. The closing ceremony was held on the outdoor stage of the Asia Culture Center. The event was attended by Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-sup and General Secretary Cho Youngtaek, FINA Bureau Liaison Mohammed Diop, Chairman of the FINA Masters Dorin Tiborz, athletes, and Gwangju citizens. Around 1,000 people attended the official events and performances. As the drums sounded to announce the closing ceremony, attendees cheered in unison and reaffirmed the joy and excitement of the championships. Subsequently, a huge door opened, attracting the attention of the attendees, unto a choir consisting of 300 members that represented everyone who participated at the Masters Championships as being “champions.” The theme of the closing ceremony was “Together into One,”’ meaning that all the world’s Masters athletes and
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all those participating in the tournament shine together in Gwangju, the “City of Light.” In particular, as Gwangju citizens gathered together as if to create a history of democratic peace, the message included water droplets gathered from all over the world being transformed into a huge stream of water, headed for the sea of the future. A video with the subtheme “Light of Passion” was screened to express the beautiful competition, harmony, and friendship among the athletes. After the video ended, “popera” (pop + opera) singers sang “The People Who Give You Happiness” for the volunteers, the citizen supporters, the police officers, and the firefighters, after which the entire audience applauded. Mayor Lee Yong-sup, as the chairman of the organizing committee, and Mohammed Diop, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) Bureau Liaison, went onstage to lower and return the flag. Mayor Lee said that during the event, Gwangju made world sports history by successfully hosting the World Swimming Championships and Masters Championships as a low-cost, highly efficient international
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5 competition. The World Swimming Federation (FINA) and national teams evaluated the Gwangju competition as the most successful event ever. This was due to the active participation of Gwangju citizens. Gwangju was named as a swimming city and with this, South Korea has become a sports powerhouse by hosting all of the world’s five mega sports competitions. Mayor Lee stated, “Water from all over the world, which was brought together here on July 12, meets the Gwangju spirit of democracy, human rights, and peace, and becomes a light and hope. Wherever the athletes and all their families stay, I wish for peace to be with you all.” With this remark, Mayor Lee announced the closing of the 18th Gwangju FINA World Masters Swimming Championships. Afterwards, the participants of the Masters Championships along with citizens in attendance watched a 40-minute performance. The performance featured a top Korean singer, Park Mi-kyung, and the entire audience enjoyed the finale. This concluded the Championships, which opened on July 12 and lasted for 31 days, and included participants from all over the world. As the next World Masters Championships will meet next time in Fukuoka, Japan, everyone promised to meet there again.
Korean Air Reviews Reduction of Flights from Gwangju to Jeju
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orean Air is reportedly reviewing plans to reduce the number of flights between Gwangju and Jeju. Currently, there are four roundtrips a day between Gwangju and Jeju operated by Korean Air and the company is in talks with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport to cut one roundtrip. If the plan is approved by the Ministry, the number of flights will be reduced starting this winter. The local airliner cited continuous deficits on the route as the reason for the reduction. Regarding the matter, Gwangju City Hall is demanding the airliner keep the current number of flights or replace the cut roundtrip with a new one to Gimpo or Gimhae so as to minimize inconveniences for citizens.
Construction on Gwangju Subway No. 2 to Begin in September
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The first two sections will be connected and become a circular line, while the third section will be a 4.9 kilometerlong branch line between Baekun Square and Hyocheon Station. Construction on the third section will begin in 2021 and aims to be completed in 2025.
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Gwangju-cheon to Become National Stream
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wangju City Hall announced that the Gwangjucheon (Gwangju Stream) will become a “national stream” and will receive the government’s systematic care beginning next year. The 12-kilometer-long section from where the stream meets the Jeungshimsa-cheon (Jeungshim Temple Stream) to where it joins the Yeongsan-gang (Yeongsan River) will be designated as a national stream by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. The ministry has recently named a total of 15 urban streams as national streams, considering that there is an increased danger of flooding around urban streams due to rising chances of torrential downpours.
September 2019
The first section, to be completed by 2023, will be 17 kilometers long and will connect City Hall to Gwangju Station via Sangmu Station, Geumho Complex, the the World Cup Stadium, Baekun Square, and Chosun University. The second section of 20 kilometers from Gwangju Station to City Hall will connect Chonnam National University, Ilgok Complex, Cheomdan Complex, and Suwan Complex, and will be constructed between 2020 and 2024.
▲ Gwangju Stream at night. (Photo by Ben Robins)
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
wangju City Hall plans to hold a launching ceremony for the city’s second subway line in early September before construction begins. City Hall is in the process of selecting a contractor and the decision is expected to be delivered soon. The 41.9 kilometer-long circular line will be constructed in three stages, with the city providing a budget of over 2.1 trillion won.
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Meet Martina Mittenhuber
Guest Speaker to Gwangju’s World Human Rights Cities Forum Written by Farida Mohammed
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
FEATURE
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t was only 70 years ago, in the aftermath of the human devastation of World War II, as international leaders for the first time made an agreement to never again revisit such carnage, that the United Nations Human Rights Charter was conceived. In spite of the conflicts that wage today, modern history has countless examples of individuals in communities and cities promoting the furtherance of human rights. Gwangju, a city celebrated in Korea and abroad for its efforts to defend democracy and human rights, has shown the importance of cities and communities in shaping this history. The students who lost their lives fighting against colonial tyranny in 1929, the citizens that fought the military junta in the May 18th Uprising in 1980, and countless other events are examples of the city’s unified efforts to honor democracy and human rights. This enduring spirit of unity underscores the city’s efforts to further develop its commitment to human rights through events such as the World Human Rights Cities Forum (WHRCF) that Gwangju has hosted annually since 2012. The annual conference, which brings together members of the international and local community, from public officials and policymakers to scholars in various academic backgrounds, dedicated to the promotion, study, and exchange of information in the area of human rights at the local and city level, will be held from September 30 to October 3 at the Kim Daejung Convention Center. Centered on the theme of “Local Government and Human Rights: Reimagining Human Rights Cities,” the forum will explore an array of human rights topics. WHRCF guest speaker Martina Mittenhuber will address issues of gender and women’s rights in her presentation “Women-Friendly Village: Imagine Human Rights Cities for All.” Mittenhuber is head of the Office of Human Rights in the city of Nuremberg in her native country of Germany. Nuremberg, the center of the Nazi war crime hearings in the wake of the Second World War, is an interesting case study in how historical memory is studied
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and preserved as a resource to empower the furtherance of peace. Presently, the world is experiencing a resurgence of far-right extremism, a matter Mittenhuber acknowledges as posing a serious threat to the advancement of human rights. Her work analyzing and working in the areas of human rights and history for much of her professional career gives her insight into why and how cities should invest in promoting human rights at the local level. As a judge for the Nuremburg Award for Company Culture Without Discrimination and member of the Alliance Against the Right-Wing Extremism in the Metropolitan Region of Nuremberg, she is part of initiatives that encourage inclusion and a deeper understanding of communities that are becoming increasingly diverse. Through email, we conducted an interview and were able to get a snapshot take on her participation in this year’s forum, her thoughts on some of the pressing matters of international human rights, as well as her opinion of the WHRCF and women’s rights.
Gwangju News (GN): Here we are, almost at the annual summit of the World Human Rights Cities Forum. What are some of the things you are looking forward to most about this event? Martina Mittenhuber (Mittenhuber): Recent political, economic, and social crises seem to increasingly challenge the normative value and practical relevance of human rights. These crises – the rise of (neo-)nationalist populist politics, increased authoritarian rule, and challenges to international law and multilateralism have caused some to fundamentally question the current value of human rights. Others are even considering that the age of human rights is ending. Thus, communes are gaining importance as human rights “actors.” Many human rights and fundamental freedoms are implemented on a communal level first, especially in the area of social and civil rights. More and more municipalities all over the world are taking this task very seriously. They are always looking for ways to turn human rights into a guideline for living
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7 together in local communities. This is why I am looking forward to this exchange with colleagues and fellow campaigners from all over the world, and especially from Asian countries. GN: As you are to be a thematic session speaker at the forum, I would like to know about the theme of your talk and what makes this an important topic today? Mittenhuber: My talk this session, “Women-Friendly Village: Imagine Human Rights Cities for All,” will cover the topic of women’s politics in Germany and Nuremberg. Never before have women been as visible and, most importantly, as successful as they are today. The two areas that prove this point especially are employment and politics. Women have caught up when it comes to numbers: There are more women with academic degrees and more women with gainful employment. The number of women in leading positions has increased as well. The German and European legal foundations serve as the substance for gender equality – which is what women’s movements have been fighting for. Still, behind this new picture of social and economic change, old patterns can be found. On average, women are paid significantly less than men doing the same
work. They take on a lot of unpaid occupations including household work, children’s upbringing, and homecare. The #metoo movement has shown everyone the extent to which sexism has spread today, ranging from misogyny in advertisement to gender-based violence. In addition to this, several social and political movements described as “antifeminist” are openly spreading an outdated depiction of women and are campaigning against several achievements in the name of equality. In my talk, I will present to attendees how we approach these challenges in Nuremberg. GN: I can see you have a background in intercultural mediation, which I am sure has been helpful in your line of work. How have these skills helped you in your work with human rights? Are there any tips that you would like to share on intercultural mediation that could be useful at the individual or community level? Mittenhuber: Human rights manifest themselves mainly in everyday situations. There is fair and equal treatment in school and in the workplace, as well as in social proximities like neighborhoods. At the same time, communities are places where interests of different individuals collide and provide room for conflicts. Conflicts happen because of contradicting needs of different parties. Whenever
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September 2019
Martina (left) with the families of the victims of a right-wing terrorist attack with three deaths in Nuremberg 2017. (©HRO)
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September 2019
▲ Mittenhuber with Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, New York. (©HRO)
unbearable situations happen because of this, people may feel that their dignity is attacked and feel like they are not treated equally. Discrimination may well be the reason for this, as vulnerable social groups, and groups in need of protection, are affected by it. Of course, it is impossible to entirely avoid conflicts within a society. However, settling them is extremely important. Victims of discrimination are often afraid to take legal action, so mediation serves as a low-level instrument for dealing with conflict. Mediation empowers individuals. It makes it possible for them to find an agreement that is in everyone’s interests and therefore helps solve conflicts and bring peace to communes or local communities. Fulfilling my role as a human rights officer, I often serve as a mediator between civil society’s concerns and the normative restrictions of an administration. My mediative expertise helps me with that a lot as well. GN: In this age of technology and social media, we have seen an increasing mistrust of traditional sources of information and the coining of the phrase “fake news.” How does collective history and the work done by your office help fight against this challenging trend? Mittenhuber: Media education is an important part of our human rights education programs. I believe that it is important to teach about media use nowadays, as media, and the internet especially, affect everyone’s life on a daily basis. Protecting everyone from fake news or online smear campaigns is impossible, so awareness-building and prevention are the keys. In addition to that, both our office and the City of Nuremberg as an institution are taking part in public discourse by having our own profiles on the respective platforms. The Human Rights Office is
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▲ Mittenhuber in her office. (©HRO)
active on Twitter, where we share relevant information about our work and support other projects, and then there is our own website as well. Therefore, you could say that we are fighting fake news by sharing the messages that we believe in. GN: With the rise in far-right extremism across the globe, extremely vulnerable groups such as refugees and asylum seekers are becoming targets of violence, an issue fundamentally linked to the diplomatic goals of the United Nations and Human Rights Charters. What do you think are some of the best ways cities and individuals can fight against this trend? Mittenhuber: Right-wing populism uses unsolved global problems for its own benefit: climate change, financial crises, hunger, inequality, social divisions. Therefore, we need to establish a new conversation within society and constructive rivalry on both national and global levels. We need new ideas to solve the problems that already exist. Locally, we have to deal with far-right extremism and right-wing populism when it comes to mindsets. New strategies are needed in living together as a community. Something that is very important to me is labelling inhumane behaviors as such. There is no excuse for making allowances, as they are not harmless. We need to react to right-wing smear campaigns in Germany, especially those concerning both old and new antisemitism. In Nuremberg, human rights education serves as one of our central instruments when it comes to immunizing against group-based hostility and racist and antidemocratic mindsets. Being aware of fundamental human rights
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9 means being aware of the fundamental values of a diverse, open-minded, and dynamic society. Another important part is the solidarity between public administration and civil society when it comes to dealing with extremism and racism. Thus, local alliances are in need of recognition as well as political and financial support from public institutions. In Nuremberg, we have agreed upon getting into conversation with people who are prone to falling for hateful ideologies. At the same time, we need to fight against those who endanger our liberal democratic constitution. GN: What do you look forward to about summits such as the WHRCF in their ability to impact development at the city level on human rights? Mittenhuber: Summits like the WHRCF provide an exchange between different cities. Seeing how other places approach
similar challenges allows us to take on new perspectives. Human rights are universal, but what we do to protect them differs from city to city. Meeting up with colleagues from around the world makes for a unique possibility for sharing our experience. Photographs courtesy of Martina Mittenhuber and Human Rights Office, Nuremberg (HRO)
The Author
Farida Mohammed is an English teacher, avid reader, and novice writer living in the Jeonnam region. Before Korea, she lived in Spain, where she taught English, and prior to that, she worked in the field of human rights and migrants’ rights in the U.S. She has a degree in political science, Spanish, and international relations, and her main fields of interest are immigration rights and sustainable development.
Award ceremony, International Human Rights Award 2015. Mayor of Nuremberg together with the laureate Amirul Haque Amin from Bangladesh and the Israeli artist Dani Karavan, creator of the Way of Human Rights. (©HRO)
Mittenhuber (left) giving a presentation during the conference “Diversity in Nuremberg, 2016.” (©HRO)
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September 2019
The symbol of Nuremberg’s human rights commitment: The Way of Human Rights, created in 1993 by the Israeli artist Dani Karavan. (©HRO)
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Mittenhuber (second from left) and GIC director, Shin Gyonggu (third from left). (©HRO)
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FEATURE
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September 2019
An Account of Gwangju’s 5.18 Democratic Uprising Interview with Finnish Journalist Rauli Virtanen Written by Seol Yun-Hee
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terminated his 18-year authoritarian rule, leaving social and political voids in South Korea. However, power was seized by Army Major General Chun Doo-Hwan via a military coup d’etat, after which he declared martial law.
The event is commonly called 5.18 (o-il-pal, 오일팔), a popular uprising by citizens calling for democracy. The assassination of President Park Chung-Hee abruptly
May of 1980 was the beginning of a new semester for Chonnam National University’s professors and students. They fought in opposition to Chun’s martial junta and called for pro-democratic reforms. Gwangju quickly became a hotbed of political opposition to the dictatorship through which Chun exercised his fierce militaristic suppression. Casualties were estimated to be 4,369 with
auli Virtanen’s career as a Finnish journalist is that of a seasoned veteran. Having globe-trotted all 194 independent countries, he has witnessed and reported upon history’s greatest conflicts and wars. His works include those of the Vietnam War, the Gulf wars, and the wars in Afghanistan and Syria. Pertinently, among his works is also South Korea’s Democratic Uprising in Gwangju, which took place beginning on May 18, 1980.
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11 154 killed, 74 missing, and 4,141 wounded. 5.18 is now remembered as an event that engendered the national voice for democracy across Korea and Asia. Recently, Mr. Virtanen visited Gwangju for the first time since the uprising. He described the city as “unrecognizable” to him. The Gwangju News had the pleasure of hearing about his career and his personal account of 5.18.
Gwangju News (GN): Could you tell us a little about how you got started in journalism? Rauli Virtanen (Virtanen): It was quite easy for me. At school, my Finnish teacher told
me I was good at expressing myself. So he encouraged me to get involved in journalism. I was already interested in the world, global affairs, and foreign countries. I was very lucky to go to university in the city of Tampere to study a combination of journalism, mass communications, and international politics. I was working night shifts for a local newspaper and got my first assignment there. I soon left by cargo ship for my first trip to Brazil and then traveled for ten months in South, Central, and North America, backpacking and sending stories and reports to provincial newspapers in Finland. I got so excited about this job that I quit university after two years. So that was basically the start. Now I have
Virtanen (right) meets Nelson Mandela in South Africa, in the spring of 1990, to interview him soon after his release from prison.
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September 2019
Virtanen covers Tiananmen Square protests at the end of May 1989.
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12 reported for almost 50 years. GN: During the democratic uprising from May 18 to 27, there was a blockade that prevented communications into and out of Gwangju. How were you able to be present at the scene?
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September 2019
Virtanen: So that is a funny story. On Sunday the 25th, I was coming by car from Seoul with Eddie Adams, a famous photographer known for his work from the Vietnam War and Associated Press. At the time, Eddie was older than me, as I was quite young. We came to the roadblock around Gwangju and the military told us, “No, no one can pass through Gwangju.” But then Eddie told the young officer, “Listen, I was here during the Korean War when you were a little boy, and I gave you chewing gum – the first chewing gum ever in your life!” So the officer said, “Yes. Please, you can go.” So that was how we managed to enter.
Virtanen’s report on Gwangju in a Finnish newspaper.
Virtanen’s photo of students captured by the army.
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Once we arrived, we were able to go around and interview the students near the provincial government building, which had been barricaded. I remember a student surnamed Kim who told me, “We have two choices, either to surrender and give up, or die.” He told me that he “will never surrender.” I also remember students using cars as ambulances to bring the wounded to the hospitals, as many were injured by bullets. You would hear from the loudspeakers calls for blood donations. MONDAY THE 26TH The government was asking all the foreigners to leave Gwangju, meaning mostly missionaries and journalists. I remember
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13 writing in my report that there was a shortage of food, but some fresh eggs were somehow smuggled into the city; there was no meat or fish. That night, the students were collecting money for a mass funeral. The sports gymnasium held all the coffins at that time. I counted 56. Some of them were covered with the Korean flag. At the end of each coffin, you would also have a photo of the student or victim. Those who were not yet identified were outside next to the government building where they let people in groups of 15 come to identify the bodies. TUESDAY THE 27TH Tuesday morning, we heard loudspeakers and the radio saying in English that we foreigners would be in danger if we were outside. Then around four o’clock, I heard shooting and helicopters, and that’s when they started the operations. I think it took about two hours for the students to surrender. I took this photo [bottom opposite page]. It’s funny – I have a similar photo from Kuwait during the Gulf War, and it shows the same tactics. The soldiers were detaining people who were suspected of participating in exactly the same way. It’s amazing how in different parts of the world you can humiliate people and use power to dehumanize.
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Virtanen: My main message is, of course, to keep on reading, challenging the fake news, finding facts, caring, and to keep on contributing to a human dialogue, an intercultural dialogue. Keep the humanitarian spirit alive. We are already in such a multicultural world – one should be more open. Closing the borders is not a solution.
Photographs courtesy of Rauli Virtanen
The Author
GN: Thank you, Mr. Virtanen, for sharing your story.
The military waiting for the order for the final assault on the final day.
Virtanen counted 56 coffins resting at the sports gymnasium.
Seol Yun-Hee recently returned to South Korea after studying abroad in the States. She is enjoying connecting with her Korean culture and is exploring her passion for writing.
September 2019
Virtanen: Well, what I’m worried about in foreign reporting is that it is becoming more shallow. Today, where everything is digital, you don’t have so many long stories or background stories. People want to see video clips on their cell phones that are less than 60 seconds. It doesn’t help us understand the problems that are behind the events, for example, on migration or for refugees. You never hear about the ordinary lives of
GN: Lastly, if there were one core message you would like to share, what would it be?
Mr. Virtanen has written seven nonfiction books in Finnish on the topics of humanitarianism, peacekeeping, and foreign journalism. He was a visiting professor of journalism at his university in Tampere during 2015– 2016 and currently works as an Espoo city council member directing the board for multicultural affairs. During his visit to Gwangju, he contributed his works and photography to the Gwangju 5.18 Archives.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
GN: Your story is really powerful. From your experience as a foreign journalist in Korea, how did everything shape your philosophy on journalism?
these people. They may be strangers, but they share the same dreams everywhere in the world.
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An Expert at Korean Cooking Is an Expert at Kimchi-Making Interview with Kimchi Master Kim Kyeong-mi Written by Karina Prananto
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
FEATURE
“E
omma, kimchi juseyo” – I still remember that song clearly in my head from back when I went to the Gwangju Kimchi Festival about ten years ago at Jungoe Park, near the Biennale Exhibition Hall in Bukgu. It was a children’s song about a child who wanted to eat kimchi because it was so delicious. Coming from a tropical country, I am not used to eating cold dishes, as everything has to be fully cooked and served hot. So eating cold, spicy, and sour kimchi for the first time was a brand new experience for me. I admire Koreans’ attachment to kimchi, as even a song was made for it! Kimchi’s presence in the lives of the Korean people is deeply rooted in time, and kimchi is not just napa cabbage kimchi (baechu kimchi), which is probably the one kimchi that comes to mind whenever the topic of kimchi comes up. In fact, there are probably over a hundred types of kimchi. Kimchi, basically fermented food, was first developed to create a longer lifespan for the food. The Gwangju World Kimchi Festival, held annually in October, is a festival to celebrate this national staple of Korea. One of the events held during the festival is a competition to find the nation’s best kimchi. People from all around Korea come to compete with their unique kimchi recipes. So of course, the winner is the best among the best of those who can make kimchi! Kim Kyeong-mi, the winner of the Presidential Award at the Gwangju Kimchi Festival in 2018, is from Gyeonggi Province. She is currently a professor at the Korea Hospitality and Tourism College in the Hotel Culinary Department in Ansan, as well as the director at Banga Food Research Center. We were lucky to be able to interview her despite her very busy schedule.
Gwangju News (GN): Professor Kim, thank you for your time. Could you tell us about your childhood and how you first became interested in cooking? Kim Kyeong-mi (Kim): I have liked cooking since I was small. As the only daughter in the family, my mother raised
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me to be able to prepare meals. My mother worried that I would go through troubles once I got married if I grew up not knowing any hardship, so she sent me on lots of errands. My mother’s worries that I would not be able to do anything led me to become an expert at cooking. Learning next to my mother, I tasted and cooked many different kinds of foods, although with lots of mistakes. This accumulated experience over a long period of time is the foundation of what I am today. I grew used to helping my mother by wetting my hands and lighting the fire. At that time, to go into the kitchen from the main room, we had to cross the threshold and step down into the kitchen area. The structure of the “stove,” which burned firewood to boil water, and using briquettes for cooking were not obstacles for me. I sat at a warm part of the wood-burning stove, tidied up the ingredients, and warmed my freezing hands. When it was time for a holiday or ancestral rites, the sunken kitchen floor became a rice cake mill. Once the rice had been soaked in water, drained, and then crushed in a mortar, it went through a sieve and was cooked in a steamer. For summertime, misu-garu (미숫가루), the mixed powder of barley, corn, or soybean that was roasted after being steamed over the briquette fire and dried, was made in the kitchen. Making meju (메주, boiled and crushed soybean blocks) and doing kimjang (김장, annual kimchi-making) became additional chances to challenge myself with new things. Looking back, my mom, who makes exceptionally good food and enjoys cooking, was my first teacher in life. My elementary school friends thought that it would be natural for me to become a cooking instructor since they had tried my self-made and self-named “ssuk-teolteoli” (steamed young mugwort and rice powder mix), which was made with hand-picked mugwort from a field in my neighborhood. As they recall, they were fascinated by my actions – actions that they had never tried as children. Even I think I was quite impressive at that time!
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▲ Whole-cabbage kimchi that earned Kim her Presidential Award in 2018.
▲ Kim (right) receives the Presidential Award at the 2018 Gwangju World Kimchi Festival.
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Kim: I felt I finally became an expert in teaching kimchi in 1994, when I was working as a research director at the Pulmuone Kimchi Museum. It was the spring, just after I came back from studying in Japan, that I started to teach children’s cooking classes that were popular in Japan at that time. It was an educational program to familiarize children who did not like to eat kimchi. Since then, I have taught how to make kimchi more easily in kimchimaking classrooms for kids. I also held a kimchi-making competition for children once with my father. GN: Could you tell us about the kimchi that you made in 2018 that earned you the Presidential Award? Kim: It was a whole-cabbage kimchi with thinly sliced radish layers. This kimchi is characterized by the difference in its final shape from ordinary cabbage kimchi. After the cabbage leaves soaked in brine were washed and drained, thinly sliced radish would be mixed with seasonings and put in layers in-between each of the cabbage leaves. Normally, the julienned radish would be mixed with seasonings and used for stuffing between cabbage leaves. This stuffing would be left behind when people ate the kimchi and was messy when the kimchi was used for
September 2019
When the kimchi-making was over, my tired body felt shivering cold. At that time, my mother would boil a full pot of spicy fish soup with frozen pollack and serve it with hot rice and freshly made kimchi, which was her expression of gratitude for those who helped with that winter’s kimjang. The ajumma returning to their homes had one or two heads of fresh kimchi in their hands. Now, I get help from my daughters to make 50–60 heads of kimchi. I always smile with my memories of those days gone by.
GN: When did you start making kimchi professionally?
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I remember several things related to kimchi. When 300 heads of kimchi were delivered by truck in our alleyway, it became very loud. “It is kimjang day for Kyeong-mi’s family.” Ajumma (housewives) from the neighborhood with their heads wrapped in scarves brought rubber gloves to help out. It was a community affair shared in the neighborhood in which the process of trimming, cutting, soaking in brine, washing, and preparing seasoning were done with lightning speed. I helped with running errands and received lots of compliments, so it was an exciting day for me. My mother, whose kimchi was being made that day, could not directly participate in the actual kimchi-making, but was busy providing the ingredients and transferring the finished kimchi to large kimchi pots. Sometimes, if the kimchi was too salty or not beautifully wrapped, my mother would be annoyed, but she was happy to be part of the harmony of loving and helping neighbors.
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16 cooking, and this part of the kimchi would go to waste. If thinly sliced radish is used as filling between layers of cabbage leaves, the radish can be eaten like the cabbage leaves and there will be no food waste. Since seasonings like hot pepper powder and fish sauce can be used according to the recipe of the region or the individual family, it would be cost-effective as well. When the season comes when cabbages become more expensive or in areas where cabbages are rare, if thinly sliced radishes are added, it doubles the quantity and adds fresher flavor. GN: What do you think were the most challenging moments in your life regarding developing a recipe? Kim: Well, I have always enjoyed what I do, so I never thought that it was hard. Since I have been studying food for over 40 years, now the big picture has come into sight, and it has become easy to apply different recipes to kimchi. Whole-cabbage kimchi with thinly sliced radish layers is a good example. Korean people started making whole-cabbage kimchi in the 18th century, which means it has been more than 200 years since people started using julienned ingredients for making kimchi. It was just thought that it was supposed to be that way. As far as I know, no one had ever thought to slice radish thinly like a cabbage leaf like I do. The feeling of accomplishment gives me strength to live.
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September 2019
GN: Could you tell us about other recipes that you are currently developing? Kim: I have a kimchi recipe that I worked to develop this spring. It was developed in preparation for the Spring Kimchi Festival held in front of Seoul City Hall. During the opening event, I was invited to demonstrate how to make spring kimchi. I researched it so that foreigners could find it easy to make as well. The name of the kimchi is “Spring Vegetable Beomurim Kimchi.” By the time people get tired of kimjang kimchi from winter, it is the season of spring vegetables, which are easy to find at the supermarket. You do not have to stick to eating standard kimchi that you had all winter. This beomurim (버무림) kimchi involves putting spring vegetables into a small bowl of freshly harvested spring Chinese cabbage. But the taste of this kimchi is not far from the essence of the purpose of kimchi-making: the fermentation. For spring, winter-grown cabbage, not fully-grown cabbage from open fields, can be used. Spring vegetables that can be eaten raw can be used for this and for all kinds of cooking. Clean and cut the vegetables 5–6 centimeters in length. You could include salt sandspurry, stringy stonecrop, toothed ixeridium, wild watercress, chives, barley sprouts, small green onions, and others. Other ingredients are tomatoes,
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barley rice, strawberries, or other spring vegetables. Also, we use fruits topped with spices, like red pepper powder, garlic, and ginger, and put them into the spring cabbage. Kimchi is usually fermented, but it can also be nice and appetizing when eaten fresh. This dish made a lot of good impressions. The development was successful. GN: What do you think about the future of Korean traditional food or kimchi-making with the youth these days? Kim: Korean food is healthy and often fermented. There is a fundamental difference from food that is seasoned with additives like fast food is. If you cook processed food, you can make it easily and it can be tasty. However, Korean food is flavored with natural ingredients, so there are many times when we cannot make the same taste even if we follow a recipe. I do not see this as being bad. I want to keep putting effort into making food that has deep flavor and is good for your health. Instead of convenient food with the same taste as if it were mass manufactured, I seek to create unique tastes that are difficult to achieve without effort. So I want to make precious foods that people around the world are looking for. Last fall, I was appointed as a member of a judging committee for a cooking competition adapting kimchi as part of their recipes. From college students to professional Korean cooks, participants brought ripe fermented kimchi and cooked it, so there was no way to know if they could make kimchi from scratch by themselves. Perhaps, they did not know how to make kimchi. It was a little disappointing. I think that if you do not know how to make kimchi well, you cannot be a truly good Korean cook. I hope that if they consider themselves Korean, they know how to make kimchi, or at least learn how to in the future. There are many Korean people living abroad and many Koreans traveling abroad, so there are Korean restaurants overseas. Of course, kimchi is a must as a side dish. But instead of making it themselves, they buy imported Chinese-made kimchi and give it away for free. When I see this kind of situation, I get angry. I think kimchi should not be free in restaurants and customers should pay to eat it. In this way, the restaurants would have no choice but to make kimchi sincerely, and it would in turn become a highly valued food. Then the kimchi made from China with cheap labor would not end up on the dining table. GN: What do you think about Gwangju kimchi compared to other regions’ kimchi? Kim: I think that it is salty, spicy, and the salted seafood taste is strong.
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17 GN: How do you promote kimchi to foreigners? Kim: Korean kimchi is a fermented food, which differs from ordinary foods. Thanks to lactic acid and bacterial fermentation, kimchi is a healthy food that can be easily digested and helps absorb protein, calcium, and nutrients that are easily lost in various vegetables such as cabbage and radish. In addition to the nutrients from the main ingredients used in kimchi, ingredients such as red pepper powder, garlic, ginger, and others are effective for things like fighting cancer, immunity enhancement, digestion, relieving stress, skin protection, and diet. Capsaicin, especially that contained in red pepper powder, helps with weight loss by burning body fat by increasing metabolism. GN: Do you have any special message for people who want to try eating kimchi for the first time? Kim: When you try kimchi for the first time, you may sense a strong smell from the spices or the salted seafood, especially if you live in the Jeolla provinces. There are about 300 different kinds of Korean kimchi referenced in literature. Do not judge kimchi by trying just one kind since there are varieties of kimchi that have been enjoyed by people from various ranks in society from kings to farmers.
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There is dongchimi (동치미), which has a cool broth with a simple taste. There is also nabak kimchi, (나박 김치, watery kimchi made of sliced radishes), and also the notso-spicy jang kimchi (장 김치) made with broth flavored by fermented soy sauce. Another option is baek kimchi ( 백 김치), the white cabbage kimchi which is not spicy. One more type is bo kimchi (보김치), which is slightly spicy and uses more seafood mixed with nuts. Try different kinds of kimchi and enjoy what you like. If you cannot find a kimchi that suits your taste, let us know. There are many kimchi masters present in Gwangju who can make all kinds of kimchi. You too will be satisfied! Interview translated by Park Min-young Photographs courtesy of Kim Kyeong-mi
September 2019
The Author
Karina Prananto is from Indonesia and has been living in Gwangju since 2006. That was also the first year for her to attend the Kimchi Festival, where she tried making kimchi for the first time. She likes fresh kimchi and kimchi fried rice. Pumpkin sweet potato kimchi
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September 2019
FEATURE
18
Director Lee Gi-hyung
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Designing the Gwangju Design Biennale Interview with Director Lee Gil-hyung Interviewed by Karina Prananto and Park Min-young
T
he Gwangju Design Biennale, an international design event, is held every two years in Gwangju in odd-numbered years and has been organized by the Gwangju Design Center since 2015. Featuring artists and designers from around the world and locally, this year’s Design Biennale will be held from September 7 to October 31 at the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall, the Gwangju Design Center, and the Kim Daejung Convention Center. Additional venues across the city will also exhibit some of the art designs. The Gwangju Design Biennale truly places Gwangju as a city of art on the international stage. Lee Gil-hyung, originally from Gwangju and currently the director at the Korean Federation of Design Associations has been appointed as the director of the event for this year. The Gwangju News has interviewed Lee on his thoughts on this year’s Biennale and what we can expect to see.
Gwangju News (GN): Could you please tell us a little bit about yourself and your professional background?
GN: Could you tell us about the theme of this year’s Design Biennale: “Humanity”?
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Lee: There are five main exhibition themes and five special exhibitions planned, with more than 700 artists based locally and abroad. There will be 80 companies participating in this Biennale as well. Especially for the special exhibitions, we have invited more than 200 prominent designers from abroad to present their designs in the international invitational poster exhibition and to see their designs under the theme “Humanity” from their perspectives. GN: What do you think makes the Gwangju Design Biennale unique, compared to other design biennales held in other cities around the world? Lee: I think that Gwangju is so special to be able to hold an international event like the Design Biennale every two years. For another city of a similar case, the Saint-Etienne International Design Biennale (Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne), which started in 1998 in SaintEtienne, a typical industrial city in France but formally a coal mining city, has been reborn as a design and cultural city. GN: I have heard that there will be an exhibition by industry, with invitations sent to buyers, and other diverse programs happening at the Design Biennale. In terms of B2B and B2C programs, what kind of companies would join this year? Lee: The business lounge is designed based on the theme of “What Is Gwangju Like and the Thoughts of Gwangju People.” Begun as Gwangju Branding, an industrial
September 2019
Lee: Humanity is a combination of the words “human” and “community.” It extends from an individual “I” to a community level by co-existing and by considering the surrounding environment and the people around oneself. The fundamental value of design begins with peoplecentered thinking, and the role of design is becoming more important as a tool for creativity and innovation that creates common values for humankind. Therefore, at the 2019 Gwangju Design Biennale, the theme of
GN: How many artists are participating from Korea and abroad?
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Lee Gil-hyung (Lee): I was born in Gwangju. I am currently a professor at Hongik University Graduate School of Industrial Arts. I am also the chairman of the Korean Federation of Design Associations.
humanity addresses social issues through the value and role of design within the theme of “Humanity“ and presents a design vision for a sustainable society and human community.
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September 2019
“Urban Bloom”
Bauhaus architecture: The school and a miniature.
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21 design project, at the Gwangju Design Biennale 2015, the business lounge focused on B2B interaction in 2017. For 2019, the business lounge will highlight Gwangju’s competitiveness and industry by adding to the exhibition a vision of the future industry and design of Gwangju. In affiliation with a buyers’ invitational program, the B2B program will be managed by Marketplace Gwangju at the exhibition site. The exhibition is composed of three sections. Glocal Gwangju (Zone 1) consists of Gwangju industrial projects, regional specialization and strategic industry, and local new designers’ contents. About 50 companies and 33 designers will be joining, including companies participating in the Gwangju Industrial Design Project, other participating companies, and Gwangju brands. Style Gwangju (Zone 2) consists of four design renewal projects and two leading companies (Dr. Maison and others) from the beauty industry, a rising industry in the city. Through the themed design project of Gwangju Cuisine, a business model based on the new food culture, will be introduced through Gwangju Doshirak. GN: Are there any programs you wish to recommend to visitors to participate in? Lee: Various programs for all ages of Gwangju citizens are available at this year’s Gwangju Design Biennale. TOMOROAD School Mini, an educational program for children organized by Audi Volkswagen, and the Bauhaus workshop with 20 university students from Gwangju majoring in design and selected by Gwangju KDM (Korea Design Membership) will take place at the Design
Biennale. Also, an experience zone related to the theme “Humanity” will be available at the main exhibition hall. GN: What are the highlights of the event? Lee: The symbolic artwork Community Garden will provide a new experience about space relevant to symbiosis different from communal or public values through participation, experiences, performances, and events. The main pavilion will convey the importance and meaning of human-centered design for human beings with the theme of “Singing Humankind” through media mapping. At the international pavilion, the featured display will be the comemmorative exhibition of the centennial of Bauhaus and the reinterpretation of Bauhaus from Korean perspectives, as well as a suggestion of the function of design in terms of community housing and communal space. GN: What is your mission as the director of the Design Biennale for this year? Lee: Now, design is not simply about shaping and forming. The core of the design of the 21st century is about its contribution to humankind and society through design and suggesting a vision for the community through good design. I think that doing good design translates into doing good. Photographs courtesy of the Gwangju Design Center
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September 2019
“Lotus” by Daan Roosegaarde.
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Donge Hotteok
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September 2019
COMMUNITY
Adventures in Entrepreneurship Written and photographed by William Urbanski
H
ow far would you go to learn a recipe? If you’re anything like me, maybe to the other side of town, tops. But faced with a virtually impenetrable society of hotteok (호떡, sweet filled pancake) shop owners who refused to divulge their secrets and resisted a changing of the guard to the younger generation, Sophia Jung had to take some pretty extreme measures. So that’s the short explanation of why, when Gwangju native Sophia Jung opened Dongne Hotteok (동네호떡) three years ago, she had just one major problem: She couldn’t make hotteok. Although visiting over 30 different hotteok establishments around the country, offering to work for free in exchange for help, as well as doing extensive online research and experimentation, she had little success developing a recipe that satisfied her. What’s more, older people with established hotteok enterprises actively discouraged her, suggesting that she just find a company job and give up her dream of starting a new business from scratch. In what can only be described as a Herculean effort, truer than the Bible itself, it took
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a journey to Scandinavia in order to finally succeed in creating her own version of the sweet treat. If you’ve never tried hotteok, it most closely resembles some kind of thick pancake. What sets it apart from a regular old flapjack are its varieties, such as cheese, sesame seeds, and strawberry. And although I am no hotteok connoisseur (yet), I can say with absolute confidence that the one I tried at Dongne Hotteok tasted like there was a party in my mouth with everyone invited. Three years ago, Jung submitted a detailed proposal to open a business at the Songjeong Market (송정시장). Fortunately, the application was selected, and she was able to open her shop. When I asked her about why she wanted to open a business in the first place, she said it was because she noticed there was nobody in the market who was supplying one of her favorite foods. In most cases, budding entrepreneurs focus on the difficult administrative and logistical hurdles, but Jung’s top priority was always developing a unique and delicious
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23 product. Since members of the aforementioned “Dark League of Hotteok Shop Owners” (DLHSO, for short) were not willing to help her (probably because they didn’t want anyone encroaching on their business), for a brief time, she relied on a factory-supplied recipe that, while decent enough, was not what she had in mind. Help came from an unlikely place: Copenhagen, Denmark, which while being a very beautiful and interesting place in its own right, isn’t known for its Korean culinary history. Jung got in touch with a Korean expat who’d been shown by the DLHSO how to make hotteok, but only because he made it explicitly clear he was opening a shop on the other side of the world. So, Jung flew to Copenhagen to meet this man, who shall forever remain anonymous, and slowly but surely, started putting the pieces together. After developing the requisite technique and carefully determining the proper ingredients and proportions, it was off to Stockholm, Sweden. At the behest of the “secret chef,” she participated in an international food festival that was both a way to test out her recipe and to help spread Korean culture. What started as straightforward research into how to make a delicious treat ended up being a full-fledged adventure in food diplomacy and, as video evidence shows, the Swedes were more than happy to cast aside their pickled herring for Korean hotteok. This eye-opening cultural experience was the symbolic threshold of her true journey into entrepreneurship, after which she brought what she’d learned abroad all the way back to the City of Light for your enjoyment. The lineups to buy her product, the number of employees she has, and the fact that she’s kept the business going for three years are testaments to her success. But since
Sophie’s commitment to give away 1,000 free hotteoks every year.
The Author
Hotteoks being made.
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William Urbanski, managing editor of the Gwangju News, has an MA in international relations and cultural diplomacy. He is married to a wonderful Korean woman, always pays cash, and keeps all his receipts.
September 2019
If you want to try Scandinavian-inspired Korean hotteok while also supporting a great business by one of Gwangju’s hardest-working and definitely most creative young entrepreneurs, drop by the Songjeong Market. Also, the market has street festivals with live music performances pretty much every weekend in the summer. Come for the smooth rhythms, stay for the hotteok.
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yesterday’s homeruns don’t win today’s ballgames, promoting her shop in interesting and innovative ways is an ongoing process. At the start of every year, she gives away 1,000 hotteoks to pregnant women and the elderly, which while in addition to just being a really nice thing to do, also shows a commitment to giving back to the community. In addition to the television and other national Korean media attention her shop’s received, she’s also a YouTube creator who regularly documents her shop and other culinary adventures. Besides checking out her shop in person, a good place to get familiar with what she’s up to is by subscribing to her YouTube channel (해피소피HappySophie) and following her Instagram @ sophia___jung.
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September 2019
blast from the past
A “Blessed Occasion” (Chuseok) Chuseok is one of the most important holidays on the Korean calendar. This lunar calendar date – the 15th day of the 8th moon – falls on September 13 this year, making for a four-day long weekend (12–15). To commemorate this harvest festival, the Gwangju News reaches back to three articles from the past by three authors: Two Thousand Years’ Humanity by Choi Young-mi, September 2002; What Chuseok Has Meant to Koreans by Shin Sangsoon, September 2007; and Korea: Chuseok by Kim Minsu, September 2007. — Ed.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS’ HUMANITY Chuseok has been meaningful to Koreans for about 2,000 years. Though its origin is unclear, Chuseok is believed to have originated from a month-long weaving festival that was held in Gyeongju during the reign of King Yuri (r. 24– 57 A.D.) of the Silla Kingdom. For the weaving contest, the king divided the city into two teams and appointed two princesses to lead them. The king announced the winning team, based on the amount of weaving completed, on the full moon of the eighth month, and the losing team had to provide food, drink, and entertainment for the winning team. A party involving the whole city ensued. In short, it was one of the most exciting and delightful gala days. It was much the same in the neighboring Baekjae and Goguryeo Kingdoms. WHAT CHUSEOK HAS MEANT TO KOREANS Chuseok is one of two “blessed occasions” (myeongjeol, 명절). Seollal (설날, the lunar new year) is the other “blessed occasion.” Neither event can be talked about without referring to ancestor worship in Korea. Chuseok has traditionally been an occasion to offer part
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of the new crop of grains and fruits to the ancestors. This ages-old rite was specifically called cheonsin (천신, offering the new crops to the gods). Sacrificial or ritual tables were set with an abundance of foods, which were later shared by all family members from far and near. At the same time, Chuseok has been a time for hardworking farmers to share both agricultural produce and the joy of the harvest. It was an occasion to foster the cooperative community spirit that was necessary in a pre-industrial agrarian society. Many folk games helped bolster this community spirit, for example, participating in a tug-ofwar.
Jul-darigi (줄다리기, tug-of-war) was a competition that required community participation from beginning to end. Since hundreds of villagers participated on each team, the competition required a long and unbreakable rope. All the villagers needed to participate in the making of an adequate rope for the event. Each villager had his own specific job to do: One would make a slender straw rope while another would double these slender ropes to make a bigger and stronger one. Finally, when the rope was ready, the showdown would begin on a bright, moonlit night. All the villagers would participate with pride. Regardless of who won or lost, this traditional folk game has always served as a tool to cultivate community spirit. As Korea has changed throughout the years, due to colonialism and followed by rapid Westernization, many of the unique customs and folk games have disappeared. With the advent of an urbanized modern society, change is inevitable. But it is the duty of every Korean to make an effort to continue our traditional folk games to enrich our lives and culture.
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KOREA: CHUSEOK Chuseok, also known as the Harvest Moon Festival, is one of this nation’s most revered traditional holidays. Although Chuseok itself is only one day, this year the entire nation will enjoy a four-day vacation. Chuseok, which will begin at sundown on September 12th, falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Korean lunar calendar. Originally observed officially during the Silla Kingdom (15 B.C. – 935 A.D.) to celebrate the fall harvest, Chuseok has become a day to honor friends, family, and respected elders. Once the holiday nears, Koreans from throughout the country will begin a mass exodus to their hometowns. After giving a series of traditional bows, returning children and grandchildren are typically bombarded with hugs, food, and questions about why they are not yet married. Usually, foods (such as fruits, meat, and canned tuna) and money (often in the form of department store gift certificates) are exchanged to mark the happy occasion. However, the hallmark of Chuseok is not the joyful festivities but the solemn remembrance of ancestors. In Korean culture, it is considered an honor and a duty to pay homage at the graves of our forefathers. Traditionally, families got together to perform a two-part memorial service for their departed loved ones. First, they clear
the weeds from the ancestors’ graves in a ceremony called beolcho (벌초). Then, very early the next morning, the family begins the larger memorial service known as charye (차례). On the morning of Chuseok, families enjoy a breakfast feast of songpyeon (송편, a crescent moon-shaped rice cake), soup, meat, fish, pancakes, and sikhye (식혜, a sweet rice drink) or sujeong-gwa (수정과, a cinnamon-flavored punch) for dessert. At the breakfast table, there is also a special glass of rice wine for the ancestors. The meal begins with several bows and a small prayer giving thanks for the sacrifices and contributions of the ancestors. After the meal, the men typically take part of the breakfast meal to the gravesite of their most recent ancestors (seongmyo, 성묘). In today’s modern, individualistic world, there has been a change in the way some people celebrate Chuseok. Instead of returning home to respect ancestors, some young people treat Chuseok as a time to travel throughout the world. However, for the most part, Chuseok is still seen as a sacred time to honor ancestors and visit family. Arranged by David Shaffer
Persimmons
Rice
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September 2019
A charye table.
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Songpyeon rice cakes
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TRAVEL
26 Lost in Gwangju
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September 2019
A skeleton and beakers sit in one of the hospital’s laboratories.
Instruments sit unused in the hospital’s dental clinic.
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Sorting Gwangju’s Cancer Jars: Day 2 Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters
“What’s that, a silicone womb?” “Yeah, and there’s a headless baby inside.” “Weird. Here, lemme try on the breast vest now.”
I
– Two excited urban explorers
n last month’s article, a friend and I left off vowing to return to an abandoned hospital (this time with gloves) to continue sorting through hundreds of jars and pill bottles containing diseased human organs. And return we did. Safely back in what I’ve dubbed The Cancer Lab™, we wasted no time in setting the most freakish specimens back on nearby shelves and snapping tons of photos. Once we were satisfied with our morbid photoshoot, we hid these organs away to keep them from possible vandalism, which is unfortunately common at this particular location.
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Next on our tour de mort was the emergency room, an obligatory stop at any abandoned hospital. Though badly vandalized, it still had lots to see. First to grab our attention was the iron lung located next to the X-ray room. Also known as a negative pressure ventilator, this tube-like chamber helped patients with diseases like polio that would paralyze muscle groups
September 2019
One of the first silicone body parts to emerge was an episiotomy display (basically a vagina that has been surgically
Retiring from the MRI room and all its inanimate body parts, we headed to the pitch-black surgery rooms where so many of the jarred organs had likely been removed. We relied on our phone flashlights to catch sight of the lighting fixtures, surgical beds, machinery, and bundles of surgical kits, all of which had been left perfectly intact. Mold was a problem in a few of the rooms and the surgical kits were wrapped in horribly stained linens, but the machinery was in great shape. One such surgical kit had the words “Bone Cutter” scrawled across it in black marker, but the instrument inside, which looked like a dull pair of pliers, was rather disappointing when tested on nearby material.
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After closing up shop, we came across a large MRI room with all its bulky machinery still in place. In a corner were about a dozen large, specially made cases that caught our attention. To our morbid delight, inside were numerous medical training mannequins, ranging from entire bodies to individual body parts. Naturally, another photoshoot ensued, this one punctuated with guffaws of laughter whenever a new unboxing revealed some random inanimate body part. Spoiler Alert: If you’re squeamish about human anatomy, skip the next paragraph.
cut to ease childbirth). Trust me – don’t Google that. Along with this came a breast vest with shoulder straps, which, I’m ashamed to say, I tried on. A his-and-hers set of urethra displays also turned up, as did a CPR dummy with an oddly satisfied look on his face. Creepiest of all would have been the floppy facial skin of a child had we not found an open womb with a headless baby inside. Don’t Google that either.
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www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
Many medical practice dummies and body parts are lined up for a photo shoot.
The best preserved surgery room was quite impressive.
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29 in the chest, making breathing difficult. Today it looks like something straight out of 1950s science fiction. Also interesting were the emergency room logs in which nurses and doctors would list the names and ailments of patients. Stretching back decades, the logs included everything from alcohol poisoning and amputation to the occasional red-lettered DOA (dead on arrival). Given this hospital’s closure due to low patient count, embezzlement, and falsification, we suspected that many of these entries might have been made up. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s right to share this hospital’s highly interesting backstory, as identifying it would lead to lots of dummies turning up and ruining this unusual find for cheap online likes. However, I can at least talk about my backstory in relation to it, for what it’s worth. My familiarity with this particular hospital goes back to 2013, when I first snuck onto the premises hoping to slip through unseen. The hospital’s security guard eventually spotted me anyway, at which point I put on my trademark “dumb foreigner face”™ to avoid escalating the situation. Seeing I meant no ill will, rather than berate me for trespassing, the guard invited me into his office to have coffee with him and his wife. There we sat and chatted for a while about why I’d come there, which was, in essence, to take only pictures and leave only footprints.
courtyard. He said he took pleasure in feeding the large fish, that is, when he wasn’t busy catching intruders like me. Pressing my luck, I asked if he could show me other parts of the hospital, but he politely declined, at which point I thanked him and his wife and left. Out of respect, I didn’t return for a long time. Today this same office sits beneath layers of dust and shards of glass, the unfortunate results of time and vandalism. It was surreal reentering the place where, just a few years before, we’d sat cozily over cups of Maxim coffee. Remarkably, despite the increasingly ruinous state of the hospital, the koi fish pond is still thriving with lots of healthylooking fish and clean water. Looking out over the tranquil scene, I couldn’t help but take a moment and wonder whatever happened to the guard and his wife. For all I know, they probably live nearby and continue to tend to the serene little pond. If my hunch is correct, I’d like to keep this little slice of heaven as pristine as possible for them, or for whoever still maintains it. It’s the least I can do.
The Author
After gaining more of his trust, I was pleasantly surprised when he offered to show me his favorite part of the hospital. Accepting the offer, he guided me to a lush koi fish pond located in the inner
Originally from Southern California, Isaiah Winters is a Gwangju-based urban explorer who enjoys writing about the City of Light’s lesser-known quarters. When he’s not roaming the streets and writing about his experiences, he’s usually working or fulfilling his duties as the Gwangju News’ heavily caffeinated chief proofreader.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
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September 2019
▲ Jars from “The Cancer Lab” sit on shelves after sorting.
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www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
TRAVEL
30 Around Korea
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31
Island Life Discover Hidden Wando Written by Áine Byrne
M
ost people living in Korea know Wando (완도) for its boat terminal to Jeju or as a quick stop before going to Myeongsa-simni Beach on nearby Sinji-do. Few people know where to go in Wando town or on the island. Lonely Planet has little to say and travel bloggers rarely get past the beach, harbor, or boat terminal before passing it over as a pit stop on the map. After the peak season in July passes, few visitors realize that Wando is a hot spot right up until the leaves fall in late October. In this article, I will share some of my favorite places as an ex-local, along with some local and expat perspectives on the best the area has to offer, things to do, and what it is like living in such a remote area.
HOW TO GET THERE? By bus: Wando is a two-hour bus ride from the U-Square Bus Terminal in Gwangju. You can take a direct bus that stops in the towns of Yeongam, Haenam, and Gunoe along the way. By car: The journey is much faster this way, and if you know the way, it will take about 1.5 hours, or two hours including a stop or two.
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Best Food • BBQ: Byuschibdul Korean BBQ (볏짚돌) or Wando Daewan Korean BBQ (완도대완). • Pizza: Mr. Pizza (미스터피자). For pasta and pizza: The Jinpum (더 진품). • Salads: Thank You Today (고마워 오늘), brunch café. • Chicken: Kyochon Chicken (교촌), near the bus terminal. • Ramen: Haemijubap (혜미주밥), near the harbor, red pier. Noodletree (누들트리), near the bus terminal. • Korean Food: Kamaseul Gamtang (가마솔곰탕) for beef soup. Geumseong Garden (금성가든) for bibimbap. Best Drink Venues • Wando Salon (완도살롱), beside Wando Library, for cocktails, coffee, and cheese boards. • C’est La Vie (쎄라비), at the harbor near Judo, for beer, wine, coffee, pizzas, and dessert. • Chicken Phong (치킨퐁) for Korean chicken and pizza. • Fish and Grill (피쉬앤그릴) Korean, fusion food, salads, and pizza. Best Cafes • Coffee and Cake (커피와 케이크) – desserts and coffee. • Café Venezia (까페베네치아) – desserts and coffee at Wando Harbor. • Kim’s Café (김카파) – desserts and coffee near the boat terminal. • Wandonesia Café & Guesthouse (완도네시아) – Enjoy barista coffee or flower teas over mesmerizing views of Judo Island. • Doner 49 Café (도너49 카페) – ice coffees and bingsu.
September 2019
FOOD & PLACES TO VISIT Arriving in Wando, if you make your way to the Seaweed Museum, from this point walk along the harbor towards Judo. On the harbor, you will be struck by the freshness of the seafood laying out to dry and the wide array of seafood restaurants. If raw seafood is to your taste, it is recommended by locals to try the local specialty jeonbok (전복, abalone). When I cooked jeonbok, I baked it in the oven with lemon and garlic, it tasted rich and was quite
If you prefer to try other dishes, the town has been developing its tourism industry and now offers more Korean fusion and Western food options. If you are looking to try food in Wando, I recommend copying or typing the Hangeul place names below into Naver Maps for locations online.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
ABOUT WANDO Wando is considered an island of health and is a short hop from some of Korea’s most beautiful beaches, and the islands of Sinji-do, Gogeum-do, Cheongsan-do, and Nowa-do are short trips from the town. The town harbor is a shell’s throw away from the local bus terminal and provides a lovely stroll towards the tiny island of Judo at the end of the harbor. It is such a beautiful town and well worth spending time seeing what it has to offer in terms of hot spots.
filling. Raw seafood is not for everyone; most people we met only wanted to taste it or wanted to eat some familiar food instead.
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www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
▲ Wando Harbor
Best Places to Visit As I mentioned above, Wando is an island of health, so there are many places to see and visit to help you relax and unwind. • Wando Harbor (완도항) – Go along the harbor and see fishermen unloading the catch of the day and ladies placing fish out to dry on stands. • Wando Seaweed Museum (완도 해조류박물관) – This is a place to learn about different varieties of seaweed in Korean (use a translator or app). • Wando Tower (완도타워) – Go up on the carousel, take a lift up to drink a cup of coffee, and look out at the panoramic view. Afterwards, have fun on the recently installed zip line. • Jeonmangdae Hike (전망대) – This is a sweet mountain trail with many flowers, birds, and insects. It offers many opportunities to peak through trees and see the ocean views from the island. • Sinheung Temple (신흥사) – Take a walk towards Wando Boys’ Middle School, cross the road, and walk up the steep left road to this quaint Buddhist temple. It has a
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breathtaking view overlooking Wando city. If you choose to visit, please respect the peaceful nature of the temple. Best Places Close to Wando • Wando Arboretum (완도수목원) – This is a health forest unique for its flowers and walkways and is worth a visit early in the day or on your way home. • Cheongsan Island (청산도) – Almost one hour away by boat is this adorable little island. Popular in spring, it is famous for its lush landscape, beaches, and seafood restaurants that are located at its port. Take a taxi or bus around the island or take a slow hike on its famous slow walking trail. • Mihwangsa Temple (미황사) – As one leaves Wando, there is a large white bridge. Close to this bridge is the turn you need to take for this temple. This is one of the oldest temples in Korea and an unexpected experience. There are Englishlanguage temple-stay options, superb hikes, an authentic café, and a store selling high-quality Korean products. • Sinji Myeongsa-simni Beach (신지 명사십리 해수욕장)
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33 – To get there, take a bus from the local terminal or drive fifteen minutes to the beach. If you do not know already, this is one of the best beaches in Korea. While at the beach, definitely stop at one of the following places: Café Ditto (카페디토) – sandwiches, pizza bread, desserts, and coffee; or Yolo Café (욜로 카페) – desserts and coffee on Sinji-do. LOCAL PERSPECTIVES Even on Wando, there are many aspects I am unaware of; it is important to be aware of other perspectives. I asked local islanders and expats about their favorite restaurants, places, and experiences living on a remote island like Wando. For anyone wanting to visit Wando or even considering moving to a remote area of Korea, here is what they had to say: “I am a huge pizza fan, and Wando is home to many pizza restaurants. My favorite is Mr. Pizza. It is on the expensive side but offers a variety of mouthwatering pizzas, pastas, and side dishes. Also, Nanta 5000 (난타5000피자) is an affordable and delicious choice. My two other haunts include Noodle Tree, a place that sells a variety of noodle dishes, and The Jinpum (더 진품), an Italian restaurant.” — Alandra, USA
“My favorite restaurant in Wando would have to be a Korean-Chinese restaurant called Wando Jjamppong (완도짬뽕). This is a typical Korean-Chinese
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Over the next year or so, there will be many more activities available on Wando due to government investment in outdoor pursuits like sailing, Nordic walking, climbing, and more. As someone who enjoyed island life, my goal while in Wando was to find out and share its many benefits. I hope people will see more than the beach and the port of Wando. Special thanks to locals Jeong-In Lee and Seul-hui Park as well as Stuart Hendricks and Alandra Lawrence. Photographed by Áine Byrne and Stuart Hendricks
The Author
Áine Byrne is an English teacher and artist from Ireland. She enjoys writing, travel, art, and watersports. In the past, she has written for the Gwangju News, Turkish Airlines Skylife, Dublin Concerts, and Cult Magazine. She is now based in Suncheon and is finishing an MA in adult learning and global change.
September 2019
“My favorite place is Wando-salon (it is the best café in Wando to meet locals’ and foreigners’ needs). My favorite thing to do is drive on the west coast of Wando. Hwaheung Harbor (화흥 포항) and Cheongdo-ri Gugye-dong (청도리 구게동) are stargazing sites. Wando is a calm and cozy city, but you might feel lonely and bored, so go to Wando-salon. I will be waiting for you.” — Jeongin, Wando, Korea (This is a shameless plug; however, I think the salon is a great place, and they are very welcoming.)
BEFORE YOU GO When you decide to visit Wando, for foreigners with little Korean, I recommend downloading Naver App (English) or do a simple search for unknown Korean words in the Naver or Daum search engines to locate the places recommended in this article. The website www.wando.go.kr has language options and will direct you to alternative places. If you want to camp or just go to the beach or port, visit the website above. There is plenty of information in there. If you decide to stay in a motel or hotel, be aware that Wando accommodation can be expensive, particularly during March–July and festival periods.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
“I recommend the cafés C’est La Vie and Thank You Today. I like to do outdoor workouts with buddies – we use the equipment along the harbor. I like the walk up to Wando Tower and the view. Don’t be afraid to walk alone here, there are many single travelers around Wando. Just say hello to everyone. They will welcome you.” — Seul-hui, Wando, Korea
restaurant that serves up the usual KoreanChinese dishes. Their jjajang-myeon (짜장면) and bokkeum-bap (볶음밥) dishes are by far my favorite. A tip for people thinking about traveling to or living in a remote area and how to deal with it: Living in a remote area isn’t all bad, as long as you have something to keep you busy! It’s definitely advisable to have a hobby or some sort of side gig to keep you occupied during long school days and at home. There’s also nothing wrong with escaping to the city every now and then! It’s all about balance: Living in a rural area makes you appreciate what the city has to offer, and spending time in the city makes you grateful to live in a rural area.” — Stuart, South Africa
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34 Around Korea
A Day Trip to Boryeong
The Best Beach on Korea’s West Coast
TRAVEL TRAVEL
Written and photographed by Cami Ismanova
W
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
hat can be better than the cooling waters of the Yellow Sea on a hot weekend? So when the mercury starts to rise, a trip to Boryeong is what you might consider a “good call.” I had heard a lot about the Boryeong Mud Festival, but I did not quite have an idea of what Boryeong looked like. I came to know that Boryeong (also commonly called Daecheon) is a city in South Chungcheong Province. It lies on the coast of the Yellow Sea and is known for its beaches, particularly Daecheon Beach. I was a bit confused, for people would call it “Daecheon” everywhere all the time. What is more, all places, including the beaches and cafés, had the word “Daecheon” (대전) in their titles. So, I did some research and found that what was once Boryeong County has been raised in status to Boryeong City and what was the small city of Daecheon has now become a district within Boryeong City. As mentioned above, the city hosts the annual Boryeong Mud Festival, which takes place in July. The first mud festival was held in 1998, and it attracted more than 2.2 million tourists by 2007. The festival was originally organized as a marketing vehicle for Boryeong mud cosmetics. The mud, which is used in the manufacturing of cosmetics, is rich in minerals. Some local people believe it has healing qualities, so they participate in different
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mud-related activities throughout the year. The cheapest way to get from Gwangju to Boryeong is via subway and train, which costs 8,000–23,000 won and takes almost four hours. The fastest way to get to Boryeong is to drive, which costs 21,000–35,000 won and takes about two hours. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that besides the festival, there was a bunch of other exciting activities to enjoy. If you love extreme sports or chilling on the beach, this city is for you! There are activities like zip trekking, sky biking, karting, and a variety of water activities. Daecheon Beach is one of the most famous beaches in South Korea. In fact, it is the biggest beach on the West Coast. It is no wonder it offers so many things to do besides the mud festival. Visitors can rent tubes and float on the water, play beach volleyball, and/or chill in a tent (you can see many people spending their time this way). There are convenient facilities that provide snacks and drinks. It is definitely worth a visit whether you attend its best-known festival or not. The Daecheon Zip Trek (대전짚트랙) happens to be the first one to descend down onto a beach, unlike many other zip lines in South Korea. It starts from the 52-meter-tall Daecheon Tower that offers a breathtaking panoramic view of the Yellow Sea. It is a thrilling feeling to slide down at 80 kilometers per hour, screaming your lungs
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35 out. Prices are 15,000 won for children and 18,000 won for adults. The Daecheon Zip Trek operates from 9:00–18:00 (9:00–20:00 in July and August). You can find all necessary information on the company’s official website: www.ziptrek.co.kr. For those who are not really up for anything extreme, the Daecheon Tower offers an observation deck with an unbeatable view. It allows you to enjoy a panoramic view of the Daecheon Beach from the top-floor café and terrace. The entrance fee is 5,000 won. Would you like to enjoy having sea waves below you while cycling? Then why not try another exciting activity – the Daecheon Sky Bike (대전해수욕장 스카이바이크). Visiting the Sky Bike is better during spring and autumn, as the mud flats are less exposed then. When the weather is right, you can feel the cooling breeze while you are cutting through the waves on your sky bike. Travel at your own pace and enjoy the picturesque views of nature. The whole journey takes around 30 minutes and is 2.3 kilometers long. The bike is manually operated, but switches to electric at certain points. You can get to the Daecheon Sky Bike via the Boryeong Intercity Bus Terminal (details below). The Daecheon Sky Bike will leave an unforgettable impression on you and your friends.
▲ Fast and Furious? The Daecheon karting race is what you’re looking for!
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
When I was about to visit Boryeong, I was skeptical about whether it would be a place my friends and I would like. However, all my doubts faded away once I saw the blue waves of the Yellow Sea and the golden sand of Daecheon Beach. Because the city is full of life and offers high-quality activities to enjoy at your leisure, you will not get bored there for sure. So, organize a road trip with your friends or take a bus there to spend an unforgettable day in Boryeong, for the city will welcome you with open arms!
▲ You often see people chilling in tents on Daecheon Beach.
The Author
Cami Ismanova is a student at Chonnam National University majoring in economics. She writes poems both in English and Russian as one of the ways to express herself. She loves traveling around and reading classics.
DAECHEON SKY BIKE
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▲ The Daecheon Tower offers you to try the Zip Trek on the 19th floor.
September 2019
t 9:00–12:00 & 14:00–18:00, Monday–Saturday (June–August). 10:00–12:00 & 14:00–17:00, Monday–Saturday (September–May). P From the Boryeong Intercity Bus Terminal, take bus 100 and get off at the Fountain Station (분수광장앞) bus stop. ￦ Two-seater: 22,000 won. Three-seater: 26,000 won. Four-seater: 30,000 won.
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36 Language Teaching
Why Go to an ELT Conference?
Written by Dr. David E. Shaffer
“T
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
EDUCATION
here’s a conference coming. An English teaching conference. A big one. It’s coming to Seoul this autumn. A Korea TESOL, or KOTESOL, conference, I think.” “A conference. Are you thinking of going?” “Hmm… Why should I go to an English teaching conference?” The buzz is out there. The annual Korea TESOL International Conference is coming in October – the 12th and 13th, to be exact – and I suppose that there are a lot of English teachers around Gwangju, and elsewhere, asking themselves why they should even consider going to this conference. In this article, I will embark on that mission of convincing those who have not yet attended a conference as well as naysayer English teachers that they could benefit considerably from attending conferences and that the conference that classroom teachers can benefit most from attending is the Korea TESOL International Conference (I will abbreviate it as the “KOTESOL IC” or just “IC”).
the sincerity of attendee-to-attendee interaction both in workshop sessions and in the breaks between sessions. The IC realizes the importance of attendees having time to share with each other in informal situations. That is why there is a 15-minute break between each session throughout the two-day conference. Some attendees consider the community atmosphere as the most important aspect of the conference: meeting new people, forming new friendships, discussing teaching concepts, collaborating on future research projects.
THE “COMMUNITY” I will begin with a concept that many of you may think of as being insignificant: the sense of community. The KOTESOL IC attendees are, for the most part, classroom English teachers – classroom practitioners like those at your school, in your teachers’ room, or at frequented downtown establishments. But if you think about it, teachers do not spend much time together. They are usually in a classroom with students; and when they are with other teachers, they are usually not talking about how to be better teachers.
THE PRESENTATIONS Many people I have talked to have the mistaken opinion that conferences are all about listening to research done by the presenter. KOTESOL IC organizers, however, are quite aware that IC attendees vary greatly in their English language teaching (ELT) interests: Some have interest in research, others in teaching methodology, some in language learning games and activities, and others in a little bit of everything. Some have PhDs in applied linguistics; others are fresh out of college. Some are interested in cutting-edge theory; others are interested in ELT basics. And there are many somewhere in-between.
KOTESOL IC attendees are there for professional development. That can come is several forms. While a conference’s presentation sessions are an obvious source of professional development, another is through conversing with other attendees. The KOTESOL slogan might explain it best: Teachers Helping Teachers – Learn, Share, Succeed. KOTESOL ICs are known for their warmth and
While other ELT conferences are mainly research paper presentations, the KOTESOL IC is different. We like to think that we have something for everyone. While there are 20-minute research report sessions on almost any ELTrelated topic you can think of, there are also a large number of 45-minute talks and hands-on workshops on just as wide
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37 management, and Bodo Winter (UK) will talk about how gestures talk. Their topics all seem super interesting, and the cool thing is that their featured sessions will be scheduled so that you will be able to attend each of them!
The books and materials displays at a KOTESOL conference.
a variety of topics. The IC also has poster sessions, where the presentations are attached to bulletin boards and the presenters deliver their content and answer questions for anyone who comes by. In addition, there will be a number of panel discussion sessions and sessions organized by our various special interest groups. And there will even be a couple of Saturday morning introductory sessions for first-time attendees on how to get the most out of the conference.
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David Shaffer has lived and worked in Gwangju since the early 1970s. As president of KOTESOL and a member of the KOTESOL IC organizing committee, he invites you to attend the 2019 KOTESOL IC. As vice-president of the GwangjuJeonnam Chapter of KOTESOL, he invites you to participate in the teacher development workshops at their monthly meetings. Dr. Shaffer has been a career professor at Chosun University and is a longtime member of KOTESOL. He is presently the board chair at the Gwangju International Center and also editor-in-chief of the Gwangju News.
GWANGJU-JEONNAM KOTESOL MONTHLY MEETING Date: September 21 (Saturday) Place: Gwangju National University of Education • Presentation 1: Commitments and Motivations for Teaching English in Korea: What the Research Shows By Dr. Ian Moodie, Mokpo Natl. University • Presentation 2: The Alphabet Soup of ELT Associations: Untangling the Code By Dr. David Shaffer • Presentation 3: Up Close and Personal: How Can We Approach Intimate Inquiry? By Maria Lisak, Chosun University • SwapShop: Share with the group your activity, teaching idea, etc. For full event details: Website: http://koreatesol.org/gwangju Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL
September 2019
In addition to our plenary speakers, we will have nine featured speakers, most of whom will be coming from outside of Korea. For those interested in professional development, reflective practice authority Thomas Farrell (Canada) will be giving a featured session and leading a workshop. TV and radio personality, professor, and CEO Boyoung Lee will be informing us on unexpected learning initiative taken by young learners. Kara Mac Donald (US) will be sharing the need to draw on skillsets outside of ELT. Heyoung Kim (Korea) will tell us how we can bring artificial intelligence into the young learner classroom, and Peter Roger (Australia) will tell us what we can learn from medical education. Curtis Kelly (Japan) will disclose neuroscience insights into language learning, and Stephen Ryan (Japan) will talk about a person-centered approach to language learning. Birsen Tutunis (Turkey) will show us how to blend disciplines for effective classroom
The Author
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
THE INVITED SPEAKERS KOTESOL prides itself on being able to attract many of the major authorities in ELT and second language acquisition (SLA) to speak at our conferences. Last year’s plenary speakers, for example, were Dr. Stephen Krashen and Prof. Scott Thornbury. At this year’s IC, our Saturday plenary speaker will be Dr. Rod Ellis, widely known for his work in SLA and, in more recent years, in TBLT (taskbased language teaching). Dr. Andrew D. Cohen will be our Sunday plenary speaker. Much of his recent work has been related to language learner strategies. He will also be leading a two-hour workshop.
THE OTHER GOOD STUFF A conspicuous component of any conference are the promotional displays. ELT-related firms, book publishers in particular, will be participating in the KOTESOL IC, displaying books, sometimes providing inspection copies and giving promotional sessions. Saturday evening features a wine-and-cheese membership social. And under “good stuff,” I will mention the IC registration fee. KOTESOL works hard to keep the fee down to about onefifth that of a comparable international conference. Preregistration ends September 30. You will not want to miss this opportunity to attend the 2019 KOTESOL IC, October 12–13, at Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul. Details at https://koreatesol.org/IC2019.
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38
TOPIK GUIDE (topikguide.com) is the most comprehensive website devoted to the TOPIK exam. It has been helping Korean language learners pass the TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) for more than eight years. On our website, you can get all the TOPIK updates, grammar and vocabulary material, and study tips.
Everyday Korean Episode 21: 미용실
(The Beauty Parlor / Hair Salon)
EDUCATION
Prepared by Harsh Kumar Mishra
경월:
머리 깎아야 하는데 이 근처에 여자 미용실만 있네요.
정민:
남자들보다 여자들이 미용실 많이 다녀서 그래. 근데 대부분 미용실에서 남자 컷도 가능해.
[Meo-ri kkak-kaya ha-neun-de i geun-cheo-e yeo-ja mi-yong-shil-man in-neyo.] Gyeongweol: I want to get a haircut, but it seems like there are only women’s hair salons around here.
[Nam-ja-deul-boda yeo-ja-deu-ri mi-yong-shil ma-ni da-nyeo-seo geu-rae. Geun-de dae-bu-bun mi-yong-shire-seo na-mja keot-tto ga-neung-hae.] Jeongmin: It’s because women go to hair salons more than men. But most hair salons do men’s haircuts, too.
경월:
아, 그래요? [Ah, geu-rae-yo?] Gyeongweol: Oh, really? 정민:
네. 들어가서 물어보면 돼. 근데 머리 그리 길지 않았는데 왜 잘라?
경월:
다른 헤어스타일로 하려고요. 옆에만 조금씩 다듬어요.
[Ne. Deu-reo-ga-seo mu-reo-bo-myeon dwae. Geun-de meo-ri geu-ri gil-ji ana-nneun-de wae jal-la?] Jeong-min: Yeah. You should go inside and ask. By the way, why are you getting a haircut when it’s not even that long?
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September 2019
[Da-reun he-eo-seu-ta-il-lo ha-ryeo-go-yo. Yeo-pe-man jo-geum-ssik da-deu-meo-yo.]] Gyeongweol: I want to change my hairstyle. I’ll only get the sides trimmed.
Grammar ~만: This Korean particle is generally used with nouns to express the meaning of “only.” Ex: 저는 물만 먹을래요. I’ll only have water.
~근데: This is the short form of 그런데 and is mainly used in spoken Korean. It has various meanings, like “by the way,” “but,” “well,” and “anyway.” Ex: A: 고속버스모바일 앱을 사용해 봤어요.
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Have you ever used the Express Bus Mobile App? B: 네, 여러번요. 근데 왜요? Yeah, many times. Why do you ask? (But why?/By the way, why?)
Vocabulary 머리를 깎다 to get a haircut 근처 nearby 미용실 beauty parlor / hair salon 다니다 to attend 컷 haircut 들어가다 to go inside/enter 물어보다 to ask 그리 that 길다 to be long 가능하다 to be possible 자르다 to cut/chop 헤어스타일 hairstyle 다듬다 to trim 염색 dye 앞머리 bangs 파마 perm 가리마 parting/part (in one’s hair)
Useful Beauty Parlor / Hair Salon Expressions 조금만 다듬어 주세요 Please only trim it a bit. 머리 사진처럼 해 주세요 Please do it like in this picture. 짧게 잘라 주세요 Please cut it short.
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Expat Living 39
COMMUNITY
▲ Make the most of it. – Take time to appreciate the natural beauty of Korea.
Tips from an Ex-Expat Written by Meg Coast
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GET OUT AND MEET PEOPLE It may happen the moment you step off the plane; it may be months down the line. If you are really lucky, you may never experience it, but at some point, many of us will suffer the pangs of homesickness and loneliness. While it is awfully tempting to mope around your apartment checking Skyscanner for flights home, it is better to nip this issue in the bud. Be brave and fling yourself out on the town at the earliest opportunity because it only gets scarier with time. Initially, you might find yourself in social scenes that are not quite your thing, but once you get out there, you will find your niche and meet people who may end up being your friends for life. I met my BFFL on a trip through a nude forest, which is proof that you can meet people in
September 2019
I only planned to stay in Korea for a year, but in fact, ended up remaining for five. In this period of time, I have done a lot of things, met some of the best people I know, and learned a thing or two about life abroad. While I still consider my time in Korea one of the best decisions I have ever made, the power of hindsight is everything, and if you were to ask me if I would do anything differently if I could do it again, I would say, “Absolutely!”
Whether you are just here “for a year” or planning to stay longer, there are a few tried and tested ways to make sure that your time is put to good use.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
A
s I sit in Incheon Airport savoring my last few spoonfuls of bibimbap (비빔밥), I flash back half a decade or so to my first fumbling steps into a once unfamiliar land. This same land, while still a bit of an unknown in the West (cue the predictable question: “Do you live in the North or the South?”), now feels more like home than any other place in the world and, in spite of its small geographic size, will always occupy a big space in my heart.
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40 city walls and roam rice paddies, meander up mountains, venture down valleys, and bask on the beaches. Whatever you do and wherever you go, get out and see a bit of Korea, ’cos she is a beauty. LEARN KOREAN My journey towards learning Korean got off to a somewhat late start. In my first few years, I told myself I was “too [insert excuse] to learn,” deferring to more linguistically blessed friends and scattered phrases I had picked up. When I finally pulled my finger out and signed up for language classes, it was a game-changer – not because I suddenly became fluent overnight, but because a functional grasp of Korean makes life so much easier. You will also find that a little language ability goes a long way with the locals – expect more smiles from your neighborhood ajummas (아줌마), and maybe discounts too!
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
▲ Get a hobby. – Even if scaling large rocks isn’t your bag, there’s something for everyone in Gwangju!
the most bizarre of circumstances – but only if you are there in the first place. GET A HOBBY Whether you start up a new hobby or bring one with you, having your own “thing” can give you a sense of purpose, achievement, and a sense of belonging in your new home. I decided that, given my intense fear of heights, it would make perfect sense to try out rock climbing. Aside from the frequent fear of plummeting to my imminent death, I made a bunch of new friends with whom I spent unforgettable weekends climbing and camping in the great outdoors. I got into the best shape of my life, picked up a new skill, and most importantly, felt like I was part of a family. My only regret is that I did not start earlier. So do not make the same mistake: Try something out, because it might just be the best decision you make. TRAVEL Traveling around Korea is something you just cannot afford to skip. The ROK is a breathtakingly beautiful and diverse country, and its small size and extremely efficient, affordable transport make it easy to explore. Break beyond the bustling
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FALL IN LOVE WITH KOREAN FOOD While I can hardly say that my first experience with Korean food was love at first bite, I am quite willing to admit when I am wrong – and how very wrong I was. Though there are still dishes that I have not and will never get along with – looking at you beondegi (번데기, silkworm pupa), Korean cuisine is up there at the top of my foodie list, and with good reason. Healthy, fresh, fast, and mouthwateringly moreish, there is more to Korean food than kimbap – which was, tragically, a staple diet for me in my first year. My advice: Push your culinary boundaries, try everything at least once, and do not judge a Kimbap Nara (김밥나라) by its cover; some of the absolute best places to eat are little more than a hole in the wall – keep your eyes peeled and follow your nose! SAVE $$$ Yes, it is boring, but it is a piece of advice you will hear over and over again for a reason. Whether your plans are to return home and find a job, pursue further education, pay off
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41
Get out and meet people. – Find friends who are just as weird as you are.
▲ Fall in love with Korean food. – Dalkgalbi, the ultimate crowdpleaser.
debts, travel, etc., you will almost certainly need a decent amount of dosh to back up your schemes. Most of us drastically underestimate how much we need, and end up regretting that fourth cocktail at the bar every Saturday or the daily Starbucks we do not really need – wishing instead that we had been a little more disciplined and stashed the cash away.
you have grander plans, make sure you take the time to appreciate life abroad while you are living it rather than just seeing it as a stepping stone. By all means, have a plan, but be open to the possibility of it changing. Making my home here in Korea and falling in love with the country was certainly not on my agenda, but in the words of Anatole France, “If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads.”
MAKE THE MOST OF IT Savor your time in Korea. It is a unique period in your life that you will look back on fondly in future years. Even if
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Photographed by Ben Robins
The Author
Meg Coast was a proud member of the Gwangju community for five-ish fantastic years. She recently left Korea to embark on adventures new and is currently traveling in Southeast Asia before returning home to the UK, where she fervently hopes she can still eat kimchi!
September 2019
If you can, send half your wage home as soon as it hits your account. You will find you still have more than enough to enjoy your time in Korea, while having a nice little pile of pennies to ensure smooth sailing in your next endeavors.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
▲ Travel. – You don’t have to go far in Korea to find adventure.
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42 Where to Eat
Gwangju-ok 1947
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
FOOD & DRINKS
Traditional Naengmyeon in a Modern Setting
Written and photographed by Karina Prananto
O
ne of the best things about living in Korea is its four seasons, as every season is so different and comes with unique culinary habits. Coming from a tropical country with only two seasons (dry and rainy, but with the same 32-degree-Celsius temperature), I can eat watermelon anytime I want, but in Korea, people will look at you strangely if you eat watermelon in winter, for example. Each season has been set with a certain food to consume, and summertime is synonomous with watermelons, ice cream, samgyetang, (삼계탕, chicken soup with ginseng) and of course, naengmyeon (냉면, cold noodles). Now, originally, I was not a big fan of cold dishes. In my country, everything has to be served sizzling hot. You can find cold salads, but that is it. So in Korea, I first found it weird that people ate ice with their meals, like noodles. However, after having been living here for 13 years, naengmyeon has become a usual food for me to see in summer. Naengmyeon can be found anywhere now, but only a few places claim to be the best at serving the cold dish. One of them is Gwangju-ok.
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Gwangju-ok boasts of having served naengmyeon since 1947, hence the name. It has two branches: The main one is located across from Nongseong Subway Station and the other is located near the Asia Culture Center. I am fortunate to live near their main branch, so I can go there easily. But to go along with the “tradition,” I only go there in summer. If a restaurant is selling only naengmyeon, it does not usually sell well in wintertime. So Gwangju-ok offers not only naengmyeon but also hot dishes like galbi-tang (short rib soup) and bulgogi (sliced and seasoned barbequed beef). Still, their best dish is naengmyeon, but not just any naengmyeon: It is Pyeongyang naengmyeon. Pyeongyang naengmyeon is said to be one of the most famous dishes in North Korea, and if you are wondering how it tastes, you might want to visit this place. Gwangju-ok claims to serve their naengmyeon in the traditional style (probably that means as it is in Pyeongyang). It is rather bland in comparison to other styles, but that is why all tables in Gwangju-ok are equipped with the essentials: mustard and vinegar to add more taste.
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43 After adding some of these, the taste kicks in. On every visit, we definitely order a bowl of naengmyeon, although they also sell bibim-naengmyeon (spicy buckwheat noodles). During our most recent visit, we ordered a plate of pork bulgogi and nokdu bindaetteok (녹두 빈대떡, green bean pancake). All orders arrived on our table within fifteen minutes. Gwangju-ok sells their naengmyeon and bibimnaengmyeon in two sizes: regular and double. If you would like to order additional foods on the menu, a regular will be sufficient. Many may find it a bit tasteless, so unless you are sure you like the taste or just want to try it as is for the first time, I recommend ordering a regular size. We found the rest of the menu items to also be great. For example, the bindaetteok was crispy and the bulgogi was thinly sliced samgyeopsal (pork belly) that was grilled and tasted a bit like galbi. Gwangju-ok is usually busy from 12 noon with break time lasting from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. We went there once at 6:30 p.m. and found the place to be packed full, so on our last visit, we went at around 7:30 p.m., and we were able to find a seat. The restaurant is spacious and the service is very quick and efficient, so I am sure you will not have to wait for long. The restaurant also has only table seating, so do not worry about your legs getting cramps from sitting on the floor for too long. A small water kettle filled with chicken broth is also warm and refreshing, aside from the cold water also
on offer. The restaurant is clean and has a modern feel to it compared to other naengmyeon restaurants I have visited in the past that had an old hanok (traditional Korean house) style. Instead, Gwangju-ok presents itself more as a Western-style restaurant. I find it very comfortable to be in. So before summertime passes, make sure you visit Gwangjuok and try a bowl of Pyeongyang naengmyeon. Bonus: They also have Pyeongyang mandu (dumplings). Wonder how it tastes? How about giving it a try? It can also be a new conversation piece with families and friends back home! 광주옥1947 Gwangju-ok t Daily, 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. (break time: 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.) P 1104-20 Sangmudae-ro, Seo-gu, Gwangju 광주 서구 상무대로 1104-20 À 062-362-1616
The Author
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Pork bulgogi
September 2019
Nokdu bindaetteok
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
Pyeongyang naengmyeon
Karina Prananto is from Jakarta, Indonesia, and has been living in Gwangju since 2006. She loves Korean food – especially baekban (meal with a bowl of rice, soup, and many side dishes) and street foods – and loves how eating at Korean restaurants leaves her full, thanks to the abundant side dishes.
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www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
FOOD & DRINKS
44 Korean Recipe
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45
Al-tang Fish Roe Soup Written by Joe Wabe
F
eeling adventurous this summer? Al-tang (알탕) is one of those dishes food adventurers should try. It’s spicy and tasty, and its funky texture and fresh herb smell make people smile after the first spoonful. Al-tang is on the list of hot and spicy soups that are traditional in summer, following the slogan “heat beats heat.”
Most hot and spicy soups are also very popular as side dishes for soju during the cold winter months since the combination will keep you warm for a few hours, but that’s another story. Let’s get cooking!
Ingredients
450 grams of pollack roe (frozen or fresh) 1 teaspoon of red pepper paste 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon of soju 1 teaspoon of anchovy stock 1 cup of chopped radish 1 teaspoon of minced garlic 2 chopped green onions 1 cup of oyster mushrooms 1 bunch of minari 5 cups of water
Preparation
The Author
Joe Wabe is an established photographer and Gwangju local business entrepreneur. He has been contributing to the GIC and the Gwangju News for more than eight years.
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Send the Gwangju News to your loved ones back home! The Gwangju News has been serving the community since 2001 by delivering news and information to the international communities of Gwangju. Send the Gwangju News to your family and friends back home and let them know about Gwangju! Annual Subcription Rates: • Asia and Australia: 40,000 won (US $40) • Europe: 50,000 won (US $50) • America, Africa: 60,000 won (US $60) Payment can be made through bank transfer, cash, or Paypal. Bank Transfer: Kwangju Bank (사)광주국제교류센터: 134-107-000999 Paypal: gic@gic.or.kr Inquiry: gwangjunews@gic.or.kr or 062-226-2733
September 2019
In a pot, add the water and radish and bring to a boil. In a separate container, prepare the sauce by combining the red pepper paste and flakes, soju, minced garlic, and anchovy stock. Mix them well and put the sauce aside. Bring the heat to medium and add the sauce, letting it cook for about three minutes. Then add the roe and mushrooms and cook for about another five minutes. Finally add the minari at the end and bring the heat down to low. Cook until the roe sack looks cooked and solid.
Annual Membership Fee: General: 40,000 won; Student: 20,000 won; Group: 20,000 won (min. 10 persons) Inquiry: member@gic.or.kr / 062-226-2733
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• • • • • • • • • • •
(Serves 2)
The Gwangju International Center (GIC) is a non-profit organization established in 1999 to promote cultural understanding and to build a better community among Koreans and international residents. By being a member, you can help support our mission and make it a reality! Join us today and receive exciting benefits! • One year free subscription and delivery of the Gwangju News magazine • Free use of the GIC library • Free interpretation and counseling services from the GIC • Discounts on programs and events held by the GIC • Up-to-date information on GIC events through our e-mail newsletter
ARTS & CULTURE
Although the roe doesn’t have much taste, it’s the broth that gives this dish its magic spicy and refreshing flavor, mainly produced by minari (미나리, water dropwort) and red pepper paste. It’s been said that this dish originated in Gangwon Province, where pollack can be found in large quantities due to the cold waters.
Support the GIC! Be a Member!
2019-08-28 �� 10:30:16
ARTS & CULTURE
46 Photo Essay
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September 2019
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47
Honey Hunting On Himalayan Cliffs
Written and photographed by A.P. Tolang
H
oney hunting is the gathering of honey from wild bee colonies and is one of the most ancient human activities still practiced by indigenous societies in parts of Nepal. Honey hunting is a courageous task in itself, as it is riskier than ordinary people could ever imagine. In particular, cutting honey from the vertical Himalayan hills is very dangerous. With only the help of ropes and bamboo, honey hunters routinely put their lives in danger. It requires a special artistic ability to cut the honeycomb dangling from a rope at the edge of a cliff. In some mountainous areas of Nepal’s Himalayas, a honey hunt is organized every year. We got our invitation to this experience from the Click Nepal Photography Group. It was a wonderful opportunity to see the courageous task of honey hunting. We started our journey from Kathmandu to Siding Village on March 10, 2019, and eventually reached the organizer’s hotel in the evening by bus. It was a long day trip. They welcomed us with warm greetings and then gave us all the information needed about our destination along with some precautions.
2
Finally, we reached the honey-hunting destination, Kopre Vir, after passing through some challenging areas. My heart was beating fast as I looked at the vertical rocky hillside. I started to wonder how anyone could cut a honeycomb off such a cliff (Photo 2). All the members of our team were looking forward to their work. Some of them made fire and smoke, while some others were managing the ropes. Following tradition, honey hunters first worship the cliff god, whom they put their trust in. After a short prayer, work begins without interruption. The locals celebrate honey hunting as a festival by offering flowers, grains, and sheep to the cliff god before honey hunting. Naturally, our honey-hunting team members also started by worshiping the cliff god and praying for the success of the honey-hunting mission. These acts showed a deep sense of faith.
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We started our morning with a cup of tea and a beautiful
view of Fishtail Mountain (Photo 1) from Siding Village. After having a light breakfast, we prepared our gear, including safety equipment, and readied ourselves for an hour-long walk down unknown paths. Then, we started our walk to our honey-hunting destination with the organizing team.
September 2019
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September 2019
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After the worship phase was completed, some of the honey hunters (Photo 3) started to climb the vertical rock cliff and some prepared and spread the fire smoke from the ground to make the bees leave the honeycomb. Then, one honey hunter started down the side of the cliff by rope. That was such a scary maneuver, but we soon saw how skilled and experienced he was at climbing. An experienced honey hunter can hang from cliffs as high as 300 meters with the help of homemade ropes and bamboo ladders. After reaching the honeycomb, he tried to spread the smoke around it to make the bees come out of the honeycomb (Photo 4). Every action was scary for us. The bees surrounded the hunter and were buzzing all around the honeycomb. Slowly, the bees left after a big struggle (Photo 5), and the hunter started cutting the honeycomb. His task was really hard and scary. The lead honey hunter collects the honey with a bucket and passes it and the honeycomb down to team members (Photos 6 & 7).
8
Finally, the adventure is over. The honey hunters gathered up all their equipment and the honeycombs. They needed to cross the river somehow, though there was neither bridge nor path to do so (Photo 8). The local people make temporary paths using wood and stones. Our journey was really an unexpected adventure. Successfully, we returned to Siding Village, home to a group of honey hunters in Nepal.
We would like to thank Mr. Raj Kumar Tamang and the Click Nepal Photography Group for this well-organized, honey-hunting trip and amazing photographic opportunity. A.P. Tolang is from Nepal and now lives in Kathmandu. He is a traveler who loves spending his time in the mountains either by hiking, trekking, or pursuing travel photography. A.P. tries to expose and promote the beauty of life through his lens. Readers can follow A.P. Tolang on Instagram @ gorkhe1980.
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September 2019
The Author
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
There is a need for more publicity concerning honey hunting in order to bring in local and foreign tourists.
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50 Book Review
Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age by Amani Al-Khatahtbet
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
ARTS & CULTURE
Written by Kristy Dolson
T
his September marks the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As a sophomore in high school on that day, I understood that the world had changed. But as a white middle-class teenager in Canada, my immediate surroundings and future opportunities were largely unaffected. This was not the case for Amani Al-Khatahtbet, who was a child in New Jersey when 9/11 took place. The events of that day had life-changing consequences for her and thousands of other innocent children around the world.
Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age is the true story of how one girl had her life and future altered by the horrific events of September 11, 2001. Al-Khatahtbet grew up under the scrutinizing and racist gaze of an angered America, and was deemed guilty by association and refused a voice by the media around her. In response to this anger and isolation, she co-founded MuslimGirl.com to form connections between Muslim women. This website became a platform for the voices of thousands of girls and women who joined the new community. The founders insisted on a safe space for representation and support so that other girls growing up in a post-9/11 America would not have to experience the same pain and despair. Published in 2017, this memoir is aptly timed. Fearmongering and racist rhetoric have reached a fever pitch in the United States. MuslimGirl.com is a platform that allows its creators to use their Western media privilege to reclaim the narrative of Muslim women and to increase positive representation around the world in order to survive racist rhetoric and to make radical change in media and advertising policies. In a time that feels fraught with nationalist feeling and anti-Muslim bigotry, it is reassuring that influencers like Al-Khatahtbet are seeking to raise awareness of the harmful effects these and other policies can have on the lives of American youth.
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This book was written to bring more awareness to her website, but also as a memoir of Al-Khatahtbet’s experiences. Written in the first person, it uses a lot of short sentences to facilitate an intimate, conversational tone. The conversations with her father about feeling pride in her identity and standing up for herself against the expectations of her peers are especially poignant. These are welcoming anecdotes for young readers looking for strong role models. Although it is very short, there is a lot of material to cover, as she moves between growing-up stories to present-day observations in her struggle against racist stereotyping. Although the tone is intimate, the memoir is often candid, blunt, and angry – as it should be. There were moments of discomfort for me. But that is why I read. If you are uncomfortable, you are learning. And I learned a lot from this reading experience. My most important takeaway was the danger of the “single story.” In our efforts to be diverse, we often fall into the “tokenization trap.” We need to be aware that people come from all walks of life, from different countries and generations, and no single story can ever be used to speak for the experiences of an entire people. We should all be reading and listening more. We cannot undo the terrible events of our past. But we can learn from them, listen to the victims, and try to be better.
The Author
Kristy Dolson lived in South Korea for five years before taking a year off to travel, read, and spend time with her family in Canada and Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Education and now lives in Yeosu, where she splits her time between teaching at the new Jeollanamdo International Education Institute and reading as much as she can. (Photo by Cheyenne Taylor)
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51
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Look for the answers to this crossword puzzle to appear in September in Gwangju News Online (www.gwangjunewsgic.com)
Created by Jon Dunbar
ACROSS
1 2 3 4 5 6
Inquire Silent ___ deadly Southern Jeju city Smudge Not just yours Drone manufacturer
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Naganeupseong city Daewoo Shipbuilding & ___ Engineering Prayer ender Prefix to call or advisor East European king’s title Tyrannosaurus ___ Actress Olivia Full of energy One of North America’s Great Lakes Vegetarian’s dish Ceased Gwangju’s Uzbek avenue Norse giant god USFK legal agreement “Oracular Spectacular” band Hammered down End of a boxing match Cropped up Battery unit Jamaican good feelings CTRL+S Moon or Trump Lee Jung-hyun’s stage name “Don’t Mess Up My Tempo” band Goes with City or Delhi
September 2019
DOWN
7 8 9 10 11 19 21 22 23 24 26 27 28 29 31 34 35 37 38 39 40 41 44 46 47
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Stomach muscles Creates a lawn Convenience store suffix Busan band Say ___ Me Jeolla ski destination Singer Tori Travelers’ agency Brockovich or Morgenstern US country musician McEntire Foie ___ C, D, E flat, F, G, A flat, and B flat Found under a manhole lid Snub Grand ___ Game of Thrones’ Targaryen Tear SK Online music service Weepy music genre River through Gwangju “Weekend is almost here” Surrounded by Classic cyberpunk series Stops by Not amateurs Type of exam Toranguk ingredient Five plus five Not prerecorded Goes with Christmas or All Hallows’ Body spray brand Started a round of golf Bewilderment The present time
ARTS & CULTURE
1 4 8 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 22 24 25 26 30 31 32 33 35 36 37 38 41 42 43 45 48 49 50 51 52 53
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52 Opinion
Public Bad
Is the Flower Power Tower the Harbinger of a Modern-Day Tragedy of the Commons? Written by William Urbanski
Having an open space in the middle of the city has resulted in a relentless onslaught of festivals and stages erected virtually every weekend in what appears to be a race to see who can jam up the ACC the most. The latest symbol of this arms race is the marvelous and stunning Flower Power Tower that dazzles and hypnotizes all who dare to set eyes upon it. I really have nothing bad to say about this beautiful, revolving masterpiece that actually adds much-needed shade and a sense of wonder, but I don’t like what it represents: further efforts to encroach upon one of the few open, public spaces in the city.
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In economic terms, what’s happening at the plaza could be described as a Tragedy of the Commons. This concept, commonly attributed to William Forster Lloyd, describes how too many individuals acting in their own interests can destroy a common public good. In the classic example, the common public good is a field of grass on which cows, owned by different farmers, are allowed to graze. As long as the farmers only let a certain number of cows eat the grass, there will be enough for every cow in perpetuity. But, if one greedy farmer allows too many of his cows on the field, he’ll upset the balance, resulting in a rapid deterioration of the whole field for everyone. “But, William,” I hear you say, “the concerts and festivals aren’t hurting the metaphorical grass because there is none.” I say otherwise: The stages and the large trucks required to set them up routinely damage the grounds. When the ACC first opened up in 2015, the surface was pristine and even. Now, it’s not hard to find tiles that are chipped, cracked, and uneven.
Figure 2. 5.18 Plaza on a weekend, lately.
September 2019
OPINION
A
nyone who knows me knows that I love the ACC – more specifically, the 5.18 Plaza: the big, open public space surrounding the fountain downtown. Being able to meet up with my friends there was actually a large factor in me deciding to move back to Gwangju. But since I’ve been back, my beloved ACC Plaza has fallen victim to a non-stop procession of festivals and concerts that, in my opinion, spoil one of the few open spaces in the city.
Figure 1. Nice, open plaza.
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The Flower Power Tower in all its glory. Notice the HUGE, temporary stage in the background.
All jammed up.
Listen, I get it. Some people actually enjoy the concerts and festivals that clog up the 5.18 Plaza every weekend from early spring until late fall. Some groups, I’m sure, even feel entitled to use the plaza as a forum for their causes. After all, the plaza is there for everyone, isn’t it? I don’t mind a concert here and there, and I think there’s a lot of cool stuff happening at the Fringe Festival, but subjecting people to them every single Saturday is just overkill.
Simplicity is the hardest design concept. There’s a certain aesthetic beauty that comes with a large, clean, and inclusive public space like the 5.18 Plaza. It’s understandable that some people may feel that the plaza has to be jammed up with so-called festivals each and every weekend lest it become underutilized, but I say this is one of those situations where less is more.
The Author
William Urbanski, managing editor of the Gwangju News, has an MA in international relations and cultural diplomacy. He is married to a wonderful Korean woman, always pays cash, and keeps all his receipts.
September 2019
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One thing to be clear on is that when a public bad exists, it’s not because of some sinister plot or malevolence; rather, it occurs because of unrestrained competition, and as such, can be deemed a sort of market failure. With regard to the 5.18 Plaza, the massive festivals occur because I feel that too many groups are competing for the space and are being accommodated without consultation to all the parties affected. For example, was the public at large asked if they’d like a Fringe Festival every Saturday? I doubt it. To solve the problems at the plaza requires a higher degree of collaboration rather than competition.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
My point is that any perceived benefit attained by having an event must be weighed against what’s referred to in economic parlance as a negative externality. Simply put, negative externalities are unintended bad things that occur whenever we do something. Interestingly, negative externalities tend to affect the world as a whole instead of just the person that causes it. For example, a car is convenient and fast to the individual, but causes pollution that affects lots of people. Factories produce goods we all need and want, but often introduce harmful chemicals into the ecosystem. There’s virtually no limit to the list of negative externalities that can arise. Coming back to the relentless onslaught of festivals at the 5.18 Plaza, it’s not hard to think of the “side effects” they cause: jamming up the plaza, which prevents its quiet enjoyment; all the garbage and broken glass that is left over; the damage done by setting up and tearing down stages; as well as the noise and eye pollution resulting from stages that could only aptly be described as a disaster of aerodynamics.
Once pristine tiles are cracked and chipped due to the heavy machinery being driven in the plaza.
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Gwangju Happenings Compiled by Baek Ji-yeon
MONTHLY NEWS
THE 2019 KOREA YOUTH FILM FESTIVAL 2019 한국청소년영화제 t September 27–29 P 904 Mujin-daero, Seo-gu, Gwangju (U-Square Plaza) (Gwangju Independent Cinema Building, G-Cinema) 96 Jeabong-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju À 062-368-8041 ` http://www.한국청소년영화제.kr/ PHOTO EXHIBITION: 2019 REPUBLIC OF KOREA 100 YEARS – 10 SCENES THAT CHANGED HISTORY 2019 대한민국 100년, 역사를 바꾼 10장면 사진 전시회 t February 28 – December 15 P 110 Haseo-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju (Gwangju National Museum) À 062-570-7000 ` https://gwangju.museum.go.kr/
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
“UIJAE, BECAME A MOUNTAIN” ART EXHIBITION 의재毅齋, 산이 되다 t July 10 – October 20 P 52 Haseo-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju (Gwangju Museum of Art) Exhibition Halls 3, 4 본관 제3, 4전시실 À 062-613-7100 ` http://artmuse.gwangju.go.kr/
THE 2019 GWANGJU BIENNALE 2019 광주 비엔날레 t September 9 – October 31 P 111 Biennale-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju (Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall) À 062-608-4114 ` https://www.gwangjubiennale.org/gb/index.do
2019 GWANGJU FRINGE FESTIVAL 2019 광주 프린지 페스티벌 t April–December (every Saturday) P Along Geumnam-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju À 062-223-0410 ` http://fringefestival.kr/
BEIJING CREATIVE CENTER’S “BEIJING CORRESPONDENCE” 북경창작센터 10주년 기념 특별전 <북경서신> t June 11 – October 13 P 52 Haseo-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju (Gwangju Museum of Art) Exhibition Halls 5, 6 본관 제5, 6전시실 À 062-613-7100 ` http://artmuse.gwangju.go.kr/
ACC Events t Daily 10:00–18:00 except Mondays P 38 Munhwa-jeondang-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju ￦ Free À 1899-5566 ` http://acc.go.kr
DRIFTING RECORDS OF ASIA: ACROSS A STORMY VOVAGE 아시아의 표해록(漂海錄): 바다 건너 만난 이웃 July 9 – October 27 Library Park Special Hall 3
2019 ACC MATCHING PROJECT: KOREAN AND ASIAN ARTISTS EXHIBITION “LIGHT ON THE MOVE” 2019 지역∙ 아시아 작가 매칭전 June 21 – September 1 Space 6 문화창조원 복합6관
THE 2019 ACC BIGDOOR CINEMA 2019 ACC 빅도어시네마 May 18 – September 13 ACC Theater 1 Outdoor Stage
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라이브러리파크 기획관3
극장1야외무대
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Gwangju Theater P 62 Chungjang-ro 5-ga, Dong-gu, Gwangju (Two blocks behind NC Wave) ￦ 8,000 won À 062-224-5858 ` http://cafe.naver.com/cinemagwangju (Korean) * Synopses excerpted from Wikipedia, IMDb, and Hancinema. All English language films are presented with Korean subtitles; nonEnglish international films are presented with Korean subtitles only.
HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD 벌새
Drama, 138 min., Korean (no subtitles)
Set in 1994, 14-year-old Eun-hee seeks love. Although ignored by her older siblings and parents who run a mill, she is an attractive girl to boys and girls her age. One day, a teacher with an understanding heart comes into Eun-hee’s life. Director: Kim Bora Starring: Park Ji-hoo, Kim Sae-byuk, Jung In-gi
HELLO, MY CAT 나만 없어 고양이
Drama, 97 min., Korean (no subtitles)
This drama shows four separate stories about the special relationships owners have with their cats and the positive inspiration they can bring to our lives. Director: Bok Woonsuk Starring: Kim Heechul, Kim So-hee, Heo Jeong-do
GARDEN, ZOOLOGICAL 동물,원
Documentary, 97 min., Korean (no subtitles)
The zookeepers are kept busy with the animals under their care. Although some of these animals may not have completely lost their instincts, they are unlikely to survive if released back into the wild. It would be difficult for them to form packs and find food on their own. Ultimately, the zoo may well be the new habitat that they must adapt themselves to. Director: Wang Mincheol
THE SEA OF ITAMI JUN 이타미 준의 바다
Documentary, 113 min., Korean, Japanese (Korean subtitles)
We are all familiar with architect Itami Jun’s artistic world, but his life as Japanese-Korean Yoo Dongryong is not very well known. What is the source of Itami Jun’s incredible architecture? The Sea of Itami Jun holds the answer to that question. The film looks at Itami Jun’s life through interviews with various people that knew him well. Director: Jung Da-Woon Starring: Kuma Kengo, Yoo I-hwa, Ban Shigeru
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South Jeolla happenings THE 19TH MOKPO WORLD GARDEN FESTIVAL 제19회 목포세계마당페스티벌 t August 30 – September 1 P Juk-dong, Mokpo, Jeollanam-do (Rodeo Square) 전남 목포시 죽동 (로데오광장) À 061-270-8511 ` http://www.mokpo.go.kr/
THE 2019 YEONGGWANG BULGAP MOUNTAIN SANGSAHWA FESTIVAL 2019 영광 불갑산 상사화 축제 t September 18–24 P 450 Bulgapsa-ro, Bulgap-myeon, Yeonggwanggun, Jeollanam-do 전남 영광군 불갑면 불갑사로 450 À 061-350-5269 ` http://상사화축제.com/
THE 2019 SUNCHEON BAY INTERNATIONAL SYMPHONY FESTIVAL 2019 순천만 국제교향악축제 t September 25–30 P 47 Gukga-jeongwon 1-ho-gil, Suncheon, Jeollanam-do (Suncheon Bay National Garden) 전남 순천시 국가정원 1호길 47 (순천만국가정원) À 061-749-6793 ` https://www.suncheon.go.kr/tour/
THE 2019 SUNCHEON FOOD & ART FESTIVAL 2019 순천 푸드&아트 페스티벌 t September 27–29 P 125 Jungang-ro, Suncheon, Jeollanam-do 전남 순천시 중앙로 125 (중앙사거리 일원) À 061-749-5797, 5502 ` http://sc-fafestival.com/html/main.php
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Community Board Have something you want to share with the community? The Community Board provides a space for the community to announce activities and special events. Please contact gwangjunews@gic.or.kr for more information.
Calling All Dance Enthusiasts
The Gwangju Performance Project’s official Dance Troupe is back in session! Our troupe offers classes, workshops, and opportunities to perform for people from all walks of life. NO DANCE EXPERIENCE OR AUDITION NECESSARY. All we require is a strong desire to TWERK and SLAY as hard as humanly possible. * Classes are held twice a month on Sundays from 3 to 5 p.m. at the GIC or from 3 to 6 p.m. at one of our varying studio spaces. * Please Note: On occasion, our troupe holds classes at different dance studios throughout Gwangju. * Once added to our official Kakao Group via our admin, we will be sure to notify you of the location. Granted access to our official Kakao Group may be reached by sending a message to our admin Iman Smith (Kakao ID:@Naima915). We hope to have you join us for this dance extravaganza!
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
September 2019
Baseball in Gwangju
Are you interested in playing baseball? Do you enjoy the sport but haven’t had the opportunity to participate here in Gwangju? Well, you are in luck! For the past six years, the foreign baseball team, the Gwangju Bombers, has been playing competitively in a baseball league in the city. The team is always looking for players to add to the roster. The team consists of both foreign and Korean players, and plays every Saturday from March to October. Come, play, and have fun! If interested, contact Joel Klimas at joelklimas@gmail.com.
Gwangju Inter FC
The Gwangju International Soccer Team (Gwangju Inter FC) plays regularly every weekend. If you are interested in playing, email seehand@naver.com, phone or text 0107126-1207 Facebook: Gwangju Inter FC
Gwangju Spanish Club
Every two weeks on Saturdays, 3:30–5:30 p.m., GIC Global Lounge (1st floor) Spanish – English – Korean language exchange No importa tu nivel de español. ¡Únetenos! Facebook: Gwangju Spanish Club – Int/Adv
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GIC Citizens’ Choir
Are you interested in joining a choir? The GIC Citizens’ Choir is inviting sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. Send your application to gic@gic.or.kr with the following information: name, phone number, email, voice part, and brief self-introduction on your singing experiences. You can also visit and observe the GIC Citizens’ Choir rehearsing on the first floor of the GIC at 10:00 a.m. every other Saturday.
UNESCO KONA Volunteers
KONA Storybook Center (KSC) is a registered small public library supported by UNESCO KONA Volunteers (UKV). UKV is a registered organization that helps disadvantaged children learn English independently through storybooks and story-maps. We guide families and children to develop a love of reading storybooks in English. We also give guidance to volunteers in using storybooks. We are looking for long-term volunteers who desire to enrich their lives. We are asking volunteers to commit to helping at least once a month. For more information, please visit http://cafe.daum. net/konavolunteers or our Facebook pages for KONA Storybook Center and UNESCO KONA Volunteers. Also, you can contact Kim Young-im at 062-434-9887 or email konacenter@gmail.com.
Waygook Chingu
Cultural exchange program where you can build friendships that will last across the borders. Regular meetup every Wednesday 7:30 p.m. and Saturday 5 p.m. Facebook: WaygookChingu
Volunteer teachers needed for the Gwangju UCC (Universal Cultural Center)
English teachers in the Gwangju area for 2019 with any level of experience are welcome to participate. UCC has a Facebook profile if you would like to see what kind of other services are available. To participate in the international cultural exchange programs, you may email peter.j.gallo@ gmail.com, or phone or text 010-9490-4258.
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Attorney Attorney Park’s Park’s Law Law Firm Firm We're ready to serve your best interests in legal disputes. We provide affordable consultation & representation.
▶ Areas of Specialty contracts, torts, family law, immigration, labor ▶ Civil & Criminal Attorney Park, Duckhee
former judge, GIC board member Services available in Korean, English & Chinese
#402 Simsan Bldg, 342-13 Jisan-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju Location: next to Gwangju District Court
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Tel: 062) 222-0011 Fax: 062)222-0013 duckheepark@hanmail.net
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