Gwangju News October 2022 #248

October 2022, Issue 248

Published: October 1, 2022

Cover Photo

Dr. Ian Fry

Courtesy of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

THE EDITORIAL TEAM

Publisher Dr. Shin Gyonggu

Editor-in-Chief Dr. David E. Shaffer

Managing Editor William Urbanski

Chief Copy Editor Isaiah Winters

Layout Editor Karina Prananto

Photographer Kim Hillel Yunkyoung

Online Editor Karina Prananto

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

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From the Editor

October is already here! It seems like only yesterday that we were experiencing the greening of spring, followed quickly by the yellow heat of the summer sun. This month brings us the onset of polychromatic autumnal hues, and this October issue of the Gwangju News brings you a colorful variety of news, views, and interviews for our multifaceted readership to peruse.

This month’s feature articles relate to some aspect of inclusivity. October is the month of the World Human Rights Cities Forum, which Gwangju hosts annually. One of the Forum’s main speakers is Dr. Ian Fry, a UN special rapporteur. Read about his work, his WHRCF participation, and this year’s Forum, themed “Climate Crisis and Human Rights,” Also participating in the Forum is Lee Na-gyeong, activist and member of Youth Climate Emergency Action, a climate justice group aiming to save lives and to save the earth.

This issue, we catch Dr. Park Nahm-sheik, Gwangju-area resident and former Seoul National University professor, in a pensive mood with his views on an inclusive community. As a Gwangju representative, Park Chan-mi flew all the way to Italy to participate in a camp focusing on how cities and their youth are working to end discrimination. Read about what both of them have to say in the articles they have penned.

GIC Day this year has expanded into Gwangju International Community Week (Oct. 11–16). Read about its National Day events for Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East, and about its International Day activities, which include a Global Food Zone, a Global Culture Zone, and a Global Community Zone.

In line with the WHRCF’s “Climate Crisis and Human Rights” theme, our Language Teaching interview is on creating environmental awareness through teaching English. And our Environment article is on how transparent solar panels can alleviate the climate crisis.

Lost in Honam takes us to the murky high-tide waters, dark and dank coastal caves, and their multitude of sea roaches to capture some sunset sea silhouettes from Imja Island.

Back in Gwangju, we bring you one Brit’s opinion of his first Tigers’ baseball game (and second one ever), a Gwangjuite’s lowdown on the e-bikes gaining popularity across the city, and our managing editor’s take on Fongo phone numbers.

Remember to stay Covid smart, stay Covid safe, and enjoy this month’s Gwangju News!

David E. Shaffer Editor-in-Chief

Special thanks to Gwangju City and all of our sponsors.

Gwangju News

Photo of the Month

By Isaiah Winters

Booking a stay at the Haenam House is something everyone should do at least once. The views, vibes, and local travel sites are second to none, save perhaps those of the Damyang House. Pictured here is a warm fall sunset behind the Ttangkkeut Observatory and endless stretches of abalone farms. It’s peak Jeolla, pure and simple.

01. From the Editor

04. Gwangju City News

ISSUE 248, October 2022

06. Climate Crisis, Displacement, and Human Rights à la Special Rapporteur Ian Fry: Featured Speaker at WHRCF 2022

09. Be the Change You Want to See in the World

14. With a View to an Inclusive Community

16. One Big Step Toward Change

18. Gwangju International Community Week 2022: An Event by and for the Community

20. Making NINE 9

TRAVEL

24. Lost in Honam: Sunset Silhouettes on Imja-do

& LEARNING

28. Language Teaching: Environmental Awareness Through English Teaching

34. Everyday Korean: Episode 58. 얼굴이 낯익다 / She Looks Familiar

COMMUNITY

35. Sports and Activities: Take Me Out to the Tigers’ Game

38. Expat Living: Shared Mobility Vehicle Services in Gwangju

40. Expat Living: Fongo World Edition – Get a Canadian Phone Number While Living Abroad

42. Environment: Transparent Solar Panels – Good or Bad?

02. Photo of the Month

44. Photo Essay: Blessed by Heaven – Gyeongbokgung Palace in the Heart of Seoul

48. Music: Top of The Drop

50. Book Review: The Teacher of Warsaw by Mario Escobar

52. Upcoming Events for October 2022

54. Comic Corner: Alan and Me – Episode 16. One Summer Night

56. Crossword Puzzle

News,

2022

Gwangju City News

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

Gwangju Selected as Best Institution for National Safety Education

Gwangju City announced on September 1, 2022, that it has been selected as an excellent institution among 17 metropolitan cities based on the 2021 National Safety Education Survey, which was conducted by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, after first being selected last year.

The National Safety Education Survey is a system that evaluates the previous year’s safety education progress among safety education-promoting institutions – for instance, local government – in accordance with Articles 7 and 17 of the Framework on the Promotion of Safety Education for Citizens.

It was first conducted in 2019 to share the best practices of each institution and to facilitate improvements in areas lagging behind.

The inspection of central city and provincial departments was conducted by a central safety education inspection team composed of private experts and public officials. Five autonomous regions were inspected by the city inspection team first, followed by the central inspection team.

The inspection teams evaluated 56 detailed indicators in six areas, including (a) the establishment of a safety education promotion system, (b) activation of safety education, (c) expansion of safety education mainly

into experiences, (d) developing and sharing safety education, textbooks, and programs, (e) nurturing and utilizing professional skilled workers in regard to safety education, and (f) the establishment of social safety education supporting system.

The following facilities and practices of Gwangju City have been evaluated as good: (a) Bitgoeul National Safety Experience Center (eight experience zones, 23 experience facilities), (b) opening and operating the Citizen Safety Education Center for region-specific safety experience education, and (c) resolving blind spots in safety education by promoting customized safety experience education for each vulnerable group.

Gwangju City plans to share the good results of the safety education inspection with each autonomous district, prepare improvements for insufficient areas, and reflect on them in the 2022 Safety Education Implementation Plan.

In this regard, Gwangju City received the “2021 Safety Culture Awards” presidential commendation last year for practicing differentiated safety culture policies, such as making the first temporary quarantine facilities for overseas entrants among local governments and for its selection as having safe neighborhoods, schools, and companies.

Gwangju Takes First Step to Becoming “Exciting Tourist City”

Gwangju City has taken the first step toward making itself an “Exciting Tourist City where people want to visit and stay again and again.” The city held a meeting at the Kimdaejung Convention Center on August 22 to prepare a plan to promote tourism in order to transform into a city that is both fun and energetic year round, while also being a sustainable tourism city.

About 40 officials from related organizations, including the city’s collaboration department, autonomous districts, the Asia Culture Center, the Mudeungsan National Park Department, the Gwangju Tourism Organization, and the Kimdaejung Convention Center.

Gwangju City government organized this meeting with the aim of developing tourism packages that tourists want under the theme “Exciting Tourist City Gwangju: Where People Want to Visit Again and Stay.” Through sharing creative ideas and utilizing the abundant tourism resources within the Gwangju area, the meeting proved to be a success.

Furthermore, in order to pre-emptively respond to the diversification of the tourism market, Gwangju City plans to promote tourism policies by focusing on (a) creating Gwangju’s own unique tourism content and foundation, (b) fostering the “MICE Tourism Industry” and tourist convenience policies, (c) making unique local infrastructure as tourism attractions, and (d) various storytelling features regarding tourism resources.

Meanwhile, Gwangju City and Dong-gu District will hold the first Buskers World Cup in Gwangju this October as an event that can be enjoyed by people worldwide in order to help globalize the local, well-known 2022 Chungjang World Festival of Recollection. The events are expected to provide an opportunity for the city to leap forward as a global festival hub that can attract worldwide attention.

Gwangju City Raises Meal Support for Elderly, Feared to Be Skipping Meals

Gwangju City decided to raise, as of September 1, the support fee that provides food free of charge to the elderly who are feared to be skipping meals.

The increase aims to provide good-quality and nutritious food to the elderly, reflecting the increase in food cost unit prices caused by steep inflation occurring in the first half of this year.

Gwangju City provides free meals 300 days a year to an average of 4,100 people per day at 29 restaurants serving the elderly, including senior welfare centers, and has provided meal boxes for the elderly with mobility difficulties, in order to protect senior citizen who are vulnerable to meal skipping.

Participating restaurants resumed serving regular meals in accordance with the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s plan to reopen leisure facilities for the elderly back in April; however, due to the recent increased spread of COVID-19, the restaurants have ceased operation. The eligible elderly are now being offered alternative meal delivery in order to prevent meal skipping and to check their safety.

Translated by Lim Se-ryeong.

Climate Crisis, Displacement, and Human Rights à la

Rapporteur

By Jana Milosavljevic

TheWorld Human Rights Cities Forum (WHRCF), hosted annually by Gwangju City since 2011 with the aim of sharing the vision of “Human Rights City Gwangju,” sprung from the spirit of the May 18 Democratization Movement of 1980 and the Declaration of the Asian Human Rights Charter in Gwangju in 1998. The Forum will be held for the twelfth time this year from October 10–13 under the theme of “Climate Crisis and Human Rights.”

While addressing the four main agendas of the 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum – (a) What are the major human rights issues linked to the climate crisis? (b) Who are more vulnerable to the crisis? (c) What are innovative actions that can be taken to counter the crisis? and (d) How can we promote international solidarity to cope with the crisis? –a human rights-based approach to dealing with climate change as one of the biggest threats to human rights and a sustainable future will be at the heart of the Forum’s discussions, sharing best practices on climate change responses and mobilizing the participation of youth and various stakeholders.

To commence the dialogues, following the opening ceremony on the first day of the Forum, a roundtable discussion will be held, moderated by Mr. Kim Jung-sup, chairperson of the WHRCF Planning Committee and professor emeritus of the Gyeongsang National University Sociology Department, and gathering prominent speakers such as Mr. Kang Gi-Jung, mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City; Ms. Irací Hassler, mayor of Santiago de Chile; Mr. Morten Kjaerum, director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law; and Ms. Lee Na-gyeong, a Youth Climate Emergency Action activist. Among the guests invited to share their invaluable insights on the theme, the 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum’s most honored guest is Dr. Ian Fry, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change.

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) established the mandate of the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change at its

forty-eighth session in October 2021 (RES/48/14), following which Dr. Fry was appointed as the first to fill the role in March 2022 and began his duty in May 2022. Among others, the roles of the special rapporteur include studying and identifying the ways in which the adverse effects of climate change affect the full and effective enjoyment of human rights and make recommendations on how to address and prevent these adverse effects, as well as promoting and exchanging views on lessons learned and best practices related to the adoption of human rights-based, gender-responsive, age-sensitive, disability-inclusive, and risk-informed approaches to climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, all of which lead to making Dr. Fry a distinguished speaker at the 12th WHRCF.

Dr. Fry, who is of Australian and Tuvalu heritage, is an international environmental law and policy expert. He worked for the Tuvalu government for over 21 years and was appointed as their Ambassador for Climate Change and Environment between the years 2015 and 2019. His work primarily focused on mitigation policies for losses and damages associated with the Paris Agreement, Kyoto Protocol, and related accords.

Furthermore, Dr. Fry also teaches part-time at the Fenner School of Environment and Society of the Australian National University. He specializes in international environmental policy, international climate change policy, and environmental law. He is also the Pacific Regional Representative to the United Nations for the International Council on Environmental Law, a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law.

As the plenary speaker at the World Human Rights Cities Forum, he will be speaking on the topic of “Establishing Links Between Human Rights and Climate Change and the Responsibilities of Local and Regional Governments” at the roundtable, and also deliver the welcoming remarks at the Forum’s opening plenary session, co-hosted by Gwangju City, UN Human Rights, and UCLG CISDP, under the theme of “A Human Rights-Based Approach to Mitigating and Countering Climate Change –Local Solutions to a Global Problem.” As a preamble

to his participation at the 12th WHRCF and in anticipation of his visit to Gwangju, Dr. Fry shared a couple of words with us.

“I recently visited Bangladesh and was astounded by the large number of people migrating from rural areas to the city because of the impacts of climate change. Increasingly, rural people are suffering more severe droughts, floods, storm surges, and saline intrusion making their lives very difficult. Many have little choice but to move to the cities, where they are often finding themselves in very difficult circumstances. Women and people with disabilities are particularly vulnerable in these situations. This is a common problem throughout the world. Climate change is forcing people to move to cities in the hope that their circumstances can improve.

“As Special Rapporteur, I am currently focussing my work on the impacts of climate change, the loss and damage that results from these impacts, and the resultant displacement of people and how this is affecting their basic human rights. This displacement of people due to climate change creates enormous challenges for local and regional governments. I am looking forward to attending the Forum in Gwangju to explore ways of addressing some of these issues.”

The Interviewer

Jana Milosavljevic was born and raised in Serbia. She currently lives and works in Gwangju as a GIC coordinator. She loves exploring new places, learning about new cultures, and meeting new people. If you are up for a chat, she can talk to you in Serbian, English, Korean, Japanese, or German.

Photographs courtesy of Ian Fry and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

"This displacement of people due to climate change creates enormous challenges for local and regional governments."

Be the Change You Want to See in the World

An interview with Lee Na-gyeong

Recent flooding in Korea fills the news and media these days. Although this was due to the monsoon season, I have never seen such huge floods since arriving in Korea fifteen years ago. I also saw fewer cars then, and summers were not as unbearably hot as they have recently been. It is obvious that climate change has begun to show its impact directly. Yet I have seen some hope that there is some change going on; I have seen more businesses trying to shift their products to be more eco-friendly, and in almost all of the places where I’ve seen the

change, it has been initiated by young people. It is true that many young people are taking more active roles to combat the climate crisis in Korea. One such example is the Youth Climate Emergency Action group. It is a rather new group consisting of young people in their 20s. On their website, they describe themselves as “a non-violent, direct-action group on the climate crisis.” These young people are not climate experts, but rather ordinary people like you and me with one ultimate goal: to realize climate justice for all countries, regions, classes, generations, genders,

and species. They demand drastic reductions in greenhouse gases and other transformations from countries and big companies.

Another unique point of this group is their everpresent dinosaur mascot, whom they have named Kim Gong-ryong (“gong-ryong” means “dinosaur” in Korean). The mascot, representing a species that has become extinct due to climate change, is present every time they go out on the streets, giving them more impact in arousing the curiosity of passersby. With around 30 members, they are a rather small group, but even so, they know that a small thing can go a long way. We met Lee Na-gyeong, one of the members and activists, who will be present at the 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum, to learn more about the group. Below is our interview.

Gwangju News (GN): Thank you for agreeing to be part of this interview! Your group’s full name, “Youth Climate Emergency Action – Kim Gong-ryong and Friends,” is quite peculiar. Could you let us know the reason why you chose the name and what your group’s goals and mission are?

Lee Na-gyeong: Our group’s official name is “Youth Climate Emergency Action”; “Kim Gongryong and Friends” is a nickname. Youth Climate Emergency Action began in early 2020 when young people who shared the urgency of the climate crisis gathered together. The climate crisis cannot be dealt with slowly and leisurely. So, based on the consensus and goal of “Let’s act urgently,” we came up with the name Youth Climate Emergency Action.

The other name, “Kim Gong-ryong and Friends,” is intended to arouse curiosity. It is a name that conveys a political message and our identity in a fun way. It contains the message, “If this continues, we will become extinct just like the dinosaurs!” We know the causes of endangered species: It is because

of the capitalist system that exploits nature and pursues growth without considering the limitations of the earth. The meaning of “friends” was to convey that various young people are working together to ease the climate crisis.

Our goal is to achieve climate justice and make responding to the climate crisis a top priority for our society. In the face of climate disasters that have become a daily routine, it is necessary to imagine that a different world is possible. We want to create a better society that saves lives and saves the earth, not a system that causes a climate crisis. The reality is that we keep getting worn out and weary and turn away from the problem. Facing the climate crisis, informing people, and working together on a climate movement are also major goals.

GN: Being comprised of passionate young people in their 20s and 30s, your group seems to be full of ideas and strong on action. We are curious about what specific activities you are doing and what tangible achievements they have produced.

Lee Na-gyeong: “Let’s create climate politics” was one slogan we supported during the election season. In order to convey a message of “Let’s vote on the promise to save the planet,” and to approach citizens in a friendly way, “Climate No. 0, Kim Gong-ryong” ran for office. We also made our own pledges, hoping that the climate movement would reach people intuitively. The climate crisis is an urgent issue, but it is of no use if citizens do not see us and listen.

Youth Climate Emergency Action is a non-violent, direct-action group. We meet citizens on the street, but we also take direct action in front of politicians and businesses to convey our needs. I met in person with the Minister of the Environment and the directors of KEPCO and delivered a letter telling them to stop investing in overseas coal. When the National Assembly pushed for the Gadeok-do (Gadeok Island) New Airport Special Act, I went to Busan and protested in front of Democratic Party lawmakers. In order to prevent the export of coal-fueled power plants overseas, I protested in front of the Dusan office building, shouting, “Stop greenwashing, stop exporting coal power plants while saying they are eco-friendly.”

▲ Lee Na-gyeong

The climate disobedience trial revealed that the current legal system is protecting corporate profits rather than dealing with the climate crisis. I think it was an opportunity for many people to be angry at the greenwashing undertaken by large corporations and to learn about the problems of the judicial system. We need ecological laws to protect public life and the earth, not laws that favor the vested interests of a few.

Another achievement of our group is the subjectivity of youth. Even at our regular meetings, there are many cases where members of the younger generation are usually portrayed as pitiful beings who have to be protected, shielded behind folding screens. The reality, however, is that the youth are given only false promises and not decision-making rights. The achievement of Youth Climate Emergency Action is that rather than just being quiet, we have stepped up to become an uncomfortable and troublesome presence in front of vested interests.

GN: Many people are aware of the seriousness of the climate crisis due to extreme climate changes that have recently become even more serious, and moreover, they are increasingly paying attention to the various human rights issues caused by the climate crisis. In particular, what are the human rights issues that future generations will face, and what are the implications of youth climate action in this regard?

Lee Na-gyeong: The seriousness of the climate crisis seems to have become universally recognized now. As a result, there are many practices that are being carried out in consideration of the earth and the environment. There are many young people who try to reduce their carbon footprint by buying upcycled products, going vegetarian, not buying new clothes, and throwing out less trash. It does reduce carbon emissions. However, hundreds of millions of tons of greenhouse gasses are emitted by one coal-fueled power plant alone. There are more than 50 coal power plants in Korea, and now Korean companies

are building new coal power plants in Vietnam and Indonesia. So, can you imagine the harmful results? No matter how hard I try personally, the system that relies on fossil fuels and destroys the livelihoods of local people does not change. As citizens are concerned about the climate crisis, it is natural that the government should radically regulate carbon emissions. The climate action of young people demanding coal power plants be shut down and a switch to renewable energy comes naturally.

Actually, the dreams of young people who are involved in the climate movement are often simple: I want to live happily; I want to become a grandmother safely. But in the face of the climate crisis, all that is impossible. Even if I work very diligently, I will not be able to achieve such a dream if Korea is flooded and drought comes in 2050.

The climate crisis that takes away the right to dream of the future and even the right to live in a safe home is a human rights crisis. In order to make a society where human rights are guaranteed and one can live safely and peacefully, society itself needs to change, and there is no other way to do this than to take climate action. There are many young activists who say that their “climate depression” has been alleviated by taking part in the climate-change movement. Thoughts about the climate crisis that used to seem so daunting when I was alone can now be alleviated by associating with likeminded colleagues: We meet and speak out together, which gives me strength to live through the climate crisis.

GN: The 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum will be held on October 10–13 under the theme of “Climate Crisis and Human Rights.” You will be attending the Forum’s roundtable session on behalf of young Korean climate activists, so could you share with our readers briefly what you plan to focus on during your presentation?

Lee Na-gyeong: Now, it is necessary to specifically present what damage has been done and to whom, as well as what needs to be done to make changes. Whenever a climate disaster strikes, the absence of public systems that our society has neglected is exposed. There are those who benefit and those who suffer from the unequal capitalist system that has

caused the climate crisis, but it is easy to predict who is less affected in the face of climate disaster.

There is a common perception that in order to respond to the climate crisis and live eco-friendly lives, we have to give up the happiness that we enjoy, and that the quality of life will decrease in the future. However, protecting the quality of human life as well as the world’s ecosystems is most definitely not a zero-sum game for the future; rather, they should coexist. Looking at the fact that an unequal society is also one of the causes of the climate crisis, we can see that a more egalitarian society and climate-crisis resolution go hand in hand.

The structure that caused the climate crisis is the same as the structure that prevents the guarantee of equal human rights. A system that pursues endless economic growth destroys nature, just as it exploits humans for profit. Eventually, it goes beyond the limitations of the earth and causes the collapse of the ecosystem. Without talking about this structure, we also cannot talk about an alternative. Therefore, the climate crisis cannot be viewed as a change in the natural environment unrelated to humans, and

it cannot only be looked at as the extent to which nature must be protected and preserved. Considering the climate crisis as a human rights issue, I think we can say a lot about what we can do as citizens, what changes are needed in politics, and what role the state should play.

GN: To conclude this interview, do you have any final message to our readers?

Lee Na-gyeong: When thinking of the climate crisis, there will be many people who will fall into despair. Some say that we have 10 years left before the average global temperature rises by 1.5 degrees. So, will we all die in 2030? No. Even after that, life will go on. However, we desperately need social and environmental safety nets to protect us from typhoons, heat waves, and wildfires. There is a saying that “the climate will deteriorate, but society will not collapse.” As I said before, I think it is really important to believe that a different world is possible

and that citizens can make that change. I hope that through the World Human Rights Cities Forum, we can imagine and make a different world a reality. Thank you.

GN: Thank you for your time, and we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors!

To join the group as a member or make a regular or one-time donation to support their projects, visit https://ycea.kr/ or contact climate.kimgongryong@ gmail.com. Instagram: @climate.kimgongryong

Interviewed by the World Human Rights Cities Forum Secretariat. Introduction and translation by Karina Prananto. Photographs courtesy of the Youth Climate Emergency Action.

With a View to an Inclusive Community

By Park Nahm-Sheik

Sinceelementary school, many of us Koreans have been fed the myth of our culture being “immaculately” homogeneous and thus incomparably superior to any other culture. I honestly cannot quite make sense of this egregiously chauvinistic take on our culture, however. Not grounded in truth at all, it definitely does not seem to stand to reason. At least, that is what I think.

In point of fact, wave upon wave of offshore culture has constantly made landfall in the Land of the Morning Calm ever since as far back as we can remember. The “uncomfortable” truth is that no culture on earth can ever survive, much less thrive, in complete isolation from the outside world. No man (or, for that matter, no community) is an island.

We are all citizens of Spaceship Earth, bound to always live and operate in tandem for ever and ever. It is our destiny, as it were, to share our collective home planet with everyone else, regardless of origins, identities, or ideologies. From this vantage point, the ultra-nationalistic take on our culture alluded to earlier in this article does not at all belong in any sane and rational mindset, does it? What do you say?

It makes sense at this point to more seriously think of the multicultural members of society in our very midst. We arguably owe them a heavy debt of gratitude for being a constant source of enrichment for all of us. Far from being a burdensome liability, as some irresponsible observers might claim, they are definitely a precious asset to our entire community in more ways than one – socio-culturally, psychologically, and economically, at the very least. We should now wash our hands of this erroneous

perception that our culture is somehow homogeneous and thus superior to all other cultures. Instead of blindly absorbing such baloney, we must face up to this: Inclusion, not exclusion, is the name of the game globally these days. Neither purism nor supremacism has a leg to stand on anymore.

Relevant to our discussion here is my first encounter with some intercultural activists at the Gwangju International Center (GIC) a few summers ago. I got to address them as a keynoter at a GIC forum. As I recall, they were a bunch of volunteers firmly committed to a campaign against prejudice and discrimination in the community.

The GIC was then and is to this day a major hub of intercultural activism in Korea. The GIC’s executive director, Dr. Shin Gyonggu, has had a pivotal role to play in helping mold the GIC into a genuine game changer of a catalyst here. Under his management, the GIC has become the incubator of a biosphere friendly to intercultural cross-fertilization. Thanks to this biosphere, things are already beginning to happen here and there with the footprints thereof being in evidence everywhere.

Dr. Shin and his loyal coterie of followers deserve plaudits from us all. May intercultural brotherhood find in the GIC a permanent home where the heart truly is.

The Author

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

Around Gwangju Kimchi Town

One Big Step Toward Change

By Park Chan-mi

My week in Pollica, Italy, was full of precious opportunities to mark a new beginning. I applied for this camp with one purpose: to learn how other cities, and especially the youth living in them, are working to end discrimination. This is because I have seen and experienced that some people have to fight for their rights, even though such rights are what they deserve, and those who always suffer more are socially disadvantaged. Thus, I wanted to play a part in improving and spreading the universal value of human rights, not the privilege enjoyed by the majority. Moreover, I wanted to help enhance people’s recognition and interest in human rights so that more and more of us could think and practice in this way, making a better world to live in together.

In fact, I was not the first selected representative of Gwangju; I joined the group at the last minute, which made me feel more special once I was chosen. The Gwangju International Center gave us full support, helping us to get ready for the camp. We also had a little orientation in preparation for the five main themes:

1. A geographical approach: the future of living together in diversity

2. A multistakeholder approach: race as a product of racism

3. A societal approach: robust community engagement through inclusion

4. A cultural approach: engaging tools to fight against discrimination

5. A policy-making approach: the foundation to build inclusive societies

This experience helped me to organize my thoughts, and with some feedback, I learned how to speak out with my own thoughts and opinions.

Arriving in Italy was the first task, and after about 15 hours of flying, I felt like we were traveling through time due to the seven-hour time difference. We stayed in Rome and Florence for a couple of days and traveled around. They were beautiful cities full of history and modernity at the same time. Given all the archaeological sites that were right in front of me, I could not believe my eyes and that I was actually in Italy.

It could have been better if our trip had been all nice and perfect; however, I did have some issues. I almost got pickpocketed by a pregnant woman on the subway, which was a shock to me. Moreover, unlike our expectations that all Italian food is delicious, some food was too salty for me. But we certainly enjoyed gelato almost every day. If I had had more time, I would have wandered around the streets, sat down in a cafe full of summer sunlight, and drunk espressos.

We next took a train to Vallo della Lucania Train Station in Salerno, Bernardo, where someone came to pick us up. The closer we got to our hotel, the faster my heart pounded in anticipation of meeting our new friends. Among the 13 participants, seven of us stayed at the Angelo Panoramic Hotel. I cannot forget the view it had: In front, I could see and feel the Mediterranean Sea as it twinkled brightly.

Our camp was held at Princes Capano Castle, and on our first day, we were invited to a dinner party hosted by the Future Food Institute. The best thing about this camp was that it was not a big group, so we were able to have deeper conversations and get to know each other more. We got close to the locals, too, so we were able to hear what we should do there. We ate, danced, and everything just happened on our first day, which made me expect more for our next few days.

Surrounded by a beautiful environment and healthy foods, even though it was a totally different diet and lifestyle from what I had had before, it certainly was a valuable experience to have friends from different cultures and backgrounds gathered together for the same purpose: to eradicate discrimination from the local to the global level. Whether we were from different countries or not, our hope for embracing others bound us together fast, and most of all, trying to understand each other helped us see people from diverse perspectives.

Among many other activities, the “story circle” we made under an olive tree will remain with me forever, as in that moment, many things passed by me. By hearing the stories of my amazing friends and speaking my own out loud, I felt relieved and stronger than ever, and I also realized that I was not alone. I am truly grateful that I could be part of this long journey and, hopefully, our activities helped someone else and led to change, particularly an escape from prejudice and stereotypes, as I experienced.

Photographs by Park Chan-mi.

▲ We hugged, cried, and felt for each other during our “story circle” under the olive trees.

Gwangju International Community Week 2022

An Event by and for the Community

By Karina Prananto

Itis only a few weeks away from one of the biggest events organized by the Gwangju International Center. Gwangju International Day (or GIC Day) this year has been elevated to Gwangju International Community Week, which will be held from October 11–16 around the Asia Culture Center (ACC) and the Gwangju International Center (GIC). It will also be held at the same time as the Chungjang World Festival of Recollection and the first Buskers World Cup. From many visitors’ feedback in the past, they enjoyed the event so much that they requested the GIC to make the event longer, so the event was extended from one day to seven days, from afternoon until evening. We are hoping more people will have the chance to join and enjoy the event fully.

This year’s GIC Day is also special because the international communities themselves have been invited to help plan the event – called the GIC Week Planning Team – which were recruited in May. As representatives of their respective countries, their main work will be to invite their embassies to come to Gwangju as well as to plan the several programs for the event. They will learn how to plan a big, international event, as well as to broaden their network. It will be an experience they will never forget.

NATIONAL DAY (CULTURE NIGHT)

Dates & Time: October 11–14, 7–9 p.m. Venue: GIC Global Lounge and GIC Hall (1st floor) Some countries you might know have a big community in Gwangju, but many others also have made Gwangju their home, so come on by to get to know them better! Each day, a different country or continent is featured to help you fully immerse yourself in the culture that they will proudly present to Gwangju residents. With Africa (October 11), Southeast Asia (October 12), Central Asia (October 13), and Arab countries (October 14) all included, let’s celebrate what makes Gwangju unique: its openness and welcoming attitude to foreign communities! Please come and enjoy the Mandinka band “TEKERE” from the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Syrian traditional dance performances, and other cultural events on Culture Night during the National Day event.

INTERNATIONAL DAY (GLOBAL GWANGJU)

Dates & Time: October 15–16, 2–8 p.m.

Venue: Around ACC (street between Dongbu Police Office and ACC)

Taking place for two days, this is the time when you get the opportunity to try different kinds of food and experience cultures from diverse countries around the world. Divided into zones which I am sure many of the international residents are familiar with, there will be the Global Food Zone, the Global Culture Zone, and the Global Community Zone. Also invited this year are foreign embassies and international organizations related to the planning team mentioned above, so look out for those, too. Also, when you arrive at the venue, make sure you get a GIC Week Passport containing the event information and a place for collecting raffle stamps. Only 200 brochures will be made, so make sure you get one!

OTHER EVENTS

To fully enjoy the event, we suggest you join the “World Tour Inside Gwangju” tour event, where you can visit Koryo Saram Village and Asian marts (the term used for supermarkets selling groceries from Southeast Asia). The tour will be held on October 15. A 10,000-won lunch fee is required and a maximum number of 20 seats are available.

GO GREEN! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

While it is definitely fun to come and participate in the event, the real work that the organizers must do at the end is cleaning up, (e.g., separating garbage).

One event that is held for six hours can produce hundreds of

kilograms of trash, so the event plans to go green this time. No disposable containers or paper cups! If you plan to eat at the event, please bring a closed container or tumbler on your own to help make a difference by producing less trash. If you come with your own container for food, you will get a 5,000won gift card that you can use for buying food at any country’s food booth. Your own tumbler is required for beverages. Bonus points if you bring your own cutlery as well! A small act like this can help protect the environment!

So, I hope you are as excited to come as the GIC is to plan the event and hope to see you all there!

Photographs courtesy of the GIC, Kim Hillel Yunkyoung and Park Tae-sang.

The Author

Karina Prananto is from Jakarta, Indonesia, and has been involved with the Gwangju News since 2007. She is a special-needs mother and loves Harry Potter, dinosaurs, watching true crime documentaries, and traveling with her family.

Making NINE 9

By Joe Wabe

Storieshave played a considerable role over the length of my existence. This includes anecdotes I have heard, accounts I have retold, rumors I have made up, and legends I have believed in. It has been through this affair with the world of storytelling that I grew up believing one day I was going to assemble my own story and share it with everyone. I had absolutely no idea of when or how, but I was convinced it would be epic, much the same as a movie.

After years of being engaged with graphic arts and photography jobs, and achieving many of the aspirations I had in mind, I reached a stage in which I felt exhausted and no longer had the motivation for either. My creative demons were craving for a different adventure. Although I tried a few new artistic projects, I ended up hitting a stonewall in each of them. Something was missing. Perhaps it was my lack of consistency or the absence of the maturity I needed in order to create something that could arouse intense emotions within my soul.

I thought about creative writing, but I knew I did not possess the figurative mind at the moment to move forward with such a project. Convinced that it was

not the right time, the possibility quickly evaporated. Writing was not something I was oblivious about. In fact, I was not bothered at all when I had to write an essay in school. That being said, I was not exactly thrilled with the mission, but there was something about the craft of putting words together that was pleasing.

Rather than abandoning the idea, I began contributing articles about Korean food to different local magazines and blogs instead. Researching facts and organizing the information into sentences and neat paragraphs with their proper punctuation was something I could still do, and also, the furthest I could go. Although I have always loved the subject of food, there was a problem with this type of writing; it was dull and lacked the excitement I was yearning for. However, I figured at least it could serve as a stepping stone for a bigger project in the long haul. If I was going to write fiction one day, I had to keep on with the habit.

FINDING THE RIGHT MINDSET AND PROPER TOOLS

In early 2018, I noticed that a previous idea I had had for a novel was bouncing in my head more frequently

than usual. Believing perhaps that was the call I had been waiting for, I agreed with myself it was time to sit and assemble the thoughts into a story.

Using “Penzu” (an online journal many aspiring writers use), I sat one night with a glass of wine and began typing nonstop. By the time I was finished (3,000 words later), I was overwhelmed with an aura of confidence that I was amid something big. That night, self-assured that I had done well, I let the writing sit for a few days without reviewing it. When I eventually got around to reading through my “masterpiece” a few nights later, I was taken aback by the discovery that what I had written was awful and disappointing. Everything I had typed had no shape and no soul. It was all a jumble.

Even though I had been deceived by my perception, I was not ready to surrender. I did not want to let the flop shove me into believing it was not worth trying once more. Within a few days, I was ready for a second attempt. This time I was going to use MS Word, and instead of wine, tea. Unfortunately, without the help of a brain stimulant, I struggled again and ended up only with about 1,000 words that were worse than the first draft. The change of software and beverage did not save me from another fiasco.

The unpleasant experience left me seriously considering giving up this time. Although I knew I had a knack for telling stories, I had to accept that writing them was a different universe. Should I just let go of the yearning and move on to a distinct project? I was going to sleep on it for a few nights; it was time for a break.

A week passed, two more followed, then a month, and before I knew it, 2018 was gone with no sights of the story in my head. At the beginning of the following year, I was presented with the opportunity to work in a remote training center outside the city limits. The idea of working in the countryside, surrounded by mountains, trees, and an enormous lake was energizing.

I began my new job at the end of February. My desk was next to a large window from which I had a gorgeous view of the lake and mountains. The landscape was breathtaking, and I could tell it was

the ideal set up to write. Since classes would not start until March, I had a lot of extra time to assemble a plan for my story.

Inspired by the circumstances, my first course of action was to find flawless software, something that could help me organize my thoughts and notes. I would not use a boring and standard word processor like I had in the past. After a quick Google search, I found Scrivener; it was love at first sight. It was affordable, user friendly, clean, and came with an assortment of tools that allowed me to organize notes, research, websites, images, and much more.

Before long, I was writing. Sentences were swiftly building into paragraphs, and these were generating scenes. Scenes created more chapters, and these continued to balloon. My original idea had been a short story with only seven chapters, but sometimes chapters will split into two and these will also subdivide. It was as if the writing had a mind of its own, and I was just a tool. There was a force behind every stroke on the keyboard that was helping expedite the story.

THE EDITING PROCESS

I wanted to make sure that as I was writing along, everything was falling into place in harmony and free from all the horrors I had written before, so I carefully reviewed every scene and chapter as I wrote them. Although I was extremely happy with the process, I still knew that my skills as a writer were not enough for the level I wished to attain. My college creative writing courses were just a drop in the ocean compared with the qualifications I needed for a worthy fiction piece.

That being so, I adopted the decision to look for a professional editor. Through portals like Reedsy and Fiverr, I found my first copyeditor, and it was not long until I started sending her stages for reviewing and redaction. The chapters came back with excellent feedback, and with the corrections, the anatomy of the story was reaching the stages I had been hoping for.

Finally, by the end of October, I wrote the final two words: “the end.” It was an emotional moment. Overwhelmed with joy and pride after completing this long-desired project, I felt over the moon.

However, even though I was beside myself with happiness, I knew that reaching those ultimate words was not the heart and soul of my project. There was still more work to do.

I hired another editor, someone who could go over the story from the beginning and double check for inconsistencies and overlooked errors we might have passed over. With the second revision completed at the end of December, we put the concluding stamp on the novel as far as editing. With this final version, I could send NINE 9 to a few friends and beta readers for review. Their positive feedback flooded me with light and an appetite for even bigger dreams than just a feeling of completion.

THE PUBLISHING PROCESS

“Where do I go from here?” was my first question. As usual, most of the answers in the universe could be found from Google. After gathering information and reading a few blogs, I learned that two of the leading options for publishing were to find a literacy agent (someone who will be interested in representing your work with publishers) or direct contact with a publisher. I was advised that the first option was the best, but the most difficult. Literacy representatives were picky, arrogant, and very specific in what they wanted. In order to be considered, I needed to find agents who were looking for a story similar to mine. It took me a while to navigate the profiles of many and identify what made them tick. After I was done with my homework, I tracked down agents located only in New York. I was determined that if I was going to jump into the ocean, I might as well swim among the sharks.

With a short list of about 20 people and publishers, I sat down to draft a pitch letter to begin the process. Although sending emails to these agents was nerveracking, it was still exciting. I had a good feeling about the outcome and the development of writing NINE 9, so my heart was filled with high expectations.

I began sending emails in the second week of January. Replies began hitting my inbox about a week letter. Sadly, they were not the replies I have been longing for. These messages were nothing but disappointing, kind words of rejection: “Dear Mr. Wabe, Thanks very much for your patience as you’ve awaited my response to NINE 9. Unfortunately, this doesn’t fit what I’m looking for now. That said, this is

a notoriously subjective business and another agent may well feel differently. Best wishes as you continue your search for representation, and thanks again for your query.”

As I went on receiving more and more emails of the same kind, the fantasy world of becoming a published author began crumbling bit by bit.

Disheartened with the rejections, I was ready to concede defeat. My biggest disappointment was that without the backing of a publisher, reaching out to readers was going to be very hard. Believing that perhaps NINE 9 was not publishable material after all, I set my mind to accepting that fate and moving on. I did not have the emotional strength to pursue my vision anymore – that is, until I received an email that revealed a silver lining.

“Dear Mr. Wabe, Thank you for your submission of NINE 9. I have passed your work to the editorial board for review. I would like to mention that regardless of their decision, we will be in touch in approximately six weeks.” That email immediately pulled me back from the hole I had fallen into and revived my conviction. If the manuscript had been moved to the editorial board, that meant it had passed the first line of scrutiny, so I just needed to bite my nails for another six weeks. Piece of cake!

I waited for over six weeks, but there was no reply. Worn out by the experience, in the end, I gave up. I knew I was sitting on a good story, but it was not its

time. I was going to wait until the universe would allow me the opportunity instead of me trying to push the fate of NINE 9.

The spring of 2021 came, with its soothing warmth and the scent of new life blooming everywhere. The feeling of a fresh beginning gave me the power to think about a second attempt. I was ready to continue the search for a publisher, make a new list, and do it all over again. And just as I was preparing emotionally for another run, one morning at the end of April, I woke up to the sound of a Gmail notification on my iPhone. It was the same publishing agency in New York that I had been waiting for: “Dear Mr. Wabe, Thank you for your patience while the editorial board completed their review of your manuscript. I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the editorial board has confirmed that we are interested in moving forward with the publication of your work.”

CONCLUSION

NINE 9 was released on August 31, 2022, after one year and four months of being in the publishing house. The publication took longer than usual because of the struggles Covid-19 had created with supply and production worldwide. Although I have to admit the delay made me feel impatient, I tried to overcome the agitations with composure.

I cannot speak for others regarding what would or would not work with publishing their first book, but there is one thing I am sure of: It is not luck. What worked for me was the combination of a few key factors: vision, consistency, and patience.

I knew I was going to write a good story, and I always saw myself reaching that goal. That vision drove me through the exhaustive process. Every time I felt despair or ran out of stimulation, I searched my soul and reached out for that image. It was there that I found the fuel I needed to keep my imaginative engine running. I wrote every day, even if it was just a little. This became a habit, and this consistency and discipline made it possible to complete a project of this magnitude. Finally, it was only by overcoming my anxieties that patience gave me the light to navigate during the darkest days.

I hope this recount can somehow inspire you, too, to write that book you have always wanted to share with the world. If you wonder what the story of NINE 9 is all about, you can read a preview in Google Books or purchase a copy through Amazon, Book Depository, or its website (www.jdwabenine.com).

My eyes went as wide as they could possibly go, and I even shed some happy tears and laughter. The moment was surreal. As the flush of adrenaline tingled through my body, I felt I was the happiest person on earth. I spent the rest of the morning daydreaming, texting, and calling people who had been helping me throughout the process. I just could not believe it was happening. Within a week, I signed a contract and NINE 9 was on its way to become a published novel.

For further questions regarding the publishing process, you can find me on twitter (@joedwabe) or visit my Facebook profile (facebook. com/jdwabe).

Photographs by Joe Wabe.

The Author

Joe Wabe is an author and Gwangju expat who has been contributing to the GIC and the Gwangju News for more than ten years with his work in photography and writing.

Email: joedwabe@gmail.com

Sunset Silhouettes on Imja-do

By Isaiah Winters

Atthe southernmost tip of Imja-do, where Korea’s West and South Seas make their murky acquaintance, is an excellent coastal cave called Yongnangul (용난굴). I’d wanted to see it for quite some time so, aroused from my midChuseok torpor by a chance for adventure, I made the pleasant, bucolic drive to nearby Eomeori Beach with the missus to finally suss it out.

Crammed in between two huge Chuseok feasts, our impromptu visit was just after high tide, which is about the worst time to visit the cave, as you’re forced to swim to it rather than just saunter in at low tide. Yongnangul is located to the left of the beach around a rocky bluff, and it’s quite a walk or swim to get there from the shore. To shorten the trip, we walked along the bluff down to the lowest edge, where we found the water encouragingly placid. Just

as I pushed off the rocks into the water, the missus lost her nerve and said she’d stay behind.

Knowing me and trusting in my marrow-deep stupidity, she left me to my devices and returned to her comfy beach chair and beer. Some husbands may wax suspicious when left at sea so cavalierly by their wives, but I don’t have life insurance, so I knew she wasn’t in it for the money. And so, slowly, awkwardly, and trepidatiously, I swam alone through the silty coastal waters along the rocky bluff not knowing whether I was about to swim right into a sharp, submerged rock.

Fortunately, the closer I got to the cave, the shallower the water became, and soon I was able to wade more assuredly through chest-high water toward the black, waterlogged void in the distance – at which point I

promptly scraped my knee on a sharp, submerged rock, the only injury sustained on my venture. The rocks just outside the cave were worryingly slick, so I made my way over them as carefully as possible until I stepped onto the soft, brittle pebbles at the mouth of the cave.

No sooner had I arrived than scattered hundreds of various-sized sea roaches all up and down the cave walls. Warily, I had to follow them into the cave, where more and more scattered with each step I took deeper into the darkness. There were so many that some crawled over each other, slipped off the wall, and plopped down into the brackish waters covering the cave floor – incidentally, right where my feet were submerged. Unsettling as this was, I pressed on, lured ever deeper by the soft boom of waves and a faint light coming from the cave’s other end.

When I’d gotten about halfway through, I decided to stop and turn around, revealing one of the most

beautiful photo opportunities I’ve ever seen. Those roach-infested waters along the cave floor turned into a brilliant mirror of light that linked at the horizon with the tall, sunlit shaft of the cave. Come sunset, the chance to take silhouette photos would be second to none, so I knew then that the missus, despite her fear of swimming in the sea and of those horrid sea roaches, would have to come back with me to model.

By the time I made my return to the shore, the tide had gone down considerably, and I was able to walk back the entire way. In that time, the wife’s beer level had also gone down quite a bit, so convincing her to come back out was easier. When we returned still later to the cave, the walk was even less challenging, which helped calm her fears of the open sea. In their effort to avoid us, the silent droves of roaches that fanned up the rocks and into every crevice ensured that at least some fear was felt, however. Nevertheless, the missus was soon on her silhouette perch with sunset hues blazing behind her.

▲ Yongnangul’s entrance, pictured here just after high tide, is in the distant left corner.

The more photos I took, the higher I ascended to Valhalla, slain by the beauty and adventure of the moment. The missus oscillated between joy and disgust, giggling between poses and groaning whenever the roaches got too close. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the end of the shoot that I figured out how best to get the intense backlighting to work in my favor, so this article only features my last few photos, some of which I admit I over edited. In such a short window of time, you have to learn as you go and as quickly as possible, so it is what it is. Ultimately, the results aren’t bad for a simple iPhone.

Following our little photo shoot, the missus mustered up enough resolve to follow me to the far end of the cave, where waters lapped gently toward us from the other direction. This is what truly makes Yongnangul so impressive: It’s open on both sides of the bluff, making it more of a tunnel than a mere chamber. If you were determined to traverse the entire length of it from end

to end at low tide, you could, in which case you’d end up in a small, secluded cove where few ever go. From there, a sharp left turn would bring you to a still larger cave that I’m sure is even more impressive, though it’s a dead end that wouldn’t afford you the same sunset silhouettes pictured in this article.

Overall, Yongnangul is an excellent place for photography with a bit of adventure. Just be aware of the tides and when the sun sets to make the most of it. Enjoy!

Photographs by Isaiah Winters.

The Author

Born and raised in Chino, California, Isaiah Winters is a pixel-stained wretch who loves writing about Gwangju and Honam, warts and all. He particularly likes doing unsolicited appraisals of abandoned Korean properties, a remnant of his time working as an appraiser back home. You can find much of his photography on Instagram @d.p.r.kwangju.

▲ A view from Yongnangul’s entrance looking out to Eomeori Beach, not long after high tide.

Language Teaching

Environmental Awareness Through English Teaching

An Interview with Julian Warmington

If you have been around Gwangju for a while, you have likely heard of Julian Warmington –that pack of energy from New Zealand. Julian taught for years at Chosun University. During that same time, he also spent years contributing to a fledgling Gwangju News, where he wrote articles, served as co-editor, and later served as editor-in-chief. Julian was also considerably involved in Korea TESOL, serving for several years as editor-in-chief of The English Connection, KOTESOL’s quarterly magazine, as well as founding and being a driving force in KOTESOL’s Environmental Justice Special Interest Group. In this interview, we touch on all of the above but focus on how EFL instructors can instill in their students a strong sense of environmental awareness. — Ed.

KOTESOL: Kia ora, Julian. And thank you for making time for this interview; it is much appreciated. I like to start off interviews like this one by asking the interviewee what they did before coming to Korea and what it was that drew them to Korea. Will you begin with that?

Julian: I gained a BA in political science and English literature, then a post-graduate diploma in teaching, specializing in teaching in a second language. I worked as a primary and intermediate school teacher for three years and then wanted to travel overseas, like many younger Kiwis do, in what we call an “OE,” or overseas experience. Many New Zealanders travel to Australia or the UK, but I wanted to go somewhere with a very different culture for a more challenging and interesting experience. I had practiced taekwondo since secondary school, and so I knew a little about Korea, but it still seemed mysterious, and the more I read about work and life in South Korea, the more intriguing it seemed.

KOTESOL: I remember that you spent quite a few years teaching at Chosun University – I remember because I was also working there. Two things that stand out in my memories of those times are that you were much involved with a fledgling Gwangju News and later left Chosun for a couple of years. Could you tell us how you got interested in Gwangju News production and then why you took a hiatus from English teaching?

Julian: In my first year working at Chosun University, I wanted to take Korean language lessons. I heard about cheap, good-quality lessons at the GIC, the Gwangju International Center. During one of the first few lessons someone asked us students whether anyone would like to write articles about life as a foreigner in Gwangju. I agreed and was just starting to get to know the other foreigners involved when soon thereafter they all disappeared. They had had a disagreement internal to their group, and they all simply left: They basically ghosted the first, and at that time only, GIC coordinator, leaving her all alone holding the baby that was the newborn Gwangju News.

Julian Warmington

At that stage, they had developed it from a single leaf of black and white double-folded A3 paper with no editing, no spell checking, or photos, to a twoleaf folded newsletter with badly taken and very early digital photographs or obviously “borrowed” images downloaded from the internet. Let us just say I saw room for growth. I really enjoyed the process of suggesting and then helping implement improvements, seeing immediate results, and then looking for more ways to continually improve.

That was in 2001. By the middle of 2003, I had been working on it as an unpaid hobby and a busy parttime job for about two years, and as much as I loved both my teaching and working with the Gwangju News, my parents were unwell back in NZ, I had had a minor motorbike accident, and then my motorbike got stolen. I took the combination of all these things as a sign that it was a good time to return home and start some postgrad study, and so I did, starting on my master’s degree in English literature.

KOTESOL: As members of KOTESOL, we also had the opportunity to work together for a number of years. I am referring to work on TEC – The English Connection – KOTESOL’s quarterly magazine. Could you describe that experience as TEC’s editorin-chief?

Julian: The best art is created within a set of restrictions, for example, only using one type of brush stroke, or a certain set of colors. Within the realm of business management, institutional knowledge is of crucial importance in order to avoid the mistakes and survive through the trials of a hard-won history. I had heard somewhere through the grapevine that a previous editor-in-chief had departed in frustration at not being able to find ways around those restrictions. Well, I knew almost nothing about art history, nor business management, but I did know those two lessons I had learned, and so consciously chose to see the suggested restrictions as dangerous mistakes to avoid as being fun challenges to creatively work around.

My favorite example is that of changing the cover images. Many people I had chatted with about TEC had voiced something like boredom with the endless images of panoramic vistas of flowers and trees. The obvious solution for a magazine about people working within a people-oriented business is to put a photo of a person on the cover, but for reasons proven by repeated and previous history, that option was precluded, so I took the challenge of getting a good high-powered digital camera with a big zoom lens and finding images of something related to education in Korea that interested me enough to take the best photos I could. That happened to be schools of any sort with solar panels on the rooftops. So, yeah, it has little to do directly with EFL in South Korea, but on the other hand, it is a lot closer to that topic than a close up of a spring blossom, or another panoramic vista of a hillside of trees with a temple in the middle!

KOTESOL: Yes, I remember that when you were called back to the role of TEC editor-in-chief for an additional year, the TEC covers and some of the TEC articles took on an environmental protection slant. By this time, you were quite involved with KOTESOL’s Social Justice SIG (special interest group) and later became one of the founders of the Environmental Justice SIG. What caused your interest in these areas to become so deep, and what work within KOTESOL did you do in these areas, in addition to the above?

Julian: In the years 2011 and 2012, I was working at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology. I met many postgraduate students who were researching cutting-edge technology on things like solar panels and battery components, and part of my job was to edit their theses and articles prior to sending them for publication in top international journals like Science and Nature. I became increasingly interested in the science of both the problem and potential tech responses. Then in 2014, two things happened: I moved to Busan to live with my girlfriend, and I watched a then-newly-released documentary film that changed my life.

In Busan, I traveled across the city by subway every day and so started listening to a lot of podcasts about these same things. I became somewhat depressed: Traveling by crowded subway on the 40-minute journey each way every day was enough to induce claustrophobia. But even more than that, I had

realized just how bad the situation had become and how the governments of our “Five Eyes” countries had not only not been doing anything positive, but had actually been actively working to delay and derail all progress both at annual international climate summit meetings, and of course, within our own countries.

Perversely, by far the majority of English teachers in South Korea come from those five countries: the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, and Aotearoa New Zealand. So those of us lucky enough to have benefited from work in South Korea have also benefited from our earlier lives in some of the most highly industrialized economies in the world that have created the most pollution of all sorts.

For example, one of the worst sources of atmospheric pollution is from airplane exhaust fumes, as the large amounts of jet fuel exhaust is emitted much closer to the upper atmosphere where it does a lot of damage, by trapping heat much more quickly than the same amount of exhaust put out at ground level. Many of us living and working in South Korea fly home to our “Western” countries regularly – perhaps not as often as some business reps fly, but still – our lifestyle and older relationships are dependent upon this highly polluting and intensely indulgent aspect of our industrial economy lifestyle that we entirely take for granted. If everyone in the world could afford to fly as often as we do, the climate crisis would be much, much worse.

But the second thing that happened in 2014 was the release of the film Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, which is now on Netflix. It was filmed in California and is about the devastating effect of the animal agriculture industry on the wider environment. I looked at it and just saw exactly the same set of issues occurring in my homeland of Aotearoa NZ. As an undergraduate at university, I had done a lot of white water kayaking on some of the most beautiful and naturally pristine rivers around the country, and at that time, in the late 1980s – early 1990s, we could stop in the middle of a river when thirsty and simply drink handfuls of water.

But in 1996, a new bill was passed into law that deregulated the dairy industry, and that allowed dairy farmers to force-breed more cows per year

and removed limits on how many cows could be grazed within a one-hectare block of farmland. As a result, well over half the rivers and lakes around the country are not only too badly polluted to drink from, but you cannot even swim in most of them, nor at half the beaches around the country in summer after a rainfall. Dogs have died from drinking from polluted lake water. Most of the native fish species are threatened with extinction. Having seen for myself and even played within the natural beauty of those rivers and then learning the reason for their virtual destruction, I felt not only more depressed but also hopeful that this film could help inspire more people to understand the issues and start making the widespread cultural changes so desperately needed, and so dangerously avoided by our governments.

I learned from somewhere the maxim: “The antidote to despair is action,” and so, my girlfriend and I hosted the Busan Climate Change Film Festival. It was a positive thing, but it was not enough. I realized the very act of promoting the event through media publicity was likely as effective as the screenings to the few folks who actually came along. But then again, there is that other saying – Quality, not quantity! – by which I mean that one of the few people who did attend a screening of Cowspiracy was one Rhea Metituk, then a Busan-based professor with whom I went on to collaborate in forming the KOTESOL Environmental Justice SIG.

▲ Cowspiracy – the film that changed Julian’s life.

Anyway, for all these reasons, I felt more motivated to look for other ways to communicate what I had been learning and felt responsible to try to share what I had been learning with other English teachers in particular.

KOTESOL: Now for the main question that I have been leading up to: Considering the importance of protecting our environment and the seriousness of climate change, what can the average EFL teacher in Korea do to incorporate an awareness of environmental protection into their lessons and indeed into their curriculum?

Julian: Hmm. This is the big question, and so to keep it simple, I am going to offer you only three different answers. Let us start with the late great Doug Baumwoll’s [former writer for the Gwangju News] approach. Doug advocated simply incorporating examples relevant to your preferred topic into your regular examples that you would give to help illustrate any lesson objective. For example, if you were teaching a class about comparatives, you could compare candies and discuss which is sweeter, or chewier, or more expensive. Doug would perhaps say to do that, and then follow it up with another example, perhaps comparing the Kia Niro with the Hyundai Kona, or the Ioniq 5 with the EV6: Which has the longer range? Which has faster acceleration? Which has a more attractive chassis design? Which is more affordable?

A second answer is to know both the needs of your students and your own strengths and interests, and

then focus on them. This may sound too obvious and redundant a statement, but we need to take what appears at first glance to be simple and obvious and apply it to this new context. If you are good at art, use that strength to inspire and motivate students to express what they learn creatively through art of some sort, following your models on a subject you are genuinely interested in and can become enthusiastic about. You do not need to focus on the depressing aspects of the climate crisis. That is why talking about electric vehicles appeals to me: It is a positive response to the polluting, old gas car problem. South Korea is now producing some of the best pure-electric cars available anywhere. Korean students can feel proud about them and the batteries LG Chem and others are producing. Electric vehicles alone will not “save us” from the impending and rapidly worsening storms, droughts, floods, and food price rises, but they are definitely an important part of finally limiting the power of the corrupt, old fossil-fuel industries and old car companies.

Thirdly, let us discuss for a minute what not to do. It is really very important to avoid the trap of asking students to debate whether our industrial climate crisis even exists in the first place. It appears to be common practice at least for some international schools in South Korea to take this shockingly misguided, lazy, and inappropriate approach. It is misguided because it is to give over to the fallacies of false balance and false equivalence. Some media companies take this approach and might, for example, have a company representative appear in a panel discussion alongside a scientist. The company rep might be a better public speaker than the scientist, but there is a vast difference between being an effective communicator on the one hand and having a valid and important message on the other. Students need to be able to see this difference and identify it for themselves.

To teach this subject in that way is worse than a cop out. It is a chronic failure of professional responsibility. If an English teacher in South Korea does not “believe” in our industrial climate crisis, or more accurately, if they do not understand the science yet, then it would be much more useful to avoid the topic altogether and instead focus on teaching media analysis skills, or critical-thinking skills, or team-building and cooperation skills within another context altogether.

KOTESOL: Could you give some specific examples for primary-, secondary-, and tertiary-level learners?

Julian: “Carol” is a teacher of new entrant students in Busan. She took her very young students on a field trip to the local garbage dump and to recycling centers to learn about what actually happens to waste in that city. Students expanded their vocabulary through the nouns to do with various types of garbage and also the verbs for what to do and not to do with each type of trash: Recycle this by dropping it off here, for one example. Hopefully, if taught well, it also shares the value of and provides practice at thinking globally while acting locally.

Also, I have a Kiwi friend in Tokyo, Japan. “Jon” is a journalist who taught himself to grow his own vegetables inside and in small parcels of land within the neighborhood. For the last few years, he has been teaching students at about six different schools how to grow their own organic vegetables. Jon sees extra value in teaching students the value of working towards being independent and self-sufficient in producing their own food. I also see it as being a great way for students to be proactive in a positive response to the frightening face of the crisis, and to realize the taste of freshly picked vegetables, and just how delicious and nutritious they can be. And again, if teaching comparatives and/or superlatives, this would be another great context for primary school students.

By secondary school age, students understand more of the STEM subjects and also the reality of the dire nature of our situation. Comparing and contrasting more details to do with pure electric cars is great for a positive theme for this age set, but also studying the increasing frequency and severity of storms, droughts, floods, or heatwaves; or learning vocabulary like wet-bulb temperature; or how to cook a vegan burger patty out of brown rice, beans, and chickpeas, and make a video report on it; or a shared report in response to viewing the film Cowspiracy or the more recent Milked (NZ, 2021) are all excellent and age-appropriate, language-rich learning activities.

At the university level, we could take any of those secondary school activities and include a more meta-thinking approach, for example, have students survey other students in class as to their response

to viewing a film like Cowspiracy, or even just a portion of the film that you watch together in class and then discuss afterwards. Create a set of questions in response together, but preferably have your own set ready to offer if they do not come up with any themselves. Then share those questions in groups of students for them to ask and answer each other. Remember to first brainstorm and share sentence beginnings to support lower-proficiency students, clearly including whatever other language objectives you want to highlight. For example, if you are teaching plurals and/or the possessive “s” ending, highlight the difference between “one student’s response to a survey being that he would never eat meat again,” “two students’ replies included the information that they could never give up meat but that they are prepared to try a vegan burger at Burger King,” and “three students decided to replace cow’s milk ice cream with that new brand of soy milkbased ice cream you can get from Coupang now.”

▲ Julian participating in a “School Strike 4 Climate” event following a months’-earlier appearance by climate activist Greta Thurnberg, Jongro, Seoul, May 2019.

KOTESOL: You are back in New Zealand at present. Could you tell us what you are doing there, what projects are you working on – TESOL-related or otherwise?

Julian: I have returned to be with my family as my mother was diagnosed with a mixture of Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia at the start of last year, just after she started asking me to come home frequently on Skype and Zoom calls. I am doing two things for

the TESOL scene in South Korea these days: Firstly, I am working with other teachers there on a website of environmental lessons for South Korean EFL students and their teachers based on a regular 14week curriculum of language objectives. This is to create a kind of easy-access, ready-to-go resource of ideas and content to either teach wholesale within a dedicated course, or for teachers to simply pick and choose topics to include in class when they are comfortable, much as Doug Baumwoll suggested doing. Secondly, I am offering a new presentation to local KOTESOL chapters. It is entitled “Tipping Points, Hope, and A-ha: How Your Students and K-pop Can Help Save the World from More SeoulType Flooding.” I am also available for Zoom presentations to local chapters on a topic of their own choosing, within the context of environmentally themed TESOL education in South Korea.

KOTESOL: You are keeping busy! May I ask what you like to do in your spare time – if spare time is something that you have the luxury of?

Julian: When I came back to Aotearoa, I not only missed my girlfriend still just south of Seoul, but I came back to another very cold, wet, and windy winter. I did get more exercise but not enough for a full-length Ironman Triathlon, and especially not after celebrating being back by eating too many vegan pies and ice creams. Over the last month or two, I have eased up on all that and got back into swimming, cycling, and jogging. I am also enjoying house sitting and getting to know more locally based humans and their feline and doggie overlords.

KOTESOL: As a final question, where do you see yourself being and what do you see yourself doing in, say, five years from now?

Julian: In another five years, I hope our team will have published a textbook on environmentally themed TESOL lessons catering to the needs of teachers teaching South Korean students. I also hope to have published a vegan recipe book for children in Aotearoa NZ and to have successfully encouraged a journalist friend to publish a book on vegans in South Korea, including athletes, celebrities, and other high achievers. I also hope to have completed and survived my first full-length Ironman Triathlon and perhaps started ultra-long-distance marathons, meaning 50 kilometers or more.

KOTESOL: Well, Julian, I can see that you are not only committed to the teaching of EFL in Korea, but also to being healthy as a vegan, and even more importantly, to saving our abused planet. Thank you for the glimpse into your works and ways – both professional and personal.

Interviewed by David Shaffer. Photographs not marked are courtesy of Julian Warmington.

GWANGJU-JEONNAM KOTESOL

UPCOMING EVENTS

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

For full event details:

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

• Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL

The Author

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

▲ Cowspiracy-inspired infographic.

& LEARNING

Everyday Korean

Episode 58

얼굴이 낯익다

She Looks Familiar

By Harsh Kumar Mishra

The Conversation

멍지에: 언니, 이 친구 아시죠?

Meongjie: Eonni, do you remember this person?

정민: 얼굴이 낯익은데 이름이 기억 안 나네. 누구지?

Jeongmin: She looks familiar, but I cannot remember her name. Who is she?

멍지에: 우리가 재작년에 강원도 여행 때 만난 여대생 기억해요?

Meongjie: Do you remember the university student we met two years back on our trip to Gangwon-do?

정민: 어! 맞아. 우리 리조트 2층에서 자주 춤추던 여자 맞지?

Jeongmin: Oh yeah, right. She is the girl who kept dancing on the second floor of the resort, right?

멍지에: 맞아요. 모델 됐어요. 인스타 팔로워가 3백만이 넘었어요

Meongjie: Right. She became a model. Now she has more than three million followers on Instagram.

정민: 우와! 멋지네. 그때 춤 보고 그런 느낌이 좀 오긴 했어.

Jeongmin: Wow! That is amazing. I did get that kind of vibe when I saw her dancing there.

멍지에: 춤도 잘 추고 이야기도 재미있게 해서 네티즌 중 인기가 많아요.

Meongjie: She is good at dancing as well as talking, so she has gotten a huge fanbase among internet users.

Grammar Points

Verb ~은/ㄴ

This is a noun modifier used with verb stems to modify a noun in past tense. When a verb stem ends in a final consonant, use ~은, and when it ends in a vowel, just add ~ㄴ.

Examples

- 지난주에 읽은 책이 어땠어요?

How was the book you read last week?

- 어제 배달시켜서 먹은 볶음밥이 너무 맛있어서 다시 시켰어요.

The fried rice I ordered yesterday was so delicious that I ordered it again today.

낯이 익다

This frequently used idiom in Korean is mostly used to express that someone or something looks “familiar” to you.

Examples

- 오늘 인터넷에서 낯이 익은 학교 배경을 사진으로 봐서 놀랐다.

I was surprised to see a picture on the internet showing my school.

- 한국에서 낯익은 고향 음식점 볼때마다 기분이 아주 좋다.

It always feels great to find familiar hometown restaurants in Korea.

Vocabulary

얼굴: face, 기억나다: to remember, 재작년: the year before last, 여대생: women’s university student, 춤추다: to dance, 넘다: to exceed, 백만: million, 느낌: feeling, 이야기: story, 재미있게: interestingly, 네티즌: internet user (netizen), 인기가 많다: to be popular

The Author

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

Sports

Take Me Out to the Tigers’ Game

By Adam Nash

Growing up in England, my Saturday afternoons were all about football. The prematch pies and post-match pints; the chants, the jeers, and the celebrations with thousands of fellow supporters – it was the highlight of my week. If I wanted to play a sport involving a bat and ball, it was cricket or nothing. I don't know anyone in England even remotely interested in baseball. That's probably why it took me a whole year before I went to see the Kia Tigers play.

It was my last weekend living in Gwangju (I recently succumbed to the bright lights of Seoul), and I wanted to do something special. So, when my good friend invited me to see a baseball game, I thought it was a great idea. I knew that the Kia Tigers are a popular team that the people of Gwangju are very proud of, so I thought it’d be a fitting way to spend my last Saturday in the city.

▲ Gwangju’s Kia Champions Field, the home of Kia Tigers.

This wasn’t actually my first baseball game. My friend had taken me to see the White Sox play when I visited him in Chicago, and I thought it was a lot like cricket: too much standing and waiting, not enough action. The atmosphere was so flat that the guy in front of me started reading a newspaper! So, even though I was up for giving it another go, I was fully prepared for another dull, boring match.

How wrong I was. Korean baseball was nothing like my experience in America. It was exciting, highenergy, and actually fun.

The buzz began as we approached the stadium. Hundreds of fans converged on the ground, wearing the famous red and white of the Kia Tigers. Feeling left out, I decided to splurge on a jersey from the club shop. There is the option to get a player’s name stitched on the back, but seeing as I had no idea who any of the players were, I kept mine a stylish blank.

When we finally took our seats, we realized we had made a big mistake. We had bought tickets to sit to the right of the batter, slap-bang in the middle of

the away supporters. Now, if this were an English football game I’d be fearing for our safety and frantically hiding my new shirt, but everyone there just seemed happy and up for a great time: win, lose, or draw (if a draw is even possible in baseball, I’m still not 100 percent sure of the rules).

The actual game was very similar to the one I watched in America, but the big difference was the crowd. They seemed pumped for every pitch. Everyone banged their inflatable clappers, chanted the players’ names, and cheered every hit. There were drums, music, and even cheerleaders, whose choreographed moves were mimicked by the crowd. During the breaks, the big screen played interactive games where fans could win prizes. It was hard not to get wrapped up in all the excitement, even though I wasn’t totally following the game.

Another difference was the food. Forget hot dogs and hamburgers; in Korea, when you go to a baseball game, it’s customary to enjoy chimaek (치맥, fried chicken and beer). There are lots of stalls inside the stadium, but they can be a bit pricey, so my

"It was hard not to get wrapped up in all the excitement, even though I wasn't following the game."

cardboard disintegrated, and my chicken plummeted to the floor.

The game itself went down to the wire. The Kia Tigers just needed one run from their last over to take it to extra innings. The crowd raised their voices and frantically cheered. Sadly, the illusive run never came, but still no one seemed too downhearted. It was genuinely a great way to spend my last weekend in Gwangju, and I’ll definitely be wearing my Tigers jersey with pride in Seoul.

It still might not be football, but it’s a hell of a lot better than cricket.

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

Instagram @adam_nash62

friend suggested buying some before the game at a little stall on one side of the car park. Apparently, they don’t mind if you bring your own food and drink into the ground. I hope the English Football Association is taking notes!

Even the rain couldn’t dampen our spirits. We could see the threatening storm clouds roll in across the city, and, when a light shower turned into a heavy downpour, the crowd made a run for cover. Thankfully, the rain didn’t last long, but it’d sadly taken its toll on my takeaway chicken box. While running for shelter, the soggy, rain-soaked

October 5,

October

October

(vs.

(vs.

6:30

6:30

The Author

Photographs by Adam Nash.

Shared Mobility Vehicle Services in Gwangju

By Lim Se-ryeong

Based on increasing interest regarding the reduction of CO2 emissions and the increasing popularity of the shared economy, usage of shared mobility vehicles is now becoming more widespread. In Gwangju, there are three main shared mobility vehicle services: Tarangge, Kakao Bike, and GCooter. These services assist people to move to places that are too far for walking or that cannot be reached easily either by car or public transportation. For the safety of users, Korean government policy is stressing that users wear helmets as a safety measure.

Additionally, no vehicles should be ridden while intoxicated. Below is more detail on each shared mobility vehicle service and a comparison of each.

TARANGGE (타랑께), Gwangju public shared bike

• Official website: https://tarangge.gwangju.go.kr/ index.do

• How to use: through the Tarangge website or application

• Available times: 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.

• Available areas for rent and return: Tarangge

parking spots in Seo-gu, Gwangju

• Fees: 1,000 won for 90 minutes + 500won per additional 30 min. (as of August 2022)

KAKAO BIKE (카카오바이크), electronic bike

• Official website: https://www.kakaocorp.com/ page/service/service/KakaoT?lang=en

• How to use: through the KakaoT application

• Available times: anytime

• Available areas for rent and return: anywhere in unobstructed places

• Fees: 1,500 won (15 minutes) + 150 won per additional minute (as of August 2022)

GCOOTER (지쿠터), electronic scooter

※ A driver’s license Class 2 or above (for motorcycles) is needed to use this service.

• Official website: https://gbike.io/

• How to use: through the KakaoT application

• Available times: anytime

• Available areas for rent and return: anywhere in unobstructed places

• Fees: 300 won to unlock (base fee) + 130 won per additional minute (as of August 2022)

※ Fees can be differed according to the sort of vehicle and usage time.

Strength Can be used at a cheap price, as it is a service for public use.

Limited areas and times.

Can be used without a driver’s license anytime and anywhere if vehicles are near.

Can be used anytime and anywhere if a vehicle is near.

Weaknesses

Fees are considered to be expensive compared to user expectations.

Driver’s license is needed, and fees are expensive from midnight to 5 a.m.

The Author

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

COMPARISON OF EACH SERVICE

Tarangge Kakao Bike GCooter

▲ GCooter

▲ Kakao Bike

Get a Canadian Phone Number While Living Abroad

By William Urbanski

Mostsmartphone apps are hot garbage. If they are not time-wasting and braincell-dissolving games, they are socalled social media platforms or applications that provide little value and even complicate our lives. Take, for example, the various chat programs that purportedly facilitate communication but really just lead to people sending copious and unnecessary emojis throughout the day.

But every once in a while, an app comes along that cleverly leverages technology to provide solutions that would otherwise be inconceivable. Fongo World Edition is just such an app, and if you are a Canadian living in Gwangju, or anywhere in Korea, you need to start using it.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PHONES IN CANADA

Many moons ago when I was growing up in Canada, virtually all houses still had landlines. I know, it sounds weird, but believe me, it is the truth. Landlines had many advantages, such as, you know, having a telephone in your house, but also came with many restrictions. As well, the telephone companies, which had a virtual monopoly at the time, were not exactly known for their excellent customer service acumen and flexible contracts.

It may seem like a pretty obvious thing to say, but having a home phone number was basically a requirement for, well, everything, and especially things like opening a bank account. Around the turn of the century, most people realized pretty quickly that shelling out the big bucks for a cell phone (that could be used as a person’s primary number) was basically a million times better than shelling out the big bucks for a phone that only stayed in one

place. That is why even though landlines in Canada definitely still exist, when it comes to having a phone number attached to your name, most people opt to have a smart phone and only a smart phone.

COMING TO KOREA

As many people reading this will undoubtably understand, after taking the plunge and moving to Korea, setting up a phone is one of the first orders of business. There are, of course, various options, all of which pretty much do the exact same thing, and most expats have few problems with whatever system they choose. This is all well and good, but there are many occasions in which a person should or must be able to provide a contact number in one’s home country. As a person stays longer in Korea, it may become difficult to find an appropriate phone number to use when needed. For example, many expats may not be able to list their family’s home phone number simply because many households simply do not have them anymore.

BANKING AND TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION IN CANADA

One of the most important reasons why a Canadian expat may need to provide a Canadian contact number is to maintain their bank account. Increasingly, Canadian banks are requiring twofactor authentication to log into online banking (or at least some functions of it such as making transfers). Some banks require a dedicated non-free email account (read: not Gmail), but others require either a Canadian landline or Canadian cell phone number that they can call or send a verification code to that allows a person to sign in. This, of course, creates a massive logistical problem for the expat who, by definition, is not in the country.

Now, of course, there are some clunky and very inconvenient solutions to this problem, such as listing a trusted friend or family member’s phone number as your own and then getting them to immediately text you the code within a short window of time (usually less than ten minutes). This approach, besides being a massive pain for everyone involved, is also rife with security risks. The best approach would be to have one’s own Canadian phone number that could be used to make calls as well as send and receive text messages from right here in Korea. And this is the exact service that Fongo World Edition provides easily, securely, and affordably.

the cost is excellent, especially given the quality of service and the logistical nightmares it solves. To download the app, users must pay a one-time fee of about 6,000 won. Six months of unlimited Canada texting costs a paltry 15,000 won. There are also options for international texting and calling.

For my purposes, I am happy to report than when it came to receiving my bank’s verification code, this system worked with zero problems. As an added bonus, now all my friends back home can just call me on my local Toronto phone number and it is routed to my smart phone here in Korea just like magic.

OTHER SERVICES AND CONCLUSIONS

FONGO

Fongo got its start as an alternative phone service for those who needed a phone number but were fed up with the big Canadian phone companies’ nonsense or otherwise could not get a phone contract (a situation that is not as strange as it seems – lots of low-income people or those who have not yet established a credit record could run into trouble getting a phone). Since most people nowadays have a smartphone and can connect to Wi-Fi at least some of the time, Fongo realized that entering into a restrictive phone contract was not the necessity it once was. By downloading the app, a person can get their own local Canadian phone number that works just like a regular phone number would. For a more robust package that includes texting, a person can buy a very reasonable monthly subscription.

Outside of Canada, an expat can use Fongo World Edition to achieve the same thing. While not free,

If you are not Canadian and are interested in a comparable service, there are a number of others available, but unfortunately none that are quite as convenient as Fongo. Skype allows users to get their own phone number, but they must provide an American phone number to get set up. Similar conditions apply to Google Voice. There are actually all sorts of virtual phone number providers, and if you do your research, you can find one that meets your needs.

Digital technology is something that is supposed to make our lives easier and not just fill up our time with freemium games and TikTok videos of people carving up coconuts. Fongo World Edition is a relatively simple app that uses existing technological infrastructure to provide a novel solution to a complicated problem. What a time to be alive!

Images by Fongo.com.

The Author

William Urbanski is the managing editor of the Gwangju News. He is married and uses chopsticks quite well. Instagram: @will_il_ gatto

Transparent Solar Panels: Good or Bad?

By Chung Hyunhwa

In my previous article, I argued that using nuclear energy needs to end due to the fact that it requires a thorough nuclear waste management plan including permanent storage, the feasibility of which is in question here in Korea. However, I agree that we should manage the current nuclear power plants safely until they finish their lifespan because, practically speaking, we should not waste the money spent on them, and they can still be used as a transitional energy source while we replace them with safer means.

Worldwide, mainstream renewable energy sources are solar and wind. There have been projects in Korea to promote these since 2004. Now I see

articles that say solar panels will cause a potential trash avalanche by 2040 when they will have been used for over 20 years. There are also articles claiming solar panels produce 300 times more toxic waste than nuclear power plants. I checked to see if these claims had any truth to them.

Following my search, I concluded the research used to support the latter argument was wrong. The cited research compared only the nuclear fuel rods with all of the waste from solar panels, which are not the right comparison targets. Solar panels are composed of glass (76 percent), plastic (10 percent), aluminum framing (8 percent), silicon (5 percent), and 1 percent of other metals. Out of the 1 percent

Photo by www.digitaltrends.com.

of other metals, 4 percent is considered to be toxic material such as mercury and tin. If so, it is not logical to compare this amount of heavy metals to nuclear waste that should be stored safely for a minimum of 10,000 to 100,000 years.

There is already a panel recycling center in Korea, but it is possible that a future onrush in panel waste exceeding the country’s handling capacity may happen. This means there should be a plan to deal with it, not that we should stop using solar power. The best recycling is to continue to use the panels as they are, so they can be either distributed to other buildings or homes and used at much lower prices, or they can be donated or exported to other countries with larger land areas that may have energy problems. (A solar panel’s efficiency decreases by 1 percent each year, which is down to 80 percent after 20 years of usage, but they will still work. ) Another idea is that when thinner panels or film that have the same or better efficiency are developed, they can be applied to the old ones’ existing structure instead of dismantling the latter and wasting them.

I also searched a little more about new photovoltaic technologies that could help with maximizing land use. One easy option is to use building tops and road and highway sides. For example, imagine bike paths that have roofs made of solar panels. This would be good for bike riders to travel in the shade in hot summers and not get wet in the rain. More efficient panels would be helpful to realize these ideas, so that they can be installed anywhere. To my delight, I found an article saying a much more efficient film that picks up even reflected light is being developed, so we should all wait and see when that is released.

I also found transparent photovoltaic panels and shingles. Transparent products can be applied for more various purposes, such as windows, building walls, and greenhouses. These transparent photovoltaic shingles will improve the visual impact of traditionally dark solar panels and become a game changer. I especially like this idea because I am working in the horticulture area now, and transparent panels could be wonderful as a future material for greenhouses.

The climate changes we are experiencing make greenhouses more favored because it is easier to

control plant growth using them. If transparent solar panels are used for greenhouses, the same piece of land can be used for agriculture and energy generation at the same time, doubling the income of the farmers. I was happy to find a bit of research saying that transparent solar panels and shingles do not negatively affect the plants growing beneath them.

Under the climate crisis, transparent solar panels can help lower our dependency on nuclear energy. We should admit that, even if nuclear power plants run without accidents, they are not the optimal energy solution because of the unmanageable, fatally toxic waste they accumulate every second. Things feel like they are changing slowly, but the climate is not. With this in mind, we should keep being creative to adapt to a world where there are fewer and fewer nuclear reactors and gather alternative ideas to support the energy transition to safer sources.

Sources

Crownhart, C. (2021, August 19). Solar panels are a pain to recycle. These companies are trying to fix that. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/19/1032215/solarpanels-recycling/

Gwon P. (2018, July 3). 태양광 패널에서 독성 폐기물이 Pressian. https://www.pressian.com/pages/articles/194255 Kim, J. (2020, August 31). 오래쓰면 중금석 녹아나온다고? 태양광패널 ‘괴담’의진실. The JoongAng. https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/23861174 Kim, Y. (2021, December 22). 태양광 쓰레기 문제풀릴까 ‘태양광재활용센터’ 준공 The Hankyoreh. https://www.hani.co.kr/ arti/economy/economy_general/1024119.html Solartechadvisor. (2021, November 28). Use of semi-transparent solar panels in greenhouse food production. https://solartech advisor.com/semitransparent-solar-greenhouse-agriculture/

The Author

Chung Hyunhwa is from Gwangju and currently leads Gwangju Hikers, an international eco-hike group at the GIC. She would like to be active as a voice for climate crises issues. Currently, she is working in the horticulture field with a love for plants. Previously, she taught English at Yantai American School and Yantai Korean School in China, and worked for Branksome Hall Asia, Jeju school administration in recent years. She received her master’s degree in TESOL from TCNJ in the U.S.

By Kogay Vladislav

Blessed by Heaven Gyeongbokgung Palace in the Heart of Seoul

Photo

Gwangju

During the Chuseok holiday, me and my girlfriend went to Seoul. It was a long way to the destination due to the traffic congestion all over Korea, which was the result of people going to their hometowns to celebrate with their family members. Right after our arrival, we decided to visit the royal palace Gyeongbokgung, which is the largest of the five palaces in the heart of Seoul. Truth be told, we had not visited this place before. Gyeongbokgung, which means “palace blessed by Heaven,” really impressed us with its beauty and size. The palace gives astonishing views of the modernity of dynamic Seoul, mixing old and new times together. It really gives a special

feeling when you see people walking around the palace wearing hanbok. We immediately started immersing ourselves in this experience and wore hanbok ourselves. We took some cool shots using a tripod and timer in front of the gate. Oddly enough, we could not go over all the palace because it was about to close for the evening shift. When we began to go somewhere else, I came across a pagoda right in the middle of the road. This view was certainly meant to be captured. Even though we only caught a glimpse of the front yard of the palace, we enjoyed our time and took good photos.

The Photographer

Hailing from Uzbekistan, Kogay Vladislav is a graduate student at Chonnam National University majoring in non-governmental organizations. Photography is his passion, especially portrait and landscape photos. Instagram: @ko.h4neul

Top of The Drop

By Daniel J. Springer

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

JW FRANCIS – “I WANNA BE YOUR BASKETBALL”

Few in the lo-fi rock genre do it more positively or more infectiously than the wildling from Oklahoma who went to school in NYC and now seems to just bounce uncontrollably all over the globe. This particular new single is “a love song about wanting to be something or someone else,” which I’m sure anyone can identify with. The artist will drop a new album sometime later this year or very early the next.

COOL HEAT (FEAT. COMMUNITY SWIMMING POOL) – “ALL THE TIME”

SAY SHE SHE – “PRISM”

This is the title track to the Chicinspired, NYC-based septet’s debut album, due out October 7. Few groups this summer have wowed as consistently as Say She She, with the vocal harmonies of the lead trio of Piya Malik, Nya Gazelle Brown, and Sabrina Mileo Cunningham being the especially choice accoutrement to the overall vibe. Be sure not to sleep on “Prism,” dropping once again on October 7 via Karma Chief Records! C’est Chi-Chi!

DANGER MOUSE & BLACK THOUGHT (FEAT. MF DOOM) – “BELIZE”

To be honest, with all the star power of the names and the hype surrounding Cheat Codes, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if it had its share of duds on the album. However, this album is some amazing vintage soul and head-nod glory, consistent from start to finish. Nowhere does the vision of Cheat Codes come together better than on “Belize,” with the dearly departed Supervillain himself spitting bars to perfection with Black Thought over an incredible arrangement that both glows with blackest dark matter and shimmers tantalizingly.

This is a great indie collab between two artists out of Chicago and Scotland. Cool Heat is the solo project of Eden Sierotnik out of Chicago, while on the other side of the Atlantic, Community Swimming Pool is the solo project of the man everyone calls BMac, who hails from Glasgow if you wanna get specific about it. The two artists both make hazy lo-fi indie rock, with Cool Heat being typically a bit dreamier about the sound, but the two working on the same tune works to perfection.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS – “WAGE WARS GET RICH DIE HANDSOME”

It has been a long time since the veteran indie folk outfit truly turned to a straight-out rock sound, but you cannot say that anymore. The band’s twentyfirst studio album, Bleed Out, dropped August 19 and is envisioned by lead man John Darnielle as a pastiche of familiar tropes to be found in action flicks, with each song hitting like a quick punch to the gut, or a surprising explosion, but without the protagonist running away in slow motion.

THE BACKSEAT LOVERS –“GROWING/DYING”

This is a band that only has a few years behind them but a ton of fans already behind them, with

their limited discography already clocking in a whopping 370 million streams alone. Originally from Utah, The Backseat Lovers have been playing to overflow crowds around the UK and US this summer at some of the biggest festivals around, so the sky is indeed the limit right now if they’re not touching it already.

DIVINO NIÑO – “XO”

The Latin indie rock darlings out of Chicago are out with their second career LP, The Last Spa on Earth, as of September 23. This single is a particularly adept arrangement, with the song opening in a very psyche rock fashion that flirts with funk, only to somehow morph into a borderline reggaeton track.

ALVVAYS – “EASY ON YOUR OWN?”

This band has been absolutely smashing it since their debut eight years ago, but like their home on Prince Edward Island, Canada, they’re not in a rush about it. This is one of the lead singles to Blue Rev, which comes out October 7 and is only the band’s third album. However, the fiveyear wait since their last LP, Socialites, looks like it’s going to be worth it.

ROC MARCIANO & THE ALCHEMIST –“JJ FLASH”

This is a tune that appeared on one of the sneakiest, most sinister, and high-quality concept hip-hop albums of this year. The Elephant Man’s Bones was long on wait time and mega-hype but delivers in such complex fashion that it might take a few listens to get a glimpse into the creation from these two high art hip-hop purveyors.

DRAUVE – “DISTRACTION”

Originally out of Pittsburgh but now residing in Los Angeles, Drauve is now a duo that’s driven both by togetherness and singer Victoria Morgan’s OCD. While that state might indeed help the final

quality of what’s put out, one can’t help but be a little concerned listening to it, which only adds greatly to the experience.

JULIA JACKLIN – “IGNORE TENDERNESS”

For those who don’t like introspection or taking a deep look in the mirror, this isn’t the album for you. That being noted, Julia Jacklin on her third career LP, Pre-Pleasure, really dives deep on the introspective aspects, with the Melbournebased singer-songwriter completely disarming the listeners who are indeed paying attention. It’s a brilliantly written album top-to-bottom – full of surprising insights for those who care.

September LPs

Two Door Cinema Club – Keep on Smiling (9/2)

Built to Spill – When the Wind Forgets Your Name (9/9)

Sampa The Great – As Above, So Below (9/ 9)

John Legend – Legend (9/9)

Santigold – Spirituals (9/ 9)

Sudan Archives – Natural Brown Prom Queen (9/9)

Blackpink – Born Pink (9/16)

Death Cab For Cutie – Asphalt Meadows (9/16)

Suede - Autofiction (9/16)

The Beths – Expert in a Dying Field (9/16)

The Mars Volta – s/t (9/16)

Whitney – Spark (9/16)

Alex G – God Save the Animals (9/23)

Editors – EBM (9/23)

Makaya McCraven – In These Times (9/23)

Christine & The Queens – Redcar les adorables étoiles (9/23)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Cool It Down (S9/30)

OFF! – Free LSD (9/30)

Titus Andronicus – The Will to Live (9/30)

OCTOBER LPs

Say She She – Prism (10/7)

Alvvays – Blue Rev (10/7)

Bonny Light Horsemen – Rolling Golden Holy (10/7)

Broken Bells – Into the Blue (10/r 7)

Caribou – Cherry (10/7)

Charlie Puth – Charlie (10/7)

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava (10/7) …along with two other albums that same month (no big deal)

The Orielles – Tableau (10/7)

Sorry – Anywhere but Here (10/7)

Alaskalaska – Still Life (10/14)

Brian Eno – ForeverAndEverNoMore (10/14)

Tove Lo – Dirt Femme (10/14)

Skullcrusher – Quiet the Room (10/14)

Arctic Monkeys – The Car (10/21)

Nick Hakim – Cometa (10/21)

Loyle Carner – Hugo (10/21)

Dry Cleaning – Stumpwork (10/21)

Drugdealer – Hiding in Plain Sight (10/28)

Junior Boys – Waiting Game (10/28)

The Author

Daniel J. Springer (aka “Danno”) is the creator, host, writer, editor, and producer of “The Drop with Danno,” broadcasting nightly on GFN 98.7 FM in Gwangju and 93.7 FM in Yeosu from 8–10 p.m. Prior to this, he was a contributor to several shows on TBS eFM in Seoul, along with being the creator and co-host of “Spacious” and “White Label Radio” on WNUR in Chicago. You can find “The Damyang Drop,” his monthly collaborative playlist with The Damyang House, on YouTube and Spotify. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook: @gfnthedrop

The Teacher of Warsaw

By Mario Escobar

Reviewed by Michael Attard

Thishistorical fiction is centered upon a diary of a few months written in 1942 in Warsaw, Poland. The memoir belonged to Henryk Goldszmit, a writer, radio host, columnist, and director of two children’s orphanages. The novel by Mario Escobar revolves around this short but shameful time in history. It was Goldszmit’s life of dedication to children that inspired the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations in November 1959.

The novel begins with the German invasion of Poland in 1939, that triggered the start of World War II in Europe. The fictional protagonist’s name is Janusz and his long-time friend, Stefa, is encouraging him to leave Poland. He is in his sixties, running an orphanage that is home to 200 Jewish children and has no intention of going anywhere. He never married or had children of his own, for which he has his reasons.

Daily bombings quickly make everything difficult; basic supplies become scarce. A woman by the name of Agnieszka arrives with her ten-year-old son, Henryk. They have been referred to Janusz by a former friend. His practical mind turns them away, but he suddenly has a change of heart and allows them to stay. The mother and son become main characters, but the author’s character development is weak in my opinion.

This is the case throughout the story. One of the orphanage’s tutors tells Janusz that she and her boyfriend have a chance to get out of the country. The escape fails and they are killed. Of course, this is an undeniably horrible event, but the woman is introduced only a few lines before she is killed. From a writing perspective, if the reader had known more about this woman, a stronger emotional response would be elicited.

The use of descriptive language and similes helps to keep the reading interesting. Many scenes are simply put, such as, “the light of the candles overcame the darkness inside the building.” Others provide interesting descriptions of how the characters were, such as, “heartened to see a small light of hope shining in the eyes of one hungry child.” Before all the terror began, the author tells us that, “the students resisted the end of summer with the ferocity of a shipwreck survivor clinging to his life jacket in the middle of a storm.”

Pertaining to but distinct from the story is the universal message of the power of love. Janusz says, “The best lesson we can ever teach is to show love to those around us without expecting anything in return.” On optimism, the author writes, “There are no bad seeds, just rough patches of land.” With respect to happiness, he says, “We look for it outside of ourselves, but it’s something that’s in our minds.” Realistically though, considering the actual history, the often-professed hopeful statements struck me as platitudes.

The story progressed slowly with every day worse than the day before. Janusz spent a great deal of time soliciting help from the few people who could offer any. Whether it was the Jewish council appointed by the Nazis, the Jewish police, or his network of legal and illegal associates, he managed to keep the

children fed, even if just barely. The people changed but the worsening struggles continued. This created a plodding-along effect in the reading, which meant that I was more inclined to want to get through a passage as opposed to being piqued by curiosity to know what happened next. In fairness, the nature of the story, and the reality of the characters’ lives just hoping to see tomorrow, would create a depressing state of affairs where all there was to do was plod along.

The story is as much about Janusz’s inner struggle as it is the physical fight to keep the children alive. He is often psychologically drained. He says, “I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. I felt guilty for having abandoned all the sick children when I stopped practicing medicine. … I felt guilty for wasting the chance to do something meaningful with my life. All of the pain around me made me feel helpless.” But he continues to pick himself up and encourages those with him. “We cannot avoid depressing thoughts, but we can keep them from controlling us.”

This is also a story of human dignity. Jews were required to wear an armband with the Star of David. There is an account where Janusz, without an armband, is confronted by a Jewish policeman. The absence of the armband and his curt reply earn him a beating. Apparently, it is true that various German officials inexplicably overlooked the protagonist’s real self’s refusal to wear an armband.

With another winter approaching, it was clear that many of the children would not survive. Plans to get children out were stepped up, but only a few, usually those with blue eyes and fair skin, escaped using false documents.

Janusz has another chance to escape, but he adamantly refuses to abandon his children. “Soldiers had opened the train cars, and the children started to file in.”

The Reviewer

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

Upcoming Events October 2022

Compiled by Lim Se-ryeong

2022

GWANGJU FESTIVALS

THE 2022 GWANGJU INTERNATIONAL CENTER COMMUNITY WEEK

2022 광주국제교류주간

Dates: October 11–16, 2022

Location: Around the ACC and GIC 광주광역시 광주국제교류센터 및 아시아문화전당 일대

Admission: Free

Telephone: 062-226-2732

Website: http://eng.gic.or.kr/

THE 2022 GWANGJU FRINGE FESTIVAL

2022 광주프린지페스티벌

Dates: October 1–3 & October 22, 2022

Location: May 18 Democratic Plaza, 41 Geumnamno 1(il)-ga, Dong-gu, Gwangju 광주광역시 동구 금남로1가 41 5.18민주광장

Admission: Free

Telephone: 062-670-7967

Website: http://fringefestival.kr/

CHUNGJANG WORLD FESTIVAL OF RECOLLECTION 추억의 광주충장 월드페스티벌

Dates: October 13–17, 2022

Location: Around Dong-gu, Gwangju (Chungjang-ro, Geumnam-ro, May 18 Democratic Plaza, etc.) 충장로, 금남로

5·18

Telephone: 062-232-1008~9

Admission: Free

Website: https://www.donggu.kr/index.es?sid=c9

THE 1ST BUSKERS WORLD CUP IN GWANGJU SEMI-FINAL TO FINAL ROUNDS 제 1회 버스커즈 월드컵 IN 광주 본선 , 결승

Dates: October 8–17, 2022

Location: Around Gwangju (May 18 Democratic Plaza, etc.) 광주광역시 일원, 5.18 민주광장

Telephone: 062-233-1007, 062-223-1007

Admission: Free

Website: https://www.buskersworldcup.com/eng/

IMBANGUL KOREAN MUSIC FESTIVAL 2022

임방울국악제 전국대회

Dates: October 10–14, 2022, various times.

Locations: Bitgeoul Citizens Culture Center, Cheonbyeonjwa-ro 338-beon-gil 7, Nam-gu, Gwangju 광주 남구 천변좌로338번길 7 서오층석탑 빛고을시민문화관

May 18 Culture Center, Naebang-ro 152, Seo-gu, Gwangju 광주 서구 내방로 152 5.18 기념문화관 5ㆍ18기념문화센터

And several other places around Gwangju. Please inquire for more information.

Telephone: 062-521-0731

Website: http://www.imbangul.or.kr/index.htm

THE 29TH GWANGJU WORLD KIMCHI FESTIVAL

제 29회 광주세계 김치축제

Dates: October 20–23, 2022, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Location: 60 Kimchi-ro, Nam-gu, Gwangju Kimchi Town 광주 남구 김치로 60 광주 김치타운

Telephone: 062-613-3955

Admission: Free Website: https://kimchi.gwangju.go.kr/

YEONGSAN RIVER REED FESTIVAL 영산강 서창들녘 억새축제

Dates: October 7–10, 2022, 1–6 p.m.

Location: 377 Seochangduk-gil, Seo-gu, Gwangju 광주 서구 서창둑길 377

Telephone: 062-350-4792

Admission: Free

JEOLLANAM-DO FESTIVALS

THE 28TH NAMDO FOOD FESTIVAL 제 28회 남도음식문화 큰잔치

Dates: October 7–9, 2022

Location: 1 Bangnamhoe-gil, Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do 전라남도 여수시 박람회길 1(덕춘동)

Admission: Free

Telephone: 061-286-5771

Website: http://m.namdofood.or.kr/main#

MOKPO MARINE W SHOW 목포 해상 W쇼

Dates: October 8, October 22, and all Saturday in November 2022

Location: 115 Mihang-ro, Mokpo-si, Jeollanam-do (Around Peace Square, Mokpo) 전라남도 목포시 미항로115 (목포 평화광장 일대)

Admission: Free

Telephone: 061-270-8441

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

*Note: All festivals and events mentioned above are subject to change depending on the COVID-19 situation.

Gwangju News,

The Author

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

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

Created by Jon Dunbar

1 GFN’s “ Top of the ___”

5 Nuke, for instance

8 Womans university in Seoul

12 Indie-folk band Bon ___

13 Hwang-ok or Gyun

14 “___ I say, not as I do” (2 words)

15 Change the appearance of

17 Type of computer virus

18 Wind or water

19 Opposite of loser, at the KOSPI

21 Feeling sick

22 Goes with Yoo or Cha

23 Annual event in Gwangju in Oct.

26 Popeye’s girlfriend Olive

27 “J to ___ Lo!”

30 Kim Ji-ha or Yi Sang

31 Simpsons’ bartender

32 Korean surname possibly meaning white

33 Booker T ’s backup band

34 Sopwith Camel pilots

35 Movers and shakers

36 Stuntman Knievel

38 Park or Leno

39 Prominent Buddhist thinker with a bridge named after him

41 “It’s me again” (2 words)

45 “ To win ___ lose” (2 words)

46 British label that signed DBGC and Say Sue Me

48 Eager, bright

49 Unit of electrical resistance

50 Brennan or McDonough

Look for the answers to this crossword puzzle to appear in November in Gwangju News Online (www.gwangjunewsgic.com).

51 Feeling hurt

52 Charles or Liotta

53 One of the big three shipbuilders of Korea

DOWN

1

Desperate

2

Winnebago owner

3 Island in Hallyeohaesang National Park

4 Foretell

5 Spin around

6 Ryan or Tilly

7 Gwangju stream that causes 31 down

8 Hubble or Starr

9 Pentathlon competitor Jun

10 Animal that lost to the tortoise

11

Quiet online video genre

16 Word often seen at Korean gas stations

20 Early internet provider

23 Typist’s statistic

24 Gluttonous pig

25 One who holds a grudge

26 Clumsy exclamation

28 Opposite of him

29 Education institute in Bundang

31 Foul smell

32 BTS or BigBang (2 words)

34 Palpatine’s granddaughter

35 Condemn to hell

37 “RuPaul’s Drag Race” channel

38 Kyaw Min Yu’s nickname

39 Stir-fry pans

40 Black-and-white cookie

42 Lincoln and Vigoda

43 Ingredient in jogaetang

44 Actor MacLachlan

47 “ Take on Me” band