[EN] Gwangju News November 2020 #225

Gwangju & South Jeolla International Magazine

Gwangju and South Jeolla International Magazine I November 2020 #225 Addresing Human Rights 2020

November 2020 #225

Addressing Human Rights 2020 2020 11

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Gwangju & South Jeolla International Magazine

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From the Editor There’s a crispness in the air, and the final stages of the season’s harvest are underway as the evening temperatures dip into the single digits. The napa cabbages are maturing before being cut for the approaching kimchi-making season and before the onset of killer frost.

November 2020, Issue 225 Published: November 1, 2020 Cover Photo

WHRCF 2020: Todd Howland and Mayor Persen

THE EDITORIAL TEAM Publisher Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Production Editor Layout Editor Photographer Communications Proofreaders

Online Editor

Dr. Shin Gyonggu Dr. David E. Shaffer William Urbanski Isaiah Winters Melline Galani Kim Hillel Yunkyoung Jeong Jiyeon Timothy Berg, David Foster, Di Foster, Tara Kulash, Elisabeth Loeck, Jonathan Moffett, Joseph Nunez Stephen Redeker, Gilda Wilson Melline Galani

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

The Gwangju News is published by Gwangju International Center: Jungang-ro 196-beon-gil 5 (Geumnam-ro 3-ga), Dong-gu, Gwangju 61475, South Korea Tel: (+82)-62-226-2733~34 Fax: (+82)-62-226-2731 Website: www.gwangjunewsgic.com Email: gwangjunews@gic.or.kr GwangjuNews gwangjunews

For volunteering and article submission inquiries, please contact the editor at gwangjunews@gic.or.kr.

Special thanks to Gwangju City and all of our sponsors.

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Beyond the city limits, we take you to the temple remains of Unjusa, a coup d’oeil of France at Meta Provence, and the colors of autumn in the hills of Naejang-san. Outside of Korea, we guide you to a spectacular fortress and beautiful park in Belgrade, and provide a glimpse of small-town Alabama in the U.S. You will learn in this issue some little-known facts about Admiral Yi Sun-shin and his turtle ships. You can learn how an expat views country life as opposed to living in the city, how an international conference is organized, and how to make hotteok pancakes. There’s some Korean for you to learn, opinion on language learning bias, our book review, and our crossword puzzle – all for you this November. Enjoy.

David E. Shaffer Editor-in-Chief Gwangju News

November 2020

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

While you are indoors and social-distancing, you can relax with your copy of November’s Gwangju News and browse through the contents that we have compiled for your reading this month. We bring you two feature articles on two participants at October’s World Human Rights Cities Forum: one a UN representative, the other a Norwegian mayor. Traveling around the city, we introduce you to artist Han Heewon and his museum. And we bring you more this issue on musician Jeong Chu, a forgotten native of Gwangju. We introduce you to a quiet drawing café, a spicy Thai restaurant, a colorful hair salon, and an addictive inline roller skating rink, as well as odds and ends from our resident urban explorer. www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Copyright © 2020 by the Gwangju International Center. All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by this copyright may be reproduced in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without the written consent of the publisher.

Yes, it must be November.

The season conjures up memories of a poem I had to learn and recite in school – “When the Frost Is on the Punkin” by James Whitcomb Riley: When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock, / … / O’ it’s then’s the times a feller is a-feelin’ at his best, / With the risin’ sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest, / As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock, / When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.

This November, however, there is one anomaly that keeps a fellow from “a-feelin’ at his best”: the killer coronavirus. As the falling temperatures bring people indoors into closer and not-as-well-ventilated quarters, we need for every “feller” to continue to strictly follow the COVID-prevention measures – for themselves, their families, friends, and other “fellers.”

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Photo of the Month

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s the skies narrate another story of climate change, post-corona life (are we there yet?) has not been the same. Despite the peace and calmness in the air, chaos does not remain unheard of. The fear of the known unknown has handicapped the life of many, including the children. Their blossoming minds, unfortunately, are missing out on a major part of childhood. With schools shut, friends at a distance, and entertainment facilities closed, the creativity of fragile minds is hampered, and the longing to socialize is inevitable. Amidst the pandemic, a carefree expat, four-year-old Mohammad Azlan, rides piggyback on his father so as to not miss out on the greens and blues of Chosun University, the alma mater of his Pakistani parents.

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The Photographer

Dr. Tooba Arifeen is a published researcher and computer engineer by profession. Tooba has always had a flair for writing on moments of life. She refers to her scribbles as “One life and a million thoughts.” With her son being born and raised in Gwangju, it is no wonder Gwangju will always be home to her. Instagram: @toobaarifeen

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CONTENTS November 2020

MONTHLY NEWS 04. Gwangju City News 56. ACE Fair FEATURES 06. Addresing Human Rights: From Gwangju to the UN 09. “Thinking Globally, Acting Locally” – Mayor Marte Mjøs Persen 12. People in the Arts: Han Heewon BLAST FROM THE PAST 18. The Legends of Yi Sun-shin and His Turtle Ships TRAVEL 20. Lost in Gwangju: Odds and (Dead) Ends – The Third Coming 24. Around Korea: Unjusa 27.Around Korea: Damyang’s Meta Provence 30. From Abroad: Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park

FOOD & DRINKS 44. Cafe Review: Cafe Tone and Its Healing Power 46. Restaurant Review: Grill Thai 47. Recipe: Hotteok – Filled Korean Pancakes TEACHING & LEARNING 29. Everyday Korean: Episode 35 – 음식 배달 (Food Delivery) 50. Language Teaching: Organizing a Teaching Conference THOUGHTS & OPINION 48. Language Learning and Associated Bias CULTURE & ARTS 02. Photo of the Month 23. Crossword Puzzle 34. Photo Essay: Autumn Hues of Naejang-san 43. The Black-Haired Tchaikovsky 53. Book Review: The Man They Wanted Me to Be SPORTS & ACTIVITIES 54.Glide Through the Weekend at RollerHolic!

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

COMMUNITY 36. Gwangju Abroad: “Sweet Home Alabama...”

38. Local Entrepreneurs: F5 Hair Room 41. Expat Living: Country Life vs. City Life

Issue 225

November 2020

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Gwangju City News Reprinted with permission from Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall

Jeonil Building 245 Becomes “Hidden Tourist Destination”

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

MONTHLY NEWS

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eonil Building 245 was selected as a “hidden tourist attraction” for the fall season recommended by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization. Since 2019, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization have been promoting the “hidden tourist destination” project to introduce new and seasonally (quarterly) tourist destinations that are open only for a limited period of time.

This fall season’s “hidden tourist destinations” received 2209 online applications in July alone, and seven tourist destinations nationwide were carefully selected by a committee composed of tourism experts such as travel writers and journalists.

Jeonil Building 245 was reborn as a space for the future that preserves the past and stories from the May 18 Democratization Movement. The selection committee evaluated it as a place worth visiting, with the life and history of Gwangju that goes beyond the bullet impact craters that are believed to have been caused by helicopter fire during the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980, and selected it as the only hidden tourist destination to be selected in the in Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk area.

Jeonil Building 245 is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the summer and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the winter. Among its attractions are “19800518,” a May 18 memorial space built around the original place where the bullets were shot from the helicopter during the May 18 uprising; the “Namdo Tourist Center,” where tourist information on Gwangju and nearby locations can be obtained; and the “Digital Information Library,” where DVDs and videos can be enjoyed through laptops and tablets, available from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Tours with explanations are available for the entire building or personalized for each area (19800518, Namdo

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Tourism Center, etc.). Regular tours are offered five times a day for groups of at least 10 people. However, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the number of tourists per tour is limited to 20.

Kim Jun-young, head of the city’s Cultural Tourism and Sports Department, said, “Jeonil Building 245, which contains a May 18 memorial space of the painful history in Gwangju, won the grand prize at the Korea Spatial Culture Awards and was selected as a hidden tourist destination by the Korea Tourism Organization. We will make more efforts to develop Jeonil Building 245 as a cultural and tourism resource representing Gwangju.”

After 52 months of remodeling, Jeonil Building 245 was opened on May 11 after being transformed into a multicultural complex called “Citizens Plaza” (basement to 4th floor); Gwangju Contents Hub (5th to 7th floor); and May 18 Memorial Space (19800518), and Jeonil Maru and Chimney Garden (8th floor & rooftop), which are observation and rest spaces.

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5 For the fall season of 2020, the seven “hidden tourist destinations’ selected nationwide are as follows: 1. Jeonil Building 245, Gwangju 2. Seoul Hongje Yooyeon 3. Beteul Rock trails, Donghae City, Gangwon-do 4. Glass observatory at Yongchu Waterfall, Uilimji, Jecheon, Chungcheongbuk-do 5. National Ocean Science Museum, Uljin-guk, Gyeongsangbuk-do 6. Pyochung Temple, Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do, Uri Ai Maeum Forest and National Miryang Weather Science Center, and Miryang Arirang Space Observatory 7. Jeju Seogwipo Healing Forest Jeonil Building 245 Tour Application and Inquiries: 062-225-0245.

Namdo Tourist Center Inquiries: 062-223-3631.

19800518 Inquiries: 070-7707-0056.

structure project. Gwangju City; the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; the Buk-gu District Office; the City Museum of Art; and the Gwangju Biennale Foundation finalized the basic plan in August after coordinating the details through working-level discussions for the project.

Among the five projects, Gwangju City will complete the public design project to create an art space around the Biennale Exhibition Hall, and the remaining four projects will be assigned by the Buk-gu Office before the end of the year. The 13th Gwangju Biennale will be postponed to February due to the COVID-19 situation.

“We will continue to improve the landscape around the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall and around the Asia Culture Center to create an artistic urban landscape suitable for the Asian cultural city of Gwangju,” said Kim Jun-young, head of the city’s culture, tourism, and sports office.

City Holds Gwangju Outdoor Advertising Awards Exhibition

Gwangju City is initiating a project at the Biennale Exhibition Hall to raise the international status of the Gwangju Biennale, one of the world’s five biennales, and to make it a cultural tourist attraction. This year, Gwangju City has been selected for the “Visual Image Improvement Project for International Culture and Arts Events,” a pilot project sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

Gwangju City held the 15th Gwangju Outdoor Advertising Awards Exhibition in Sangmu Subway Station from October 23 to 25 to improve the level of publicizing and establish an advanced advertising culture. Hosted by Gwangju City and organized by the Gwangju Metropolitan City Outdoor Advertising Association, the exhibition featured 75 works, including 13 creative advertisement models, 21 creative commercial designs, one aesthetic sign, and 40 drawings by the winners of the Children’s Pretty Signboard Drawing Contest.

British industrial designer Karim Rashid, who has won the Daimler Chrysler Award, and U.S. graphic designer Paula Scher, who produced the Citibank logo, will participate in the Biennale’s art platform and welcoming-

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The competition, which celebrated its 15th anniversary this year, contributed greatly to improving the quality of outdoor advertisements, as well as raising citizens’ awareness of commercial advertising and their confidence in outdoor advertisements. Kim Jong-ho, head of the city’s Architecture and Housing Division, said, “We hope that citizens will pay a lot of attention to outdoor advertising design, which creates a beautiful street environment and urban beauty, so that it can contribute a more beautiful street landscape.”

November 2020

Plans consist of creating a structure (welcome sign) that welcomes visitors to the entrance and exit of the Biennale Exhibition Hall, an art platform aimed to improve the walking environment by expanding the street adjacent to the plaza of the Biennale, and a project to create a street illuminated with a city symbol to establish an image as a city brand in connection with the Biennale by installing night lighting and symbol lighting at the main entrance to the Biennale.

A total of 218 works, including 60 works of models and designs for creative advertisements, 8 works of aesthetic signboards, and 150 works of pretty signboards by elementary school students were submitted to the outdoor advertising competition held from August to September.

The judging committee composed of experts selected outstanding works from each category at the end of September.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

The main contents of the project is to create a media facade to improve the night view by projecting media art images on the outside wall of the Biennale Exhibition Hall and a public design project to create an art space around the exhibition hall by removing existing walls in the square to create lighting sculptures and rest areas.

MONTHLY NEWS

Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall to Get Face-Lift

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Addressing Human Rights: From Gwangju to the UN Interview with Todd Howland Interview by Younglee Han

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

FEATURE

We often confer respect on the basis of the job title one holds without regard to their journey to get there. Mr. Todd Howland deserves admiration for both his journey and the present work he is doing as a branch chief at OHCHR. He now holds a coveted position at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and was a critical participant of the recent World Human Rights Cities Forum (WHRCF). At WHRCF 2020, Mr. Howland was a discussant for the first plenary session of the Forum, “Human Rights Cities: Addressing Social Unrest, Learning from the Historical Past.” Mr. Howland recently took the time to share with the WHRCF team and the Gwangju News not just about the incredible work he is currently doing with the OHCHR but about the path that he took to get to where he is today.

WHRCF: First of all, thank you for taking the time to conduct this interview with us. For starters, would you mind telling us a little about yourself, including your background and where you are from?

Todd Howland: I am currently the chief of the Right to Development, Sustainable Development, and Economic and Social Rights Branch of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva.

I have served as the OHCHR representative in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola. I worked in the first OHCHR field office in post-genocide Rwanda and also had a short assignment with the OHCHR in Equatorial Guinea.

I have authored over 25 scholarly articles on human rights, including in the Human Rights Quarterly. In addition, I have published extensively on human rights in newspapers and magazines, including in the Washington Post and LA Times.

I was also director of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights in Washington, D.C., and I worked at El Rescate, the European Commission, and in Ethiopia for the Carter Center. I hold a juris doctorate with an emphasis in human rights law and was a visiting fellow at the Harvard Human Rights Program. I also had the good fortune to teach human rights law at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul for two semesters.

WHRCF: How exactly did you become involved in the field of human rights? Was there a particular moment or a person who inspired you to follow this line of work?

Todd Howland: When I was growing-up in Minnesota, USA, and was about 14 years old, one of my best friends

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died from an environmentally caused form of bone cancer. I was old enough to start doing research on this type of environmentally caused diseases. I found that so much of this type of cancer was caused by toxics put into our environment by someone who valued money over the lives of others. This personal experience helped me to see the multiple injustices around me and motivated me to get a skill set to address them.

WHRCF: How did you first become involved in the UN human rights system? Can you tell us about that experience? It would seem like your posting overlapped with the peak of the Rwandan genocide, right?

Todd Howland: I arrived in Rwanda at the end of the genocide as part of the OHCHR’s first field operation.

I had just completed an assignment for the OHCHR in Equatorial Guinea and was giving the report of my work in Geneva, when I was asked if I spoke French and whether I had an interest in joining their first field operation. I still remember hitchhiking from the airport in Kigali to the office, as not only had there been a genocide but also significant infrastructural damage, and our office was just getting off the ground and did not even have vehicles to spare.

I was put in charge of the work to help rebuild the institutions needed to uphold human rights. We did a good deal of work related to transitional justice, prisons, and policing, as well civil society. It was both a traumatic and rewarding experience to contribute at that moment in time.

WHRCF: Tell us a little about your experience living and teaching in Korea. What are some of your most vivid

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7 memories from your time here?

Todd Howland: I enjoyed the intensity of my students and their desire to contribute to making the world a better place. They were so open to looking at things differently and to innovation and creativity. I really enjoyed working with them.

WHRCF: We see that you do a lot of work with all types of students around the world. Can you speak about your views on the type of work you do with younger people, and also on why it is important to train the next generation as defenders of human rights?

Todd Howland: If we do not bother to spend time with interns or give young people a chance, we miss an opportunity to gain insight into their world, and we fail to recognize that human rights is an ongoing struggle: one that can take generations to achieve the positive changes we seek.

Local governments should be increasingly involved in the work of regional and international human rights mechanisms, and in implementing relevant recommendations. Local governments should be more engaged in both preparations for and participation in state delegations attending sessions of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review and the treaty bodies.

WHRCF: In regard to Gwangju’s World Human Rights Cities Forum, can you talk about the importance of instilling a culture of human rights at the local/city level?

Some of the world thinks of the UN as a “nation-based” institution, but what role does the OHCHR have in forwarding principles of human rights at a local level?

Todd Howland: In the international human rights law framework, central government has the primary responsibility for the promotion and protection of human rights. But local government has an important complementary role to play. Central governments should provide information to local governments on human rights and the state’s obligations. This includes ensuring

WHRCF: The upcoming forum will be Gwangju’s tenth annual WHRCF. Over the past decade, the forum has grown in funding allocated towards it and in international participation. What contribution, in your opinion, has the forum made in the promotion of human rights in Korea and internationally?

Todd Howland: The OHCHR has been participating in the WHRCF for many years. At this important milestone of the tenth anniversary of the forum, and the 40th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, we are especially pleased to be one of the co-sponsors of the forum and have the high commissioner as a keynote speaker at the opening session. We think that the forum has, over the

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November 2020

More effort is needed to train local government officials and local actors on human rights, including on how to incorporate human rights protection into all levels of governance. The OHCHR is pleased to collaborate with the newly established Gwangju International Human Rights Education Center and share our experience and technical advice in promoting human rights education together with other partners such as UNESCO and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.

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At the Human Rights Council session in September 2020, the high commissioner stated that human rights principles, norms, and actions offer effective solutions to build stronger resilience to shocks and counter despair by preventing social, economic, and political instability.

There is an urgent need to rethink and transform cities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and to recover better by building more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable cities that respect and protect the rights of all its residents.

FEATURE

WHRCF: COVID-19 has completely changed the global landscape. Can you speak briefly about promoting human rights during this global pandemic?

Todd Howland: Beyond the health emergency, COVID-19 is a profound human crisis, deeply rooted in discrimination and inequalities. Cities are bearing the brunt of the crisis – with 90 percent of reported cases being in cities, many with strained health systems, inadequate water and sanitation services, and other challenges. This is especially the case in poorer areas, where the pandemic has exposed deeply rooted inequalities.

local laws, policies, and programs should be based on human rights norms and standards. Local governments should undertake self-assessments to monitor compliance with human rights. They should be encouraged to explore innovative ways of implementing human rights at the local level, adopting evidence-based laws, policies, and programs.

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last ten years, contributed significantly to catalyzing the human rights cities movement and elevating it to the global level. I think the leadership of Mayor Lee and the efforts and commitment by the citizens of Gwangju, present and past, to transform the suffering caused by human rights violations from oppressive violence in the past into upholding today’s universal values of human rights, have been critical to the success of the forum.

WHRCF: We understand you are heavily involved in the preparation of Plenary Session 1, Addressing Social Unrest: Learning from the Historical Past. Can you give us a sneak preview of what to expect in this session and share your thought process in setting it up?

Todd Howland: I have worked in a number of countries for the OHCHR. Social unrest is probably one of the

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November 2020

FEATURE

most challenging aspects of our work. Too often, we in the UN shy away from protests for fear of the response of governments. But it is our job to remind governments that protest is a normal form of political participation and that the state has obligations during the protests.

Often, protests arise due to underlying human rights violations. In each country where I have worked, I have tried to bring the protestors and governments together to discuss the underlying human rights violations as a means to limit tensions and find a durable solution.

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Mayors can play such an important role in addressing ongoing protests by meeting with protestors and taking seriously their demands, or they can greatly exacerbate tensions. Following protests, it is critical for mayors to address the root causes of the protests and seek to remedy any state violations committed during the protests. It is a constant process to learn from the past and improve the level of respect for the future. The panel will help us learn from the experience of various mayors who have had to deal with complex issues related to past protests.

WHRCF: Thank you, Mr. Howland, for your time for this interview and for your participation in this year’s WHRCF. Concluding Note: The World Human Rights Cities Forum is, of course, the byproduct of the awe-inspiring individuals who invest their time to share their knowledge with other human rights activists, politicians, community members, dreamers, etc. who believe in sharing their experiences for the benefit of a safer and more inclusive world. While Mr. Howland and the other participants in this year’s forum were able to fulfill these ambitions against the COVID-induced Zoom-webinar backdrop, we look forward to meeting Mr. Howland and all of our other extraordinary contributors next year in Gwangju for WHRCF 2021.

Photographs courtesy of Todd Howland.

The Interviewer

Younglee Han is a long-time coordinator at the Gwangju International Center and has managed logistics for the World Human Rights Forum for the last four years. She loves long walks in the countryside so long as there is a plate of seafood waiting for her at the end. Younglee is an avid dancer and a believer in the human spirit.

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“Thinking Globally, Acting Locally” Mayor Marte Mjøs Persen

FEATURE

▲ Mayor Persen (center) at Bergen’s Pride Festival.

Marte Mjøs Persen is the Mayor of the City of Bergen in Norway and has been involved in human rights in one form or another throughout her career. Her special interests include immigration and integration policy, social justice and climate policies, and also cultural policy. At the World Human Rights Cities Forum (WHRCF), Mayor Persen was part of the team that presented on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights on the first day of the forum.

She was kind enough to grant time for the following interview with the Gwangju News. — Ed.

Gwangju News (GN): Mayor Persen, thank you for providing time for this interview with the Gwangju News.

To begin with, would you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

Mayor Persen: Sure. I have been Mayor of the City of Bergen, Norway, since 2015 representing the Labour Party.

I have also been a member of the City Council of Bergen since 2003. During my first term on the City Council, I was a member of the Committee for the Environment and Urban Development. I then moved on to be the deputy chair of the Finance Committee and chaired the Committee on Health and Social Affairs. I am especially interested in immigration and integration policy, social justice, and climate policies, as well as cultural policy.

GN: Can you tell us about your experiences on the City Council of Bergen and the Committee for the Environment and Urban Development and what these committees have been able to accomplish?

Mayor Persen: I think my role as a local politician in quite a small city in a small country is to do what I can to make the city its best for people who are living in it and for people visiting the city. Our contributions can seem small in a global context, but I believe strongly that we need to do our best and that all contributions are important.

In our city, we have been able to cut CO2 emissions and air pollution by building a light rail to transport people all over the city, amongst other things. I like to think of myself as thinking globally and acting locally.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

GN: Please tell us how you became involved in human rights.

Mayor Persen: I have been concerned with issues of human rights for as long as I can remember. Before I became a full-time politician, I worked in a humanist organization dedicated to human rights and other humanist questions.

GN: You mentioned that you are especially interested in policy regarding immigration and integration, social justice, climate, and culture. Could you tell us a little about your beliefs and works in any of these areas or in human rights in general?

Mayor Persen: When I first started my life in politics, I was an activist and a student politician. I did it because I

November 2020

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FEATURE

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▲ Mayor Persen (center) at the annual Pepperkakebyen, building the world’s largest gingerbread town.

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November 2020

wanted to change our society and our political course. A lot has happened since then. Although most advancements have been positive, there are cases around the world where people have fewer rights today than thirty years ago. We see great democracies starting to show cracks and not being able to keep their own population safe. We see far-right movements getting elected into office with a desire to suppress members of their own communities.

I firmly believe that policymakers can make a difference in these matters. As a social democrat, my purpose is to reinforce everyone’s right, no matter who they are, what they believe in, or where they come from. A liberal democracy needs to play on the strength of its diversity.

Policymaking is about changing the society one bit at a time to implement structures so nobody is left behind in our society.

GN: We know that Bergen is about to become a human rights city, joining the family of human rights cities around the world. Could you tell us more about the process and your involvement?

Mayor Persen: It is a great honor for our city to achieve the status of a human rights city. Cities play a key role in upholding human rights. Since people live locally, this is the level of government where human rights should unfold.

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By becoming a human rights city, we put pressure upon ourselves in order to raise the bar on human rights. This will require the city to always have human rights in mind when developing new services. We must understand how human rights interact with our services, such as health and education, and make sure that everyone gets treated equally. This new status will also help us in becoming even better in integrating immigrants into our city and help us in becoming an inclusive city for all minorities.

As a human rights city, we will also demand actions from our businesses. They will have to show progress in cutting their carbon footprints, so that we can become a carbon-neutral city. Our hope is that the “human rights city” title will inspire inhabitants to do more in the spirit of human rights. We want to send a signal to the world that everyone needs to help out in making the world a better place.

GN: You participated in an intercultural event held at the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly Summer Session under the themes of “Urban Policies for the Inclusive Integration of Migrants.” Could you please tell us more about Bergen’s role in this session on urban policies?

Mayor Persen: Bergen is a city that increases in size every year. This demands a comprehensive strategy in order for

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11 our city to remain clean and fair for everyone. Population growth gives us opportunities that we otherwise would not have, but it does also require us to make smart moves for us to reduce our carbon footprint as well as local pollution. Fighting these different challenges can often lead to increased social inequality. The price of becoming a smarter city must be shared by all inhabitants. People with socioeconomic disadvantages must get better services in the Bergen of tomorrow. If not, we have failed.

The most basic and important task is to make sure that all people get paid for their labor.

FEATURE

GN: COVID-19 has completely changed the global landscape, can you speak briefly about promoting human rights in a global pandemic?

Mayor Persen: The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 is at its core a health crisis. However, the impact of this crisis reaches even further. The burden of the pandemic has not been carried out in a fair manner.

It is my strong belief that even when handling a major global crisis, we cannot compromise on maintaining acceptable standards of human rights. COVID-19 does not see race or sex, and it does not care about ethnicity, religion, or nationality. Still, we have indications that the virus does greater damage in deprived areas. Ultimately, the crisis increases the need for progressive human rights policies.

GN: The Gwangju News shares in your hope. Mayor Persen, we would like to thank you for this interview and

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for your work in human rights in your city, in Norway, in Europe, and globally through the World Human Rights Cities Forum.

Photographs courtesy of Jin Mæland and Municipality of Bergen.

November 2020

I am worried about the polarization of politics around the world. The current situation, with isolated news sources and echo chambers, does not promote a healthy political debate. As a mayor, my goal is to align different points of view. It is not a matter of everyone agreeing on everything but accepting our differences of opinion.

When cities are able to put forward progressive agendas to strengthen our efforts with regards to human rights, I see hope in that our nations will follow.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

GN: In regards to the Gwangju’s World Human Rights Cities Forum, could you tell us how important you consider instilling a culture of human rights at the local level?

Mayor Persen: Our role as local authorities is more important than ever before. With the great challenges ahead, we cannot solely rely on states and global stakeholders to solve our problems. Whether it is a question of saving the climate or insuring everyone’s human rights, local governments need to take action.

Without regional and local governments, there would not be any implementation of the acts of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

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FEATURE

12

Artist Han Heewon in his art museum.

People in the Arts: Han Heewon Interview by Jennis Kang

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

To enter my drawing room, I pass through four doors: the door to the dark stairs, the iron door to the hall, the door to my room, And the studio door.

When I paint, I close all the doors.

Sometimes I think no one would even know if I were to die within these four doors.

(From The Diary of Living Alone)

T

his is a poem by Han Heewon, an artist living in Gwangju’s Yangnim-dong. I went to visit his private art museum one rainy day. The public library was closed due to COVID-19, and his art gallery was also closed. If you follow the alleyway past the Lee Jang-woo House, an old hanok in Yangnim-dong, you will find Han Heewon’s art museum. Yangnim-dong remains a quiet, old sight. When I arrived in front of the museum, the entrance caught my eye. The gate was made of old, metal scaffolding flooring such as that once used when constructing buildings.

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In the 1960s and 1970s, it was difficult to build many needed bridges, so people erected wooden scaffolding to serve as bridges, such as the one across the upper reaches of the Gwangju Stream. This Ppong-ppong Bridge (뽕뽕다리) did not have a solid bottom to walk on. When I was young, I remember crossing the shaky bridge with my hand firmly in my mother’s. I was probably about three or four years old at the time, and I still remember seeing the water below through the large holes built into the metal flooring in the scaffolding that I was gingerly walking on. This still remains as a fear of mine. Han Heewon related to me that he built his museum gate with flooring for scaffolding to retain memories of the old Gwangju Stream, and he told me a great deal more in my interview with him.

Jennis Kang: Your paintings are like poetry. I feel the wind blowing over the blurred boundaries in your paintings. Refined grief. I wonder where that sadness came from. People say that the lives they live are with the character formed in their childhood, so I wonder what your childhood was like.

Han Heewon: Musicians make music using the same notes, but we can discern that some music is Tchaikovsky’s

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13 and others is Beethoven’s. I do not know. People say that they feel pathos in my paintings. I once tried to paint with bright colors. It looked bright in my eyes, but people said that there was fundamental sadness in it. Maybe it is just what suits me. Each person has a different originality.

Note: During the interview, I learned that Han Heewon’s parents were from a devout Christian family, and his father had attended Pyongyang Soongsil University as one of the first students of Dr. Yang Ju-dong. “Oh, Dr. Yang Ju-dong! What a special memory,” Han interjected.

“Yang was the one who wrote the Korean dictionary that I used throughout my elementary school days. I remember the name ‘Yang Ju-dong’ was imprinted in gold letters on a black cover.”

Jennis: So, you missed out on the primary right of children: all play and no work. Do you have any memorable episodes from those days?

Han Heewon: Yes, it was when my father was working as the principal of Gwangyang Technical High School.

We lived in school housing with a big garden. One day,

Jennis: I see. How was your life in Yangnim-dong as a teenager?

Han Heewon: I was able to make some friends. Unlike my older brothers and sisters who studied well, I immersed myself in reading novels about martial arts. I loved them so much that my dream was to be like Bruce Lee. In high school, I joined the taekwondo club and got a black belt by the time I graduated. My father passed away at that time.

Jennis: Oh, I am so sorry. How did someone who wanted to be like Bruce Lee wind up going to art school?

Han Heewon: Though I did not study hard during my teen years, I wanted to go to college. So, I took the entrance exams for three years in a row. During the second year of preparing for the entrance exam, I fell in love with writing poetry. When I was 20, I read a lot of poetry and wrote a lot, too. When I was preparing for the third exam, my sister recommended that I study painting. Maybe she recognized a hidden talent that I

FEATURE

After graduating from university in North Korea, Han’s father came to South Korea to work as a teacher. Born in Songjeong-ri as a late child, Han followed his father from workplace to workplace in various small towns in Jeollanam-do: from Naju, to Gwangyang, to Hampyeong, and Damyang. Even after entering elementary school, he moved from school to school at least once a year.

He told me that he could not make friends and had no opportunity to play spin-the-top or marbles.

my sister and I, just the two of us, were left alone, as my parents disappeared for days. The sudden absence of our sole care-providers gave me quite a shock. Later, it turned out that my father needed emergency surgery, and my mother stayed at the hospital to take care of him.

After recovering, my father bought a house in Yangnimdong and made sure that I no longer had to move from school to school as he worked at a small school in the countryside. From that time, I could see my parents only three or four times a year since my mother always stayed with my father to take care of him.

▼ The gate of the Han Heewon Museum of Art made of metal flooring for scaffolding.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

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14

FEATURE

Jennis: I read some newspaper articles about your first solo exhibition. One described your works as being so lyrical that they are somewhere between art and literature. I also felt that I was being told a story through your paintings. When did you decide to become a fulltime artist?

Han Heewon: After my first solo exhibition in 1993, galleries flooded me with exhibition offers and many people inquired about my paintings. So, I quit teaching and focused on painting. That was in February 1997, and in October of that year, the Asian Financial Crisis hit Korea. My wife had to close her bookstore, and I became a truly full-time artist.

▲ Artist Painting a Church in Tbilisi.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

was not aware of. I started going to Baek-je Art Academy, which was run by Oh Seung-yoon, one of Korea’s most famous painters, and this led to me entering art school at Chosun University. From then on, I thought painting would become my life. The two loves that I had been immersed in, poetry and taekwondo, provided a strong foundation for my painting.

Jennis: Poetry and taekwondo – you said these two things were the basis for your paintings. Poetry is understandable, but how can taekwondo impact your paintings?

Han Heewon: When you look at taekwondo, the movements are like a beautiful dance. Painting is also a connection between fast and slow moments. People call it the power of painting. The rhythm of painting is very similar to that of taekwondo.

Jennis: Wow. So, your former experiences had a big influence on your paintings. After graduation, you worked as an art teacher at several schools. When did you have your first solo exhibition?

Han Heewon: I held my first exhibition in an art gallery 14 years after my graduation. But actually, I went to the people with my visiting exhibitions. I thought that people who could not visit an art space such as an art museum or a gallery should be given a chance to experience paintings. So, I held exhibitions at marketplaces in Gurye, Gwangyang, Suncheon, and on a river bank on the outskirts of Suncheon.

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Jennis: Yangnim-dong, your “hometown” in Gwangju, has become an art street of the city that I would like for you to introduce to our readers. I heard that you played a big role in changing part of the Yangnim-dong area into an art street.

Han Heewon: Yangnim-dong is where many artists have lived. World-famous composers like Jeong Il-sung, Jeong Chu, and Jeong Geun, and poets like Kim Hyun-seung and Lee Soo-bok, as well as writers like Moon Soon-tae and Jo So-hye were born and have lived in Yangnimdong. I thought that Yangnim-dong should retain its rich scent of art. I wanted to share the inner artistry of Yangnim-dong through literature and art exhibitions.

So, I started to hold the Yangnim Festival by putting up posters by myself. The “Hello, Yangnim” Festival started with the support of the Nam-gu District Office, and I have been serving as chairman of the festival for the past ten years. My hope was that Yangnim-dong would not become too commercial.

Jennis: When and where is the “Hello, Yangnim” Festival held?

Han Heewon: The “Hello, Yangnim” Festival, which is normally held in October, is an autumn humanities festival. It brings an artistic sense to visitors with various contents in Yangnim-dong and Sajik Park. Sadly, we will not be holding the “Hello, Yangnim” Festival this fall because of COVID-19. Instead, another art festival will be held in the area – the Yangnim Alley Biennale, which runs from September 25 to December 31 this year, exhibiting works of Gwangju artists in cafes, restaurants, and other places wishing to become art spaces throughout the neighborhood. More than 18 cafes and restaurants will participate in displaying the works of 13 local artists throughout their establishments, and social distancing will be incorporated.

Jennis: When did you open the Han Heewon Museum of Art, which is one of the art spaces in the Yangnim Alley Biennale?

Han Heewon: In 2015, the Han Heewon Museum of Art was opened. It is a small art museum, but it is a place that

10/28/2020 10:49:11 AM

15 two prime ministers have visited, and we have hundreds of visitors every day. More than 200,000 people have visited so far.

Jennis: Wow, 360 works! That is a huge number! How did you get them back to Korea?

Han Heewon: It was not easy to take the artwork out of Georgia, so I painted acrylic on paper instead of oil on canvas. I sometimes sent pictures to Korea with my acquaintances who visited me in Tbilisi. They carried my paintings in their suitcases. Before I came back to Korea, my family also came to Tbilisi and carried back various pieces in their trunks.

THE INTERVIEWEE Han Heewon majored in Western painting at Chosun University, participated in more than 50 individual exhibitions and a number of group exhibitions. He

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opened the Han Heewon Museum of Art in 2015 and is the head of the “Hello, Yangnim” Festival Committee.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2015 UNESCO World Headquarters Exhibition (Paris) 2014 Korean Art Show (Soho, New York) 2011 Invitation Exhibition (Korean Embassy Cultural Center, London) 2009 Arko Museum of Art Exhibition (Istanbul) 2007 Hwarang Art Festival (COEX, Seoul) 2007 New York Art Expo (Javits Convention Center, NYC)

Han Heewon Museum of Art Location: 27-6 Yangchon-gil, Nam-gu, Gwangju 광주 남구 양촌길 27-6 Open: 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (Closed Mondays)

The Interviewer

Kang “Jennis” Hyunsuk is a freelance English tutor and once-in-a-while interpreter. She worked for the Asia Culture Center during its opening season and likes to grow greens and walk her dog.

November 2020

Jennis: Your career is a series of dramatic changes. Where do you think that “force” comes from?

Han Heewon: I think my life has been a series of choices, as it is for others. Quitting work as a teacher and becoming a full-time artist, opening the “Hello, Yangnim” Festival and the Museum of Art, leaving for Tbilisi, publishing a book... Actually, I do not think ahead too much or worry about my future. That might be the “force” that leads to the changes in my life.

▲ Old Man of Tbilisi Playing the Accordion.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Jennis: Recently, I bought and read your book, “Sketches of a Foreigner.” So, you published the book as soon as you returned from Tbilisi?

Han Heewon: Yes, I published my first collection of poems and artwork after 50 years as a poet and 45 years as an artist. I had lived as a stranger in Tbilisi, Georgia, and my poems and artwork were my only conversation partner. My previous works are also included in the book.

FEATURE

Jennis: I heard that you spent nearly a year in the European country of Georgia last year. Why did you decide to make that sudden move?

Han Heewon: I wrote columns in newspapers for over ten years, and I worked as the chairman of the World Swimming Competition’s cultural events committee. One day, I thought to myself that while I was getting more and more accolades, I was feeling more emptiness as an artist.

A friend of mine who runs a travel agency in Georgia suggested that I stay at an accommodation in Tbilisi, the capital. So, I went and stayed there about ten months.

My life of isolation started in a land where I could not communicate. After a couple of months, I felt like I was being strangled day after day. Because there was no one whom I could talk to, I just spent my time painting and writing poetry. Every afternoon, I walked and walked so much that I wore my shoes out. While there, I painted 360 works in ten months.

10/28/2020 10:49:13 AM

16

▲ Georgian Winter.

Han Heewon’s Artwork

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

▼ Men of Tbilisi.

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17

▼ Man Carrying His Accordian.

▲ Causasus Scene.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

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10/28/2020 10:49:21 AM

18

Blast from the Past

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

blast from the past

The Legends of Yi Sun-shin and His Turtle Ships Anyone who has been in contact with Korean history for a day has become aware that Admiral Yi Sun-shin is considered to be Korea’s preeminent military hero and his “turtle ships” are considered to be the world’s first iron-clad ships. We know that legends have a tendency to grow with time: Did George Washington really chop his ▲ Portrait of Yi Sun- dad’s cherry tree with a new hatchet, shin. (Busan Cultural or did his biographer, Mason Locke Heritage Material No. 56) Weems, create the story for the fifth edition of his biography of Washington? Similarly, how much of the legend of Admiral Yi and his legendary turtle ships is based on fact? Andrew Volle addressed this in two past issues of the Gwangju News’ Behind the Myth column: “Admiral Yi Sun-shin” (October 2013) and “The Turtle Ship” (January 2014). — Ed.

ADMIRAL YI SUN-SHIN: TRUTH OR MYTH?

Admiral Yi Sun-shin (이순신) is Korea’s greatest example of heroism, but how much of his story is true? Without a doubt, his military accomplishments were real. As a commander of Korea’s navy during the Imjin War, the admiral won all 23 naval battles he fought from 1592 to 1598. Even his amazing victory at the Battle of Myeongnyang (명량, island off the coast Jindo Island), in which his 13 ships defeated 133 Japanese ships in 1597, is not questioned by historians. The man was a strategic genius.

For his great contribution to winning the war that took his life, kings and scholars honored Admiral Yi for hundreds of years, but nobody considered him the perfect Korean.

(Indeed, a superior officer once falsely charged Yi with desertion in battle, for which Yi was imprisoned and tortured.) After Japan finally took control of Korea in 1895, however, the impression of Yi began to change.

Writers thought the people needed a good example to teach them how to fight off Japan. What better person could they choose than Yi, who helped save Korea from the last Japanese attacks?

The writers made Yi more than just a war hero though.

In The History of Joseon (조선상고사), Shin Chae-ho (신채호) told readers that Yi was “both a hero and a saint” sent by God. Later, Lee Gwang-su (이광수) wrote the long-running newspaper novel, “Yi Sun-shin,” to establish the admiral’s moral excellence. In the novel, Yi is almost a Korean Christ: a perfect but persecuted man

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who dies saving his stupid, evil people from themselves.

Yi continued to be elevated after Japan’s WWII defeat in 1945. South Korea especially encouraged people to admire Yi during the military rule of President Park Chung-hee from 1963 to 1979. As a war hero, Yi was a great symbol for the army-controlled government.

All this propaganda had the effect of greatly improving the drama of Yi’s story. In life, Yi sometimes filed exaggerated or false reports to the king, hoping to improve his name at the royal court. Today, Yi is known as a man motivated only by love for his country and men, and those who might become angry at Yi’s behavior are remembered as jealous, lying fools. People also think Yi was a genius at building ships, not only fighting with them; he is popularly (but wrongly) believed to have designed the world’s first war ship with iron armor: the turtle ship.

The most dramatic change to Yi’s story is the idea that Yi chose to die in his final battle. Some say Yi preferred death than to be treated badly again by an unappreciative king, so he took off his armor. Others say he wanted to inspire his men, so he stood at his boat’s front. Everyone agrees that as he died, Yi asked for his death to remain secret until after the battle.

The truth is, he might have. That is why historians need to rediscover the real Yi Sun-shin: He was neither the Buddha or a Genghis Khan, but behind Yi’s myth is a man worth knowing.

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19 THE IRONCLAD TURTLE SHIP: FACT OR FICTION Did Korea really invent the first ship with iron armor?

The question should be asked with sensitivity because of the national pride at risk in the answer. In particular, South Jeolla Province and its port town of Yeosu have long celebrated their status as the home of the geobuk-seon (거북선, turtle-ship), a warship supposedly protected from Japanese projectiles and boarding parties by an iron roof covered in spikes, said to be the first historical use of iron armor in naval warfare.

Nevertheless, evidence strongly supports the theory that the turtle ships designed in 1592 had only wooden roofs with iron spikes. In his book Yi Chungmugong Haeng-nok (이충무공행록), Yi Bun, nephew to the famous Admiral Yi Sun-shin, described the vessels in detail, explaining that “the turtle’s ‘back’ is a roof made with planks.” The prime minister of Joseon at that time, Yu Seong-nyong (류성룡), also reported that the ships were “covered by wooden planks on top.”

But even if the vessel’s architect, Na Dae-yong, did not cover his creations with metal, he still designed a ship worthy of Korean pride. (By the way, Na Dae-yong was a government official who resigned his post in 1587 to return to his hometown of Naju, South Jeolla Province, to devote himself to designing the geobuk-seon.) The geobuk-seon represented a multitude of advancements in shipbuilding. Ironically, one of these advances was the use of wooden nails (pins) instead of metal ones. Metal nails rusted, weakening the ship, but the wooden pins absorbed water and expanded in their holes, which strengthened the ships’ joints. More visibly, the ships became capable of shooting cannonballs directly fore and aft, a new maneuver that the sailors used to brutal advantage; they rammed enemy ships, then fired cannonballs at them at nearly point-blank range.

For now, however, the iron roof remains the mistaken focus of praise for the famed turtle ship.

Written by Andrew Volle.

Compiled by David Shaffer.

Sources 신채호. (1931). 조선상고사. Seoul: 조선사연구초. 이과수. (1930, June 26 – 1932, April 3). 이순신. Seoul: Dong-A Ilbo. 이분. (1613). 이충무공행록. Joseon.

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▲ Turtle ship replica at the War Memorial in Seoul, with ironclad roof of disputed historical existence. (Feth)

November 2020

▲ Drawing of a 16th-century turtle ship.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Contradictory evidence is almost nonexistent. Scholars find no mention of plated ships in any Korean writing from the era. Even Admiral Yi Sun-shin, who ordered the construction of the ships, wrote nothing of the idea in his journal, possibly because he realized that putting iron plates on the ships would have been a bad idea. The ships did not need the additional armor; thick wood was enough protection, since the Japanese used few cannons at sea. Moreover, cladding the ships in iron would have slowed them down. Since turtle ships were meant to ram other vessels, their speed was very important. Finally,

blast from the past

The turtle ship’s role in Korea’s national mythology is even more important than its role in world history. The ship gets a lot of attention in Korean retellings of the Imjin War, multiple invasions from Japan (1592–1598), which now symbolizes every war. Its creation and use suggests that Korea can compensate for its small size through ingenuity.

there was the expense: The iron needed to armor a single geobuk-seon equaled the cost of another geobuk-seon.

10/28/2020 10:49:24 AM

20

Lost in Gwangju

Odds and (Dead) Ends: The Third Coming

Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters

W

elcome to another wholesale liquidation of the half-baked rejects and lowbrow minutiae cluttering my workspace these last six months.

In this edition, we’ll first look at the latest doomsday dictum from Gwangju’s one-and-only Heavenly Father™.

Next, we’ll observe English’s longstanding role as a language of love for Gwangju’s lads on the down-low, and then bringing up the rear is a much-needed installation that abridges suicide in the City of Light. So, stow your trays and get ready for another uncomfortable ride.

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▲ Safely admiring the view.

When Your Preferred Pronoun is “God”

As you’ll recall, Choi “Heavenly Father” Ban-ok is Yangdong’s self-proclaimed messiah, and every so often he comes out with a new business card that reads like the Book of Revelation. Distributed freely from a card holder on his front door, I like to stop by every few months and catch up on his latest pocket-sized prophesies. As of my last visit in mid-October, he’s updated his rapture message, gotten a makeover, and newly festooned his home to accommodate a recent uptick in visitors.

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21 Basically, Heavenly Father’s scheme is to convince as many people as possible to register their names at a rural address he owns, which is where he’ll recreate heaven, or something. (How he’d actually profit from this is a mystery that’s captivated me for some time.) According to his latest card, heaven has apparently moved from a tiny rice field along the coast of Yeonggwang-gun to one of the nice little islands off the coast, so things seem to be looking up for him. For those of you who didn’t join his cult on the ground floor like I did, we rejoice in your lamentations.

In terms of his latest apocalypse message, there’s nothing much new. He still controls the world’s doomsday clock

English: The Language of Disparate Lovers

I’ve long believed that English, more than any other living tongue on Earth, is the undisputed language of love for disparate peoples. Of course, it’s not the sound, rhythm, or romanticism of English that makes it so. Instead, it’s the sheer number of both native and non-native speakers that allows more people of various unrelated backgrounds to randomly hook up than any other language. Pair up any two people with different mother tongues anywhere in the world over and over again and, most likely, English will emerge as the dominant enabler of intercourse.

TRAVEL

Aesthetically, his new card is more stylish than ever. I admit I felt American Psycho-like card envy when seeing its backside, which now bears his full-body portrait.

Sporting a sleek, buzzed head reminiscent of Charles Manson’s later years, Heavenly Father no longer dons the bold, red robes of his past. His attire of choice today is a refulgent space hanbok of shiny silver and white.

The way it sparkles over badly photoshopped blue skies and cottony clouds is simply paradisiacal. Tastefully, the only splash of color in his countenance is the word cheonbu (천부, Heavenly Father) tattooed in red across his forehead. With a mark like that, what more needs to be said?

and implores you to register at his new address in order to enter heaven. If you don’t, heaven will forever remain cordoned off. Since I’m already a member, I honestly find the warning sign posted on his front door far more interesting. It asks visitors not to knock, but instead to call out to Heavenly Father when seeking entry. As a stern coda, it says those who enter without Heavenly Father’s permission are subject to censure by heavenly decree.

When you take all the recent changes together – the stack of new white shoes out front, the updated cards, and the new makeover – it suggests that the house has been seeing an increase in visitors over the last six months. I wish the cult well.

An example of this is etched on the wall of a seedy back alley between Geumnam-ro and Daein Market.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

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November 2020

▲ Choi “Heavenly Father” Ban-ok is a one-man trinity.

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22

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

TRAVEL

Not far from a string of sex shops and senior-citizen dance clubs known as colatheques (콜라텍) is a sort of preinternet Grindr profile for someone seeking “behindsex” at “Korea teatre” on “土,” (토 / to, Saturday) at 4:00 p.m.

The specific spelling, capitalization, and lexicon used all offer insightful hints at who might have etched this enduring public service announcement. As your humble linguistic confidant, I’ve spent innumerable late nights wrapping my head around this longstanding enigma and have come to certain dispassionate conclusions.

Of course, “behindsex” isn’t the native English-speaking nomenclature, while “18–23 Age Men” uses rather unorthodox grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. Furthermore, the use of hanja (Chinese characters) to mark the day of the week is quite telling.

Also of particular interest is the spelling of “teatre” which, after a lot of late-night Googling (for research purposes, of course), links strongly to a few different theater venues in Barcelona, Spain. This could be because Spanish is likely the second-most common language spoken among lovers of disparate mother tongues, or maybe he was just sounding out “theater” in his head and, lacking a dictionary, came up with this unique spelling.

Ultimately, if I had to guess the background of this protoGrindr graffiti artist, I’d say he’s an older Korean male who’s learned a fair amount of English in life and maybe traveled to Europe a bit. If I had to venture an alternative guess, I’d say he was a transient European who loved going downtown for anonymous romps on weekends. (Note: In preparation for this article, I spent an entire Saturday afternoon in front of Gwangju Theater looking blissfully available but sadly failed to establish any liaisons. Maybe it was my age.) As they say, more research is required, I guess.

Bridging the Gap

Exactly two years ago, Lost in Gwangju covered the tragic beauty of Nam-gu’s Cloud Bridge, a 37-meter-high pedestrian overpass spanning a narrow valley along the ridge of Jeseok-san in Bongseon-dong. The bridge has unfortunately been the site of many suicides, including two in 2017 that took place on the same day. The victims were lovers in their twenties, one of whom was a young man suffering from mental and financial difficulties and the other a young woman who couldn’t stand to go on alone in his wake. A year and a half after that article was published, the bridge was given a significant safety facelift that ironically created an entirely new crisis.

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▲ Seeking Garrison finish downtown.

During a revisit to the bridge last spring, I was surprised to find that a forest fire had scorched much of the nearby mountainside. Even more surprising was the fact that the bridge’s safety railing had very recently been reinforced and topped with a spinning anti-suicide bar. After doing a little research, it turned out that while workers were cutting and welding the railing for the new safety installment, the nearby hillside caught fire, likely from sparks flying down onto the dry vegetation. Luckily, the fire was extinguished in about an hour and no one was injured.

Whereas the railing was previously only about chest high, now it towers above most people’s heads and curves inward, making it much harder to climb. The spinning top bar works a lot like beads on an abacus, with little spinning discs lining the bar’s entirety and making it hard to get a grip on the top rung. It’s an ingenious addition that has almost no effect on the stellar view and maintains the original aesthetic of the bridge. I’ve got nothing but praise for whoever proposed that fix and highly recommend you visit the bridge to enjoy both its beauty and ingenuity.

There you have it, dear readers. I hope you’ve enjoyed the third coming of Odds and (Dead) Ends. Whether you’re in search of an up-and-coming cult, weekend passion, or a new lease on life, Lost in Gwangju’s got you covered.

The Author

Originally from Southern California, Isaiah Winters is a Gwangju-based urban explorer who enjoys writing about the City of Light’s lesser-known quarters. When he’s not roaming the streets and writing about his experiences, he’s usually working or fulfilling his duties as the Gwangju News’ heavily caffeinated chief proofreader.

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23

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

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

Created by Jon Dunbar

DOWN 1 October event by KYARK Culture and Arts Exchange 2 Philippine province 3 Enemies 4 Baseball players need this 5 Teachers’ job 6 Apiece 7 Campfire treat 8 Former students 9 Early PC sound file 10 Fire residue 11 Green Gables’ resident 19 The closest star 21 Genre similar to polka 23 Mark caused by rubeola 25 Who, what, where, ___, when, and why

ACROSS

26 Aid to developing countries

1 Bibim Film Fest supporter

36 Electronics port label

27 In media ___

4 Honey makers

37 Go with double-killer or redbanded sand

28 Hush sound

8 Prehistoric settlement site in southeastern Seoul

39 China’s Yellow River

13 Driver or Sandler

43 Car, ___ Garden

14 Maned feline

44 Gwangju-born composer Jeong

15 Former Japanese PM 16 Breaking Bad’s Salamanca

48 Doosan’s contracted apartment brand

17 Japanese noodle

52 Gasteyer and Kasparian

18 Commotion

53 Indian woman’s garment

20 2016 war film “Operation ___”

55 Actor Wheaton

22 Actress Thurman

56 Troubled asset management firm

24 Long period of time

57 Standing on top of

25 Go with Asian giant or black-bellied

58 Sew

29 Former JYP girl group 33 “___ to My Father” 34 Fables writer

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59 Thumb drives 60 Gwangju ___ 61 Bezos’ cloud computing platform

31 Susie or Do-ho 32 Lumberjack’s tool 35 Have no more use for, especially clothes 38 Vigilante mobs 40 Opposite of 41 across 42 Southern Seoul park for Ahn Chang-ho 44 China’s Amnok River 45 Similar to colleges 46 Young sheep 47 SKC’s web portal 49 “Womans” university in Seoul 50 ___ Folly 51 Common city trees 54 Network addresses

November 2020

41 Opposite of 40 down

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12 Taiji or Jae-pil

30 Droop

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24

Around Korea

Stone sculptures of the Reclining Buddha.

TRAVEL

Unjusa

Stone pagoda hiding in the hills.

The Temple of 1,000 Buddhas and 1,000 Pagodas

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November 2020

Written and photographed by Melline Galani

T

emples are an important part of the Korean landscape; from bigger to smaller or more famous to more unknown, they can be found almost everywhere. In the past three years, I have been traveling around Korea enough to visit many such places, but only a few have made a strong impression on me. Among these temples, there is one rather close to Gwangju, in Hwasun, Jeollanam-do, called Unjusa (운주사). I first discovered this place in 2015 while on vacation and was really impressed, promising myself I would return. I finally did so in August 2020.

Unjusa is less than 40 kilometers away from Gwangju, making it easy to visit. It is known among Koreans as “the temple of a thousand Buddhas and a thousand pagodas” because it is believed that about 1,000 statues of Buddha and pagodas originally existed there, lasting until the devastation of the Japanese invasions (Imjin War) of the 16th century. The reconstruction projects of the 19th and 20th centuries brought Unjusa to its present form.

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25 It is the only temple in the area to have these sculptures made of stone. It is quite unique, and its initial foundation has been estimated to date to the late 10th or early 11th century in the Goryeo Dynasty according to excavation research performed in 1984–89 by Chonnam National University1. Presently, it is home to some 21 pagodas and 94 additional sculptures of the Buddha2.

If you go by car, as I did, I suggest avoiding the expressway and taking the countryside roads. The scenery is breathtaking if you know how to look for and appreciate the beauty of nature. Moreover, this provides a good opportunity to take a closer look at life in the countryside, especially now that COVID-19 has affected us so deeply.

For me, these kinds of trips on the sideroads are like a healing therapy.

A prosperous center of Buddhism in the past, Unjusa itself may not be spectacular or too different from other temples in Korea for some visitors. Its uniqueness lies in the stylistic characteristics and spatial arrangements of its stone Buddhist figures and pagodas, making it a must-see touristic destination in Jeollanam-do.

As it is a small temple, visiting Unjusa does not take long.

Still, a short visit could be made into a longer one by enjoying the surrounding nature, enjoying a sandwich, or hiking in the neighboring mountains. My children and I spent two hours exploring the area, stopping to admire

TRAVEL

The temple is located in a valley surrounded by hills.

Just a couple hundred meters up the pathway, after the entrance gate, there is a collection of stone Buddhas lying in an open field. Going straight, there is a clearing where the vast majority of the temple’s pagodas and Buddha statues are located. The first of these pagodas is the NineTier Stone Pagoda. This pagoda was created during the Goryeo Dynasty, is the tallest pagoda at the temple, and is made in a very simple style with no patterns or decorations on it.

Many Buddha images and pagodas are dispersed along the way to the peak. The stone Buddha sculptures of Unjusa are in various positions such as sleeping, standing, seated, or back-to-back. The sculptures and pagodas are spread all around, including in the surrounding hills. The trails are beautiful and along them a collection of stone pagodas, statues, and other Buddhist sculptures can be admired. Once you reach the top, the view of the Hwasun area unfolds before your eyes. Near the top lies a pair of twelve-meter-long stone sculptures of the Buddha from the Doseon-guksa creation myth3. They are called the Stone Sculptures of the Reclining Buddha, and they look as though they are sleeping. In Korean, they are referred to as wabul (와불).

▼ Some stone Buddha statues.

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November 2020

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26

TRAVEL

▲ The view of the Hwasun area.

A simple stone Buddha Pagoda.

all the stone carvings and pagodas, taking many pictures, and hiking all the trails on both sides of the temple. If your weekend allows for only a short trip and you want to get away from the confinement of the city to breathe in the nature of the countryside and the Korea of centuries past, consider a visit to the pagodas and Buddhas of Unjusa.

Footnotes 1

2

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November 2020

3

Kim, Hee-tae. (2019). Unjusa Temple and its striking array of Buddhist statues and pagodas. Korean Heritage. http://www. koreanheritage.kr/feature/view.jsp?articleNo=19 Koreabridge.

(2020).

Unjusa (Hwasun, Jeollanam-do). http://koreabridge.net/post/unjusa-temple-%E2%80%93%EC%9A%B4%EC%A3%BC%EC%82%AC-hwasun-jeollanam-dodostoevsky2181 The famed monk Doseon-guksa (827–898 A.D.) established Unjusa.

It is said that Doseon-guksa founded the temple based on the theory of geomancy. It was believed by Doseon-guksa that the land was like a ship. See http://www.san-shin.net/Doseon-guksa.html

UNJUSA (운주사)

The Nine-Tier Stone Pagoda.

Address: 91-44 Cheontae-ro, Doam-myeon, Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do 전남 화순군 도아면 천태로 91-44 Phone: 061-374-0660 Operating hours: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Website: https://www.unjusa.kr/

The Author

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Melline Galani is a Romanian enthusiast, born and raised in the capital city of Bucharest, who is currently living in Gwangju. She likes new challenges, learning interesting things, and is incurably optimistic.

Instagram: @melligalanis

10/28/2020 10:49:33 AM

Around Korea 27

Damyang’s Meta Provence South Jeolla’s Hidden Gem Written by Katy Clements

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November 2020

The Metasequoia Path is usually peaceful and picturesque to walk down, but at the precise time that we were there, it was a little unkempt and lonely. Perhaps it was because of

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It has occurred to me recently that Korea seems to be enthralled by the French lifestyle. In every city, there are dozens of Paris Baguettes and Tous Le Jours. In bookstores and stationery stores, you can always find notebooks or pencil cases that depict the Little Prince of storybook fame. I have heard that Seoul has a small village called Petite France, and I always dreamed of visiting it, but I was so amazed that South Jeolla had such a gem! The pictures of the Provence were so quaint and elegant that my curiosity was sparked, and I knew my friend had to experience this place. On the day that I visited, my friend and I traveled from Incheon to Gwangju via bus. From there, we stowed her luggage in a locker and boarded bus number 10 to the Damyang bamboo forest. After we finished visiting the forest (it was sweltering!), we traveled down what is known as the Metasequoia Path.

TRAVEL TRAVEL

W

hen I first planned to move abroad to Korea, I had hopes of sightseeing all over the peninsula.

However, after taking my first job at an intense kindergarten hagwon, I spent a lot of my vacation time asleep or taking care of extra schoolwork. Last summer, my closest friend from America made plans to visit me over the Chuseok holiday, and I quickly compiled a list of places to take her to. Since I still was obligated to work while my friend was visiting, I needed to find tourist attractions in South Jeolla Province, specifically close to Mokpo. Of course, one of my first selections was the bamboo forest in Damyang. Most of us know all about the epic, sprawling beauty of this attraction. However, not too many people are aware that in Damyang there is a picturesque French area known as the Meta Provence.

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28

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

TRAVEL

the holiday, but the walk to the Provence was something I had been looking forward to. After about half an hour, we reached the intersection and crossed to reach the entrance to the Meta Provence. Since it was later in the evening and the sun had begun to set, the Provence was lit up brightly, and you could hear soft instrumental music. As soon as I set my eyes on the Provence, I knew that the trip had been successful. At the time, there had been some construction going on in the west area of the Provence, but now I know it was because they were expanding its Insect Zoo. To the left of the construction area, was a brand-new pension area that had been registered in June 2019. According to the website, there are four pensions to choose from. One building, called Mansion de Provence is a pool villa and has rooms available in four different styles! However, on the cheapest night you would be paying at least 250,000 won per night! I honestly think that a night in the beautiful Provence would be worth it.

Next, I walked to the cafe complex. Around the shops, my friend and I saw adorable life-sized macaron statues, beautiful art replicas, and a fountain that had a unique Phantom-of-the-Opera-type mask statue. Nearby, there was a quaint, little red phone booth that was perfect for a photo op! It is easy to see how anyone who goes there could spend an entire afternoon! The cafes were all very cozy as well. In one cafe, we bought an ice cream cone and browsed in the windows of the other cafes. Most cafes had quaint dolls and pillows for decoration. Even though most of the decor was not in the French style, it was different and warm. Most crafts looked handmade and all of the baristas were warm and friendly. The buildings all around us were pastel and old-fashioned looking. At the time that I was there, you could enter most of the buildings.

According to the website, in August, an outlet area would open! This gives me more than enough reason to go back.

I highly recommend the Meta Provence to anyone in South Jeolla looking for a nearby day trip. I was thoroughly amused by how much effort the city put into constructing such a beautiful place. I want to encourage readers to seek this place out and bring their friends. I would love it if the Provence received more attention and funding. Combined with the bamboo forest, Damyang provides a hidden relaxation destination!

Photographs courtesy of Katy Clements.

The Author

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Katy Clements lives in Mokpo with her husband. She works at an academy and is from the U.S. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, reading, and nature.

10/28/2020 10:49:39 AM

29

Everyday Korean Episode 35 음식 배달 (Food Delivery)

앤드류:

누나, 뭐 드실래요?

[Nuna, mwo deu-shil-lae-yo?]

Andrew:

Nuna (=Jeongmin), what will you have?

정민:

배달시켜요? 식당에 안 가요?

[Bae-dal-shi-kyeo-yo? Shik-ttang-e an ga-yo?]

Jeongmin: Are you ordering? Are we not going to the restaurant?

By Harsh Kumar Mishra

Grammar

앤드류:

코로나 때문에 식당으로 가는 것보다 시켜 먹는 게 낫지요.

[Corona ttae-mun-e shik-ttang-eu-ro ga-neun geot-bo-da shi-kyeo meong-neun ge nat-ji-yo.]

Andrew:

Due to COVID-19, won’t it be better to order out and eat in than go to a restaurant?

정민:

그 말이 맞네. 앤드류는 무슨 앱을 써?

[Geu ma-ri man-ne. Andrew-neun mu-seun app-eul sseo?]

~ 지요: This sentence ending is used with

~ 때문에: This is used after noun to express that something is the reason behind something.

Ex: : 시험 때문에 많이 바빠요.

I’m very busy because of my exam.

Vocabulary 배달시키다 낫다 앱 쓰다 주문하다 맛있다 추천하다 할인쿠픈

order (have it delivered) be better mobile app use (v.) order (v.) tasty recommend discount coupon

Food Delivery-Related Vocabulary menu restaurant self-pickup/takeout serving for one person Korean food snacks/noodles late night food order history

앤드류:

‘배달의민족’도 쓰고 ‘요기요’도 써요.

[Bae-dare-min-jok-tto sseu-go yo-gi-yo-do sseo-yo.]

Andrew:

I use both Baemin (short for “Baedare-minjok”) and Yogiyo.

정민:

‘요기요’에서 주문하자. 나 거기 맛있는 식당을 추천해 줄게.

[Yo-gi-yo-e-seo ju-mun-ha-ja. Na geo-gi ma-shinneun shik-ttang-eul chu-cheon-hae jul-kke.]

Jeongmin: Let’s order from Yogiyo. I will recommend a nice restaurant there.

앤드류: Andrew:

정민:

좋아요. 저 ‘요기요’ 할인쿠픈도 있어요.

[Jo-a-yo. J eo yo-gi-yo ha-rin-ku-peun-do it-seo-yo.]

Awesome. I also have a Yogiyo discount coupon.

잘됐네.

[Jal-dwaen-ne.]

Jeongmin: That’s great.

TOPIK GUIDE (topikguide.com) is the most comprehensive website devoted to the TOPIK exam. It has been helping Korean language learners pass the TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) for more than eight years. On our website, you can get all the TOPIK updates, grammar and vocabulary material, and study tips.

You can also visit our TOPIK Guide YouTube channel.

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메뉴판 맛집 포장 방문 1인분 한식 분식 야식 주문내역

Jeongmin: That’s a good thought. What app do you use (for ordering)?

EDUCATION

verbs, adjectives, and in some cases with nouns to make expressions like question tags in English, or to ask for confirmation on something said.

Ex: 내일 회사에 가지요? .

You’ll go to the office tomorrow, won’t you?

November 2020

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10/28/2020 10:49:41 AM

30

From Abroad

Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park In the Heart of the City That Never Sleeps

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

TRAVEL

Written and photographed by Jana Milosavljevic

V

oted as Europe’s top travel destination in 2019 according to Travel Lemming, a website dedicated to promoting the world’s emerging travel destinations, Serbia and its tourist site gems have continued to appeal to growing numbers of tourists from around the world ever since. Serbia is located in the heart of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe and shares its border with eight countries. Serbia has a unique location that occupies the crossroads that connect Western and Oriental Europe. At times, this location has been rather troublesome, such as how the Serbian territory has been the battleground of many armies throughout history. Due to this fact, what Serbia nowadays has to offer to its visitors is a fusion of the traditional and modern, as well as the clash of a long and turbulent history with newly developed urban districts and a vibrant nightlife.

The best representative of this contrast is none other than the country’s capital – Belgrade.

Belgrade is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It is believed that it was first settled between twenty-thousand to fiftythousand years ago by Thraco-Dacians, followed by Celts, Romans, and Slavs. Thanks to its strategic location at the confluence of the Danube (Europe’s second-longest river) and the Sava River, Belgrade has been fought over in as many as 115 wars, resulting in its destruction and subsequent rebuilding 44 times. Furthermore, it has had its name changed 15 times throughout history. The Celts called it “Sngidun” and the Romans “Singidunum,” while the first mention of its current name, “Belgrade,” was in the ninth century. Its name in the Serbian language is “Beograd,” which is a compound of the words beo

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meaning “white,” and grad meaning “city,” making Belgrade’s best translation the “White City.”

Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park are located on the grounds that are considered to be Belgrade’s birthplace.

Belgrade Fortress, continually destroyed and rebuilt in the period between the second and eighteenth centuries,

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31

TRAVEL www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Ruzica Church

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Belgrade Fortress Belgrade Fortress is made up of an upper and lower town.

If you follow the walls of the fortress, you will be able to see as many as 20 town gates from different periods of history. Among many interesting sights inside its walls is the so-called “Roman Well,” which is neither Roman nor a water well and was actually built in the 18th century.

November 2020

still stands strong as a heritage site of monuments left by Romans, Ottomans, Austro-Hungarians, and many more armies, peoples, and conquerors. Due to its perseverance through history despite so many conquests, the fortress has become a symbol of the vitality of the Serbian people and of the city of Belgrade itself, which continues to grow day by day.

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32 In addition to this, an authentic 18th-century Austrian clock tower exists as a rare monument that has preserved its original architectural and stylistic features, without having undergone any repairs or modifications to this day. Located inside the fortress walls is also an Ottoman mausoleum – Damad Ali Pasha’s Turbeh – a very rare, preserved monument of Islamic architecture in Belgrade.

Another interesting preservation found here is what is known as Hamam – the Old Turkish Bath.

Among the many foreign memorials in the fortress, one must not forget the representative Serbian ones: the Victor Monument and Ruzica Church. The Victor Monument (or

Kalemegdan Park

The vast field in front of Belgrade Fortress, now converted into Belgrade’s biggest and most beautiful park, was named Kalemegdan by the Ottomans, by joining the Turkish words kale, which means “city” or “fortress,” and megdan, meaning “battlefield.” In the park, one can follow

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November 2020

TRAVEL

Those who are interested in military history should not miss the opportunity to visit the Military Museum, surrounded by authentic old tanks and artillery, as well as the Nebojsa Tower – the medieval canon tower that the Ottomans transformed into a dungeon. A special treat for military enthusiasts that can be found near the tower is the Big Gunpowder Magazine, set up by the Austrians at the beginning of the 18th century as a safe place to hide artillery, while today it serves as a museum that houses a collection of stone monuments that include Roman sarcophagi, tombstones, and altars.

Pobednik in Serbian) is a 14-meter-high bronze sculpture of a strong, nude warrior holding a sword in his right hand and a pigeon in his left hand, created by the sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. Despite being at first disliked by its own citizens (similar to how the Parisians disliked the Eiffel Tower), the Victor Monument finally came to be one of the most prominent symbols of Belgrade and victory itself over time. It stands proud on the upper town’s plateau overlooking the confluence of the two major rivers in the region. Ruzica Church (ruzica meaning “small rose” in Serbian) was dedicated to the birth of the Mother of God. It served primarily as an Austrian gunpowder magazine, but after the Serbs regained the fortress, they restored the church, adding a bell tower and turning it into an Orthodox Christian church. At the entrance of the church are two bronze figures, one of a medieval knight and the other of a soldier from the First World War, both of which are thought to guard the church.

▲ One of the gates along the fortress walls.

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33 winding walking paths and discover shady benches, picturesque fountains, random statues, and incredible river views while watching beautiful river sunsets.

Hidden in the park are also more modern monuments, such as the Monument of Gratitude to France unveiled in 1930, as well as more exotic monuments, like a Japanese fountain that was erected in 2010 in gratitude to the people of Japan for donations that the City of Belgrade received.

▲ Kalemegdan Park

TRAVEL

Locals love Kalemegdan Park, so you will never find the park empty. In the morning, you can meet people going for a morning jog or dog lovers with their pets.

During the day, you will almost definitely see grandpas playing chess and bickering, as well as youngsters having picnics during breaks from their studies, while nights are reserved for romantic walks and dates. Also, if you are in search of authentic souvenirs, you will surely find them here. Many people take out to sell even their actual possessions from the past that cannot easily be obtained nowadays – things such as old paper money, old coins, badges, traditional hats, shoes, and instruments.

Nightlife Next to History

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▲ The confluence of the Danube and the Sava River.

The Author

Jana Milosavljevic was born and raised in Serbia. She currently lives in Gwangju, and she loves exploring and learning about new cultures and meeting new people. In order to be able to communicate with as many people as possible, apart from Serbian, she has learned English, Japanese, Korean, and German.

Instagram: @janemiya

November 2020

If you are not interested in partying on the river, then you can actually go clubbing inside the Fortress. Barutana is an open-air club borrowing its space from a unique 17th-century warehouse, the original purpose of which was to store gunpowder that was used to defend the fortress throughout history. Finally, for those interested in experiencing the more traditional way in which Serbs have fun, just a 20-minute walk from the fortress is Skadarlija Street, the “bohemian street,” another place where music and singing can be heard until dawn.

Skadarlija Street is home to the famous kafanas, or traditional Serbian taverns, where you can eat and drink Serbian traditional delicacies and enjoy your time while singing and dancing to the sounds of traditional music with the locals.

▲ Various unique souvenirs.

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Lonely Planet, a website that publishes popular travel guides, referred to Belgrade as “the City with the Best Nightlife in the World,” and anyone who has ever visited might confirm the statement. Moreover, further demonstrating that Belgrade’s attractions are truly a fusion of the past and present is the fact that right below Belgrade Fortress’ walls, under a high cliff, are the city’s most famous clubs – splavs. Splavs are floating river clubs that have come to symbolize Belgrade’s irresistible nightlife. There are around 170 of them all along the banks of the two rivers, so no matter what kind of music you like to listen to, you will definitely find a river club that suits your taste. These floating clubs have become synonymous with great parties and never-ending fun.

10/28/2020 10:49:44 AM

CULTURE & ARTS

34 Photo Essay

Autumn Hues of Naejang-san

A

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

fter reading an article of the top five spots in Korea to visit for fall foliage and realizing that I lived very close to one of them – Naejang-san (내장산), a mountain with a temple in Jeong-eup (정읍) – I booked myself a train ticket to witness the 500-year-old beauty myself.

I decided to go on a Monday, thinking everyone would then be at work or school, so I could avoid the crowds. Despite the gray sky, I had high hopes as I boarded an empty early-morning train at Gwangju Station. As per my expectations of a rural area, there was only one hourly bus from the station to Naejang-san.

Having arrived at what looked like a major meeting point for hikers – I realized how naïve I was. Perhaps the Koreans were all at the office, but there were guides everywhere waving the Thai and Hong Kong flags and calling out to their groups. I heard multiple languages being spoken. Overwhelmed by the crowd, I decided to follow the signs to the national park instead. True to autumn nature, the dull sky only added to the vibe. Trees were at different stages of yellows, oranges, and browns. Long walks along winding roads and a short shuttle bus took me closer to the beautiful temple, Naejang-sa (내장사). The area was well accustomed to tourists, as there were busking concerts, street vendors, and a rich festival vibe as I walked around. Riding the cable car, I could see the gradation of colors as I soared above the trees. Views from the pagoda, a rocky climb back down to the temple, and then the pièce de résistance – the featured blue-roofed pavilion in the center of the lake. Even the travel articles didn’t manage a picture of this pavilion without tourists in it, but I did! I took my shot, savored the moment, and decided that was the best part of this day – which had been a constant feast of nature. They say a picture says more than a thousand words, but that day, a picture did not do justice to what I saw with my own eyes. If you live in Korea, I urge you to experience the myriad of autumn shades at Naejang-san.

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35

CULTURE & ARTS

Originally from Belgium, Aline Verduyn has lived abroad for 20 years and is currently earning a master’s in Korean language education at Chonnam National University. In Korea, she has previously lived in Busan, Suwon, and Daegu, and has just crossed the one-year mark in Gwangju.

She is very happy living here. Instagram: @gwangjumiin

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November 2020

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

The Photographer

10/28/2020 10:49:50 AM

Gwangju Abroad

COMMUNITY

36

▲ Broadway in Nashville.

“Sweet Home Alabama…

Where the skies are so blue.”

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

Written and photographed by Lee Woo-seob “Sweet Home Alabama,” the most beloved song among all the people of Alabama, does always please my ears.

I recently worked at POSCO-AAPC (POSCO America Alabama Processing Center) for nine months as an intern. Not only did I learn job skills, but I also met amazing people during the internship. This might be the only article that you will read about Alabama – it’s neither New York nor Los Angeles!

What POSCO-AAPC does is basically slit huge steel coils into small pieces and ship them to local manufacturers such as Hyundai Heavy Industry, ABB, SPX, and Daimler.

I had two main jobs while I was there. One was inspecting all the coils in the factory and putting them in the correct shipping orders. The other was dealing with customers regarding the quality of the products.

More than 90 percent of the workers at the workplace were local Americans. I met them for the first time at a weekly safety meeting. To be honest, I was afraid of the

2020�11��(November).indd 36

fact that so many different-looking people were expecting me to introduce myself to them. But soon, I was able to break down the cultural barrier due to their kindness and sincere consideration.

While there, I also used to train in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) after work at Gracie Barra Pelham. I was so happy that I could find such an amazing place. All the people at the BJJ club treated me just like family. My eternal BJJ rival was Austin. The two of us trained extremely hard and made it to the final fight in many competitions. I recommend joining any type of club that you are interested in. It will enrich your life abroad with many friends and achievements for sure.

One fact about my experience in McCalla, Alabama, that may surprise you is that there was no public transportation, not even pedestrian walks! You ought to have a car just to go get groceries at Walmart. Indeed, you will need someone who can drive you home from a pub as

10/28/2020 10:49:52 AM

37

Support the GIC! Be a Member!

▲ Lee Woo-seob on the winner’s podium at a BJJ competition.

well. I got a white 2009 Honda Civic at a secondhand car dealer and it worked great. Thus, consider buying a car as soon as you move to Alabama.

Y’all wanna meet some cool American folks from the South? Then Alabama is the best place for you to be!

Lee Woo-seob is a mechanical engineer who worked at POSCO-AAPC in Alabama, USA, on an internship.

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November 2020

The Author

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You can easily find some of the American South’s best tourist cities close to Alabama. Atlanta, Nashville, and New Orleans – all well known as Southern American tourist cities – are 3–5 hours away by car in different directions. I got the chance to visit all three of these amazing cities. If you love music, I recommend you go to Nashville. Once you go to Broadway, you will see countless pubs filled with live music! You do not even have to pay for the live music over there. You can sit or dance on the dancefloor with or without a drink.

Annual Membership Fee General: 40,000 won; Student: 20,000 won; Group: 20,000 won (min. 10 persons).

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FOOD & DRINKS

The Gwangju International Center (GIC) is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to promote cultural understanding and to build a better community among Koreans and international residents. By being a member, you can help support our mission and make things happen! Join us today and receive exciting benefits!

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• Free interpretation and counseling services from the GIC. • Discounts on programs and events held by the GIC. • Up-to-date information on GIC events through our email newsletter.

10/28/2020 10:49:53 AM

38

Local Entrepreneurs

F5 Hair Room An Interview with Its Owners

COMMUNITY

Interview by Melline Galani

Living in Korea as an expat implies a lot of challenges. Sometimes even the basic aspects of life are hard to fulfill, even such things as having a basic haircut. We know how important this is, especially for ladies.

We here present an interview with the owners of F5 Hair Room, which has lately captured the interest of foreigners and received many good reviews. Gwangju News hopes to give a little help to those in need of such a place.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

Gwangju News (GN): Hello and thank you for taking time to do this interview. For starters, where are you from and how did you meet each other?

Kim Miyeon & Kim Jian: We would first like to thank the Gwangju News for this opportunity. We both come from the countryside, precisely the town of Jeongeup in the Namwon area of North Jeolla Province. We came to Gwangju for university, and after graduation got jobs at a beauty salon here. That is where we met for the first time.

GN: How did you start working together? We know you have some work experience abroad. Please describe that experience and any hardships that you may have faced there.

Kim Jian: When I first thought about opening a hair salon, I had a lot of concerns and frequently asked myself whether I would be able to do it well on my own.

Honestly, my friend and I had been talking a lot at the time. I wanted to start the business together with Kim Miyeon because I have always had faith in her. It has been ten years since I first met her and five years since we have lived together as roommates. Spending so much time together, we have come to know each other very well, and the idea of opening a business with my close friend came up almost naturally. Moreover, Miyeon has always had good ideas, and I am very grateful for that.

Working at a hair salon abroad was the best experience of my life. I honestly do not remember how we ended up

2020�11��(November).indd 38

going abroad together. When we first got a job at a beauty salon, the hair-stylist teacher who worked with us had been abroad to gain more experience. At that time, I also realized that if I wanted to be a stylist, I needed to go abroad. Miyeon and I talked a lot about it before deciding to go and, even if we had different points of view, we went to work in Australia together.

Living in Australia was challenging but also a unique experience. I was not good at English, so the language barrier was my main concern. I usually chat a lot with our customers to get closer, but there it was difficult to do so.

This is how I realized that communication is more than just spoken words since I had to use so many gestures and facial expressions to be understood. People I met overseas gave me a lot of gifts, listened to me patiently when I tried to communicate in poor English, helped me with the language, and made me feel welcomed. I made good friends there.

Kim Miyeon: Like my friend has already said, we started this business together. When she asked me, I felt both grateful and concerned, thinking, “What if I would not be able to do it well?” For me, too, the hardest part of living in Australia was the communication. Therefore, I went to free English classes with Jian on our day off, and when I finished work, I went to an academy to study. I got a lot of help from my teachers. I am also grateful that our customers were caring and understanding.

10/28/2020 10:49:53 AM

39 GN: How did you come up with the idea of opening a business here? What were the major hurdles you had to overcome in opening a business here, and did you have anyone to help you?

Kim Jian: Before opening our own business, we had been working at a salon in downtown Gwangju for a long time. This was the main reason for choosing a location so close to the same area. There were so many obstacles to overcome that I cannot even remember them all. It is true that it takes a bit of foolishness when you want to go down this road. There are so many people who have helped us. I think the customers prepared the opening together with us. I also got help from my acquaintances and a large number of customers for all the tax-related aspects.

GN: How did you go about growing your customer base? Why do you think foreigners are attracted to your business?

Kim Jian: I try my best to treat everyone with sincerity, and then I think people recognize the effort. The best advertising we have is made by our customers

2020�11��(November).indd 39

recommending us and our services to people around them.

Kim Miyeon: We talk a lot with the clients and try to make them as comfortable as possible. We also explain everything in detail to avoid any confusion. For the foreign customers, I think it matters that we have some experience in working with foreign hair. Ultimately, the number of foreign customers has grown on a word-ofmouth basis.

GN: We know that foreign hair is different from Korean hair, and sometimes is difficult to deal with. What kind of requests regarding style, coloring, or cuts do you receive from your foreign customers?

Kim Jian: Indeed, it is different, but I have never thought it was tricky or difficult to do. Our foreign customers’ concern is mainly with hair colors, while our Korean customers are concerned with almost everything possible, from hair color to perms. Honestly, if you dye your hair or get a perm, the hair will definitely suffer damage. Korean customers will do anything for the style they want without taking into consideration the possible damage to the hair, while foreign customers focus mainly on hair colors, which is a little more comfortable. Foreign customers sometimes want hair bleaching, with techniques such as ombre and balayage. After bleaching the hair, they

November 2020

Kim Miyeon: Most of our customers come to the salon after work, so they are tired. In addition to the service they request, we try to make them comfortable by applying massage techniques while shampooing to reduce the fatigue. Still, I do not consider what we do to be special services, except in the way we treat people.

▲ Kim Jian (seated) and Kim Miyeon.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

GN: There are so many hair salons in Gwangju, but yours is always full of customers, including many foreigners.

What do you do that you think sets your salon apart from your competitors?

Kim Jian: We do not always have a lot of customers, but those who come to our salon seem to like us. In my case, I pay extra attention to foreign customers because I have lived abroad and know all the hardships one must face when moving to another country, especially if there is a language barrier. When I was in Australia, even ordering a meal was stressful, but my salon customers always treated me kindly and warmly. I want to have the same approach towards the foreign residents of Gwangju who come to our hair salon. I try my best to help them. Since there can be misunderstandings due to language barriers, I always double-check what a customer wants by showing them, even drawing if necessary, to be sure there are no mistakes.

COMMUNITY

Kim Miyeon: Having worked for others for a long time, it just felt right to have our own business. I did not know anything about the opening process and there were hardships, but with the help of colleagues, friends, and family, we managed to solve everything step by step, and I learned a lot from the experience.

10/28/2020 10:49:54 AM

40 there have been many cancellations even after making reservations. Most of the foreign customers are working as English teachers in schools or academies, so they are cautious about moving around during times when restrictions are in place. Since I have more free time, I use the opportunity to study and research styles through YouTube and the internet.

Kim Miyeon: Certainly, as the coronavirus in Gwangju got worse, the number of customers decreased. In the beginning, I was worried that there were a lot of cancellations, but I am positive that customers will soon be making reservations again.

GN: Kim Miyeon and Kim Jian, thank you for sharing about the F5 Hair Room, about yourselves, and about your clients – including the “F5 Hair Room salespeople.”

COMMUNITY

Highlights from F5 Hair Room. ▲ F5 Hair Room entrance view.

always ask us to neutralize the resulting yellow through complementary colors.

Kim Miyeon: I do not have as many foreign customers as Jian, because I specialize in cutting, but when they come, they usually show me pictures of hairstyles they want.

Male foreigners mostly prefer short hairstyles, though there are some who do not.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

GN: What are the main challenges you find in dealing with your foreign customers?

Kim Jian: I would not say there are challenges in dealing with the hair itself. Language is the hardest part for me.

Therefore, I have to check several times to make sure everything is understood on both sides.

Kim Miyeon: I agree with Jian. I think the most difficult part is the language. There are a lot of things I want to say, but I cannot always express myself. I must study English, but it is not easy.

GN: What kind of advertising do you do for your business?

Kim Jian: I cannot say we do a lot of promotion. Our best advertisements are the recommendations our customers make to their acquaintances, although we do have an Instagram account that we upload content to.

Kim Miyeon: We do promote on Instagram, but I wonder how effective it is. I think our customers are promoting us a lot, calling themselves the “F5 Hair Room salespeople.”

GN: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we know many businesses are facing hardships. Please tell us how the pandemic has affected your business.

Kim Jian: The number of customers has decreased a lot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of our customers come from regions other than Gwangju, therefore

2020�11��(November).indd 40

Photographs courtesy of F5 Hair Room.

F5 Hair Room (에프오헤어룸) Address: Gwangju, Dong-gu, Jangdong-ro 52 Dongmyeong-dong) 1st Floor 광주 동구 장동로 52(동명동) 1층 Operating Hours: 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Phone: 062-225-8845 Instagram: @f5_hairroom_my

The Interviewer

Melline Galani is a Romanian enthusiast, born and raised in the capital city of Bucharest, who is currently living in Gwangju. She likes new challenges, learning interesting things, and is incurably optimistic. Her favorite salon in Gwangju is F5 Hair Room. Instagram: @melligalanis

10/28/2020 10:49:55 AM

Expat Living 41

Country Life vs. City Life Tips for Expat Teachers Written and photographed by Maria Moschini

S

COMMUNITY

ince I grew up in Johannesburg, living in a big city was something that I thought I would always do, but when I was offered a place in the Jeollanamdo Language Program (JLP) and placed in Gangjin, I was given the privilege of experiencing small-town country life about 75 minutes south of Gwangju by bus. I have loved living in my little town, but there are some differences when it comes to teaching in the country versus the city, and I would like to share some tips for both.

The first thing to determine is what sort of person you are and which lifestyle it is that you are after. Did you come to Korea to meet new people? Do you want to embrace traditional Korean culture or explore modernday Korean culture? Are you okay with a lot of lights and noise? Would you like a more sociable party scene or spending more time outside exploring the environment?

Also, if you choose to live in the country, having a car or motorbike will probably make your life a lot easier.

Personally, I do not have either of the above, but I am lucky that a lot of my friends do. Thanks to them, I have

2020�11��(November).indd 41

gotten to see a lot more of Korea than I would have if I relied on the bus system. Although it does run very well, having to rely on public transport can sometimes be tough. Having a car does mean spending money on maintenance, insurance, and gas, but it is a lot cheaper to buy a car and drive here than it is in most Western countries. On the other side of the coin, being in a city would mean that none of the above is really necessary because there are loads of options for getting around – buses, subway systems, and the KTX and SRT trains.

They are easy enough to navigate, and there are loads of websites and apps to help you figure out your route.

November 2020

When living in the country, you should try to learn some Korean because there is usually little to no English spoken in smaller towns. I find it way easier to get by if you have a few words and phrases up your sleeve and, obviously, the more you learn, the easier it will be. The English level tends to be higher in the cities, so you could probably get away with less Korean, but I have found the locals appreciate us trying, regardless of where we are placed.

▲ Gangjin: We took a drive and found a random pavilion next to a rice paddy to have a picnic lunch.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

By living in the countryside, there is a chance that you will get paid more, depending on where you live and how many travel schools you have. You will also have a lower cost of living, as well as cleaner air and, in most cases, a bigger apartment. Small-town life also means you have a smaller community of foreigners, and making an effort to meet up with them regularly helps on the days when you are feeling homesick. Living in a city, however, you probably will not save as much money, though you will have better access to nightlife, more food options, and the opportunity to meet new people every weekend.

10/28/2020 10:49:56 AM

42 really useful when you need to change lines and figure out your route. Kakao Taxi is another useful one, but taxis are quite easy to find or wave down without having to use the app. Also, Naver’s translation app, Papago, is super useful and has offline translation, a voice and visual translator, and a phrasebook for those times when communication is an issue.

COMMUNITY

▲ Gangjin Bay Ecological Park: Taking a Sunday stroll.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

▲ Haeundae, Busan.

Living in Gangjin definitely makes international travel harder, as when planning a trip, I have to factor in a lot of extra time to get to and from the airport, whereas if I lived in a bigger city, traveling would be a lot easier. But, an upside of living in the countryside is that it is calm and beautiful and, getting to the cities, albeit quite a trek, is possible. I love sitting on a bus and staring out the window at the endless mountains and beautiful scenery that the countryside has to offer.

Country living means you will get to experience authentic Korean culture, which is something I do not think I would have been as exposed to had I been placed in a city. You will probably exhaust your small town’s activities quite quickly, but that just means more reasons to travel and see as much of Korea as you can. Living in a city, however, means that you have access to something new going on every weekend and you get to experience modern-day Korean culture, but it also means that you will probably get caught up in what your city has to offer and are less likely to explore other places.

Living in a small town also means that you might not have easy access to a Lotte Mart, E-Mart, or Homeplus, so setting up a Gmarket and/or Coupang account and downloading the apps is also useful, as they are quick, easy, and so convenient. Downloading your bank’s app is also essential. I use the English version of the NH Bank app, which is really easy to navigate and use. Those are the apps I make use of the most, but there are plenty more useful ones.

In most rural public schools, the class sizes are smaller and there is less teaching pressure, which is great, but that also means that in most cases, the English level is lower, whereas teaching in a city means the opposite. For a firsttime teacher, the rural-school life is probably less daunting than teaching in a city. I personally find it quite rewarding because the schools are usually smaller, allowing you to see your students more often and therefore probably be able to see more improvement. City life means access to a whole lot of things that I have not had a chance to mention, but at the end of the day, Korea is a relatively small country, and it really is easy enough to get around and experience the best of both worlds.

The Author

Maria Moschini is a high school English teacher living in Gangjin. Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Maria moved to South Korea in April 2019. She has a degree in English literature and a postgraduate in teaching. Maria loves the opportunity that South Korea gives her to pursue her passions for teaching and traveling.

Instagram: @mariamoschini COEX Library.

Apps are essential here, regardless of where you live.

Two of the most useful ones are Kakao and Naver Maps, particularly for finding subway and bus times, numbers, and routes. I also use Kakao Metro’s subway maps for Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, and Daejeon, which are

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10/28/2020 10:49:58 AM

43

The Black-Haired Tchaikovsky Forgotten at Home, Famous Abroad (II) Interview by Jeong Jiyeon This article is the second in a three-part series designed to shed light on the life of a musician born in Gwangju who has been forgotten in his hometown – a Korean who migrated abroad and got caught up in the turbulent history of post-WWII Korea. His life was reconstructed through an interview with his relative, Mr. Jeong Heon-ki. (The first part of this series appeared in the October 2020 issue of the Gwangju News. — Ed.

Jeong Chu

Photographs courtesy of Jeong Heon-ki.

The Interviewer Jeong Jiyeon studied piano in university and is now working as a coordinator at the Gwangju International Center.

November 2020

2020�11��(November).indd 43

Note: The trend on the Russian classical music scene in Jeong Chu’s time was socialist realism. This meant that in order to promote the communist system, art forms relied on the realistic expression favored by the general public. Socialist realism’s main characteristic is to idolize the system and its leaders, and to paint the present and the future in an optimistic light. It resulted in many competent artists in Russia choosing asylum elsewhere. (To be continued next issue.)

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

GN: Could you please tell us more about Jeong Chu’s major achievements as a composer?

Jeong Heon-ki: If I talk about his musical achievements, I must mention that he was the first person ever to graduate from the Moscow Conservatory with a perfect score of 5.5. At that time, the examiner was none other than Khachaturian himself, upon which Jeong Chu’s mentor exclaimed, “Are you aware what you’ve done by getting a perfect score from Khachaturian?” From that time on, Jeong Chu was known by the nickname “The Black-Haired Tchaikovsky.” It is said that at the time, many Russian composers went to the U.S. and Europe to seek asylum, while Jeong Chu was proclaimed a nextgeneration composer who would lead the world of Russian classical music from that moment on. Furthermore, in 1961, at the site of the first manned space launch of Yuri Gagarin, Jeong Chu performed his compositions on the piano. He was a very highly recognized musician of his time.

GN: He was an outstanding person. However, why do you think that a composer of such reputation in his time is not as well-known as he used to be?

Jeong Heon-ki: After Jeong Chu’s death, we put a lot of effort into re-evaluating his work by organizing his publications and musical scores and sending out his music again to those in the classical music world.

However, it seems to me that his work cannot be highly regarded in the modern classical music world, as his musical pieces were those that perfectly suited the Russian classical music tendencies of the age. At the time, the trend of incorporating local elements into classical music was popular in Russia, and Jeong Chu planted many elements of Korean music in his works through writing symphonies in Korean traditional musical scales or using the daegum (대금), a traditional Korean flutelike instrument made of bamboo, instead of a Western flute. It is a real pity that such work nowadays does not get further evaluation beyond that of “musical trends that were once popular.”

CULTURE & ARTS

Gwangju News (GN): Jeong Chu was well known to people by his nickname “The Black-Haired Tchaikovsky.”

We are curious to know, what his life in Russia was like.

Jeong Heon-ki: It is said that Tchaikovsky, the composer we all know very well, originally had only one student.

Naturally, the student also mentored only one protégé. In this way, there were only three direct students descending from Tchaikovsky, including Jeong Chu, and after him there were no more direct students. The Moscow Conservatory in Russia where Jeong Chu graduated in the 1950s was in itself a place of great prestige since, at the time, rather than in Western Europe, classical music had its renaissance in Russia. Some of history’s most renowned composers to this very day, such as Rachmaninoff and Khachaturian, attended the Conservatory at that time.

The pride Jeong Chu felt due to this was such that he did not want to be compared to any other Korean composer of his time.

10/28/2020 10:50:02 AM

44 Cafe Review

FOOD & DRINKS

Café Tone and Its Healing Power

▲ Paintings on display at Drawing Cafe Tone.

Reviewed by Cami Ismanova

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

T

his prolonged pandemic has the potential to turn corona blues into corona reds as depression and anxiety increase and take the shape of anger.

Normally, we would spend an evening at the bar with friends, go to see that new movie, or hit the road for the rest of the weekend, releasing tension and preventing us from the accumulation of negative emotions. Now, our new normal has impacted the ways we relieve our stress, yet it also helps us to (re)discover activities that we would not usually consider.

Among current stress-relieving activities are drawing cafes. Drawing is a proven way to enhance concentration and motor skills, release depression and stress, maintain a sharp memory, and even improve self-esteem. Now, why should you go to a drawing cafe when you could do that at home? Well, there are several reasons I considered before going. First of all, art is not the cheapest hobby. Unless all you need is a sheet of paper, a pen, and an eraser, art supplies are often costly and tend to run out quickly. If you do not draw or paint regularly, it is not financially wise to buy supplies. Here is where drawing cafes come in: All art supplies are provided for an affordable price.

Second, meeting like-minded people in drawing cafes might expand your social circle. It is always fun to spend time with someone who likes the same things as you.

Third, going to cafes is getting a little boring these days

2020�11��(November).indd 44

because, well, the interior changes, but the taste does not.

I mean, it is often a cup of bad coffee for 2,000 won or a cup of bad coffee for 4,000 won. Having something to do inside besides casual talking and complaining about work is refreshing. Art is healing, even if you draw or paint like a five-year-old. It also feels like attending an art class with a free topic. No limitations. A variety of choices. A beneficial outcome.

Now, I would like to present a drawing cafe called Tone.

It is a little obvious, but hey, got to stick to the theme here. Café Tone is located at the back gate of Chonnam National University on the third floor of the building it is located in. It has a large space with around fifteen or more seats with wooden easels, fine brushes, acrylics, oils, gouache paints and, of course, paper of various sizes. There are stands for still-life compositions that you can arrange, and there is a regular coffee menu for you to choose from as well. I would like to highlight that drawing or painting is the main focus of the visit. It might feel a little awkward to stop by there just for a cup of coffee. Plus, it is not furnished in a “sit and talk” manner.

Let us have a look at the menu: The starting price for a hot cup of Americano is 4,000 won. There is a variety of hot and cold coffee options, as well as non-coffee drinks such as ades and tea.

10/28/2020 10:50:04 AM

45 There are also four options that combine drawing materials and coffee. The price of the options varies based on the size of the paper canvas. The first option offers a canvas of A4-sized paper and oil pastels with either an Americano or peach tea for 12,000 won. The second option includes an A4-sized paper canvas and acrylic paints with the aforementioned drinks. This option will cost you 15,000 won. The third option is quite similar to the second one, but the canvas is bigger. It is an A3-sized paper canvas plus 12 acrylic paints for 18,000 won. The last option is a little different, as it allows customers to paint a sculpture from head to chest. It is a free-coloring outline, so you can use whatever paints you would like.

This certainly entertaining option is 20,000 won. If you would like to change your drinks, you can spend an extra 1,000 won and choose another.

Photographs by Cami Ismanova.

FOOD & DRINKS

Meditation relaxes our body and clears our mind from thoughts and worries. Exercise works our body and keeps it in tone. What about art? According to the Harvard Health, art can slow cognitive deterioration, improve communication, and lower stress levels, meaning that art is not just “good medicine” but also an effective preventive measure. Remember that art is always healing.

DRAWING CAFÉ TONE (드로잉 카페 톤) Address: 104-9 Uchi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 광주광역시 북구 우치로104-9 Operating Hours: 1–10 p.m. Daily Phone: 010-7759-1724 Website: https://m.blog.naver.com/vnvvnvo/221809570425

The Reviewer

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Cami Ismanova is a student at Chonnam National University majoring in economics. Writing has always been her passion. She writes about the environment, cafes in Gwangju, and traveling around Korea and abroad. She has dozens of hobbies that keep her happy and busy all year long. Instagram: @camidisman

November 2020

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10/28/2020 10:50:08 AM

46

Restaurant Review

Grill Thai Another Reason to Visit U-Square Reviewed by Sesetu Holomisa

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

FOOD & DRINKS

U

-Square is frequented by most of us when traveling around Jeollanam-do or Korea, when going to the cinema there, or shopping at Shinsegae Department Store. The ever-present movement of people in the bus terminal and shopping centers makes for a wide variety of cafes and restaurants. You can satisfy any craving – from Chinese cuisine to Western dishes.

One of my new personal favorite establishments to visit is a Thai restaurant, conveniently named “Grill Thai.”

Grill Thai offers a selection of dishes including the popular noodle dish pad thai (with chicken, pork, or seafood options), rice dishes like nasi goring and khao phat, steak, and a selection of salads. I have been there twice, ordering the chicken pad thai on my first visit and the seafood pad thai the second time. It is important to note that a friend took me on a Saturday, and I took another friend on the very next day. That is how delicious the chicken pad thai was.

You are given the option to choose the vegetables you would like and the level of spiciness. (I am an all-ornothing type, to be honest.) They brought the spice with the chicken dish, but the following day, it was a little milder. Sometimes I think there is a perception that nonKoreans cannot handle spicy food, so they tone it down a bit. So, that may have been the case for the not-so-spicy seafood noodle dish. Other than that, the meals were consistently flavorsome and came in large portions.

It was not crowded on either occasion, so it will not be a cause for concern if you want to check this restaurant out while we are in the midst of practicing social distancing.

The servers are friendly and professional, and there is a vibrant atmosphere there. The music they play is fresh out of the studio, so if the joy of your meal being brought to you makes you dance in excitement, the latest Korean (and sometimes Western) hits will be in the background to match your mood. The prices are very reasonable, but I find that this is applicable in almost all diners in Korea; they give you a meal that could feed two and price it for one person. No complaints over here!

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The restaurant is clean and has a cool, dark vibe in the sense that the lights are low, and there are steel chairs and dark-colored tables with luminescent artwork on the walls. But it is not so dark that you cannot see the bits of truffle and crushed nuts in your pad thai. Speaking of nuts, if you do have any allergies, it is best to ask before ordering what ingredients are in the dish. Having traveled to Thailand and tasted authentic Thai dishes, I have to be honest and declare that this restaurant does not entirely stick to the traditional recipes. There is an obvious fusion of Korean preferences and interpretations that give a twist to the meals.

Nonetheless, it is up to you to decide if it is worth going twice in a weekend like I did. I suggest you visit Grill Thai with a companion and treat yourself to great service and a meal that will leave you content. Who knows, you might also find yourself “Shazaming ” a few songs with your Shazam app that you can use the next time you play any K-pop-related game in class!

▲ Chicken pad thai.

The Reviewer

Sesetu “Sese” Holomisa is a Leo, and Studio Ghibli is currently her source of happiness, along with listening to She by Harry Styles and eating spicy ramen with a sweet glass of house wine.

Instagram: @sesetuh

10/28/2020 10:50:10 AM

Korean Recipe 47

Hotteok: Filled Korean Pancakes Written by Joe Wabe

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easonal flavors have been a big part of Korean cuisine.

When the temperatures rise, many people enjoy salty and sour flavors, but when the leaves fall and nights become colder and darker, sweet flavors come to the rescue for those feeling dreary. Cravings for comfort food reach their height during the colder months, especially treats with sweet and warm characteristics.

Hotteok (호떡) is believed to have come to Korea through Chinese merchants who immigrated to the peninsula in the late 19th century and were originally stuffed with fillings that weren’t sweet. The sweet version seems to have its roots in South Korea, a country that’s well known for its sweet tooth.

So, if your mood is a bit “off,” take a walk around your neighborhood, and you’ll probably find a stand selling these pan-fried stuffed goodies, or if your mood is “on,” with this recipe you can now recreate heaven at home.

• Add the yeast to the lukewarm milk, and let it sit for about ten minutes. This will allow the yeast to begin its process.

• In a large bowl, add the flour, salt, and sugar, and mix it well with the milk and yeast.

• Cover the bowl with a wet towel, and let it sit at room temperature for one hour.

• After an hour, knead the dough until it is smooth.

This will allow for the release of air. Let it sit again for another 30 minutes.

• When it is ready, divide the dough into six mediumsized balls, flatten them with your hand, then add filling, and seal the dough back into a ball.

• In a fry pan on medium heat, add some cooking oil and place the dough balls in the pan (one at the time), then press them flat and cook until golden brown on each side. Enjoy!

FOOD & DRINKS

Hotteok (호떡) has been one of those seasonal treats many people crave during the fall. It’s usually sold as a street food and its fragrant smell of cinnamon, nuts, and honey attracts many commuters who can’t resist the heavenly whiff coming from street carts.

Preparation

The Author

Joe Wabe is a Gwangju expat, who has been contributing to the GIC and the Gwangju News for more than 10 years with his work in photography and writing.

Ingredients (Serves 2) Dough 1 packet of yeast ½ cup of lukewarm milk 2 cups of all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon of salt 1 teaspoon of sugar

• • • • •

Filling • ¼ cup of brown sugar • a pinch of cinnamon powder • ¼ cup of your choice of crushed nuts

2020�11��(November).indd 47

10/28/2020 10:50:11 AM

48 Opinion

Language Learning and Associated Bias

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

THOUGHTS & OPINION

Written by Harsh Kumar Mishra

B

eing a linguist (that is what I obsessively call myself), I often get questions from people that are quite funny. One being, how long do you think it will take for me to learn this language (mostly in reference to Korean). Now, you might be thinking, what is funny about this question? Language is something you keep acquiring until your last breath because it is everchanging. You do not actually learn a language completely. You just reach a level where you start acquiring it naturally; and to reach that level, a different amount of effort and time is required for each person. The answer to this question is impossible if you actually consider the nature of language.

We always make mistakes when thinking of the learning process for a mother tongue and a foreign language as being the same. Learning a foreign language is very different from acquiring your first language.

For a foreign language, you “learn” first and then “acquire” later, and for the other, you acquire from birth.

Another big difference is that with foreign languages, you also need to learn the culture(s) associated with the language, which is mostly omitted while acquiring your first language because you are raised in that culture.

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A language is not just a set of words, grammar, and texts; it is the representation of the culture in which it is spoken. Every expression of a language is filled with cultural context. To learn a language, one will also need to get familiar with the relevant history and cultural background. This is because, if you learn a foreign language without knowing the culture, you will end up replying “아니요, 안 먹었어요” (No, I haven’t) or “아니요, 빵 먹었어요” (No, I had bread) to a Korean person asking “밥 먹었어요?” (Have you eaten?), because you’re not aware that “밥 먹었어요?” is actually a greeting, and 밥 simply means “a meal” in this context rather than its more basic meaning of “rice.”

Culture becomes more important when you are learning a language that is very alien to your language or culture. The reason is obvious: Knowing the culture will ease your language learning and you will not get frustrated about why 밥 has different meanings (rice, a meal) and functions (greeting).

This leads to another important aspect of language learning: bias.

I will mention again some of the questions I get as a linguist, but more meaningful ones. Some examples are what is most important while learning a foreign language and how

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There is much more to be said about language learning, but I will conclude with, “To learn a language you must love it, respect it, and make mistakes.”

The Author

Harsh Kumar Mishra is a linguist pursuing his PhD in Korean linguistics at Chonnam National University. He is also a freelance Korean translator / interpreter, content creator for TopikGuide.com, and does online Korean teaching through the same organization.

November 2020

Since arriving in South Korea, I have been meeting and seeing Koreans who are obsessed with learning English. Many of them become

In South Korea, people see English as a talent that is very difficult to master and can hence be biased about it.

Many of them think that English should be mandatorily taught by a native English teacher to best learn it, rather than learning it from a knowledgeable and educated Korean.

A native speaker of a language may be a good speaker of that language, but that does not always make them a good teacher. To teach a language well, one can benefit greatly from professional training. Learning a foreign language from a professional language educator is, in most cases, more effective than learning from a native speaker without teaching skills.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Do not start to learn a language if you do not like the people or the culture of the people speaking it. Loving a language makes your learning not just fruitful but also quite entertaining.

You keep experimenting with words, mixing the expressions with your mother tongue, listening intently when hearing the language spoken, and so on. Respecting the language also plays an important part. People often judge others for making spelling, grammar, or pronunciation mistakes. I have also seen people going after a perfect accent (English accent mostly) and laughing at others for not using it. English flourishes and has become a global language because it has allowed different countries and cultures to accept it in the manner they have wanted, as a means of communication. David Crystal, one of the most renowned linguists of our time, said this about accent: “There is no such thing as an ugly accent, like there’s no such thing as an ugly flower.” Accent is not that important if you are able to communicate with the person you are speaking with in a respectful manner.

successful in getting high scores on proficiency tests. Their vocabulary has breadth and depth. Yet, I still find them uncomfortable while they are speaking in English. The reason behind this is none other than being the target of people’s judgement and the burden of years of learning. They are so afraid of making mistakes that it causes them to make those very errors. As in all aspects of learning, making mistakes is part of it.

THOUGHTS & OPINION

to learn a language without feeling stressed. I can and do answer these questions. I think the most important aspect of learning a language is to love and respect it, and to accept it with an open heart. When you are starting to learn a language, forget all of the negative preconceptions about it. These include, but are not limited to, this language is very difficult; it takes a very long time to learn; it has too many similar grammatical structures and expressions; my friend could not learn it; it is hard to pronounce; and I can never develop the accent.

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Language Teaching

Organizing a Teaching Conference AsiaTEFL 2020 Comes to Korea

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

TEACHING & LEARNING

Interview with Dr. Park Joo-Kyung AsiaTEFL is a large organization of English professionals involved in the field of teaching English as a second or foreign language throughout Asia. Its member countries stretch from Southeast Asia, to South Asia, to the Middle East, and to the Far East. It has held an annual international conference since 2003. These international conference venues shift from country to country annually, and this year the conference is back in Korea. The AsiaTEFL 2020 conference chair is Dr. Park Joo-Kyung of Gwangju. She is a long-time director of AsiaTEFL and a former president of Korea TESOL as well as of its Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter. The Gwangju News connected with Dr. Park to find out more about the conference and about how one goes about organizing a major conference with hundreds of presentations and many more hundreds of participants. — Ed.

Gwangju News (GN): Dr. Park, you are a professor of English here in Gwangju. Let’s start off this interview with you telling our readership a little more about yourself.

Dr. Park Joo-Kyung: First of all, thank you for having me. I am a professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Honam University. I have been teaching there since 1995 after teaching at Chonnam National University for two years. My teaching and research interests include teacher education, teaching English as a lingua franca, and critical pedagogy.

I have been involved with the Gwangju International Center (GIC) for many years in different capacities, including GIC Talk guest speaker, GIC Citizen’s Choir, and GIC board member. Gwangju is my fourth home, following Incheon, Seoul, and College Station, Texas, in the U.S.; but it is where I have lived the longest. I am very happy and grateful to be part of this great city where I have gotten to know so many wonderful people such as Dr. Shin Gyonggu, the GIC director, and Dr. David Shaffer, chairman of the GIC board, to name just two.

We have been friends and colleagues for 27 years. I also feel so blessed because the city of Gwangju has given me so many opportunities to develop personally and professionally.

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GN: You have been chosen as the conference committee chair for AsiaTEFL 2020. How did this come about?

Dr. Park: This past April, I got an emergency call from AsiaTEFL president, Dr. Jeon Ji-hyeon. She asked me to take over as the conference chair for AsiaTEFL 2020 because the designated conference chair could not continue for personal reasons. Let me first tell you what AsiaTEFL is. AsiaTEFL stands for the Asian Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language. It was founded in 2003 by Dr. Lee Hyo-woong of Korea Maritime University and supported by many other organizational leaders in many other Asian countries.

It has about 18,000 members and hosts an annual international conference that attracts more than 1,000 participants each year in different venues around Asia.

Since its foundation, I have served AsiaTEFL as its first general secretary, as chair of AsiaTEFL 2011, as conference executive director, and as both a featured

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51 and plenary speaker. I also have numerous international conference organizing experiences with other Korean English language teaching associations and my university as well. I knew it would be a challenge to take on the job in the middle of the conference preparations, but trusting in support from my AsiaTEFL friends and colleagues, I accepted without much hesitation.

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GN: Korea TESOL is collaborating with AsiaTEFL this year in organizing the conference. How did this come about and what benefit does it have for Korea TESOL members?

Dr. Park: As a former president of Korea TESOL, I am very happy to see two of my favorite organizations become partners and work together for one goal: to host a successful conference and grow both associations. For its part in the collaboration, AsiaTEFL provides Korea

November 2020

GN: With this year’s AsiaTEFL Conference occurring in the time of COVID, what particular problems did the pandemic throw at you and what is being done to overcome these added difficulties?

Dr. Park: Due to the fluctuating state of COVID-19 both inside and outside of Korea, we have had to change our plans several times regarding the conference hours and dates, conference mode, and presentation methods most of all. In order to resolve the current traveling difficulties and cope with the needs of all the participants

GN: As this is to be one of Korea’s premiere high-tech conferences, what types of unexpected things can the participants, both online and onsite, expect to experience?

Dr. Park: Selected as a promising international conference for growth in the Korea Tourism Organization’s Meeting Technology competition, AsiaTEFL 2020 will be introducing diverse technologies including hologram telepresence, an MC robot, virtual presentations, AR/ VR, and a smart chatbot. Participants will meet some of the plenary speakers through hologram telepresence and see the AsiaTEFL human MC emceeing with a robot.

Without a doubt, it will be a most memorable conference despite the pandemic.

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

By the way, this year’s conference theme is “Interweaving Theory and Practice in ELT in Asia: Creating New Prospects for the Future.” The conference will be held both online and in person at the KINTEX Convention Center in Goyang, just north of Seoul, on November 27–29. We have a great speaker lineup with 13 keynote, plenary, and featured speakers. Very fortunately, we received grants from the Korean National Research Foundation and the Korea Tourism Organization for hosting AsiaTEFL 2020. But most importantly, we have a great team for our conference organizing committee. This is a needed bonus because as AsiaTEFL 2020 is a hybrid conference with both virtual and in-person presentations, the organizational difficulty will be doubled.

GN: The conference will be held both online and onsite.

Please explain how this will work.

Dr. Park: There are three presentation methods in this hybrid conference: presenting online, either synchronously or asynchronously, and presenting in person. As I mentioned before, all presenters not in Korea are to present online only, and those in Korea can choose to present online or in person. All plenary and featured sessions are to be delivered synchronously and will be live-streamed. Opening and closing ceremonies along with some cultural performances such as the hwagwanmu (화관무, corolla dance) and K-pop dances will be held live in the main hall of KINTEX and streamed for online viewers. It is a very complicated and demanding undertaking for us to deal with hybrid conferencing for the first time.

TEACHING & LEARNING

GN: How much work goes into organizing an international conference with a thousand or more participants? What kinds of things need to be considered in properly organizing such a huge conference?

Dr. Park: Organizing an international conference the size and scale of AsiaTEFL conferences requires a huge amount of work throughout the whole period of conference preparation, which lasts for more than a year. There are two kinds of work: work with people and work with papers and materials. Work with people refers to interacting with diverse groups of people at different stages of organizing a conference. This year, about 1,200 presentation proposals have been submitted and 839 of them have been accepted. We expect to have more than 500 presenters and 800 participants online and in person. Work with papers and materials refers to creating, publishing, and disseminating documents and conference materials, including the call for presentations, conference posters, conference promotional videos, a conference program, a program book (both print and digital), certificates, receipts, and so on.

who are from different parts of the world and in different time zones, we have made very important changes and decisions to our conference: First, having slightly moved our conference times and dates to improve Asia-wide participation, the conference sessions are from 1 to 9 p.m. on the first two days and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the last day, both online and at KINTEX. Second, all presenters not in Korea are to present online only. Those in Korea may present either online or in person. Third, the presenters’ video files and PowerPoint files will be provided to registered conference attendees up to one month after the conference. Fourth, AsiaTEFL has created a registration fee waiver for presenters who have experienced severe hardship in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

TEACHING & LEARNING

▲ Closing ceremony photo at AsiaTEFL 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand.

TESOL members conference registration at the same low rates as for Asia TEFL members, as well as a free, oneyear AsiaTEFL membership, and scheduling preferences for Korea TESOL presenters.

GN: Why should English teachers in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do, as well as the rest of Korea, be interested in attending AsiaTEFL 2020?

Dr. Park: AsiaTEFL 2020 will be at a unique venue for English teachers in this region and around the country to realize the goal of helping learners acquire communicative competence in English and become global citizens. Our plenary speakers – Dr. Paul Matsuda, Dr. Azirah Hashim, Dr. Kim Tae-Young, Dr. Nick Saville, Dr. Christine Coombe, and Dr. John Norris – will inspire and empower them with their intercultural experiences and expertise. The conference will be the largest venue in Asia for participants to engage in dialogue and exchange ideas with others from all sectors of English teaching and learning in more than 30 different countries. In particular, we are planning a roundtable for Asian teachers of English with elementary and secondary school teachers as panelists from half a dozen different countries in Asia.

GN: Lastly, what would you like to say to the readers of the Gwangju News?

Dr. Park: The lyrics to the AsiaTEFL Anthem include the following: “We teach a global language to open doors to new opportunities, knowledge, and the world. / With our grip on our traditions, we stand firm on our native ground. / We come from different lands, but we are one in a circle of dedicated professionals. / We are gathered here to forge strong links, broaden horizons, share our lives, / Become the best teachers we can be, and open pathways through this universe. / In the air, we hear a vibrant harmony, the sound of people united for one goal: / Peace through friendship, knowledge, prosperity, in AsiaTEFL we will grow.”

I would like to invite all language teachers reading the

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Gwangju News to AsiaTEFL and to AsiaTEFL 2020.

Early-bird registration is Sept. 15 – Oct. 25. Regular preregistration is Oct. 26 – Nov. 20. Please do not miss the opportunity to be part of this wonderful organization and its conference. For further information, please visit the AsiaTEFL website at www.asiatefl.org or the conference website at www.asiatefl2020.org .

GN: Thank you, Dr. Park, for introducing this exceptional conference-going opportunity to our readers and for your integral role in organizing it!

Photographs courtesy of Dr. Park Joo-Kyung.

GWANGJU-JEONNAM KOTESOL UPCOMING EVENTS Check the Chapter’s webpages and Facebook group periodically for updates on chapter events and online activities.

For full event details: Website: http://koreatesol.org/gwangju Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL

The Interviewer

David Shaffer is an executive member of both AsiaTEFL and Korea TESOL with years of conference organizing experience with both associations.

He encourages all English teaching professionals to take part in this upcoming conference opportunity.

As vice-president of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter of KOTESOL, Dr. Shaffer invites you to participate in the teacher development workshops and their regular meetings (in-person and online). He is currently the chairman of the board at the Gwangju International Center as well as editor-in-chief of the Gwangju News.

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Book Review 53

The Man They Wanted Me to Be:

Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making

I

Sexton goes back and forth a lot between telling his personal story and recounting how it fits into the larger socio-political picture of the USA in the 2010s leading up to the 2016 election. The book is divided into conventional chapters and more or less follows a linear narrative, beginning in childhood and moving forward until it

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reaches Sexton’s current state. It is written in a very intimate and personal tone – solemn but hopeful – purposefully constructed to make the author vulnerable as a model to others who may also be seeking to break the cycle of toxic masculinity.

The conversations he had with his loved ones are candid and moving. He supports his experiences and opinions with studies and research that are referenced at the end of each chapter to encourage readers to do further research on their own.

This whole book acts as a lightning rod for toxic white masculinity. Sexton lays out what it is and what it generates when left unchecked. As a journalist who carefully followed the 2016 election campaign, he felt it was necessary to counter the growing unrest and violence that swept over America in the run up to and election of Donald Trump – a man who fueled and enabled the worst aspects of toxic male culture. Those internet trolls who only felt safe to unleash their hatred from behind a screen – Trump gave them the legitimacy they craved to air their opinions in the broad light of day. I sincerely hope that Joe Biden is elected in November. Biden is a man like Sexton’s grandfather – old and white and male – but unlike Trump, he shows compassion and demonstrates a willingness to change that benefits more than the one percent.

Regardless of who wins the presidential election this month, change is made by taking many small steps over time. For Sexton, it took years, and it will take years more to see greater change in society – if any at all. Since November is the month to highlight positive male role models, I submit Jared Yates Sexton and his story of personal and cultural struggle. I hope it inspires more people to make change in their own thoughts and lives.

The Reviewer

Kristy Dolson lived in South Korea for five years before taking a year off to travel, read, and spend time with her family in Canada and Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Education and teaches at the new Jeollanamdo International Education Institute.

November 2020

I sympathized greatly with Sexton. When he wrote about growing up different in a small town and discovering the internet, it felt like he was writing about my adolescence.

The internet in the 1990s acted as a gateway to safe havens where strangers could gather and talk about their hobbies without fear of the consequences they would have faced in the outside world. As someone who also grew up in a small town with a lot of unique and interesting hobbies, this deeply resonated with me.

Reviewed by Kristy Dolson

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

This book is part memoir of a poor white boy forgotten by his father and part cultural analysis of a forgotten American town left behind by the rapid shift to a digital, globalized economy. In his childhood, Sexton’s grandfather provided one shining example of positive masculinity in a world ruled by male tyrants and submissive women. But his grandfather’s kindness and opposition to accepted male behavior was not enough to save Sexton from an adulthood fueled by alcohol and depression. On the edge of suicide, he reluctantly agreed to see a therapist and, over the course of many years of continued therapy, study, and introspection, he wrote this book to highlight white patriarchal masculinity and how it is failing everyone. Especially for those that have been forgotten by the powerful, it is a lie that is contradictory and dangerous to the world.

By Jared Yates Sexton

CULTURE & ARTS

was surprised to learn, not that long ago, that November 19 is International Men’s Day: a day to focus on men’s health, improve gender relations, highlight male role models, and promote positive expressions of masculinity. Much earlier this year, I had asked a male colleague to recommend male feminist authors. His first recommendation was Jared Yates Sexton’s The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making. I thought it was a great fit for the IMD mission statement. Also, it is a mustread for anyone wishing that the current sociopolitical climate (especially in North America) were different for both men and women.

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SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

54

Glide Through the Weekend at RollerHolic !

Written and photographed by Cami Ismanova

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

November 2020

A

few weeks ago, I had a weekend dilemma: “What shall I do? Should I go horseback riding or disco roller skating?” Both of them have a high chance of awkward moments and most certainly painful falls.

Both of these activities cost the same, except a horseback ride would last for ten minutes, while a roller-skating session would last for two hours. Two hours of possible falling and being rolled over with some 1980s hits playing? Yeah, that sounded about right! Accompanied by a less enthusiastic friend of mine, we headed over to RollerHolic, an inline skating rink at Unam Plaza.

Roller skating is considered a sport, a type of transportation, and a form of leisure activity. There are several types of skates such as quads, inlines, and triskates. Quads have two pairs of wheels, inline skates have four wheels in a line, and tris have three wheels in line (which eventually proved to be the least comfortable of the three). There are records of single-wheeled quintessence skates and attempts to skate on them, but surely it was not widely practiced since it is almost impossible to skate on one wheel – although it might be hilarious to watch someone try.

But before we dive into the description of interiorexterior-price-vibe things, let me briefly shed a bit of light on the history of roller skating. It all started in 1743 in London during a stage performance where the first roller skates were used. Later in 1760, John Merlin (not the wizard one) invented the first inline skates. In fact, he made a grandiose entrance by crashing into a ballroom mirror during a masquerade party, all while playing a violin! That is when the three-century-old history of roller skating began. The most popular years of roller skating were in 1935, and then on and off between the 1970s and 1990s.

As for RollerHolic, it is a big inline skating rink that offers its services both to kids and adults. The skating rink is huge and can easily hold a lot of people. It costs 8,000 won for children and 10,000 won for adults for gear rental and two hours of skating. The gear consists of a pair of roller skates, helmet, and elbow and knee pads.

If you or your kid is a first-timer, they will offer a free lesson teaching basic moves, how to maintain balance, and safe falling tips. I should mention that the owners are extremely nice and welcoming. They will guide you through the whole process. There are lockers and a small cafe available inside. The menu in the cafe contains a

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SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

little of everything. They offer a traditional coffee menu, waffles, and ice cream, as well as spicy, cheesy rice cakes, stir-fried rice, and dumplings.

Now on to the interior. The surface of the big rink is so smooth that you will glide over it effortlessly. It is surrounded by a circle of seats and tables where parents usually rest while their children skate around for hours without noticing how time flies. The walls are all painted in street-style graffiti. There are side tracks for beginners where they can safely practice how to skate. The lights reflect off the floor which, along with the right music, gives you that disco feeling for sure.

So why not give it a try?

The Author

Address: Unam Plaza, 104-3 Seogang-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 광주광역시 북구 서강로 104-3 (운암동) Operating Hours: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 midnight (weekdays); 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. (weekends).

Phone: 062-412-8090

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November 2020

ROLLERHOLIC (롤러홀릭)

Cami Ismanova is a student at Chonnam National University majoring in economics. Writing has always been her passion. She writes about the environment, cafes in Gwangju, and traveling around Korea and abroad. She has dozens of hobbies that keep her happy and busy all year long. Instagram: @camidisman

www.gwangjunewsgic.com

Overall, it is a fun activity that is family friendly and fun for dates. RollerHolic is the right place to roller skate because of their high safety and service standards, as well as affordable prices. But besides that, there are so many side benefits for our health. For instance, roller skating helps to burn calories since it is a sport, and it does not put too much pressure on your joints. In terms of body fat reduction, it is similar to good old jogging. Last but not least, it develops balance and coordination, strengthens the heart, and in some cases, prevents diabetes.

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KONA English Center

KONA Storybook Center The KONA English Center (KEC) is an educational center for English reading and culture exchanges. The KEC will guide any family and their children to develop a love for reading and to explore foreign cultures.

KONA English Center 코나영어센터 KONA Storybook Center 영어독서교육연구소 UNESCO KONA Volunteers 유네스코 코나 자원봉사단

The KONA Storybook Center (KSC) is a non-profit organization that helps disadvantaged children to learn English independently through storybooks and storymaps with UNESCO KONA Volunteers (UKV).

Programs: 1. 영어독서멘토링 (Mentoring in English Reading) 2. 영어로 배우는 과학 (Science in English) 3. 영어로 배우는 위인전 (Biography in English) 4. 코나비전특강 (KONA Vision Talk) 5. 외국인과 함께하는 문화교실 (UNESCO CCAP)

Tel: 062-434-9887 광주광역시 서구 상일로 37 37 Sangil-ro, Seo-gu, Gwangju

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