(EN) Gwangju News April 2009 #86

Gwangju News International Magazine for Gwangju and Jeollanam-do

April 2009 Volume 9, Issue 4

Gwangju News uses 100% E-PLUS recycled paper provided by Daehan Paper in Seoul. The website of Daehan paper is http://www.daehanpaper.co.kr

GIC TALK Every Saturday 2:15 p.m.

April 4th Jacob Lotinga (Online teacher/audiovisual education specialist, Gwangju Educational Research Information Service) "Introduction to the UK" April 11th 1:00 p.m.

Humanity B/D, Chonnam National University Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL Conference “Effective Teaching for the Classroom and Beyond” April 18th Werner Sasse (Chair Professor, dept. of Cultural Anthropology at Hanyang University) "Soswaewon - A country scholar's Garden in Damyang-gun"

April 28th Kim Chanho (Director of Culture & Solidarity Team, May 18 Memorial Foundation) "May 18 in 2009" All talks take place at the GIC office Address: 5th Floor, Jeon-il Bldg, Geumnam-no, Donggu (동구 금남로 1가 전일빌딩 5층).

Directions: The GIC office is located in the same building as the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) in downtown Gwangju. The entrance is immediately north of the KEB on Geumnam-no street, across from the YMCA. Subway stop: Culture Complex Bus: 07, 09, 36, 45, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 74, 80, 95, 150, 151, 518, 1000, 1187 For more information about the GIC Talk go to www.gwangjuic.or.kr For more information, please contact Kim Ji-hyun at: gwangjuic@gmail.com or call: (062) 226-1050, 2733, 2734

2009 GIC 2nd Korean Language Class Saturday Classes

Weekday Classes Level

Days

Level

Beginner 1-1

Monday & Wednesday

Beginner 1

Beginner 1-2

Tuesday & Thursday

Beginner 2

Beginner 2-1

Monday & Wednesday

Intermediate

Intermediate1

Tuesday & Thursday

Advanced

Thursday & Friday

- Period: March 16th - May 1st (7 weeks) - Class hours: 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (2 hours) - Tuition fee: 80,000 won

- Period: March 14th - April 25th (7 weeks) - Class hours: 10:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m.

(2 hours) - Tuition fee: 50,000 won (GIC membership fee: 10,000 won/6 months and textbooks excluded)

(GIC membership fee: 10,000 won/6 months and textbooks excluded)

Note

*The tuition fee is non-refundable after the first week. **A class may be canceled if less than 3 people sign up.

GIC is located on the 5th floor of the Jeon-il building, the same building as the Korean Exchange Bank, downtown. The entrance is located immediately to the north of the bank. Contact GIC office for more information.

Phone: 062) 226-2734, 1050 E-mail: gwangjuic@gmail.com Website: www.gwangjuic.or.kr

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Gwangju News April 2009

Contents

Contributors

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Letter to the Editor: John Jackson

April 2009, Volume 9, Issue 4

Useful Korean Phrases

Publisher: Prof. Shin Gyong-gu

By Lee Woong Editor in chief: Doug Stuber Editor: Andrew O'Donnell

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May Concert

Coordinator: Kim Sing-sing

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Editorial

By Doug Stuber

Layout and Design: Kim Hye-young Proofreaders: Andrew O'Donnell, Pete Schandall, Doug Stuber, Michael Begin, Miriam Ho, Dugh Tenant Printed by: Saenal

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Come to South Korea and Learn about the World!

By Jennifer Morrison

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Burnt

By Jocelyn Stokes

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Climbing Mount Halla

By Jacob Lotinga

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A Colorful Experience Amid Snowy White

By Ahn Hongpyo

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Seoul Soulful Buddha Festival

By Allen Gray

Special thanks to the City of Gwangju and all of our sponsors.

Copyright 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 publishers.

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Language and Culture: A “ Global ” Perspective from Where I Am

By Stella H. Oh

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Feeding the Needy in Gwangju

By Jeong Ja-Yeon

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The Man Who Solved All Problems

Gwangju News welcomes letters to the editor (gwangjunews@gmail.com) regarding articles and issues. All correspondence may be edited for reasons of clarity or space.

By Doug Stuber 28

Sweet 2009 Solar, Wind and Earth Energy Trade Fair 2009

By Andrew O'Donnell

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The Chicken Lady

By Andrew Eisehart

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Thali Restaurant

By Allen Gray

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The Korean Way No. 74 : By 2Ys

’s Kim’ Dental Clinic

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Re-inventing the Wheel

By Andrew O'Donnell

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Korea Spring 1962

By Clayton Eshleman

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April Events

By Ji-eun Jung

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Community Board

Gwangju News April 2009

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Response

Let ter to the Editor: I am writing to you to express my regret for a rather egregious error in the article I contributed to the Gwangju News (January issue: "Lovely Little Calli"). It happened like this: I was sitting down by the Gwangju stream making some corrections that the proofreader had suggested when suddenly I heard this screeching sound and smelled burnt rubber. On looking up from my work, to my astonishment, there she was - the woman of my dreams, straddling an old Schwinn bicycle (not surprised to see the woman of my dreams, mind you - that happens quite often - but never before on an old Schwinn). From her beaming smile I could see that she had obviously taken a fancy to me, too. So, little surprise when she kicked down her kickstand, swung one long leg over the saddle, sashayed over to where I was sitting, and plunked herself down on the bench beside me. Well, my euphoria was short-lived as, rather than giving her undivided attention to me, she picked up the little calendar I was keeping beside me for good luck (please refer to the "Calli Effect" in the above-mentioned article). Of course, I felt the way one feels when waving back to a stranger who, it turns out, is waving to someone behind you and so, to cover my embarrassment, I quickly returned to the correcting.

As for the young lady, well, I tried to ignore her, but, as she was moaning in pleasure as she flipped through the months, that was near impossible (hope none of you guys have had this problem). Of course, after close examination she just had to have one and, easy touch that I am, I had to give it to her. So, off she rode, Woman of My Dreams No. **** (too many to count...).

Peddling away down the middle of the street. Devoting her entire amorous attention to the Little Calli perched on the handlebars. Oblivious to all traffic. Leaving mayhem in her wake. Miraculously surviving (hope she keeps that Lucky Calli with her if she's gonna bike like that). Meanwhile, "yours truly" went back to the work at hand, sans my Lucky Little Calli, I'm afraid, and, as you might imagine, a bit flustered from the experience.

And so, dear reader, after reading this public mea culpa, I hope that you will understand the extraordinary circumstances that led to my being distracted and thus wrongly attributing the name of the month of February to "Fortuna" when it is in fact "Februtis" who was the Roman goddess of purification (in penance I am currently on day 5 of a 7 day fast).

And, as many of you are now probably looking a little askance at your calendars and wondering -"What kind of magical calendar is this? Guy, misses out of the love of his life and publicly embarrasses himself to boot!" -

let me, in closing, set your minds at ease.

Said Dream Lady left her Cyworld address on the bench. We are now Il Chon. She's agreed to bike over and join me at the Gui Gui for some Guljeon (as soon as I break my fast). Never doubt Little Calli. "Jeon Hwa Ui Bok." See you there.

PS: Calendars available at a discount till 12/31 www.zenfolio.com/jkjack John Jackson

Useful Korean Phrases At the Public Bathroom 샴푸랑 린스 주세요. Shampoo rang rinse juseyo.

A shampoo and a conditioner, please. 면도기 얼마에요? Myeondogi eolma-eyo?

How much is a razor? 면도기도 하나 주세요. Myeondogi hana juseyo.

I'd like to purchase a razor,too. 목욕관리사에게: To the body-scrubber: 때 미는데 얼마에요? Ddae mi-neunde eolmaeyo?

How much do you charge for body-scrubbing? 등만 밀어주세요. Deung-man mireo ju-seyo.

I'd like to get only my back scrubbed.

Vocabulary & Expressions 면도기 : a razor 린스: a conditioner ~ 얼마에요? : How much is ~ ? noun + 도 : too 때 : soil, dead skin, dirt 등 : the back noun + 만 : only

By Lee Woong

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Gwangju News April 2009

Classical Music from Various Movie 3

세

계

지

원

기

금

마

련

을

위

한

Gwangju International Center

May Concert To Raise Funds for Third World Countries Gwangju International Center May Concert

Photo: Kim Jiyeon

2009년 5월 9일 (토) P.M 7시 30분 Gwangju Art and Culture Center, Small Theater Admission Price : 10,000 Won (GIC members 8,000 won)

Soprano

Soprano

Soprano

Soprano

Piano

Soprano

Pahk Kay

Gil Aeryeong

Kim Miok

Park Gyeongsuk

Lee Sangrog

Lee Myeongin

•주최 :

V.Cello

Piano

Baritone

Violin

Daegeum

Piano

Oh Seungseok

Park Jinhee

Park Inseung

Yang Semi

Kim Hyeonseok

Yu Ri

(사)광주국제교류센터 Organized by Gwangju International Center Gwangju News April 2009

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Editorial

“So Doug, how do we solve this economic crisis you talk about?”

Dr. K. (Chosun University) to Doug Stuber on March 9, 2009.

Four simple laws would do it: some to be implemented right away, others phased-in. 1) No one outside a company shall be allowed to own shares in that company. 2) No fuel except for mass transportation. 3) Reduce military spending worldwide by 85% and standing armies by 80%. Former soldiers could help build solar and wind power. 4) Follow your dreams.

Kwang Suk and Doug

1) On top of no outside ownership, all workers in a company should divide profits equally, and save 25% of profits in case there is a downturn. Savings should be held and reinvested in the company as needed. Thus, robber barons like Warren Buffet, could not buy up shares and direct manufacturing plants to the cheapest possible labor, or threaten to fire executives if they didn’t do things his way. Another corollary would be a worldwide minimum wage. If a company’s profits could not afford this worldwide minimum wage, then tax money saved via less military spending could be used to supplement pay, as long as the company was making products that were not destructive to human life.

2) By abandoning personal transportation (which would mean building mass transportation to suit everyone’s needs) we would have a chance, albeit slim, to save the environment. General Motors bought and scrapped 70 US transit systems in the 1930s depression, so they should be asked to rebuild all those systems and more this time around. Trains should also replace long-haul trucks as they are so much more efficient. At train stations some short-haul trucking could be allowed for a while, but only the trucking of goods that are environmentally friendly and necessary for the common good. It takes three liters of water to produce one liter of Coke. I’ve had my share of soda pop, but it is not necessary for the betterment of society. (“But wait Doug, who makes these rules, and who are you to say…”).

The environment is making these rules self-evident, so it’s up to whether humans want to sacrifice luxuries we can no longer afford, or whether we will gobble up the earth and leave behind a wasteland for our heirs: insects. This law would be phased in as soon as

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Gwangju News April 2009

localities were ready.

3) A reduced military not only increases the chance that we won’t go around killing each other anymore, but allows governments to spend money on better projects. This reduction, once implemented, should also be capped by a 20-year freeze on military spending, after which, one would pray, further cuts could be made. A great deal of harm has been done by the US military, with the help of others, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is time for the healing to begin. Will Iraqis and other Muslims around the world ever forgive the errors that have been made in the conquest of oil? Again, we can only pray.

4) Following one’s dreams was the only law punishable by being kicked out (ostracized) from the tribe in the culture of the “Iroquois” (Haudenosaunee). In their beliefs (I researched this culture heavily for a novel I wrote) humans who do not follow their dreams end up being a burden on society because they are always frustrated, anxious and can end up being criminals.

Thus, those who did not wake up and follow what their dreams had told them to do were banished.

Back then this was a death sentence. No other crime carried such a severe punishment in this noble culture.

This only works if communities make sure that people feel their contribution is important, no matter what they are able to contribute. The Chief would always go to the less-intelligent Lacrosse stick maker and compliment her or his work. When was the last time your sub-group practiced inclusion?

For those uncertain of their dreams, education can be the cure. I like Mahatma Gandhi’s education ideas, which are an important part of his philosophy: The Gandhian Program for Global Conversion 1) Service for the welfare of all.

2) Ecologically sound, non-alienating labor. Jobs for peace.

3) Nonviolence: practice the Law of Love.

4) Negotiation, conciliation, mediation (rather than legalism).

5) Responsible participation in government.

Debureaucratization.

6) Right education/re-education – revaluation of values.

7) Sharing of resources. Trusteeship. Frugality.

“Achieving one goal fosters the achievement of each of the other goals or points in this program. (Nonachievement of any one goal is a potential hindrance to the achievement of the other goals.)” - M. Gandhi These beliefs were taken from a book called “Gandhi’s Seven Steps to Global Change” by Guy de Mallac.

Another key quote from Gandhi worth mentioning here: “Almost anything you do will seem insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.” (Used by permission.)

Thus, simple steps like making sure your tires are fully inflated on your car, or practicing BMW (Bike, Masstransit, Walk) can lower your carbon footprint while also being an example to those around you. Reducing the burden of those who work the hardest for the least pay is also a good daily practice. Just lend a worker a hand for 20 minutes, you will feel better, I promise.

Before you accuse me of being a know-it-all (or “no-itall”), think back on your own life. Were you as happy doing a job you hated as you were when you were young and didn’t have to “work for someone else?” In theory, everyone could work for themselves. In practice, the economic meltdown may well provide this opportunity.

Maybe the layoffs will stop and companies will start hiring again. Maybe the shops and restaurants and other small companies will reopen. But if we really are at the beginning of a depression, will people turn to lend a hand to those they don’t even know, or not? My grandfather walked 14 kilometers to work in the depression. He made about 25 cents per day (400 Won), which was extremely low pay, even back then.

He raised four children on that.

Yet, he knew his house was “marked” by passing hobos who used to jump off the train in Pittsford, New York.

This mark told the next transient, unemployed worker that his house would serve them an evening meal. He could have gotten rid of the mark, but he left it there, and on many nights the family had a new visitor for dinner. Rice and beans, or maybe a can of tuna

World War Three may be defined as a series of local scuffles. Since divisions and hatred already outweigh love and compassion, isn’t it possible that World War Three, like economic depression, has already begun too? Normally the media omits the word “depression.”

Big media also stopped reporting on the real human costs of the Iraq/Afghanistan war, at least in the US. World War Three already exists in Iraq and Afghanistan. It started on the mean streets of the US long ago, and we already have over two million people in jail. Shouldn’t all countries elect leaders who are serious about ending the causes of these inhumanities?

Shouldn’t we elect leaders who see capitalism for what it really is? It’s a modern version of feudalism causing slavery via the lowest possible wages it can find. Who among us is brave enough to call for an end to all this?

(How’s that Dr. K.?)

By Doug Stuber

stretched in a salad made of greens grown in the back yard.

But what will happen if we don’t help out like this?

What will happen if our PC and TV-loving society is not inclined to help strangers, but more inclined to create crime to survive? It scares me that crime is already rampant in the inner cities of my country (the US).

Gwangju News April 2009

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GIC Talk

Come to South Korea and Learn about the World!

W

hen my husband Stephen and I came from Australia to live in the town of Hwasun, 30 minutes south of Gwangju, 21 months ago, we thought we were coming to live amongst Korean people and would learn about Korea, her language, her history and her culture. And that was a great reason to come. Over that time, we have come to deeply love Korean people, especially as we became involved in a few of the local churches and have experienced much hospitality both from within the church and from the many other Korean people who have opened their hearts to us. It has been a wonderful experience for us to live in Korea.

But little did we know that coming to Korea would introduce us to people from so many other parts of the world!

Korea, Egypt, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya and… from Gabon. What an awesome gathering!

Because of the passion of Koreans to learn English they have imported so many of us “foreigners” from many parts of the world to teach English, plus there are so many others who are studying at university or working in other employment. I personally find it absolutely fascinating getting to know people from so many places around the world!!

That last country …Gabon? How many of you have heard of Gabon? I had never heard of Gabon until I met Heddy…(Heddy Gildas Boulingui Wakpo) a Telecom Engineer who is presently studying Korean at Chonnam National University. What a lovely guy…. I heard he was going to be giving the GIC talk on Saturday, so I thought Wow! Let’s go and find out about Gabon.

In February for instance when I attended the Graduation Ceremony from Chonnam National University of my dear friend Omar Hamad who is from Tanzania, I had the joy of meeting people from many different countries and having lunch with people from

It was a really interesting talk…. about this country, located on the equator, with a long coastline on the west coast of Africa, bounded by The Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. It has less than 1.5 million people with French as its main second language, but many other tribal languages as well. It has some REALLY strange creatures some of which you want to avoid, like dangerous snakes, panthers, hippos, elephants, huge gorillas….. And no… they are not in cages! Even though Gabon is 85% rainforest, with 13 national parks, there are cities as well, the capital being Libreville.

We found out that the tallest building until recently in Gabon was built by Koreans, and that Gabon has a special relationship with Korea. Heddy told us many interesting facts, lots of funny stories, and gave us insight into the life of the people of Gabon…. a people I

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didn’t know existed a week ago. Thanks heaps Heddy and enjoy your stay in Korea!

And this from Heddy himself: As an Asian culture, the Korean culture is totally different from the Gabonese culture (African one) but one of the things we have in common is the respect of our culture and certain basic rules such as the respect for older people. Korean culture seems to be conservative (it's not much influenced by the western culture) and have its impact on the society. But I like the way they combine modernism and traditionalism to make it work. About the food I do like some dishes like Tonkaseu, Sangiopsal but I do admit that it's totally different from African dishes. I do like also the traditional music with the combination of of drums and bells (a kind of metalic instrument)!

About Gwangju? As an engineer, I know that the city of Gwangju is well known for semi-conductors industry in the field of electronics. Cultural side, I think that I still have a lot to discover because I don't know the city very well. -Heddy Gildas More recently at the GIC talk, Whit Altizer showed us photos from many different places around Korea that he & his wife Lindsay have visited since they arrived here less than two years ago. It’s really hard to believe two people could see so much in such a short time.

They’ve adventured all over the place & discovered what a treasure this beautiful country and its people are. If you missed the talk you can catch up by reading their blog on ………

After Whit’s talk many of us just sat around talking, Koreans and foreigners together, enjoying one another.

Isn’t that what being here is all about? We even had a bit of an impromptu Noraebang as, inspired by two women - a Korean & Irish combination, we joined in singing a number of favorite songs - in English. And then came dinner together at a Korean restaurant in the backblocks of nowhere…. another impromptu event…. but absolutely delicious.

So I’d really encourage you to go to the GIC talks. They take place every Saturday at 2.30pm at the GIC Office.

Supposedly they end at 4pm, but sometimes there’s added extras that follow. They have some really interesting speakers and it can literally open up the world for you! Who knows… maybe some day we’ll be teaching in Gabon! Get there early though so you can get to know some of the other foreigners and the Koreans as well, who care enough about us to have set up such a great centre. Kamsahamneedah...

Whit Altizer has a blog and is part of an ESL newsletter. They are: http://kimchicornbread.blogspot.com http://www.teacheslkorea/newsletter

By Jennifer Morrison

Jennifer Morrison is married to Stephen Morrison who teaches at Manyeon Elementary School in Hwasun. We run an English Service for Koreans & foreigners at World Vision Church at Pung-am not far from World Cup Stadium in Gwangju at 2pm every Sunday. Feel free to join us. We can be contacted at stephenandjennifer@hotmail.com

Call when you are in need!

(English is available) 062) 1345 Immigration Contact Center 062) 1350 Labor Counseling Center 02) 762-1339 Emergency Counseling and Hospital Information 062) 1330 Korea’s 24-hour One-Stop Travel Information Service

Gwangju News April 2009

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A

s the entire corner of the intersection was engulfed in flames, I felt compelled to document such a dynamic change in fire’s aftermath. It was quite the setting for a midnight photoshoot.

Jocelyn Stokes is an active Expressionistic photographer, which incorporates both conceptual and conservation-based work. She is currently finish

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Gwangju News April 2009

ge in our urban landscape. Yet, the great chemical stench , that seemed to burn the air for miles, limited photography to the y finishing a body of work that encourages a greater appreciation for the potential of recycled items.

Gwangju News April 2009

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Outdoor Sports

Climbing Mount Halla M

ount Halla, whose name means ‘catching the Milky Way’, is the highest mountain in South Korea, managing 1,950 metres and an incredible crater on which to feast your eyes when you make it to the summit. You’d think Hallasan would be the most revered of mountains – but South Korean schools and offices seem far more likely to opt for sprawling framed photographs of Baekdusan, which straddles the Sino-North Korean border, flaunts a volcanic crater similar to Mount Halla’s, and symbolizes most people’s yearning for a reunification of the two Koreas. Still, Hallasan supplied uplifting snowy panoramas and high-altitude miracles that will reveal themselves shortly, not to mention heartening camaraderie as I hiked my way up and down South Korea’s most formidable peak.

Hallasan rises from the centre of the volcanic island of Jejudo – an island known throughout Korea for succulent tangerines and mysterious hareubang statues that were carved of lava rock some two hundred and fifty years ago. A former volcano, it’s visible from both Jeju-si, Jejudo’s northern capital – where you can see it as you gaze through the lobby window of the fantastic folklore and natural history

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museum – and from the southern city of Seogwipo, where it forms an eye-attracting backdrop to a tumbling town that falls gradually towards the sea in an imitation of some southern Italian town. Although I had been living at the foot of Mount Mudeung, which soars up from Gwangju, Hallasan was the first mountain I hiked in South Korea. I learnt many things on Mount Halla – above all, that it’s possible to reach the summit of a mountain whose foothills are thick with snow.

This Jeju adventure of mine was to be environmentally friendly, I decided – it began with a ferry ride rather than the carbon-footprint-exploding airplane jaunt that many opt for. The three-hour boat from Wando in Jeolla province to Jeju-si reminded me of a jjimjilbang – one of those leisure rooms where Korean people loll and linger after wallowing in the public baths. There were carpeted platforms where people lay, their footwear removed in the aisle, and block-like cushions were scattered helpfully about, as they are at the jjimjilbang. Unlike that relaxing room, though, this area throbbed with the ferry engine’s effort. In addition – when, for example, you stood up, stuck your shoes on and went about exploring the deck and cabin

– it rocked and swayed on the waves, making one feel like a slapstick Charlie Chaplin or the pianist in The Legend of 1900.

Meanwhile, a different film was playing on the ferry’s great rounded rectangular windows: they presented display of undulating turquoise and bleak white sky that barely changed in three hours – dull, you might think, yet fascinating for its novelty to a landlubber and suburb-dweller such as the present author.

After briefly studying my fellow passengers – two young soldiers in army camouflage-green, their highlypolished black boots neatly positioned in the aisle; a middle-aged woman slumbering beneath a fur coat (fur coats being unfortunately popular in South Korea) – I took to studying the posters advertising Jejudo, trying to figure out what sort of place it might be. There was the image of a green volcanic crater jutting into foaming aquamarine sea; on another poster, Jejudo claimed to be a ‘Resort Convention Island’; elsewhere, I learnt that it was a ‘Special Self-Governing Province’, the sort of place where attractive young women (models, presumably) posed with golf clubs before palm trees.

Venturing out on deck, with its soaked floor and forlorn-looking plastic tables, I saw Jejudo’s faint outline emerge through the mist and sea-spray, above the sea’s rough blue and beneath the overhanging, menacing grey of the sky. I knew little about that vague landmass that lay ahead – only that they made great tangerine juice, or at least squash, and that it was associated with the hareubang guardian statues, which appear on tangerine squash bottles and wherever else people want to evoke Korea’s tropical island paradise (the paradise that was now veiled in rain).

As I stood by the roadside, having disembarked at Jeju-si Ferry Terminal, I was lucky enough to meet a fellow traveler and hiking enthusiast called Marius, whose accent I could trace to South Africa but not specifically to Jo’burg. The traveler returning home inspired kindly and keenly passed on his tips to the newly arrived traveler – tips about which route to take to the Hallasan summit, how one had to start early so as not to be sent back prematurely, and where to stay.

Marius’s eyes lit up as he talked with passion about climbing Hallasan and Ilchulbong, the round green crater that I had seen pictured in the advertisement, which was now emerging as a possible pre-hike.

Written in Chinese characters, Ilchulbong ceases to be a curious and unwieldy jumble of letters and becomes, more evidently, ‘Sunrise Peak’ – in Mandarin the same characters would be pronounced as ri chu feng.

Jutting out from Jejudo’s eastern edge, this volcanic

crater was an island when it came into being five thousand years ago, but gradually connected itself to what we might laughingly refer to as the ‘mainland’, so that there is now a peninsula – which is just as well for the busloads of Chinese tourists who flooded in routinely as part of five-day Jejudo tours. It’s easy to understand how this parasitic volcano, ‘Sunrise Peak’, received its name: located at the easternmost point of Jejudo and taking a mere twenty minutes to trek up to, people would naturally have thought of coming up to Ilchulbong’s crater to see the sun pop up and dawn’s rosy fingers spread gracefully out (in theory).

Having shared a taxi and spirited conversation with Marius, I opted for a local bus to ‘Sunrise Peak’ – and it was on that bus that I met Claudina, a kind and interesting fellow EPIK participant from Brooklyn, New York. Trained as a biologist, Claudina had been the first non-Korean to live – and teach – on a (very) small island off Jejudo, and consequently she and her family had been the focus of some media attention. As we chatted on the bus (with such enthusiasm, apparently, that the bus driver asked us to be quiet), the Jejudo resident passed on valuable cultural tips to the visitor from southern Jeolla. Claudina pointed out leek and onion fields, pitch black volcanic rocks piled to form walls dividing fields in a way that made me think of Derbyshire, and little rounded grave-mounds where filial sons had once stayed for a year or more after their parents had been buried.

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Claudina pointed out, too, the parasitic volcanoes that are called oreum in Korean and characterize Jejudo’s landscape in much the same way as funny-shaped karst formations characterize parts of southern China – there was supposedly one oreum hill, Claudina said, for each day of the year. Later, at Jeju City’s fantastic folklore and natural history museum, I read that the total number of parasitic volcanoes was 368, which I suppose would leave a couple extra oreum for special days like Chuseok and Seolnal. I certainly spotted a good few oreum hills rising abruptly from an otherwise even landscape as we headed for ‘Sunrise Peak’. And when you stand at Dongamsa temple (‘eastern rock temple’) at the base of Sunrise Peak, this oreum-dotted landscape makes you wonder whether you’ve stepped by accident into some Jurassic Park.

My inexpensive minbak guesthouse room had a fantastic view of monolithic Ilchulbong. It also offered that soundless peace, emphasized and heightened by the occasional groanings of nature, that you’re never granted in a city or the suburbs – only in some soft bed in the countryside or in a small town by the sea, where you wake the next morning feeling that you’ve rediscovered the meaning of sleep. My ears picked up the vague howl of wind, the crash of distant waves, and strained to perceive the noise of some animal out there in the darkness beneath Ilchulbong. I was glad to have a bathroom with warm water, a sink and everything easily visible after the previous night that I had spent at a hospitable but cheap place in Wando, where I had resorted to washing at a local mogyoktang. At last, in that minbak room by Ilchulbong, I experienced the blissful sensation that I was on holiday.

The following morning, I can only trust that the sun popped up promptly at 7.35 am (or a couple minutes before) – as local people had promised it would. The town below and the horizon over the dark sea brightened just perceptibly as I stood on the wooden walkway, having puffed my way up to the crater to espy the dawn, fearful of being late – but the weather was too grey and blustery for any bright round red disc of sun to be visible in the way one might have hoped.

Instead, rough winds blew; rain spattered. There were a few other would-be sunrise-spotters out that morning. A friendly student from Busan, cycling around Jejudo with friends, took time out to chat with me in English, and on the way down I noticed a man wearing mainland Chinese police uniform: from the prosperous port of Ningbo in Zhejiang province, he and his family were the first of many Chinese tourists I’d see that day.

Although Sunrise Peak doesn’t loom in the Korean consciousness quite like Hallasan, there are one or two good stories attached to it. You can see a rock that was 14

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promoted, so they say, to the rank of general.

Superstition dictated that people would be promoted if they passed this special rock, known by the epithet ‘Geumma’ (Forbidden). But when a military base was shifted to Sunrise Peak shortly before 1600, a great many soldiers touched the rock in the hope of advancing rapidly through the ranks. Though it’s difficult to believe, legend has it that the large rock was showing signs of erosion as a result. A martial law was imposed, forbidding soldiers to touch the stone, hence the name that it goes by today.

Climbing Sunrise Peak for a second time later that morning led to a wonderful meeting with a tour group from Fujian province but such a terrible raindrenching that I found myself stuck in the town for a second night. I climbed Sunrise Peak for a third time and had still more opportunities to practice my Mandarin with busloads of friendly Chinese visitors on five-day tours, compared to whom I began to feel like a fixture of Sunrise Peak and the adjoining town. I walked by the town harbour and watched seagulls riding upwards on the winds, maintaining such motionlessness that they appeared like model birds on a child’s mobile. I thought of a dream I’d had the previous night in my comfortable minbak bed, in which I’d been able to will myself to levitate rather high, pretty much like those seagulls who I admired as they dangled on the wind. They must be enjoying the sensation, it struck me, just as I had rather enjoyed levitating in my dream.

Now, if you want to climb Mount Halla, you can choose either Jeju City or Seogwipo as a base. It was Seogwipo, in the south of the island, for which I made, thinking it to be vaguely closer to the start of the Halla hike that might allow me to catch the Milky Way. Speaking of celestial bodies: I stayed at the Galaxy Motel.

Dispensing with idle chatter – I rose early on the first day of February to climb my first Korean mountain, Mount Halla. It was a fine dawn, as rosy-fingered as Odysseus used to see, and the snowy peak was visible as I set out. Before boarding the local bus, I stocked up on provisions – rolls of gimbap (rice in seaweed laver), pastries from Paris Baguette, and more bottled water than I could possibly have needed retrospectively. The bus driver seemed chirpy and cheerful: this must be one of the more interesting routes to cover, transporting hikers to the base of a mountain and to the start of a day of unavoidable adventure.

It was all very well and picturesque for the summit of Mount Halla to be snowy – but I hadn’t expected the whole mountain to be coated in snow. As the bus wound around the foothills of Hallasan, towards the

start of the Songpanak trail that leads to the summit, snow appeared by the side of the road and among the forests. And by the time I hopped off the bus, snow was piled high enough to half-bury a fake ‘hareubang’ statue guarding the car park. The atmosphere was bleak, and I thought to myself: If it’s this snowy (and miserable, and bleak) here, what will it be like at the peak of Mount Halla? I felt queasy as apprehension set in.

As 9am approached, everyone seemed to be strapping snow spikes to their hiking boots. Marius’s advice was still ringing in my ears, so I decided to pick up a pair myself. Sensing that a stray branch might not serve adequately as a walking staff, I also equipped myself with that most quintessentially Korean of things: my first high-tech hiking stick. I soon realized that many people had two of these, so that they looked as though they might go skiing.

Strange to say, but I found the first stretch of the hike the most difficult, even though it was far less challenging than what would come later, more overland than uphill. Plagued by signs warning hikers that they had to reach the Jindallae (Azalea) Shelter by noon if they wished not to be sent back, I hastened my steps (and lost the snow spikes on one of my hiking boots). There was a stream of hikers, and some tried to overtake others, only to be overtaken themselves by

those they’d passed.

By ten thirty, I had reached the first shelter – a room with glass windows, a figure eight-shaped ceiling, and imitation-marble seats where one could sit comfortably and keep dry even though the floor was sodden. There were also toilet cubicles. I had been trekking overland through the snow with a friendly tangerine farmer from Seogwipo. The farmer – Mr. Jo, 49 – had a girlfriend in Seoul who was an English teacher. I soon found myself talking to her on Mr. Jo’s mobile phone.

I have no memory of what I said, and no idea what Mr. Jo’s Seoul girlfriend thought as she listened to the voice of an unknown foreigner reporting from Mount Halla.

I had to reach the next shelter by noon if I wanted to be allowed to continue to the peak of Hallasan. At ten to twelve – ten minutes before the cut-off time – the bright, snowily rounded peak of Mount Halla came into view, and then Jindallae (Azalea) Shelter, with its huge solar panel harnessing the sunlight, and a great many hikers resting. Birds – they seemed to be birds of prey – wheeled over this non-forested, snowy expanse.

Meanwhile, Mr. Jo hastened me on: “Ten minutes!”

And then: “No…seven minutes!”

Having come this far, it seemed best to race on, more overland than uphill, through the snow and sunlight – even if this was beginning to feel like Around the World in Eighty Days. As a stream of hikers approached the summit, the snow was so deep that it made me think of a road trip I had once taken to the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido to see the Gwangju News April 2009

15

stunning Sapporo Snow Festival.

I fell in with Ju No and Gwan Cheon, two students from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul (Korea’s oldest university), and struck up a conversation with them. They spoke excellent English. Ju No spotted a footprint-like hole so deep that I poked my high-tech hiking stick right into it but couldn’t touch the bottom.

It must be some animal’s burrow, Ju No suggested.

Approaching the very summit of Hallasan and spotting the viewing platform, I had a very brief one of those ‘Stendhal moments’ and stopped abruptly, gaping. It wasn’t the sublime beauty of Hallasan’s tip that froze me in my tracks a la Stendhal, but rather the sheer number of people standing by the barrier, gazing out towards that cloud-roof that one normally only sees from an airplane window. They were gazing, too, at the shifting mists onscuring and then unveiling the indistinct and microscopic terrestrial world crawling far below them – 1,900 metres or so below, if you really want to know!

Shortly after that, I stopped Stendhal-style again. And this time it was for a different reason. What stopped me in my tracks was a striking, breathtaking beauty that you simply don’t see from day to day out in the suburbs of Gwangju or Nottingham, or even in other parts of Jejudo. From the other side of the summit’s platform there dipped a vast, circular, snow-carpeted crater: a reminder that Mount Halla was once an active volcano (though thankfully, if you are reading this account, not on the day I climbed). This crater, I learnt later at Jeju City’s museum of natural history and folklore, is inhabited by such interesting creatures as the Jeju Salamander and the Korean Fire-bellied Toad.

Gentle roe deer wander down there, too, to drink the water. But on the day when I saw Baekrokdam Crater, it was splendidly frozen and there was not a drop of water to quench any delicate roe deer’s thirst. The only wildlife (unless you count hikers like me) consisted of big black crows that cawed and flapped around the summit, landing on snow and heath.

They could do with a temple – Buddhist or Taoist or anything, really – up there on Hallasan’s peak, as on the peaks of China’s holy mountains. They could also do with a toilet – or perhaps I should say, I could have done with one.

“Is there a bathroom near here?” I asked around in my best ‘improver’s’ Korean. The nearest one appeared to be a mere 2.3 kilometres back down the slippery recent stretch. It seemed best, therefore, to plough on.

As I began heading onwards, downwards by a different route, in the direction of Gwaneumsa Temple, throngs 16

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of people were stopping to admire (and photograph, and be photographed with) what one man described to me as ‘ice flowers’ (though the Chinese characters he mentioned meant ‘up – high – stick’). These were icicles that had extended not downwards, as icicles usually do, but sideways – indicating that the summit winds could be far rougher than during my visit, when they were remained still and mute. In this highaltitude zone of Mount Halla, sideways-icicles clung magically to the trees, a minor miracle that fascinated hikers come from mundane lower places.

In the next phase – which lasted nearly half an hour, proving fun and frustrating in equal measure – the horizontal icicles faded gradually away, as did almost anything resembling a step. I felt that I was tackling an Alpine ski course with only one ski (my high-tech hiking stick), and was trying desperately not to slip away down the slope. Here and there, groups of Korean hikers had nestled themselves by the side of this ‘ski route’, picnicking – and one friendly man even invited me for kimchi. I replied, in the least atrocious ‘improver’s’ Korean I could muster, that kimchi was tasty but I planned to eat later. And then I slipped onwards, grasping gracefully at branches.

At last there was another resting platform – but again no bathroom. Heck, it didn’t even have a roof or walls.

But it did offer a truly breathtaking snowy mountain panorama featuring the highest peaks of Hallasan.

The next phase in this unfolding assault course was short and sweet. Only one sensible approach presented itself: a form of makeshift sledging (or at least skidding). Since I was now part of a train of Korean hikers, everyone had to do their best not to bump into one’s comrades. I practiced the art of waiting before sledging down on jeans and coat, and the art of keeping my hiking stick pointed where it couldn’t hurt anyone. I hoped that other people would do the same – and sure enough, this fun phase finished without injuries.

When we stopped in a clearing, I spotted a Korean group’s high-tech hiking sticks piled amusingly to form a wigwam shape, and asked if I might take a picture.

The friendly hikers offered me an apple segment – popular among Korean hikers – and subsequently a satsuma. By mid-afternoon, the train of hikers had followed snowy footprints and trails to reach another roughly-figure-eight-shaped shelter with glass windows, but this one was boarded up and featured crows pecking at rubbish.

I slipped and pseudo-skied, makeshift-sledged and more-or-less-tobogganed many more times that day.

And there were other deft moves, like tripping over

snow (which happened frequently), stumbling, and grasping desperately at rope to keep my balance. I admired the delicate persistence of bamboo as it peeked tentatively out from cracks in snow – but soon there was so much of it that it became a bore.

To cut through idle chatter – just as staff at a Korean diner cut through gimbap rolls for early-morning hikers – I reached the Gwaneumsa Temple exit long before sunset, though there was initially no temple to be seen. I emerged into the terrestrial world – the land, shall we say, of instant coffee vending machines, stable public bathrooms, taxis and buses – with some new friends and comrades in hiking.

It was like the old Chinese story of the old farmer whose horse runs away: something that appears bad may easily lead to good fortune. I had cut my finger quite badly (or so it seemed to me as I watched the blood keep coming). This had happened as part of my attempt to avoid stumbling into the hiker in front of me. I had gone along like that, my finger bleeding, until a kind group of authentic hikers (who belonged to an authentic hiking group) gave me ointment and bandages – followed by snacks. This kind but not environmentally conscious hiking troupe had flown to Jeju-si from Seoul for the weekend, and would soon fly back, for the sole purpose of tackling Mount Halla.

The head hiker – the kind man whose first aid kit had saved my finger – let me use an extra pair of snowchains on my hiking boots (more sophisticated than the snow spikes I’d had) to ensure that I wouldn’t slip again. I noticed that it was much easier to grip the snow. And so I walked along happily, making eager conversation with Il Ho, 29, a graphic designer and

animator specializing in computer games, and Min Hi, who worked in an office in Seoul. Il Ho, whose mother lived in Australia, spoke excellent English.

My adventures weren’t quite over when I reached the land of instant coffee machines. After saying farewell to Il Ho, Min Hi and their chief, the kind Head Hiker, I still had to find the bus stop. I wondered along the highway for what seemed eternity, chatting with a charming primary school teacher called Seon Ah who came from the central region in South Korea. As the light dimmed, we had an engaging and thoroughly enjoyable chat about school and travel (since Seon Ah had a lively interest in other cultures and this had helped motivate her to speak such excellent English), but I gradually began to fear that the bus stop would never appear. The drivers whose attention I tried to attract, hitchhiker-style, probably assumed we were hitchhikers and so didn’t stop. It got darker. The road continued. I wondered whether we would walk all night and still not reach Seogwipo.

At the bus shelter or perhaps on the local bus – which arrived promptly after we found the shelter – I observed that the correct way to put the icing on the cake of such a day’s hike would be to have a long, reinvigorating soak in a mogyoktang. Seon Ah seemed to agree – and already seemed to have the address of a 24-hour jjimjilbang. But I was utterly exhausted and realized that I just needed a good meal (I settled for pizza) and sleep. I never did get to the mogyoktang that night.

By Jacob Lotinga

Gwangju News April 2009

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Travel

A Colorful Experience Amid Snowy White

1) 2009 Biathlon World Championship In February 2009, Pyeongchang, a snowy white county in Gangwon Providence, attracted top-class athletes, broadcasting company staff and spectators from all over the world. It was the second time for the county to hold Biathlon competitions following the 2008 Biathlon World Cup. This year, Gangwon providence and Pyeongchang held the 2009 Biathlon World Cup Championship in coordination with the International Biathlon Union (IBU) and its branch office in Korea, KBU.

strength and concentration ability – we see scientific results which say that the average heart rate of a biathlete hits around 170 on the shooting range.

Talking of biathlon and ski, many people might think first of alpine skiing; however, there are significant differences. The biggest one can be easily observed in the appearance of alpine athletes and biathletes. The former have a notably shorter and stouter body structure than that of biathletes. Biathlon athletes are tall and often skinny because those characteristics give advantages for an athlete to go fast when racing on a flat plane or up an incline.

Alpensia, the venue of the championship 2) Biathlon Winter Biathlon is a sport in which athletes compete in a combined test of skiing and marksmanship skills.

Though it has poor recognition among Asian countries (Pyeongchang’s World Cup was the first in Asia), Biathlon is considered to be one of the top sports in several European countries such as Germany and much of Scandinavia.

At a first glance, this sport may not look overly interesting. It seems to be a repetition of competitive skiing and shooting, but once you understand some basic rules, it is a whole different story. One of many rules for the competition makes this sport very interesting: the penalty. There are five different sections of biathlon, which are Individual, Pursuit, Sprint, Relay and Mass Start, and some of them use this penalty.

In terms of the popularity of biathlon in Korea, the summer biathlon is better known. There are 17 biathlon teams in Korea which are maintained by municipal and provincial governments, and 2~3 national cups are held around summertime with a combination of bicycling or marathon instead of skiing.

Biathlon competitions are made to test physical

Whenever an athlete fails to shoot down each target among five given, he/she has to run the 150m long penalty track. Even if an athlete holds a firm top position during the rally, one single mistake can put him/her on the hook. In short, this sport can be much more interesting than one would normally expect.

Unfortunately, it seems like there would be no

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opportunities soon for Korea to hold Biathlon Championship again, and some people would miss the thrill on the snow white field. Maybe we can hope for Pyeongchang to host the Winter Olympics in 2018.

3) Personal Experience When I took a bus from Gwangju to Incheon Airport, I could barely sleep even though it was the middle of the night. My eyes started to picture one year ago, my ears started to hear the voices of my friends, and my heartbeat began to quicken. I mean, it was beating fast.

One year ago, I came to work for ARD, a nationwide broadcasting group (like KBS1) and as I worked with the staff, we became friends. Imagine meeting friends after a year has passed, knowing they are here to stay only for a couple of weeks. At the Incheon Airport, I immediately noticed Christian, a renowned moderator from RBB (Berlin branch of ARD), and we smiled at one another.

Last year, we made fun of each other often and had fun at a karaoke room or a bar together with some of ARD staff. Saying hello to each other again, the year just disappeared and we started to talk and laugh again. It was extremely fun to work with the ARD group last year and I thought that there would be probably no project like this. I was right. Along with my other broadcasting project at MBC, I learned that broadcasting tasks can be really hectic and that they need a lot of money and people in a limited time.

Moreover, there was more work to be done and I came to assist in organizing overall tasks. But, more work meant more fun because it meant there were more interactions. Don’t get me wrong: I understand that there are differences between working a “real” job and

doing coordination work. Besides the ARD group, I could make friendships with other strangers from whom I could learn a lot. The hectic nature of the project made us all cheer up and learn to rely on each other more. The project has been over for a few weeks, and many of us are away from Gwangju and back home in Germany, Seoul or the U.S., but we stay close in spirit and everyone hopes to meet again soon.

One thing I came to realize during the project is that learning a language is more than simply learning to communicate. The fact that I learned a beginning level of German made this time more enjoyable than last year. I think learning a language gives the learner a new perspective on the people and the culture native to it. Therefore, being able to speak another language can lend us great insight when it comes to interacting with native speakers. It can help to start up a smooth relationship between those who have different mother tongues.

As an additional note, I hope many of you – ESL teachers, students and scholars from other countries – will enjoy more friendships, try more new things, and interact as much as possible with locals. Make the most of your stay in Korea, as I did with my good friends from Germany.

By Ahn, Hongpyo / “Max” A studying abroad student at University of Missouri, Columbia He can be easily reached at enahnk@gmail.com

ARD Staff Athletes during exercise At the field studio, Myself / Biathlon Expert / another stringer / Sports Anchor

Gwangju News April 2009

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Upcoming Event

Seoul Soulful Buddha Festival

E

very year, at the time of the Buddha Birthday celebration, I make a pilgrimage to Seoul. These festivities are without doubt the pinnacle of all the wonderful experiences that I have had in Korea, and like a true believer, I insist upon inflicting them onto everybody else. So here it is!

The main festivities take place on the weekend prior to the actual holiday (which this year is Sunday May 2nd), so the weekend to be in Seoul is April 25th and 26th. The climax is the three hour lantern parade on the Sunday night (26th), but what the hell, if you are working the next day, buses run all night. The parade goes down Jongno and ends at the Jogyesa temple. This temple is one block over from Insadong. Over the weekend, all around the temple, and up and down the street, is a veritable host of activities to keep the visitor enthralled.

By Allen Gray 20

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Perspective

Language and Culture: A

I

Global

Perspective from Where I Am

had a strange thought during our meeting at work today.

One teacher told us that we should not “over-teach” the students. It was about our after school program, and how it wasn’t working. I agreed with him. He said (in Korean of course, my translation): We are not communists; we live in a democratic society. Why must we force the students to learn extra curricular activities against their will?

Honestly, I am not sure what he was exactly conveying because my Korean is not perfect and there are cultural boundaries—him, a Korean teacher, me, a Korean American teacher teaching English—but what he said really spoke to me. I agree with him.

I think that students in Korea are overworked, over-programmed, and overdone. I think that it is a sad fate for Koreans as a nation, something that they must “overcome” in order to live healthy and happy adult lives. Many Korean adults smoke and drink, and I think that that is all connected somewhere in this society’s circle of life.

I also have another thought: that as American fast food chains are franchising in Korea, I believe that Koreans will like them—maybe even love them. In consequence, Koreans will become obese and unhealthy like the Americans.

That makes me very sad. A few weekends ago I bought a sandwich at an American fast food restaurant and realized, at this rate, I will die of heart disease.

Perhaps I digressed. I believe that my point is this though, in this global society, I think that Koreans are taking a beating from foreign cultures. Culture is not just popular music and clothes. Culture is connected to a lot of things, including the economy, history, heritage, ethnicity, and on and on. I am not sure how we, as Koreans, can improve what we are “importing” from foreign countries. It is my hope that we will take everything with a grain of salt.

In the same way, foreigners working in Korea should take everything with a grain of salt too.

By Stella H. Oh

Gwangju News April 2009

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Interview

Feeding the Needy in Gwangju T

wo Interviews with groups helping the elderly and needy with lunches and more

All questions are by Jeong, Ja-Yeon.The first interview is with Yim, Hae-Seon, the director along with her husband, the priest, Kim, Gyu Ok, the founders of ‘The Love Shelter,’ near Gwangju Park. The second interview is with French volunteer Margeurite Poit, who is in Gwangju as part of the Mission Etranger Paris (MEP), a group that does serves the needs of less privileged humans throughout the world. Thirdly, Choi, Seung-Eun, the director of, and “professeur” at the Alliance Francaise spoke about its roles in Gwangju.JJY = Jeong Ja-Yeon, YHS = Yim, Hae Seon, MP = Margeurite Poit and CSE = Choi Seung-Eun. JJY:How long has the “Shelter of Love” been serving a free lunch in Gwangju?

YHS: We opened in May, 1987 and we were first located in Dong Sam-so, but the center was not used to much there.Still, as more people used the center we served more lunches.We started at three days per week and then went to five days, and finally every day.We also started a bathing program at that time.The bathing program started as a once - per month service, and it is also offered every day now.

Later we found out that a lot of elderly people congregated in Gwangju Park, so we moved the Shelter of Love to a warehouse near the park.We were housed there from 2005 to 2006.We completed this building in 2006, and it is much more suited to the needs of our clients.

JJY: How many people do you serve every day?

YHS: We serve lunch to 500-600 people on weekdays and 300 or so on weekends.There are between and 200 people per day who use our bathing service.This provides another place to socialize, while French-Korean Unity 24

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eliminating the “Old person odor.”

JJY: How do you meet your financial needs?

YHS: The Korean government, Gwangju City Hall and the district office supports 55% of the funding needed, which is 5,300,000 per month. Government grants total 2,800,000 per month, and the remaining 2,300,000 comes from some corporations, civic groups, volunteer groups and Gwangju citizens. All the work done here is by volunteers.We also provide medical care volunteers and a free haircut service from time to time. We have faced lawsuits from the land of owner and have had a hard time paying the money for constructing the building. For this reason, we've been under big financial problems and it's getting difficult now.

JJY: Could you explain about the scandal that you or your husband spent some amount of funds for personal purposes?

YHS: I've dedicated my life and my properties to this work to help the elderly for a long time, until now. I don't have my own house now. The pastor, Kim, Gyu Ok (the chief director of these programs as well) went to jail for six months. However, I have suffered unfairly because what I do is an important thing for our citizens, and the government or the City Hall of Gwangju should do this rather than individuals.

JJY: What do you think of welfare of the aged in Gwangju?

YHS: Gwangju has the most number of the old (per capita) among all the o t h e r metropolitan cities such as Seoul or Busan in Korea. That's why we were the first ones to start a free 'soup kitchen' for the old.

However, a lot Yin, Hae Seon, Directer of the Shelter of Love

Volunteers in the Shelter of Love Kitchen

of problems still remain because the aged easily could be a blind spot of public welfare. The government’s livelihood subsidy only applies to the aged without children or family. It doesn't include the old citizens that do have children. But there are many older people whose children can't support their parents because of financial problems.

The number aged living alone is on the rise, and they need a place like the “Shelter of Love.” The most important thing is to have the welfare system in the law like Sweden or New Zealand. That's the goal we have sought for a long time, and it will take time.

Gwangju is an aging society now and we need to care for and provide jobs for the aged.

We need help in urgently to solve the financial problems running 'the shelter of love' now.

JJY: Are there any ways to volunteer here?

YHS: This soup kitchen operates by volunteers. We welcome you. If you're interested in it, you can contact (062) 676-6646 or 653-6646. There is also a website: http://cafe.daum.net/21hyo * Operation hours of 'shelter of love' 9:00am-6:00pm; Soup kitchen (1st floor) 11:30am-12:30pm Bathing program (2nd floor) 11:00am-3:00pm The Gwangju Alliance Francaise (French Alilance) runs

a separate lunch program called “The Restaurant of Love,” and it has volunteers from France, Gwangju citizens, and from Chosun University professor Stephane Bewekedi and Chonnam University Professor Olivier Bailble as often as they can.Margeurite Poit is a 21-year-old volunteer from Paris who was placed at Gwangju Alliance Francaise by the Mission Etranger de Paris (MEP), a group that aids the needy throughout the world.

JJY: Why did you come to Korea?

MP: The Catholic mission, MEP told me I would be here at the Gwangju Aliiance Francaise (GAF) JJY: MEP is a group of priests who seek young volunteers, 18-30 years old to do charity work.I got a three-year history degree, and wanted to volunteer without knowledge of where I would be. In Asia MEP does work in Vietnam, Laos, China, Korea, Indonesia and Madagascar.

JJY: Do a lot of people eat at the “Restaurant of Love?”

MP: We serve up to 400 people on a busy day.I want my life to be as valuable as possible for other people.The people we serve are about half women and half men.

JJY: What are some of your early impressions of Gwangju?

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MP: I was surprised by how fast the busses drive, and there are always people in Sinae, which is unlike downtown Paris, which is not as crowded during the daytime.

and Chonnam Professors) when they volunteered here.

JJY: Do you get any free time?

MP: I get six days off every two months, and the next holiday I will meet two friends in Shanghai from April 25 to May 3.

JJY: Has your experience changed over time?

MP: It was difficult for me here when I first arrived, being away from my family, but a priest from Seoul put me on the bus to Gwangju, and Madame Choi, the GAF director got me set up with my ID card and health care.

Margeurite took me by bus to GAF, where I talked to director and “professeur” Choi, Seung-Eun. JJY: How long have you been here, and what is your mission?

JJY: It’s amazing seeing someone so young volunteering.I had to study so hard in high school, and then most of my friends work hard at university for their own career.Is your time here going well?

CSE: The Gwangju Alliance Francaise is 10 years old, with five years at this location.We get supported by the French Embassy, and also teach French classes to support our office.

MP: I am happy with the complimentary jobs.I work at the Restaurant of love in the morning and teach in the afternoon and evening.

JJY: How many students do you have?

JJY: How can you volunteer without knowing a lot Korean?

MP: I have no communication except gestures and body language.The people are kind and speak slowly.I pass out trays of food, but the Korean volunteers won’t let me cut up any food because they are afraid I might get hurt since I am young. I am the only regular foreign volunteer the rest are Korean.The volunteers change every day, and I met Stephane and Olivier (the Chosun

CSE: We have 50 ot 60 students, and 90-100 during school breaks.

JJY: Do any of your French students volunteer at the Restaurant of Love?

CSE: Sometimes our high school students come here to do their required charity work during school holidays.

It is not a regular thing because they are so busy.

To volunteer contact Choi, Seung Eun at: 527-2500. Or check out www.afgwangju.co.kr

By Jeong Ja-Yeon

The Shelter of Love on Tuesday, March 17 26

Gwangju News April 2009

Memorial

The Man Who Solved All Problems T

he “Genius of Boseong, “ mathematics professor and teacher at The Chonnam University Program for Gifted Students, Professor Baek, Jeong Seon died when a school bus driver dozed off and struck him as he rode his bicycle to work.Baek had no driver’s license and “rode in all seasons except in the worst rain or snow,” Chonnam Mathematics chair Kim, Jeongook said.

“Professor Baek was a very nice man, and gifted at math and computers,” Mathematics Chairperson Kim said. “As a student at Seoul National University he was very talented, and helped others solve problems they could not. As a colleague, he helped set up the TEX science word-processing program on our main frame, and developed the first Korean version of this program which he shared freely, but never wanted to make public.”

Baek’s genius was well known, and his loss is felt throughout Chonnam University, and beyond. Almost as well-known was his quiet demeanor. “He taught us a lot even without saying anything,” Math student Kim, Ji Eun said. “His office was very busy with work, and in class many students were shy when asking questions about how to solve the difficult problems he gave us in class. This is because his explanations in words were so much more complex than the problems.”

Baek loved children. “For the past three years, at least, he was teaching in the Program for Gifted Children that focused on junior high school and high school students. His biggest smile was when he was working with children,” Kim, Jeongook said. “He played violin, and was an excellent singer of traditional songs from the countryside. His home town was Boseong, Byul Gyu.” This farming village raised a man whose quest for higher levels of math knew no boundaries.

“He loved math,” Student Kim, Bik Na said. “When he taught he smiled naturally, because his research was so hard, and the classroom was so free. The news of his death was unbelievable. If he hadn’t died he would have continued to contribute to mathematics in Korea.”

always attended high school reunions, University functions, and math department family outings. His face would light up when he talked with the children of other professors,” Math Chairperson Kim said.

Students came from far and wide to take his classes.

Peyman Hessari, from Iran, had taken three classes from professor Baek. “In Partial Differential Equations, I loved his laugh,” Hessari said. “He taught with no notes or books, just brains.” Those brains included a penchant for solving large and small problems with computers, from programming main frames, to keeping servers in top current form, to discovering new ways to use PC software.

“He kept all the department computers in perfect shape and up to date. I am not sure what we will do now,” Kim Jeongook said. “He was a happy man because he was doing what he wanted. He always did so much for others.”

Play II, Thirty Five Years Later There’s this shadow made by Korean Pines that hits the white wall of building two at one every day.

If you’re sitting upstairs at An Die Musik, lazily waiting for your favorite lunch-mate, this shadow can appear to be the cliff seen in ancient watercolors. A dark cliff and foggy white air in a far-distant place.

Foreground cloud-clipped conifers add a touch of reality, nudging you back to lunch, which arrives, unlike your partner.

Today it’s the newfound cliff, visible only from three southeast-facing seats. Students move, shoes push grains into jagged cracks, yellow buds enlarge, the sun warms frosted souls, but it’s the shadow cliff that matters. Now you have a new friend, silent but hopeful, strong yet fake, everlasting but ever-changing, finally receding with the sun to a place no one knows. A morose quartet, early romantic, pops at least one bright piano note, while cello, violin, viola continue their lament. A new banner is stretched between trees. The perpetrators are efficient and mingle into passersby in less than thirty seconds. Now the cliff cascades, trios walk and talk, you dream of love alone, confident it will return.

By Doug Stuber www.stuberpark.com

His research schedule was on a 24-hour clock at home and at Chonnam University, but this did not slow down his social life. “He was quiet in all situations, but he

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Events

Sweet 2009 Solar, Wind and Earth Energy Trade Fair 2009 I

From March 18th-20th the Kim Daejung Convention centre played host to S.W.E.E.T, its annual renewable energy fair and, while not having been to any previous exhibitions (the program was started in 2006) I thought I would bike down there and have a look at what was going on.

On arriving in the exhibition space I was greeted by a plethora of sales stands offering a wide range of renewable energy solutions, be it wind, water, geothermal or solar and beyond. What seemed apparent to begin with was that Gwangju City seems to specialise in photovoltaic technology (the cells used in solar panels, to my knowledge) with it heralding itself as an industry leader within Gwangju. And from the exhibitions stands the investment so far in solar energy seems to outstrip any other renewable energy in this part of the country. Good news for those who can afford the solutions being offered, but, to be honest, slightly intimidating for those less well off.

Next on the agenda was a seminar held on the Wednesday afternoon hosted by members of Gwangju City Government and the Jeollanamdo Provincial Government in partnership with other renewable industry leaders. A short presentation was provided to give the audience a sense of what was happening in Gwangju and Jeollanamdo on renewable energy development, with the emphasis on a city that is, in the main, looking to the wider world for its renewable energy solutions (Korean businessmen solemnly

shaking hands with besuited white visitors etc). After this we were given a run-down on the facts, developments in production, and plans that are on the horizon in Jeollanamdo, as to renewable energy.

Among other things, these included: 1. Jeollanam-do produces 28% of Korea's renewable energy (O.K, a certain amount of understandable provincial pride... the bigger question being how much renewable energy is in development in the Jeollanamdo region, surely?)

2. Solar investment for schemes in Mokpo, an increased use of the country's land for bio-ethanol technology (the aim being 10% of Korean land to be used for bio-ethanol... one wonders what poor landowning families in Korea will make of this?)

3. Utilization of sea currents to the south of Jeollanmdo, and investments in different hydropowered utilities to exploit this 4. Jeollanamdo's "Leisure City Project" (planned to be an ongoing development project as of '06, and to continue until 2025). Again, there are a lot of questions as to what the taxpayer will receive as a benefit to them.

5. Jeollanamdo's aim to reduce carbon emissions by 10% by 2011 (when questioned, however, this was planned to be an 'ongoing target until 2025'). This is obviously the most horrific news... with my knowledge

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of most targets in foreign countries being much higher (with governments pledging towards targets of 50-90% for approximately the next 25 years.

6. Wind Power plants at Shinan Bigeum and Jindo Uldolmok (this one alone can generate 50 megawatts of energy (both of these are ongoing projects in tidal power generation (but it seems a lot more must be invested in these two plants if they are to generate power consistently over long periods of time, Gwangju city government is looking for foreign investment in schemes like this) 7. Already established photovoltaic panel 'fields' in a number of locations around Gwangju, including next to the Kim Daejung Convention Centre car park. Yay! 8. Further investment in photovoltaic technology.

'Jeollanamdo has the highest level of investment in photovoltaic investments in Korea'.

9. The provincial government has organised the 'Gwangju Techno-park Scheme' with '47 Institutes involved in renewable energy schemes between separate Universities and Colleges'. This strikes me as more positive i.e- hopefully 'clever people talking to each other' about solutions.

10. Gwangju City's 'Carbon Banking System', which will save Co2 across Gwangju City. I've heard a lot of talk about this scheme (similar to the U.S's cap and trade scheme) and have spoken to a lot of wellinformed good Korean English speakers about it... I am still hazy on what it actually is, when the scheme proposes to start, and how it will be managed specifically. Answers on a postcard, please. Please.

11. Investment from POSCO in Jeollanamdo's Yulchon Local Industrial Complex (interesting? The countrys most reputable steelworks and car manufacturer investing in green energy developments? So, let me get this right... if people keep buying more cars POSCO will keep investing in green energy?). Also, sixty wind

turbines to be made in a new POSCO factory in Gwangju.

After the (very hasty) presentation (much of the above points were scribbled down quickly while watching a lightning speed Powerpoint presentation) I also asked a number of other questions, particularly of Soh Yongho, the team leader of Jeollanmdo's investment scheme (why not give him a call on 061 286 5130 or email: yhtimes@jeonnam.go.kr?). Much of my interest centred around the topic of foreign investment, which seemed to be a repeated mantra throughout.

Afterwards it was mentioned that the provincial government was in negotiation with two foreign investors (one in the U.S, one in Israel) but could not name them thus far in their discussions.

All in all, a polite bit of information gathering, and some positive, interesting developments, but one can't help bemoaning the woeful turn-out for this seminar (about 20 people, many of whom were foreigners from many different countries France, Germany etc). The fact that the fair didn't make use of a day on the weekend so that more interested citizens could attend is also a bit of a mystery.

I'm left with the thought that the overriding attitude to renewable energies in this part of the world is still at the level of initial discussion, and obviously still worried about whether investment will quicken any time soon. While government seems 'helpful' enough, and investment in photovoltaics is high, it seems that the people should force these officials into corners (or vie for their jobs?) and make sure many of the “difficult promises� are acted on (and with a global depression now in full swing one wonders whether the solution of 'sacrifices now' seems better than 'technology when?').

By Andrew O'Donnell Photos by Jang Keong-Ho

www.openseasonpress.com www.myspace.com/ajodonnell

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Local Attraction

The Chicken Lady T

he likelihood of finding a group of 20+ foreigners in dim lighting on the streets of downtown gwangju near the crack of dawn is a very rare thing. Now picture that this group is not dancing at Speakeasy or madly singing at Song's into a microphone amidst a plurethra of smokers, drinkers and the occasional random open mic act. This group of foreigners have left Speakeasy and Songs with their bloodstreams full of booze, made a left at the bright lights of Mini Stop, dodged cars crossing the unknown street and made their way to what is now the third home for foreigners downtown, "The Chicken Lady."

As I walk among the teachers of future generations striving for a late night feast we begin talking about what we are going to order like we had just smoked a huge joint and were walking to Taco Bell. As we get even closer we can begin to hear faint English speaking occurring just minutes away! The ham-cheese toasties give off an aroma that I can only attempt to describe.

Once this aroma hits your nose your mind is fluttered with thoughts of deep fried chicken on a stick, breaded potatoes, stuffed jalapenos and whatever else that can fit into a deep fryer. Then, after moving through the street traffic like George Costanza and walking few steps past the main road, the shrine appears before you. A small, modest street vending tent with a lady

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Gwangju News April 2009

that always greets us with a great smile.

Maybe she's flattered that CJ proposed marriage to her or that the group of foreigners going to her stand has grown from just a few upon my arrival in early September to a great many these days. Whatever the case may be she is always smiling and always fills our bellies to the fullest.

My memory is sometimes vague but I recall someone relating her stand to their late night college food place where they knew everyone would be at the end of the night. Similar to college, however she is nice and those late night college pizza places always had complete assholes working for them and they were pissed off to be dealing with an 100% intoxicated customer base that is constantly fighting, making out and/or going to their shop after a night of committing borderline felonies in the name their respective educational programs.

The Chicken Lady and the customers already there, on the other hand, greet everyone like the Notre Dame Football team greets Rudy after he quits the team, then rejoins the team after receiving an incredibly savvy, yet inspiring speech from the University's equipment manager, his former boss. "You're 5 foot nothin! A 100 and nothin! And you hung in their with the best team in the land for 2 years and you're gonna walk outta here with a degree from the University of Notre Dame. Now get out there and eat some fried food!" At that point Rudy is running onto the field on pure savvy speech fumes and gets hugs, shakes and a "clap" that rivals anyone who has ever started a "clap" in which a group followed through with continuing the clap.

Those moments only happen once in a great while and we are lucky enough to have a place like that here.

(Sidenote: How long were Notre Dame's practices by the way? Rudy quits, randomly gets found watching the team practice from one of the stadium tunnels, gets talked to, then gets dressed and back out on the field

prior to the "season ending run through" practice ending. I think I need to talk to Rudy in person about this.)

I find myself thinking how lucky we are to have found this place. Rudy was a huge Notre Dame fan growing up because of his family and predecessors loving the school. I, like Rudy, have to give it up to my Gwangju

family and predecessors for finding this place. Here is my family chain of the Chicken Lady: Tom (now in Seoul) told Imran (now in Thailand/Canada) who told CJ and CJ paved the way for me. Not quite Moses to Jesus but we'll see how the history books rewrite it (or, the Gwangju News). If the Bible is any indication, this chicken lady could become quite the epic journey. I imagine more teachers knew about her, so tell your story!

The Chicken Lady is not just a fried food stand. Its a text message or a late night phone call, a meeting place or a food stop, and a debate over what to get or a debate over what is the best. The Chicken Lady encompasses so much more than just food. She brings people together like Speakeasy, Song's, Rudy and teaching English in Korea. A quote from one of the best kid's movies that you see when you are 8 years old but still love them now, The Sandlot. "Remember kid, heroes get remembered, but legends never die."

In a land full of fried food stands, The Chicken Lady stands alone.

By Andrew Eisenhart

Gwangju News April 2009

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Perspective

Thali Restaurant : Indian Bliss

I

t never rains but it pours. There was a time in Gwangju when "international cuisine" meant a restaurant dishing out spaghetti and pizza. Such were the limitations, that on my infrequent trips to Seoul, I was obliged to brave the pits of that city, Itaewon, to wrap myself around a decent mutton korma, or some such. A few years ago, there was a short lived Indian restaurant in Ilgok Dong, but apart from that, the nearest thing to anything Indian in Gwangju was that dreadful Ottogi curry from the local Mountain Mart. Of course, there were the wonderful curries we got at the GIC International Day, but once a year is not often enough for those of us in need of a constant Indian fix.

Following on the heels of the Underground Grocer's stocking real curry pastes, authentic curries can be bought from the supermarkets; and not one, but two Indian restaurants are open or - uh - "opening soon" in downtown Gwangju. I am being very tentative about

the Nepalese and Indian restaurant (about 200m past Burger King, heading towards the river): as the weeks pass, the "Opening Soon" sign above the locked door gets increasingly tatty. Hopefully, by publication date, this will be old news.

Which brings us to the recently opened Thali Restaurant. Thankfully, it does not disappoint. Indeed, it answers a prayer. It is. It is about 200m from Migliore, heading back toward Gumnamno, walking away from the river. It is an upstairs restaurant, on the corner, and, in a variation from the junk food theme, diametrically opposite McDonalds. “Thali� is a South Indian term for a kind of large platter, and this is how the restaurant serves its set menu dishes. A platter indeed, containing the curries

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Gwangju News April 2009

of your choice (mutton, chicken, vegetable, beef, and also a combination set), samosas, naan (and other roti) rice, a side salad, and a sweet. Menu dishes range from about 8000 won to 16000 won. Drinks are extra, and, in my opinion, a trifle expensive. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from 12 noon, they offer a buffet, at 10,000 won per person. The buffet choices are three or four curries, with a variety of condiments.

It includes a naan bread. From time to time, they also offer menu specials. The last time I was there, the special was an especially tasty tandoori chicken.

furniture redistribution, can handle groups of up to 10 or 12.

The restaurant has an incentive card. Get ten stamps, and your eleventh meal is free. In the quest of feeding my mutton curry addiction, I suspect I will be engorging one of their freebies regularly and often. As I said, this restaurant answers a prayer.

By Allen Gray

They use the terms “curry” and “masala” but do not differentiate into types of curry dishes like, say, vindaloo or korma. In a city with no tradition of Indian cuisine, this is understandable.

The customer can, though, request the degree of spiciness desired. On the three occasions that I have eaten here, I have found the curry tasty and fresh and not too spicy.

There is a wide range of drinks – albeit all non – alcoholic. They have a generous lassi which always goes well with curry, and they also offer a traditional Indian tea. This sounds ghastly – strong, sweet, creamy and boiled – but it is wonderful. On hot days in India, nothing is more thirst quenching, energizing or refreshing. It should thus go down a treat in Gwangju’s hot and sweaty summers.

The atmosphere is very relaxed.

The staff is friendly, welcoming, competent, and readily put the customer at ease. They are also quite eclectic: there is one young Korean woman, and the rest are from Pakistan and India. On the sub-continent, they seem to pick up languages in their sleep. As such, the staff is fluent in both Korean and English. The restaurant is tastefully appointed, can cater to solo diners, and, with a little

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The Korean Way No. 74

Euphemistic Reference to Deaths in the Orient E

very language in the world has euphemistic expressions to describe unpleasant or disagreeable things or deeds in a toned-down and roundabout way. By doing so, one can avoid the straight, direct and stark realities of life.

In a stratified feudal system that many Oriental countries have gone through, the terms for death differed widely depending on the status of the person involved. The sovereign of an empire, the emperor, was referred to as the son of Heaven, 天子, ordained by Heaven to rule the empire. When he died, his death was referred to as bung (崩), literally‘collapse of a mountain.’ No other person was allowed to use the word at his death. As a matter of fact, the emperor was the only one who ruled over China and other powerful personages were just feudal lords serving the emperor.

In Oriental history, Japan was the only country that managed to stand aloof and maintain its independence from the Mongolian empire 元 (/yuan / in Chinese/ won / in Korean) (1271-1368), because it repulsed Yuan’s two invasions in 1274 and 1281, thanks to two timely tempests. This is the origin of Kamikaze‘Divine Wind ’(神風), used for the Japanese naval special forces, its suicidal squadron in World WarⅡ. In Japan, the deaths of an emperor or empress are referred to as bung-o (崩御), the second letter being an honorific.

The deaths of feudal lords and the king of the Joseon Dynasty(1392-1910) were referred to as hung (薨)‘deceased.’ Lichi (禮記), the Book of Rites, one of the five Chinese classics, defines the Heavenly son’s death as 崩, bung, and a lords’ death as 薨, hung.

Sometimes the honorific terms 逝 or 去 are attached to it.

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Gwangju News April 2009

A high ranking officials’ death is referred to as jol (卒), literally ‘finish.’

A commoners’ death is referred to as sa (死). The letter is a generic term for death or die. Its euphemistic expression is ‘pass away’ as in English.

The death of a rogue or villain is referred to as pye (斃). The letter is reserved for the death of animals. It has a connotation of dying by the roadside or dying a dog’s death.

In Korea, the death of a Buddhist priest is referred to as ‘entering into nirvana’ (入寂) ‘the state of complete absence of sensation.’ A Catholic’s death is referred to as ‘seon jong, good ending,’(善終) and a Christian’s death is generally referred to as ‘so cheon’ ‘call to Heaven’ (召天), following the Biblical Ascension.

Korean people hate to die away from home, that is, gaeksa, (客死). This is why doctors often suggest the dying patient’s family to take him/her home if the family wants. Doctors, of course, do their best to save the patient but they honor this age-old custom and let the dying patient go home. People even feel guilty for letting their elders die away from home. But recently, big hospitals operate funeral services and people have come to make use of these facilities widely without feeling heavy guilt for letting their elders die away from home.

- By 2Ys

Feature

Re-inventing the Wheel

P

art2, in which he coagulates a number of years into the quest for independent spoke-related tomfoolery, whilst relating the discovery of the problem of climate change and climate change related information.

I’m sipping a real ale from a local brewery in St. Austell, Cornwall, England 2007. The house I’ve rented with a bunch of friends is massive. An old churchlike atmosphere, and across the lane a small field big enough for us all to play football until the sun goes down. This particular afternoon my friend lies sunbathing under the hot sun, slowly finishing a bottle of local cider. The T.V weather forecast reads 30 degrees centigrade. It is March. I compare these roads thick with traffic with the memory of a visit to Cornwall I made as a child in the mid eighties. While memory is

www.chycor.co.uk

selective I would imagine the number of cars as a tripling or a quadrupling.

So. It is March, and today the temperature is the same as a day normally in high summer (in the U.K. the hottest temperatures usually fall at the end of July and early August, but, for the whole of my childhood, even summer rarely got hotter than 30 degrees. An average summer in the 21st century now usually means heat for your average Brit with four of the highest temperatures being recorded in the last eight years. 2004 was a scorcher which got up to 36 degrees in England and 2007 saw an incredible heat wave across southern Europe which killed thousands of people) But the point when the problem of climate change really struck me came earlier than this; it was in the Autumn of 2006 when I received a cutting from The Times by my father.

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http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_MAGAZINE/2008/autumn/images/coda.jpg

An article on the topic of Global Warming by Mark Lynas, a writer who, while not an accredited expert in climate science, had spent the best part of five years sitting in the British Library (everything published in Britain is apparently available in the British Library) reading every single article that had been published on the topics of climate change and Global warming. This research had led to the writing of two books on the topic; High Tide and Six Degrees. This latter title tracks the changes that would happen on the earth given a rise in global temperatures of 1-6 degrees which scientists talk about in relation to what we can expect to see over the next 50-100 years (we’re at just over a 1 degree rise presently, with most scientists agreed that much over a 2 degree rise will cause a speeding up of the present rise in temperatures), With this article Lynas provided a map of the world given this predicted significant rise in temperatures.

I perused the map of this strange future world slowly.

Britain is a small tropical archipelago of islands with most of its existing lowland now under water. The deserts of North Africa have now crept further North and become a significant feature of Southern Europe.

Much of the low lying islands of Indonesia are now under water, with areas of China, Korea and Japan also under water. Australia is an uninhabitable desert.

Large areas of North America are now lost to vast deserts where crop growth is incredibly unproductive.

This was the world that unfolded before me in the

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Gwangju News April 2009

autumn of 2006, and peaked to a communal realisation between my friends and I, in Cornwall two years ago.

On the way back up north we stopped off in Tewkesbury, close to the border with Wales‌ again, it was a hot day, and we ate lunch in a small pub in the centre of town. Little did we know that much of Tewkesbury would be flooded and during the summer of that year, with many families being evacuated due to unprecedented rainfall. And later I am to remember floods that hit the city of York earlier in the new century, with many buildings near the river seeing whole storeys submerged. From this perspective in Spring 2007 it seemed that that problem of global warming had been lingering in my subconscious/barely-conscious mind for a long while (emerging now and then in poetry and other writing, unbeknownst to my conscious recognition of it as such).

Through much of the winter I continued to write poetry (I was now studying again) and found myself going for long walks around previously undiscovered areas of my hometown (where I was living alone in an area close to the downtown area).

As I walked round the local park, or spent nights in town, I began to feel increasingly cut off from the present world that was going on around me.

Frustration describes it, I felt extreme frustration 1/ because of being party to the information in Lynas’s article 2. Because of resenting the fact that I hadn’t been given this information earlier. This is what I’ve since come to refer to as ‘world-shock’… meaning a consciousness of the planet changing, and possibly turning away from the survival of life, combined with an amazement that the quotidian world seems to be continuing on regardless of this information, and doing apparently little to respond to it. Of course, that last part is not totally true in the sense that changes are being made but they do not always seem immediately apparent in one’s everyday experience. But ‘worldshock’, it seems obvious, doesn’t restrict itself only to me. It seemed to me then, and now, that the only solution would be to talk about it as much as possible.

After a move to Lancaster in early 07 I began talking to an old friend about the same problem. He mentioned Al Gore’s film An inconvenient Truth which I hadn’t seen up until this point. I quickly ordered and watched it. This was also the time that I borrowed a bike and began riding it everyday again for the first time since childhood. I was interested in using the bike as much as possible and specifically didn’t see it as a leisure item but as something that could be used for everything. I remember reading John Keats’s letters where he, together with a friend, tours much of England and Northern Ireland entirely on foot. I figured that I was simply a victim of the habit of the ease in which people transport themselves around their countries and their world. I was simply a victim of my own limited local and cultural history. And so, throughout that year I investigated most of north Lancashire on my father’s borrowed bike.

& its multitudinous individuals shift & conspire hideous & beautiful (the faces O yes the faces the Gods like shouting flowers toward the unknown future.

The familiar & the unfamiliar R its only penitence or degrees thereof. Intelligence, baby! it’ll take you all the way to the top (yr lonely degree shining in a jobless hash of things; a neon halo perched amongst days o’ dark ages where all higher beings; the loaded, the landowning, perfume a silence with unsaid thoughts, our inhuman plough looking up from the earth… sniffing a difference sniff sniff da soil da air). Yes, there’s a silence @ the heart of every Discipline… watch peripheral words die off-screen suicides in need of da communion of cups & conversations. Yeah, cups & conversations R all U need. Millions of them. So let the grass grow back…

Yr liberation: a library: time: a particular inclination, the question inside the answer of the question. So let me shout forever, let the insects turn over their rock, let me burn these ragged petals/ soothe a T.V screen, because each culture’s an animal an animal animal & its multitudinous tentacles cast shadows across the shopping arcades & drinking dens.

A potential Ghandi stalks office blocks, new Malcolm Xs loiter @ bus stops (can’t some cleaner govern these

I’m in a small bike shop in Hwajeong-dong, Gwangju, having decided to buy me a bike that will last forever or, as Tom Waits says in the movie ‘Short Cuts’; “Until the wheels come off baby… till the wheels come off.”

‘Each Culture’s an Animal, & its Multitudinous Tentacles…’ each culture’s an animal, & it’s multitudinous tentacles reach in2 everything. Imagined claws sift through these numerous pseudo-celebrities 4 some useful view that’ll help it deny, continue, reach out… reach out… form an orderly queue 2 early enlightenment.

Each culture is a tribe of easily prescribed notions & colluded insanities. Everything that concerns itself is, first of all, someone else’s?problem.& it loves, O it loves its own thoughts loves its own problems… (when it sees another’s problem it only discerns versions of itself beneath the rubble of former referents.

Fuck intelligence! Each culture’s an animal!

www.pawlingcycle.com Gwangju News April 2009

37

years back with the plane being buffeted about the sky for the best part of forty five minutes.

And there was the flight from Osaka to Vancouver that I was so worried about that I knocked myself out for the entire flight with the combination of red wine and an incredibly strong sleeping pill that’d been given to me by a friend. No… that was it! Goodbye, the joys of aviation, goodbye, interminable in-flight movies, goodbye arse-ache and pins and needles!

www.mccullagh.or.org

countries?) someone 2 do it happily for 3 square meals?)

Each culture is its own someone else, who we’re free to deny, celebrate, doff caps to, ignore, burden, investigate, investigate, give wide birth… horrendously?

Nobly (my grey son); the circle arrives at its centre The reason I found myself in Vilnius, Lithuania was hard to fathom at first, but made total sense within the whole strange scheme of 2008… after spending eighteen months pondering the problem of climate change I decided that there’d be no more flying for me.

Particularly since I’d flown a lot previously and already added untold amounts of carbon to the atmosphere.

The problem had previously centred around a flight to Ireland I wanted to make in order to read my poetry at the Strokestown Festival in May’07 I’d (with a great deal of trepidation) taken the Manchester to Dublin flight. But on the way back I made the decision, with the yellow lights of Manchester winking at me through the oval windows, that I wouldn’t set foot on a plane again.

I’d never really been very keen on flying anyhow. I recalled an incredibly scary landing in Delhi a few

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The first thing the budding cyclist encounters in his/her quest for liberation from carbon is the noise.

The perennial problem. Traffic. Korea’s development has severely hindered how your average cyclist gets about, both in the city and in the countryside. The reason, I now realise, that my bike shop owner was so keen to sell me a mountain bike is because, outside of the city you often have the choice between roaring highway and obscure mountain paths which means the cruel split between a road bike (and earplugs!?) and something that can deal with rougher terrain. The development seems to have shifted so fast into the construction of highways that they’re simply aren’t all of the small quiet country roads that I might find in my home country. And while bikes were incredibly expensive for people during the Korean War and earlier, they never seem to have caught on as a dependable form of transport, as potently as in nations like China and Southeast Asia… the country simply seems to have shifted from being on foot to whizzing itself around the country in cars, buses and trains… with little in between.

This also seems to be the reason why other Korean cyclists seemed to greet me with such fascination, wonder and genuine friendliness… I had chosen to join an endangered species; harassed, bewildered, noble and tired; The Cyclist in Korea…

by Andrew O’Donnell www.openseasonpress.com www.myspace.com/ajodonnell I travelled slowly north through the Baltics… first Lithuania, then Latvia, then Estonia. The decision to give up flying had given up other revelations.

Revelations of travel. Travel is always an experiment in revelation… it’s an experiment in what new information the traveller is willing to receive. And, as I’ve always thought, in terms of information gathering, is best done alone. In essence, it is unpredictable, and this trip was no exception.

In Riga (in some ways the centre of the Baltic region, simply due to its size) I found an amenable guest house and got chatting with a young Latvian student who had

just got back from spending some years in the States.

Your average Latvian’s attitude to English is very interesting, and absolutely the opposite of the Korean attitude (no waving and saying hello here).

The whole post-soviet area is, to a certain degree, littered with English speakers but they are not, in most circumstances, forthcoming in their use of English… there are deeper cultural connotations behind their choosing to use English at any given time. Using English is ‘accessing the West’ in many ways, and also gives off political connotations too. I feel closer to these people, in general outlook, to many in other English speaking countries, and I think some of this is simply to do with geographical distance.

But what the student did say was interesting though.

Latvia suffered from chronic unemployment… with most wealthier students leaving the country at the first opportunity. In fact most of the young Latvian people I met at this guesthouse had all spent a portion of their lives squatting in London flats and living off handouts or short term cash-in-hand work, as have so many poorer people across Western Europe and Western Africa. For instance, and in the same way, I spent some time in a tiny pension in Morocco with a great number of wealthy young west Africans all desperately trying to cross the strait of Gibraltar trying to reach what we now call ‘Fortress Europe’, the promised land. It seems the more I travel (particularly when I make the effort to escape any kind of tourist trail) the more I realise that most Westerners simply are not aware of the economic bubble they live in, and the underworld of

problems that occur when you have such a gap in the GDP between such neighbouring countries.

But, to get back to Riga, we shared much of the night with a Dutch lady who’d made her home in Latvia for a number of years… and she told us of the older people starving in the villages in the countryside. The student responded by saying ‘oh… forget the old!… I mean we’re all trying to live here, right? I mean, just look at people here in Riga… they’re miserable all the time… they work fifteen hour days on checkouts for chrissakes… and there’s no government here!… just oligarchs getting rich from oil companies… how on earth you expect us to care for the old?’

The Dutch lady then told us of old people in thecountryside actually starving to death as a result of brute poverty. The student was aware of the problem but thought the situation of the young not very different.

What was happening to these people when, in Latvia, you have a relatively small population, an incredible amount of wilderness and unclaimed land (presumably owned/claimed by governments?) and yet young people were not cultivating this land but instead going abroad to find happiness in cruel wealthy societies where they could do little but work as slaves in shops and supermarkets, or steal food and live in squats in order to live (resourceful though Latvians truly are, this life is not one of any kind of stability)

By Andrew O'Donnell

www.news.wisc.edu Gwangju News April 2009

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History

Korea, Spring, 1962 M

y first teaching job, after completing a Master’s Degree at Indiana University in 1961, was with the University of Maryland, in their Far Eastern Division. Maryland had a contract with the army to provide instructors for classes taken by military personnel. I taught composition and world literature for one quarter in Tainan, Taiwan, for two quarters at the Tachikawa Air Force Base outside of Tokyo, and for one quarter in Seoul and Inchon, Korea.

I was married to my first wife, Barbara, at the time.

While she was able to accompany me to Tainan and Tokyo, in the case of Korea, there was no housing other than at the SAC Compound in Seoul which had no accommodations for families. I was given a room in an officer’s unit since, as a Maryland instructor, I had a G13, or Major’s, rank.

This was a long time ago, and I have very scattered, disconnected memories of those two months. The first experience that I had that told me I was definitely in Korea involved kimchi. Someone told me that Koreans who drove cars for officers in the Compound were not allowed to eat kimchi during working hours. I recall thinking that such a rule was very unfair—until by chance I got into a cab with a driver who apparently had just had lunch. The odor of kimchi was so strong I nearly had to get out. The kimchi in Korea (or of Korea in 1962) was really fermented (for months, I was told), making it much stronger than the kimchi sold in America today.

Having grown up in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the 1940s, I had also never had (or seen) garlic. When Barbara and I made a trip to Pusan and Chejudo in the spring of 1964, we were invited to some peoples’ home

for dinner. At one point, I found myself nibbling on some tender white nuts (I thought) in a bowl. When I inquired, after a brief dictionary search, it turned out I had been eating raw garlic. The other food was so spicy and hot that the garlic hardly had any taste.

In the spring of 1962, Seoul was still a war-torn city.

While I find it hard to believe today, I recall seeing people then living in bomb craters. I was occasionally taken downtown by officer acquaintances to dance halls where hundreds of pretty young Korean women could be found desperately looking for an American boyfriend. I recall going out drinking to Korean “pubs,” where you could eat and drink a milky rice wine called, I think, makkeolli. At the gate of the SAC Compound, there was always a dozen or so whores waiting to be taken inside. One night, rather drunk, I allowed myself to be picked up by a whore wearing army garb. Years later, in a poem called “The Rancid Moonlight Hotel” (What She Means, 1978) I recalled that experience: the whore in army overcoat and combat boots outside the SAC Compound in Seoul, I went with her because I wanted to see the unpainted board of the repression of desire; her hotel was built of rancid moonlight, her swarthy caked body pawed about filching the bills from my crumpled bedsprings, for you see I was not there but strung out along those alleys listening to the plank heart of Indiana… which is to say that at that time I was still entangled in the psychological nets I had inherited growing up in Indianapolis.

While I was in Korea that spring I kept a journal which I drew upon for a 51 section prose poem, The Book of Eternal Death (written in 1964 and published in Double Room #7, an on line literary magazine, January, 2007). Here are a couple of sections concerning my life in Seoul from that work: 14] Candles. Snow. Stone. Rereading poems in Neruda’s Residencia en la tierra this morning—it is raining a cold late autumn rain—I recalled how often I turned to that vital density in and beyond Nam San in 1962.

My eyes would often fill with the strait between Korea & Japan. I would see you

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Gwangju News April 2009

sitting, feet on stone, on the roka of the Snyders’ home in Kyoto, looking into the bushes by the fence. A dimness of the infinite in the Korean sky—our condition too, tiny riders of the storm. Coffee whines. I am back in my barracks room, it is early morning, the officers are moving through the hall.

Candles. The officers have no candles, nor shrine. One was called around 10 PM last night on the phone in the hall. He left his “nest” at the end of the hall, the huge bed spotted with red lights, record player, a bar, & games. I imagine the irritation with which his young Korean girlfriend waited while he was gone. A big stout man, near retirement, in a too-small terry-cloth robe, shifting from foot to foot by the phone desk. “Yes, I’m coming home—when? God, I don’t know… soon, soon.” I could barely hear his wife’s voice in the receiver, hysterical, across the Pacific. Sometimes I would sit in his room with him, sipping whiskey, listening to his old records. He wrote some poetry, a kind of crude free verse about seeing dead Germans, or sonnets about flowers. Were these poems candles for him?

Deftly, and blindly, he moved through his day. He was the most friendly guy there.

About a month before I returned to Japan, his girlfriend, carrying piles of her stuff, moved out. His door was closed more often then. I would only see him in the toilet, at dawn, before a mirror, or hunched in long shadows on the stool.

20] I am sitting in a little shack of an ale house somewhere at night in downtown Seoul. We lean on a rickety wood table drinking kettles of sweet, semen-colored wine. The concrete floor is cracked, lights dimmed, drinkers huddled in half-dark corners, old men, a table nearby of young Korean highschool teachers waves us over. We stay where we are —“they only want to practice English,” my friend Neil says, and knows. He lives here, discharged dishonorably, now teaching highschool, with a young Korean wife. The blues he sings are: “Got a young Korean wife, got a young Korean baby, neither of ‘ um my own.”

He has a strong face; glasses; the Bronx. He too wants to write. We talk; we drink & talk.

In the front window, in a dirty white pan, a crab trussed in hemp,

struggling.

30] In the SAC Compound Library, I sit in the stacks, eyeing thousands of volumes.

I will make use of less than 1% of them. The other 99% function as a weight on my Dreams, opaque & leaden.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke, coming down the ladder in a dark little bookshop in Kanda, Tokyo, around the turn of the century, shuddered. He had just looked into Baudelaire, Rousseau, perhaps Bacon & Locke. It was too much. It was as if, spotting the massive European track record of thought, he had looked upon an evil, the evil no man can look upon & live. This occurs in the first chapter of his book, A Fool’s Life. The rest of the book is a slow strangulation, a twilight of life in death.

The Japanese would sooner kill themselves than make of the body a wailing wall. Thus in “The Book of Yorunomado,” written in, & tainted by, Japanese culture, facing my then uncompleteable apprenticeship to poetry, I committed seppuku. Read this as a humble gesture, as my insistence, facing the Specter of Vallejo, on the necessity to destroy the given life that a life I alone could be responsible for could emerge.

These passages should give some sense of my two months in Korea. Fresh out of school, overseas, and teaching for the first time in my life, I was very lonely, at sea with myself, and brooding on what seemed to be a wall of voicelessness whenever I tried to write poetry.

I liked many of the Koreans who I met, most of whom struck me as much more forthright and emotional than the Japanese I had had contact with while in MusashiKoganei, outside of Tokyo, that previous winter. I also learned to tolerate and enjoy kimchi. Because I was alone in Korea that spring I was pressed up against myself in a way I would not have been had I been there with Barbara—who with the help of Gary Snyder and Joanne Kyger had moved to Kyoto where we would spend the next two years.

It was in Kyoto that I would become obsessed with César Vallejo’s Poemas humanos and decide to translate them as my apprenticeship to poetry.

http://metropolitician.blogs.com

By Claton Eshleman Clayton Eshleman is an American poet and a translator of the poets Aime Cesaire, Antonin Artaud and Cesar vallejo, amongst others www. claytoneshleman.com

Gwangju News April 2009

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Events

April Events

“Jindo Sea Parting Festival” Jindo Island, in South Korea is host to one of the most incredible natural Phenomenon’s in the world, known as the Moses Miracle. Think ‘parting of the Red Sea without Moses and his blessed cane’ twice a year. At the beginning of late April, the waters between Jindo and Modo islands split and create a causeway 2.8 kilometers long and 40 meters wide. The path lasts for roughly an hour and allows people from both places to meet halfway and celebrate.

This amazing event was unknown to the western world until 1975, when a French journalist traveled to Korea, witnessed the miracle first-hand and wrote about it in the paper. Since then it has gained great popularity and tourists from all over the world started arriving on the island to see this phenomenon of biblical proportions.

The locals organize a festival to celebrate the memorable event each time it occurs but with the number of tourists growing ever higher each year, they have decided to hold it more often. Attending the Jindo Moses Miracle Festival, one can enjoy an impressive display of fireworks, a laser beam show, traditional music and a remarkable performance by Korean Shamanists.

- Period: Apr.25-27 - Venue: Hoedong-ri, Kokun-myeon Jindo - What: Sea parting, Ganggangsuwollae (a circle dance chorus of girls or women), Namdo Manga(pall-bearers dirge), ship parade, Jindo dog show - For more Info.

Phone: 061-540-3045 http://www.miraclesea.jindo.go.kr (in Korean)

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Gwangju News April 2009

“Hampyeong Butterfly Festival” The Hampyeong Butterfly Festival offers visitors a closer look at ecology, in particular the region’s butterflies. During festival period, the whole of Hampyeong town is decorated with butterfly themed lights and structures. Visitors are given the chance to see and touch a variety of animals and plants, as well as enjoy butterfly themed performances and street events.

The Hampyeong festival features exhibition halls containing a large and varied collection of butterflies, insects, and water plants. The festival is an opportunity for children to learn about nature in a fun, interactive environment.

- Period: Apr.24 – May 10 - Venue: Hampyeong Expo Park - What: A wide range of cultural and academic events, including display halls on local flora and fauna, traditional games, livestock shows -For more Info.

Phone: (061)322-0011 http://www.inabi.or.kr (in Korean , in English)

- Show Run Time: 2hours and 40 minutes, including as intermission - Venue: Gwangju Culture & Art Center - Admission fee: VIP 120,000 /R 100,000 /S 70,000 / A 50,000 -For more Info.

Phone1588-0766 Http://www.musicalcats.co.kr (in Korean ,in English) http://www.ticketmaru.co.kr

“The World Slow Walking Festival-Wando” Wando County (Wando-gun) is a region in the South Jeolla Province of South Korea. It takes its name from the island of Wando, which is the largest island in Korea. Wando island is perhaps most famous for the ‘Cheonghaejin’, the former headquarters of Jang Bogo, a 9th century Korean historical figure whose private fleet and army dominated the sea routes in the Yellow Sea. Another famous place in Wando is Cheongsando, an island renowned for its clean and beautiful sea’s and sandy beaches featuring various other famous tourist attractions. The island is particularly noted for its clean, natural environment, often called the “slow city” where tourists who visit the island can relax and become stress-free.

- Period: Apr.18 – 19 - Venue: Wando Island ('Jang Bogo –memorial hall, Sinji Myeonsasibri Beach, Cheongsando) - What: World Slow Walking, Slow food exhibition, Slowfood global forum, Old shoes exhibition, Andante firework Show - For more Info.

Phone: (061)550-5760/5750 http://www.slowcitywando.com (in Korean) Musical “CATS” Many audiences will have the opportunity to watch the very first Korean production of CATS. This Korean production took several months to cast its great line up of musical singers and dancers, with preparations made with the original creative team that had taken part in CATS since 1981. The musical CATS is based on the ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’, a series of poems by T.S.Eliot. The musical is set in a rubbish dump where the furry cats come out to play portraying the entertaining voyages and tales of famous cats of the past and present.

- Period: Apr.21 – 26 -Time: Weekday 8:00pm / Saturday 3:00pm & 8:00pm / Sunday 2:00pm

“Korea baseball opening” The 2009 Korean Baseball League will begin its sixmonth season starting on April 4th, with the defending champions - SK Wyverns - meeting the Hanhwa Eagles at the Munhak Baseball Stadium in Incheon, while the Doosan Bears will host the Kia Tigers in Seoul at Jamsil Stadium. In other season-opening contests, the Lotte Giants will battle the Heroes in Busan at Sajik Stadium while the Samsung Lions will square off against the LG Twins in Daegu.

The 2009 KBO All-Star Game will take place on July 25 at a venue that will be held in Gwangju Mudeung Stadium. The KBO has also changed the post-season schedule, with the format for the second playoffs switched to a best-of-five series. Earlier league officials also announced changes to the total number of games each team plays, increasing them from 126 to 133. http://www.koreabaseball.com (in Korean) KIA Tigers Baseball Team Schedule -Period: Apr.7~9 (Kia vs SK) Apr.10~12(Kia vs SamSung) Apr.21~23(Kia vs DooSan) Apr.28~30(Kis vs Lotte) -Time: Weekday 6:30pm / Weekend 5:00pm -Venue: Gwangju Mudeung Stadium (Baseball Field) - Admission fee: Adults 6,000won~ / Youth 4,000won~ -For more Info.

Phone: 062-383-3929 http://www.tigers.co.kr(in Koran) compiled by Ji-eun Jung Gwangju News April 2009

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Community Bord

Gwangju News Needs You Due to the rapid expansion of our community, we need more volunteers to help with the running of the magazine.

Help the community and gain new skills.

You can help in a variety of roles: - proofreading - editing - photography - writing - layout - administration - website or any other way YOU can think of.

Contact: gwangjunews@gmail.com

All submissions will be automatically considered for the spring contest, “Morning Calm,” with cash prizes for the top entries.

Interested writers can visit http://www.expatlit.com or e-mail joe@expatlit.com.

Sung Bin Orphanage Sung Bin Orphanage is looking for longterm volunteers. We would like you to give at least two Saturdays per month.

As well as being a friend, you will be asked to teach basic English to girls aged 7 to 14.

r send an e-mailwangjuic@g CAR FOR SALE 1997 GM Daewoo Nubira, 86,000 km, automatic transmission, 4 doors, airconditioning, power windows, asking 1.2 million won. Call Rob at 010-71704566 or e-mail smitty129@hotmail.com for more information.

Singing Instructor I am a teacher here in Gwangju, and I am currently participating in an allKorean choir. I have also sung in a church choir in the States, but I have not had a chance to practice with a private voice instructor for very long. I would like to know if you have any information regarding an English speaking voice instructor who could begin private lessons. My desire is to become a professional singer. Thank you for your help.

Jason Hamilton 010-5406-8475 LonePaladin27@gmail.com ExPatLit.com Opens Doors for Aspiring Travel Writers ExPatLit.com is a new online literary review for writers working and traveling far from “the comforts and calamities of home.”

The journal will feature literary essays, short stories, poems, and visual artworks that speak to the expatriate experience. Themes of travel, adventure, introspection, and cultural immersion will figure prominently into the selected works.

Submissions to the Spring 2009 edition of ExPatLit.com are due by March 15.

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Gwangju News April 2009

For more information please contact Mike at: sungbinvolunteers@gmail.com.

Gwangju Men’s Soccer The Gwangju international soccer team plays regularly most weekends. If you are interested in playing, e-mail: gwangju_soccer@yahoo.com.

Kona Volunteers Kona Volunteers is a registered organization for helping under-privileged kids by teaching English using storybooks. We are looking for longterm native speakers who desire to enrich their lives by volunteering. We would like you to volunteer at least 2 Saturday mornings or Sunday afternoons per month. We help orphanage children or children of lowincome or single-parent families. If you have any picture books or storybooks, please donate them when you leave Korea. For more information, please visit: http://cafe.daum.net/konavolunteers Gwangju Expat Parents Association Raising interracial or foreign children in Gwangju? Want to meet other expatriates who are doing the same thing?

A new web forum has been set up for expat parents in Gwangju, and we’re hoping that we can organize to discuss issues that are relevant to our somewhat unique situation in Gwangju.

The web forum is open to people of all nationalities, not just westerners.

Our main focus right now is on

discussing alternative educational options for school-age children.

Please join our facebook: gwangju parents Help Gwangju News Magazine!

Volunteer one day a month GIC needs volunteers to mail out Gwangju News. Gwangju News, published monthly, is sent to nearly 700 addresses. Join our Gwangju News mail-out volunteers at GIC. Volunteers are called 48 hours before the mail-out day (during the first week of each month). GIC needs 6-8 people who can help. GIC and Gwangju News are only as good as the volunteers who bring it to life! Contact GIC at 062-226-1050, 2734 or e-mail us at: gwangjuic@gmail.com.

Free Health Clinic for Foreigners Venue: Gwangju Joongang Presbyterian Church.

Time: Every Sunday from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Offers: Internal medicine, Oriental medicine and Dental service. You could take some medicine after treatment.

How to get to there: Buses - 19, 26, 39, 59, 61, 74 (around Hwajeong crossroads), Subway - Exit 2 Hwajeong Station.

Apostolate to Migrants Center 969-10 Wolgok-dong, Gwangsan-gu 062-954-8004 Buses: 18, 20, 29, 37, 40, 98, 196, 700, 720 get off at Wolgok market bus stop.

Mass: Every Sunday 3 p.m. at Wolgokdong Catholic Church Gwangju AA Attention any and all friends of Bill W, an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting is happening in Gwangju on Sundays. If you have a need or interest drop us a line and we will provide the details. gwangjuaa@hotmail.com Great flat to let from middle of April. 4 bedroom flat (no appartment) with aircon, real oven, washing machine, some furniture, etc. 5 min. to downtown or Chosun University. Very friendly landlords and low monthly rent. for more details please contact Anton Scholz at 018-6017305 / look@theimage.de

Gwangju News A Monthly International Magazine The most informative and up-to-date English life and entertainment magazine focusing exclusively on events and updates in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do!

Would you like to give your family and friends a glimpse of your exciting experiences in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do? Have you ever thought of sending Gwangju News to your home country? Gwangju News remains the best English magazine in the greater Jeollanam-do area and there are monthly articles focusing on festivals, live entertainment, restaurant reviews and much more! Gwangju International Center now offers the option of shipping Gwangju News to various destinations around the world, delivering your adventures to the doorstep of your loved ones back home!

How to Subscribe Send an e-mail to gwangjunews@gmail.com including the following information: 1. Sender name: 2. Receiver name: 3. Shipping address (including zip code): 4. E-mail address: 5. Telephone/mobile phone number: 6. The starting month:

Subscription Rates (monthly issues for 1 year): Domestic: 10,000 won Asia : 25,000 won Australia and Europe: 40,000 won The Americas and Africa: 50,000 won Payment can be sent to our bank account using the information below.

Please include the name that corresponds to the subscription name.

You are responsible for any bank charges incurred.

Kwangju Bank 134-107-000999 User name: Gwangju International Center (–⁄` –„`ƒ–‡•ø… ¯˝ ) For further information on magazine subscriptions, please contact Kim Singsing at gwangjunews@gmail.com or call (062) 226-1050.

Gwangju News April 2009

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GIC Announcement News

Launching the Gwangju Guidebook website: http://visitgwangju.or.kr

The Gwangju International Center has been distributing the Gwangju Guidebook to international residences since May 2008. If you haven’t seen the guidebook, please visit the website, http://visitgwangju.or.kr. Wherever you are, you will be able to get a lot of information about Gwangju.

We need your participation in the website. Please post good pictures of Gwangju in the photo gallery and share information through the message board.

If you have any inquiries or find something that needs to be updated, please e-mail us at gwangjuic@gmail.com.

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Gwangju News April 2009

Advertise in Gwangju News Target Your Customers!

Does your business cater to the foreign community?

Advertising in Gwangju News is the best way to reach your target market. 3,000 copies are printed and distributed every month. News about your services will spread like wildfire!

For advertising information contact Kim Min-su at (062) 226-2734 or e-mail: gwangjunews@gmail.com

Worship at Dongmyung English Service Sunday 11:30 am, Education Bld.

Pastor : Dan Hornbostel (010-5188-8940)

Bus: 15, 27, 28, 55, 74, 80, 1000, 1187 get off at Nongjang Dari or at Court Office Entrance

If you bring this magazine,

Gwangju News April 2009

47

GIC was established by the Gwangju City Government and Gwangju Citizens Solidarity in 1999 as a model of government and NGO collaboration. Gwangju City provides financial assistance to help GIC to carry out its missions of - providing foreigners with information and services - promoting international exchange programs in the fields of culture and economy - fostering international awareness among Korean youth

GIC has administered a number of programs in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do.

Its activites of note include the following: - A Monthly Magazine Gwangju News - GIC Talk on Saturdays - Korean Language Classes - Gwangju International Community Day - GIC Library

- GIC Concert - Additional Activities: Translation Service Counseling and conflict resolution services Information Service through phone and e-mail

Membership Fees

International Residents: 10,000 won/6 months Students: 10,000 won/year Korean Adults: 5,000 won/month Please remit membership fee to: Gwangju Bank 134-107-000999 / Kookmin Bank 551-01-1475-439 / Nonghyup 605-01-355643 Account name: 광주국제교류센터 *Your contribution to the Nonghyup account is used to provide assistance to the Third World countries.

The Benefits for the Center Members The Center members are privileged to - receive the Gwangju News and the GIC newsletter every month - participate in all events sponsored by the GIC - have opportunity to develop international friendship

5th Floor, Jeon-il Bldg, Geumnam-no 1-ga, Dong-gu, Gwangju 501-758, Korea Phone: 062-226-2734,1050 Fax: 062-226-2732 Website: www.gwangjuic.or.kr E-mail:gwangjuic@gmail.com Directions: The GIC office is located in the same building as the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) in downtown Gwangju. The entrance is immediately north of the KEB on Geumnam-no street, across from the YMCA. Subway stop: Culture Complex 문화전당역 Bus No.: 7, 9, 36, 45, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 74, 80, 95, 150, 151, 518, 1000, 1187