Gwangju and South Jeolla International Magazine I February 2019 #204 I “My House’s” Love, Dignity, Acceptance, and Hope
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Chosun University Hospital
Jeolla-do’s First AI Cancer Center Artificial Intelligence
Now Open for Introduction/Treatment: "Watson for Oncology"
Cancer Treatment Method provided by AI Program based on big data to suit the patient’s needs. Inquiry: AI Cancer Center 062-220-3418/9 .
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From the Editor
Gwangju & South Jeolla Intern ational Magazine
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February 2019, Issue No. 204
Published: February 1, 2019 Cover Photo Gi Se-sun, Director of “My House” by Sarah Pittman
THE EDITORIAL TEAM Publisher Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Chief Proofreader Layout Editor Photo Editor Proofreaders Online Editorial Team Researcher
Dr. Shin Gyonggu Dr. David E. Shaffer Wilson Melbostad Isaiah Winters Karina Prananto Sarah Pittman Timothy Berg, Joseph Nunez, Gilda Wilson, Di Foster, David Foster, Stephen Redeker, and Ynell Lumantao Karina Prananto, Sen Nguyen Shahed Kayes Baek Ji-yeon, Yoo Yeonwoo
The Gwangju News is the first English monthly magazine for the general public in Korea, first published in 2001. Each monthly issue covers local and regional issues, with a focus on the roles and activities of the international residents and local English-speaking communities. Copyright © 2019 by the Gwangju International Center. All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by this copyright may be reproduced in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without the written consent of the publisher.
Registration No. 광주광역시 라. 00145 (ISSN 2093-5315) Registration Date: February 22, 2010 Printed by Join Adcom 조인애드컴 (+82)-62-367-7702 GwangjuNews
gwangjunews
GwangjuNewsGIC
For advertising and subscription inquiries, please contact karina@gic.or.kr or 062-226-2733. Special thanks to Gwangju City and all of our sponsors.
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Our travels around Gwangju bring you Ogaheon, a traditional hanok tea house/event area/inn hidden away in plain sight in central downtown. We take you to the innermost innards of Seobang Market for some surprise findings behind its shuttered storefronts. Hungry for more? Where to Eat introduces you to a “pizzaburger” restaurant, and Everyday Korean helps you with some restaurant-speak. Rather stay out of the cold and eat at home? Korean Food provides a scrumptious japchae noodle recipe. For those who love the snow, we have a skiing and snowboarding advisory for Korea. After frolicking in Korea’s wintry weather, you will likely enjoy relaxing at the quaint seawater spa that we reveal just a hop, skip, and a jump away in Hampyeong. For a taste of Korea beyond the Koreas, we treat you to the peculiarities of Geumgang-san Restaurant in Vladivostok. For those of you preferring the warmth of your home during a frigid February, nestle up to a book review of Whoopi Goldberg’s reflections on relationships, or consider Reflecting on Teaching (Korea TESOL), no matter whether you are a career educator or lay teacher. Enjoy our Photo Essay of France and our Photo of the Month. In Gwangju Writes, we hope you enjoy our Valentine’s Day letter and poem, as well as the short story, Petty Theft. And then there’s our opinion piece on the good and the bad of social media – all for you in this issue. We at the Gwangju News wish you a joyous Lunar New Year and happiness throughout the year, and we hope that the Gwangju News will add to that joy and happiness. 새해 복 많이 받으세요!
David E. Shaffer Editor-in-Chief Gwangju News
February 2019
For volunteering and article submission inquiries, please contact the editor at gwangjunews@gic.or.kr.
Bringing happiness to Gwangju’s children is one of the aims of the Children’s English Library. Read about the unique way in which this is done from a volunteer’s perspective. Bringing joy to the international children of Gwangju is Kelly Kim. Read about her and the activities of GFOG (the Global Families of Gwangju), and how you can assist.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
The Gwangju News is published by Gwangju International Center, Jungang-ro 196-beon-gil 5 (Geumnam-ro 3-ga), Dong-gu, Gwangju 61475, South Korea Tel: (+82)-62-226-2733~34 Fax: (+82)-62-226-2731 Website: www.gwangjunewsgic.com Email: gwangjunews@gic.or.kr
appy Lunar New Year! – the second New Year’s celebration in Korea in as many months. It is not just your regular lunar new year – it is the Year of the Golden Pig. If you are scratching your head, our feature on the Chinese zodiac will clear it all up for you. Our other February feature, our cover feature, spotlights My House (우리집), an organization bringing security, education, and happiness to some of the less-fortunate mothers in Gwangju, through an interview with its director, Gi Se-sun.
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CONTENTS February 2019. Issue No. 204
GWANGJU NEWS 03. Gwangju City News 05. February 2019 Happenings 07. Gwangju Theater Schedule 56. Community Board FEATURE 08. “My House’s” Love, Dignity, Acceptance, and Hope 12. The Year of the Golden Pig
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COMMUNITY 14. Community Leaders: Volunteering at the Children’s English Library in Gwangju 16. Local Enterpreneur: Kelly’s Expanding Global Village Narrows the Cultural Divide TRAVEL 19. Blast from the Past: Ogaheon –You Can’t Buy History, But You Can Rent It 21. Around Korea: Sweating It Out at Hampyeong’s Seawater Spas 24. Lost in Gwangju: The Demise of Seobang Market 32. From Abroad: Geumgang-san Restaurant – North Korean Cuisine with a Side of Propaganda
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FOOD & DRINKS 32. Where to Eat: Pizza Meets Burger at Dongmyeong Burger 34. Japchae: Stir-Fried Noodles and Vegetables
ARTS & CULTURE 42. Photo Essay: A Winter Jaunt in France 48. Photo of the Month 50. Book Review: “There’s Nobody More Complicated Than a Human Being” 52. Gwangju Writes: Petty Theft 53. Gwangju Writes: On Valentine’s Day!
SPORTS & OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES 36. Skiing and Snowboarding in South Korea
OPINION 54. Social Media: A Boon or a Curse?
EDUCATION 39. Everyday Korean: Episode 14 – 식당 (The Restaurant) 40. Korea TESOL: Reflecting on Teaching
CORRECTION: On page 53 of the January 2019 issue of the Gwangju News, the photo credit should go to Ben Robins. We apologize for the error.
The Gwangju News team wishes you a very Happy Lunar New Year!
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Gwangju City News Reprinted with permission from Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall Photographs courtesy of Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall
City Hall Provides Free IT Education Program for Gwangju Citizens wangju Metropolitan City will conduct a free Citizens’ IT Education Program during the first half of 2019 for women and the elderly in order to improve their ability to utilize information and to help them adapt to a smart society. The program, consisting of five courses, will run from February 7 to June 24 between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. at Gwangju City Hall’s Information Training Center. The program will cover (a) catching up with the smartphone world, (b) photography and photo editing with smartphones, (c) photo design using the Pixlr application, (d) making UCC videos using Power Director, and (e) making a one-person media challenge with YouTube. This program will consist of five practical courses, as mentioned above, to improve one’s ability in using information that can be helpful in one’s daily life. Applications by interested
persons can be submitted through the Gwangju City homepage every third Wednesday of the month from 9:00 a.m. There will only be 50 seats per course, available on a first-come basis. This program has been operating since 2004 and is conducted annually. To date, a total of 136 courses have been offered to a total of 7,269 participants. Recruitment is usually closed once the initial notice is made, proving that this program is very popular among Gwangju citizens. A city official has said that the city will do its best to improve the education program for its citizens by reflecting their opinions through a satisfaction survey.
GWANGJU NEWS
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For more information, please contact the Administrative Information Office (행정정보담당관실). Phone: 062-613-2610
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
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Gwangju Offers Free Aerial Photography via Online Requests
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eginning in January, everyone is now able to receive aerial photography of the Gwangju area for free via online requests. Gwangju Metropolitan City has signed an Agreement for the Common Use of Geospatial Information with the National Geographic Information Institute and has announced the opening of the online, free-issuing service of aerial photos from January 2019 through the Geospatial Platform (http://map.ngii.go.kr). City Hall has worked on constructing the Geospatial Platform by uploading its own library of approximately 51,000 aerial photographs taken since 1990 in cooperation with the National Geographic Information Institute. Through this, the city has built this free online service of accumulated aerial photos. The project operates through national funding, allowing the city to save a potential budget outlay of around 400 million won.
“Through this project, we have been able to solve the inconvenience of citizens having to visit City Hall to obtain aerial photos. Through the cooperation with the National Geographic Information Institute, we are planning to continuously make available aerial photographs taken yearby-year and offer a time-series service wherein the users can compare the accumulated aerial photographic data year-by-year and see at a glance how the city has changed,” explained a spokesperson for the city government.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
The city completed the database of aerial photographs and prepared the public service environment by combining all aerial photograph shooting work, which was distributed across several departments, to the Geographic Information Department, precisely scanning those photos shot with film to build a database spanning the period from 2002 to the present.
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For more Gwangju City News, please visit www2018.gwangju.go.kr/eng/
Gwangju City Operates Real Estate Counseling Center for Citizens
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any may not know that Gwangju Metropolitan City operates a Real Estate Counseling Center. This counseling center is located in the Civil Service Office on the first floor of Gwangju City Hall. It provides customized counseling services every Wednesday from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., with counselors consisting of 12 real estate professionals working alternately to help with citizens’ inquiries. Anyone who desires a consultation can visit the center and apply for counseling to the counseling committee. In addition to onsite inquiries, the center also provides other services, such as real estate law, transaction notes, and solutions to real estate disputes. The center started its operation in 2014, and as of the end of 2018, it has provided a total of 289 consultations. In its first year of operation, it provided 18 consultations; this increased to 77 in 2018. The center is expected to receive more consultations this year and in the future. Lee Su-won, head of Gwangju City’s Land Information Department, stated that the city hopes to reduce the inconvenience experienced by citizens in terms of real estate transactions, and that the local real estate market will remain stable as a result. “It is my hope that Gwangju citizens will use the center to help reduce real estate-related inconveniences.” For more information, please contact the Land Information Department (토지정보과). Phone: 062-613-4560
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Gwangju Happenings Compiled by Baek Ji-yeon
Exhibitions Seok-hyeon, Park Eun-yong – Black Solitude, Blue Soul 石峴 박은용 - 검은 고독, 푸른 영혼
Dates: Location:
Admission: Telephone: Website:
December 6, 2018 – February 10, 2019 52 Haseo-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju (Gwangju Museum of Art, Main Building Exhibition Rooms 3 & 4) 광주 북구 하서로 52 광주시립미술관 3,4전시장
Free 062-613-7100 http://artmuse.gwangju.go.kr/
The 2018 Photo Collection Exhibition: “Memory of Light and Shadow” 2018 사진소장품전 빛과 그림자의 기억 전
Admission: Telephone: Website:
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December 7, 2018 – February 17, 2019 52 Haseo-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju (Gwangju Museum of Art, Photo Showroom) 광주 북구 하서로 52 광주시립미술관 사진전시장
Free 062-613-7100 http://artmuse.gwangju.go.kr/
Dates: Location:
December 13, 2018 – February 24, 2019 38 Munhwajeondang-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju (Asia Culture Center, Library Park Bamboo Forest)
광주 동구 문화전당로 38 국립아시아문화전당 문화창조원 복합5관
Admission: Free Telephone: 1899-5566 Website: https://www.acc.go.kr/board/schedule/ exhibition/2547
Jayeon Saenghwal Vegetarian Restaurant 자연생활채식뷔페
Seoseok-ro 85beongil 12, Dong-gu, Gwangju 062-228-0482, 0485
February 2019
Dates: Location:
This exhibition, which is being held in commemoration of the 45th anniversary this year of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Indonesia, is an annual arts event held every year since 2003, It showcases the various aspects of Indonesian history, culture, and society and is designed as a platform to accommodate various media art forms and provide creative ideas and artistic practices. The OK Video Festival, employing archived materials such as videos, photographs, and text, present Indonesian art history and social history through the themes of food and environment, media art work of individual artists, and the introduction of a project conducted in “Lab.” In particular, the works exhibited include the cultural tragedies of Indonesia in 1965 and the “New Order” of Suharto (the second president of Indonesia) through the theme of food. Other themes include the changes and problems caused by the industrialization and modernization of food.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
This exhibition will be the first to feature photo collections that have been accumulated since 2016 at the Gwangju Museum of Art. A total of 54 works will be exhibited, featuring beautiful natural scenery, portrait photographs, and works that reflect the changing times and cultural characteristics of the community. Through this exhibition, which promotes the popularization of photo and art culture, visitors will be able to see the beauty that is drawn with light and shadow while appreciating the important photographic works of our area.
FOOD TODAY: 인도네시아 음식, 사회, 미디어 아트
GWANGJU NEWS
The Gwangju Museum of Art has organized an exhibition to create opportunities for rehabilitating local art history, with the 10th anniversary of the works of Park Eun-yong currently on display. Park Eun-yong (artistic name: Seok-hyeon) is a practitioner who has acquired an ingenious way of thinking as an artist with a lifelong commitment to his work and an intense artistic style called jeok-muk-beop (적묵법; i.e., piling ink paintings that focus on the light and shadow of the ink).
Food Today: Indonesian Food, Society, Media, and Art
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6 Our Lives, Looking Back at Jeolla-do 삶의 터전, 전라도를 돌아보다 특별전시 개최 At the Gwangju Folk Museum, a special exhibition is underway that looks back on the past 1,000 years of Jeolla-do. This exhibition is designed to look back on the life of local people over the last millennium. The exhibition consists of four parts and introduces 500 items. In Part 1 (Living Environment with Nature and Harmony), the residential living spaces of everyday life are reproduced. In Part 2 (Living Place), various agricultural technologies of the time are displayed. Part 3 (Art of Fingertips, Folk Crafts) focuses on crafts such as bamboo crafts (죽세공예), woodworking (목공예), and pottery, including bunchungsagi (분청사기, a grayish blue powdered celadon) and celadon (청자). Part 4 (Jeolla-do People) explores the roots of consciousness and life views of the local people and conveys their meaning. This exhibition provides a unique chance to look back on the journey of the people of Jeolla-do.
Dates: Location:
September 19, 2018 – November 2019 (TBD) 48-25 Seoha-ro, Yongbong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju (Gwangju Folk Museum) 광주 북구 서하로 48-25(용봉동) 광주시립민속박물관
Admission: Telephone: Website:
Free 062-613-5337~8 http://gjfm.gwangju.go.kr/
Paradise Within You – Media YouTopia
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
당신속의 낙원 Media YouTopia The Gwangju Museum of Art will hold a special exhibition to promote citizens’ interest in media art in the UNESCO Media Art City of Gwangju. This will not only contribute to fostering regional media art but will also strengthen the city’s role in providing a window on all aspects of media art. In this exhibition, media art will produce its own “utopia.” Through this, audiences can cross reality with virtual time and space. The artists who participate in this exhibition cover various issues that may face the present and future – including the issues of migrants and environmental problems due to climate change – through light, image, and installation works. As we live in the rapidly changing world of the fourth industrial revolution, you will be challenged to think about the metaphorical meaning of true utopia and what genuine happiness is.
Dates: Location:
November 27, 2018 – February 24, 2019 52 Haseo-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju (Gwangju Museum of Art, main building exhibition rooms 1, 2) 광주 북구 하서로 52 광주시립미술관 본관 제1,2전시실
Admission: Free Telephone: 062-613-7100 Website: http://artmuse.gwangju.go.kr/
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Asian Sounds and Music – Indonesian Pop Music Collection Exhibition 아시아의 소리와 음악 주제전문관 인도네시아 대중음악 컬렉션 기획전 This exhibition is being held as part of the “Sound and Music of Asia,” an archiving project of the Asia Cultural Center that investigates and shares music and sound culture that is disappearing from various parts of Asia. Since Indonesia’s independence in 1945, Western culture has been actively introduced in its music and movies. This exhibition shows how Indonesian pop music formed and developed under the influences of the Cold War, Westernization, and democratization, and how the changing political and social ideologies have impacted pop music during each period.
Date: Location:
November 29, 2018 – April 28, 2019 38 Munhwajeondang-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju (Asia Culture Center, Library Park)
광주 동구 문화전당로 38 국립아시아문화전당 라이브러리파크
Admission: Telephone: Website:
Free 1899-5566 https://www.acc.go.kr/board/schedule/ exhibition/2455
The Light of Woo Je-gil 우제길의 빛 Woo Je-gil, a renowned artist who explores geometric abstraction, is known for experimenting with various artistic materials, forms, and contents. He received the Most Popular Artist Award at the first Gwangju Biennale. In the 1970s and 1980s, his work’s abstractions of color and surface spanned numerous variations. The overall black system with its horizontal structure was mixed with the green, red, and brown phases of the 2000s. In the 2010s, his painting and experimenting with primary colors on Korean paper occurred in parallel. This exhibition will also be a place to show the works of other artists who have changed their styles and have borne a message of hope. Visitors can see their vigorous artistic will to explore the future without bending for anyone.
Dates: Location:
December 21, 2018 – February 24, 2019 (Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–18:00 / Wednesday–Saturday 10:00–19:00) 38 Munhwajeondang-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju (Asia Culture Center, Cultural Creation Complex 6)
광주 동구 문화전당로 38 국립아시아문화전당 문화창조원 복합6관
Admission: Free Telephone: 1899-5566 https://www.acc.go.kr/board/schedule/ Website: exhibition/2512
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Gwangju Theater
62 Chungjang-ro 5-ga, Dong-gu, Gwangju (two blocks behind NC Wave) TICKETS: 8,000 won CONTACT: 062-224-5858 For more information, please visit http://cafe.naver.com/cinemagwangju * Synopses excerpted from Wikipedia, IMDb, and Hancinema. All English language films are presented with Korean subtitles; non-English international films are presented with Korean subtitles only.
IMPOSED PIECE 파이널리스트 Genre: Documentary Director: Brecht Vanhoenacker Film Length: 82 minutes Languages: English, Dutch, Korean (Korean subtitles) Starring: Lee Ji-eun, William ChingYi Wei, William Hagen Summary: Over an eight-day period of complete seclusion, twelve young and talented musicians have to study a compulsory piece and a concerto of their choice. They finally have the chance to manifest themselves as soloists after years of practice and sacrifices.
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THE TOKYO NIGHT SKY IS ALWAYS THE DENSEST SHADE OF BLUE 도쿄의 밤 하늘은 항상 가장 짙은 블루 Genre: Drama Director: Yûya Ishii Film Length: 108 minutes Language: Japanese (Korean subtitles) Starring: Shizuka Ishibashi, Sôsuke Ikematsu, Ryûhei Matsuda Summary: The setting is Tokyo in 2017, where empty words, a sense of doom, and feelings of isolation coexist with hope, trust, and love. Conjured up in this real life setting are two characters in a new kind of film: the densest kind of love story. THE FAVORITE 더 페이버릿:여왕의 여자 Genre: Drama Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Film Length: 120 minutes Language: English (Korean subtitles)
February 2019 Jeolla-do Happenings 2018 Suncheon Bay Garden Winter Starlight Festival 2018 별빛축제 December 21, 2018 – February 6, 2019 (Showtime to 9:00 p.m.) 47 1-ho-gil Guggajeongwon, Suncheon, Jeollanam-do (Suncheon Bay Garden) 전라남도 순천시 국가정원1호길 47(오천동, 순천만국제습지센터) 1577-2013 http://garden.sc.go. kr/?c=1117/1145&uid=7543 Jirisan Namwon Baraebong Snow Festival 2019 지리산남원 바래봉 눈꽃축제 2019 December 29, 2018 – February 10, 2019 214 Baraebong-gil, Unbong-eup, Namwon, Jeollabuk-do 전라북도 남원시 운봉읍 바래봉길 214 063-635-0301 http://www.namwon.go.kr/tour/
February 2019
RAMEN SHOP 우리가족:라멘샵 Genre: Drama Director: Eric Khoo Film Length: 89 minutes Languages: Japanese, English, Mandarin (Korean subtitles) Starring: Takumi Saito, Jeanette Aw, Seiko Matsuda
COLD WAR 콜드워 Genre: Drama Director: Paweł Pawlikowski Film Length: 85 minutes Language: Polish (Korean subtitles) Starring: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Agata Kulesza Summary: Set against the backdrop of 1950s Cold War Poland, two people of differing backgrounds and temperaments begin an almost impossible romance.
Starring: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz Summary: In the early 18th century, England is at war with France. A frail Queen Anne occupies the throne, and her close friend, Lady Sarah, governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne’s ill health and mercurial temper. When a new servant, Abigail, arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah. Sarah takes Abigail under her wing, and Abigail sees a chance to return to her aristocratic roots.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
CAPERNAUM 가버나움 Genre: Drama Director: Nadine Labaki Film Length: 123 minutes Language: Levantine Arabic (Korean subtitles) Starring: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole Summary: After running away from his negligent parents, committing a violent crime, and being sentenced to five years in jail, a hardened, streetwise 12-year-old Lebanese boy sues his parents in protest of the life they have given him.
Summary: When a young ramen chef from Japan finds his late Singaporean mother’s journal, he takes it with him to her native country, hoping to put together the story of his family and his life.
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“My House’s” Love, Dignity, Acceptance, and Hope
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
FEATURE
Written by Matkhiya Usmonova
Gi Se-sun, the director of My House.
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s we all know, women in society are a group in danger of social isolation and poverty. Single mothers are particularly vulnerable, as they must often face the fact that they have no one to rely on and are often forsaken by their families and the rest of society. As a result, single mothers are in a particularly precarious situation as they bring up their kids alone. On January 10, I, along with GIC coordinator Karina Prananto and photographer Sarah Pittman, visited My House (uri jip, 우리 집). There we held an interview with Gi Se-sun, the head of this organization. She was full of surprises and left us feeling excited about her loyal efforts and contributions to Korean single mothers. During the interview, she shared with us many incredible tidbits about My House. Here I would like to provide our readers with the full story of My House, as shared by Gi. Currently, there are 42 organizations in South Korea that provide support for married and unmarried women with children. Among these, My House was first established on June 1, 2003, as a facility to help single mothers, even after they gave birth. But on July 1, 2015, their main work was changed to being a facility to support the mother and the child as well as giving them education and preparation for life ahead. The main reason why it was named “My House” is that many people still think badly about the places where single mothers live, so as an alternative to calling it a single mothers’ house, it was decided to use the name “My House” instead. This name has helped residents of the house to not feel ashamed whenever they mention it in public. In the past, My House was set up to help unmarried pregnant women, but now it is also for mothers who have to care for their children alone without support from the fathers. Today, it is a house of hopes and dreams.
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In the past, the number of single mothers was smaller compared to the present. Even today, people look down on single mothers and give them little respect. Recently, there has been an increase in divorced couples, unmarried couples, and unmarried adults who still want kids. According to Gi, if this trend continues in the future, kids who live without a mother or father may confront big challenges related to their mental and emotional development, and it may be quite difficult for them to tackle these kinds of problems. Similarly, it is true that a child’s self-esteem and confidence might take a hit as a result of this negativity, and some may blame themselves for the situation. So, the contribution of this organization to kids with their needs includes providing them with therapy in order to help them to better understand their family’s unique situation. When it comes to raising money to help single mothers, society can be rather cold toward them. My House would benefit from having regular donors who could donate just 10,000 won monthly. Surprisingly, there are many foreigners who assist My House through fundraising events, and there are even ten volunteers, five of whom are university students and most of the others office workers, who work in two teams. They regularly go to My House during the monthly meetings to help look after the children while their mothers are having a meeting or attending education lessons. For example, the volunteers might visit My House in the evenings when the mothers’ education starts at 7:00 p.m. There are additional volunteers who come to clean the houses as well. The most amazing thing that Gi had to share with us was how My House encourages mothers to find wellpaying jobs. This year, they have a well-laid plan to give
February 2019
Moreover, My House provides other forms of support, including psychological consultations for single mothers. This is important because, as mentioned above, some people in society have negative attitudes toward single mothers, causing them to have particular psychological
My House also has a family experience program that allocates money to Korean families to spend their time outside with resident single mothers as a family. They can go to kids’ cafes, the movies, theme parks, and the like depending on their preferences. The main purpose of this is to help the mothers to spend time together with the children, bringing them closer as in a normal family.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
Presently at My House, there are about ten households, including ten mothers and 12 kids. Seven children below the age of seven attend kindergarten, one is still a baby, and the others go to elementary, middle, and high schools. Seven units accommodate single moms and three units house once married but now divorced mothers. Their ages range from those in their twenties to those in their fifties. They can stay at My House for three years, with an additional two years at maximum. Interestingly, My House also supplies its residents with all the furnishings they need and even gives subsidies for utility bills like electricity and gas. The description we got of each room at My House sounded quite cozy.
and emotional challenges as a result of living with so much judgement. In order to prevent such issues, there are great opportunities to get therapy and consultation at My House. Depending on their psychological state, a mother can apply for a consultation or a therapy session once a week. Most interestingly, mothers at My House are provided with an extensive diversity of educational opportunities, such as learning about sexual education, education on parenting, education on sexual abuse prevention for kids, workplace education, and education on overcoming habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol. Annually, there are two sessions for each category.
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▲ Mothers and children celebrate the end of the year together.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
single mothers 100 percent financial support to let them study and receive certificates for subjects like nursing, hairdressing, barista skills, computer skills, and cooking. The certificates will be beneficial for them when jobhunting. On top of this, My House also pays 50 percent of the children’s tuition fees if they want to attend afterschool academies.. During our visit, we learned that one mother works as a nurse, two work as contract workers at a community service center (동사무소), two work in a district office as support workers, and the others work part time at restaurants, with one still attending university. It is important to note that My House does have strict rules and regulations that must be observed. There can be no smoking or drinking alcohol indoors among the single mothers. My House has a point system totaling 40 points, in which offenders are penalized for smoking, drinking, fighting, or causing a commotion. Most infractions count as ten points. Lastly, no pets are allowed inside. Gi admitted that the single mothers may feel a bit burdened while living at My House, as they have to obey the rules, abide by the curfew, and also attend monthly meetings. At the same time, if they remain at My House, they can receive financial support and free gifts such as toilet paper and rice during the major holidays from corporations that make annual donations to organizations such as My House. After the five years are up, these mothers will still receive support, because even when they have to leave My House,
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the government gives them five million won in financial support and the organization itself provides them with an additional one to two million won for living expenditures, such as furniture and tax payments. Their future is still very much considered by both the government and the center. Here I would like to give some details about how the general public can help single mothers with donations or assistance. My House can receive donations of used or new items. Donations can be sent to the following address: 광주 광산구 어등대로 563번길 30 (운수동,우리집) There will be fundraising events in the near future in which interested people can participate. Also, anyone can make monetary donations to My House directly through these bank accounts: Kwangju Bank: 021-107-337066 (우리집) Nonghyup: 351-0138-3363-83 (우리집) Kookmin: 897001-00-011401 (우리집)
”Their future is still very much considered by both the government and the center.” In addition to these options, My House is looking for individuals who can donate their talents, be they in art,
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11
music, or English for the children and mothers. My House’s working hours are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. In a nutshell, families of all kinds have the right to obtain appropriate social, legal, and economic protection through the help of individuals and the state. All in all, our experience at My House was edifying and inspiring. Original interview translated by Karina Prananto. Photographs by Sarah Pittman and courtesy of My House.
The mothers also make handcraft goods for sale.
The Author
Matkhiya is from the Republic of Uzbekistan. Presently, she is a student at Chonnam National University majoring in English Language and Literature. In her free time, she learns Korean and travels with her joyful friends to many beautiful parts of South Korea. She habitually strives to improve herself personally and educationally, and tries to learn from her own mistakes. With all her heart, she is quite grateful for her meaningful and loving life.
The families spend a day together at Family Land.
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February 2019
▲ Mothers attending an educational lecture about family finances.
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The Year of the Golden Pig FEATURE FEATURE
Written by Scott Findlay
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
T
he expression “새해 복 많이 받으세요!” (Good luck in the new year!) takes on a special meaning this Lunar New Year (Seollal) on February 5, 2019, as we enter the Year of the Golden Pig. South Korea uses the Chinese zodiac, which is divided into a 12-year cycle with each of these 12 years being represented by an animal (rat, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig) before the cycle repeats, meaning that the Year of the Pig occurs every 12 years. New acquaintances may inquire what tti (띠, Chinese zodiac sign) you are as an indirect way to find out your age. For example, if you are “yang tti” (양띠, the sheep sign), you may have been born in 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, and so forth. This year, 2019, is the Year of the Pig, the last of the twelve animal signs of the Chinese zodiac. This year is an exceptionally auspicious year, as it is not just a regular Year of the Pig but rather the Year of the Golden Pig. In Korea, the pig represents wealth, abundance, and good fortune. You may have heard that having a dream about a pig means you should run out and by a lottery ticket, as your chances of winning have greatly increased, thanks to this fortunate omen. Pigs are thought to take bad luck away; thus, dreaming of a pig running away from your house could be a foreboding premonition. The pig is commonly associated with money, as you can find shelves full of pig-shaped piggy banks at your nearest Daiso.
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Businesses are known to open with a ceremony ceremony (gosa, 고사) featuring a pig’s head as an offering on an altar in front of the shop hoping that the good fortune that the pig brings about translates into financial success for the business. Pigs are also associated with abundance due to giving birth to many piglets and providing a lot of meat from the fat of their bodies. In addition, the Chinese character for “home” is a combination of the characters for “house” and “pig.” Pigs were traditionally viewed as being lazy, greedy, and dirty animals, but their reputation has rebounded somewhat in recent years. Studies have shown that a pig’s intelligence is similar, if not higher, than that of a dog. Some people have learned that pigs can be domesticated and taught tricks. Even the previous misconception of a pig’s hygiene has been re-evaluated. What previously thought was a telltale sign of a pig’s propensity for filth by rolling around in the mud is now viewed differently: as a way for the pig to cool itself on a hot day. This year, 2019, the Chinese zodiac falls on the “pig” sign (with the previous year of the pig being 2007). Each of the 12 animal signs (지지, “earthly branches”) of the Chinese zodiac, however, combines linearly with one of 10 “heavenly stems” (천간), creating 60 combinations that are cyclic – each animal sign combining with five of
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家豕 =
▲ Chinese character for “home” (pronounced as “ga” in Korean)
▲ Chinese character for “pig” (pronounced as “si” in Korean)
the heavenly stems. Each of these five combinations for each zodiac animal is assigned one of the five elements of nature (earth, metal, water, wood, fire). So, this year is an “earth–pig” year according to the sexagenary cycle – used to measure years in China and other parts of East Asia. This year’s element is earth, represented by the color yellow (gold) and making 2019 the Year of the Golden Pig. This occurs once every 60 years (although some astrologers contend that this happens once every 600 years), making this coming year one of especially good fortune. For those of us who are on the more superstitious side, a higher than expected birth rate is expected in Korea and China for parents to capitalize on this promising year. Those born in the Year of the Pig can expect a healthy and wealthy life. Companies have started to capitalize on this by promising “Golden Pig” products for newborns to help usher them into a life of comfort. Those who are born in the Year of the Pig (2019, 2007, 1995, 1983, 1971,
+
宀 ▲ Chinese radical for “roof.”
1959, etc.) are thought to be loyal, brave, and thoughtful. They have curious minds and are on the more social side, cultivating long-lasting friendships. They also tend to be more artistic and enjoy reading. Although we cannot all be born in the Year of the Golden Pig, we can still gather good fortune from this coming year. However, with the year about to start with a golden pig just around the corner, the superstitious among us can be encouraged that lady luck will pay them a visit.
The Author
Originally from Canada, Scott Findlay has been living and working in South Korea for the past 15 year. For 11 of those years, he has called Gwangju home. When he’s not working, he spends his free time with his wife, reading, exercising, and learning Korean. www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
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COMMUNITY COMMUNITY
14 Community Leaders
Group photo with children from the Gwangju Children’s Home.
Volunteering at the Children’s English Library in Gwangju
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February 2019
Written by Shilpa Rani
A
inaugurated in 2009 and is one of the first few children’s libraries established in Korea. It is home to 32,700 books and has a beautiful reading area where visitors can either sit down or roll around and read books in their own way.
In the heart of Gwangju, there is one such haven for children who like reading books the old-fashioned way. This place is the Children’s English Library (CEL) in Seo-gu, located inside the May 18 Memorial Park. It was
I was introduced to CEL in 2014 by Ms. Kim Youngim, the director of the Korean Organization of Natural Approach (KONA) volunteers. She had also been a part of the book selection committee for the library a year before its inauguration. At CEL, I volunteered as a story reading buddy to children. That was a great experience. I will never forget my first impression of the place. I have always told my friends back in Korea that the only two places that filled my heart with joy and give me true pleasure in Korea are libraries/bookstores and art supply stores. Since this was a library, it is needless to say that I was overjoyed. As a kid
t dinner, my six-year-old son asked my dad, “Will you tell me stories from the air force after dinner, grandfather?” Even in this era when we can call out to our artificial intelligence speakers and say, “Okay Google!” or “Aariya! Tell me a story,” grandparents are still a resource for exciting stories. The joy of listening to stories from real people will always remain enchanting. Similarly, I feel that no modern gadget can give one the joy of holding a hard copy of a book in their hands and disappearing into the wonderful worlds that books take readers to. Every child must experience this joy.
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15
The author sharing facts about the Indian flag.
Two buddies reading together.
Buddy reading also takes place between adults.
The silent reading activity.
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It was a great learning experience, and I also made beautiful memories to take back home. I treasure all the beautiful handwritten notes I received with love from the kids. Above all, my experience with UNESCO-KONA taught me to dream big and work towards making those dreams come true. Photographs courtesy of UNESCO KONA Volunteers.
The Author
Shilpa Rani pursued her doctorate and postdoctorate in molecular biology at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) South Korea. Her interest in early childhood learning through creativity and stories got her volunteering for UNESCO as a cultural exchange volunteer (CEV) following which she volunteered at the KONA storybook center. She is a self-taught visual artist and dreams of starting a children’s library in India someday.
February 2019
This past year when I had the opportunity to participate and help coordinate the buddy reading program organized by UNESCO-KONA at CEL, I volunteered. The event was held every Saturday afternoon from April to June. The children would choose books that they were interested in reading. We would do silent reading sessions followed by collaborative reading with our reading buddies (children and parents), and at the end, foreign volunteers would share a fun fact about their culture with the rest of the participants. On some occasions, we had special guests who participated in our program at CEL. They were kids from Gwangju Children’s Home (광주어린이집) in the Sangmu area. We mostly did serious reading indoors, but we also learned from outdoor activity-based games at the May 18 Memorial Park. At CEL events, the children also
learned public speaking while presenting a summary of their favorite stories to the rest of the participants.
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growing up in an Indian city, I had not had the opportunity to experience a whole library only for children. At CEL, I was grateful to be in the presence of so much knowledge, but at the same time, I wondered about all the kids around the world who did not have the same opportunities.
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16 Local Enterpreneur
Kelly’s Expanding Global Village Narrows the Cultural Divide Written by Karina Prananto
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February 2019
COMMUNITY
K
elly Palmer Kim’s life always revolves around community and family. She first came to Korea in 2000 from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She described her reason for coming to Korea as wanting to “seek new adventures” – and real adventures are really what she got! Here Kelly met her Korean husband, whom she married in 2003 and has since became the mother of three boys, two of whom are twins. Raising three boys in Korea, Kelly was reminded of her experiences growing up in Canada, so she hoped her sons could also share some of her childhood experiences while in Korea. After meeting Jeff Hamilton, she co-founded the Global Families of Gwangju (GFOG) in 2007 when she started working at Chosun University. Through this group, Kelly hoped to provide a cultural exchange through activities among the many multinational families in Gwangju. Back then, there were not many familyoriented events with a Western cultural background, except for Christmas, so they organized fall and spring events as a chance for these families to meet and have fun. These events have always proven popular and are growing annually, attracting not only multicultural families, but Korean families as well. Kelly and Jeff organize everything from start to finish. As the number of multicultural families in Gwangju grows, more people attend the events they organize, especially on Halloween. Kelly said she does not have any special method for promoting the events. She stated, “I think word-of-mouth promotion is the best way. Once, we had 400 children come to the Halloween party. There were lots of kids! At our events, we also sell food and drinks, and through these sales, we can keep organizing these kinds of events.” Kelly admits that organizing the events is a lot of work. “Although we always love having many people come, we also hope to have people who can come and help volunteer for the games and activities with kids. I’m so
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happy that my co-workers and friends in the community help donate their time and enthusiasm to help make our events enjoyable for families in Gwangju.” Volunteering can be done in many ways, including decorating, playing, and assisting with the games. Last year, we had the very first Korean family volunteers. They decorated their car like one of the sharks from “Baby Shark.” The decorations were awesome, and they had lots of fun with kids trick-or-treating. I hope we have more of these kinds of volunteers in the future.” The GFOG’s next event will take place on April 14, just in time for Easter, at Pungam Sports Park in Seo-gu, their annual event ground. “It’s an open event with no preregistration needed, and it’s free. Everyone is welcome!” While talking with her, I could imagine how busy her life must be every day. “I wake up at 6:00 a.m., sometimes at 5:30 a.m., to exercise before going to my office at Chosun University. My boys usually come home around 7:00 p.m., and before then, I can study for my thesis. I always try to find time for my boys.” Although Kelly’s schedule is busy, she said she always spends time with her children on weekends. “In summer, we just put everything we need in the back of the car and go to the beach every week. We lay down the mat and play in the sand. Even in wintertime, I’ll take them to the park, where we’ll play ball. Activities with kids don’t have to be expensive. Just be there for them and listen to them. It’ll be more worthwhile.” Aside from GFOG, Kelly is also busy with the Gwangju Performance Project (GPP), where she has served as treasurer and is the new vice-president. She does not act on stage, but she does help with the producing and financing. For the GPP’s latest work, The Wiz, she helped sell tickets. She loves meeting new people, including those whom she has only been in contact with through emails.
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17
Kelly and Jeff at GFOG’s Halloween event in 2016.
Kelly’s family.
Halloween goodies on sale.
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February 2019
A fully decorated Halloween car by the Lisa Mynhardt’s family.
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18
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February 2019
Volunteers decorating Easter eggs.
Eggs in different colors prepared for the spring event.
“Our next project for the GPP is Cabaret, an annual event to be held in April. It’ll be an awesome two-hour performance. We’ll sell food and drinks, and there will be singing and dancing. It’ll be a perfect opportunity to raise money to make more productions in the future. I’ll also be on stage!” Kelly mentioned that life in Gwangju is great. “Although I miss life in Canada, where there are sports teams for kids, there are not many here yet. But the government here has always been supportive of those with kids. My kids go to an after-school children’s center where they learn many things, including dancing. It boosts their confidence.” When asked about any tips for expat parents
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A Korean “shark” family.
Kelly in a costume at an Easter event.
and multicultural families, Kelly said she has no special advice. “Be with them, listen, and play with them.” And what great advice that is! Photographs courtesy of Kelly Palmer Kim and the Global Families of Gwangju.
The Author
Karina is from Jakarta, Indonesia and has been living in Gwangju since 2006. Her joy in life is her son, who is now on his toddler year. She loves traveling around Korea, and Jeollanam-do in particular, with her family and is always looking forward to Saturdays.
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Blast from the Past 19
TRAVEL
The new hanok house as seen from the courtyard.
Ogaheon
You Can’t Buy History, But You Can Rent It Originally written by Doug Stuber
(Originally appearing in Gwangju News, #143, January 2014)
W
Most would have walked right by on their desired errand, but not the curious, elegant Oh Ok-sun (오옥순). This Gwangju native, who has spent many years living in Seoul, returned here on a trip, fell in love with the urban site, and bought it. Few have ever had such lucky instincts. The rest is already a
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After purchasing the land and the shabby brick building, but before tearing it down, Oh meticulously knocked out one brick at a time to see what was underneath. Perhaps the cross beams and interior floors were a clue, but she had no idea how impressive the treasure was when she fell in love with the space. The brick house had been built directly over an 1860 hanok (the L-shaped wooden structures that remain much sought after in Korea, since few survived the wars) and is now back to its original glory, and beyond that, thanks to Oh’s determined commitment. Remodeling took from 2009 to 2012 to complete. The dwelling was originally built by an iron-industry owner named Choi Won-taek, who entertained early Korean movie stars, and notably, the 1936 Olympic goldmedal winner in the marathon, Sohn Kee-chung (송기정). Sohn’s fame continues because, when given flowers after
February 2019
hat if you were walking in the diverse, multiuse neighborhood behind Lotte Department Store: a place with great restaurants, the best in hair care, a cultural non-profit institution funded by Bohae Soju, and even Daein Market? And if on this stroll you came across a walled estate, replete with trees 300 to 600 years old and a broad courtyard, but also with a sadly dilapidated brick house remotely shaped like a traditional Korean hanok, what would you do?
legend in historical architectural restoration circles.
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This is the second article of a new column in the Gwangju News, Blast from the Past, in which we reintroduce to our readers select articles from past issues that, in addition to being high quality, relevant, and interesting, also provide useful information. We hope you enjoy the column. — Eds.
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20 his triumph, he hid the Japanese flag on his uniform with them, in defiance of Japan’s colonial rule at the time. Sohn visited Choi’s mansion in 1938. “Three families over seven generations have owned this hanok,” Oh said. Housed in the structure are her own collections that have taken decades to amass, including coffee grinders, brass bowls, tea sets, and the hardware needed to continue ancient traditions like drying persimmons. In the wrong hands, such a prize might not have ever been more than a dwelling with an old wooden interior. It has now been converted, restored, and augmented with four additional structures of exact architectural resemblance. These make a perfect setting for magnificent weddings, large meetings, receptions of the finest type, or to leave modern stresses behind with a simple afternoon tea.
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February 2019
Courtyard gardens, traditional rice-paper walls and doors, and gleaming freshly varnished wood invite visitors to take calm reflection or partake in one’s natural creative urges, be it calligraphy, painting, or poetry. Completely stocked with antiques, this sanctuary is also fitted with two modern kitchens and contemporary bathrooms. It also gives newlyweds a chance to drift far into the past, while pondering the future as the hanbok-attired day, surrounded by family and friends, becomes a moonlit night in a personal palace.
This Korean bed-and-breakfast, now known as Ogaheon (오가헌, House of Five Beauties: buildings, trees, food, music, and clothes), is fastidiously complete with all the items needed to continue old-style crafts: rolls of dyed cloth waiting to be tailored, flowers to be arranged, and vegetables to be made into salads. Photographs by Karina Prananto. Updating of text by David Shaffer. OGAHEON / 오가헌 Address: 194–24 Guseong-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju 광주광역시 동구 구성로 194–24
Directions: Take bus number 58, 74, 98, 151, or 419, and get off at the Art Street entrance (예술의 거리 입구) bus stop. Alternatively, take the subway to Geumnam-ro 4-ga, go out exit 4, and walk towards Art Street. Turn left at the first alley past Wongak-sa (temple). Walk straight about 50 meters. Ogaheon is located on the left, behind the Wongak-sa complex. Phone: 062-227-5557 Website: https://ogaheon.com/
The Author
Doug Stuber is a retired Chonnam University professor, artist, musician, and poet. His twelveth book of poetry, Chronic Observer, will appear from Finishing Line Press in February.
The dining room.
Photo of the original owner (right).
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The restored hanok building.
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Around Korea 21
A view of the seawater spa from the outside.
Sweating It Out at Hampyeong’s Seawater Spas
A
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His spa, the Hampyeong Sinheung Seawater Spa (함평신흥해수약찜), is fairly well known, having been featured on TV a few times. All throughout our most recent visit the guests just kept coming, with many managing to get in and some unlucky others getting dismissed unceremoniously for lack of space. This time we got there early, eked our way in, and still had to wait an hour and a half for our turn with little to entertain us save the sight of the spa’s three geriatric owners playing hwatu (a card game of Japanese origin). Wagering petty sums of a few hundred won each, they guarded their cards
February 2019
few winters ago while on a GIC Tour, our group pulled up to an unassuming yet bustling seawater spa (해수찜) in Hampyeong, Jeollanam-do. After disgorging from the bus into the chilly winter air, we were greeted by the sites of Korea’s muddy west coast and the sounds of a vigorous old man with one leg shouting ticket numbers into a toy megaphone. This was one of the spa’s owners – a quick-tempered, shout-talking geezer with no time for niceties. Curt as he was, his shenanigans alone are almost half the reason why I now make the pilgrimage to his spa every winter I’m in Korea.
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Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters
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22
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February 2019
A worker loads the spa’s furnace.
with a playful suspicion that was more entertaining than expected. When it was our turn to enter the spa, the old man slid open the window, hoisted himself up on his only knee, and began shouting “Number 32!” into the play megaphone, not realizing we were sitting in the same room with him. Here we paid 16,000 won each for a 90-minute stay in our own little spa room. We were each handed a loose-fitting navy shirt and pants with two towels. We were reminded to soak the larger towel in our room’s seawater pit and drape it over whatever body part we wanted to warm; the smaller towel was for the shower. After changing, we were shown our room and then left completely alone for 90 minutes. Initially, the water is so scalding hot that you can’t even touch it. To cool it down, you can use the many plastic bowls provided to scoop up the water and aerate it –
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either by dumping it back into the pit or by throwing it across the wooden floor planks around the room. In the meantime, you should wet your towel so that it’s always hot and use it wherever it feels most comfortable. You can be as creative as you like, but keep it decent; sometimes people mistakenly enter the wrong room, so keep your clothes on, you hippie. All the activity should heat your body up and get the room nice and steamy. I like to keep dumping out the salty seawater again and again until it’s cool enough to touch; then I lie down on the planks like a beached whale and lazily dump buckets of it on myself.
“Initially, the water is so scalding hot that you can’t even touch it.” Later, if the water gets cool enough, you can reach Valhalla by lying down in the shallow water pit itself for
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23 the remainder of your stay. Every pit comes with a thatched rice straw mat that keeps you from burning yourself on the inside of the pit. Also in every pit is a large bundle of herbs that gives the room a pleasant and slightly medicinal fragrance. A few rocks can usually be found down there, too, which probably help retain the heat. For an additional unique experience, once you’re sweating buckets, you can leave your room and step outside the spa to enjoy the cold winter air, which you’ll be impervious to for a little while. If you get thirsty, the spa provides water free of charge as well as iced coffee, green plum juice, and a persimmon vinegar drink that you’ll need to pay cash for. You can enjoy these in your room until the end of your stay. When your time is up, you can either rinse all the saltwater off in the showers, or you can stay salty and just wash your hair. Heathen that I am, I skip the showers completely and throw on a hat for the rest of the day. The salty feeling reminds me of being at the beach back home. Overall, visiting a humble seawater spa like this one is great because it’s just so different. If you’ve spent a few years living and working in a big
Korean city with so many modern conveniences available, you can sometimes lose the feeling that you’re in a foreign country. Seawater spas are clear reminders that Korea is still a very different land with unique experiences to offer. “Number 32! You’re up!”
HAMPYEONG SINHEUNG SEAWATER SPA 함평신흥해수약찜 Address: 61 Seoksan-ro, Sonbul-myeon, Hampyeong County, Jeollanam-do 전라남도 함평군 손불면 석산로 61
Phone: 061-322-9487
The Author
Originally from Southern California, Isaiah first came to Gwangju in 2010. He returned to South Korea in 2017 after completing his MA in Eastern Europe and is currently the chief proofreader for the Gwangju News. He enjoys writing, political science, and urban exploring.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
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February 2019
The inside of our room just after we’d arrived.
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24 24 Lost in Gwangju
The Demise of Seobang Market
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February 2019
TRAVEL TRAVEL
Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters
The entrance to the market center has definitely seen better days.
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2019-01-29 �� 10:35:43
25 2525
W
hen the topic of traditional markets in Gwangju comes up, Yangdong, Daein, Songjeong, and a few others readily come to mind. These markets have doggedly withstood the onslaught of business-savvy supermarkets and countless convenience stores, thanks in part to the authenticity and open-air ambiance they provide, which can neither be purchased nor recreated in stores or online. Nevertheless, a few other traditional markets, despite their tenacity and inimitable character, haven’t been so lucky. One example is Seobang Market (서방시장) in Punghyangdong, which hardly registers today despite once being the third largest market in Gwangju. Established in 1966, its heyday is long over, with only the most visible shops along its outer edges still in business. The once thriving market center is now semi-ruinous at best, with nearly all the inner storefronts shuttered and trash heaps festering in the interstices between them. On a recent visit with a friend, we got to photographing some of the market’s poignant remains: quaint hand-painted signs from nearly half a century ago, the cold bleakness of the central stairwell, and a glass storefront showcasing a bevy of abandoned sewing machines. It was near the latter where we ran into an older gentleman with thick glasses and a strong chin who took a liking to us once we told him we were interested in shooting old things. Soon, he became our impromptu tour guide around the market center. In no time, our chaperone led us straight to a nearby blanket shop to see the oldest thing he knew of in the entire market – an antique Singer sewing machine bearing an ornate golden sphinx decal. Though probably a Japanese knockoff, based on what I could find online, it’s still easily in range of 100 years old. I’ll never forget the look of bewilderment on the seamstresses’ faces when he opened the shop door and ushered me in sans introduction. Was our escort the son, brother, or husband of one of the seamstresses, or just an openminded weirdo who took too many liberties? I’ll never know.
Apparently, kicking out interlopers is an old tradition at Seobang Market. The market used to attract lots of farmers from Damyang, Sunchang, Gokseong, and elsewhere who would come down to Gwangju to sell their goods. However, these and other street vendors were blamed for hindering the business of established merchants at the market, so in 1968, the administrative authorities forced these street vendors to move further north away from the
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February 2019
Not everyone was so delighted to show us around, however. Near the inner stairwell is a shop maintained by an elderly woman who spotted us shooting photos and didn’t much appreciate our presence. At one point, she left her shop and hid behind the wall nearest us to get a sense of what we were up to. When she finally peeked her head around the corner, I said hello and explained what we were doing – photographing old stuff – but she wasn’t having any of it. Out of respect, we left, though I did make my surreptitious return a few weeks later to reshoot the stairwell without her knowing.
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After parting ways with our guide, we soon picked up another while looking at some of the hand-painted storefront signs. An older lady in a cloche hat saw us admiring the writing along the side of her shop and came out to chat with us about it. Beneath the dust and antique grime, the sign said 아이스 크림 빵 케키 (lit. ice cream, ice-cake, pastries), which stood out because it used the older, more Japanese-influenced 케키 (keki) spelling rather than the 케이크 (keikeu) spelling of “cake” more commonly seen today. Proudly, she explained that the sign was quite old and that “keki” was once a popular snack, similar to an ice pop, sold decades ago.
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26
Even at midday, the inner stairwell still looks bleak.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
market. They would eventually set up shop at Malbau Intersection, giving birth to Malbau Market (말바우시장) in the process.[1][2] The irony is that today, Malbau Market is large and lively with updated facilities, while Seobang Market is languishing on death’s door.
▲ An old Singer sewing machine sits inside one of the remaining shops.
▲ Just about every store in the market center is shuttered.
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Facing decline in the mid-1990s, bold new plans were approved to create an underground shopping mall beneath the road in front of Seobang Market, which would have been much like the underground shopping mall seen downtown today. Unfortunately, after 135 meters of the tunnel had already been dug, the Asian Financial Crisis hit Korea in mid-1997 and funding for the 13-billion-won project dried up. Efforts to resume construction years later never panned out, so now the concrete tunnel sits unused.[3] Without proper maintenance, corrosion, leaks, and the potential collapse of the eight-lane boulevard above are of real concern. In order to better sustain the unused space, a few ideas have been floated in recent years, including turning it into an urban farm where crops can be
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27 grown using LED lights, but that plan never quite panned out either. The latest idea is to connect the underground mall to one of the city’s new subway lines currently under construction, which could save the city up to 3.6 billion won[4] and bring more customers to the market above. With better accessibility, an unlikely rebirth of sorts could still occur over the next few years. It’s not too hard to imagine a few intrepid hipsters with a passion for studied minimalism taking advantage of the low rents and setting up small boutique shops around the potentially vibey market center. But there’s no guarantee that even a revival of this sort would salvage the market’s soul; to purists, gentrification is little better than an upscale death. Still, it’ll be interesting to see what happens to Seobang Market if its forgotten underground shopping mall is linked to the expanding subway system. I wish the locals all the best.
광주서방지하상가 방치 안된다. Retrieved from the Namdo News website: http://www.namdonews.com/news/articleView. html?idxno=191232#09U0 [4] Kim, D., & Park, E. (2018. April 12). LED식물공장, 맞춤형 기능성 의료 특화 작물로 활로 모색. Retrieved from the Siminsori website: http://www.siminsori.com/news/articleView. html?idxno=202378
The Author
Originally from Southern California, Isaiah first came to Gwangju in 2010. He enjoys visiting, photographing, and researching parts of Gwangju and Jeollanam-do that won’t last much longer. When he’s not doing this, he’s usually considering whether to get his lungs checked for exposure to mold and asbestos. He wonders whether he may be another part of Gwangju that won’t last very long.
References [1] Seon, M. (2017, March 14). 광주 말바우시장, 장날 2·4·7·9일 활기 ‘여전.’ Retrieved from the CMB Gwangju Broadcasting website: http://www.cmbkj.co.kr/ab-991-4746&OTSKIN=news_m_ skin.php [2] Kim, H. (2018, January 30). 말바우 시장이라는 또 다른 생활문화센터_엽서찍는 2479_from 말바우시장 [Web log]. Retrieved from http://gomgomap.blogspot.com/2018/01/ blog-post.html [3] Park, J. (2007, January 24). 착공 10년·공사중단 7년 . . . Interesting things can be seen here and there around the market center.
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February 2019
The “ice cream, ice-cake, and pastries” sign shines through all the grime.
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28 From Abroad
Geumgang-san Restaurant North Korean Cuisine with a Side of Propaganda
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
TRAVEL
Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters
The restaurant, propaganda, and suspicious ajeossi all in one frame.
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29
A
s far as Korean food goes, Jeolla-do cuisine has won me over. It’s what I’ve anchored my taste buds to and, consequently, other regional dishes often fall a bit short in comparison. Admittedly, I harbored this same favoritism on a recent visit to Geumgang-san Restaurant (금강산식당), a North Korean eatery in Vladivostok, Russia. Though part of me hoped that this showpiece restaurant would offer something above and beyond the ordinary, I still couldn’t help but assume that the highlight would be its novelty factor, not its food.
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February 2019
Adding to the restaurant’s mystique was its rigid policy on indoor photographs. I was told by the staff that taking photos of the menus and in the direction of the bar (where most of the statuesque servers were) was verboten. This stern directive, plus the servers’ obvious discomfort around a foreign lens,
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Sure enough, Geumgang-san Restaurant had novelty in spades. First to grab my attention were the waitresses. Much like at Pyeongyang Café, another North Korean restaurant I’d visited in Vladivostok three years prior, the waitresses were tall, lithe, and beautiful, similar to South Korean stewardesses. They all stood in stark contrast to the chefs in the kitchen who, well, didn’t seem to exist at all. Plates of food just appeared from some part of the restaurant with no telling where they actually came from or who prepared them. The secrecy of it all differed from many South Korean restaurants, where open kitchens often allow the cooks and clientele to exchange awkward glances.
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30 30
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February 2019
The interior of Geumgang-san Restaurant on a rather busy day.
The stage where some pretty intense jam sessions have gone down.
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31 hobbled my photo opportunities. To make matters worse, I’m no foodie, so even though I reminded myself beforehand to take pictures of our meal, I still forgot to photograph half the stuff we ordered. And so, the photo restrictions together with my food review apathy resulted in the best shots being taken outside the restaurant despite the rain. Thankfully, where photos fail, there are words. We ended up ordering a good but hardly outstanding portion of grilled pork (돼지 석쇠귀) and a tasty bowl of Pyongyang-style cold noodles called raeng-myeon (랭면), the latter of which caught my eye due to its unique spelling (SK: 냉면). The side dishes weren’t remarkable at all, while the generous pitcher of barley tea (보리차) was at best hohum. I blame communism. More memorable for me were the dishes’ uncommon names, with Korean staples like jeon (전, Koreanstyle pancake) being referred to as jijim (지짐), and twigim (튀김, fried food) being called simply twigi (튀기). Sadly, no North Korean beer was on sale for us to sample.
“The waitresses were tall, lithe, and beautiful, similar to South Korean stewardesses.”
The Author
Originally from Southern California, Isaiah is struggling with yet another author bio. In retrospect, he should never be allowed to review a restaurant ever again, as he didn’t even include a single picture of food. Or, like watching a monthly train wreck, maybe he should do more writing that’s out of his element just for the morbid entertainment it provides.
February 2019
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Upon our departure, we were pleasantly surprised when a few of the waitresses lined up by the glossy portraits of Kim Jongun glad-handing Trump, Xi, and Moon to bid us farewell in Korean with a deep bow. The cherry on top was the shifty-eyed ajeossi (middle-aged man) who shadowed us outside while we waited for our driver to arrive. With a cigarette pressed tightly between his lips, our minder eyed me closely as I snapped photos of the restaurant’s exterior. Of particular interest to him was my suitcase, probably because it offered him the best chance to find out where I was from. In this case, I was a Western imperialist dog with tags from ICN (Incheon) invading yet another North Korean space. Talk about a trigger warning. www.gwangjunewsgic.com
After our meal, I began wandering around the restaurant to take in more of its many quirks, much to the waitresses’ suspicion. In the back was a black-and-white checkered stage where karaoke equipment, a bass guitar, and a keyboard awaited their next gig. Given the privilege of working abroad, I imagined the waitresses selected were also talented musicians who entertained guests with musical performances from time to time, though it’s hard to know for certain. Regardless, whoever graces that stage has to compete with the comically celestial painting mounted above it, which depicts eight heavenly nymphs in white gossamer hanbok (traditional Korean dresses) frolicking amongst a paradisiacal landscape like it’s nobody’s business.
On the opposite side of the restaurant where photos were banned, there was a cabinet lined with North Korean propaganda texts printed in Russian. Juxtaposed below these were random North Korean products like ginseng, makeup, cologne, and mushroom powder. Of course, only the propaganda was for free, like the “masterpiece” entitled The Conflict between the DPRK and the USA (2014) and the world-renowned comic book Winged Horse (1989), a children’s story originally told by Kim Il-sung himself. Like flipping through sheets of razor-thin cardboard, the pages evoked a texture and scent reminiscent of cheap Eastern European toilet paper.
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www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
FOOD & DRINKS
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Where to Eat 33
Pizza Meets Burger at DongMyeong Burger Written and photographed by Sarah Pittman
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his month we are going back to Dongmyeongdong for an Instagram-worthy dish called the Pizza Meets Burger.
Burger aficionado, most, if not all, fell very short, or at least did not carry enough flavor and love to inspire any comment.
Dongmyeong Burger (동명버거) opened to the public in December 2017. This small restaurant can only seat between 30 to 40 people and is hidden in a building above a staircase to the second floor, so I have walked past it many times in the past couple of months without ever knowing it was there. The interior is a thematic blend of a 1950s diner combined with trendy, stark modernism. Exposed rough concrete, bare floors, and accents of polished chrome and glowing neon bring it all together. This hidden treasure is being featured not for its décor or its view, but for its mouth-watering all-American hamburgers, particularly its specialty, the Pizza Meets Burger.
But I loved Dongmyeong Burger so much that I went there again with my friends and relished the double cheeseburger set. In my experience, this burger is the closest thing you will find in Korea to an animal-style InN-Out hamburger. The patty is cooked expertly, leaving the beef fresh, tender, and juicy with all its natural flavors intact. The brioche bun is an expression of the passion Dongmyeong Burger has for their craft. The fresh aroma of buttery, baked bread almost made me homesick. The double cheeseburger will cost you 7,500 won, or 10,500 won if you make it a set. If you have the itch for a real slice of Americana, perhaps with a real slice of pizza as the bun, you should head over to Dongmyeong Burger in 2019 and get an authentic taste of home.
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DONGMYEONG BURGER 동명버거
Address: 7 Jangdong-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju
광주광역시 동구 장동로 7 (장동 67-14) 2층
Phone: 062-413-7111 Open Hours: 11:30 am – 10:00 pm, Tuesday–Thursday. 11:30 am – 11:00 pm, Friday–Sunday. Closed on Mondays.
The Author
Sarah Pittman is an English teacher from Southern California. She is an avid hobbyist and enjoys knitting, sewing, and photography, among other things. If you have a place you think that Sarah should try next, you can contact her on Facebook or on her Instagram @hello.korean.adventure.
February 2019
In my time spent in Korea, I have always been searching for a place to get a great hamburger. As an In-N-Out
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The Pizza Meets Burger (PMB) is made with a handmade brioche bun, American beer hamburger patty, caramelized onions, and half of an avocado sliced and fanned in the middle. The top of the bun is cut in half and covered in tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and miniature pepperoni before being toasted for a second time. The PMB was definitely the messiest burger I had ever consumed, and every single bite was absolutely amazing. The creaminess of the avocado only added to the juiciness of the hamburger and the greasiness of the pizza. For 11,000 won (14,500 won for the fries and drink set), the PMB is large enough that you could share it with a friend. Their french fries also made an impression on me. The shoestring fries were perfectly cooked and salted, fried fast enough to make each of them crunch with every bite but still have a hint of softness inside.
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34 Korean Food
Japchae
Stir-Fried Noodles and Vegetables Written by Joe Wabe
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
FOOD & DRINKS
J
apchae is one of the culinary jewels of Korea, and a dish I’ve been in love with since day one. It’s one of the most popular dishes at potlucks, house-warming parties, and family gatherings, and its popularity extends to children as well as adults. After all, what can go wrong when you add some fun noodles onto a plate? According to history, the original version of japchae had no noodles. It was a variant of only stir-fried vegetables such as cucumbers, radish, onions, and mushrooms. This gave origin to the word japchae, which in Korean means “mixed vegetables.” In the early 17th century, a chef named Yi Chung prepared the dish for King Gwanghaegun, and the king was so in love with the dish that he promoted Yi to a high-ranking position; from then, japchae became royal court cuisine. It was considered a luxurious and elegant dish served only to the royal family and high-level officials. With the passing of time, this royal dish became part of the commoners’ cuisine, and after the introduction of cellophane noodles, made from sweet potato starch (dangmyeon, 당면), in the 20th century by the Chinese, the original recipe took a new turn. With this new transformation, other ingredients came along: beef, seafood, herbs, and peppers, in addition to many others, and as a result, a new version of japchae was born. The current and most popular version is sweet and savory, prepared with stir-fried assorted vegetables, beef, mushroom, and dangmyeon noodles seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. If you miss a good chop suey, I guarantee this dish will not fall short. Let’s japchae!
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The Author
Joe Wabe is an established photographer and Gwangju local business entrepreneur. He has been contributing to the GIC and the Gwangju News for more than eight years.
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INGREDIENTS (4 servings)
3.
4.
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2.
Immediately rinse under cold water. Make sure to not overcook the noodles so that they don’t lose their chewy texture. Blanch the spinach in boiling water and rinse with cold water. After squeezing the water out, cut the bunch in half and mix it with some minced garlic, a little sesame oil, and anchovy stock. Let it all sit in a bowl for ten minutes. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the beef, remaining garlic, some soy sauce, and sesame oil (about a teaspoon each). Stir-fry until the meat is cooked. Add the chopped onions, mushrooms, and carrots, and continue for another four minutes. Finally, add the green onion, and let all the ingredients dance together for another minute. Then remove from the heat. Finally, in a large bowl, combine the noodles, the stir-fried meat and vegetables, and the rest of the ingredients, including the plum syrup and marinated spinach. Serve warm and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
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250 grams of dangmyeon (당면) noodles ½ bunch of spinach rinsed and trimmed 1 tablespoon of sesame oil 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil ½ onion sliced 4 dried and sliced shiitake mushrooms (soaked in water for ten minutes) 1 sliced medium-sized carrot 1 sliced red bell pepper 200 grams of beef ribeye cut into thick strips 2 tablespoons of plum syrup (or brown sugar) 4 tablespoons of soy sauce 1 tablespoon of anchovy stock 1 tablespoon of minced garlic 1 green onion chopped into medium-sized pieces Salt and pepper Sesame seeds for garnish
PREPARATION
1. Cook the noodles in boiling water for about five minutes.
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36 36
SPORTS & ACTIVITIES
Skiing and Snowboarding in South Korea Written and photographed by E.J. Jones
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
▲ Riders at Muju Ski Resort.
I
t has been a mild winter in Korea thus far. February is already here and we have only seen snow stick to the ground a handful of times. I am still waiting for us to get that one winter dump that tends to befall us at least once in a season. Yet, thanks to snowmaking technology, natural snow is not a necessity for enjoying the slopes. Getting to a ski resort may seem a bit daunting if you are a foreigner, and especially if you are new to the country and do not speak much Korean (I know it was for me when I first arrived four years ago). Now, I have had the chance to visit four different resorts in Korea and have held season passes at two. Let’s talk about prices. In general, most resorts I have seen run 65,000–90,000 won for one adult day pass (without discounts). On top of that, if you do not have your own equipment, you will have to dish out about an extra 20,000–30,000 won for ski or snowboard rental, plus
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another 15,000 won or so for clothing to keep you dry and comfortable in the elements. This does not include food or bus fare to the resort! As you can see, skiing and snowboarding are expensive (and these are prices you will see everywhere, not just in South Korea). Luckily, you can save a ton of cash by owning your own equipment, purchasing a season pass, or joining an all-inclusive trip with a tour company such as Enjoy Korea or Wink. As for which resort to choose, there are many options. I will cover the four I have visited and list some pros and cons for each. MUJU DEOGYUSAN RESORT Muju is the closest resort to Gwangju, with a bus commute time of about three hours (faster if you are lucky enough to find a buddy with a car). I have also heard rumors that there is a direct bus that can take you from Gwangju straight to the mountain. What I experienced at Muju was
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37 a lovely, family-friendly resort with decent snow and nice, long trails. There is also at least one really nice spa at the resort for soaking in the hot tubs after a frigid day on the slopes. In addition, there is a great shopping area for those friends n4fdtrf fx ot so keen on spending all day in the cold. It is a breathtaking view at night with all the lights, especially if you are lucky to go there after a nice snowfall. For me, the biggest drawback to this resort was that there was not much of a free-style terrain park, which is a must for me. Also, the cost to stay in the resort’s overnight accommodation was quite pricy, in my opinion. On the flip side, the resort actually has two peaks, which means that, for the person who just wants to cruise, there are more than enough trails to keep one busy for a good couple of days. Discounts are offered for certain bank cards. Also, it is usually cheaper to stop by one of those rental shops on the way to the resort to get your equipment rather than paying the prices at the resort. Tip: If you are an experienced rider, the extra cost for the gondola ticket is definitely worth it as this lift is much faster than the regular lifts and also usually has a much shorter wait time. This goes for any resort, in my experience. Pro: Closest resort to Gwangju; great facilities; some nice, long runs; very family-friendly. Con: Becomes quite crowded on weekends, lacking in freestyle terrain.
Pro: Super-friendly staff, decent freestyle park, and longer runs. Con: Park and layout don’t quite match up with Phoenix Resorts.
Pro: Amazing freestyle park, longer runs. Con: May be a bit more expensive than other resorts.
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February 2019
PHOENIX PARK Phoenix Park hosted a number of events in the 2018 winter Olympics, including men’s and women’s ski and snowboard slopestyle and halfpipe events. Every year, Phoenix puts together the longest, most creative freestyle terrain park I have seen in Korea, making it my top personal choice over any other resort. If a good park is what you’re after, then Phoenix is your best bet. The resort is located about two hours northeast of Seoul.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
“Though snowboarding and skiing are expensive sports, you can potentially save some won by using your bank card and renting equipment from ski shops outside the resort.”
HIGH 1 RESORT I found out about High 1 upon joining a group ski trip organized by Wink, a tourist organization that organizes a variety of trips for foreigners. I highly recommend taking one of these trips if you are new to the area and want a hassle-free way to enjoy the slopes at a discounted rate and also to meet some new shred buddies along the way. I remember paying less than 200,000 won for a two-day trip that included riding, bus fare, equipment rental, and accommodation! As for my experience at High 1, I found this resort to be a big step-up from Muju for my personal tastes. They had a huge freestyle terrain park, super-friendly staff, and modern facilities. Since this resort is further away from Gwangju, I would stay with a friend in Seoul on Friday night, and then we would take the resort bus for two hours to the resort from there. I actually bought a pass to High 1 in 2015 for under 300,000 won, which paid for itself in just four trips. My time at High 1 was pleasant, and I highly recommend it.
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38
▲ Crowds at Muju Ski Resort base.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
WELLI HILLI PARK Welli Hilli Park Ski Resort, located about 20 minutes from Phoenix Park, is a nice resort but with much shorter runs than what you will find at Muju or Phoenix. It does, however, have a great freestyle terrain park and nice, modern facilities. If you are a beginner, chances are you’ll be spending most of your first day on the bunny hill anyhow. Pro: Good freestyle park, possibly cheaper prices. Con: Shorter runs. As I mentioned, this is only a handful of resorts South Korea has to offer. Bottom line is, it is really not all that difficult to go snowboarding or skiing in South Korea. Most resorts have staff who can speak some English and have relatively reasonable prices. Though snowboarding and skiing are expensive sports, you can potentially save some won by using your bank card and renting equipment from ski shops outside the resort. Lastly, if you are planning a trip with friends and any one of you has an international driver’s license, consider renting a car and splitting the cost
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▲ Phoenix Freestyle Park
as you can save a lot of travel time that way. For the best experience, I recommend trying to go up to the ski resort the night before you want to ride, picking up ski equipment, and staying in a pension overnight. Then you can hit the slopes right away the next morning and beat the afternoon crowds. Search Facebook for skiing and snowboarding groups, and you will find a large community posting regular updates about upcoming ski trips and even selling used gear. THE AUTHOR Eden is an English teacher and musician who has been living in Korea since 2014. Before Korea, she was on her university’s freestyle snowboarding team and worked as a snowboard and ski instructor. Her favorite thing to do in winter is snowboard with friends.
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3939
TOPIK Guide (topikguide.com) is the most comprehensive website devoted to the TOPIK exam. It’s been helping Korean language learners pass the TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) for more than seven years. On this website, you can get all the TOPIK updates, grammar and vocabulary material, and study tips.
Everyday Korean Episode 14: 식당 (The Restaurant ) Written by Harsh Kumar Mishra Illustration by Han Lee
아나: Ana:
정민:
어떤 요리를 좋아하세요? [Eo-tteon yori-reul joa-haseyo?] What kind of food do you like?
나는 인도와 베트남 요리를 좋아해.
[Na-neun indo-wa be-teu-nam yori-reul joa-hae.] Jeong-min: I like Indian and Vietnamese food.
아나:
저도 인도 요리를 너무 좋아해요. 그럼 오늘 인도 식당으로 갈까요?
Ana:
[Jeo-do indo yori-reul neo-mu joa-haeyo. Geu-reom o-neul indo siktang-ro gal-kkayo?] I like Indian food a lot, too. Then, shall we go to an Indian restaurant today?
정민:
좋아, 가자! [Joa. Ga-ja!]
Grammar 어떤: Use this before nouns to express the meaning “What kind of (noun)?” Ex: 어떤 책을 좋아해요? What kind of book(s) do you like to read?
Jeong-min: Great, let’s go!
식당에서 (at the restaurant) 웨이터: 주문 도와드릴까요? [Ju-mun dowa-deu-ril-kkayo?] May I take your order?
정민:
네. 치킨 카레 하나랑 갈릭난 두 개 주세요.
[Ne. chi-kin kare hana-rang gallik-nan du gae ju-seyo] Jeong-min: Yes, we’ll have one chicken curry and two garlic nan.
웨이터: 같이 계산하시나요? 따로따로 하시나요? [Gachi gye-san-hasi-nayo? Ttaro-ttaro hasi-nayo?] Waiter: Would you like to pay together or separately?
정민:
같이 해 주세요. 아나, 내가 쏠게.
express the meaning “Is it okay to (verb)?” Ex: 나 가도 돼요? May I go? (Is it okay to go?)
Vocabulary 식당 요리 인도 베트남 주문 계산 따로따로 쏘다
#Korean slang/Fad words 1.
[Gachi hae ju-seyo. Ana, naega ssol-ke.] Jeong-min: Do it together, please. Ana, let me treat you today.
Ana:
우와! 고마워요. [Uwa! Go-ma-wo-yo.] Wow! Thank you so much!
(After eating...) 아나:
잘 먹었어요. [Jal meo-geosseo-yo.]
Ana:
Thank you for dinner. [Literally: I ate well.]
2. 3.
썸 (썸타다): It’s one of the most famous slang words in Korean, mainly used by high schoolers and university students. It’s the period or feeling when you’re not exactly dating or in love with a person, but there’s something going on between you two which can’t be expressed in words. 남사친: a male friend (used to distinguish between a normal friend and a boyfriend) 여사친: a female friend (derived from 여( 자) 사(람) 친(구))
Visit the TOPIK Guide website or our YouTube channel to improve your Korean and reach your goal on the TOPIK test.
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February 2019
아나:
restaurant cooking/food India Vietnam order calculation/bill separately to treat (slang)
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Waiter:
~(으)아도/어도 돼요: Use this with verbs to
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40 Korea TESOL
Reflecting on Teaching Written by Dr. David E. Shaffer
T
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
EDUCATION
he start of a new year is often a time to make plans for the coming dozen of months, including resolutions for the coming year. It is often a time to also look back on the past year to reflect on what one has done and how one might improve upon that for the next year. “Where is all this leading?” you may be asking yourself by now. Well, not so long ago, a very thoughtful Korea TESOL member, Virginia Hanslien, made a post on her Chronicles of Hope blog (January 3) challenging teachers to reflect on their past year of teaching through a set of ten questions. For my personal self-reflection, I have decided to expand these questions to cover my teaching career rather than limit my reflections to just 2018. I do this in the hope that, in addition to being helpful to me, it will encourage you to likewise reflect on your past year (or years) of teaching and make any changes that you think might benefit your teaching in the coming school year. Let’s get started. What is your favorite classroom activity? To begin with, let me state that most of my teaching of skills courses has been with upper-level, university English majors. I like to do activities that, in addition to having a language-item focus and a practice element, are interactive – whether they are pair-work, group-work, or whole-class activities. Label me “lazy” if you like, but what has worked exceptionally well for me is to have the students lead the class instead of me. In a favorite activity of mine, pairs of students were each assigned to lead a 45-minute class session. They were to select a language point that would be beneficial to the students in some way and create a lesson focusing on this in some manner. They would come to me to discuss their ideas and from there we would work on creating the content of the session. My role was mainly that of a facilitator. One activity that sticks out in my mind was a snakesand-ladders type of board game in which the players had to briefly discuss a topic, determined by the square they landed on, and ask at least two related questions to the other players. After 45 minutes, there were no winners –
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no one had gotten to the finish line! The students became much more interested in the discussions that they were generating than in getting to the finish line first to win the game. The students all became winners in my opinion – the activity creators and the game players. What was the best piece of teaching advice? Spoon-feeding should not be part of the job description of a language teacher. Information that is directly given to students is easily forgotten. My teaching advice would be to allow the students to discover new things about the language and sort them out themselves. Through such inquiry and discovery, learning is attained and that learning is retained. It is the task of the teacher to create the proper environment, to provide the right materials, for this inquiry and discovery process to occur – much more difficult than spoon-feeding but much more effective. What was your proudest moment as a teacher? I have always taken pride in hearing that a student of mine was accepted to an English education program at a graduate school in Seoul. And I have taken even greater pride in discovering that one of my students completed a doctorate in TESOL in the U.S. But when I felt proudest was probably when a non-English-major student of mine knocked on my office door about eight years after she had graduated to thank me for making her work so hard in my class. She was now the proud director of an English academy! What was your favorite coursebook? I am not a fan of coursebooks. They are too sanitized, too general, and often too boring to be very effective. An alternative of mine is to have the students compile a portfolio of their work in the course that the teacher can assess and give feedback on periodically throughout the course – somewhat similar to what an artist might do for a job interview. What is your greatest discovery as a teacher? To not blame the student for not learning. It is the job of the teacher to create an environment conducive to learning. This will not be the same environment for each
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student. Different students require different things to motivate them, and it is the task of the teacher to discover what is motivating to each student. What was your greatest frustration? It is most frustrating to have that single student in the class for whom you cannot discover what presses his motivation button – no matter how hard you try. I am thankful to not have had this experience often. What was your most motivational idea, quotation, or picture? I created a course centering on having the students reflect on their own language learning methods, evaluating them, and then making adjustments to them to make them better. They did this through journal writing, classroom paired discussions on their methods, and presenting to the class a method that worked exceptionally well for them. Through this, students became aware of many new learning methods and resources to improve their own English learning practices.
How do you plan to start your first lesson of the year? At the beginning of a course, it is standard to give a description of the course to the students along with types of assignments that will be given and information
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The Author
David E. Shaffer is vice-president of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter of Korea TESOL (KOTESOL). On behalf of the chapter, he invites you to participate in their teacher development workshops at their monthly meetings (always on a Saturday). For many years, Dr. Shaffer has been a professor of English Language at Chosun University. He is a long-time member of KOTESOL and a holder of various KOTESOL positions; at present he is national president. Dr. Shaffer credits KOTESOL for much of his professional development in English language teaching, scholarship, and leadership. He is board chair at the GIC and also editor-in-chief of the Gwangju News.
GWANGJU-JEONNAM KOTESOL MONTHLY MEETING Date: February 16 (Saturday) Place: Gwangju National University of Education • Presentation: Materials Worth Investing In By Jessica Magnusson (Gwangju National University of Education) • Presentation: Writing Activities By Hannah Jones (Yongin, Gyeonggi-do) • SwapShop – Share with the group an activity or teaching idea that you have. March 9: Gwangju-Jeonnam Regional Conference For full event details: Website: koreatesol.org/gwangju Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL
February 2019
Which superpower would make you a super teacher? I wish I could read minds, not to know what students were thinking of me (oh, gosh no!) but to be able to know what their problems were with their English learning. Students are often unable to articulate their problems. If I were able to read their minds, helping them with their language learning problems would be so much easier.
Now it’s your turn. How would you answer these questions about your teaching? Happy reflecting!
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What class or group did you enjoy teaching the most? I got a special joy out of teaching my sophomore English education majors in my Classroom English course. It was the first time for almost all of them to ever stand in front of a group to teach. During the course, each student had two sessions to “teach” a lesson in teaching English through English to their classmates. It was so gratify to see the improvements they made in so little time!
on testing. However, I think it is important to ask the students what their expectations are from the course and to explain to them how those expectations might be attained.
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42 Photo Essay
A Winter Jaunt in France
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February 2019
ARTS & CULTURE
Written and photographed by Wilson Melbostad
The seaside village of Villefranche-sur-Mer.
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s a native Californian, I usually look forward to heading back to the Golden State every Christmas. Seeing friends and family and catching up on all the things that have transpired back home has always been a motivating factor whenever homesickness decided to rear its head. This past year, however, our family called an audible and decided it would be nice to spend the holidays together in a third location. While France didn’t really represent the most logical meet-me-in-the-middle scenario, its beautiful scenery and wonderous gastronomy made the distance for both my fiancé and me in Gwangju, as well as for the rest of my family back in California, negligible. After a rather forgettable flight and an apocalyptic layover (just a tip: try to avoid flight transfers in Moscow at all costs), our trip officially kicked off after our arrival in Southern France. Next to the rather bourgeois city of Nice is a quaint little village in the French Riviera called Villefranche-sur-Mer, which roughly translates to “Village of France by the Sea.” The Bay of Villefranche is definitely one of the main attractions of the village, as it possesses one of the deepest natural harbors of any
port on the Mediterranean Sea. Back in California, I’d become accustomed to watching the sun set over the water, and so had really never experienced a seaside sunrise. Accordingly, I was absolutely blown away by the exorbitant sunrises that we were graced with each morning. France’s convenient northern-latitude locale also meant that we could roll out of bed at 7:00 a.m., head to the local bakery to fetch our morning croissants, and then watch the sunrise’s glorious ballet of colors over a nice breakfast around 8:00 a.m. After a jolly Christmas in France, the rest of my family returned to the States to celebrate the New Year, which left my fiancé and me about a week of adventuring by just the two of us. To maintain the integrity of my title, I won’t tell you about the superb experiences we had in Belgium, a country that’s casually not France, but will rather skip directly to our jump back into France at the northern port city of Honfleur. Located in France’s northern Normandy region, Honfleur is right on the estuary where the Seine River meets the English Channel. Before the town became popular with pesky tourists like us, the town’s timber-framed houses and quaint circular harbor
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February 2019
▲ The unmistakable Eiffel Tower shimmering in the Paris night sky.
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February 2019
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▲ Walking amongst the beaches of Le Mont-Saint-Michel during low tide.
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February 2019
Traversing our way up the infamous Champs-Elysées with the Arc de Triomphe towering in the background. ▶
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February 2019
▲ Morning stroll in the calm harbor town of Honfleur.
▲ Majestic colors graced us for sunrise during our stay in Villefranche-sur-Mer.
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▲ The Bay of Villefranche nestled amongst the mountain cliffs of the French Riviera.
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Although my fiancé and I certainly missed the cuisine and comfort of Korea at times during our trip (we had to pull our car over a couple of times for some emergency udong noodle sessions), we absolutely loved our time in France. I think it goes without saying that if you haven’t had a chance to visit this global center for art, fashion, gastronomy, and culture, you certainly need to make plans to do so!
The Author
Wilson Melbostad is a human rights attorney hailing from San Francisco, California, who is proud to call Gwangju his second hometown. Wilson is a lecturer at Chonnam National University who, in his spare time, works on various pro bono legal cases throughout the country. Wilson also enjoys breakfast food to the point where he feels comfortable putting such information in his bio.
February 2019
Our last stop before heading back to Gwangju was Paris, the other “City of Light.” It’s said that Paris was actually called the “City of Light” (or “la Ville des Lumières”) because of its role in the Enlightenment period, but also more literally because it was one of the first cities to have gas lighting installed throughout its streets. Paris needs
no introduction, so I won’t bore you with the details. Just get to Paris!
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used to beckon the likes of French impressionist painters, including Monet, Courbet, Cals, Dubourg, and Boudin. In fact, it was the landscape painter Eugene Boudin who called Honfleur “the most ravishing spot in the world.” After Honfleur, we skipped over to the iconic island castle commune of Le Mont-Saint-Michel. The commune is positioned on an island just a few hundred meters from land, which made it accessible at low tide to the many pilgrims who came to pray in the castle’s dazzling abbey, but also defensible, as an incoming tide stranded, drove off, or even drowned would-be assailants. Case in point, Le Mont-Saint-Michel remained unconquered during the Hundred Years’ War (when the French famously fended off a full attack by the English in 1433).
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48
Photo of the Month
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February 2019
ARTS & & CULTURE CULTURE ARTS
By Sarah Pittman
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O
ur photo of the month is this photo of the electric rose bed at the Boseong Tea Plantation Light Festival. The ethereal glow of the roses in the dark spoke to my experiences of the light festival itself. Though a glowing rose by itself is quite beautiful – just like an individual person – the collective light of the flowers clustered like stars across the lawn created a blanket of warm light. In fact, that galaxy of roses transformed the plain grass into a field of fantastic beauty in a way no single light ever could. The Author
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February 2019
Do you have any photos that you would like to show to Gwangju (and the world)? Gwangju News features a photo of the month to create more opportunities to promote more photographers based in the Jeollanam-do region and to show off our beautiful province from different areas and angles. Submissions can be emailed to the editor at gwangjunews@ gic.or.kr or posted in the “Photography in the South” Facebook group throughout the preceding month.
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Sarah Pittman is an English teacher with a degree in psychology from California State University, Fullerton. She discovered her love for photography while working at Disneyland and has been honing her craft by watching YouTube videos ever since.
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ARTS & CULTURE
50 Book Review
“There’s Nobody More Complicated Than a Human Being” Whoopi Goldberg on Life, Love, Relationships, and Satisfaction
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February 2019
Written by Kristy Dolson
W
elcome to February, the shortest and coldest month of the year! And if you’re like me – a demisexual introvert who’s happily uncoupled and living her best life – this is also the month that comes along and hijacks your good mood by reminding you that you’re worthless until you “find your romantic soulmate.” Thanks, February! But wait! Remember when I said my 2019 resolution was to bring you a “diverse range of voices”? This month it’s my absolute pleasure to bring this gem to your attention: If Someone Says “You Complete Me,” RUN! Whoopi’s Big Book of Relationships. Written by American celebrity Whoopi Goldberg (actress, comedian, author, and television host), this book is a laugh-out-loud good time from start to finish. And it certainly doesn’t take long to
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finish; even though it’s 200-plus pages, it’s the kind of book you can read in a day because it’s incredibly engaging and readable. Goldberg begins the book by explaining that over the 11 years she’s been a co-host for The View (an American talk show), she’s heard a lot of confusing things from women about relationships. She wondered why her own experiences and conclusions differed so much from the vast majority of things she’d heard on the show. Thus, she decided to sit down and write a book in order to offer advice in case there were other people out there who’d experienced a similar disconnect from the “majority” opinion. The result was an incredibly charming selfhelp(ish) book that the minority is desperately in need of. Thanks, Whoopi!
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51 This book is a treat to read, like having a favorite aunt take you aside for an intimate conversation filled with all her sage advice built up over a lifetime. Goldberg has a very distinctive voice, one you can’t help but laugh along with as she regales you with her stories and observations. These stories are written into chapters that address the myriad issues related to relationships – whether it’s debunking the infamous Cinderella/Prince Charming myths, seeing the red flags of a new relationship, recognizing the difference between love and sex, or putting your family before any new romantic relationships.
“In addition to being a wildly fun and engaging reading experience, I cannot tell you how satisfying it is to hear that someone else has reached the same conclusions about life and love.” Something I particularly liked about this book, and the thing that gives it a self-help vibe, are the moments when Goldberg provides lists for readers to fill out to get them thinking about these issues. For example, there’s the ten songs about love that gave them false expectations, or the five things they cannot tolerate in a relationship. She urges readers to go ahead and get their thoughts down on paper so they can refer back to them later when shit hits the fan. She has a patient tone when doing this. “I’ll wait,” she informs her readers. I had a lot of fun filling out these lists, and I made a lot of interesting discoveries in the process.
You’re welcome!
The Author
(Photo by Cheyenne Taylor)
Kristy Dolson lived in South Korea for five years before taking a year off to travel, read, and spend time with her family in Canada and Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Education and has just returned to Gwangju, where she splits her time between teaching at the new Jeollanamdo International Education Institute and reading as much as she can.
February 2019
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If you’re one of those people who watch rom-com movies (or listen to love ballads or read romance novels) and think they’re realistic and achievable, well… this is not the book for you. But if you’re over 28 and still single with no “prospects” on the horizon, and you don’t feel particularly ashamed of that, this is definitely the book for you – if only as a self-confidence boost when the rest of the world is telling you there’s something wrong if you can’t (or won’t) hold down a relationship. Let me doubledown on that message: If you’re alone this February, good for you! There are more kinds of love than romantic love, and your platonic best friend can absolutely be your soulmate. These loves are valid and so are you.
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In addition to being a wildly fun and engaging reading experience, I cannot tell you how satisfying it is to hear that someone else has reached the same conclusions about life and love. The younger generations continue to change the dating game. Millennials are beginning to question the wisdom of traditional marriage practices, opting to cohabit without marrying for longer periods of time. Personally, I think it’s fascinating to see where our society could go from here. With more and more people debunking the true love mythology and protesting against traditional marriage and nuclear families – not to mention the rise of women in the working world and the resultant decreasing birth rates – will we see a fundamental shift in the way people couple up and/or bring new humans into the world? It may be too soon to tell, but this book definitely reflects a minority of people who are looking at the “world for two” Western society has built itself around and are saying “Actually, you know what? I’m good the way I am. I’ll just carry on, thanks.”
And I couldn’t be happier to know that I’m not alone in this regard.
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Gwangju Writes
Petty Theft
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February 2019
ARTS & CULTURE
Written and photographed by Amy-Leigh Braaf
T
he bakery’s door swung open and in a swift moment the room filled with two baritone voices, deep and well aged, accompanied by two elderly men. Today wasn’t particularly busy. Sojin had decided to visit Haneul Park with Chang-an (having packed a picnic basket the night before) and left me in charge of locking up and serving customers. The weather was temperate, but I could feel the rain coming. The two men seemed to be in their 70s – the one on the left was wearing a round burgundy hat and carried a cane with a firefly figurine embedded on it. He found his balance as he gripped onto its wings in a contentious manner. The other sported a balding head and wore a grey suit with a light blue tie. They sat down near the window, barely noticing anybody around them, and were already in the midst of a heated conversation. “The worst part is they are our age,” the bald one said, exhaling in disbelief. The other man took off his hat, huffed, and placed it on the table, turning to me and calling me over with a swift hand gesture. The firefly cane was resting nonchalantly on the back of his chair. My half-eaten egg and mayo sandwich was quickly tucked under the coffee machine as I grabbed a notepad and two menus and hurried to their table. “Hello, what can I get you today?” For some reason, when it came to speaking to the elderly, there was a nervous streak that passed through me – the same feeling I get when I down one of my badly made
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double espressos. The bald man tilted his head up and gazed at me with a frown, the other man pursed his lips together and pulled the menu away to look at it, his glasses sitting on the tip of his nose. “Do you have an ice Americano?” the bald one asked. “No, no – please something else,” said the other, not looking at either of us as his face contorted in exhaustion. Perhaps they drank that together far too often. “Well I don’t know what else they would have here. Can we share a slice of carrot cake?” baldy asked me. His tone was strange. He was asking me questions, but it didn’t feel like he was only ordering; he was studying my face. His friend was fully distracted by the menu, which appeared far more intriguing than anything else. Neither one of those things was on the menu. Slightly irritated, I had to hold myself back for a moment, and then began with a smile. “Oh, look,” said his friend. “They have espressos! Two doubles, please.” They both looked at me. I smiled and nodded, retrieving the menus. The man with the cane frowned for a moment as he locked eyes with me. He glanced to his friend who was still gazing at me. He noticeably hadn’t stopped since I’d spoken to them. “Sure, anything else? We don’t have carrot cake today, but we do have tiramisu.”
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Gwangju Writes 53 Neither of them said anything. They simply looked at me. Nausea began to settle in the pit of my stomach. I threw them a polite smile, nodded, and turned around. As soon as I did, they began whispering between themselves. The doorbell rang as three young women left after having finished their breakfast.
The Author
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I just wanted to say that I dearly adore you this Valentine’s Day. I know that I am unable to express my true feelings for you with these words, but I have to say what I can. There is a lot that gets lost in translation, as my feelings travel from my heart to my head and then through language into words on this page. But I have to try anyway, because without these words there would be nothing.
My love, my source of inspiration, with you, my life seems meaningful. My love, you are indeed a magic wand to me. My love, my mind, my heart and soul have your name in them. My dear, without a glimpse of you, it is difficult to pass a moment; an hour turns into a month, a day into a year, and a week into a century. You are omnipresent in my life, in good times and bad. I sense you in the air I breathe, in the water I drink.
I am also aware that Valentine’s Day is some odd occasion that came from a foreign culture. But when I get a chance to say “I love you,” it really does not matter what the pretext is. I love you!
My sweetheart, my happiness depends on yours. I hurt if you are not happy. I can never imagine pleasure in life without you.
I do not know how to say what your coming into my life means to me, but here is a whole series of metaphors: I feel like your presence adds flavor to my life, your company adds warmth, and just your being there adds beauty. I may sound a little silly, but I cannot imagine what sense my life made before you.
Praveen Kumar Yadav, a human rights researcher from Nepal, is an international intern at the Gwangju-based May 18 Memorial Foundation. He tweets at @iprav33n.
The Author
Will You Be My Valentine? I know not how to compose poetry, I just want to say that I love thee, Dear wonderful friend, this Valentine’s Day. My love for you grows each and every day, With each night, my heart pulls me your way. Will you be my sweet valentine? Will you be the sweet love of mine? Your sight, your presence, and your smile Add meaning to my life all the while The feelings of my heart I cannot confine, Will you be my valentine? All I need is a single sign, Will you be my love, my dear? My sweetly cherished valentine. * This piece first appeared in Hope Magazine (Nepal), Issue 5, February 2014.
February 2019
Amy Braaf is a writer, photographer, and teacher currently living in South Korea after having freelanced in Cape Town, South Africa. She has a BA, specializing in film production and English literature. She hopes to open up a cafe in a few years where artists and travelers can connect.
D
ear Love,
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My face felt warmer. Nothing made me more uncomfortable than the feeling of serving such brazen customers. I truly detested knowing when I was the topic of discussion. I slammed the portafilter into the top part of the machine, twisted it in, and let it brew while I organized their cups. When I glanced up for a moment, they were gone, and it was only then that I realized I’d met them before. But it was in a different place, at a simpler time. I remembered that many years ago, I had been introduced to them by my father, a man I’d neither seen nor spoken to in fifteen years.
Written by Praveen Kumar Yadav
ARTS & CULTURE
I detached two portafilters and removed the coffee residue left inside into a small bucket located to my right. Sojin used the leftover granules for her plants and got quite upset with me whenever I threw them into the wrong bin. Then I dispensed a new batch of beans inside, leveled the surface until it was smooth, and then compacted. Glancing up, I saw the two men still staring at me and discussing between themselves.
On Valentine’s Day!
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OPINION
54 Opinion
Social Media: A Boon or a Curse?
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February 2019
Written by Lee Suk Pei
A
ccording to the Pew Research Center, South Korea ranks first in smartphone ownership and Internet penetration, attaining 94 percent and 96 percent, respectively, in 2018.[1] Accompanying this is heavy reliance on smartphones and the Internet. Though this does not necessarily translate into more screen time, a study with 7,000 participants states that 84 percent of participants reported more than two hours of screen time per day, and 20 percent reported six hours and above![2] This means that in a day, at least two hours of people’s lives are spent logged onto the Internet. Two hours may not seem like a lot, but when this is extended over time, it would mean at least 730 hours are spent online in a year! Since its invention in the 1970s, the Internet has revolutionized how we live our lives in many ways. Information transfers across different geographical locations, removing barriers and distances between people (though some may take issue with this). Subsequently,
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the Internet has also allowed for the emergence of many other things online, such as blogs, online forums, and social networking sites (SNSs). As the Internet gets faster and faster, the transfer of information between people is no longer reliant on telephone lines but is instead shared for free online via SNSs. Following this, live broadcasting that was previously limited to media companies has now become easily accessible to the general public, as long as one has an Internet-connected smartphone and an SNS account. This has led to an increase in the amount of usergenerated content online, as people are given the freedom to air things to their heart’s content on online platforms. In 2000, OhmyNews, a citizen journalism platform, was started in South Korea, with 80 percent of the content produced by citizens. It is the largest and most established citizen media platform at the moment. Many people have lauded the relatively open accessibility of social media for creating a vibrant democracy, as
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55 everyone is now given the opportunity to speak, and all are better informed when news that is normally not covered by the mainstream media is now appearing on social media or reported on citizen media portals. In the meantime, as more and more people are connected through SNSs, many social movements are also made possible to mobilize the public, and solidarity activities can now also be coordinated across different geographical locations more easily. One example is the Candlelight Movement in 2016, when people in several locations in South Korea organized their own candlelight vigils, along with people from other regions who met together in Seoul by coordinating through social media. Other prominent examples include the Arab Spring, the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, the Sunflower Student Movement in Taiwan, and the Bersih Movement in Malaysia. These had all made use of social media to spread their message, informing people of the situation at the protest site, exposing the biased reporting of state-sponsored media, and other such activities. With so many things achievable through the use of social media platforms, are we there yet? Are we liberated, and has the public discourse been democratized with the advancement of information and communication technology? ARE WE THERE YET? In order to answer this question effectively, awareness of the continuous advancement of technology may be able to offer us a glimpse of where we currently are. As we usher in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, big data has become a very much talked-about topic. So, how does this relate to democracy?
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Nevertheless, as technology continues to advance in the name of improving our lives, we are, in fact, becoming increasingly powerless, as we are in possession of less control and understanding of the very technology that is etching a bigger part of our lives. One prominent example is the case between Apple and the FBI, where the court that ordered Apple to surrender the information it had on terrorists Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik was rejected on the grounds that Apple guaranteed its customers data protection. The case eventually ended up with courthired hackers obtaining this information without Apple’s consent. This case is shocking in the sense that justice is no longer pursued via conventional methods but has instead become subject to technology. This reshuffling of the traditional power hierarchy sees those who possess and understand technology at the top, while those who do not have access to the same technology and knowhow are at the bottom. All types of technology seem to be a double-edged sword, yet it is what the sword owner knows as well as how he or she uses it that makes the outcome different. Sources [1] Sohn, J. (2018, June 24). Korea no. 1 worldwide in smartphone ownership, internet penetration. Retrieved from The Korea Herald website: http://www.koreaherald.com/view. php?ud=20180624000197 [2] The Vision Council. (2012). Keeping your eyes safe in a digital age. Alexandria, VA: The Vision Council.
The Author
Suk Pei is currently studying for her master’s degree at Chonnam National University. Having been in Gwangju for almost one year, she is starting to extend her tentacles to meet different people and participate in various activities here in Gwangju. Gwangju is definitely more than what meets the eye.
February 2019
Nevertheless, as those algorithms and filter bubbles work to group people of the same interests together, they have also created echo chambers among users. Within these echo chambers, people are constantly being fed information that conforms to their beliefs and preferences. As a result, instead of having meaningful exchanges between people that eventually lead to a greater understanding of each other, people are made surer of their own biases. This view is not new among researchers in this field. Another detriment is that users have no control over whose data is being shared, thereby impinging on one’s right to privacy.
Furthermore, with freedom of expression, we also need to question what the gatekeeping standards are for content to be uploaded online and who the gatekeepers are. How do we ensure that ordinary citizens with no training in journalism or journalistic ethics are able to exercise sound judgment when it comes to content censorship? These are important questions to ask, especially when there is more and more fake news being spread online due to no regulations. We have no doubt seen when this backfires. In the case of the Myanmar Rohingyas’ plight, Facebook admitted that it did not have enough content moderators well versed in the Burmese language to weed out hateful content and, hence, left it circulating online, provoking hateful emotions among the Myanmar locals.
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Just when we thought of its low cost and how the decentralized and bottom-up nature of social media is beneficial to democracy, what we did not realize is that the data that we logged in with may not be working only for us. Recorded digital footprints feed into big data and are baked into algorithms to help tech giants to micro-target advertisements to potential consumers. The more hours we spend logged on, the better able they are to understand our preferences, and the better able they are to aim those advertisements at us. By doing this, they are able to sell advertisement space at higher rates.
One example is the case where users’ data was shared with the data company Cambridge Analytica to sway election results.
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Community Board
Have something you want to share with the community? The Gwangju News Community Board provides a space for the community to announce club activities and special events. Please contact gwangjunews@gic.or.kr for more information. UNESCO KONA VOLUNTEERS KONA Storybook Center (KSC) is a registered small public library supported by UNESCO KONA Volunteers (UKV). UKV is a registered organization that helps disadvantaged children learn English independently through storybooks and story-maps. We guide families and children to develop a love of reading storybooks in English. We also give guidance to volunteers in using storybooks. We are looking for long-term volunteers who desire to enrich their lives. We are asking volunteers to commit to helping at least once a month. For more information, please visit http://cafe.daum. net/konavolunteers or our Facebook pages for KONA Storybook Center and UNESCO KONA Volunteers. Also, you can contact Kim Young-im at 062-434-9887 or email konacenter@gmail.com.
working with the GIC on this project. She has found about 20 poems online, but she is seeking more. If you know of any poems that should be included, please contact her. If you are a poet whose work has been translated or if you have poems you would like to have translated, please get in touch. Her email is tanter@tarleton.edu. GWANGJU KNITTING CLUB Every Thursday (unless otherwise stated on the Facebook page) From 7:00 p.m. Ember Cocktail Bar 154-230 Dongmyeong-dong, 2nd floor Facebook: Gwangju Knitting Club Bring your own supplies!
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2019
VOLUNTEER TEACHERS NEEDED for the Gwangju UCC (Universal Cultural Center). English teachers in the Gwangju area for 2019 with any level of experience are welcome to participate. UCC has a Facebook profile if you would like to see what kind of other services are available. To participate in the international cultural exchange programs, you may email peter.j.gallo@gmail. com or phone or text 010-9490-4258. GWANGJU FILIPINO ENGLISH TEACHERS (GFET) Every 3rd Tuesday of the month 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., GIC, Room 3 (2F) We are a group of Filipino English teachers in Gwangju who conduct regular lectures and accent training to help fellow English teachers to become better educators. GWANGJU INTER FC The Gwangju International Soccer Team (Gwangju Inter FC) plays regularly every weekend. If you are interested in playing, email seehand@naver.com, phone or text 0107126-1207, or search “Gwangju Inter FC” on Facebook. POEMS WANTED! Professor Marcy Tanter teaches American, English, and Korean literature at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. To mark the 40th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising and to help spread knowledge of the event beyond Korea, she is editing an anthology of poems written by Koreans and translated into English; she is
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A CALL TO UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS: WE URGE YOU TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT CRIMINAL DAMAGE If you are the victim of a crime and report the damage to the police, you can obtain a waiver of inadmissibility to overcome your unlawful status from the Immigration Office. Are You the Victim of a Crime? 1. Call 112 / Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency Foreign Affairs Section: 062-609-2176, 6092201 2. Visit a nearby police station (Public Service Center, etc.) in person: You can be accompanied by someone of your choice or can designate a third party to report the incident. 3. Visit our website: www.safe182.go.kr
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Attorney Attorney Park’s Park’s Law Law Firm Firm We're ready to serve your best interests in legal disputes. We provide affordable consultation & representation.
▶ Areas of Specialty contracts, torts, family law, immigration, labor ▶ Civil & Criminal Attorney Park, Duckhee
former judge, GIC board member Services available in Korean, English & Chinese
Tel: 062) 222-0011
#402 Simsan Bldg, 342-13 Jisan-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju Location: next to Gwangju District Court
Fax: 062)222-0013 duckheepark@hanmail.net
through Kakao Talk Plus Friend “AskGwangju.” Add us now! :)
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Mon. – Sat. Lunch hours
10 a.m. – 6 p.m. 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.
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TRADITIONAL PERFORMANCE
The Gwangju Traditional Culture Center (GTCC) invites you to a gala of exciting traditional music performances arising from the foot of Mudeung Mountain. Every Saturday at 3 pm at the GTCC Seoseok-dang.
GWANGJU TRADITIONAL CULTURE CENTER Uijae-ro 222, Dong-gu, Gwangju (Unrim-dong) 광주광역시 동구 의재로 222 (운림동 323) Tel. 062-232-1501
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