2001-2002Mimi Do

Mimi Do

ETA :: 2001 - 2002

Daejeon Jungang Middle School

It’s hard to believe that I was an ETA over ten years ago. Like many Korean

Americans, I went to Korea to “discover my roots,” only to find that my roots were deeper in the U.S. than in my parents’ native homeland. The more I learned about Koreans and Korean culture – through my students, my host family, and my own relatives living in Korea – the more I realized I was definitely more American than Korean. I was loud, I was independent, and I liked eating pizza more than golbaengi. In the context of Daejeon in 2001, I was an all-American girl.

This patriotic revelation was further highlighted by the events of the time. As the ETA class of 2001-2002, we were in the difficult position of being ETAs during 9/11, which occurred only a few days after we were shipped off from ETA boot camp in Chuncheon. It was a scary time for us, one that our Korean colleagues and friends couldn’t fully comprehend, even as they tried to comfort us. Our role as Fulbright ambassadors was even more important then, given the anti-American sentiment that followed with Bush’s “Axis of Evil” comments, skater Anton Ohno’s gold win at the Olympics, and other grievances that our students held against us. On the plus side, we were all swept up in national pride and World Cup fever as Korea co-hosted the games for the first time.

Despite the challenges of those uncertain times, my two years in Korea were among the most rewarding of my life. After my first year teaching, I stayed

on as the ETA Program Coordinator because I wanted to continue to learn Korean, and I wanted to help ease the transition for those about to follow in my footsteps.

While my memories of Korea have faded, and my Korean language ability has certainly diminished, there are some lessons from Korea by which I continue to live:

1. Nothing can be harder than teaching 600 middle school boys. Nothing. If I could withstand them, I can face any challenge.

2. Communication barriers can be overcome, despite the cultural barriers between people, if one uses basic human kindness.

3. There is nothing more rewarding than family. Whether it is my Korean family, my American family, or my ETA family, we share a special experience and bond that is important to maintain despite the number of miles or years that separate us.

My experience in Korea seems like a lifetime ago, yet the lessons I learned and friends I made are still with me today.

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Mimi attempts to take a class photo with some of her rambunctious students