2010-2011Sonja Swanson

Sonja Swanson

ETA :: 2010-2011

Seodaejeon Elementary School

Shortly after I arrived at my host family’s home, when we were sitting down for the post-dinner ritual of snacks and TV, a new snack made its way to the living room. Chocopie, as the small, round cake is known, is a decades-old standby on grocery shelves here in Korea. Yet in a stroke of genius, the company that makes Chocopie initiated a brilliant branding campaign that makes a Chocopie more than just a Chocopie.

“Do you know what this means?” my host father asked, jabbing a finger at the Chinese character emblazoned on the wrapper. I admitted that I did not. “Jeong,” he responded triumphantly. “Do you know jeong?”

I had heard this term defined several times already by this point, but still couldn’t quite explain it in English, much less Korean. I opted for grinning helplessly instead. “Jeong is…” he began, and broke into a grin as well. “Too difficult to explain! Eat, eat.”

So I peeled apart the layers of shiny red plastic and took a bite of the chocolate encrusted treat, teeth sinking into the spongy layers, the inevitable crumbs of chocolate littering my lap.

I do not particularly care for Chocopies.

Nonetheless, by the end of my year, I found myself armed with boxes upon boxes of Chocopie, giving them to my coworkers and thanking them, genuinely, for the jeong that we had built and shared together. It’s a little easier

for me to define jeong now. Jeong means you’re a little less alone, whether you like it or not. Jeong means sacrifice, noticing, remembering. Jeong is a bond of respect and care.

Is it too presumptuous to say that these bonds across cultures lay the groundwork for world peace? That the world could stand to learn a little jeong? That it’s as essential as the sticky marshmallow filling that holds a Chocopie together?

Too difficult to explain.

Every so often, I find myself reaching for a Chocopie: I eat, remember, and grin, grateful for the year that changed me forever, tied me to a new part of the world, and taught me jeong.

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Sonja’s host family visiting her in the U.S.