Sharing Stories from the Friends of Korea President
By Gerry Krzic (RPCV Korea, K-41)
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"Young Mi! Young Mi!" If you watched the PyeongChang Olympics, you probably recognize these exhortations by Eun-jung "Annie" Kim, team leader of the "Garlic Girls," as they swept their way to an unexpected silver medal in curling.
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To many viewers in America, this was just one of the many captivating stories of the 2018 winter Olympics. But I knew there would be at least one American to whom this story would have extra meaning--Friends of Korea (FOK) member and Korea RPCV Rob Ichihana. Rob (K-39) served in Euiseong, home of the Korean curling team, in 1976-77.
Sure enough, a phone call to Rob turned into a one-hour conversation about Euiseong, garlic, the changes in Korea from PC days, the Olympics, and his days teaching at the same high school as the members of the curling team! Since I was a PCV in a neighboring county, Yecheon--we have a Gyeongsangbuk-do "brotherhood"--we were both proud of Team Kim's accomplishments.
My friendship with Rob is just one example of how membership in FOK enriches my life--maintaining friendships and developing new ones with people interested in Korea. Growing from an organization primarily consisting of returned Korea PCVs, FOK has now transformed into an organization with members across the globe--all having their own special, life-enriching stories about Korea.
This past year, FOK provided more opportunities for members to broaden their knowledge of the past, present, and future of Korean society and culture. At our October 2017 annual meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan, members listened to an all-star line-up of Korea scholars reflecting on their past experiences in Korea and their predictions for the future. Members also had a sneak preview of the wonderful
Accidental Photographer photo exhibit of FOK member Margaret Condon Taylor. In 2018, FOK is welcoming a new generation of students into the organization through a collaboration with the Pacific Century Institute (
PCI), which will sponsor PCI Youth Ambassadors as lifetime members of FOK. Our next annual meeting, on November 3rd, will be in NYC at the new offices of the Korea Society. We look forward to seeing our members there.
I hope you enjoy the stories in this edition of the FOK newsletter, Yobasayeo. Please consider submitting a contribution for future editions by contacting either Kathleen Barco or Sherrill Davis at
news@friendsofkorea.net. And, of course, encourage your friends to become members of FOK or better yet--sponsor them for a membership. Happy reading, and we hope to see you in NYC in November.
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At the October 2017 Annual Meeting of Friends of Korea, Nancy Kelly passed the presidential baton to Gerard (Gerry) Krzic.
The board and membership of FOK extends many, many thanks to Nancy for her leadership and service as FOK president for the past five years. Nancy remains on the board as vice president.
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2018 Korea Peace Corps Reunion
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The 2018
Korea RPCV All Groups Gala
Reunion: Will you be there or will you miss out?
Calling all Korea Peace Corps Volunteers, Family, Teachers, Staff, and Former Students of Volunteers.
The reunion, June 19-22, is very close at hand! Our event is for all K groups, spouses, former PC teachers and PC workers. We need to hear from you very soon.
We have some exciting activities planned and have also set aside plenty of time to visit with all your friends and to explore Koreatown, where our base hotel,
the JJ Grand
, is located.
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Please see the
reunion page on the FOK website
for details. A few highlights--there will be an "In Memoriam" slide show, a discussion of current events on the peninsula with Professor David Kang of USC, and a reception hosted by Consul General Kim Wan-joong (
김완중
).
Now we need to hear from you
on this survey
. Please RSVP on
Survey Monkey
even if you've already RSVP'd.
We need to collect the information on it from everyone
. And please note that providing your contact information implies permission for us to share it with fellow attendees.
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Creations by and of Interest to FOK Members
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A Night in Andong
A "sijo" poem by David McCann
One night in Andong
after a tour of back-alley wine shops,
head spinning, I staggered down
the narrow, paddy-field paths,
when the two pigs grunted grunted
"So, you! Home at last?"
하룻밤안동시내골목술집구경하고
머리가삥삥돌때밭둑길을거닐다가
도야지꿀꿀소리야이제왔노하노라
The sijo is a three-line, Korean vernacular-language poem. The first line starts the poem, the second line continues and develops the image, idea, or the feeling. The third line starts with a "twist," a turn in a different direction, feeling or thought, and then resolves the poem in the balance of the line.
David McCann was in K-1. He taught English conversation at the Andong Agriculture and Forestry High School between 1966-1968.
By Min Jin Lee
Beginning in 1910 during the time of Japanese colonialization and ending many decades later in 1989,
Pachinko
is the epic saga of a Korean family told over four generations.
Available from various online sites in hardcover, paperback, audiobook, audio CD, and Kindle formats.
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By Helena Ku Rhee (Fulbright Fellow), illustrated by Colleen Kong-Savage
Long ago in Korea, a boy named Sun-sin dreamed of traveling the world with his pet turtle, Gobugi. But his dream seemed impossible, until one day, the king announced a contest to find the best design for a battleship to defend the land. The winner of the contest would sail the seas with the royal navy. Loosely based on the true story of Admiral Yi Sun-Sin and his turtle ship, the book introduces readers to a fascinating episode in Korean history and naval engineering.
Reading level: Grades K-5. Hardcover, publication early June 2018.
The Korean Food Promotion Institute
This is a website that will interest anyone who loves Korean food. The following publications on Korean food and numerous others on Korean restaurants in cities around the world are available through
the Korean Food Promotion Institute. They are available as E-books and PDFs to those who sign up on the website.
- Great food, Great stories from Korea
- An Illustrated “How to” Book on Korean Food
- Jewels of the Palace (70 recipes from Korean royal cuisine)
- The Korean Kitchen
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By Carter J. Eckert (K-07/08)
The first volume of a comprehensive two-part history,
Park Chung Hee and Modern Korea: The Roots of Militarism, 1866–1945
reveals how the foundations of the dynamic but strongly authoritarian Korean state that emerged under Park were laid during the period of Japanese occupation.
Available from various online sites in hardcover and eTextbook formats.
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By Jim Krosschell (K-35)
The sights, sounds, and tastes of Asia take center stage in this memoir about Peace Corps and its subsequent effect on the author’s life.
Available
from several online sites
in paperback and Kindle formats.
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Our Members Tell Tales of Korea
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My Time in Youngju
By Mary Kraus (K-17)
My time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Youngju, Korea was packed with unforgettable experiences of hospitality, courtesy, and often hilarity. Even my embarrassments as a foreigner were great channels for valuable lessons. A personal example of this happened after school hours when I was in my bedroom where the Lee family took such good care of me. We had no indoor plumbing, my room was a little larger than a walk-in closet, and the family was obviously not at all affluent, but they made me feel like a queen in their tiny rented home. One day when I was reading in my little room, Mrs. Lee brought in a small plate of very thinly sliced cucumbers and instructed me to put them on my face to improve my complexion. “Wonderful,” I thought as I pasted them on my forehead, cheeks, and chin. They felt so cool and I resumed my reading. About twenty minutes later, there came a knock at my door. I quickly stripped my face, and, replacing the cucumbers on the plate, I opened the door to find Mr. Kim, a serious young college student with his English book and a tape recorder. He very respectfully asked if I would kindly read from his book while he recorded my voice. The young people at that time wanted to learn “American English,” so they would pack my room in the evenings just to ask questions and hear me talk. I was glad to comply with Mr. Kim’s request. We sat down on my mat and I read the passages that he pointed out. We worked together for an hour or so, and after thanking me profusely, the young man took his leave. As was the custom, I walked him to the door and stood outside until he rounded the bend in the path that led down the hill from my house.
As I turned back into my room and glanced into the mirror, I was horrified to see one large green cucumber slice still pasted precisely in the center of my forehead. After my laughter subsided, I couldn’t help reflecting on the amazing courteous restraint of Mr. Kim who not only did not mention my odd decoration but did not even smile or glance at it so as not to embarrass me. Such is the sensitivity and courtesy that I experienced over and over during my time in Korea.
Changes in Korea
By Ed Brann (K-03/26)
Another Korea Revisit is planned for the fall—a great opportunity, especially for those who haven't been back in the 37-plus years since Peace Corps left in 1981. I'd love to sign up for it, but my wife and I are already here, having returned in 2010 to teach in the same university I taught at in 1973-74.
People ask me how Korea has changed over the years. The superficial changes are obvious—high-rise apartments, BMWs and Maseratis—but cultural changes are hard to measure. Changes do happen, though, as I learned three semesters into my return.
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At the end of my first semester in 2010, I had the freshmen present conversations between two or three classmates on any subject. My only requirement was that it sound like a talk and not memorized lines.
Most students handled it well. Then three male students got up for their final presentation and started in with a lampoon filled with gay stereotypes. It went on for a minute before I stood up and said, “Okay. Enough. Stop. I guess you guys think this is funny. I think it's disgusting. You can go write a different presentation and come back on Thursday for your final. This one goes in the trash can.”
They looked stunned, like they didn't know what they had done wrong. I went away thinking, “Well, this is Korea. A lot of superficial changes, but beyond the apartments and fancy cars, not so much.”
A year later at the end of the first semester of 2011, I gave the same assignment to a new group of freshmen. Two male students arranged their chairs facing a third, who was to be the interviewer. I can almost remember it word for word.
INTERVIEWER: Hello and welcome to the podcast. Each week we try to bring important issues to campus. With me today is one of Korea's few openly gay couples....
(
I thought, Good God, here we go again
.)
Lee Do-hoon and Kim Jin-taek have been together for a while, I understand.
KIM: Yes, we met three years ago and became good friends. It was about six months until we came out to each other.
LEE: That was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I knew our relationship would be permanent.
INTERVIEWER: Have you encountered problems? Did you tell your parents? How did they react?
KIM: My parents have rejected me. I still have hope that they will come around, though. Do-hoon
has helped me work on it.
LEE: My parents were very upset at first, but over time they have softened. I think when I told my mother we were planning to adopt, that's when the changes began.
As the conversation proceeded I realized that these guys were playing it right down the line. There was no condescension, no disdain of any kind. I had no idea whether they were gay or not, but they made a great presentation and the class seemed to take it in rather matter-of-factly. It was certainly the most memorable of the many presentations my students gave me over the years.
So, has Korea changed? Certainly. How much I don't know, but it's not all superficial.
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Two views of the 2018 Winter Olympics
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Above, North Korean cheerleaders at the pairs figure skating, watching and being watched.
My PyeongChang Olympics Experience
By Jenna Gibson (FOK Board Member)
I had just moved to Korea in 2011 when the Winter Olympics were awarded to PyeongChang. It seemed so far away then, but I told myself that wherever I ended up in 2018, I would make my way back to Korea to attend the Olympic Games. Seven years later, and with my mom in tow, I kept that promise.
My mom and I were in Korea for the first week of the Games, staying in Seoul most of the time and traveling out to PyeongChang to watch men’s curling, women’s hockey, and the pairs figure skating. One of the most memorable moments was when we took our seats for the figure skating event and realized that the North Korean cheerleading squad was seated just one section away. It was fascinating to watch them cheer and sing for the DPRK skaters—and remain completely still during the American performances. It was also interesting to watch other spectators swarm them before the program started, taking photos, videos, and even selfies with the women in the background.
As might be expected from Korea, the logistics were on point, allowing us to focus on enjoying the spectacle of the Olympics. And, as a public relations professional, I can say that the marketing was on point—both of our suitcases returned to the U.S. stuffed full of souvenirs featuring the adorable PyeongChang mascot, Soohorang
(
수호랑
).
There were a few hiccups—for some unfathomable reason, the organizers of PyeongChang scheduled the Games during Lunar New Year, making train and bus tickets out of Seoul scarce. We had a hard time finding restaurants that were open during the holiday period, and many tourist attractions were closed for several days.
Despite this small negative, the PyeongChang experience was amazing overall. It was great to watch world-class athletes compete, of course, but it was also fun to see the international spotlight shine on Korea throughout the Games.
Jenna Gibson
is a member of the board of FOK and the director of communications for the Korea Economic Institute of America. Jenna lived for two years in Cheonan as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant where she taught weekly English lessons to more than 700 middle school students.
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A personal view of the 2018 Winter Olympics:
A play in several parts, as yet unfinished
By Bob Graff (K-18)
The players and their characters:
IOC: The Guild (Faceless decision-makers whose goals, made from their distant court, are carried out by the Staff.)
Staff: minions of the Guild. (The communicators of the Guild’s edicts.)
Sponsors: Chaebol and government leaders who travel to the Guild offering promises and treasure to achieve blessing to be the site of the next athletic offerings.
Athletes: Gladiators wearing the banners of country and sponsor. Completing a four-year calendar of sacrifice with fame in their grasp. The majority leave to begin the cycle again.
Brokers: Carpetbaggers (who race to the next anointed site three years in advance to secure lodging for their lieges. Leave four months in advance of the actual ritual, unconcerned about the economic and physical impact of their willingness to obtain the best accommodations at any cost.)
Local government: Provincial and city officials (the hands and feet of the Guild in funneling traffic directly to and from the ritual to minimize risks, including the risk visitors might find food and entertainment outside the Guild-controlled kiosks.)
Visitors: Come to cheer on their gladiator/s. (Step onto the guided tour prepared by the Guild and Brokers for an orchestrated frenzy of train, bus, shuttle bus, Olympic Park, cheer, food kiosk, and back again. Few venturing off the tour to see or eat anything not previously arranged.)
Volunteers: Those eager to participate. Some hold the laurels; others clean the latrines.
Natives: Never asked, but always told. Stand by the streets waving flags in snowstorms as Guild chariots fly by, three times over 12 years. Attend meetings, prepare to be nice, and, for a small number, surrender their properties at a fraction of true value. All for national pride and promised benefits such as KTX and visitors with pockets spilling money as they walk.
The story of the event may be predictable, given the players, and most anyway you wish to write it, it will be true, for all the forces are plain to see.
However the true and final story is yet to be written as it hinges on decisions yet committed to. What will be done with the venues? Who will pay for them? And, might they benefit or further damage those in contact either voluntarily or by consequence?
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Bob Graff was a healthcare volunteer (K 18) in Young Gwang Gun and in Kwangju, both in Cholla Nam Do. He is a Korean citizen and owns and manages "Uncle Bob Coffee Cafe" in Gangneung.
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Kathleen Stephens Part of 1.5 Track Meeting
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As all are most likely aware, the Korean peninsula has been in the news quite a bit lately. As of this writing, ROK President Moon Jae-in (
문재인
) and DPRK Leader Kim Jong-un (
김정은
) have met face to face at the DMZ to discuss the possibility of a peace treaty that would formally end the Korean War, and plans are underway for a meeting between the leaderships of both Korean governments and the United States. Among all the news coverage of these major shifts, many Korea RPCVs noticed a familiar name—Kathleen Stephens, of K-35 fame and a former U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea. Stephens, known by most as Kathy, was part of an American delegation that travelled to Finland for unofficial talks among the three countries. Media coverage of the “1.5-track” dialogue appeared across the globe, including in Time Magazine, the New York Times, the Korea Times, and ABC TV.
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Loyola Marymount's Center for Asian Business Programs
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The Center for Asian Business Programs at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) to Promote Better Understanding of Korea
By
Yongsun Paik, Ph.D., Director and
Professor of International Business & Management
Founded in 1995, the Center for Asian Business (CAB) at the College of Business Administration of Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, California has contributed to better understanding between the U.S. and Korea by providing special lectures and movie screenings, international business courses, faculty research grants, and student scholarships.
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Exploring Asian Culture Course
Since 2009, the CAB has sent 125 students to Korea and China as part of the Exploring Asian Culture course. This course provides an introduction to the culture and history of East Asia for understanding today’s Asian business environments. Students attend lectures at LMU during the spring semester. They then visit Seoul and Busan, Korea and Beijing and Shanghai, China for a two-week intensive study-trip that includes guest lectures, company visits, and cultural excursions.
Global Sustainability: Challenges and Prospects in East Asia Course
This course explores cross-disciplinary theory and practice of business sustainability within a global context and with an emphasis on East Asia. Students attend lectures at LMU during the spring semester, and then visit Seoul, Korea and Tokyo, Japan for a two-week intensive study-trip that includes guest lectures, company visits, and cultural excursions. Since the program began in 2015, a total of 75 students have participated.
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Father Daly Summer Scholarships
In memory of Father John P. Daly, the first president of Sogang University in Korea, the CAB offers summer scholarships for LMU students to visit Korea to allow them to experience Korean culture and witness her remarkable economic success firsthand. Recipients visit important cultural sites and meet Korean students. The scholarships, which began in 2006, have sent 33 students to Korea to date.
D. K. Kim Foundation Lecture Series and Asian Movie Screenings
The CAB provides a lecture series and entertainment media screenings for the LMU community, sponsored by the D.K. Kim Foundation. The series provides LMU students with opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of the key issues facing Asian countries, especially Korea, and to be better equipped to work in this competitive global marketplace. Webcasts from each lecture are featured on
the CAB website.
Faculty Research Grants
The CAB provides research grants for LMU faculty to engage in innovative interdisciplinary research involving the geopolitical, economic, and sociocultural dynamics of Asian countries, with a special emphasis on Korea, through a comparative analysis of institutions, cultural value systems, and business practices from both western and eastern perspectives.
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Friends of Korea
2100 M Street, NW, Suite 170-403, Washington, DC 20037-1233
contact@friendsofkorea.net
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