A Sojourn in Japan: Part 1

Konnichiwa! I have just returned from a 10 day visit to Japan and have much to share. I will probably tell about the adventure in multiple blog posts. This first will outline generally what happened. I went with my fellow YAVs (Katie and Becky), our site coordinators, 3 Korean college students, and a Korean college chaplain. This was a cross-cultural study trip. We visited three universities in Japan and had presentations on environment, peace, and discrimination. I spoke in Hiroshima about peace.

Our home base was Kobe. But, from there we took the public transportation, including the super sweet bullet train, all over southern Japan.

In Nagasaki, we saw many temples and shrines, but the highlight was the Atomic Bomb Museum and the Peace Memorial Park. I can't begin to describe or understand the horrors that Nagasaki experienced, but atomic bombs should never, ever again be used.

This monument marks the hypocenter of the explosion, where the bomb detonated 500 m in the air. Around 70,000 people died in a matter of moments, with thousands of more deaths in the next months and years related to the bombing.

But rather than responding with more violence, both Hiroshima and Nagasaki have become international leaders in the peace movement to rid the world of nuclear weapons. This is a statue in the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki.

We also explored the city of Kyoto, a city rich in history as it was the imperial capital of Japan for centuries before the capital was moved to Tokyo.

Here is a beautiful pagoda at Kiyomizu shrine.

And this gem is the breathtaking Kinkakuji pavilion at a Buddhist temple.

Also in Kyoto we saw the walls of the imperial palace, the imposing Nijo castle (one-time home of the Shogun), Nishiki traditional market, and other temples and shrines.

In Osaka, the highlight was seeing Osaka Castle.

It really is stunning.

At the Osaka History Museum, Katie and I got to be dressed in Japanese kimonos.

I spent a day in Tokyo. One of the great parts of the day trip was getting to meet up with Dr. Nordmann, a professor from Coe, and his wife Stephanie who took me around Tokyo where they are living for the year.

This is Sensoji temple, where these lanterns were pretty amazing.

Meiji shrine is one of the top places to see in Tokyo, and it is a very tranquil, historically rich place.

This is the Akihabara district, which is known internationally for electronics and technology.

This building under construction will be known as the Tokyo Sky Tree or the New Tokyo Tower. When completed it will be the tallest tower in the world.

Finally, we went to Hiroshima, which you can imagine, was interesting and challenging. It was fun to see sites that are famous, but the fact remains that they are recognizable because of horrible tragedies. This was the A-bomb dome. We went to the museum, which was well done and devastating, and the peace park is beautiful. However, it makes you pause when you realize you are walking on ground that is elevated several feet from where it was before the bomb. This is because there was so much debris and so many bodies that they couldn't all be removed, so dirt was just brought in and covered over the area to make a new ground level. Again, atomic bombs should never, ever again be used.

Finally, we went to Miyajima, which is an island off the coast of Hiroshima. This area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the top three most beautiful places in Japan. The most recognizable feature is this gate in the water, but the island is quaint; it is covered in majestic mountains among which are nestled temples, shrines, and little shops. It was a nice way to end our travels.

Stay tuned, I think the next Japanese blog post will be about the food!

The holidays and Brandon's visit.

As you can imagine, one of the hardest things about being abroad is missing the yearly traditions of friends and family, the sorts of things you look forward to all year, every year. The Christmas and New Year's holidays here could have been really tough. We didn't have much going on for either holiday--no tree, only paper stockings, very sparse gifts mailed from overseas, and nary a Christmas light to be found. New Year's was even less of a celebration, as it is the lunar New Year (in February) that is heartily celebrated.

Fear not, though, the holidays turned out not to be a gloomy affair after all, because of one huge factor: Brandon came to visit! I had not seen my boyfriend for four months, so this was a very very welcome treat. He stayed for three weeks, and we had a wonderful time. In just this short time, he traveled up and down the peninsula, met dozens of people, and very impressively sampled an astonishing array of Korean foods...some that I had not even tried (nor did I want to, like chicken feet and pig's feet.)

We did too many things to go into detail here, so I will just put up some photos that highlight Brandon's time in South Korea. Now all we have to do is make it another seven months before we see each other again...

Brandon had been dreaming about Korean dumplings for months, so on his first night in the country we ate these monstrous, delicious, meat-filled steamed dumplings.

We visited Gyeongbuk palace, the main palace from the 600-year Joseon dynasty, where Brandon got to dress up like a historical Korean gent. I think he looks dashing.

We got into the holiday spirit more when we found this outdoor ice skating rink in the heart of downtown Seoul.

Brandon helped me to celebrate my graduation from Korean language class. Do I still deserve to graduate even if I can't read what my diploma says?

We ate a not-so-traditional Christmas meal of dumplings, fried pork, and French fries.

This is us at Cheomsongdae, an ancient astronomical observatory, in Kyongju, the capital of the ancient Silla kingdom.

The most impressive part of Kyongju was seeing Bulguksa temple (pictured) and Seokguram grotto.

In Busan, we saw some awesome ocean views!

We also hiked around an ancient fortress.

Eventually we made our way back to Seoul, and saw some interesting sights, including National Treasure No. 2, this ancient pagoda.

And we enjoyed a bit more Korea cuisine.

All in all, we had an amazing experience. It was great for Brandon and I to be able to enjoy each other's company, and having shared this time together will help us to get through the next seven months apart. We were able to take in so much of the Korean culture and take in a lot of sightseeing that I don't get to do here normally. So, thanks, Brandon for an awesome trip. Go Korea!

Seomna Center

The countdown is on...only 5 days until Brandon gets here. So, I want to make sure I get this blog in before his visit and we begin our travels around Korea. This post is very important to me and my life here. It's something I've been wanting to share for a while.

I work 5 days a week at a place called Seomna Center. Recently, the pastor Rev. Kim and his wife were gracious enough to take the time to tell me about their center and the work that they do. It is inspiring, life-changing work, and I am honored to be a part of this community.

Seomna Center is actually just one part of Bindl Church. Seomna Center (or Seomna House) focuses on work with children, the elderly, and the local community. The Center is located in Taehwadong, which is a very impoverished area, so there is much need here that Seomna is working hard to meet. With the children, I have fellowship with them (playing, eating, supporting) and teach them English. As of yet, I have not done much work with the elderly or community outreach, but I hope to learn more about it next semester. Another branch of Bindl Church focuses on peace workers, migrant workers, women (foreigners) and multicultural families, which is a big issue of discrimination here. The final branch focuses on environment and well-being. I do some work with the foreign laborers (visiting their places of residence and employment) and the foreign women (I do an arts and crafts class with them and teach them English). Last week I was fortunate enough to attend an end-of-the-year celebration for one of the environmental organizations. However, I also hope to learn much more about these branches of the Bindl Church.

The organization has an impressive history. It started in the mid-1980s as a people's church--one that recognizes a community of all people. The poor are prioritized instead of ostracized. Rev. Kim wrote that a people's church "should make community with all beyond class, gender, age, social position, even race and religion, and must work with and for minjung (translated into the masses/poor people) in any situation." We should not meet foreigners or the poor to evangelize to them, but we should greet them as brothers and sisters. What a wonderful philosophy.

To this end, the organization works for the improvement of human rights and working conditions for foreign migrant workers, including advocating/lobbying for changing laws and institutions. They were instrumental in establishing some of Korea's first labor unions. Also, they help in situations of unemployment (even allowing temporarily unemployed people to live in the center), provide support for living necessities (like internet, remittances, cell phones), provide medical services, put on special social activities for an otherwise isolated community (like birthday parties, picnics, cultural events, English and Korean study), operate a migrants' library, provide counseling, build networks in home countries, and support migrants who wish to attend college through scholarships.

Seomna Center, as a part of Bindl Church, was one of the first centers to provide after-school care to kids, and the very first to provide a free feeding children. Back in the 1980s, Seomna was unique, but it's model has caught on, and now there are over 3,600 children's centers in Korea. Still, Seomna leads the pack. In 2009 the government did an assessment of all the children's centers, and Seomna came out as the best. Through this attention and coverage in documentaries and TV broadcasts, Seomna is well-known and emulated. The children at the center not only get top-notch English education ;), but can take part in a nationally-acclaimed drum group that is invited to perform all-over the country, engage in art and music therapy, learn gardening, swimming, cooking and all sorts of other skills, and have a lot of fun on regular outings. So far with them I have gone mountain climbing and attended a show at the symphony hall. The children are all impoverished--in order to apply, families have to submit their financial information. Yet, they are some of the most patient, kind-hearted, loving children I know. I adore them.

Other parts of the church's many programs include providing help for families dealing with alcoholism, networking with schools/NGOs/hospitals/other institutions, reaching out to homeless families, lobbying the government for more pro-poor policies, feeding/visiting the poor and elderly, and I am sure many other activities that I do not yet know about.

Next term, in February, I will not be taking language classes at Hannam, so I am eager to be more engaged at Bindl Church. I want to learn much more about their wonderful work, and do what I can to support their vision of, according to Rev. Kim, a Global Community Movement based on people, especially returning migrants.

This picture is of (clockwise) me, Simon, Haejung, Rev. Kim, Mrs. Kim, and So Young Teacher, who is absolutely wonderful and my main contact at the children's center.

No, we are not at war

I know, I know. The headlines look terrible. According to the international news media, North and South Korea are about to duke it out in all out war. However, let me assure you that I am safe and sound, and relatively unaffected by the whole ordeal. While the headlines might be chaos, daily life goes on as usual.

It is true that North Korea (after warning South Korea to please stop military maneuvers) fired upon a populated South Korean island on the maritime border, killing a few military personnel and two civilians. A few days later there was another round of artillery heard in the same vicinity. North Korea has warned that if South Korea and the United States move ahead with their planned military exercise, retaliation will occur, and China has failed to condemn North Korea. The military here is on high alert.

However, while some of the South Koreans seem confused and hurt (after all, the younger generation continually votes to support North Korea with food aid and supplies, and they seem themselves as one homogeneous race) most seem to think that North Korea is acting like a bully just wanting attention. Maybe it is because of the language barrier, but I don't think that too many people here are seriously concerned about an all-out attack or collapse into war. That would not be in either country's best interests.

So, please breath easy that I am safe and will continue to be so. If the situation changes, I will let you know.

On another note, I have been sick for the last few weeks and just can't seem to shake it! When I went to the pharmacy a few days ago they put me on a regiment of oriental medicine (I know, I too thought that oriental was a politically incorrect word!) and said I couldn't drink caffeine or exercise. Now, I don't feel any better at all, and am wondering slightly about the merit of this medicine that they gave me. It looks like rabbit pellets, honestly. They said it wasn't exactly supposed to make me feel better, but was supposed to basically empower my body to make itself better. Well, if that's the case, my body needs to do a better job! Maybe a second piece of leftover pie will help the situation.

Also, a big thanks to Dean McArdle for giving me a shout-out on a nationally broadcast NPR show! If you can't be with your family on Thanksgiving, the next best thing is to be on the air waves! Check out the podcast of it and start listening at about 15:25.

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=131596575&m=131595983

Staying busy!

There sure are a lot of things going on here! There are those days that I feel as if I have not done much, but then I look back on what has gone on just in the month of November and it is astounding! So, here are a few things:

Hiking

I have now gone hiking twice in the beautiful mountains that surround the area to experience the breathtaking fall foliage. The first time was a great excursion with Simon, Haejung, Katie and myself to Mt. Gyeryongsan. The scenery and the leaves were beautiful! This is a very popular place to hike, and the temple there was crowded (with mothers perhaps praying for their child's success on the national exams?).

I also went hiking with teachers and children from Seomna on one Saturday. The kids here go to school every other Saturday, but on their Saturday's off the center has activities for them. One such was hiking at Mt. Kayjoksan. After a full morning and afternoon of hiking, the kids (and I!) were exhausted, but it was beautiful and a fun time. I took a group up to the summit, which was suuuuper tiring, and the kids were dropping like flies. I came through in the clinch by having a napkin when one of the kids got a nosebleed from the elevation and hard work. But the top gave a stunning view, and I think it was worth it.

My panoramic shot.

Some tired and hot looking kids, but we all made it!

Lecture

I don't have any pictures of this, but a few weeks ago I gave a lecture to a class in the Linton Global College. My friend Sue is the professor of a class on Communication and NGOs, and she invited me to say a few words about globalization. I think it went pretty well (relatively speaking), and it was fun to be able to be thinking about these issues again. Kind of gave me the itch to get back into academia.

Class dinner

Several weeks ago I had my whole Korean language class over to my house. There were about 12 students, 3 teachers, plus some spouses and children. It was quite a bunch! Each person brought some food, but the real chefs were the Chinese students. They made a few dishes, and then brought all the supplies to make dumplings, so we all pitched in and made dumplings on the dining room table. Talk about fresh! There were delicious desserts provided by the teachers, some turkish food, pizza and chicken, kimchi, and a special sweet potato casserole courtesy of Katie. I'm definitely thankful that we have a big enough house to host this sort of event. Spending four hours a day with these people is good, but it is nice to be able to interact with them outside of the classroom, too.

The Spread Stuffying my face

Teacher Kim makes some dumplings Kai-Li and her lovely dumpling

The girls cleaning up. Yes, that is my teacher doing the dishes.

Taekwondo

A man at our church runs a Taekwondo studio and invited us to check it out. So, last Monday Katie and I ventured out to see what this Taekwondo rage was all about. Katie had some experience with Taekwondo, but I had never done it before, so I was with the white belts...who were all about as high as my knee caps. They could not even stand still on their dot. We worked on slow motion kicks, but I knew it wasn't going to work out when the instructor put my target about 4 inches in front of my hips, as if my legs were the same length as the legs of those kids around me. Thankfully, I got moved up to the bigger kids, where the instructor (the man that we know) patiently helped me with kicks...and had to continuously remind me to grunt or yell upon impact. I am not a yeller! He said my kicks were good though, and even asked if I had some background in martial arts. I guess soccer and gymnastics lend themselves to Taekwondo. We jumped rope, did pushups and situps, and had an intense stretching session. It felt wonderful! We had a great time and are going to try to go back every Monday! Hiya!

Thanksgiving

Finally, we had a very lovely Thanksgiving celebration. Obviously, there is no recognition of the American holiday here, although I introduced it to my children at Seomna. There are now a gang of Korean students who can identify corn, pumpkin, turkey, squash, tomato, potato, lettuce, and Happy Thanksgiving. ;) However, explanations of "tryptophan" and "stuffing a turkey" seemed to leave some people puzzled. Regardless, on Friday, several Americans gathered at our house to celebrate our blessings. Katie, Becky, and I had over our friends Sue, Mike, and the Khim family of Kristen, Ed, Kai-Li, and Luka. We enjoyed great company, and delicious food including: dumplings by Becky, cheese and crackers, fruit, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, fried chicken by Popeyes, carrots, green bean "casserole," bulgogi and Italian pork chops by Kristen, cranberry sauce, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, whipped cream, and ice cream. It was a great way to celebrate, and I am very very thankful for a wonderful group of friends here.

I have settled into a routine at Seomna children's center, and have made friends with many of the kids. They are definitely pretty comfortable with me (one girl even peed on the street in front of me!) We continue to serve at the University Church at Hannam, and I have four weeks of Korean language class left. We have already been here almost three months! Can you believe it?

Seoul, Halloween, Soccer, and Chrysanthemums

Another blog that details many different experiences.

SEOUL

Katie, Becky, Simon, Haejung and I took our first visit to Seoul this past weekend. We didn't have Korean language class on Friday, so early Friday morning we took the bullet train the hour north to Seoul. We met with many people from the PC(USA) mission and the PC (Korea) church, as well as the Woman Ministers' Association. We found out about some really awesome work that is going on, and are optimistic about being able to help. We also met the other 4 PC(USA) missionaries in Korea for a delicious meal. Then, it was time for some sightseeing.

A. Namdaemun (South Gate)

Ancient Seoul was surrounded by walls and accessed through 4 major gates. The primary gate was the South Gate, and all visiting dignitaries and the king used this gate. It was a hub of Seoul for many years, and, even after the walls were torn down at the turn of the 1900s, the Namdemun remained National Treasure #1. That is, until it was burned down in 2008. Now, there is a huge restoration project to restore the gate to its original form (it was built in the 1300s and underwent many changes since then, including damage sustained under Japanese occupation and the Korean war). We took a tour of the restoration work, and it was fascinating!

What the gate used to look like.

The foundation of the gate, which is all that remains now. 90% of the foundation survived the fire (though almost all the rest of the gate was destroyed since it was wooden).

The 2008 fire and aftermath.

Blocks waiting to be put together to form a wall as part of the restoration work.

With Haejung waiting to go on the tour.

B. Namdemun Shijang

Around the gate there is a huge, intriguing market. However, all I purchased was a bag of dried apricots.

C. Seoul was MUCH more Westernized than Daejeon. I was so amazed at some of the restaurants there. On one corner we saw a Starbucks flanked by a three-story Dunkin Doughnuts!
D. Gyeongbuk Palace

I had already visited this place two years ago, but it is still neat. It is not the original original, since the Japanese did so much damage to historical Korea (meaning destroy it), but still neat. It is surrounded by four mountains, named after the blue dragon, red peacock, white tiger, and black turtle (please notice that these are the colors of the Korean flag). Also, there are many many stone and carved animals around the palace designed to protect it. Too bad they weren't effective at staving off a slew of conquerers, but it does make for an impressive palace. We got an English-speaking tour guide and got to see the changing of the guards (which I think was different than the last time I was here).

Front gate.

Throne room.

Scenic

Changing of the guard.

And this was the hotel where we stayed. On those mats. On the (heated!) floor.

HALLOWEEN

With last week being Halloween, I tried to introduce the concept to Seomna Center. My friend Kristin donated some old Halloween costumes, and it was a blast to see the kids (and teachers) dress up as pirates, knights, firemen, and mishmashes of them all. I also made them trick or treat for candy. I am pretty sure that most of the concepts were lost in translation, but I had fun and got some great pictures anyway. Happy Halloween!

The middle school class and teachers.

Some Halloween coloring with the first graders.

SOCCER

Daejeon has a professional soccer team, the Daejeon Citizen. So, last week my friend Mike and I ventured out to a Citizen's game. The team is in the lower third of the Korean league standings, and this is very late in the season. So, the crowd was sparse to say the least. And the funniest thing was that this was a huge stadium! It is a World Cup stadium, constructed for the 2002 Cup cohosted by Korea and Japan. And it was basically empty. The crowd consisted of mainly inebriated men and children. And the concession stand sold only Ramen noodles and dried fish. It was awesome. The Daejeon team lost, but I will be ready to cheer them on at the beginning of next season when there is hopefully some more energy and warmer weather.

Check out the Ramen noodles!

CHRYSANTHEMUMS

Monday our Korean language class went with two of our teachers to a chrysanthemum festival close to Daejeon. It was beautiful (if a bit funny because a town basically converts itself into a fair grounds) and a nice bonding experience with our class. Definitely better than sitting inside and studying for four hours.

Not sure why the cow was there.

Teaching continues. I am not a very good teacher, but I try. I am so grateful to all my students and the teachers and everyone at the Seomna Center for being so patient with me. And they provide yummy snacks every day at 3. Have eaten some new delicious foods which I am eager to show off to Brandon. Still not entirely sure precisely why I have been called to be here, but still feel as if I am in the right place. Thanks for everyone's continued support!