tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48287960262986332692024-03-15T18:09:17.786-07:00Korean Bookends"Anticipation and reminiscence are two often overlooked aspects of our travels-the forgotten bookends of our journeys." Chris CarruthSteve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-76992441729690372552019-07-17T05:51:00.004-07:002019-07-17T12:53:09.921-07:00Korean Contours: Circling Back, Shaping The Future<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"Believe in the holy contour of life."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jack Kerouac </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The contours of Korea have carried me across and beyond four decades. Like the twin loops of a figure eight, I have twice come full circle in Korea. At the time of my arrival in November of 1973, Gerald Ford was being voted in by the U.S. Senate to replace Richard Nixon. That month the headlines were featuring the infamous Watergate Scandal. As I prepared to depart Korea in 2017 completing another cycle there, Korea was reeling from its own presidential scandal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Korea of 1973 was a developing country, with a per capita income equal to that of the country that shares its peninsula, North Korea. Today, <a href="http://en.classora.com/" target="_blank">Korea's economy</a> is the 13th strongest in the world, ranked between Australia and Spain, and ahead of The Netherlands (17), Turkey (18), and Saudi Arabia (19). As an observer, it is hard to believe how significantly this country has transformed itself in such a relatively short period of time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I have attempted to capture reflections of these changes in both words and pictures in my more than ninety posts here on the <a href="http://koreanbookends.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Korean Bookends blog</a>. But headlines and statistics aside, the contours of Korea will remain with me forever. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Hand-made steamed buns offered up in an old shop in Seoul</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">The shapes of things to come: a new mall in southeastern Seoul</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Daegu East Station makes room for the city's newest mall</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">"I'm Korean:" Young Seoul artist leaves his imprint</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Wooden stairs at Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Recently, I've made plans to return to Korea to complete yet another circle. I will be joining a group of former volunteers </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-teachers and health professionals-folks, who decades ago came to work with, and assist, Korean citizens. In rediscovering the past, we often sharpen our sense of the present and the future. In doing so, writer Jack Kerouac noted, perhaps we can find the holy contours of life.</span></div>
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-34550301893276958842019-07-05T14:58:00.000-07:002019-07-05T18:18:45.380-07:00The Long Road Back to Korea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It's gotten to the point where there are way too many "formers" on my Facebook bio: former associate professor, former consultant, former facilitator at a conflict-resolution camp. One "former," in that long parade, was an early one, my stint as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Korea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Recently, I was reminiscing about the feelings I had more than four decades ago as I was preparing to depart the U.S. and head to Korea for the very first time. I didn't have much to go on. I had a sense it was far away from everything I knew growing up in the suburbs of New York City. But I knew nothing about the food, the culture, its history, only a few general things about a war we had fought there in the early 1950s.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Once again, I'm getting ready to go to Korea. In a few months I hope to return and I'm awash in feelings of excitement and reminiscence. This time, I have a million hooks to hang my emotions onto. I can picture the many places I yearn to return to in Seoul, Daegu and Gyeungsan, the latter two, locations where I taught English to Korean college students. I recall the smells that wafted along side alleys, redolent in garlic, kimchi and silkworms steaming in the pots of street vendors. The vague, implausible excitement of my youth is far different from the impatience of returning home to a familiar place.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">One of my university students rests his hands on my shoulder, as</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Korea has filled seven years of my life to the brim. I did my first real teaching there in a heatless classroom with poor lighting, filled with students hungry to improve their English. Living in Korea I delved into my earliest understanding of another culture, one with 5,000 years of history behind it. Here I was, a naive 22-year old recent college graduate, replete with my American history major, then only a 200-year old story. Yet, due to my role as a college instructor, I was the beneficiary of almost automatic respect.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Korean village (1974)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Korea is no longer the country of dirt roads and meandering village lanes that I once explored. Its old-school tea rooms of a past era have morphed into Starbucks and popular Korean coffee shop chains. Today, Korea has the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/" target="_blank">eleventh strongest economy</a> in the world--this from a country that is the size of the U.S. state of Indiana. Korea's Internet is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Internet_connection_speeds" target="_blank">the world's fastest.</a> Its <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-highest-literacy-rates-in-the-world.html" target="_blank">literacy rate</a> is at 98%. Korea, a country with few natural resources, other than its remarkable people, has leveraged generations of hard work, and a near unified vision of middle-class success, to become the Korea that exports its cultural, industrial and high-tech proficiencies throughout the world.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Daegu's monorail, launched in 2015, combines Korea's transportation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">and high-tech prowess. The driver-less system slices through the</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">heart of the city connecting riders with the three older subway lines.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Koreans rarely, if ever, forget a good deed. The Korean government, in a singular show of appreciation, graciously hosts former Peace Corps Volunteers who served there. I plan to return to Korea in October for a reunion program in Seoul, and the chance to visit the campuses where I once taught English. I gaze ahead with excitement and the humbling realization that the very road that leads me to Korea circles back to where my wanderlust first took hold.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">With a Yeungnam University student, Gyeongsan, Korea (2014)</span></td></tr>
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-61853406161419865242018-02-10T11:08:00.002-08:002018-02-11T12:53:53.794-08:00Korea Ascending<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics from Pyeongchang, South Korea was awe inspiring. The pyrotechnics were dazzling, the special effects mesmerizing, the political overtones, stunning. Photos of South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, shaking hands with Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean president Kim Jung-un, hurled across the Internet.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">South Korean President Moon and Ms. Kim, sister of North Korea's leader, Kim Jung-un,<br />shake hands at the opening of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea<br />(Reuters Photo)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Thankfully, Americans are becoming increasingly aware of things Korean. It's long overdue. As they try to sort out the current news emanating large from these 2018 Winter Olympics, their understanding of Korea blends with what they've vicariously absorbed over the years: K-Pop tunes, the Samsung refrigerator standing in their kitchen, the Hyundai car parked in their driveway, the Korean restaurants sprouting everywhere. Many people have asked me, <i>"Hmm, South Korea, is it really safe over there?</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Think of the last time you were meeting a friend in a coffee shop. The coffee, the people, your conversation, hover in the foreground. Meanwhile, the music, mostly unrecognizable, quietly paints the background. Similarly, the threats emanating from the North, have largely become background music in the lives of busy South Koreans who are far more focused on their jobs, the latest fads, and just plain keeping up with the daily stress of being Korean.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I recall sitting in a Korean restaurant in Daegu in the mid-70s when I served there as a Peace Corps Volunteer. An article I was reading described the economies of North and South Korea as being remarkably equivalent. The per capita GNP of a South and North Korean were nearly identical. But North Korea was confronting decreasing support from Russia, while South Korea was having to adjust its 1967-1971 <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00875R001700030082-7.pdf" target="_blank">5-year plan</a> upward after just the first year because its economy was booming. Today, the per capita GNP of a South Korean is more than 20 times that of a North Korean, $26,000 vs. $1,152.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Here in the U.S., the threats to our democracy are very much more than just background music. Our road and bridge infrastructure has recently been rated D+ by <a href="https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/" target="_blank">engineering experts</a>. Some observers have even suggested the very nature of our world leadership is at serious risk; they reference the decline of the Roman Empire, by way of historic example.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, South Korea's world class high-speed trains keep getting faster. High speed internet, available everywhere, is said to be the best in the world. Its national airport in Incheon, is regularly rated one of the top airports in the world. Getting from one end of Korea to the other, is often a seamless process. Subways in most Korean cities are clean. Stations are spotless and almost always bike and handicap friendly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul were certainly a demarcation for South Korea's economic coming of age. I recall the new subway lines, sports venues, and electronic billboards that were redefining Seoul's landscape. The modernization of Korea that began in Seoul has long since permeated the entire country. The world's largest department store can be found in Busan, Korea's second largest city on its southeastern coast. Daegu, another major southern city, sports a new monorail that operates autonomously, connecting its other two sophisticated subway lines.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Daegu's Yellow Line, its new monorail system, cuts diagonally across<br />Korea's 4th largest city, connecting its two older subway lines. Its quiet, smooth and driverless operation is typical of Korea's world class transportation system.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With these 2018 Winter Olympics, South Korea reintroduces itself to the world. The size of Indiana, South Korea sports the world's 11th or 12th largest economy. Its current leaders are carefully bending toward creating a dialogue with its longterm adversary, North Korea. The United States should carefully temper its more belligerent impulses. The political antics that are eroding our country create risks for the opportunities for peace on the Korean peninsula. South Korea is ascending, let us support, rather than hinder, its upward trajectory. Go Korea!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">North and South Korean athletes join together to light the Olympic flame.<br />Both sides are attempting to create dialogue. Will these efforts lead to <br />agreements that are more than symbolic?<br />(BBC Photo)</span></td></tr>
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-15165021590144425162017-11-26T08:45:00.002-08:002017-11-26T10:10:19.139-08:00Aged-Out in Korea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span><span style="font-size: large;">here are certain realities attached to aging. The good parts are about being wiser, more experienced, and basically, having had a chance to visit more places and meet a wider, more colorful rainbow of people. The flip side of aging, of course, is the stereotyping, the discounting, the outright discrimination, including being treated differently simply because of the number that follows your name.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Several years ago when I was looking for a university English teaching gig in South Korea, I blanketed the country with cover letters and resumes. One memorable encounter came as a result of responding to a posting of an opening at <a href="http://english.wsu.ac.kr/" target="_blank">Woosong University</a>. Woosong, a large Korean university, is conveniently located in Daejon, smack in the middle of South Korea. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was rewarded with an invite to interview on Skype. As it turned out, the video function did not work on my end. But no problem, we continued with the audio portion, which was working just fine. By "<i>we</i>," I am referring to the 4 interviewers stationed in Korea, and me.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A Skype interview. Mine was with Woosong University</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I thought the interview went really well. We said good-bye, I clicked a button, and somehow, to my utter surprise, the audio remained on. I began listening in to the discussion about me taking place amongst the interviewers. <i>"He's was pretty good,"</i> said one, starting off the conversation. </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another offered, <i>"Yeah, but did you notice his age?"</i> <i>"Right,"</i> says another, <i>"He's about 60!"</i> The conversation continued back and forth, and I realized I was grabbing on even deeper to their conversation. Feeling like a voyeur, I clicked a few icons to try to get Skype to shut down, so I could disconnect from my frustration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A few days later, the expected email arrived: I hadn't made the cut for the next round of interviews. I decided to let the interviewers know that I overheard their conversation and that I felt I was being judged for my age and not for my skills and experiences. I even quoted some of what I had heard. Back came a rather nasty letter accusing me of being unethical. I appreciated their concern, being caught red-handed, as they were, discriminating based on my age. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The story has a happy ending though. I soon interviewed with another university, was offered a position, and taught there for 5 rewarding years.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Discrimination because of someone's age, isn't just about giving wings to your biases, it's ultimately about limiting the capacity of your organization. According to an <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20120327000944" target="_blank">article</a> in the Korea Herald, older people, on average, tend to be more focused at work, less distracted, and more able to zero-in to the task on hand than younger workers. The same article noted that age discrimination is widespread in Korea, despite legislation to prevent it. Axel Borsch, of the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, points out that <a href="https://www.recode.net/2016/10/18/12427494/old-aging-high-tech" target="_blank">"on balance older employees' productivity and reliability is higher than of their younger colleagues."</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In my case, during my 4th year at Yeungnam University, the school that ultimately hired me, I received the <i>Director's Award, </i>including a cash prize,<i> </i>for having the highest student evaluation scores amongst our teaching staff of nearly 50. It would appear that in the eyes of students, at least, I was able to perform the job, and do it well. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Receiving the Director's Award for teaching excellence in 2016<br />from the Foreign Language Institute at Yeungnam University</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In spite of laws to prevent age discrimination, Korea has a well known history of retiring workers in their 50s and 60s. My former Korean university has a standing practice of not rehiring any faculty member who has turned 65. But it wouldn't be honest to say it's only Koreans treating older people this way. Of those 4 people who interviewed me at Wooseong University, only one was Korean. The three others hailed from the UK, Canada and Australia. It seems that age discrimination isn't just one country's problem. The reality attached to aging? Skip the stereotypes. Older workers, like everyone else, should be judged for what they have to offer a business, school, or other organization. Anything less, is certainly a loss of valuable resources to an organization and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">may be discrimination.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fast forward several months. "Set free" from Korea due to my age, my wife and I returned to the U.S. My job-search included one-on-one networking with about two-dozen people. I eventually found a position with Maine's Judicial Court system. Refreshingly, I felt I was judged based on my qualifications, not my age.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My partner, Marsha, having had her own trials and tribulations with ageism, had this to say: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">"So now we need the culture, ours and others, to catch up and stop treating us as though we suddenly have become incompetent, fragile, or incapable of doing the things we love. The world is operating on an old model of aging that hasn’t caught up to the reality for many of us. We are often discounted and not taken seriously. We are treated at times as less capable than we are."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">National retirement policies are, understandably, culturally based. But whether in Korea, or here in the U.S., we need to reexamine both our centuries-old traditions about age and the consequences those beliefs have on our citizens and our economies. In the 2015 movie, "The Intern," actor Robert De Niro, plays a 70-year old who joins a youth endowed fashion company as an intern. Tired of being bored in retirement, De Niro's character "quietly, yet commandingly, changes everyone around him in the company for the better," describes the movie website, IMDb. Those of us sporting gray hair and more mileage on our tires, are quite capable of making enterprises better and even more productive places. Smarter decision-makers are increasingly coming to this realization.</span><br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-28344117966131205012017-06-08T04:40:00.001-07:002017-11-28T07:05:34.171-08:00Koreans On the Camino<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">A Korean hiker on the Camino. <span style="text-align: left;">Koreans <br />are now the ninth largest group walking the Camino.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After returning from a long day touring the scenic northwestern
coast of Spain, we were walking along the winding streets of Santiago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dusk was settling in. Two young men with
backpacks standing before a shop window caught my attention. I thought they
might be Korean. They looked somewhat confused, but mostly disappointed. It was a
tattoo parlor with a sign indicating that it had closed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Speaking Korean, I introduced myself as a college English
professor from Korea. A bit taken aback, the young hikers said they were from
Inchon and Ulsan respectively, cities in South Korea. I mentioned I had gotten
a tattoo myself just the day before. I gave directions to the parlor I had
used--in fact I handed them business cards from the parlor I used that I had in
my pocket and they were on their way, shaking their heads. Just another magical
story along the Camino. There are many, but this one, with a bit of a Korean
flavor.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Interest in the Camino de Santiago seems to be exploding.
The path of St. James, for centuries a modest religious and spiritual pilgrimage,
has gotten new legs, no doubt helped by social media and a number of movies that
have popularized the walk. And it seems to be a favorite destination for Koreans,
in particular. Koreans are now the ninth largest group walking the Camino. More
Koreans walk the Camino then do Dutch, Australians or Canadians.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A Korean student taking a break from<br />his university commitments.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our recent experience walking the 800-kilometers of the
Camino Frances from St. Jean Pied du Port, France, to Santiago, Spain, bore
this out. We met Koreans of all ages every step of the way: retired teachers,
business people, students, housewives and even a young man who had just
completed his army service. The “Camino culture” seems to be a good fit for
activity-oriented Koreans who regularly take to the trails wherever
they live in Korea.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">These two friendly Koreans opened an inn and restaurant<br />along the Camino de Santiago. Their paella was delicious.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Koreans have many connections to the Camino de Santiago.
Christianity, especially Catholicism, brings many people to this pilgrimage; churches
dot every kilometer of the Way, as the Camino is called. And of course,
Christianity has a broad presence in Korea, with up to 30% of Koreans
identifying as either Catholic or protestant. Previous Korean pilgrims have
popularized the Camino de Santiago by publishing books such as Kim
Hyosun’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Way to Santiago</i>, and
making films about their experience. A Camino of sorts has even been developed
around Korea’s Cheju Island, traditionally a popular vacation destination lying
just off Korea’s southern coast.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Two young Korean ladies walking the Camino. As Christians,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">the Camino represents a religious pilgrimage.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It seems to me Koreans also bring their own unique culture <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to</i> the Camino. Back home, Koreans
famously apply their puli-puli (hurry-hurry) approach to everything they do
from driving, to working, to studying. On the Camino, as they do in Korea,
Koreans whizzed-by us with amazing regularity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A young American I met along the Camino told me he believes two
factors bring most pilgrims to the Camino, faith and money. And while people from
around the world walk the Camino for many reasons, Koreans certainly bring faith
and their credentials as members of a vibrant middle-class economy all the way from their
homeland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As my young Korean friends set off with excitement to locate my tattoo parlor, I couldn't help but think that Koreans are leaving their
unique imprint along the Camino, just as they have nearly everywhere around the
world.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-31932329150092313852016-12-22T02:12:00.000-08:002016-12-23T04:24:02.661-08:00Becoming Myself: A Korean Photographic Essay<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Home is not just the place where you happen to be born. It's the place where you become yourself."</span></div>
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Pico Iyer<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Y995ilW1Bk/WFuR4u6l57I/AAAAAAAAB5I/ZDIdwXPzKmQi1AwN6-21owY5t3ldsHlDACLcB/s1600/Apple%2BRest%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Y995ilW1Bk/WFuR4u6l57I/AAAAAAAAB5I/ZDIdwXPzKmQi1AwN6-21owY5t3ldsHlDACLcB/s400/Apple%2BRest%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">On my 22nd birthday, my relationship with Korea began on the wings of serendipity. On that day, Sept. 2nd, 1973, I received an official acceptance letter from the U.S Peace Corps in Washington, D.C., telling me I was being assigned to serve in South Korea. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Several months later, in Daegu, a city I had never before heard of, I was about to complete my in-country training. As he did with each of the other fifty or so volunteers, Dr. Chae, the Korean director of our program, gave me a Korean name. That name, Song Su Nam, gave root to its own nearly novelesque imagery: an old wise man who lived on the Korean peninsula during the time of the Chinese Song dynasty. So I ask rhetorically, when exactly did my relationship with Korea really begin?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-57_zys83BGA/WFuWpa-RSgI/AAAAAAAAB5g/6IF45OJ0FrQZSmWOhhSR4jZ1_Aw-TZuxQCLcB/s1600/KoreanFamilyOnJejuFerry%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-57_zys83BGA/WFuWpa-RSgI/AAAAAAAAB5g/6IF45OJ0FrQZSmWOhhSR4jZ1_Aw-TZuxQCLcB/s400/KoreanFamilyOnJejuFerry%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A family aboard an overnight ferry bound for Cheju Island (Spring, 1975)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NPZJurGmd5Y/WFuYLQBCzmI/AAAAAAAAB5w/Wa4G8yZswbAPaeemJwfJOeQYwnsjMy_PACLcB/s1600/SteveatRest1974%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NPZJurGmd5Y/WFuYLQBCzmI/AAAAAAAAB5w/Wa4G8yZswbAPaeemJwfJOeQYwnsjMy_PACLcB/s640/SteveatRest1974%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dining in a Korean Chinese restaurant (1974)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Is being home a place, a presence, or is it more like a journey? And what do we make of the places in between? </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x7TssMHBy58/WFudGkVRr2I/AAAAAAAAB6c/AQtJocjZ4bcaI23St2pejM-Grt6gGgTpQCLcB/s1600/WomanandManinBus%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x7TssMHBy58/WFudGkVRr2I/AAAAAAAAB6c/AQtJocjZ4bcaI23St2pejM-Grt6gGgTpQCLcB/s640/WomanandManinBus%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Couple on a Daegu public bus (1974)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nKkkLQLyVdI/WFuauZxdPGI/AAAAAAAAB6E/_aAK93Ka9i0-j_QKIAzpnytKvfCuphmQACLcB/s1600/OldMen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="419" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nKkkLQLyVdI/WFuauZxdPGI/AAAAAAAAB6E/_aAK93Ka9i0-j_QKIAzpnytKvfCuphmQACLcB/s640/OldMen.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Korean elders. This man wears the traditional Korean horsehair hat (1974)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Am I closer to some other power? Is some other source, some other energy, closer to me </span><span style="font-size: large;">than I am to myself?"</span></div>
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Meister Eckhart<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LkjX_LMD4x4/WFu0-g0EX0I/AAAAAAAAB7M/XF4sb_4OnHo1cJ_o7JnoAmJgjZ8LWTp9QCEw/s1600/DowntownDaegu74.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="419" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LkjX_LMD4x4/WFu0-g0EX0I/AAAAAAAAB7M/XF4sb_4OnHo1cJ_o7JnoAmJgjZ8LWTp9QCEw/s640/DowntownDaegu74.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Downtown Daegu (1974) before the era of private cars</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Downtown Daegu in 2013. In today's Korea, luxury cars hardly draw a second glance</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o8dmOU5PE-w/WFu3q_ec7iI/AAAAAAAAB7o/duHZStsIuasOWJGcnMN2LjYVmdUPSKqDgCLcB/s1600/OldandnewinNEKrea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o8dmOU5PE-w/WFu3q_ec7iI/AAAAAAAAB7o/duHZStsIuasOWJGcnMN2LjYVmdUPSKqDgCLcB/s640/OldandnewinNEKrea.jpg" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The old and the new in the northeastern<br />coastal city of Kangnun</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fyuzf1ooeqc/WFu4bEwFAEI/AAAAAAAAB7w/aoDAF3Abk2Q-yi77Vxmuzvhsad1Z_SJTQCLcB/s1600/SeoulGirlsdoiingselgie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fyuzf1ooeqc/WFu4bEwFAEI/AAAAAAAAB7w/aoDAF3Abk2Q-yi77Vxmuzvhsad1Z_SJTQCLcB/s640/SeoulGirlsdoiingselgie.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Young women in rented Hanbok, Korean traditional dress.<br />Here taking selfies in Seoul (2016)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Busan's Haeundae Beach during the off-season (Sept. 2014)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Living in Korea makes other parts of Asia much more accessible. By air, Japan is less than two hours away, as is Beijing. For non-Korean citizens, that city provides access to North Korea. Taiwan and Hong Kong are also popular destinations for Koreans and expats alike. Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, are following, or attempting to follow, South Korea's recent path from a developing country to a shining example of economic success. South and North Korea had nearly identical per capita GNPs as recently as 1974. Today, South Korea's GNP, per capita, is fifteen times that of North Korea.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fashion makes a modest entrance on the streets of North Korea's capital <br />Pyongyang. This scene is on the main thoroughfare at the entrance of <br />the city's main subway station (Summer, 2014)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">College students at Wonsan Agricultural University, Wonsan, DPRK (2014)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a-TfzpETLlo/WFvNnAEVNEI/AAAAAAAAB88/_V4Z2sk76XApzRzOgsH48-DrshQmkGYxgCLcB/s1600/HanbokatJujae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a-TfzpETLlo/WFvNnAEVNEI/AAAAAAAAB88/_V4Z2sk76XApzRzOgsH48-DrshQmkGYxgCLcB/s640/HanbokatJujae.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hanbok-clad tour guide at Juche Tower in Pyongyang (2014)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Buddhist monks visiting ancient temple in Mandalay, Myanmar (2016)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The King of Chinese Chess reigns over all, Temple of Heaven Park, Beijing, China</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yeungnam University is one of Korea's largest universities and boasts a magnificent, sprawling campus. I spent 5-years here teaching, and learning to no end.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lLGsLsh3kF4/WFvShYFfVUI/AAAAAAAAB9c/ikrOAXOkQmkF9J8Iz9C29xIsgLdJreXogCEw/s1600/YULibraryatSpring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lLGsLsh3kF4/WFvShYFfVUI/AAAAAAAAB9c/ikrOAXOkQmkF9J8Iz9C29xIsgLdJreXogCEw/s640/YULibraryatSpring.jpg" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The university library is a campus focal point.<br />The pond in the foreground is a favorite spot of mine for<br />watching turtles sunning themselves and for enjoying<br />fried squid and potatoes sold by a local woman.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tranquil "Lovers' Lane." Here pictured during Cherry Blossom season.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_OEWN9mhGZA/WFvUyt5COJI/AAAAAAAAB98/VJkmMaI9aYUB26seFX935f3-a4_6A4cNACEw/s1600/YUManatSOccreSadium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="459" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_OEWN9mhGZA/WFvUyt5COJI/AAAAAAAAB98/VJkmMaI9aYUB26seFX935f3-a4_6A4cNACEw/s640/YUManatSOccreSadium.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A quiet moment for a gentleman who sits alone<br /> in the stands of the old soccer field.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">With a student during a Saturday Seminar when I had the opportunity<br />to give a presentation on my trip to North Korea.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"If the only prayer you can ever say in your entire life is </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">'thank you,' it will be enough."</span></div>
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Meister Eckhart</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hGwIh_sJ4Fk/WFvVRh7UoPI/AAAAAAAAB-M/5sKhQqOScVkIlm6HgLr04I3Ut2S65vFlQCEw/s1600/ISteveinCosmosSeoul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="419" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hGwIh_sJ4Fk/WFvVRh7UoPI/AAAAAAAAB-M/5sKhQqOScVkIlm6HgLr04I3Ut2S65vFlQCEw/s640/ISteveinCosmosSeoul.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Standing in a field of cosmos (Seoul, 1975)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tqxvx7qHJSM/WFvVcnf-c7I/AAAAAAAAB-M/L1JgJln5i7401t2EvLVQk0YqCYGZrqSGQCEw/s1600/CosmosGyeungJu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tqxvx7qHJSM/WFvVcnf-c7I/AAAAAAAAB-M/L1JgJln5i7401t2EvLVQk0YqCYGZrqSGQCEw/s640/CosmosGyeungJu.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">In a field of cosmos (Gyeong-ju, 2014)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">My Korean name, Song Su Nam, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">freshly tattooed (2015)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Oh, how incomprehensible everything was, and actually sad, although it was also beautiful. One knew nothing. One lived and ran about the earth and rode through forests, and certain things looked so challenging and promising and nostalgic: a star in the evening, a blue harebell, a reed-green pond, the eye of a person or of a cow. And sometimes it seemed that something never seen yet long desired was about to happen, that a veil would drop from it all; but then it passed, nothing happened, the riddle remained unsolved, the secret spell unbroken, and in the end one grew old...and still one knew nothing perhaps, was still waiting and listening."</span><br />
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from <i>Narcissus and Goldmund</i>, by Herman Hesse</div>
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-2923994868902012622016-11-22T18:23:00.000-08:002016-11-23T06:05:49.117-08:00A Healing Place: The Kim Ki-ho Clinic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Heo Jun </span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">(1537-1615)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Considered the Father of Korean traditional medicine,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Heo Jun is still highly regarded throughout East Asia<br /> from</span> <span style="font-size: small;">China and Vietnam, to Japan. He is famous for making treatment </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">accessible and </span><span style="font-size: small;">understandable to common people.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Expats coming to Korea often revel in its cultural gifts ranging from kimchi to bibimbap, from its temples to old Korean villages, from traditional garb to its rich holidays, such as Chuseok. Yet when something ails us, or we encounter back pain, we usually overlook the benefits of Korean traditional medicine. Typically, we turn to what's familiar: the western medicine experience that is too often both impersonal and over-reliant on prescription drugs. Dr. Kim Ki-ho's clinic, nestled between the Suseong Office and Manchon subway stops on the Green Line, offers a refreshing healing alternative.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Over the last several decades <a href="http://ncbi.nim.nih.gov/" target="_blank">chiropractic</a> has acquired legitimacy and prominence in the U.S. It's no wonder. Eighty percent of Americans are affected by lower back or neck pain. Even though patients consistently express more satisfaction with chiropractic care than other forms of treatment, these positive reports often fly beneath the radar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I know Dr. Kim as <i>Peter.</i> I first discovered his huge smile and welcoming personality last spring having been referred to his practice by a colleague. I quickly benefitted from his expertise in chiropractic, acupuncture, and muscle relaxation. The latter, provided by a staff member, became the highlight of my visits. As she massaged my back, I mistook the office's treatment room for a highway stop in heaven.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Kim, who also goes by "Peter," helping a patient with<br />lower back pain</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For more esoteric treatments, Peter is also expertly trained in body mapping, magnetic pen treatment, sound therapy, spinal adjustments and detoxification programs. Based on his training in traditional medicine, Peter believes that each patient has a unique body type. His treatments provide improved circulation, increased energy and pain cessation.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Natural herbal ingredients marked in Chinese characters</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Both Peter and his capable assistant, Stella, speak English and are extremely warm and helpful. As with other medical services provided here in Korea, I was pleasantly surprised by the reasonable fees for treatment. Being an American, I am, of course, used to exorbitant prices for both medical care and prescription drugs. How refreshing it was to be seen as a whole person and, at the same time, avoid what often proves to be unnecessary medication.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Kim in his office explaining the </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">meridians on a human sculpture</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If wellness, pain reduction or healing are conditions you seek, I encourage you to consider Peter and his clinic. Traditional Korean medicine, like an old Korean village, can be a place of comfort and soothing hospitality. Dr. Kim's clinic is that, and much, much more.</span><br />
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<u>Details</u><br />
Kim Kee Ho Traditional Korean Clinic<br />
Daegu City, Suseong-gu, Beomeo 4 District 197-2<br />
Tel: 053-746-0074<br />
Email: kh1578@hanmail.net<br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-16896890038310388062016-11-05T21:26:00.001-07:002016-11-06T21:23:05.771-08:00Su Yeung Jang: Swimming Pool<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">Her diagnosis threw a wet woolen blanket over my spirit. "That will be it for running. You'll probably be able to continue with biking and walking. But, I'm afraid running is out," she said. The next time I saw my doctor she was draining two huge syringes worth of Coor's-like liquid from my right knee. This was indeed looking serious.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7OypW1ux3rE/WB6hzvckdYI/AAAAAAAAB14/4jUrXvTU7R0xjdgrYoRU12-xYJpAdusewCLcB/s1600/IMG_3269-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7OypW1ux3rE/WB6hzvckdYI/AAAAAAAAB14/4jUrXvTU7R0xjdgrYoRU12-xYJpAdusewCLcB/s320/IMG_3269-2.JPG" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yep, this was looking serious. Sucking<br />what looked like Coors Lite from my knee</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To be sure, running has been much more than a sideline interest in my life. I started running as an 8-year old Cub Scout in New York City, winning silver and bronze medals which I still have stashed away somewhere at home. Just last November here in Korea, I ran my best 10-K in years. I envisioned myself as one of those ageless wonders, running forever, pocketing awards in my age group, until I moseyed-off into that last glorious sunset.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Coors imaging notwithstanding, I am not one to sulk in my own beer. Good thing. A 500-mike walk across northern Spain, known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago" target="_blank">Camino de Santiago</a>, is in my not-too-distant future. I don't have much time to turn this lemon of a predicament into a lubricating lemonade. Speaking of solutions, and back to my doctor, I had three rounds of what must be the world's most viscous solution injected <i>into</i> my knee. That concoction, brand named, Euflexxa, is part of my recovery strategy for being able to walk that pilgrimage from the village of <a href="http://www.caminomyway.com/a-walk-in-st-jean-pied-de-port-france" target="_blank">St. Jean Pied De Port</a>, on the French side of the Pyrenees, 800 kilometers southwesterly to the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But biking and walking alone won't get me there. Swimming, that other low-impact exercise, is well known as an almost magical physical therapy. I'm exhaling now. I hate swimming indoors: the roof, the vibrating sounds, the moist changing rooms, the slippery floors. Nothing could be further afield from the things that sustained me as a runner: the one-on-one communing with nature, the sound of my running shoes meeting the pavement, the ability to run anywhere in the world at almost any time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The public Korean swimming pool I go to is about a 2-mile bike ride from our apartment. I am the only male expat sharing the lanes of this high-school affiliated facility. Of course, I had to undergo initiation rites of passage. During each of my first several visits there, the attendant came up to me and admonished me for not showering before entering the pool. (I had.) Guys in the locker room sent grimacing daggers my way for dripping water on the floor. Small prices to pay for the much needed benefits that swimming affords.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I9OJwk8i5HA/WB6jsUJzshI/AAAAAAAAB2E/yMfxTV1ELTkx1gjfMHhCxcHm4V7mRitoQCLcB/s1600/IMG_1996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I9OJwk8i5HA/WB6jsUJzshI/AAAAAAAAB2E/yMfxTV1ELTkx1gjfMHhCxcHm4V7mRitoQCLcB/s400/IMG_1996.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Gyeungsan public swimming pool</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The venue occupies an industrial-like site in a tired, but dignified, old part of Gyeungsan, a rapidly growing suburb of Korea's 4th largest city, Daegu. As is the Korean custom, shoes are removed upon entering. I place 1500 won (about $1.30) in a vending machine, get a ticket and exchange it for a locker key on a rubber elastic cord. Minutes later, I am in another world--a soothing aquatic space. The lanes are filled with mostly Korean ajamas (married women) and grandmothers who, by turn, either completely ignore me like some annoying floating flotsam, or smile and say,"good morning" in Korean. Essentially, it's quite like any pool anywhere in the world.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nmfq9UE2Olo/WB6lD5BBQaI/AAAAAAAAB2U/chHAfiq5928TGK3U5l_FcD5wmI-SNTnSwCLcB/s1600/IMG_2006-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nmfq9UE2Olo/WB6lD5BBQaI/AAAAAAAAB2U/chHAfiq5928TGK3U5l_FcD5wmI-SNTnSwCLcB/s400/IMG_2006-2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">At the entrance, you place you shoes in a wallside cubbie.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Swimming, as advertised, has proven to be the best thing going for my knee. My old running tactics of setting goals and punching my stop-watch function, apply nicely in these watery lanes. The before and after ritual of biking along the working class streets of my district, provides some solace too. I realize before long, this will all be a memory--flashbacks that will carry me from town to town across the Spanish countryside as I walk the Camino.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PHzRbKetMHE/WB6mKB3KBgI/AAAAAAAAB2Y/n--6ZJyEAr4o1RaAbGT9lIHggUGL5AaCACLcB/s1600/IMG_2017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PHzRbKetMHE/WB6mKB3KBgI/AAAAAAAAB2Y/n--6ZJyEAr4o1RaAbGT9lIHggUGL5AaCACLcB/s400/IMG_2017.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Accessories to my aspiration: <br />walking the 500-mile Camino de Santiago</span></td></tr>
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-26098616361112865642016-09-11T00:55:00.000-07:002016-09-13T07:02:13.993-07:00Lost in Time: Returning to Places of the Heart<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">Only thirteen years had passed. Returning to Korea to witness the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics was no ordinary adventure. My good friend, Soon Chul, had picked us up at the airport and the drive to his apartment was an eye-opener. Mile after mile we saw huge apartment buildings, walls of lights narrating a story of almost inexplicable change. Personal cars, subways, video billboards, countless new bridges; the unmistakable signage of a vibrant, new middle class. The trip was already spell-binding and we hadn't even arrived at his apartment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">After thoroughly enjoying the Olympic Games held at dozens of newly constructed venues, we headed south by train to visit Daegu, the city I had lived in for nearly two years as an English instructor while in the Peace Corps. My wife, Marsha, visiting Korea for the first time, escorted me to the campus and I happily gave her a tour of the place, pointing out the buildings which housed my classes, the dignified old administration building, the campus amphitheater, and the red brick building which housed my office on its second floor.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rT_0s9H5MVg/V9UDroVjH3I/AAAAAAAAByo/AcFt-br1AY8S4p0pujoFJoDBvEN_w-IUgCLcB/s1600/SteveatKeimyung%2528pre-beard%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rT_0s9H5MVg/V9UDroVjH3I/AAAAAAAAByo/AcFt-br1AY8S4p0pujoFJoDBvEN_w-IUgCLcB/s400/SteveatKeimyung%2528pre-beard%2529.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Standing outside my office building at<br />Keimyung Christian College in Daegu (1974)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vBK4uw544jk/V9UGzcBlKJI/AAAAAAAABzM/C3623MqBaUwqzbcwRe-PqwiKDzrq_RWFwCLcB/s1600/IMAG0168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vBK4uw544jk/V9UGzcBlKJI/AAAAAAAABzM/C3623MqBaUwqzbcwRe-PqwiKDzrq_RWFwCLcB/s400/IMAG0168.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Students walking toward the administrative building on campus</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We wound our way down a short hill and came to the school's rear gate. I knew that just a short distance from there I'd be able to show Marsha my old neighborhood including everything from the local dry cleaners and little convenience store to, more importantly, the modest rooming house (yeogwan) where I lived for over a year and a half in a small room on the 2nd floor.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKAckQr9z9s/V9UEGRPU0VI/AAAAAAAABys/9v9iO7UT6BAvdFJjjnTZ8pKOkhLQMBIWgCLcB/s1600/IMAG0085Yagwan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKAckQr9z9s/V9UEGRPU0VI/AAAAAAAABys/9v9iO7UT6BAvdFJjjnTZ8pKOkhLQMBIWgCLcB/s400/IMAG0085Yagwan.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The courtyard of our Korean rooming house. Sign says "Yeo-gwan," Korean for inn.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We turned the corner and I was stunned. The old neighborhood was gone! In its place were new stores, buildings and paved roads. The entire neighborhood had been razed and replaced in the intervening 13 years since I had left Korea. I began to feel dizzy and lose my bearings. I sat down to regroup and to deal with the lump of emotions that was growing in my throat. There was no going home.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Go6akTv5a0g/V9UFdw23mkI/AAAAAAAABy4/U1nQs_L2CcwmJWhAtZJId2trOdoTQVEOACLcB/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Go6akTv5a0g/V9UFdw23mkI/AAAAAAAABy4/U1nQs_L2CcwmJWhAtZJId2trOdoTQVEOACLcB/s320/images.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Trying to return to a place once called "home" can be an<br />emotional roller coaster.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Apparently, this was not a rare experience in Korea. A number of Korean friends and students have told me about similar experiences when they returned to their villages or old neighborhoods; this sense of <i>home-loss dissonance</i> accompanied by feelings of confusion, loss and disorientation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This highly emotional experience is timely as this week marks the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps service in South Korea. The first batch of volunteers arrived here in Korea in September of 1966. That group was quickly followed by well over two-thousand other volunteers who served in Korea from 1966 through 1981. Each group was designated in numerical order preceded by the letter "K." My group, K-30, focused on English education at the university level. My nearly fifty colleagues served in universities scattered across the country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This week many veteran Peace Corps Volunteers will be returning to this country for the first time since their days of service here. In all likelihood it will prove to be nothing less an amazing adventure; at once deeply personal and meaningful. I suspect for most it will also prove to be a breathtaking experience as well. Returning to familiar places and old haunts can be a challenging emotional roller coaster ride. To them I say, may all your journeys conclude in the safe embrace of warm memories knowing that your efforts here were indeed well done.</span><br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-584283941456940712016-08-01T12:28:00.002-07:002016-08-02T13:22:55.201-07:00Stop Trashing Korea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZyPrYVpj3M4/V5-BgtLQvAI/AAAAAAAABvk/pAWne1scbuwHCxYKzaTMc8i-DQ3a0QSBACLcB/s1600/450trash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZyPrYVpj3M4/V5-BgtLQvAI/AAAAAAAABvk/pAWne1scbuwHCxYKzaTMc8i-DQ3a0QSBACLcB/s400/450trash.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Haeundae Beach, <i>courtesy of the Korea Times</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A recent photo of Busan's famous Haeundae Beach awash in trash left me aghast and deeply saddened. <span style="background-color: white;">My friends know that I love my second home, Korea. But as Korea continues to urbanize and modernize, the collective habit of impulsively leaving trash anywhere, anytime, must be addressed. In many places you simply cannot find a trash bin. Unseemly piles of litter grow on corners, next to poles, almost anywhere along Korea's streets. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VN8iscoC-Pc/V5-CSVtIkTI/AAAAAAAABvs/kXrjaVETZQIcOUUpgJlFQ9e7-xSaVzqagCLcB/s1600/photo-297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VN8iscoC-Pc/V5-CSVtIkTI/AAAAAAAABvs/kXrjaVETZQIcOUUpgJlFQ9e7-xSaVzqagCLcB/s400/photo-297.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">In my Korean neighborhood, trash piles up around a clothing donation box creating unsightly and unsafe conditions for children who play nearby</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For reasons no one can quite agree on, many Koreans litter </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">blithefully, as if someone else is going to come along and pick up after them. A number of people say it's due to the near universal absence of trash </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">bins. Koreans, like folks in many other countries, must pay </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">for municipal garbage bags which they use to dispose of trash at home. A popular belief is that left on their own, Koreans stuff these public trash bins with their household trash to save what amounts to a few dimes. In response, municipal officials avoid placing these bins in public places.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wood, glass, refuse of all kinds, pile up in a children's park <br />in a Korean residential neighborhood</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">In our brave new world of high octane terrorism, the widespread availability of trash bins takes on new meaning. In Singapore, for example, the belief was that trash cans could house Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and as a result, bins were <a href="https://vinayintaiwan2015.wordpress.com/2014/09/11/counterintuitive-solution-to-street-litter-problem/" target="_blank">removed to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks</a>. Singaporeans, it seems, have readily learned to carry their trash. Their streets remain remarkably clean.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">So too in Japan. I have walked in cities there for hours without seeing litter, even as much as a cigarette butt, along that country's streets. And yet, there are few garbage bins. What makes Singaporeans and the Japanese so different from Koreans when it comes to keeping their public spaces free of litter?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">We have seen Koreans "step up" before in support of their country. During the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, when their economy was collapsing before their eyes, Koreans dug deep to proudly save their country. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/analysis/47496.stm" target="_blank">As reported by the BBC</a>, "It's an extraordinary sight: South Koreans </span>queuing for hours to donate their best-loved treasures in a gesture of support for their beleaguered economy." Most Koreans willingly donated their precious gold jewelry in the form of wedding rings, athletic medals and trophies and even gold "luck keys," a traditional present given on the opening of a new business or a 60th birthday--all to be melted into gold bars. Amazingly, ten tons of gold was collected during only the first 2-days of the campaign. All this to pay back loans granted to Korea by the International Monetary Fund. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Understandably, Koreans want their country to be taken as a serious international tourist destination. Seoul is one of the world's most fascinating cities. Busan, and the ancient capital city of Gyeong-ju, rival their oft visited Japanese counterparts, Osaka and Kyoto. But streets and other public places lined with trash seriously erode realization of that vision.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">South Korea will soon play host to the <a href="https://www.olympic.org/pyeongchang-2018" target="_blank">2018 Winter Olympics</a>. Surely, there can be no better time, or reason, for a national initiative to make Korea litter free. If Koreans could save their country from financial ruin, they can certainly save it from ruination by trash. It's time to stop trashing Korea! To my Korean friends I say, you <u>can</u> do better!</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c6ySXFYuO4c/V5-iUPNkHRI/AAAAAAAABwc/Ub8JiMkbIAYZWvxjnON_JN9al_ALFzBRACLcB/s1600/020616-pyeongchang2016mascot-thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c6ySXFYuO4c/V5-iUPNkHRI/AAAAAAAABwc/Ub8JiMkbIAYZWvxjnON_JN9al_ALFzBRACLcB/s400/020616-pyeongchang2016mascot-thumbnail.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">SooHorang, Mascot for the 2018 Winter Olympics,<br />Pyeongchang, South Korea</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-33196322077695115502016-06-24T18:53:00.000-07:002016-06-24T18:53:29.640-07:00The Tim Horton Exemption<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“It is naively assumed that the fact that the majority of people share certain ideas and feelings proves the validity of these ideas and feelings. Nothing could be further from the truth. Consensual validation as such has no bearing on reason or mental health.” </i></span></div>
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<a class="authorOrTitle" href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8788.Erich_Fromm" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Erich Fromm</span></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;">Expats and travelers fill cafes and squeeze into restaurant booths around the world. Their tales and opinions saturate the air like heavy particles hovering over the Beijing skyline. The local culture is dissected and diagnosed by these physicians certified by their wanderlust and sanctioned by the consensus of the group and the evening's rites.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;">Here in Korea, we might overhear talk of Koreans' driving foibles, or the nature of Korean marital dynamics where women invariably become the family CFO and take forceful and unequivocal command of all monetary matters. You can sometimes hear talk of the local disregard for minding litter, the conversation invariably drifting off to Japan by way of comparison. "You can't so much find a cigarette butt on the streets of Japan," someone will say. And yes, likely too will be the mention of the eating of dogs, an ignominious cultural artifact that is rarely practiced these days.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;">On the other side we have the cultural defenders, the sympathizers who, having done their homework, herd most of the naysayers back into their culturally insensitive corrals. A Peace Corps document from the early 1970s served to remind newly arrived U.S. volunteers of the foolishness of their cultural missteps: "Korea is generally judged to be a less than developed nation. This judgment is based on many factors, but mainly those dealing with economic or materialist measurements. In the field of education, and from a Korean viewpoint, it might be difficult to accept a less developed label. If you had produced movable block printing in the 12th century, a written phonetic alphabet before Columbus discovered America, and had revered education with intensity of almost religious fervor, then you might not consider yourself less developed with regard to education."</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;">Well, touche! And we will graciously ignore your culturally insensitive comment about Columbus "discovering"America.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;">Sometimes, we just need to give these cultural-dialectic, this back and forth criticism and defensiveness, a free pass; a "Get out of jail free" card like in the board game, Monopoly. Instead of vitriol, allow the prevailing westerlies to do their thing and blow the smog out of Beijing naturally.</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Wj1Zm5v4hg/V23cnDWeFsI/AAAAAAAABtc/z2Ii6lhN45wtBPbMo-GiaQC10NmwEITyACLcB/s1600/Get_out_of_jail_free.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Wj1Zm5v4hg/V23cnDWeFsI/AAAAAAAABtc/z2Ii6lhN45wtBPbMo-GiaQC10NmwEITyACLcB/s400/Get_out_of_jail_free.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;">The other night I went out to dinner with three Canadian friends. The food, drink and conversation were awesome. Somehow (am I guilty?), the conversation turned to Tim Hortons, the ubiquitous coffee and pastry franchise that adorns nearly every intersection across that grand country. Canadians forever sing the praises of their beloved "Timmy's." As an American, who has driven hundreds of miles and many hours, craving coffee and something, anything, to eat, and finally seeing a Tim Horton's on the horizon, well, it was an ugly experience. I could have been had so easily. But alas, the coffee was nearly undrinkable and the donuts, literally a cardboard substitute. Here, let some closet Canadians speak for themselves:</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;">"They just built a Tim Hortons in the Midwestern town where I live and I would rather eat a box of donuts that I found on the side of the road than ever return there."</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;">"Tim's could sell poop on a stick and out of Canada loyalty, Canadians would still buy." </span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oxOFBG00Pss/V23eSKphl0I/AAAAAAAABts/5fu7ZbLYkbMCAAyBZVyD_skXH_AZ0lH9gCLcB/s1600/Unknown-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oxOFBG00Pss/V23eSKphl0I/AAAAAAAABts/5fu7ZbLYkbMCAAyBZVyD_skXH_AZ0lH9gCLcB/s400/Unknown-2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px;">But I smiled and kept my opinion to myself. My Canadian friends were happily adrift in their reverie for their national symbol. Going to "Timmy's" was like a religious experience for them. It was then that I realized I had needed to take out my Get out of Jail Free Card and figuratively hand it over to my Canadian friends. Why trespass on their cultural delusion? Was I going to judge Canada as being a less developed nation because of their blind faith toward Tim Horton's? Certainly not. After all, they have maple syrup and national health-care, don't they? And besides, when our most popular exports are McDonalds and Donald Trump, I have good reason to keep my tongue.</span><br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-77757685499327181782016-06-02T16:41:00.000-07:002019-06-03T09:36:39.856-07:00Aged-Out Korean Style<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KVsL58UTUTQ/V0OerZLpFLI/AAAAAAAABjw/e1E6d_f8Z40-v-yLmHzYQ8Zuo1KsAVeSACKgB/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KVsL58UTUTQ/V0OerZLpFLI/AAAAAAAABjw/e1E6d_f8Z40-v-yLmHzYQ8Zuo1KsAVeSACKgB/s320/Slide1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: large;">For an outsider, living here in the 1970s, it was
hard to miss the pedestal they were placed upon. The elderly in Korea had
earned their stripes; surviving the often brutal and dehumanizing Japanese
occupation. Then came the unforgiving horror of the Korean War. If you made it
to sixty you earned the privileges that society gladly bestowed on you: the respectful
bows; the honorific language; for men, the long wispy beards; and for women, the convivial
smoking in groups. People routinely fought to give up their seats in
public buses for society's grandparents. But that was then...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: large;">…Having received the highest student evaluation
scores, the three expat professors were invited to the Director's office. In a
brief exchange, they received certificates of accomplishment, a
handshake from the Director and a few perfunctory words of congratulation.
<i>"I hope to see you three back here again next year," he said,
"Continue with your great teaching.</i>" For one of the three professors, the author, those comments felt a bit insensitive and incongruous. Having just earned the
highest evaluation scores from students, I was being <i>aged-out</i>,
forcibly retired. I wouldn't be teaching at </span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">his </span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: large;">university next year. I was turning sixty-five.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: large;">In today's Korea, forced retirement based on age is
systemic. As a result, just 3.7% of regular employees at medium and large companies are 55 or older. This, in a country where the life expectancy is
pushing 82, </span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">one of the highest in the world.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m90reNlb8ZI/V05IzSnTa5I/AAAAAAAABrs/dw7eAn63BmcRauqi-puN542oQeHYJwqFACLcB/s1600/IMAG0010Buspassengers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m90reNlb8ZI/V05IzSnTa5I/AAAAAAAABrs/dw7eAn63BmcRauqi-puN542oQeHYJwqFACLcB/s400/IMAG0010Buspassengers.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Older Koreans on a public bus in 1974. Being "aged-out" is as common as kimchi and rice.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times";">Being </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times";">aged-out</span></i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: large;"> here is as common as kimchi and rice. A former colleague in the English
Department, very popular with students, was recently let go because he had
turned sixty-five. "It was awful," he said. "My popularity ratings were over 95% for nine years. I did extra work for the university, the
school, and the department, </span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">all for </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">no compensation. And, I have to
leave?" he asked rhetorically.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times";">Relatively, few folks who
are aged-out take it personally. Most expats know the cultural expectations when
they come to Korea and quickly learn how the guidelines are interpreted and
implemented at their places of employment, usually universities. Korean natives
are treated no differently, so it's not a matter of being treated
inconsistently; age discrimination is <i>institutionalized. </i>To many though, it's more than frustrating or infuriating--it's hurting the economy and the society.
In the light of day, it simply doesn't make much sense. The cultural context is
unambiguous; Koreans are sent into retirement at age 50, 55, 60 or 65. In fact,
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">new figures</span> put the average
retirement age at about 53. Younger workers are ushered into companies where
they earn less, are willing to take orders, and are allegedly more flexible and
more productive. But are most of these operating assumptions true?</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: large;">Certainly young,
fresh recruits are paid less. In South Korean firms, pay and position rise with
seniority. But nearly all employers operate from the belief
that productivity decreases with seniority. Over 57% of them cite “low
adaptability to change” as a reason for not keeping older workers, according to
the Korea Labor Institute, a government-funded </span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">think-tank. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">According to Thomas Klaassen of York University in Toronto, </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"Internationally,
there is little evidence to suggest that older workers are less productive than
younger ones, Their
underperformance in South Korea, if real, may be a self-fulfilling prophecy," he
argues. "It could be the prospect of premature retirement that discourages older
Koreans from investing in skills."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: large;">Korean society is
rapidly aging and its birthrate is in steep decline. In the late 1950s,
Korean families averaged 5 children. Today, families average about 1 child.
Additionally, and this should come as good news, as of 2013, the life
expectancy for Koreans reached 81.9 years. A man or woman retiring at 53 still
offers their country almost thirty years of productive life. But how Korea puts
those still productive years to use, </span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">to fuel its once vibrant economy, is yet
another question. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lb4JefgHkMQ/V051JNhQMwI/AAAAAAAABsQ/mWxDQCJamzoC9tJyv3MYOx4r4Sl-QHpEACLcB/s1600/IMG_1228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lb4JefgHkMQ/V051JNhQMwI/AAAAAAAABsQ/mWxDQCJamzoC9tJyv3MYOx4r4Sl-QHpEACLcB/s400/IMG_1228.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Wall painting in Busan, Korea's 2nd largest city</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: large;">There is much talk
that new laws and guidelines will be implemented to change Korea's current
"early retirement" practices. Time will tell if and when those
promises result in real, systemic change. In the meantime, kicked off their
pedestal, older Koreans, the very people whose blood, sweat and tears built
their modern country, are sent off into the setting sun, neglected, </span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">forgotten
and unrewarded.</span></span><br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-56832643172064616832016-03-26T17:35:00.000-07:002016-03-28T06:47:44.527-07:00Exotica: Why I Love Living Abroad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span data-dobid="hdw" style="font-size: large;">Living in a foreign culture can be a visceral existence to say the least. There's never a dull moment. Around every corner there's a confounding curiosity, an exchange highlighted by a smile, or perhaps an ambiguous glance. You may need that figurative playbook, the one you keep in your back pocket or purse, to help you translate what just happened. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My favorite scene from the movie <i>Ghostbusters</i> ironically may shed some insight. It's the one where Bill Murray's character, Dr. Peter Venkman, knocks on the apartment door of Sigourney Weaver, playing a woman possessed by the devil. She opens the door, seething from her dark world. He meanders in, in his capacity as world class ghostbuster. Weaver immediately starts coming on to him in her devilish stupor. Now splayed across her huge bed, he pushes her away, proclaiming, <i>"I have a rule never to have sex with a possessed woman."</i> Not easily deterred, Weaver continues trying to sexually overwhelm Murray. Suddenly, he sits up and says with a sly smile, <i>"Well, maybe it's more of a guideline."</i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sigourney Weaver in <i>Ghostbusters</i>. Living in a foreign country requires navigating <br />the often unclear rules and guidelines of a culture</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Seeking to understand the <i>rules and guidelines</i> of a place is part and parcel of living abroad. It's the caffeine in the experience. How does a place work? What are the rules and laws? What is it they might drag me away for? Just as important, are the <i>informal guidelines</i> of the culture--the routine expectations one needs to know to navigate day-in and day-out without leaving too large of an expat wake that unsettles the natives' boats.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Back home, the rules and guidelines are more intuitive. Nearly all the background chatter is intelligible to my senses. My knowledge of where the boundaries lie, and where the footing might be soft, saves me from cascading over a cultural cliff. Life is normative, not exotic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One time in Korea, decades ago, I had missed all the signs, literally and figuratively. A friend and I were walking along a isolated, pebbly beach. We were lost in a world of our own. Suddenly there were screams, unrecognizable yelling, all of it in Korean. Soldiers came rushing toward us demanding that we come to a halt. We had been walking along a beach mined to protect that part of the coastline from North Korean infiltrators. We had been oblivious to all known rules and guidelines. Luckily, we lived to see another adventure.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The cultural landscape can be riddled with social "landmines"</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Less dangerous, but still highly stimulating are the more mundane encounters of life in a foreign culture. What's the guideline, for example, when during a rare quiet moment on a tour of the DPRK, your North Korean tour guide who, until that moment had been distant and staunchly pro-North Korean, turns speaking in a low voice, to talk about her personal life? Handling this awkward encounter was not mentioned in our pre-tour briefing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once, while walking on a busy downtown street, clothed in my youth and naivety, a new Korean buddy reached across our cultural divide to hold my hand. Chills of embarrassment ran up and down my spine. The idea of two guys holding hands in public pushed me way out of my comfort zone. The guideline here, of course, was that its quite normal for Korean friends of the same sex to hold hands.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;">These experiences, sometimes significant, but more typically innocuous, occur on a daily basis living in a foreign place. They become </span><i style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">exotica</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;">, objects considered strange or interesting, because they are out of the ordinary, <i>your</i> ordinary. They make living overseas unrelentingly stimulating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Having spent many years living and working in so-called foreign cultures, thoughts of returning home raise perplexing quandaries. Will life be as exciting, or even as interesting? Will I miss the familiar smells and sounds that have come to define my life in Korea? Will my life be less <i>exotic,</i> and does that even matter?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I don't imagine I will ever lose the wanderlust that flows through every fiber of my being. Nor, the thrill of discovering the peculiar rules and guidelines of distant places. In the spirit of ghostbusting, I trust there will always be doors too tempting not to open. </span></div>
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-14652350102895541152016-02-05T00:44:00.000-08:002016-02-05T22:13:25.249-08:00Burma Before the Boom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Posted from Phuket, Thailand</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">For the wind is in the palm trees, an' the temple-bells they say:</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">'Come you back, you British soldier, come you back to</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Mandalay!'</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">f</span><span style="font-size: medium;">rom Rudyard Kipling's poem, "Mandalay"</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Old photo of Mandalay, Burma</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">While here in Thailand I've had the space and time to reflect on our recent three-week journey through Myanmar. Time to recall the ubiquitous temples and tea houses, the funky trishaws, the painted faces, the friendly people, the broad, genuine smiles. Here in Phuket I stop at the end of a pier that juts-out into the harbor, and stare out into the shallow, mesmerizing, azure-colored waters. A man with a blue nylon fish net strewn over his shoulders interrupts my daydream, asking me where I'm from. Taken somewhat by surprise, I hesitate. A world of assumptions fills the space between us...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Myanmar's ubiquitous and wondrous temples</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Myanmar is facing its own surprising transition. And nearly everyone has an opinion about the change. Except the Burmese finally feel safe to express their views. After centuries of rule by emperors, Burma became a British colony. For the next 50 years, the country, hugely rich in resources, became the spoil of ruthless rule by a junta of greedy military generals. In Emma Larkin's fascinating work, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Finding-George-Orwell-Burma-Larkin/dp/0143037110" target="_blank">Finding George Orwell in Burma</a></i>, a native Burmese aptly remarks, "The British may have sucked our blood, but these Burmese generals are biting us to the bone!" Just a few short months ago, the unmistakable bite of capitalism struck the country's capital, Yangon. Our guide made sure to point out the huge new KFC that had recently opened in a busy area near the old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogyoke_Market" target="_blank">Scott Market</a> there. "They just opened the first three here," he observed.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N0rl-bFLr7I/VrMgafufKsI/AAAAAAAABeQ/ogl5r3LoaSI/s1600/DSC_9813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N0rl-bFLr7I/VrMgafufKsI/AAAAAAAABeQ/ogl5r3LoaSI/s400/DSC_9813.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of the first KFC's in Yangon. Is Myanmar now </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">welcoming capitalism?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In a few short weeks, Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party, voted into office with 80% of the popular vote, will accept the reigns of power. That transition, is filled with its own huge basket of assumptions. After decades of understandable reluctance to talk honestly to foreigners, native Burmese now speak more freely and candidly about the political earthquake that is taking place. All of our guides, and others we met, spoke excitedly about the forthcoming transition, most without being prompted by our questions. Over breakfast, I asked an Australian official I met in eastern Shan State who was in Myanmar to audit the election results. "What is prompting the generals to relinquish power?" "It's complicated," he said, "but I wouldn't rule out some degree of benevolence."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In some ways, today's Myanmar reminds me of the Korea I witnessed in the early 1970's. South Korea then was a military dictatorship under the strict rule of president and former general, Park Chung-hee. The country, largely rural in those days, was rationing rice, enforcing curfews, and actively arresting students and professors--anyone who spoke out against the regime. Fast food chains, amongst the more obvious signs of capitalism, had yet to take a foothold in Korea. Technology was primitive and largely limited to poor quality local products from Lucky and Gold Star.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today of course, Korea is vastly different. In the span of 40 years Seoul now boasts more Starbucks than New York City. College students, like those in other developed countries, aspire to BMW's and expensive apartments with impressive addresses. What is generally taken as "progress" was accomplished without significant indigenous natural resources. Rather, what has made Korea the 15th largest economy in the world, was the remarkable sweat-equity and toil pumped-out by three generations of Koreans.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Myanmar, on the other hand, is rich in natural resources. In the early 1920's, the river Delta that surrounds the Yangon region, exported over 3 million tons of rice, half the world's supply. It is rich in gems, including jade, silver, gold, natural gas, rubber and teak. With the possibility of democracy and a full dose of capitalism on the doorstep, Myanmar is likely to be a future economic power in southeast Asia. Speaking with an expat while I was deplaning in Yangon, I asked her what had brought her to Myanmar. "I'm here to discuss the development of their natural gas industry," the Californian told me. "Are you speaking with officials from the current military government," I asked, "or the incoming government of Aung San Suu Kyi?" "The new government," she responded. While the Myanmar we saw is still largely unspoiled, by some accounts, the generals have nearly wiped out the native teak forests and exploited many of the natural resources. Those sites, needless to say, are not on tourist itineraries.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Many veteran travelers to southeast Asia recall with sadness the rapidly changing landscapes they see: the highways that were once quaint dirt roads; the quiet, pristine beaches that have become hedges to endless cement edifices displaying the names of western hotel chains. They lament that local teahouses and small restaurants seem to inevitably give way to Starbucks, McDonalds and KFC's. This is someone's measure of "progress." But whose?</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">What will Myanmar's likely forthcoming economic <br />boom mean for this young Burmese girl?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes, I vainly hope that a golden moment on a quiet strip of beach will remain forever frozen in time. Sometimes, even that which you thought you knew about a place and a time, was just a mirage. Rudyard Kipling, he of the "come back to Mandalay," epic poem fame, never even visited the place. History notes that Mr. Kipling never set foot in Mandalay. In fact, Mr. Kipling spent only 3 short days in Burma...once upon a time. </span><br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-85313666261690767772016-01-24T19:42:00.000-08:002016-02-18T03:41:56.286-08:0011 Things About Myanmar That May Surprise You<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">"During the three weeks I spent wandering through postcard </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">perfect scenes of bustling markets, glittering pagodas and faded</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">British hill stations I found it hard to believe I was traveling</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">through a country that has one of the worst records for human</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">rights abuse in the world. To me, this is the most staggering thing</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">about Burma: that the oppression of an entire nation of some </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">50 million </span><span style="font-size: medium;">people </span><span style="font-size: medium;">can be completely hidden from view."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Emma Larkin, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Finding-George-Orwell-Burma-Larkin/dp/0143037110/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454001852&sr=1-1&keywords=finding+george+orwell+in+burma+by+emma+larkin" target="_blank"><i>Finding George Orwell in Burma</i> </a>(2011)</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The changes I witnessed in Korea between 1973, when I arrived there as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and 1988, when I returned for the Summer Olympics, were nothing less than astounding. Myanmar may be on an even faster track.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The magic that is Myanmar is easily accessible from South Korea
and the rest of Northern Asia. You can jumpstart your trip with a flight from
Inchon or Busan. We flew to Bangkok and then went on to Mandalay. It’s from that
city, or the capital,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yangon, where most
people launch their Myanmar adventures. Capture the essence of Myanmar before
Starbucks arrives.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5M4UCTHqXP8/VqWW8Y88TII/AAAAAAAABdg/n18su2s6GsM/s1600/DSC_9735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5M4UCTHqXP8/VqWW8Y88TII/AAAAAAAABdg/n18su2s6GsM/s400/DSC_9735.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Myanmar's most famous site, Shwedagon Paya, <br />in the capital city of Yangon.</span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are 11 surprising things about the country formerly known as Burma:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">1. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>The infamous
dictatorship here is, for all practical purposes, invisible to routine
travelers.</i> Other than a few propaganda paperbacks on our night stand in one hotel, the military government’s presence to tourists has largely receded
into the background. To be sure, everyone here knows people who have served in prison. Myanmar and North Korea share common histories of cruelty and oppression. But with the recent open elections, Myanmar's military leaders have apparently decided to take a new path. The air here is filled with a cautious optimism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">2. <i>International
tourism and business is evident everywhere here and is already taking off.</i> Planes are filled with the likes of LNG deal-makers and NGO staffers. Tourists abound from Germany, Italy, France, other parts of Europe and the U.S. From Asia, Koreans and Japanese arrive in large groups. Building cranes dot the skyline, especially in Yangon, where several KFC's recently opened. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mooQk5aaYFc/VqWT9JC0rtI/AAAAAAAABdE/lXeaNh5oRUo/s1600/DSC_9830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mooQk5aaYFc/VqWT9JC0rtI/AAAAAAAABdE/lXeaNh5oRUo/s640/DSC_9830.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Construction cranes, these from South Korea, dot Yangon's skyline.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">3. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>ATM’s are now accessible nearly everywhere you might go as a tourist.</i> Yes, you will run into "out of order"signs on some machines, but it is generally easy to get access to your funds. </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. <i>U.S. dollars are no longer required!</i> It was routinely suggested </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: large;">that you need to bring clean, crisp unfolded US dollars when you
travel to Myanmar. While it is always smart to have back-up currency, it is no longer obligatory. Yes, dollars are nice to have, but
you can access and use the local currency everywhere.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">5. <i>Everyone in
Myanmar is courteous and friendly.</i> The rest of Asia (and the West) can learn a
lot about courtesy and "service with a smile" from the people of Myanmar. One surprising and effective practice we found throughout the country was that nearly every waitperson repeated our order before handing it off to the kitchen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EqZOwU-K_YE/VqWUy4wWSYI/AAAAAAAABdM/P4NOjgjpsLs/s1600/DSC_9430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EqZOwU-K_YE/VqWUy4wWSYI/AAAAAAAABdM/P4NOjgjpsLs/s400/DSC_9430.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The people of Myanmar are universally friendly <br />and always seem to be smiling.</span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">6. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Though sometimes intermittent and frustratingly slow, the Internet is available in most hotels
and in many restaurants and other establishments.</i> We found the best reception in hotel lobbies. It is also easy to buy mobile sim cards thanks to two large foreign service
providers from Saudi and Norway. The national service
provider, MPT, is partnering with Japan to deliver services.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">7. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -24px;"><i>Meals can be had anywhere for just a few bucks.</i> </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">The food, a
wonderful mélange of native dishes, Chinese and Thai culinary delights, is
consistently delicious and inexpensive. One of our more expensive dinners
(there were two of us) came to $19 (including tip). We had four (4) cocktails,
shared a soup and had large plates of chicken fried rice, fresh vegetables in
oyster sauce, and a mixed grille seafood plate. Oh yes, there was a shrimp
appetizer too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">8. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Myanmar is a
Baptist country!</i> Well, in a sense. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -24px;">Myanmar is home to the world’s third largest Baptist population. That's i</span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">n addition to the ubiquitous stupas and
Buddhist temples that dot the country--which is 89% Buddhist overall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">9. <i>Myanmar is about
to go democratic.</i> Well, fingers crossed on that one. But Noble Peace Prize recipient
Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to lead the NLD (National League for Democracy)
Party’s transition to power in April, 2016. There is </span><o:p style="text-indent: -0.25in;"></o:p><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">universal support and optimism here for her leadership. Recently, her party called for all citizens to go out and reduce the litter in their streets and communities. The next day millions of people heeded the call, including soldiers who nominally opposed her party's coming to power.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vztB4GVzC9E/VqWVjNeiBoI/AAAAAAAABdU/9_8SaQR_yqk/s1600/DSC_8508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vztB4GVzC9E/VqWVjNeiBoI/AAAAAAAABdU/9_8SaQR_yqk/s640/DSC_8508.jpg" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A calendar on the wall of a business in Mandalay. The NLD Party,<br />led by Nobel Prize winner, Aung Sun Suu Kyi, comes to power<br />in April 2016. Here, she is pictured meeting with President, Barak Obama,<br />first sitting U.S. President to visit Myanmar.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">10. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Many people in
Myanmar have “double names.”</i> One </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">flight attendant’s name was Ei Ei Tun. Our
guides’ names included Sai Sai and Min Min. One of our waitresses in the beach
town of Ngapali was So So. Her service was, in fact, much better than her
appellation would suggest. Traditionally, Myanmar people do not have surnames.
The spelling of their first names tells others what day of the week they were born on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 11. <i>The book "Animal Farm" was actually about Burma</i>. Dogs are everywhere in Myanmar. And in the countryside, one sees pigs in nearly every nook and cranny. Dogs and pigs. It's not </span><span style="font-size: large;">coincidental then that dogs and pigs took over the farm in George Orwell's <i>Animal Farm</i>. Orwell, who served with the British Imperial Police Force in Burma in the 1920's, found his life transformed by his experience there. While many people believe his famous works <i>1984</i> and <i>Animal Farm</i> were either about England or Russia, they were actually largely influenced by his experiences in Burma.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Pleasant surprises are plentiful in Myanmar, a nation with more than 50 million smiling people hoping to finally reap the benefits of their richly endowed country. Myanmar is at the crossroads of the new world, where the two most populous countries, China and India, meet. It's a place with countless Buddhist temples and an array of ethnic tribes and racial groups that are as diverse as the spices and tastes one finds here. Countless too, are the reasons to find your way to Myanmar...before the boom.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A woman from one of the hill tribes in the Golden Triangle area of<br />Shan State. Integrating the many ethnic tribes will be one of the<br />countless challenges facing the new government.</span></td></tr>
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-47879063818595741762015-12-28T21:03:00.001-08:002015-12-29T13:21:16.087-08:00"Korea 3.0": Korea's Economic Future is Linked to Changes in Its Education & Business Sectors<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">If Apple founder Steve Jobs applied for a job in today's Korean job market, would he be able to find employment? In a word, "No," according to a <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/business/21679214-punishing-work-culture-gradually-being-relaxed-loosening-their-ties?fsrc=email_to_a_friend" target="_blank">human resources professional</a> in a leading Korean company. The now famous business entrepreneur was a college drop-out. He couldn't have presented credentials from one of Korea's top three universities, or any Korean college for that matter. That fact alone would have "deep-sixed" his application to the employment wastebasket.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-663PsQJmQ1E/VoIIj44QkiI/AAAAAAAABaw/0xq9OGJ4BGE/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-663PsQJmQ1E/VoIIj44QkiI/AAAAAAAABaw/0xq9OGJ4BGE/s400/images.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Would Steve Jobs be able to find employment in Korea's current</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today, Korea's economy and social structure are facing <a href="http://skills.oecd.org/developskills/documents/Korea_Diagnostic_Report.pdf" target="_blank">rising income inequality and high levels of relative poverty</a>. A significant portion of the labor force occupies precarious jobs, earn relatively low wages, and remain stuck in tenuous economic straits that often derail them for their entire careers. Gazing at these troubling conditions, only 14% of Korean companies believe that their existing education system is suitable for fostering the creative talent they need to sustain their companies. According to a <a href="http://skills.oecd.org/developskills/documents/Korea_Diagnostic_Report.pdf" target="_blank">recent OECD report</a>, the current Korean education system must be balanced with greater attention to fostering creativity and entrepreneurial skills-widely seen as the essential ingredients of a thriving business climate, if Korea's economy is to regain its once globally recognized vitality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Korea's university classrooms have far too long been <a href="http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3009146" target="_blank">spaces devoid of discussion</a>. There is however a significant bright spot in this otherwise disconcerting landscape. A teaching and learning approach, vastly different from the traditional lecture model that is so widely entrenched in Korean academia, is taking root in a handful of Korean universities. One of the leaders in this effort is <a href="http://www.kaist.edu/html/en/index.html" target="_blank">KAIST University</a> in Daejon, a school increasingly seen as perhaps the best university in Korea. The program, known as <a href="http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3009146" target="_blank">Education 3.0</a>, is being offered in 100 ongoing classes, classes that require professors <u>not</u> to give lectures during their classes.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LgU0CF8-oPg/VoILx1BRd_I/AAAAAAAABbI/xgHjBi2jGTA/s1600/20121015000382_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LgU0CF8-oPg/VoILx1BRd_I/AAAAAAAABbI/xgHjBi2jGTA/s400/20121015000382_0.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f1f1f1; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">KAIST students engage in a group discussion under its Education 3.0 program. (KAIST)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Teachers must shift from their traditional role as content experts in the classroom and become more like facilitators or symphony conductors. Students read content and view relevant media prior to class meetings and use class time for discussions, problem-solving, teamwork and projects. Many classrooms have been redesigned to support such engagement with round tables and glass walls suitable for posting ideas, solving problems and encouraging teamwork. This approach to education teaches students the kinds of skills we now know are essential for building a more creative and entrepreneurial economy. This represents nothing less than a transformative shift in Korean education. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This approach to training and learning has long since been popular in both U.S. universities and corporate environments. Witness <a href="http://evergreen.edu/" target="_blank">The Evergreen State College</a>, part of Washington State's university system. According to its website, "The Evergreen State College has earned a national reputation for innovative teaching and academic excellence." Furthermore, its highly interactive classes encourage students "to experience a better way of learning with processes that explore the many sides of a theme or topic." Corporations too have invested in training that targets the kinds of skill development that increases productivity for both current and future jobs of their employees.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m57-utI8760/VoILECNWXlI/AAAAAAAABa8/IYmKB2snR50/s1600/civic-engagement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m57-utI8760/VoILECNWXlI/AAAAAAAABa8/IYmKB2snR50/s400/civic-engagement.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Confucian philosophy based on the importance of family and social structure continues to hold sway in South Korean businesses. This means acquiescence to the boss at all costs, perhaps best (or worst) exemplified when employees stay late at work because leaving before their higher ups depart is often seen as betrayal to the boss and the organization. Employees feel the frustration of this work norm and organizations see lower productivity on their bottom line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">While Korea's tradition and culture helped power it to prosperity, sticking to old ways in both its classrooms and corporations is unlikely to help it moving forward. Korea must change and create new models in its education and business sectors. A "Korea 3.0" will not be easy, but it will be necessary if Korea is to return to its heady days of economic leadership. The DNA for Korea's future economy will rely less on <i>which universities</i> its youth graduate from, and more on <i>what skills</i> they've learned along the way.</span><br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-66426237486656411262015-10-23T05:47:00.002-07:002015-10-23T05:47:39.580-07:00Expats and Islanders: Adrift From the Mainland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I_WxtWymmLo/VillheWBCVI/AAAAAAAABZM/-13eQfMb1PI/s1600/Man%2BMade_Bench_Bench_22428_detail_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I_WxtWymmLo/VillheWBCVI/AAAAAAAABZM/-13eQfMb1PI/s400/Man%2BMade_Bench_Bench_22428_detail_thumb.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Expats and islanders, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, have a great deal in common. Both are creatures of intention. One rarely becomes an islander, or an expat, by accident. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The mainland. It's always there, off on the horizon. Separating itself from both the expat and the islander by space, time and distance. There's an expanse of water, often a strong current, and perhaps a gale. Sometimes, the whole of it is awash in fog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Expats and islanders can gauge their reality by the mainland's watch: its politics; expectations; its often failing ideals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Both live on islands of their own making. It's a foreground/background kind of thing. Expats and islanders. Each adrift from the mainland. Sometimes connected by a withered tether. Sometimes, not at all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Islanders are a strange lot. Romantics. Artists. Iconoclasts. Naysayers. Hardier for sure, than their mainland brethren.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Expats too, strangers in a strange land, chiseled by the callused hands of culture. Adrift from the mainland. Each changing, often in different directions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Expats and islanders. What is it that they seek? What have they found? Off in the distance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">- - -</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Steve Schuit</b> is both an islander and an expat. He's lived on Peaks Island, Maine (975 acres, 3 miles out to sea) since 1985. Recently, he's been experiencing life as an expat teaching in South Korea. </span><br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-55521029720091100022015-09-14T01:11:00.003-07:002015-09-14T01:47:00.320-07:00Walking Japan's Nakasendo Trail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Decisions. Sometimes they are as small as switching
from one gear to another while you're riding your bike. Or deciding where to
plant your feet while trying to avoid puddles on a rainy day. As a traveler
though, decisions can make a world of difference. They can even change your
life.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">My decision to walk Japan's Nakasendo Trail opened
new worlds to me. I discovered a Japan I had never experienced, one markedly
different from the Japanese cities like Kyoto and Osaka I was familiar with.
But the solitude of the Nakasendo, or Central Path, as it’s translated, gave me
the time and space to rediscover something else, myself.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The trail beckons. Near the beginning of the trail in Magome</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ironically, I found my way to the Nakasendo during
a board game night with some friends. I was randomly assigned to "that
table over there" where the game <i>Tokaido</i> was spread across a card table.
Players take turns walking their way across medieval Japan, stopping at inns,
restaurants and hot springs acquiring points. The idea of an excursion across
ancient Japan grew on me. I did some research, discovering there were actually
a number of these trails crisscrossing Japan.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">I settled on <a href="http://www.okujapan.com/self-guided-walking/nakasendo/index_5days.php" target="_blank">Oku Japan</a>, a company that specializes
in self-guided tours. After designing a hiking itinerary matching my interests,
I left Korea for my 8-day hiking adventure in Japan.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7P3QspoyQmg/VfZ65O-Ac8I/AAAAAAAABWg/Yfp54pnLCKA/s1600/nakasendo_trail.jpg.pagespeed.ce.5n8SogsxNd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7P3QspoyQmg/VfZ65O-Ac8I/AAAAAAAABWg/Yfp54pnLCKA/s400/nakasendo_trail.jpg.pagespeed.ce.5n8SogsxNd.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Nakasendo Trail weaves its way from southwestern Honshu <br />northeasterly to Tokyo</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Imagine a full day of hiking along quiet, verdant
forest trails. You arrive at your Japanese inn sometime in late afternoon.
Escorted to your room, you are given a robe and directions to the inn's hot
tub. The hot water, piped in from a local hot spring, inevitably melts away
your cares and any soreness from the day's hike. "This is the life,"
you tell yourself, knowing full well that a heavenly Japanese dinner and
comfortable night on the tatami floor still await you.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">For fans of Japanese food, the dishes prepared with
pride in the inns along the Nakasendo are mesmerizing to the palate. I am reminded
of the lyrics from the Eurythmics’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeMFqkcPYcg" target="_blank">hit,</a> "Sweet dreams are made of this.
Who am I to disagree? I travel the world and the seven seas. Everybody's
looking for something." Well, this was exactly what I was looking for.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">As promised by Oku Japan, a package was awaiting me
at the front desk when I checked into my Kyoto hotel. It contained everything I
needed for the walk: maps, train tickets and information guides. After
leisurely exploring Kyoto for two days, I took my first train to Nakatsugawa, then
a bus to Magome, the final stop on the line. The setting greeted me like an old
friend. I had seen this medieval Japanese street-scene motif in many photos. A
wide-stoned path that meandered gently up hill welcomed me. I abided letting
myself slip into the moist air, the low clouds and the mysteriousness of the
Nakasendo Trail.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NTcMmcm8DGA/VfZ9j1-FB-I/AAAAAAAABW4/lVT8zU46FrY/s1600/IMG_1392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NTcMmcm8DGA/VfZ9j1-FB-I/AAAAAAAABW4/lVT8zU46FrY/s400/IMG_1392.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Stone path and view of valley below</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">July, they tell me, is a quiet time on the trail.
It’s often rainy and children are still in school. That explains why I had the
trail largely to myself. Other than meeting a father and son from Seattle on
that first rainy day, the trail was my own. Well, that is, if you don’t count
the brown bears and monkeys that inhabit the mountains along the trails. I
didn’t see either species, although bear bells dotted the trail. Not one for
surprise bear encounters, I rang each bell vigorously, then loudly sang
favorite tunes from elementary school as I walked along the trail. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2bs2aTKv5IU/VfZ-QEjsJVI/AAAAAAAABXA/uFPg0rcmaEQ/s1600/IMG_1379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2bs2aTKv5IU/VfZ-QEjsJVI/AAAAAAAABXA/uFPg0rcmaEQ/s400/IMG_1379.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bear bells like this one were along much of the trail</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">That first day’s final destination was the magical
town of Tsumago. Its curved main street, lined on both sides by dark 2-story
wooden buildings, was quiet and seductive. I found my inn at the far end and I
was the only guest.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kgZP4yobGJ0/VfZ8TdI-qYI/AAAAAAAABWs/mvWxurfXiSI/s1600/DSC_7397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kgZP4yobGJ0/VfZ8TdI-qYI/AAAAAAAABWs/mvWxurfXiSI/s400/DSC_7397.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">My host at Matsushiroya Minshuku in Tsumago</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">The trails provide contemplative space. Each hill,
each bend reveals a secret offering, an inscribed stone, a view, a shrine, a story
from its past. They complimented the almost fictional characters I met at night
at the inns. The staff, inn keepers, and servers, most of whom were dressed in
traditional Japanese attire, were like characters in a play I was part of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I needed only to let go and be carried away
by the happenings as they unfolded.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K75_s_N8n2Y/VfaA3z7WxHI/AAAAAAAABXc/L0Y35yrkSOI/s1600/IMG_1410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K75_s_N8n2Y/VfaA3z7WxHI/AAAAAAAABXc/L0Y35yrkSOI/s400/IMG_1410.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mr. Goto, one of the unique people I met along the way</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Each day’s destination Nagiso & Nojiri,
Yabuhara, Narai, Hirasawa, Karuizawa and Yokokawa, in turn, revealed its own
unique personality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could almost sense
the excitement of the entertainers and merchants who once walked the trail. The
low clouds that clung to the mountains added a sense of mystery, reminiscent,
no doubt, of the dangers that confronted those early travelers from the
Japanese royal class as they walked the trail town to town during the 16<sup>th</sup>
century hoping to avoid encounters with bandits and thieves.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MGiEutYwGbc/VfZ_ZcfcG5I/AAAAAAAABXM/LgvmQtRvYOI/s1600/DSC_7424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MGiEutYwGbc/VfZ_ZcfcG5I/AAAAAAAABXM/LgvmQtRvYOI/s400/DSC_7424.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Iseya Inn in Narai</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">My encounters along the Nakasendo were more magical. Walking the Nakasendo-a good decision indeed!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-46Tyw6TVees/VfaAVzDRFrI/AAAAAAAABXU/fWnmQjVMef4/s1600/DSC_7462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-46Tyw6TVees/VfaAVzDRFrI/AAAAAAAABXU/fWnmQjVMef4/s400/DSC_7462.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Isolated stretch along the Nakasendo</span></td></tr>
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-89465309572780507542015-09-05T18:09:00.002-07:002015-09-05T22:19:58.867-07:00The Old Korean Inn<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">Two zany ladies in their mid-thirties ran the place, an otherwise no-frills inn with five or six rooms</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tp0v7B6r-Sc/VeuGxpxYdbI/AAAAAAAABVk/CsPzLjQxPVk/s1600/630364S_630364S-R1-E009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tp0v7B6r-Sc/VeuGxpxYdbI/AAAAAAAABVk/CsPzLjQxPVk/s320/630364S_630364S-R1-E009.jpg" width="216" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nearly always smiling, the ladies of</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">my Korean inn</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">and an austere garden. Their antics created an oasis for me over the course of a year, down </span><span style="font-size: large;">an otherwise unremarkable street about three blocks from my university.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I was greeted with a knock on my door early each morning. Ms. Han or Ms. Bae would bring my breakfast on a tray-usually rice in a metal bowl, soup, fish and several side dishes of vegetables or black beans along with some barley tea. Before I left for the day, they always would ask if I would be home for supper. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My days there were strands of solace in place and time. The world inside the heavy metal gate was warm and comforting. On cold days the heated floors drew me in like a toasty pouch. I washed at the outside faucet. Hot water was only a dream.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As with any stage, there was a cast of unusual characters. The cute little girl who brightened my day like a wild spring flower. Friends of Ms. Bae or Ms. Han who came to share gossip and play Korean card games. There were, of course, other guests too, though they brought an itinerant sense to the place, coming and going, fleeting glimpses of life at the inn.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QABJBkdaBLA/VeuHj2uRcsI/AAAAAAAABVs/vpg0dPB8E7Y/s400/IMAG0085.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The sign says "yo-gwan," Korean for inn. I washed</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">here, along with other guests.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">In those days inns were almost everywhere in Korea. Their rooms were on one or two floors in layer cake fashion, or if older style, off wooden verandas that surrounded quiet gardens with tiny ponds. Shoes outside a door would trip your imagination about the guests inside and their stories.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Like the old Korean coffee shops and public baths, these inns have all but disappeared. They were the anchors of Korean neighborhoods, places of tradition and social sanctity. The winds of change have swept through Korean society leaving the likes of motels and Starbucks in their place. My old inn? The inn, the street, the entire neighborhood, were razed by bulldozers years ago. Now only memories remain, entrusted to me and perhaps to a little girl with a smile.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-42581419559840627792015-08-31T01:41:00.002-07:002015-08-31T01:43:57.071-07:00Back in The Saddle Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5F-O_19lSI" target="_blank">I'm back in the saddle again</a></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Out where a friend is a friend</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Where the longhorn cattle feed</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">On the lowly gypsum weed</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Back in the saddle again</span></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FedkMIrEq1I/VeP95RvOK5I/AAAAAAAABVI/x-a9XVqV270/s1600/jack-sorenson-sun-burn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FedkMIrEq1I/VeP95RvOK5I/AAAAAAAABVI/x-a9XVqV270/s400/jack-sorenson-sun-burn.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Painting by Jack Sorenson</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Another precious summer gives way to the inevitable sirens of autumn. Korea's hottest and most humid days are behind us now. With a latitude similar to that from Boston to Washington, D.C. in the U.S., Korea's days now grow shorter and cooler.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For me, this means returning to Korea and "saddling up" once again to teach some of Korea's aspiring college students. Learning English, however, isn't the only thing on their plates. They face the challenges of <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/01/with-jobs-scarce-south-korean-students-linger-on-campus.html" target="_blank">high unemployment</a> (over 30%) when they graduate, unrelenting social pressures to get one of the relatively few high status positions in one of the country's conglomerates, and cultural problems that include disconcertingly<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/countries-drink-most-liquor-map-2014-2" target="_blank"> high per capita alcohol consumption</a> and off-the-chart <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_South_Korea" target="_blank">suicide rates.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Riding' the range once more</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Totin' my old 44</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Where you sleep out every night</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">And the only law is right</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Back in the saddle again</span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As usual, the larger context features the ongoing conflict between North and South Korea. This summer's version resembles the battle of the bands with each side literally turning up the volume of propaganda they blast across the DMZ via massive speakers. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-08t8Ah-KcMY/VeP898IXTkI/AAAAAAAABVA/mglX9fikhrc/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-08t8Ah-KcMY/VeP898IXTkI/AAAAAAAABVA/mglX9fikhrc/s320/Unknown.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Powerful South Korean speaker systems<br />
broadcast propaganda up to 12 miles, annoying the heck<br />
out of North Korean officials</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">The North somehow felt it necessary to add a few more land mines to what is already the world's deadliest corridor--land mines which tore the legs off several South Korean soldiers. Somehow this mess apparently translated to a willingness on both sides to discuss cross-border family reunions--a process which was discontinued several years ago. We'll see.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Friends and family back home often see my return to Korea as something ominous given the aforementioned ongoing conflict between North and South Korea. In turn, I wonder how they neglect to see our own country's gun violence as even more disturbing than the antics between the Koreas. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Always entertaining is the banter on social media here amongst members of Korea's English teaching community. Some complain that they are treated like second-class citizens by their Korean administrators. Others denigrade the Korean education system and swear this will be the last semester they teach here. The silent majority of expats seems to appreciate their role and quietly go on with their mission of making a difference in the lives of their students. Having lived here a lifetime ago, I tend to find the vitriol both familiar and mildly annoying. I think I'll don my cowboy hat, hop back in the saddle, and simply go my way into the Korean sunset.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Whoopi-ty-aye-oh</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Rockin' to and fro</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Back in the saddle again</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Whoopi-ty-aye-yay</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">I go my way</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5F-O_19lSI" target="_blank">Back in the saddle again</a></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Back in the Saddle Again, lyrics by Gene Autry</span></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-51012329245714041162015-06-27T08:16:00.000-07:002015-06-28T06:37:04.546-07:00A Cardinal Rule<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<li class="g" style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rc" data-hveid="30" style="position: relative;">
<h3 class="r" style="margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">This is not a blog post about bagels, although it could be. And it's beside the fact that you cannot find an authentic bagel in South Korea. But, truth be told, I am a sucker for a good bagel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SMu4-GyOfaM/VY4nPfCWKOI/AAAAAAAABR0/gNe0hTd9j8I/s1600/bagels-ezraw_450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="167" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SMu4-GyOfaM/VY4nPfCWKOI/AAAAAAAABR0/gNe0hTd9j8I/s320/bagels-ezraw_450.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Real bagels</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 1.2; white-space: nowrap;">Recently, <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/what-makes-a-good-bagel-bad-bagel-kenji-opinion-untoasted.html" target="_blank">an article about bagels</a> </span><span style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">caught</span><span style="line-height: 1.2; white-space: nowrap;"> my </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 1.2; white-space: nowrap;">eye. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.2;">The author was searching for the best bagel in </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2;">San Francisco. Suddenly, he took a literary side trip and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2;">claimed that the best bagels anywhere could be found in New York City and Montreal. Having eaten remarkable </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">bagel</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2;">s in both those cities, I supposed that case could be made. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Then came his extraordinary proclamation, <i>"If there is one golden rule for good bagels," he said, "It is this: A good bagel shall not require toasting. All else follows."</i></span></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">That may ignite an interesting debate and perhaps it should. But as I said, this post is not about bagels. It is (as the title suggests) about rules. Not just any rules, but Cardinal rules. A Cardinal rule, according to the <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/" target="_blank">Urban Dictionary</a>, "is a substantial rule that is in place in a situation or organization. And it must not be broken anytime." OK, that's pretty darn clear.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">Now one situation that every expat here in Korea has observed is Koreans wearing attire with English inscriptions. Much has been said about this phenomenon. Certainly, much has been seen. But one component has heretofore been lacking. That is, a relevant Cardinal rule to accompany this dynamic. For nearly every time that I have asked one of my students or a passerby on the street about the meaning of the English inscription on their gear, the response has almost always been the same, <i>"I have no idea what it means. I just like the style."</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 19px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">OK, time for the minting of the applicable Cardinal rule: "No person anywhere should ever wear an article of clothing without knowing the meaning of the inscription that may be contained therein." This could easily be </span><span style="line-height: 19px;">hazardous to your halo, or at least to your ego.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">Sometimes the infractions are harmless enough.</span></div>
</div>
</li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Other times however, people may be pushing the boundary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once, a coed in one of my classes was wearing a very attractive sweater. I walked over to observe how she was doing during an in-class assignment. Looking at what she was writing from the row behind, I noticed that the words "Fuck Me" were woven into the top part of her shoulders. Whoa, I thought. "Excuse me, do you know what's written on your shoulders?" I asked. "No professor," she answered coyly. "What's written on that sweater is not appropriate. Please do not wear it again to my class."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sometimes the inscriptions are a stretch. Is she talking figuratively? Or, is this about pizza?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> What?!?</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Can you repeat that?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">OK, sometimes I must admit, these musings might make sense.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well, I am sorry to hear this.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ah students, and Korean friends, my heed I know you will not take. "Style" points in Korea, trump any advice I may offer. I understand full well. Nonetheless, I repeat my Cardinal rule: <span style="line-height: 19px;">"No person anywhere should ever wear an article of clothing without knowing the meaning of the inscription that may be contained therein."</span><span style="line-height: 19px;"> The risk you take is yours alone.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I am reminded of that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc4g1glBT8U" target="_blank">great scene</a> from the movie classic, "Ghostbusters." Sigourney Weaver, possessed by the devil, is coming on to ghostbuster, Bill Murray. He halfheartedly pushes her away. "I have a rule," he says, "never to get involved with possessed people." She ignores Murray and continues her aggressive pursuit. Murray reconsiders. "Well, maybe it's more of a guideline than a rule." Rules vs. guidelines, never to be confused again.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">Now for the rest of you, g</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">uidelines aside, what Cardinal rules help you meander your way through your life? What's a Cardinal rule you might offer the masses? Bill Murray is curious. So are we. Bagel anyone?</span></span><br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-62674589695355357692015-06-19T02:32:00.001-07:002015-06-19T02:32:15.280-07:00Expats<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Expats know this place...living where language and culture are often confounding. The days can be wonderful, filled with rich memories in the making. But the future always looms.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Expats here can be found plying social media with complaints and criticism born largely, I think, from the frustration of living and working in Korea. English teachers and professors, easily the largest expat contingent, sometimes chide their schools online for their hiring practices and overall treatment of foreign teachers. "It's not just Korea," a friend assured me. "Expats around the world do the same thing. It's a common phenomenon."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I found myself growing annoyed with what seemed to me to be a kind of xenophobia in reverse; a group of expats who more than occasionally give voice to what is ailing Korea, what is broken, dysfunctional, and needs to change. Their lives, they believe, would be easier, if only they were treated more fairly, more like what constitutes propriety in their home countries.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In fact, satisfaction at work is key to a positive expat experience. English teachers spend many hours in the classroom or in other locations in their respective schools. If Korean schools, whether hagwons (language institutes), public schools, private schools or universities, were inclined to better understand and respond to the needs of expat teachers, many expat concerns and grievances could be ameliorated. Problems both in and out of the workplace can distract expat teachers, adversely effecting their productivity, and contributing to shorter stays in Korea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reality of course, is that most of us are not citizens here. We are instead simply guests, working stiffs, doing the job, contract by contract, at the discretion of our employers and on the receiving end of government policies here. We are not Koreans and we are treated differently. And we are, almost always, treated "less than" native Koreans.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Living abroad requires certain measures of self-reliance and strength of character. Each expat location has its own unique idiosyncracies. Here in Korea, while certainly less of an issue than 40 years ago, being stared at is still commonplace. Korea is also infamous for its crazy drivers who ignore driving laws and seem to abhor the very idea of pedestrians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Denmark, currently home to more than 41,500 expats, regularly undertakes research on the unique experience of expats in that country. The country is genuinely concerned with the expat experience. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Denmark, it seems, wants to leverage the added value that expats bring to their economy. In sponsoring </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.oxfordresearch.dk/media/47318/451901-THEEXPATSTUDY2010.pdf" target="_blank">"The Expat Study,"</a> </i>ongoing research authorized by the Danish government, it recognizes that "companies, research institutions, and nations must search for competence and knowledge world-wide if they are to gain or maintain a competitive advantage." The research findings include what expats there generally find positive and negative. Expats, for example, often find Danes "closed-off and difficult to form friendships with." On the other hand, they find the good work-life balance in Denmark to be quite positive. Positive and negative experiences, it appears, are inevitable.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For most expats there is that unavoidable "looming future." After living in China for many years and marrying a Chinese woman, Mark Kitto, then 46, one of the best-known foreign entrepreneurs in China at the time and fluent in Chinese, wrote about his expat experience in an essay, <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/15/world/asia/a-disillusioned-briton-bids-farewell-to-china.html?smid=fb-share" target="_blank">"You'll Never Be Chinese."</a></i> As an expat, he fell out of love with China as his fears about the increasing pollution in northern China, water shortages and issues around food safety brought his disenchantment to a head. Moreover, as his young children got older, he wanted to give them what he felt was "a decent education."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Expats, I think, can sometimes become afflicted with a self-inflated superiority. We can lose our humility and open-mindedness. I know this well and personally. Having lived here in Korea from 1973-1975, I experienced my share of challenges and frustrations. In that era before the internet and computers, getting a letter home to family and hearing back took, at best, 4-6 weeks. Sitting on a western style toilet was a dream. Just eating a hamburger or pizza, our go-to fast foods, was not possible, unless you had a close buddy on one of the military bases. There were nightly curfews that required you to be off the streets by 9:30PM. In an environment with few westerners, young children regularly ridiculed my beard calling me "monkey." I left Korea in 1975 worn out, frustrated and bitter, swearing I would never return.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today, Korea has an expat community of more than <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreigners_in_Korea" target="_blank">1.5 million.</a> We are clearly helping Korea satisfy their need for specialized workers, most usually in the area of English education, a critical competency for Korea's continuing leadership in the global marketplace. Like Denmark, there is an unmistakeable opportunity for Korea to better understand and respond to the needs of its expat community. But like it or not, we remain ambassadors from our home countries. Our behavior, positive or negative, reflects on the expat community overall. While there is certainly no shortage of things to complain about, at the end of the day, it is worth recalling, most of us are here as guests. "For, after all, put it as we may to ourselves," author Rebecca Harding Davis offered, "we are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread."</span><br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-36286990822792250852015-05-07T06:49:00.001-07:002015-05-10T02:36:34.966-07:00My Lunch With Ms. Jung<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">From a short distance the stand of trees all look similar. The wind stirs and the young spring leaves all rustle in unison. It seems like one voice. But get closer. You can make out a lilac tree hidden from view. It has those lovely purple flowers. And that unique scent finds its way to you. It causes you to say, "My goodness, you are lovely aren't you?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Somehow Jung Su Min's* presence in the Daegu area found its way to me. She had briefly been a student at an area English academy. Then, another area professor told me about her and he helped me track her down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Su Min, 30, recently escaped from North Korea. She told no one about her plans. She left a note for her mother. Her father, working for an administrative branch of the DRPK army, died shortly after her departure. I had many questions, but I knew I had to put them aside for the moment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">She agreed to meet me for lunch. Students were coming and going, strutting their latest styles, distracted by their smart phones. I did notice one woman sitting alone off to the side on a bench under some trees. She was wearing a long billowy white dress and red heels looking a bit like she stepped out of the 1980s. In a sense, she had.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We walked together through a forested area near her campus. We went to a restaurant off the beaten path, one where we could talk without the jarring din of Korean music.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Her face held many stories. It spoke too, of beautiful simplicity. Her make-up was minimal. Her face was round, like many of the faces I saw during my visit to North Korea last summer. As the side dishes were brought to us, she moved the small bowls and plates around the table. Her hands looked strong, her fingers plain and rough, utilitarian, almost ignored--far different from the manicured, attention-seeking fingers of most female Korean students.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Su Min, in her steady but basic English, told me that the route of her escape took her through China, Laos, and then, into Thailand. There she found access to South Korea. I imagined that she had gone through a lengthy screening and interrogation process here, but she said it only consisted of completing forms for several hours. Where do you live I asked? How do you survive financially? What do you do? Questions asked in rapid succession.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_defectors" target="_blank">Thailand</a> is generally the next-to-last destination of North Koreans escaping through China. Many Koreans surrender themselves to the Thai police soon after they across the border. Over the past ten years <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_defectors" target="_blank">the number of North Korean defectors</a> coming to South Korea has averaged 2,170 a year, 70% of them women.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I quickly realized I wasn't "just" sitting with a North Korean defector. I was having lunch with a woman of clarity, of strong convictions. She is a woman fully 10 years older than most of my students. Unlike those students, she is not distracted by the lure of commercials, the incessant marketing and the expensive brands that intoxicate most young Koreans. She was here to learn, to gain knowledge, fully appreciative of her opportunities, of her new found freedom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Su Min lives alone, she told me. She earns her income. The South Korean government pays her to speak, to tell her story at gatherings of soldiers and at prisons. While the government has helped her find her way to her university, she lacks many of the resources her South Korean counterparts typically use to jumpstart their careers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">South Koreans traditionally rely on three sets of "connections" to get access to jobs and secure their careers: <i>Hyak yun</i> (학연), school contacts, <i>Jee yun</i> (지연), social and geographical contacts, and <i>Hyul yun</i> (혈연), family and generational contacts. Su Min, having left her family in North Korea, by definition, starts at a severe disadvantage in terms of all three types of connections. So, she wants to focus on her studies at the university and to gain as much knowledge as possible as she begins her career and life journey in South Korea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">She is able to be in occasional touch with her mother; a complicated process involving Chinese cell phone connections. Surprisingly, she is able to provide her mother with financial support. She saves up money she earns and though secretive and expensive connections through China, her cash finds its way to her mom. The process, however, is very expensive. She pays a 30% fee for each transaction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I asked Su Min about her future plans. I expected to hear some vague ideas about "fitting in" and quietly assimilating into society here in South Korea. But Su Min looked at me confidently and told me she has both 5 and 10 year plans. "I want to be a politician here in South Korea," she told me proudly. I was impressed with her assertiveness, but surely, her courage and mettle is what helped her to find her way safely out of North Korea, across China and ultimately, to the seat across the table from me here in South Korea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I had one last question, one that has gnawed at me through the many books and articles I have read about North Korea. It had puzzled me during my conversations with both North Koreans and the people who do business there. I asked Su Min if most North Koreans know the basic truth, that their leaders are fabricating reality, and that there is a wider world of freedom existing just past their border. "Yes, they know," she said. "But it's too dangerous to speak about it."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As we walked back to her campus it became clear to me just how special this young woman was. There are indeed many trees in the forest all rustling in unison. But this young lady, I thought, answers to a breeze all her own. This one, I said to myself, is going to make history. </span><br />
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Author's note: *Jung Su Min is not her real name. Her name was changed to protect her privacy. Other aspects of her story, for example her major and her university, have been omitted to help preserve her anonymity.<br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-61217900250095060752015-04-13T18:05:00.000-07:002015-04-14T17:44:55.980-07:00The Road Home: Daegu's Enchanting Kim Kwang-seok Walking Street<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">Like a musical rose poking its head up through the cement caverns of the city, Daegu's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IdQYPBBmbw" target="_blank">Kim Kwang-seok Road neighborhood</a> intoxicates and surprises its guests. Sprouting between the Kyeungbuk University Hospital and Daegu Bank subway stops on the Green Line, the area is named in memory of one of Korea's most famous musicians, folk-singer, Kim Kwang-seok, a native of Daegu, whose songs are still highly popular with Koreans years after his tragic passing in 1996.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HGDZGwMcD74/VSxX4suTUzI/AAAAAAAABL8/s47PKs_glJA/s1600/DSC_6909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HGDZGwMcD74/VSxX4suTUzI/AAAAAAAABL8/s47PKs_glJA/s1600/DSC_6909.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A visitor poses next to a likeness of musician and song writer<br />Kim Kwang-seok </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The area, approximately 25 or so square blocks, is undergoing an artistic and culinary renaissance in one of Daegu's older neighbor-hoods. Hip coffee shops, restaurants, art studios and other enterprises dot the landscape. Wanderers are rewarded at every turn along quaint side streets by sights, sounds and the smell of fresh food. The road ("kil" in Korean) is nestled between the river and an old Korean market and residential area. They melt seamlessly together to create a walking experience highly pleasing to the senses.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oKNetiQ1fNo/VSxY7XWXaqI/AAAAAAAABME/1HhktlMcxsU/s1600/DSC_6931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oKNetiQ1fNo/VSxY7XWXaqI/AAAAAAAABME/1HhktlMcxsU/s1600/DSC_6931.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Having fun: interactive "stations" dot the neighborhood</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We stumbled upon the neighborhood when friends told us about their new take-out joint, <a href="http://chiliboy.co/?p=54" target="_blank">Chiliboy</a>, located along a side street. Their bright red and white stall serves up great sandwiches and chili. We've been going back to the area on a regular basis for art shows and to discover things we may have missed on previous visits.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cLIzrZT4Joc/VSxaScmsnKI/AAAAAAAABMY/lYlzvaOEmnE/s1600/DSC_6921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cLIzrZT4Joc/VSxaScmsnKI/AAAAAAAABMY/lYlzvaOEmnE/s1600/DSC_6921.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pleasant surprises along the walking street</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Entrances to the neighborhood use art to remind you of its namesake, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Kwang-seok" target="_blank">Kim Kwang-seok</a> (1964-96), whose guitar and harmonica playing found its way into the hearts of Koreans nationwide. Traversing along the area's main walking street you encounter a number of interactive exhibits that engage and entertain. At the center is a pleasant sun-filled amphitheater for performers. During our visits the sounds of guitar playing and singing could be heard drifting over the walls, filling nearby alleys and sitting areas.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EBK_FASGHiQ/VSxZezFyCLI/AAAAAAAABMM/tpkVLdkCw0Q/s1600/DSC_6924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EBK_FASGHiQ/VSxZezFyCLI/AAAAAAAABMM/tpkVLdkCw0Q/s1600/DSC_6924.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Musician performing at the neighborhood's amphitheater</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The smiles of the business vendors and the cheerful displays of art, ceramics and trinkets make strolling there a joyful experience. It's somewhat like a playful oasis in the midst of Daegu's more typical tenor of hustle and bustle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Kim Kwang-seok Road is a special destination, a pleasant and celebratory reminder of the man and his music.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mXPaCNfZsHk/VSxbBGgzV3I/AAAAAAAABMg/GnCFqf70YLU/s1600/DSC_6925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mXPaCNfZsHk/VSxbBGgzV3I/AAAAAAAABMg/GnCFqf70YLU/s1600/DSC_6925.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">In memory of the man and his music</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Getting there:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nx6JrH-QXtQ/VSxfcuQwDOI/AAAAAAAABMs/0QyHkKqXBQ8/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nx6JrH-QXtQ/VSxfcuQwDOI/AAAAAAAABMs/0QyHkKqXBQ8/s1600/Slide1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Kim Kwang-seok Road neighborhood is located between the Kyungbook National University<br />Hospital and Daegu Bank subway stops on the Green Line and is a short walk from either.</span></td></tr>
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828796026298633269.post-13836016053776155342015-04-03T05:51:00.000-07:002015-04-17T04:12:19.554-07:00After The Cherry Blossoms<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">As small as it may be (it's the size of Indiana), Korea is a land filled with countless contradictions. There's a high tech edge to the place, with its nearly universal wireless access on the one hand, and its inability to provide simple, basic safety for the hundreds of student victims of the <a href="http://koreanbookends.blogspot.com/2014/05/koreas-safety-paralysis.html" target="_blank">Sewol Ferry Disaster</a>, on the other. There's the remarkable and clearly delineated respect shown to elders, teachers and parents here, and then, there's the unbelievable anarchy and terror of its roads, where caution and sensibility are thrown to the wind.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-518TFX2KV0E/VR6D-7k6LuI/AAAAAAAABKk/5qZM4awEn0I/s1600/IMG_1118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-518TFX2KV0E/VR6D-7k6LuI/AAAAAAAABKk/5qZM4awEn0I/s1600/IMG_1118.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Captivating cherry blossoms as far as the eye can see</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Korea is also the setting for an extravaganza each spring when cherry blossoms do their magical, short lived dance. Shades of pinks, drifting to near whites, mesmerize nearly all citizens here. I think everyone can find agreement on this topic; there is nothing quite as beguiling as cherry blossoms in spring. Yet their petals are soon set free, creating a glorious but fragile and fleeting light-colored carpet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And then, the remains of the day reveal yet another Korean contradiction. In nearly every nook and cranny: piles of trash. Walking around an otherwise scenic lake? Empty coffee cups on benches. Turning a corner in a pleasant residential neighborhood? Small mountains of trash adorn every intersection. Watching dozens of kids playing in a park? Shards of broken glass and spent cups from last night's revelers abound. Sadly, and in spite of every modern technology tool, Korea's streets are awash in trash.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A8ta5wBmtxA/VR6F4oaYQNI/AAAAAAAABKw/L0MeiEFrrCU/s1600/IMG_1131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A8ta5wBmtxA/VR6F4oaYQNI/AAAAAAAABKw/L0MeiEFrrCU/s1600/IMG_1131.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cherry blossom petals surround a pile of trash</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What pray tell is behind this offensive cultural phenomenon? Like the lag time between its technology prowess and its safety awareness, some might say that this highly developed country still hasn't given birth to a sense of environmental stewardship. Others would say that Korea infamously spoils its children, especially its sons, who have come to expect that their mothers will do everything for them. Got trash? Well then, just leave it there, someone else will come and clean up after you. Some observe, quite accurately, that there are few garbage containers to be found anywhere in this country. Communities have tried, Koreans claim, to place garbage receptacles in public places, but people overwhelm them with their own household trash as they seek to save money they would have to spend on their own surcharged garbage bags.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3q7sj8Udsv8/VR6IC4_RqMI/AAAAAAAABK8/DJ2YijvkL9M/s1600/AppleCoreTrash-276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3q7sj8Udsv8/VR6IC4_RqMI/AAAAAAAABK8/DJ2YijvkL9M/s1600/AppleCoreTrash-276.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Discouraging, if not dangerous, pile of trash adjacent to children's park</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As spring's cherished cherry blossoms come, and then, ever-too-quickly depart, we are left, sadly, with another, less glorious aspect of this country, its year-round, ubiquitous trash "bouquet." Korea, I think it's time to clean up your act.</span><br />
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Steve Schuithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09308284007934665635noreply@blogger.com2