봄학기: Spring Semester

Well, after a tumultuous drop-add of class shopping and fighting for what I want, I finally consigned myself to (what I hope will be) a more balanced set of classes for the new semester.

Mon/Wed morning: Korean Politics in Transition
This one is turning out to be more and more like the rest of the classes I took last semester, although initially it promised to focus more intently on economic policy and development. I find that the teacher knows a great deal of information but (
surprise surprise) can't take a stance and moreover can't seem to get the information out of herself in a concise or focused manner. It's very difficult to follow her rants and get anything meaningful out that I don't already know, but it will be the easy class.

Mon/Wed afternoon: North Korean Politics and Foreign Policy
The class is really interesting. There is no final, midterm, or paper due the entire semester. The professor is knowledgeable, speaks good English, and provides a great deal of primary document evidence to back up his rather unconventional approach to North Korea. Unfortunately the weekly quizzes are focused on entirely the wrong subject matter: minute definitions from every obscure corner of the reading. I did the reading, went to the extra guest lecture that was recommended, was the most participatory in class discussion, but if I don't remember the passing mention of "epistemic imperialism" in the text then there goes a quarter of my quiz grade. That's not an accurate assessment of knowledge at all. I can't take a semester of that crap.

Tues/Thurs morning: The United Nations and other International Organizations
Top notch class. The professor is knowledgeable, succinct, free thinking, and often leads class in a discussion oriented way. There is an interesting mix of people for a discussion class, including an ex-soldier of 5 years who was part of the initial force into Iraq and a Korean who spent 19 years of her life growing up in Saudi Arabia. Really cool. In the beginning, though I really liked the class, I felt that the atmosphere of the students was kind of apathetic (who can blame them with this education system) but now the class is fired up and the whole thing is great. The best part of my schedule.

Mon-Fri evening: Korean Language Lvl III
It's finally happened: the common language of the classroom is no longer English but Korean. There are 2 japanese girls and one Chinese guy who don't speak any English, and the Tues/Thurs reading teacher only speaks Korean and German (???). Therefore, if I'm struggling I don't have the luxury to speak English anymore. Sort of a good thing, or more like a blessing in disguise I suppose. On top of that, this is my second semester in the Yonsei Korean language program, so I have knowledge up to the very bottom of lvl III. In a sense, this is exactly where I need to be but unfortunately it's not that simple. Any incoming students (i.e. first semester in the Yonsei Korean language program) are more than likely somewhere in between the levels of the program, so the majority of the class is far better at Korean than I am. Another blessing in disguise? Perhaps. Maybe it just means that I have a lot of people to learn from, but between plenty of people who know more vocab, listen better, and speak faster plus the added stress of no English safety net, I feel pretty overwhlemed in Korean right now.

So that's the schedule so far. There's always the myriad of private students as well, moving in and out, and then plenty of interesting reading to keep me going in my spare time. Also discovering the more-humdrum-than-Seinfeld humor of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and between all that I keep pretty busy. Midterms not coming up until late April, so it's coasting time!

Just past the halfway mark

Well, 7 months have come and gone here in Korea, and I guess it's time for another evaluation of my experience. A "report card," if you will. (you will.)

Things I Miss
Food: Although my craving for real cheese has been temporarily abated by the generous and thoughtful birthday gift of fine Spanish cheeses from my friends back home (you know who you are, you guys rock!), I find that new craving doors are opened weekly. It started with the Reuben. I began wondering if I could find rye bread and corned beef and Swiss cheese if I went to a swanky enough grocery store. Then I started thinking about potatoes and all their manifestations over recent months. Then it was a sort of constant desire for salads that are more than just shredded cabbage and dressing. Then it sprung out into pork chops and green beans and Mexican foods and gyros until now I just consign myself to never ever thinking about American cuisine for sake of sparing myself the hunger and not drooling all over my clothes.

Critical Thinking: This one took me quite a while to pinpoint, but critical thinking skills here are few and far between. It turns out that the Korean idea of critical thinking is actually just saying "Well, each side of the argument has good points and bad points," then pat yourself on the back and call it a day. They are completely incapable of formulating an opinion, synthesizing ideas together, or taking a side on any issue. This is an indication of my overall dissatisfaction with the education system in general. There is an over emphasis on memorization of pointless facts and regurgitation of these, but when asked to think they all go deer-in-headlights.

Things I Will Miss
Food: Ironically enough, as much as I crave the occasional anything-cooked-in-an-oven, I know that leaving this country and its delicious food will be difficult. Everything is so cheap and accessible, but on top of that the food culture here is awesome. It's so oriented on sharing and community: often we eat from communal dishes in the middle of the table, it's unheard of to eat alone, and any social activity involves eating (be it sightseeing, karaoke, or bars).

Public Transportation: Some of the cheapest and most self-explanatory in the world, I haven't spent enough time raving about how much I love the PT here. For 80 cents to a dollar, I can get anywhere in the city and never have to worry about traffic or car accidents or driving at all. I can read or listen to music, be inebriated, even sleep and it's no problem at all. In addition, any transfer from subway to bus, subway to subway, or bus to subway is free of charge: you pay once up front and you're good to go until you reach your destination. I can even get to many locations on the outskirts of Seoul or in neighboring cities all with the Seoul Public Transportation service. It is so convenient and cheap, and unlike these Cali Kyopo girls I don't miss a car. What I will miss is a society where you don't need one.

Well, those are my brief musings about the world I'm leaving behind shortly. I guess I'll do a 3/4's review too, but by then it'll be way to real. For now it's back to what (seems like) will always be my life.

Chinese New Year

Unlike regular new year, Koreans celebrate Sullal much the same way they celebrate Thanksgiving: travel around the country, gather at grandma's house, have a feast. In addition to being a very family oriented time, Chinese new year is a very historical an cultural time here in Korea. This is the time where you can see the highest concentration of traditional performances and sundry people in hanbok, the "kimono" of Korea.

Many of these performances I had seen before, but it's just cool to see them happening and everyone else joining in, dancing and clapping and running in circles. I can not capture this celebration with words, so I wil instead capture it with picture and video.



Horseback Video


Dance Video


Tightrope Video

Videos

Thanks to the ease and convenience of YouTube (a Google owned service), I can now post our short vids on this simple and valuable Blogger (too, a Google owned service).

To Google, for being long-run minded, anti-advertising, anti-intellectual property law, creative, and all around involved in every innovative and commodious service on the internet.

Finally, you may all see and be amazed by the phenomenon which is live octopus (san nakji). David and I are now experienced in this terror inducing flurry of sensation for your gums and patella.

Trip to Korea

There's no measuring how relieving it was to touch down in Korea again. Even being on the plane (where services were provided in English, Japanese, and Korean) was comfortable in comparison to a world without any linguistic understanding. Airports are probably the most stressful places in the world, especially with all the extra hoops to jump through these days, but I was so 시원해 just to be back in what really has come to feel like home for me. If it felt like that in an airport, don't get me started on how exciting it was to be back in my neighborhood and then finally in my actual room. It's incredible that we humans become so attached to location, scenery, familiarity, and security when we think of that as so animal. Well just one week away taught me that it's an instinct we still haven't really shaken.

The majority of my week in Korea with David was in fact just a 7 day compression of the 6 months I've already spent here. Personally I didn't do but a few things that I hadn't already done yet, but it was a learning experience to do these things for a second time nonetheless. Of course the primary focus of our cultural exploration of Korea was food culture. When we weren't having meals, we were having snacks. David and I ate 4 or 5 times a day just to pack in all the innumerable different dishes that one needs to experience to understand the full "palette" (ㅋㅋㅋ) of the colorful Korean culinary canvas. (BAM! OUT ALLITERATE THAT!!!)
불고기
제육덥밥
떡볶이
라볶이
떡만두국
비빔밥
삼겹살
보신탕
김치찌개
돼장찌개
해물파전
김밥
닭갈비
순두부
LA갈비
산낙지
두유
꿀물
밀키스
식혜
누룽지
to name what I can remember for those of you that care.

I had for the first time since I've been here the much anticipated dog stew. I must say, not too shabby. First, I asked a Korean friend to search for a decent restaurant (since quality of dog preparation can vary dramatically...). Once we knew a name and general area, David and I headed out. Of course, by the look of the restaurant it wasn't really a restaurant at all. There were no other lit buildings on the alley where the sign was, nor was there really nothing recognizable in the area besides a parking garage. We went down a half flight of stairs into a quasi-basement dark and dingy restaurant that serves dog. Sketch? Oh yeah. I was starting to think it was a mistake, especially given that everyone in the restaurant looked at David and I as though we were school girls in a porn store. Not to say that they shouldn't have, because we definitely didn't match the characteristics of the clientele. Every single person in that restaurant was a middle aged Korean man. No exception. (Later I learned that dog stew is thought to give men some sort of sexual power)

After we were seated, I looked at the menu and found nothing named dog-anything. I began to suspect we must be in the wrong restaurant. For this reading of Steven and David in the supposed dog restaurant, the part of the waitress will be read by Joan Cusack, the part of Steven will be read by Bill Murray, and the part of David will be read by Silent Bob.

Waitress points to an adjacent table, assuming that Steven and David can not read the menu.
Waitress: "Would you like what they're eating?"
Steven: "What is it?"
Waitress: "Stew."
Steven: "What kind of stew?"
Waitress: "...Meat stew."
Steven (insistently): "What kind of meat???"
Waitress (under breath, noticeably reluctant): "그~~~um...dog meat."
Steven: "That's what I want!"

Clearly, they did not expect us to enjoy eating dog one bit. As skeptical looking as the restaurant first appeared, it was in fact very high quality meat (hence every other table full of middle aged men). I don't think that dog meat was any better than any other meat could have been, but since the restaurant was high quality any meat they served would have been just as good. Ultimately, it was very reminiscent of a rump roast or other stew style beef. Slightly fatty, very tender and striated.


Another new event for me was going to the top of NamSan tower, a tower placed on top of a mountain and over looking the entirety of Seoul. As per suggestion, we went up at night to get the full effect of the all the lit buildings and bridges and their reflections in the Han river. Unfortunately, our timing could not have been any worse. Paying no attention to the actual date, I foolishly overlooked the fact that it was in fact Valentine's day. As intolerable as Korean couples are on any other day of the year, it was ten times worse to be crammed in between all of them on a sky lift to the tower. While the lovers stared at the mesmerizing lights, David and I snapped a few pictures and quickly made our escape.


A last interesting event that I hadn't yet experienced was during our trip to Pusan. I had learned before about a series of islets at the mouth of the bay to Pusan harbor, named in Korean the "five or six islands." If this strikes anyone else as stupid at first glance you are not alone. I could look out and clearly count the five islands from anywhere in the city, but it seemed as if the whole of Pusan was as of yet unsure as to the number. It was only later when we took a ferry out to the islands and back that we learned one of the five islands splits into two at high tide, thus justifying the name five or six. Intriguing. Not to mention the ferry ride happened to coincide almost perfectly with sunset, affording some excellent shots back into the city.

Overall, Korea rules and Japan smells. 대한민국!!!!(짝짝~짝짝~짝)