Fulbright review2008

A PublicAtion oF

the KoreAn-AmericAn educAtionAl commission

the KoreA

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the KoreA Fulbright review

Publishing Advisor Mrs.JaiOkshiM,ExEcutivEDirEctOr

Front Cover JeJu Island stone HarubangbACk Cover CHeongyeCHeon lIgHts

ContACt FulbrightbuilDing 168-15YOMni-DOng,MapO-gu sEOul,121-874,sOuthkOrEa

tel (82-2)3275-4000FAx (82-2)3275-4028e-MAil ExEcutivE.assistant@Fulbright.Or.krWeb www.Fulbright.Or.kr

thEkOrEaFulbrightrEviEwispublishEDannuallYbYthEkOrEan-aMEricanEDucatiOnalcOMMissiOn

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Table of ContentsBraving the Cold ..........................................................................................4

Christine ArrozolKorean Lights ..............................................................................................6Becoming a K-Pop Fangirl ..........................................................................7

Anna CesaHigher Education and Regional Economic Development in South Korea: Considering NURI .......................................................................................9

Jennifer ChudyMountains .................................................................................................. 12Running in Korea ...................................................................................... 13

Emily DurhamA Year in Lists ............................................................................................ 15

Hillary EasonStone Grandfathers ................................................................................... 17

GlyptusAnn GriderWithout, and With ..................................................................................... 18

Nicole GuarinoSchool Life .................................................................................................20Why Not Teach Us Hwatu? ....................................................................... 21

Konrad LawsonTradition and Music in a Globalized Perspective .....................................25

Dr. Dan MargoliesHonoring Korean Independence Fighters at Seodaeumun Prison Seoul, Korea ..........................................................................................................30Order In, Take Out .................................................................................... 31

Janaki O’BrienWhat I Am to You and What You Are to Me .............................................33

Meghan RimelspachRevolution of the Table .............................................................................35

Amber RydbergWhy I Am Here ..........................................................................................36

Dr. Beth SalernoFirst, September ........................................................................................39

Leah SilvieusPetals and Leaves .......................................................................................39Reflections on Excursions, Conventions, and Connections .....................40

Dr. Henry SirgoPiagol Valley ..............................................................................................42

Alexis StrattonAdventures on the 핑크돌핀: Finally Taking the Ferry to Mokpo ............43

Nika StrzeleckaMy (Host) Dad, 우리 아빠 ........................................................................45

Laura TschopContributor Biographies ............................................................................47

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“i’m cold!” i exclaimed to my friendssittingnexttomeaswewaitedforour

businthesnow.Eachonequicklyrepliedwithchimes of “Of course,” “Yes, we know!” or“You’realwayscold!”allofthesestatementswere coupled with faces, laughter, and lightjesting to furtherexplainhowmyfriends feelaboutmyconstantreferencetothecoldweather.

Eventhoughmygrumblesareoftenmetwithlittle to no fanfare, i cannot help but expresshow i feel, especially with regards to theweather in korea. to be fair, koreans oftenseem to enjoy speaking of the weather andother such pleasantries. when myamericanfriends have had enough of my observationson theweather, i always jokeand say, “well,I’m just trying to really fit into this culture. can you blame me?” this argument doesn’talways go over very well, but it’s the perfectexcuseformetodiscusssomethingthataffectsmyday-to-daylifehereinkorea,theweather.

itmayseemsillytoothers,especiallythosewhohavegrownup in areaswhere there is afourseasonclimate.i,however,havenothadmuch experience with such drastic changesin temperature. growing up as one of fourchildrenofmilitaryparents, therewasnoendto the number of houses and towns i livedin. however,possiblybecauseofmymotherand father’s own penchant for hot weather,i grew up in places that were rather warm. ispentmy formativeyears livingon the islandofguam,aswellasinthephilippines,andincalifornia.intheseplaces,weatherwasoflittletonoconsequenceformebecausemoreoftenthannot, itwaspleasantandsunny. changesin temperature from summer to winter wereslight,andtherewasnoneedtohaveseparate

wardrobes for summer, fall,winter,or spring.An outfit I wore on a bright summer day could easilybewornonachillyfalldaywithonlyalightjacketorsweater,ifthat,forextrawarmth.untilicametokorea,ididnotevenownasinglepiece of winter clothing and most definitely not awinterwardrobe.therewasjustnoneedforit.

From the start, i knew that i would havean interesting time trying to handle the fourseason climate that korea is famous for. iknewthatitwouldbealargepartofthisgrantyearandthatitcouldhinderorhelphowwelliadaptedtotheotherchangesinmylife.ididnotworry toomuchabout springandautumnas i was told that these times of the year arepleasantandagreattimetobeinkorea.ialsoguessed that i would have some trouble with

bravingthecoldChristine arrozol, 2007 etaphotosbychristinearrozal

Covered from head to toe with 6 layers of clothes! I was still cold!

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the really hot summer conditions, but that icould handle it well enough. however, whatiwasreallyworriedaboutwaswinter.couldapersonwhohasneverhadtodealwithsnowandthecoldonadailybasis,beabletosurvive3-4 months of cold temperatures? it was infact, the question most posed to me as i waspreparing and leaving california for korea.howwasigoing tohandlewinter? Manyofmyfriendsevenfelttheneedtopointoutthatbackthenididnotownasinglelong-sleevedt-shirt.althoughiknowtheymeantwellandwere just worried, itwas not exactly thebestway to assuage my own concerns with theweather and climate i was about to live in.

the odd thing is that although i was soworried about it, the weather has been myconstant companionwhilehere inkorea. somuchsothatinowconsideritafriend.ithasopened my eyes to a lot of new experiencesand feelings. i now truly know that theweatherisdirectlytiedtonature,andbothcanaffect my day and outlook. living througha whole year of varying temperatures andweather has been an enlightening experience.although there were many challenges, ithas also provided me with many chances toappreciatethebeautyofkoreaanditscharacterin a different manner every few months.

Each obstacle regarding the weatherthat i was forced to face was equallyrewarded with an awesomeexperience that has stayed with me.

i can still remember theshopping spree i went onthe first time I really got a chance to spend a few daysin seoul in October. i wasdesperate to buy everythingfrom tights to thick sweaters,long socks to thermals, andgloves tohats. i spentabulkof my stipend that month onclothing, something i wasdefinitely not too happy about. incontrast,icanrememberthe

excited feeling I got the first time it snowed and i could see my breath in the cold air. irememberfeelingsorefreshedandexhilaratedafter having walked a while in the snow. idefinitely remember thinking that the cold wasworthit tofeelthatrefreshedandawake.

anotherchangeinmyroutinecausedbytheweatherwastheextraordinarymethodsihadtoemploytostaywarm.Duringthefallandwinter,ihadtowearsixlayersofclothescoupledwithstockings, tights, long socks, jeansandboots.i then had to throw on a warm jacket, scarf,beanie, and gloves. It was definitely a chore to getdressedinthemorningandallmyprecautionstilldidnotguaranteethatiwouldbewarmthatday.however,ialsorecallthewonderfultimei spent inhwacheonwhere iwas surroundedbysnowateverymomentof the twoweeksispent there. although it was so cold, it alsofelt so peaceful seeing everything blanketedinwhite.irecalloneexperiencewhereiwaswalkingalonetoschoolonemorning.alightsnow was falling and I could see snowflakes touching my skin and yet, i could not feelany of it. it truly felt magical and i felt likean innocent child experiencing something forthe first time again. There is no other word toexplaintheaweifeltatthatmoment,andiremembermyjawfallinginvoluntarilywhenifirst realized how magical snow really could be.

spending two weeks in Hwacheon with the snow and ice ended up being one of the greatest parts of my grant year.

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Even now, as the chilly weather and strongbreezes wrap around my body, and i cannever guess whether i will be cold or warmonanygivenday;ialsoseeandappreciatethecoming of spring. Everywhere i look, thingsare blooming and cherry blossom trees areappearing along every major roadway. thelong absence of greenery and flowers has made me enjoy and notice its appearance now. iknow thathad thisbeencalifornia,guam,orthephilippines,imightnotevenhavenoticed.

thisgrantyearisalmostover,andintheend,theonlythingiwillhaveleftfromthisamazingyearwillbethememoriesofgreatexperiences.although,iwillalwayscomplainabouthavingbeencoldforthebetterpartoftheyear,iwould

notexchangeanyofthewonderfulexperiencesihavehadbecauseofit.thethingaboutfacingnewlivingconditionsandchallengingyourselfto try something new is that it can be difficult, andyetitcanbesorewarding.thiswasalessonthatihavelearnedtimeandagainwhilebeinghere in korea this year, most especially withregardstoweatherandappreciatingeverythingthatafourseasoncountrylikekoreacantrulyoffer. it is somewhat ironic considering mypreviousworriesandcomplaintsaboutweather,butforeverythingithasgivenme,iameternallygrateful to zero degree temperatures, strongspringwinds,chillyautumndays,andanyotherelement that Korea will see fit to throw my way before the end of this year. My experiencewould not have been the same without them.

koreanlightsphotosbylaurensmith,2007EtaandJasonlee,2007Eta

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becomingak-popFangirlanna Cesa, 2007 etaphotobynoelleEasterday,2006-2007Eta

Everyone has secrets, and i’m noexception. My particular dirty little

secret is known only to my family and goodfriends.ittendstocomeoutwheni’mwithagroupofpeoplelisteningtomusic,usuallyyourtypicalmainstreampop.Youknow,beyonce,Justintimberlake,etc.sometimesacommentwillbemadealongthelinesof“thissongissoaddictive”or“iknowishouldn’tlikethisstuff,butit’sfuntodanceto.”and,ifmycompanionsdonotseemtobemusicsnobs,thisispreciselywhenioftenchoosetorevealmysecret.

i’ll take a deep breath and duck my headdowntoavoidmeetinganyone’seyes.

“iwasahugebackstreetboysfanineighthgrade.”

i’m not proud of my past. but my excuseisthatiwasyoung,only14orso,verymuchinterested in cute boys as a general rule, justdiscovering radio beyond my parents’ oldiesstation and highly susceptible to the musicaltastes of my peers. put it all together, andyou’vegotaraging,obsessing,teeny-boppingbsbfangirl.i’vecomeovertimetoacceptmymusicalhistoryassimplyapartofmypast,tonot be so ashamed of my secret. Many girlsmyagewerethesameasi,whethertheobjectof their obsessions was the backstreet boys,nsync,orevenhanson.iwasyoung.ididn’tknowanybetter.

now,at23yearsofage,ishouldknowbetter.andithoughtididknowbetter.

Enterk-pop.

My love of k-pop began with an earnest

desire to connect with my students. i wasfrequently asked, “teacher do you knowblahblahblah?”andtruthfully,ialmostneverknew blahblahblah. Faced with disappointedexpressions, i knew that i had to becomefamiliar at least with the popular groups if iwantedtotrulybondwiththeseteenagers.MyhostsisterandourtelevisionsetexposedmetoFtisland,wondergirls,andsuperJunior.thenbig bang and their song “lies” entered mylife.withaninsanelyaddictivechorus,“lies”became the first K-pop song that I downloaded to my computer, and it wasn’t long before icould sing the entire chorus in korean, evenifididn’tfullyunderstandwhatiwassaying.inschoolmystudentsandi talkedabouthowgood the song was and debated which bigbang member was cuter, g-Dragon or t.O.p.(since he was older, i voted for g-Dragon).Enjoyingthisnewlevelinmyrelationshipwithmystudents,ibeganreadingacouplekoreanpop culture blogs and became curious aboutone group who was particularly popular withmyfemalestudents:tvxQorDongbangshinki.iwatchedaperformanceoftheirnewsong“purpleline”on the internet. gooddancers,decentsingers,ithought.iwatchedthemusicvideo.Entertaining,ithought.still,withtheirover-the-topcostumesandhairstyles,imentallyclassified them, along with Big Bang, under “boyband”andthenturnedonthebeatles(whoare,ironically,theoriginalboyband).

theonlyproblemwasthaticouldn’tforthelife ofmeget thesekoreanpop songsout ofmyhead.

i searched online for various music videosandperformancesbymynewfavoritegroups,especially Dong bang shin ki. i watched

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subtitled interviews and variety shows andlearnedtoidentifyindividualmembersofeachgroup,theirpersonalitiesandtheirhistories.iplayedtheirsongsonrepeatonmyipod,dancingandsingingalongthewholetime.thus,aftereight years, i becamea teeny-bopper all overagain. For a bunch of singers who weren’tmucholderthanmystudents.

At first I felt embarrassed about my growing obsession.ithoughtihadlongagooutgrownmanufacturedpopbands.nevertheless,beinga committed K-pop fan has definite benefits. anything that helps my students feel morecomfortable speaking to me is definitely a good thing.andattheendofalongdayatschool,there’s nothing like turning on and dancingalongtoasongthat’sjustfun,pureandsimple.

plus, k-pop has actually helped me improvemyvocabulary.afterexploringsomeofDongbangshinki’soldersongs,inowknowhowtosay“ibelieve”inkorean,andiprobablystillwouldn’tknow“lie”-animportantwordinanylanguage–ifitwasn’tforbigbang.

Maybei’mjusttryingtojustifymychangingmusicaltastestomyself. inanycase,onceigobacktoamericamyloveaffairwithk-popwill probably fade as a result of beingout ofdirect contact with the culture in which it’sembedded. so fornowi’mputtingawaymyguilt,warrantedorunwarranted,andembracingk-pop, over-the-top fashion, and 21-year-oldboys with frosted flat-ironed hair. I’m a 23-year-old american k-pop teeny-bopper, andi’mhavingablast.

Korean group epik High in concert

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sincetheJoseonDynasty,seoulhasbeenthe center of Korean financial, political,

cultural,andeducationalaffairs.approximatelytwenty-four percent (or 10.3 million) of thekorean population currently resides in seoulproper,withanadditionalsevenmillionpeople(totalingthirty-ninepercentofkoreans)livinginthesurroundingprovinces.thecityhousesmostkoreangovernmentagencies(�6%), topcorporate headquarters (also �6%), foreignembassies(�3%),andallofthenation’sstockbrokeragesi. with the centralization of these

resourcesinseoul,itmaycomeasnosurprisethatseoulisalsohometosomeofkorea’smostrespecteduniversities.

though education has long been revered inkoreaunder confucianism,higher educationin korea is a relatively recent phenomenon.ii prior to the korean war, there were only1� universities in korea—most of thesewere private and concentrated in urban areaslike seoul. During the war, however, thegovernmentencourageditsseoulinstitutionstoseekrefuge insoutherncities,and thusbeganthe groundwork for establishing a nationwideregionalhighereducationsystem.by1�54,therewasatleastoneuniversityineachprovinceofkorea, totaling13comprehensiveuniversitiesand31colleges.iiiadditionally,asthenumberof universities has grown, korean enrollmentrates have also surged. Especially withinthe last thirty years, koreans have witnessedextraordinary higher education enrollmentgrowth.ivthe size, scope, andexpectationsofkoreanuniversitieshavechangeddramaticallysincethekoreanwar.

Despite growing enrollments, manyuniversitystudents(approximately45%)remaingeographicallyconcentratedintheseoularea.vthoughtheyofferbothaccessibleandexcellenteducations,regionaluniversitieshavefounditdifficult to position themselves as competitive alternativestoseoulinstitutions.areassuchastheJeollaandgyeongsangprovincesarebeingdrained of their talent while simultaneouslyfeeding the already impressive and educatedpopulation of seoul. this leaves provinceswith limited human and economic resourcesfurtherbehindbypushingseoulahead.

higherEducationandregionalEconomicDevelopmentinsouthkorea:consideringnuri

Jennifer Chudy, 2007 etaphotobynicoleguarino,2007Eta

Prayers at a temple for high scores on the national college test

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regional universities, on the other hand,have the potential to retain their graduateswithin their geographic areas by buildingfunctionalrelationshipswith local industries.vi indeed,someindividualshavealreadycreditedthese universities with having contributed tothe development of korea’s provinces in theaftermathof thekoreanwar.vii Manybelievethat if universities can facilitate successfulrelationshipswithindustries,graduateswillbeable to tangibly relate their educations to theneeds of their communities. these studentswill leave their universities equipped withregion-specific skills that will enable and encourage them toworkand livewithin theirregions.regionaluniversities,therefore,havethepotentialtoserveaspowerfulresourcestocreate, incubate, and sustain future economicactivitythroughoutallofkorea.

recognizing both the potential of regionaluniversitiesandtheproblemsoffurtherresourceconcentrationinseoul,thekoreangovernmenthas promoted the geographic decentralizationof korean universities. restrictive policies,such as placing enrollment quotas on seoulinstitutions, met with limited successviii, andwere therefore mostly abolished in the mid-1��0s.in2004,however,formerpresidentrohMoo-hyunattemptedanalternativeapproach.consistentwithhiscampaignagenda,presidentroh introduceda rangeofprograms intendedto lessen gaps between the seoul region andother parts of koreaix. two programs, brain Korea 21, and new universities for regional Innovation (nurI) explicitly identified higher education as vehicles for coordinating andencouragingregionaleconomicgrowth.

Ofthesetwoprograms,new universities for regional developmentmostactivelysoughttoaddresskorea’sregionalinequalities.initiallyfunded in2004ata rateofw1.2 trillionoverfive years, the program’s goals are to nurture regionaluniversitiesinordertomeettheneedsof local industry. Specifically, nurI dispersesfundingtobothpublicandprivateuniversitiesthat have forged partnerships with local

industries.byencouraginguniversitiestoformregional innovation systems, entities linkinggovernment, business, and academia, nurIpromotes academic programs that incorporateregionally-specific skill building through components such as: internship components,lectures from industry experts, technicaltraining, and even re-training for graduates.through this regional specialization, nurIaims to cultivate a” highly skilled workforcethat the region needs, through...collaborativeeducation programs with... partners related totheregionalstrategies.”x

Despite nurI’s many promises, however,it is not clear if the program can succeed inencouraging college students and graduatesto pursue studies and lives outside of seoul.the program is still in its beginning stages,so though the korean bnc (brain korea 21andnurIcouncil)presentsaveryimpressiveresults recordxi of the initial investments andimprovements(detailingfacultyprovisionrateand employment rate of graduates), it is hardtopredictiftheseupwardtrendswillcontinuein the longterm. indeed, nurI, though inmany ways admirable, is also problematicideologically and practically. two of theprogram’s most questionable are elementsare: nurI’s explicitly vocational approachto education andnurI’s ability to effectivelybattlethehistoricalandcontinuedattractionofseoul.

though many acknowledge that theemphasis on vocational secondary educationintheaftermathofthekoreanwaracceleratedeconomicgrowth,itisnotclearwhetherthistypeofeducationwouldbeappropriateforkoreaatthismomentxii.rather,somexiiiarticulatethatthekoreaneducationsystemshouldbereorientedtoincludeabroader,liberalcurriculum.nurI,meanwhile, promotes mostly a vocationaleducation, which may serve only to maintainpresent (and often suffering) industries ratherthan encouraging the emergence of newsectors.

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Furthermore, despite all of nurI’s efforts,the program may still be too weak to keepambitious students from migrating to seoul.given the country’s compact geography andrichhistory,seoulcontinuestobeanattractiveandeasymoveformostkoreans.nurImustcompete against the centuries of historicaland cultural precedent that have encouragedmillionsofkoreanstomovetoseoul. it isachallengingtask—andmanybelievethatsucheffortsareneitherpracticalnorevendesirable.

nonetheless, nurI is an impressive and

importanteffort,andiseffectiveinpromotingfurtherdialogandresearchonthelinkbetweenregional development and higher educationin korea. Decentralization in korea is adesirable and neglected goal and withoutdeliberate efforts, like nurI, it will continuetodisadvantagethosebeyondtheseoulregion.Economic disparities are difficult to alleviate withasingleprogram;however,ifthekoreangovernment remains financially and politically dedicated to eliminating regional disparities,it can better promote a strong economic andsocialfutureforallkoreanprovinces.

Endnotesi kim,J.andchoe,s.(1��7)seoul: the Making of a Metropolis.newYork:Johnwiley&sons.ii kim,sunwoongandlee,Ju-ho,2006.Changing facets of Koran higher education: market competition and the role of the state.higherEducation,volume52,number3,October2006,pp.557-587(31) iii kim,setal,2006iv kim,setal,2006v equality, Quality, and Cost in Higher education: research study on republic of Korea by Korean Council for university education,unEscObangkok1�88vi baek,YongchunandJones,randall,2005.“sustaining High growth through Innovation: reforming the r&d and education systems in Korea,” OEcDEconomicsDepartmentworkingpapers470,OEcDEconomicsDepartmentvii kim,setal,2006viii kim,setal,2006.ix President roh Moo-Hyun’s Inaugration speech.2003.bbcOnline.1april2008.<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2797053.stm>x about nurI, 2006.xi ikoreabnc(brain21koreanuricouncil)2006.nurI’s results.10april2008.<http://bnc.krf.or.kr/home/eng/nuri/result.jsp>xii cha,Yun-kyung.2004.education and science as strategies for south Korean national development.geneva,unEscOpress.,132.xiii cha,2004.

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MountainsphotosbykatieDale,2006Eta

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iamnotamodelkoreanchild.idon’tplaythe piano (although i did teach my host

sisterstheduet“heartandsoul”).idon’tplaytheviolin. idon’tpaintordraworsing. bykorean standards i don't have a lot of talent.sometimes i get the impression that the onlythingkoreans thinkicandowell isexercise.after all, most of my time growing up wasspentswimmingcompetitively.asaresult,inkoreamyintroductionsusuallywentalongthelinesofthis is emily from the us and she just likes like to swim and run a lot. thisrepeateddialogue was always inevitably followed byan awkward silence or nod and polite smilefromthepersoniwasmeeting.irealizedveryquicklythatbeingathleticwasnotgoingtogetmeveryfarinthiscountry.

swimming,running,hiking–they’vealwaysbeen a part of my life. The first two months I spentinkorea,inevertouchedapool.Quitea feat for someone, like me, who startedswimming competitively at age six and hadneverbeenawayfromthewaterformorethana week until this year. During Orientation,dailytaekwondoclassesinthesweatbathoftheKangwon University gym satisfied my need for physicalactivity.

however, after moving to my home stay ibegantogoalittlestircrazyaftertwoweeksofno“real”exercise.Myonlymovementconsistedof walking from one end of the apartment totheother,bowingandnodding,andperformingthebowl/platetomouthexerciseoverandoveragain. Finally, onemorning iworkedupmynerve to go running. wearing athletic shortsandani-podijoggedacoupleofloopsaroundourapartmentcomplex. i felt like iwas inanikecommercialaslittlekidsstoppedplaying

anddroppedtheirballstogape.

Finding agymbecamemynextquest,butnobodyseemedtobeabletohelpme.thatis,untilthedaymyco-teachertookmehikingandbroughtmehome late. iwas ecstatic about finding a mountain near my housetohikeandannouncedtomyhostfamilyi would be climbing it every day. My hostfamily was terrified for my safety. The next dayihadagymmembershipatthelocalyouthcenter.

the gym, while not outstanding, had theessentialtreadmillandweights.isoonbecameusedtobeingtheonlyfemalereallyexercisingand wearing shorts. while the women nextto me walked slowly and gracefully on theirtreadmillsintheirmatchingwind-suits,ibrokea sweat running and sometimes even (gasp!)liftedweights.Myelementaryschoolstudents,who hung out at the Youth center in theafternoons,lovedtocomeintheworkoutroomwaving and yelling, “Emily teacher! Emilyteacher!hi!hi!”theirnewfavoritequestionto ask me at school was “teacher, today un-dong-hae-yo?runningmachine?”

it didn’t take long for treadmill running tobecome themostboring thirtyminutesof thedaysoijumpedatthechancetorunakoreanmarathon.well,onlya5k,butinkoreaeveryrunningraceiscalledamarathon(youjustdon’thavetosayhowfaryouactuallyrantofriendsback in the US unless they specifically ask). plansfortheracestartedamonthbeforewhenthefriendlymusicteacheratmyschoolaskedmewhatienjoyeddoing.whentheusualdo

runninginkoreaemily durham, 2007 etaphotosbyEmilyDurham

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you play an instrument/sing/paint questionsgothernowherewithme,i toldheriwenttothegymeveryday.sotheteachersdecidedweshoulddoamarathontogetherwithlauraandrosie,twootherhongseongFulbrightteachers.iwasexcited.

racedaydawnedandwearrivedattheeventgroundswearingourmatchingtealblueshirtswe were given for entering. we looked likean undersized rugby team. i was under theimpressionthatwewouldbewalkingtheentirerace.leadinguptotherace-day,theteachershadrepeatedlytoldmethattheyneverexercised.after the last 5k race they had entered, theyclaimedtheywere“soreforweeks.”

somuchfornotrunningtherace!themusicteacher took off running from the beginning.i thought to myself, "Oh this is fun, gettinga good start to the race." but then she didn'tstop running! in fact, shesprintedalmost theentirerace.rosieandi,gaspingandred-faced,tried tokeepupwithher.laura,whohadanunfortunate breakfast of greasy ‘good luck’chopchay,didn’tfaresowell.thisfranticpacecontinueduntilthelasthalfkilometerwhenthemusic teacher declared she was too tired andwantedtowalktherestoftheway.i'drunthatfar,andiwasn'tgoingtostopthen!sorosieandirantogethertotheend.

aftertherace,wereceivedourgoodie-bags.in theus,youmightgetagranolabarandagatorade.inkorea,yougetabigbagofriceand thebest part – a realmedal that you canhangaroundyourneckandboasttoothersthatyou won the race (nobody has to know theygivethemtoeveryone!).

lunchwasheldunderthenearbytents.wewere handed steaming bowls of kal-guk-suandthenstoodinlinetohaveanolda-jum-mawearing blue rubber boots scoop mak-keol-lioutofagiantredtrashcanintoapapercup.untiltakingabigsipiguesseditwasthesweetnonalcoholic rice shik-yae drink. besides thefactthatitwasstillonly10a.m.inthemorning,mak-keol-liwasnotthegatorademystomach

wantedafterahardrun.

so, medal around my neck and bag of riceinhandiwalkedinmyapartmentwhereiwasmetatthedoorbymyhost-familywhowantedto hear all about the morning. My host dadsawtherice,anddeclared,“Emily.Everyday.Marathon.”

My running adventures continued with a10konmytwenty-thirdbirthday:alittlecloserto legitimate marathon distance. besides, aslaura’s co-teacher pointed out, if we ran thelonger race we got spiffy fluorescent lime-green jackets.theracecoursetookusalongthebackroadsofmyhometownofhongseong.ipassedby one-story blue tiled roofed farmhouses. intheir front yards, bright red kimchee peppersweredryinginthesunonlargeblacktarps.thefreshlycutricepaddiesweregoldenbrowninthesunlight.whilerunningdownthelasthill,i had one of those moments when you can'tbelievehow luckyyouare tobe in thatexactmoment and place. At the finish, I sprinted intothestadiumandsawmythreehostsistersjumping up and down yelling my name inexcitement.icouldn’thavebeenhappier.

irealizedaftertherace,whilesittingontherunningtrackwithabowlofsteaminghotkal-guk-su, a cup of mak-keol-li, and surroundedby my best friends in korea and my koreanfamily, that iamnotyourmodelkoreangirl.but that’s ok with me. My host family suredoesn’tcomplainwhenibringhometherice!

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august2007

rEspOnsEstOthEQuEstiOn“whatcOuntrYDOYOuthinkiaMFrOM?”

-africa -losangeles -uzbekistan

subtitlEDaMEricanMOviEsMYschOOlpurchasEDFOrusEinMYclassrOOM

-the deer Hunter -terminator 2: Judgment day -Cliffhanger -rambo -the long Kiss goodnight -dances with Wolves (2) -Highlander -apocalypse naw(sic)

October2007

stuDEntrEspOnsEstOthEprOMpt,“DEscribEJEJu-DO”

-manycars -manybeautifulgirls -manyhandsomeboys -excitingstones -oranges

December2007

REASONS WHY GS25>FAMILY MART

-bettercandyselection -morecharacter,wherecharacter=smallsize,dirt -morevarietiesofgreenteainbottles

aYearinlistsHillary eason, 2007 eta

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-lowerpopularityallowsmetofeelasthoughiaminsomesortofspecialin-the- knowclub

January2008

kOrEanclOthEsihavEbOughtthatarEnOtactuallYwEarablEinaMErica

-allofthem

March2008

prEsiDEntialcanDiDatEsMYstuDEntslikE

-barackObama

prEsiDEntialcanDiDatEsMYstuDEntsDislikE

-hillaryclinton

prEsiDEntialcanDiDatEsMYstuDEntshavEnEvErhEarDOF/thinkisMYgranDFathEr

-JohnMccain

rEasOnsMYstuDEntsDislikEprEsiDEntbush

-killingkoreanfarmers -hanMiFta -loveswar,hatespeace -Oldman -lookslikemonkey

april2008

thingsiwillnOtMissabOutkOrEa

-kimchi(everykind) -peoplepointingatmeandopenlyspeculatingaboutmyethnicity

thingsiwillMissabOutkOrEa

-everythingelse

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stoutwindsblowtheyellowdust;orangesfallfromburdenedtreesandspiritsdriftthroughopendoors,beneaththemoon,andouttosea.withhalloweyes,theguardsremain,everwatchfulanderect.

written in sijo verse

stonegrandfathersglyptusann grider, 2007 etaphotobyglyptusanngrider

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ifound it curious one evening to see mysixyearoldhostsisterstandingoutsideof

the bathroom completely naked and furiouslydrying herself with a purple hand towel,smiling.

hernudityonlybotheredmeslightly.Eventhough i still didn’t feel entirely comfortablewith the people i was now expected to callmy new korean family, my host sister wasyoung. plus, ihadexperiencepublicbathingwithcompletestrangersandmyclosestfriendsinkoreaat the찜질방 (jjimjilbang). nuditydidn’tbothermeasitoncedid.

asshescrubbedtheclothagainsthersoftskin,shelaughedwithpleasureinherwork,almostasifsheknewshewasdoing.witheachstroke,she twisted and tensed myamerican culturalrecognitionalittlemore;hersmilegrowingandmyrestraintrising.well,perhapshertauntingwasjustinmyimagination.whatididknow,however,waswhyicouldn’tstopstaringather.shewasusingmypurpletowel.

anyone who is familiar with koreanculture and society knows koreans believein egalitarianism, or the equality of everyone(orinkorea’scase,withinsocialhierarchies).accordingtorhiewon-bokinhisbookKorea unmasked: In search of the Country, the society, and the People, koreans have beensharing with, and taking from, their fellowcountrymen for a long, long time. Duringthe Joseon Dynasty, farmers would help eachother on their farms and evenly divide theprofits to guarantee protection and a successful yield. rhiestresses thatoneofkorea’smainprinciples,忠 (choong),meansthatinkoreansociety, “the heart..places common values

aheadofpersonal interests” (47). partof thecharacter,中(joong),alsomeansthat“thespiritoffairnessandrighteousnessthatisunfetteredby private interests” (46). this translatesinto many aspects of korean culture andsociety, including “the equal sharing profits, or gyunjeom”(4�).Myhostsistersimplyassumedthatialsopracticedgood 忠whensherubbedmypurpletowelalloverhernakedbody.

clearly,thismentalityappliestotheeverydaykoreanworkplace,neighborhood, and family.My fellow English teacher friend has tried toenjoyatastyamericansnack,wrappedcarefullyinapackagefromheramericanmother,inthe교무실 (gyomushil),only tohaveherkoreanco-workerstickoutahandforhershare.i’veheard of toothpaste curiously vanishing frompersonal bathroom stashes and finding a host family member wearing your shoes and skirtas they walk out the door. the egalitarianmindset shocksmanyamericans,evenwithinthesmallestmicrocosmofkoreansociety.

soonafterthepurpletowelincident,isafelydesignatedmybelongingsawayfromthefamilyto ensure another naked-stranger-drying-off-with-my-towelincidentwouldn’thappenagain.imovedallmyshoweritemstoa“safe”shelfinthebathroom,meaningonlymythingsoccupiedthatspace.Foodthatibroughtfromhometoshare stayed safely in my room. The first time iwentshoppingwithmyhostfamily,itriedtobuymyowndryingrack,hangers,powerstripoutlet,andscissors,amongotherthings,muchto my host mother’s dismay. I won the fight formyowndrying rack,butmy teenagehostbrother convinced me to put back everythingelse.clearly,ididn’tunderstand忠 quiteyet.

without,andwithnicole guarino, 2007 eta

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butididunderstandthatmyhostfamilywastryingtohelpmefeellikeapartoftheirfamilybysharingtheirthingswithme.idecidedthefirst battle I would fight would be not tohavemyownpairof scissors. icould justuse thefamily’sscissors,noproblem. ievenalreadyknewhowtosay“scissors”inkorean(가위),so i could ask for them whenever i wanted.sharingwillbeeasy.

suddenly, everything needed to be cut,sliced, severed, or trimmed: loose strings ont-shirts and buttons, tags on new clothes, aproject for school the next day, letters thatwere too big for their envelopes, loose fabriconajournal,unbreakableseals,stubbornknots,unbreakablethread.anditalwayshappenedat1:00aMwhenoneofmyfamilymemberswasfast asleep on the living room floor, or when all the other pairs of scissors were suspectedtobeinfestedwithsomesortoframpante-colibacterialgrowthafterbeingusedsomenightsbefore to cut our 삼겹살 (samkyeopsal) intochewablepieces.sometimes,myhostbrotherandmotherwouldn’tknowwherethescissorsdisappeared to, leaving my do-it-yourself cellphone charm sewing kit of a flying pig in real trouble. Every time i went exploring for thescissors,iwasinforanadventure.

Eventually,ibecamefamiliarwiththescissors’hiding places, which ones were the sharpest,whichones werewashed andunwashed fromlastnight’sdinner.Myclothesstartedtoappearonmyfamily’sdryingrackfromtimetotime.i brought back food from Family Mart andfestivals formy family to share. One time, ihandedmyhostmotheradirtycupjustasshefinished washing the last dish in the sink, telling her,“미안합니다 (mianhapnida,iamsorry).”My host mother said something in korean tomyhostbrother. he translated. “Mymothersays,don’tfeelsorryforanythingthathappensinourfamily.”now,iunderstood忠.

watching the forces of capitalism andsocialism wrestle in korea is fascinating,especiallywhenithappenswithinyou.lettinggo is necessary to become a part of koreansociety, anddoing it in little stepshashelpedmefeelmorecomfortableinkoreaandlikeamemberofmyhostfamily.curiously,myhostbrother’stoothbrushmovedintomyshelfafewweeksago,andmytoothpaste isdisappearingatamuchfasterratethanbefore.iamOkwiththis.Mypurpletowel,however,stillhangsonthebackofmydeskchair,faroutofreachofsmallnakedchildren.

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schoollifephotosbyJasonlee,2007Eta,christinabrittain,2006Eta,sarashin,2006Eta,noelleEasterday,2006Eta

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Formanystudents languageclassesareachancetoencountertheexotic.Maximum

effectisachievedwhentheyareheldinthehostcountry,wheretheyalsoprovideatherapeuticoutlet for students to voice their frustrationsaboutlifeinaplacewheremuchislostwithouttranslation, but wherever they are held in theworld,languageclassescantearusawayfromthefamiliarandtemporarilyplungeusintoanenvironment where we are repeatedly pushedto the outer limits of our understanding.thisis most obviously thanks to the challenges ofthenewlanguageitself,butinmanyprogramsthereisanotherelementwhichcontributestotheexhilaration of the experience which is basedonafundamentalassumptionofdifference:thatthe languagebeingstudied is tied toauniqueandauthenticculture;steepedintraditionandrich in flavor. This culture is usually located in bothapeopleandaplace,distinct fromotherpeoples and places, and it is almost alwayslocatedinatime:animmutablepast.Farfromnatural, this isa tragicbut inevitableresultofthe close tie, in much of the world, betweenlanguage,culture,andnation.

wecanseethisatworkinourlanguageclasses.Ourteachersandtextbookspresentthemselvesasaguidetothecultureseenasattachedtothelanguageinquestionandsometimestakemorepride in this role as cultural interpreters thanin their capacity as language instructors; thecareerforwhichtheyareprimarilytrained.thisis an important factwemust recognize, sincemany of us who study the korean peninsulaor other regions in an academic context gainour first exposure to a culture, or at least the first staged opportunity to discuss features of aculture throughour languageclasses. in theearlystagesoflanguagestudy,theresultofthis

cultural instructioncanoftendiffer little fromanuncriticalandpre-packagedtouristbrochure.nostereotypeisleftimmobilizedandnoclaimtohistoricalgreatnessgoesunmentioned.thisgoesalongwayinbuildingwallsinthemind;mentalcategoriesthatwecarrywithusandareoften only overcome with difficulty.

let us take one more concrete exampleof what i’m talking about. there is often atendency to teach students dead culture, andavoid teaching them living culture. naturallysuchstarktermsarerelativeandoftentemporarydesignations,buttheyareusedheretoshowaparticularcontrast.ahorriblemesswouldresultif we attempted any kind of comprehensiveclassification system. By dead culture I mean thosearts,customsordailypracticeswhichhave,forwhateverreason,losttheircentralplaceinthelivesofagroupofpeople,butwhichmaybethetargetofacampaignofpreservationwhichisoftenmotivatedbynationaloramorelocalcommunitypride.sometimes suchcampaignsare genuinely successful in resurrecting or,moreaccurately,recreatingadeadcultureandreestablishing itspopularity.Examplesof thisabound.Offthetopofmyheadwemightpointto thewidespreadpopularityofvariousformsofkoreandrumming,especiallyamongcollegestudents,andofformsoftraditionalmusicthathavecometooccupyaproudplaceinpoliticalmovements. in contrast, modern reinventionsof Japanese taiko drumming seems to havehad relatively less success with a split pathof development; one leading to its revitalizeduseinlocalfestivalsandtheotherwithamoredistinctly fusion character in the ‘new age’or ‘world’ music scene. this latter strand isarguably more popular outside of Japan thandomestically.

whynotteachushwatu?Konrad lawson, 2007 Fulbright Korea Junior researcherphotosbykonradlawson

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Living culture is much harder to define precisely because it is all around us. its veryvitality and the sometimes rapid changesit undergoes make it difficult to pin down. livingcultureisoftenmessy,mixedup,anditsmultiple outside influences often immediately evident.this robs it of the kind of purity wemightcasuallyassociatewithdeadculture.

The powerful influence of the media in a highlycommercializedsocietyalsofrequentlymuddies the picture, as we wonder whereagency lies in creating, controlling anddeveloping much of this culture. the day issurely faroff, forexample,whenpeperoDaywillcometoberegardedwiththesamesolemnreverence as Ch’usŏk. Yet despite the antiquity ofthelatter,botharepartofthelivingcultureofsouthkorea.togetherwith somanyotherfar more frequent cultural practices, thesecelebrationsarebothpartofwhatwewillseeand experience when we live in south koreatoday.korean languageclassesdo,of course,teach us all about Ch’usŏk, but this is mostly thanks to its relatively rare status as a livingtradition. More often, however, we becomea captive, if unlikely, audience to culturalpreservationcampaigns.

when seoul national university’s koreanlanguageprogramtookmyclassona“culturalexcursion” in the summer of 2006, we werebussed off to the folk museum to spend anafternoonmakingkoreanmasks.studentsweredelighted, of course, since most of us hadn’tdoneanythingquitelikethissinceelementaryschoolartclass.andyet,isthisnottruealsoforkoreans?howoften,wemightask,dokoreanscraft masks for a dance outside the enclosedwalls of their local yangban? newspaperreportersassembled for theoccasiongatheredsomeofustogetherforgroupphotoswithourmasks,makingsure togetat leastonepersonof every possible racial color pigmentation.“hereare some foreigners learningaboutourculture!” the revival of korean traditionalmasksandespeciallymaskdances is, like therevivalofsomanyfolkpracticesinthelasttwo

hundred years, a nationalist project, but alsolikemanyofthesesimilarprojects,itispartofarejectionofanelitist,cosmopolitancultureofthepast.inthekoreancasetheseincludemanyof the heavily “chinese” tainted practices oftheyangban class. instead there is anendlesssearch to find differenceandakoreanessencewhichlocatesthetrueandthepureartsamongthe‘people’orminjung.

whenYonsei university’s korean languageprogramtookmyclassona“culturalexcursion”inthesummerof2007,wespentanafternoonatthenationalMuseum’seducationcentertolearnhow to make paper lanterns. again, studentsweredelightedat sucha rareopportunity,butthismightbejustastrueforkoreansforwhomthe techniques of paper lantern making arelikely tobeequally foreign.beforewebeganworking our lanterns we were subjected to adramaticvideodocumentaryontheillustrioushistory of korean lanterns and how they aresuperiorineverywaytotheincrediblysimilarlamps one might find in a place like Japan. therewas a fascinatingabsenceofhistory inthispresentation,asiflanternshavebeenmadeinwaysunchangedsincetimeimmemorialandwithout any outside influence.

again the celebrated culture in question ischosen from among the arts of the ‘people’rather than the elites. it would simply notdo, for example, to take us to a traditionalconfucianacademyandshowushowonewastaught the “thousand character classic,” apoem that served to teachhanja characters tochildrenalloverEastasiaforoverathousandyears, or teach us the landscape painting thatisalsofoundallover theregion.however, inothercases,therehasbeenakindofdownwarddriftofculture,asthe‘people’claimanelementof elite culture deemed sufficiently distinct for national representation. the best example ofthisinkoreaisthehanboktraditionalgarb.

atriptotheFolkvillageinsuwonshowsthehouses of peasants in the late Chosŏn period butstrangelyshowsthefarmerwivesworkinginside dressed in colorful hanbok dresses not

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foundamongtheirclass.

while suchcultural excursionsare fun, andthereisnothingobjectionabletothewonderfuleffortsbeingput into studyingandpromotingthesearts,wewoulddowell toput themintoperspective. in thecaseofcultural instructiontooutsiders in theenvironmentofa languageprogram, i think we ought to shift the focusto thechallengeof teachingmore,andindeedcelebrating, the living culture around us. thesamefeaturesoftheelitecultureofthepastthatareavoidedinanefforttocelebratethecultureof the ‘people’, that is, their cosmopolitannature and outside influences, are now a primary feature of the vast majority of living cultureamongst the ‘people’ themselves. however,like everywhere else, the daily practices, thearts,andthemyriadotherformsofculturearealways found in rich variation and their verycombination of multiple outside influences is more than sufficient to make them unique.

whenwearriveinkoreaandstepintobusesortaxis,walkthroughparks,orturnthetvtocertain channels and hear the ‘trot’ (t’ŭrot’ŭ)styleofmusicplayingovertheradio.Manyofusmightwonderwhywewerenevertoldaboutthis before we arrived. while it is hardly as

popularasthekoreanpopmusicofmyownoryoungergenerations,itisstillfoundeverywhereand is an incredibly important part of culturehereformillionsofmostlyolderkoreans.the

trotstyleofoldpopmusicissullied,however,byitsoriginsintheJapanesecolonialperiodandisthusapparentlyanimpureandinappropriaterepresentative of Korean culture. I find this tragic, especially given the fact that koreansongs and singers of this genre would go onto become the most dominant influence on the samegenreinpostwarJapan(calledenka), inwhat was an entirely unrecognized ‘koreanwave’ long kept hidden by justified fears of discrimination against korean performers inJapan.

what about that strange game with the redandblackcoloredcardsyoucomeacrosswhenkoreanfriendsstartplayingitonalongferryride,orinahomeontopofabedroomblanket?why did i never learn this in my languageclasses, so filled with culture as they are? I think thereasonthispieceoflivingculturewasleftoutisagainits‘impure’origins.thecollectionofgamesbasedonthecardsarecalledhwatu,or hanafuda, and have Japanese origins. it isthus disqualified from consideration for Korean cultural instruction.Yet, in my three years ofliving in Japan, i have never seen the cardsbefore.though i’m told they still exist there,first sold widely by a little company called nintendooverahundredyearsago,theyenjoynowhere near as much popularity in Japan astheydohereinkorea.

OnabitterlycoldFebruaryeveningisatonawarmondol-warmed floor in a small Buddhist temple in a mountain valley in kangwonprovincewatchinganagingcoupleplayhwatuformoney.Outsidethesnowwasthreefeetdeepandcontinuedtofall,whileyoungconscriptedsoldiers from the military bases found allaroundtheareawereprobablyoutclearingtheroadsagaininthefreezingweather.Myfriend’smother lived in the temple with her belovedcompanion, a jovial and talkative buddhistmonk;livingashiswifeinallbutname.thisfly-swatting and meat-eating monk spoke in a languagethatcourtedtheopposingextremesofcolorfulvulgarityandmetaphysicalobscurity.he lived in a modest house completely built

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by himself and led an austere and deeplycontemplativelifeinthemountainsservinghisflock of farmers and soldiers.

the following day he would give a talk onethicstoagroupofconscriptsonabaseanhouraway.Manyofthesoldierswereprobablyonlytheretogetoutofothersundayduties.toaddextraincentiveforsoldierstoattendhistalkandnot thoseof thevariouschristiancompetitorsalsospeakingatthesametime,hewouldbringabagfulloffreshkimbapfortheyoungmentomunchon.

as i sat and watched the monk and myfriend’s mother enjoy their game, i marveledat the many contradictions i had witnessedand couldn’t help thinking that this happyscenewasprobablyamongmymostpreciousexperiencesinmytimeinkorea.themuddledmixofculturesandlifephilosophiesembodiedinthatveryhouseholdandthegametheyplayedmovedmetothinkagainaboutwhatihadbeentaught about korean culture. i couldn’t helpwondering,“whydidn’ttheyteachushwatu?”

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it certainly is not hard to find telling anecdotes and curiosities to capture the

oftenjarringessenceofthisrapidlyglobalizingagewearein.thecascadingtransformationsof globalization are clearly written in broadstrokes across seoul in ways immediatelyapparent in signage, city structure, rhythmandevenindividualstyle,justastheyarenowacrosstheglobe.theexamplesareclearinthetransformationofspace,place,andidentityandintheemergenceofnewglobalinterconnectionsandinterdependencies.butunderstandingtheseexamples,andcontextualizingthesechangesinmeaningful, historical ways—well, that tendsto be a bit more difficult.

what is the best way to understandglobalization, and just what are the changesit is bringing? coming here as a Fulbrightsenior scholar/lecturer to teach courses onunited states history, foreign relations, andglobalizationprimedmymindtolocateexactlysuchexamplesthatcapturethecomplexitiesofamerica'sroleasthecoreelement(ifnotcause)ofmanyoftheseglobaltransformationsformystudents, and tomake it bothmeaningful andinteresting. howcanweaccountfornationalsingularitiesinahomogenizing,interconnected,postmodernage?howisitpossibletocaptureandexpressnot just thenarrativesof thepastbut the evolving tenor of a nation's cultureembedded in a global context? conversely,what is the best means of complicating theunderstandingof thepastanddevelopmentoftheunitedstateswhenglobalpopularculturehas produced such a vibrant, totalizing, andoftenweirdlystaticimageoftheu.s.?

thesearethekindsofquestionsthatiaskandexploreinmyclasses,andtheydemandawide-

rangingapproach.Myprincipalresearchfocusis on the historical development of systemsof political, economic, diplomatic, and legalpower since the nineteenth century and howthese structured the american conception ofworld affairs and foreign policy. My classesexplore how these systems were establishedandtheirshortandlongtermeffects.thesearethecore issues, tobesure,as therecanbenounderstandingofglobalizationwithoutaclosestudy of power. but capturing the essenceof global transformations also requires newtools and new approaches. when teachingundergraduates especially, these alternativeapproaches to the topicalso tend tomake theabstractions of global transformation moremeaningful, comprehensible, and, therefore,morelivelyandinteresting.

One such way is through studying musicand music making in newly transnationalcontexts. globalization, at heart an evolvingsystemofexchange,mustbeviewedinbroadertransnational and cultural terms to be fullyunderstood. the core transformations of thecurrenteraofglobalizationcanbefoundinthe

traditionandMusicinaglobalizedperspectivedr. dan Margolies, 2007 Fulbright Korea senior lecturer photobyDanMargolies

Five Points serenaders playing at yeoojoo university, gyeonggi Province

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establishmentnotjustofnewnetworksofpowerbutalsoofculture,particularlyemerginghybridcultures,andinthenewlycreatedconnectionsbetweenpeoples,cultures,nations.

contemporaryglobalizationbringsenormousandinnumerablechallengestoregionalidentityjust as it does to national sovereignties.Economicinterdependence,thereplacementoflocalandhierarchicalunderstandingsoforderwithunstructured,global,networkconnections,and a broad and often intangible fluidity in exchange of all kinds can act as a solvent ofregionaldistinctivenessinsomecasesandasanaccelerantinothers.

transnationalism creates new experiencesthathavecultural,economic,political,genderand even spiritual dimensions on individualsand institutions which resonate in new wayswithinregionalcultures.inthiscontext,itcanbecome exceedingly difficult to define and to sustainasenseofregionalandnationalidentity.I believe strongly that one excellent place to find these very qualities is in music, where manyaspects of culture tend to pool and flourish.

Focusingonmusicculturesandmusicmakingasitisconstructedandsharedintransnationalways opens up new understandings of thewayspeopleinteractandthewaysnetworksofcultureandcommunicationareestablishedandfacilitated.thoughitmaysoundlikeaclichéfromasong,itisthroughmusic-makingthattrueinternationalunderstandingcanbeestablished.tobeabletopursuesuchanendinascholarlyand historical context as a Fulbrighter fulfills muchof thevisionandintentof theprogram.as Martin stokes has argued, music-makinghas a unique power to establish and define a senseofplace,as"themusicalevent…evokesandorganizescollectivememoriesandpresentexperiences of place with an intensity, powerand simplicityunmatchedbyanyother socialactivity."Musiccanbeameansforpeopletodefine themselves as separate from the culture thatsurroundsthemoratoolusedtoforgenewconnections to the broader culture. stokes

wrote that "music can be used as a means oftranscendingthelimitationsofourownplaceintheworld,ofconstructingtrajectoriesratherthanboundariesacrossspace."1 Certainly that fits in wellwith the intentof theFulbrightprogram.Musichelpstoproducetheseconnectionswhileestablishingasenseofpersonalandregionalornationalidentity.

Music is also useful to a scholar hoping tobroaden students’ understanding of a nation’scultureandhistory.inthewonderfulformulationofethnomusicologiststevenField,“asplaceissensed,sensesareplaced;asplacesmakesense,sensemakesplace.”2ifollowedField’sconceptwhen creating a class on southern regionalculture for the american culture departmentatsoganguniversity inseoul. in seeking tocreateasenseofsouthernplaceinmystudents,i of course turned to music. it is impossibleto study the south without also studying itsmusic.indeed,ascountrymusichistorianbillMalone has argued, what the world defines as americanmusic should in factbeunderstoodfirst and foremost as Southern music—a unique hybrid blend of cultures and traditions fromafrican-american and white sources. thisuniquefusionofcultures–aproductofamuchearlierwaveofglobalizationandtransnationalacculturation that forged the united states asanation—hasgiventheworldjazz,bluegrass,blues, cajun, ragtime, Dixieland, rockabilly,r&b,androckandroll.theabstractionsofglobalization and the malleability of regionalidentities and cultures might not always bethemostrivetinginformationtostudy,butthismusicimmediatelyandenchantinglyhelpsgettheseconceptsacross.

being a banjo player of what is knownas appalachian old time music (traditionalsouthern folkmusic), ialsoplayedmusic formyclassandothers,andsoughtotherwaysofintroducingthesetraditionalmusicexamplestoKorea. The five string banjo is a perfect example of the culture-blending results of globalizedchange, as it is in fact the only instrumentcreated in america based on instruments

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brought to the south by enslaved africans.Oldtimemusicwasplayedbybothwhitesandblacksuntilsurprisinglyrecently,andhasstoodattheheartofahugebodyoffolkmusicacrossthe region. inmanykey respects theessenceofamerica’sculturalstrengths(andofcoursealso its tumultuous past) can be located therein the banjo —race, regional differences, andsocial complexity; the absorption of diversityintoanewwholeandhybridityinfolkcultures;andthecentralityofglobalizationinthewholeprocess.withsuchaunique,complicated,andfascinatinghistory,bringingthebanjoinasanobjectofstudyisanidealwaytoexploreallofthethemesinsouthernhistory.

and,playingthebanjoinseoul,orcarvingouta transnationalculturalspace ifyouwill,alsoturnedout tobeanexcellentwayofbringingkoreansandamericanstogetherinawaythatonlymusiccan.iwasfortunateenoughtohavetheopportunity toplaybanjo,alongwith twofriends of mine on fiddle and guitar in our band the Five Points Serenaders, for a series of five oldtimesouthernmusicconcertsinseoulandgyeonggi province under the auspices of theu.s. Embassy. it is surprising to learn thatthestateDepartmentdoesnotusuallysponsortraditionalmusicconcertsaroundtheworld,butinstead concentrates on jazz, a music usuallythoughtofassophisticatedandasrepresentativeof “high culture.” though rooted in theamerican south, jazz is now a global style,and it isnot a rarity inseoul; thereareclubsallover town. bringingadifferent,markedlyregional and rural folk music to korea was away of opening an understanding of a wholeotherrealmofamericanculturethanisusuallyexperiencedinasia.

wepresentedandplayedthetraditionalmusicof the South, including fiddle tunes, old Carter Familysongs,andDeltabluessongs.atYeojoouniversityingyeonggiprovinceweplayedtohundredsofmusicstudentswhostudyjazzandpopular styles for careers as professionals towhomthismusic(andthebanjoinparticular)wasanoveltyandarevelation.theywereso

enthused we stayed and played much longerthan scheduled and even held an impromptusquare dance after the concert. the week ofshows culminated in a planned square danceattheEmbassy’sinformationresourcecenterwhichicalled.icalledinEnglish,whichwastranslatedinstantlyintokoreanforthelargelykorean dancers by the Embassy’s translatornamedkimchiYoung.therewasawonderfulsurrealitytohavingmycallsrepeatedinkorean:“youswingmineandi’llswingyours” (당신은 내 파트너와 스윙을, 나는 당신의 파트너와 스

윙을 합니다) and“divefortheoysterandduckfortheclam” (굴은 잡고, 조개는 피하세요) .tohavepeopleenjoyourmusic,andespeciallytoseethemenjoysquaredancing,wastowitnessthe power of music to effortlessly transcendculturesandforgenewlinks.

asithasturnedout,koreahasbeenanidealplace to explore how music plays a uniquerole inglobalcultures ingreaterdepth inpartbecause it has such a deservedly proud andwell developed sense of the importance andvitality of traditional music making. also,importantly, the political decisions have beenmade to highlight and promote this cultureand its importance. thedecision topreserve,showcase, and promote traditional musicalculture precisely at the moment that koreaemerges as one of the principal economiesin the global system is both instructive andimpressive.

thisemphasisisimmediatelyapparentuponvisiting the seoul arts center, which is anexpansive andbeautiful complexof buildingsanchored on each end by two beautiful butnotably separate facilities for culture. One,shapedlikeatraditionalkoreanhat,enshrinesthe globally exported western classicaltradition (the expected “high” culture) andthe other is the truly remarkable nationalcenterforkoreantraditionalperformingarts(makinganewandvitalclaimtothesamehighculture). this complexhas no counterpart inthe united states. it is built to maintain andpromote the unique musical, dance, and folk

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culturaltraditionsofkoreaand,importantly,tomakethemaccessiblenotjusttokoreansbuttoforeigners.

as i was thrilled to discover, the centeroffers 12 weeks of inexpensive, Englishlanguage lessons in a number of differentkinds of korean styles, including kayagum,janggu, danso, and samulnori. i was one ofseveralFulbrightswhotookadvantageoftheselessons. i tookthefallandspringsessionsofkayagumlessons,whichprovidedasolidcoreknowledgeoftechniqueandalsotaughtseveralstandard songs. Once learning the basicsof the instrument and form in the beginningclass, the spring session intermediate classfocusedonadvancedkayagumsanjotechnique(on “Jin Yan Jo”), the extremely challengingand abstract solo instrumental style for thekayagum.theseclasseshavetriggeredwhatissuretobealifelongcommitmenttolearningthecomplexitiesandsubtletiesofplayingkoreantraditionalmusic.

at theseclasses,ihavemetotherpeople intheseclassesfrombrazil,southafrica,France,Japan,andtheunitedstates.theconceptofthelessonsistopromotetraditionalkoreanmusic,ofcourse,butinfascinatingandimportantwaystheyarealsocreatingthekindoftransnationalconnectionsthat,asMartinstokespointedout,are really only accessible to people throughmusicmaking. invitingexpatriates toengage

in korean music making is an importantstep in both preserving and globalizing thecultural traditions. certainly languagestudyis the only other means of producing suchconnections and resonance (though cookingandeatingmustbeaclosethird).ithinkmostwouldarguethatmusicmakingisalotmorefunthanverbconjugation!

ihadthewonderfulopportunitytocreatemyownhybridoftraditionalamericanandkoreanmusicswheniwasinvitedtoplayabanjosetat the 3rd cheonan-gakwon internationaltempleMusic(bumEum)Festival2008.thesetting for the concert was unbeatable: the

stunninggakwontempleattaejomountainincheonan,withthestagerightinfrontofwhatis supposed to be the largest bronze buddhastatue inasia. i played some old time tunesfromthesouthwhichwereverywellreceived.the audience of over two hundred, manyof whom where buddhist monks, had neverheard a banjo before, but they immediatelyclappedalongwiththetunesandmademeverywelcome. Since I had no old time fiddlers to playwith,ialsoplayedkoreanfolksongswitha haegum (Korean two string fiddle) player. We played theoldkorean favorites“Doragi”and“arirang,”andthecrowdrespondedbysingingalong.icannotthinkofabettercapstonetomyinvolvementinmusicwhilehereasaFulbrightthanplayingmusicinthatconcert.

in my classes i have attempted to producea sense of place for my students through onecritical american regional musical cultureand have in turn gained an utterly new senseof korea having begun to learn and play itsmarvelousmusic.

globalizationmayactuallyenhanceregionalidentityratherthandiluteit.recently,scholarsof southern regional identity have begun toexplore the ways that distinctive regionalcoherence is shifting and evolving in relationtonewglobalforces.anthropologistJamesl.peacock,inanewworkconsideringtheimpactofglobalizationonthesouthanditsmeaning

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for southern identity and directly offering anewframeworkofanalysis,hasarguedthat“toground globalism is to fuse a transformativeglobal identity to a sustaining regionalidentity—afusionthatpotentiallyenhancesthestrengthofbothidentitiesandtheirpotentialforenergizingaction.” peacockthuselucidatesanew,durable“globalizedregionalism”centeredon“aglobalizedidentitythatsubsumesregionalandnationalidentities.”3

this approach certainly seems vital forthe south as it is for korea. Music is one

key way for us to gain a deeper and moremeaningful appreciation of the idiosyncrasiesof national cultures, a useful palliative to thetransformationsofglobalizationthatsometimesseem all consuming. it is also a means ofcreating new transnational connections whichmightotherwisebeinaccessible,anditprovidesameansforpeoplemakingmusictoappreciatedifference and singularity—and have a goodtimedoingit.

Endnotes1 Martinstokes,ethnicity, Identity and Music: the Musical Construction of Place.(Oxford:berg,1��4),p.3-4.2 stevenField,“placessensed,sensesplaced:towardasensuousEpistemologyofEnvironments,”inDavidhowes,ed.,empire of the senses: the sensual Culture reader.(Oxford:berg.2005),p.17�;182-3.3 Jamesl.peacock,grounded globalism: How the u.s. south embraces the World.(athens:universityofgeorgiapress,2007),p.xi;40-3,175.

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honoringkoreanindependenceFightersatseodaeumunprisonseoul,korea

photosbyJennanovaral,2007Eta

30 31

arecent lunchtime conversation withseung-hee,topstudentandexpertonall

thingsworthknowing:

sh:Doyouknowwhatthisis?Me:Yes,it’scabbage.sh:ifweeatalotofcabbage,wecanpreventcancer.Me:um…maybe.(“Maybe”beingthekoreanwordforeither“absolutelynot”or“thisisundeniablytrue.”)sh:Youdon’tthinkso?Me:well,youknow…genetics,environment,therearesomanyfactors…sh:butaveryfamousdoctorsaidit.Ontv!Me:well,koreanpeopleeatcabbagethreetimesaday,andmanyofthemstillgetcancer,right?sh:Yes,you’reright.itdoesn’treallymakesense.Me: (self-satisfied shrug)sh:whataboutgarlic?

call them avant-garde: restaurant goers inkoreahavebrokendownthefourthwall.thestuffy conventions i’ve observed my wholelife, thearbitrarydistinctionbetweenahome-cookedmealandaeatingout–thesearethingsofthepast.Myhostfamilyandididn’tgoouttodinnerveryoftenlastyear,butwhenwediditwas always to the sameoctopus restaurant,thekindofplacewheretheyserveyouaplateofwrithing octopus, some scissors, and leaveyoutodowhatyouwill.

I can’t figure out why live octopus restaurants aren’t more popular in the states; the day today costs of actually running a live octopusrestaurantseemsolowandyetthefooditselfis

soexpensivethattheplacewouldbeguaranteedto turn a profit. Preparation is basically limited tograbbinganoctopusoutofthetank,givingitaquickrinse,carryingitovertothetableandsnippingthethingintobits. noneedtomesswithextravaganceslikepotsandpans.there’salso the added convenience of the one-itemmenu.Mostkoreanrestaurantsarecompletelyunlikeamericanrestaurants,involvinglengthyruminations over whether it would be bettertogettheharvestsaladwithsouporreallygoalloutforthepastaprimavera.rather,youareseated, the waiter brings you whatever foodthat restaurant happens to serve. this systemis pretty convenient for people with limitedkorean skills, far better than those situationsin which a long, incomprehensible menu ishandedoverandorderingbecomesaleapintothevoid.

ialwaysknewweweregoingtotheoctopusrestaurant if I came home to find my host mother, Fresa, layeringsesame leavesand lettuce intoplastic containers and wrapping up bowls ofsteaming brown rice. it usually fell to me tocarry all the food into the restaurant, and thefirst couple of times I felt very nervous about it, furtivelysidling insideways inanattempt,thoughnowitseemsalittlecounterproductive,nottoattractattention.afterawhileistoppeddoing this, though, as thewaitress settingoutallofoursidedishes,aswellastherestaurant’sadmittedly paltry provision of lettuce andsesame leaves, never even seemed surprised,much less disturbed, by the sight of Fresaextracting huge bowls of supplementary foodfromhershoppingbags.

i supposeourwaitress’s indifferencemakessome sense. i’m sure an american waiter

Orderin,takeOutJanaki o’brien, 2006-2007 etaphotobyJanakiO’brien

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wouldbeverydispleasedifistartedsettingoutmy own mini-baguettes and pats of butter tomunchonbeforedinner,butwhyshouldhebe?undernormalcircumstancesidon’tpayforallof those breadbasket refills. Korean restaurants are hit especially hard, i think, as a goodportion of what people actually eat at dinnercomesintheformofamultitudeofsidedishes,served in little white bowls, endlessly refillable, andprovidedforfreebytherestaurant.attheoctopusrestaurantyoumighteatvastquantitiesof pickled radish, spinach, cabbage kimchee,radish kimchee, onion kimchee, mushrooms,corn salad, steamed egg and lotus root whileonly paying for that one, wriggling octopus.Of course the restaurant wants you to fill up on yourownfood!

stranger,then,isthepolicyonremovingfoodfromarestaurant.here,whereiamtypicallyveryopenaboutrequestingfoodtobewrappeduptogo,mykoreanacquaintancesarefarmoresecretive, stuffing food remnants into little disposablecupsandsquirreling themaway inpurseswithhiddenpockets.specialcareisusedwhenorderingafreshnewroundofsidedishesandpackingawaytheentiretytobeeatenlater.

i was made suddenly aware of this practicewhileattendingthefuneralofafriend’smother.koreanfuneralsareaverydifferentaffairthanthose few i’veattended inamericaand thosemany I’ve seen in movies about the Mafia. Visitors first go into a little room where they can leave money for the family (money they willlater receiveback in theirown timeofneed),bowtwoandahalftimesinfrontofapictureofthedeceasedandlightincenseasafarewellgesture. the family stays in this little roomfor the duration; it’s the first stage in a three-day period of family mourning.after payingtheirrespects,though,visitorsgointothenextroomwheretheyproceedtoeatatremendousamountoffoodandgetverydrunk.theyplaycardgamesandshoutandgenerallytrytohaveaveryboisterousgoodtimeinordertoremindthe mourning family of all the pleasure andjoythatlifehastooffer,aswellastocelebratethe journeyof thedeceased to theafterlife. (iwasn’tentirelysurehowtoreactonedaywhenone of the teacher’s at school told me, “i amhungover.istayedatafuneraluntil1:30am.it was very fun, very enjoyable.”) i attendedfuneralwithfouroftheyoung,femaleteachersfrommyschool. aftereveryonehadeatenasmuchporkstewandriceastheycouldstomachtherewasahushedconferenceandthenoneofthewomengotuptoretrievetwomoredishesof dried squid, an extra bowl of peanuts andaplateofcandiedginger.thesewerequicklypoured into our paper water cups and tuckedintoMinjin’sgiantpursebeforewegotuptosayourgoodbyes.stealingfromafuneralservice!wheniexpressedmydismayMinjinjustsaid,“Maybe…notinamerica?”Maybe!

32 33

when i found out that i was going tokoreaallofmyfriendsseemedtohave

little glowing korea fun facts tucked away,readytoshare.icollectedupthecolorfulpegsof informationand jammed themintoablackbackgroundmaking a lite-brite portrait of thefaroffcountrythatwassoontobeeverywherearound me. Max informed me about hugecomputer game tournaments, konnie told meaboutallofthehellokittystuffforsale,chuckintroduced me to a special kind of koreanalcoholthatismixedwithsnakevenom,glengavemeanarticleaboutasoccerfanaticwhokilled himself to help the world cup team,Jolene and i discussed student activism, andamandawarnedmeaboutthelackofdeodorant.needless to say, i was super excited to go toa place where apparently everyone wearshellokittyshirtsandnodeodorantwhiletheysimultaneouslywatchsoccerandplaycomputergames,afterdrinkingsnakevenom,allbeforeparticipatinginabigpoliticalprotest.

i roundedoutmyknowledgeofkoreawithsomeadditionalreadingandatriptoakoreanchurch,whichmademefeellikeihadaprettygood idea of what i was getting into. whenibeganmentallyandphysicallypreparingforkoreaitriedtobethoroughandthinkofeverypossible situation that i would encounter. inspite of this, korea’s actual perception of mewas something i had not even come close tofathoming.

i arrived ready to be a cultural ambassadorto whatever mysterious korean community iwouldbelivingin.however,somehowwhilei was tripping over syllables and incessantlybowing,istartedtorepresentthewrongculture.karmically, while i had the kooky picture of

korea in my head, korea had also cobbledtogether a collage of what america was andi was nowhere included in their version ofmy country. i am not entirely sure what an“average”koreanthinksa“typical”americanlookslike,butiknowwhattheythinkarussiansexworkerlookslike.

One of the first conversations with my host family,asweshotsentencefragmentgrenadesto each other across the language divide,was about how i looked russian. My hostmom felt the need to further clarify and sheincorporated her cell phone dictionary, whichwasthethirdpersoninallofourconversations.when i lookeddownat the small illuminatedsquarescreenshesaid,“russianwomen,”thenpointed to, “many pleasures.” it wasn’t untilstrangestrangersstartedtoaskmetomodelforthem,handmemoney(itseemsmygoingrateisabout100,000wonthoughthatisnegotiableuptoabout200,000),andleadmeawaytolovemotelsthatirealizedthefullmagnitudeofmymistaken identity. The first time it happened, in my pleasant naivety laced innocence i justcouldn’t quite figure out why some random man wanted to hand me cash, and why everyoneelsearoundcoollyturnedtheotherway.whenanothermanasked aboutmodeling, i thoughthewantedtoknowwhatkindofcameraihad,whichwasperfectlynotwhathewasinterestedin.

ihavetriedtowadethroughlanguagebarrierslushtogettothebottomofmyrussianessenceandseewhatitisaboutmethatsendsoutthesexworkervibe.themostcommonresponsesarethatrussianwomenaretall,thin,theyhavesmall heads and small faces (they assure methat is a compliment not an insult), and high

whatiamtoYouandwhatYouaretoMeMeghan rimelspach, 2007 etaphotobyJanakiO’brien,2006-2007Eta

34

noses. with that description i feel more likea sea monster or whimsical character from achildren’sbook thanrussian. Evenwith thisexplanationijustcouldn’tcometotermswithwhat i was being mistaken for. i don’t wearlotsofmakeup,highheels,orskimpyclothes,whichiswhatasexworkerissupposedtowear,right?that’swhenirealizedthatmuchlikeihad arrived in korea with an open mind thatwasrimmedwithstereotypesofkoreanpeople,webothhadassumptionsaboutwhatrussiansexworkernessis.Duringmytimehereihavebecome interested in learning about koreanculturethroughpopularstereotypes.

so i am faced with an extra step. Everytime i want to represent america, i have tofirst convince the inhabitants of my Korean bubble that i am actuallyamerican. korea’sassumptionsaboutmehavegivenmyexperiencehere a whole different perspective and taughtmealittlebitaboutapartofkoreanculturethatiwouldnothaveotherwisebeeninterested inorexposedto.whileiamstillstockinguponHello Kitty stuff, trying to find a professional starcraft player to date, trolling around barstrying to find snake alcohol, playing soccer at recess, importing deodorant by the metricton, and watching out for Fta rallies, i hopeihavebeenabletoteachkoreaatleastalittlebit about my country, since it has taught meso much about itself. Even if all that i havesharedisthatnotallamericanslookthesameandsomeareeven tall, thin, small faced,andhighnosed.

34 35

Food is everything in korea. askingsomeone if they have eaten is a way to

greetpeople.Makingsureyourguestsenjoythefoodandhaveenoughofitiscrucial.kimchiand rice, the staples of the korean diet, arealwaysonthetable.and,withanyluck,thereis some sort of health benefit associated with thefoodyouareingesting.Forexample,xisgoodforyoureyes,Yisgoodforstamina,Zisgoodforyourstomach,awillpreventcancer,andbhelpsyoulookyoungerlonger.

Foodisimportanttome,too.iloveeatingwellcookedmeals.ilovetocookformyself.there's only one catch: i don't eat red meat,pork, poultry, or seafood. that, and i amallergic to shellfish.

i knew before arriving at my home-staythat maintaining my vegetarian eating habitsmight be a struggle.and i had no intentionofforcingmyfoodpreferencesuponmypoor,unsuspecting home-stay family. i just hadhopesthattheywouldacceptmyeatinghabitsforwhattheyare,notpressuremetoomuchtochange them. tocomplicatematters,becauseof my shellfish allergy I can't eat kimchi. I feared that my not being able to eat kimchimightputastrainonmyrelationshipwithmyhome-stayfamily.

My home-stay family, however, is amazingin all aspects, especially in the nourishmentdepartment.apparently,theywantedtochangetheir diets long before i appeared in theirdoorway.theywantedtoloseweight,becomemoreactive,andfeelhealthier.itwasuponmyarrival, though,that theyweregiventheextranudgetobegintomakethetransition.seong-joostartedtocookmore–beforelastaugust,she rarely cooked for her family because she

was too busy – myhome-stay dad (Min-goo) stopped eatingmeateveryday,myhome-staysister(Yoo-jin)realized she loves mushrooms, italian saladdressing, and pepperjack cheese, one auntstartedmakinghomemadeyogurtforbothourfamilies,andmyhome-staygrandmotherstartedcookinguplotsofvegetariansidedishes.

since moving in with them, my home-staymother (seong-joo) has told me on severaloccasionsthatshe'senjoyedthe"revolutionofthetable"thathasoccurredinbothhernuclearandextendedfamily.whatdoesshemeanbya"revolutionofthetable"?toputitsimply:theadditionoflotsoffreshvegetables,freshfruit,yogurt,cheese,tofu,variousbeanproducts,andmilktoeverydaymeals,andtheeliminationofmostmeat,poultry,andseafood.

this"revolutionofthetable"hasinnowaydiminished the importance of food in myhome-stay family's life, though. if anything,thereisnowagreateremphasisonfood,withmuch more thought put into what appears onourdiningroomtable.whatweeatisalwayscolorfulbecauseofthevastarrayofvegetablesand fruits served at a given meal, but moreimportantly what we eat varies from day today.seong-jooisconstantlysearchingofnewvegetarianfoodstopurchaseordishestomakeonherown. asmyhome-stayfathertoldmyhome-staymother:"iknowamberreallylikestofusoup,butwecan'teatitforbreakfasteveryday. it's much better to have variety in whatweeat."

OfcourseYoo-jinandherdadstilllovemeat– thussundayshaveevolved into their "meateating"day.

revolutionofthetableamber rydberg, 2007 etaphotosbyMeghanrimelspach,2007Eta

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parti(October2007)

ithink anyone who travels to a foreigncountry at some point asks the question,

“whyamihere?”perhapstheydonotaskitinweektwoofa40weekstay,butafter5straightdaysofrainandthreedaysoftryingtoarrangeaninternetconnectionwithminimalkorean,iamasking.

theeasyansweristhatihavealwayswantedto live in another country, experience anotherculture,andtheFulbrightprogramgavemethatchance,completewithsafetynet.theFulbrightprogramwasestablishedafterworldwariitopromoteinternationalpeaceandunderstandingthroughacademicexchangesandiamproudtocontinuethattraditioninmysmallway.ratherthan being a tourist, i get to be a productivemember of south korean society, supportedby the u.s. state Department, the koreanamerican Educational commission, andpyeongtaekuniversity.

My official duties are remarkably light. I teach onecoursethissemester-raceandgenderinamericansociety-andiamcurrentlysettinguptwostudygroupswherestudentscanmeetwithmeonceaweek,talkaboutamericaandpracticetheirEnglish.studentsarehungryforchancestospeakEnglishwithanativespeaker(though less hungry to ruin their gpa byactuallytakingmyclass!).

What I’m finding, however, is that my unofficial duty is to talk with people - to be a civilian american in south korea. to listenwhen a faculty member takes the risk ofspeaking English to a stranger and tell themhonestly that i understood every word. to

sharethatamericansareevenmoreafraidthankoreanstospeakaforeignlanguagewithnativespeakers.toexplainwhatamericansmeanby“asian”topeoplewhohavebeencontrolledandinvadedbychinaandJapanandthusdonotseethemselvesasinherentlysimilartoeither.

personally, my job is to experience - tosimply experience. that is hard for a typeapersonality, always focused on the outcome,the product, the result. so i went to seoullastweekendbecauseiwantedto“checkoff”someoftheplacesonmylistofthingstosee-namsangol’schosondynastyhouses,Myeong-dongcatholiccathedral,andDoksugun,oneof5royalpalacesinthecity.iwalkedacityof12millionpeople(andfartoomanycars!)andgawked.Fourlanehighwayspackedwithcars,twistingalleys fullof shops, andeverywhere,people breaking into English to help me find myway.

Otherthanafamilyfromindiaandacouplefrom germany, i was the only non-asian isaw all day. thousands of school children inidentical uniforms, dozens of older men andwomen out walking in the rain, a few youngcouples (probably tourists from other asiannations), but no single caucasian women.peoplestaredopenlyuntiligreetedthemwithannyeonghaseyo(hello)andthentheybrokeintosmilesandbowed.schoolchildren,maleandfemale,giggledandpracticedtheirEnglish:“american?”“photoplease!”“goodmorning-howareyoudoing?”.

i realized that at least for some people thatday i_was_ theexperience.Evenas iplayedtourist,mywillingnesstobestaredat, tostopandspeakEnglish,totryspeakingkorean-all

whyiamheredr. beth salerno, 2007 Fulbright Korea senior lecturerphotosbybethsalerno

36 37

matteredinawayihadneverexpected.iwastold often before i left the united states “tosimplybeopentotheexperience.itisnotwhatyou accomplish there, it is who you are thatmatters.”soiambeingme.For themoment,thatiswhyiamhere.

partii(april,2008)

when i wrote my Fulbright application, istressedthreegoalsformyFulbrightexperience.First,iwantedtothinkaboutamericanhistoryfroman“outsider”perspective,toseemyhomenationthroughanothernation’seyes.second,iwantedtoexploretheteachingchallengesofakoreanclassroom,whichissofundamentallydifferent from a u.s. classroom. third, iwanted to better understand korean culture,which is overshadowed in theu.s. bybetter-knownchineseandJapanesecultures.

nowiknowbetter.

Oh,allofthosethingswereimportant.andallhavebeencentraltomyFulbrightexperience.inowthinkaboutamericadifferently–as“us”,butalsoas“them”andalwaysinacomparativecontext.hereeveryclassinvolvescomparisonsofkoreanandamericanpolitics,racerelations,orgendersystems,nottoseewhichisbetterbuttobetterunderstandboth.irequirestudentstomakenewargumentsbasedonwhattheyhavelearned, make comparisons, and take a stand.My emphasis on creating individual opinionsbased on the facts, rather than repeating myopinions along with the facts, forces studentstomoveaway frommemorization into anew

paradigm. students say writing for me is“hard,”“new,”“challenging,”“exciting,”“thebest,”“alotofwork,”“notwhatiamusedto,”and“whatineedforlife.”ican’taskformorethanthat.

nor could i ask for more willing guides tokorean culture. through students, as wellas colleagues, friends, neighbors, travel andlistening, i have learned a great deal aboutkorea:ancestorworshipatlunarnewYear,toancient korean history, to modern politics, toteenagerelationships,toacademichierarchies,tochangingpowerrelationshipsinmarriage,tofood(andmorefood),andofcourse,norebang(privatekaraokerooms).

but inmyheartofheartswasacompletelydifferent reason for applying for a Fulbrightin korea. i wanted the status and i wantedthe adventure. in a reductionof all thegoodreasonsonecouldwantaFulbright,iwantedtoheartwothingsoverandover:“wow,yougotaFulbright!”and“wow,youlivedinkorea!”i wanted something to write in the alumniMagazinethatwentbeyondthehard-wonandhappyaccomplishmentsof“associateprofessor,smallliberalartscollege,onebook”.

thenicepartaboutsuchanunacknowledgedgoalisthatitgavemetheimpetusforsomanymore important things. like learning to seethe united states from the outside, bringingnew pedagogical approaches to my students,andexploringkoreanculture.itisnicewhenthingsworkoutthatway!

In 2012 the major u.s. army base in seoul will close and the troops will join others at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, south Korea. Camp Humphreys is working hard to build connections between its soldiers and local residents. as part of that effort, the camp held a celebration of Chuseok, or Korean thanksgiving. Here senior Fulbright lecturer beth salerno and an american serviceman learn the traditions for honoring family ancestors with food and formal bows. they are wearing tra-ditional Korean formal-wear called hanbok.

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butithasalsotaughtmethatwhereverigoitakemyselfwithme.Evengivenacompletelynewplace,newrhythms,newculturalrules,andseriouslinguisticchallenges,iamstillbasicallythesamepersoniwasintheu.s.andannoyingas that is sometimes – i go half way aroundthe world and all my habits, mental quirksandstomachproblemsfollowme?!–itisalsoreassuring.i’msolidly,dependablyme.icanhandlenewlanguages,foods,andexperiences.icanbetheworldtravelerwithadventuresandstories,andicanalsoverymuchwanttocomehometomycornerofnewhampshireandgobacktomyrelativelyordinarylife.

perhaps that is the most surprising thingabout thisentireFulbrightexperience. inmyheartofheartsicameheretoexperiencebeingsomebodyelse–thatexcitingpersonwhogotinternational grants, had foreign adventures,and made a difference in the world. and insome ways i’ve become that person. but inbecomingthatpersonialsotooktheglamorousouterwrapperoff. idiscoveredthatpersonissimply a person doing what they always do– teaching, learning, exploring. Fulbrighters

arejustpeoplewitharesearchagendaorgreatteaching skills who want to interact with andexploresomewhereelseandthemselves. Justlikeme.

koreawelcomedmeandofferedmemillenniaof culture and customs and ten decades ofconflicted relationship with the United States. ihavesoakedinpublicbaths,climbedkoreanmountains,eatenseaslugs,madesamgyetang,anddiscussedus-koreanrelationswithmarketwomen and buddhist monks. i hope i haveshownkoreansthatamericanscanbeculturallysensitiveandinternationallyaware,asifollowkoreancustom,yetmaintainamericanhabits.students, colleagues, and assorted restaurantowners have definitely learned U.S. history in anewandaccessibleway.togetherwehavelaughed, argued, debated, sung, and createdinternational connections. in the end, i havebeenme.thatiswhyiamhere.

inmomentsof futurepersonaldoubt, iwillbeabletosay,“YougotaFulbright.Youlivedinkorea.Youcandothis,whateveritis.”thatiswhyicame.

38 3�

atleastthisismanageable,liftingthespinefrom the roasted fish,scrapingricefromthebowlwithaspoon,thismeal.butthereisalwaystheinvisiblebone,rememberedtoolatebythesoftestplacesofthemouth.thereistheproblemofseptemberrainsoundingthesameeverywhere,thepossibilityofgrayhidinganything–perhapsafamiliarskylinebeyondthenextbreak.This simple filling wouldbemanageable,ifnotfortheneedtoavoidthesmalllivesswimmingatourfeet.

First,septemberleah silvieus, 2007 eta

petalsandleavesphotosbyhillaryEason,2007Eta

40

blancheDuboisintennesseewilliams’a streetcar named desir, memorablynoted

that “i’ve always depended on the kindnessof strangers.” well, since arriving at incheonnational airport on 30 august 2007 i havealwaysdependedonthekindnessofkoreansinwhathasbeenawonderfulopportunitytoserveas2007-2008FulbrightseniorlecturerintheDepartmentofpoliticalscience&DiplomacyatYonseiuniversity.

underwood international college, thegraduate school of international studies andthedepartmentsofpoliticalscienceandpublicadministrationhaveaffordedmewithnumerousopportunities for internationalcollegialityandintellectual exchanges. Early in septemberi attended a seminar on “constitutionalismand administrative Discretion.” there i metprofessor M. Jae Moon of the Departmentof public administration. he fairly rapidlyrecruited me to participate in one off-campusprogramandoneon-campusprogram.

the Organization for Economic co-Operation and Developmentasian centre forpublicgovernance(OEcD)sponsoredtheoff-campusprogram. inmycapacityasresourcespeaker i gave a power point presentationentitled executive branch reorganization and Innovation in the united states, to the second Multi-country study Mission on Public governance for asian Public servants which was held at the ramada seoul hotelon november 20-21, 2007. Elements ofthe presentation included “statE lEvElrEOrganiZatiOn” and “hurricanEskatrina & rita.” before the semesterwas over i would also chair a student panelon leadership which featured vietnamese

students.

the OEcD which was established inseoul inMayof2005hasalsoenabledmetoparticipateinluncheonswiththeambassadorsof indonesia and Denmark, and numerousother embassy officials. I spoke with the indonesianambassadorforthesecondtimeata function sponsored by the graduate schoolofinternationalstudiesofYonseiuniversityinnewMillenniumhall.Earlier thesameday iwasabletoreminisceaboutthelatenelsonw.polsbywithprofessorDavidbradyofstanforduniversity who was speaking on the topic ofpartisanpolarizationintheunitedstates.thethrust of professor brady’s talk was that theamountofitinthepresent-dayunitedstatesisexaggerated.

We had first met in 1986 when he along with professornelsonw.polsbyoftheuniversityofcalifornia—berkeleywerebothworkingatthecenterforadvancedstudiesinthebehavioralsciences which is located on the stanforduniversity campus. i was visiting professorpolsby at the time. professor polsby wrotea letter of recommendation on behalf of myFulbrightappointmentandsadlypassedawayduetocongestiveheartfailureduringFebruaryof2007.

professorharoldF.bass,Jr,Deanofsocialsciences at Ouachita baptist university andpresident of the southwestern social scienceassociation,deliveredtheeulogyatprofessorpolsby’s memorial service. Dean bass wasalso the lastph.D. studentofprofessoraveryleiserson,whohadservedasdepartmentchairtoDr.Youngc.kimatvanderbiltuniversity.Dr.Youngc.kimdeliveredanaddressentitled

Reflections on Excursions, Conventions, and Connectionsdr. Henry sirgo, 2007 Fulbright Korea senior lecturer photobyhenrysirgo

40 41

“Japanese policy towards north korea:koizumiDiplomacyandpoliticsofabduction,nuclear weapons, and normalization,” tothe underwood international college QuaDlingual Forum 2008. Dr.Young was touchedwheniaskedhimaboutprofessorleisersonwhohadcounseledthethenyoungvisitingprofessoron how to make the use of his impressivelanguage skills and secure a publicationin the american Political science review.

professor Youseop shin of the YonseiuniversityofDepartmentofpoliticalsciencehasguidedmethroughintellectualexchanges,as well as to the top of Seoul Tower and to fine diningininsadong.victorcha,retiredfromthekoreanbroadcastingsystemperhapsdeservesthe most praise or blame depending on one’sperspectiveforkeepingmealiveinkorea.

imanaged tohikeupMountDobongsan inbukhansannationalpark.atleastimanagedtodosobyatleastonthreeoccasionsbeingkindlypulled up by kindly koreans. a current dayblanche Dubois, i depended on the kindnessof korean strangers. being a resident of thelowest of the fifty states, the “Bayou State” of louisiana, i was exhausted by the excursionand ably assisted back down by Mister cha;whohasalsoseenthatihavebeenwell-fedonthreedifferentoccasionssincethen.

having been directly affected by hurricanerita and observed the devastation wroughtby hurricane katrina, as well as having

frequently driven guests down the creolenaturetrailinsouthwestlouisianatoobservemigratory waterfowl, and in order to gain acomparativeperspectiveontheprotectionandrestoration of wetlands, i excitedly acceptedan invitation from Ms. namue lee of theunited nations Development programme/globalEnvironmentalFacilitykoreawetlandproject (kwp) to participate in the wetlandsconservationinasiasymposiumwhichfocusedon regional cooperation. chinese, Japanese,korean, Malaysian and thai presenters dealtwithtopicsincludingbyunggoogO’s“wiseuse of agricultural fields in Korea,” Sansanee chOOwaEw’s“ricepaddiesandbiodiversityin thailand,” Yoshito Ohsako’s “restorationof wetlands and agriculture for the storkreintroduction in Japan,” and Mashhor binMansor’s“biodiversityinMalaysianriceagro-ecosystem.” the national Museum of koreawasthehostsiteforthesymposiumwhichalsoincluded a field excursion of the Han Gang Estuary.

unfortunately i missed the latter due tosomewhat of a scheduling conflict with a seminaron thegeopoliticsofkoreansecuritywhichwashostedoncampusbytheDepartmentof political science & Diplomacy of Yonseiuniversity. Oh well, at least the nationalAssembly elections are over and the flowers areinfullbloom.professorchristophbluthoftheschoolofpoliticsandinternationalstudiesoftheuniversityofleedsgaveapresentationentitled “the geopolitics of north Eastasiansecurityandthecrisisonthekoreanpeninsula.”Yonsei university graduate students askedinsightfulquestions.

the Ministry of the Environment has atask force which is preparing to host the 10thconference of the contracting parties to theconvention on wetlands of internationalimportanceramsarconvention inchangwoninlateOctoberandearlynovemberof2008.iwillnotbethere,butratherwillbesharingmykoreaninsightswithMcneesestateuniversitystudentsinlakecharles,louisiana.

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weeathotnoodlesonachillysaturdaymorning,thefoodslippingfrombetweenourchopsticks,leavingasaltyaftertastewhenislurpsomeintomymouth.“it’snotsobad,”yousay,havinghopedforamorewesternbreakfast.iscrunchmytoesinmyhikingbootswithashiver.

*ariveroftourist-turned-hikersflows around us to the topof the first hill—Nogo-dan,wherepeopletakepicturesofanancientaltar.iseethestepsthatleadup,up,up,thecrowdsjokingandjostlinginkorean,andwonderwhyican’tbreatheinaplacesofulloffreshair.

*Onthewaytopanya-bong,thepeakstillafewhourstocome,ispeakwithkoreansintheirlanguageandfeellikeihavesomething.iforgettotranslateforyousometimes,andpartofmelikesthesecret,thecodei’mslowlydecoding,thepiecesicankeepfromyou.

*thepeakiscoldandlessbeautifulthaniexpected.rockscragoutfrombush-coveredslopes.thewindpricklesatmyskin.weeatcookies,raisins,andpistachios.itellyouipackedapplesinmybag.Yousmileandshakeyourhead.“thecookiesare fine.”

*

The final valley drops deep and hardandwehoplikemountaingoatsrocktorocktorockaswedescend.above,thetreeshavelosttheirleaves,leavingbrownremnantswhereoncewaslife.but,aswedrop,colorspeekfromtreelimbs.thegroundlevelsattheriver,andallaroundmeare flashes and flares of orange andyellowandred.thiswaswhatiwanted,toseethisplace,piagolvalley,inthefall.wecrossarustedbridge,surroundedbyvibrancy,thesettlingduskbrighteningtheleaves’hues.

iwanttocallouttoyou,toaskifyouseethebeautyhere.iwanttoaskyoutopauseamoment,tobreatheinthecool,earlyeveningairthat’sturningtotwilight,towatchthewaterwindamongthetreesanddisappearwithinthescarletandauburnautumn.butican’t.You’rewatchingthepath,pressingaheadagainstthefallingnight,leavingmetoscurrybehindasdarknesspressesinandaroundus.

piagolvalleyJiri-sannationalpark

alexis stratton, 2006 eta

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ihavealwaysenjoyedferries,andtheonesihad taken during my first year and a half in

koreawerenoexception.althoughtheywerealllessthananhourinlength,irememberthemfondly: sittingouton thedeck, takingdozensof pictures with my cell phone camera, andfeedingshrimpchips to thecirclingseagulls.sowhenidecided to takea last-minute,end-of-winter-vacation tripdown to Jeju island inearlyMarch,iwasn’ttooupsettolearnthatallthe flights back to Gwangju were booked. yes! I’ll finally be able to take the ferry from Jeju to Mokpo! i thoughttomyself. perhapsifihadthought a little bit more about the correlationbetweenboatsizeandtheamountofrockingthattakesplace,iwouldnothavebeensoexcitedasiapproachedthetinyferryboatlovinglynamedthe핑크돌핀(pinkDolphin).

assoonasifoundmyseat,ibeganpulling

out all the things i would need for the three-hour journey ahead: my book, my i-pod, andmy camera. perhaps i’d take a stroll on thetopdeck to snapsomepictures,ormaybe i’deven take a nap to ward off any first day of school drowsiness the next morning. Briefly, irecalledwhatoneofmystudentshadtoldmeaboutapastschooltriptoJeju.theyhadtakentheferry,sheexplained;“allgirlscryandverysick,”shesaid.these are middle school girls,i reasoned. they cry about everything. they cried on last year’s school hiking trip!this is going to be so much fun,i toldmyself,astheengine started and theboatpulled away fromJejuisland.

“어 싫어! (Oh, i don’t want to!)” i heardseveralpeoplecryaloud.

lessthanaminutelater,asifeltthebottom

dropoutfrombelowme,itseemedlikeiwasback on the gyro Drop at lotte adventureworld, where i had visited just a few daysearlier. At first, it was just like being on athemeparkride; itwasthrilling,andallofuswerecollectivelysharing in theexcitementasthe boat hit each wave. but the gyro Dropwas a mere 52 seconds long; after a fewminutesonthe핑크돌핀,thefunendedjustasquicklyas ithadbegun. Jeju islandwasstillin close proximity as nearly everyone aroundmegrabbed formotion sicknessbags and theshrieksofexcitementturnedtogenuinecriesofanguish.

letmejustsaythatoneofthethingsihatemostisvomit,andthethoughtofbeingtrappedinshipfullofvomitingpeopleforthenextfewhours was already causing me great anxiety.inaddition,myrecenttriptolotteadventureworldhadmadeitclearthatmychildhoodloveofthemeparkrideswaslonggone.initsplacewasuncontrollablefear:ihadbeenscaredoutofmindonthegyroDrop–tearshadactuallyfallendownmycheeks–andhadswornneverto go back. and this ferry ride? this wasturningouttobemuchworse.

the boat was lurching up and down, side-to-side…as i became airborne several inches,i also became more frightened and anxiousthanihadthoughtpossible.prettysoon,iwascrying. not just the tears-streaming-down-my-cheekskindofcrying.iwassobbinggreatheavingsobs.How was I going to survive this? I want to get off! atthatmoment,oneofthemen who worked on the ferry (his main jobturned out to be passing out motion sicknessbags and cleaning up vomit) spotted me andtried to get me out of my seat. I resisted at first,

adventuresonthe핑크돌핀:FinallytakingtheFerrytoMokpo

nika strzelecka, 2006-2007 eta

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too frightened to release the white-knuckledgripihadonmyarmrest.whenhetookholdof my arm, I finally relented and let him guide medowntherowsofgreen-lookingpeoplebentoverplasticbags.

again, if i had known more about boats, iwould have known that the back of the boatrocksmuchlessthanthefront,andthat’swherehe deposited me, in the very back row, rightnext to an아줌마 (ajumma) who was sittingwithherheadleanedback,eyesclosed,handsresting inher lap. she seemedcompletely atease,unphasedbytherockingoftheboatandthechaosgoingonallaroundher. while thebackoftheboatwasindeedagreatdealcalmerthan the front, i was still sobbing heavily,curledupinthefetalpositioninmyseat,armswrappedtightlyaroundmyjacketandmybag,asmuchforthesenseofsecuritytheyprovidedmeastoprotectthemfromanystraysplashesofvomit.

At first, the 아줌마merelyopenedhereyes,lookedatme,frowned,andshookherhead,asiftosay,“Enough!”butmysobsdidnotsubside,andeachlurchoftheboatbroughtforthfreshtears.nextshetoldme“괜찮아(it’sokay)”afewtimes,againtonoavail.then,shedidthemost wonderful thing possible, something forwhich iamverygrateful. she tookmyhandin her lap and held it. i burrowed my faceinto her left arm, still sobbing and wishing i

had never come to Jeju in the first place, but feelingcomfortedandsafeasicurledagainstthiswomanididn’tevenknow.

For the next hour, this old lady continuedholdingmyhandandsoothingme.althoughididn’tstopcrying,iwasabletocalmdownabit.Everytimewehitaparticularlyroughpatchofwater,ibegancryingharder,andsherespondedbysqueezingmyhandandeventuallyputbothherhandsaroundmy righthand. Finally, theboat reached the first of its three stops, and the womanrosetoleave.wavesofanxietyagainrushedthroughme.I still have over two hours to ride on this boat! How can I continue on without her? i managed to compose myselfenoughtothankher;asshegatheredherpurse,shesmiledandsaidafewsentencestome–iimagine they were reassurances. before shegotofftheboat,sheagainsaid,“괜찮아,”butididn’tbelieveherastheferrypulledawayandcontinuedontowardthepeninsula.

turnsout,shewasright.therestoftheferryridewasactuallyquitecalm.whileididn’tgetanyreadingdownorventureoutonthetopdecktoenjoytheview,iwasabletotakeanap.legsstill wobbly, i set foot on the mainland morerelievedthanever,andevenmoregratefulfortheoldladywhohadreassuredandcalmedme,anearly-hystericalamericangirlwhoendedupsobbingalloverherjacket.

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coming to korea, one of the things i wasmost excited about was the opportunity

to live with a host family.while most of myfamilyandfriendsathomethoughtiwasnaive,icouldn’twait.thoughwehadbeenwarnednottohaveexpectations,inmyheartihopedforafamilywithyoungkidsandparentswhoicouldcommunicateeasilywith.Yetaswithmostofmy experiences this year, i could have neverpredicted how (challenging and) wonderfullydifferentmyrealhome-stayfamilycouldbe.

My(host)dadisatypicalkoreana-jeo-ssiwithafriendlysmile,callusedhandsanda(stubbornyet) caring heart. When I first arrived with my suitcasestomynewhomeandfelttearsstingingmy eyes, he gestured towards himself – 아빠 - dad, then towards my host mom –엄마-momandthentowardsmyself–딸-daughter.i knew instantly things were going to be ok.The first few weeks, I spent a lot of time with him and my host-family in the small office of thebutcher storeheowned.while i’veneverbeen a vegetarian, i was also not used to seewholecowhides,pigheadsand‘mas-iss-eo-yo’intestines/organsthatseemedtobeeverywhere,includingonthedinnertable.andlet’sjustsayyou would not want me to begin to describeall the unsanitary things i have seen that goon behind the scenes at butcher shops. butbeingtherealsoallowedmetoseeadifferentsideofmyfamilymembers.i lovedwatchingthemjokewiththecustomers,seeinghowtheyinteractedwitholdfriendsandhowtheyranthefamilybusiness.

“I have many friends” is one of the five English phrasesihavetaughtmydadthisyearpreciselybecauseheseemstoknoweveryoneinoursmalltownofgalsan.sometimeshelikestoshowme

offtohisfriends,invitingmetosojudinnersortocometohisweeklyvolleyballgames.thesegames arewithhis oldhigh school friends atthelocalhighschoolgymwherethefriendsgettogethertoprovetheyarestillasyoungasever.ihaveyettodecidemypurposeatthesegamesas i am not only the token English teacher, iamtheonlyfemale, theonlynon-koreanandtheonlyonenotplaying.butigobackbecauseits like being let into a secret world full ofsurprisingtalent,lotsof‘i-gos’andaglimpseatrealfriendshipthathaslasted20plusyears.

Mydadhasagreatsenseofhumor(orawayof being funny andnot knowing it).One lateafternoon last fall, i was surprised to comehome and find leaves strewn about right inside the front door. i searched around but wasunable to figure out how they had made their wayintoourhouse.suddenlydanglingbrightpersimmonscaughtmyeye.Mydadhadnailedtwohugebranchesofpersimmonstoourwall.while they did bring color to the house andattracted theattentionofmanyvisitors, iwasthankfulwhen theywere takendownbecausetheyhadstartedtooozeandloseleaves.

anothertime,whenweweredrivinghomelateone night, he stopped to see his ‘friend’ whojusthappenedtoownacowfarminthemiddleof nowhere. all i could think about for thehour and half i waited alone in the car whilehecheckedoutcows,wasthatanyminutethebackdoorofourMussosuvwouldbeopenedandahugedeadcowwouldbeshovedinside.thankfully iwaswrong,hewentback togetthecowhehadpurchasedthenextdaywithhis‘cow’truck.

iliketotellfriends11:30p.m.iswhentheparty

My(host)Dad,우리 아빠laura tschop, 2007 eta

46

starts at my home-stay house, usually rightaroundthetimemydadgetshome.sometimesthisfunisduetothewhiskeyhehaspreviouslyconsumed or sometimes its simply due to hiscrazyideas.Onenighthedecidedtointroducemetothetraditionalkoreanmassagestickbygiving me a few whacks on the back whilestandingonmybacktotesthowhealthyiam.atanyrate,icanhonestlysayihaveneverseenmydadhappierthanwhenheistryingtoteachmeoroneofmyEtafriendstaekwondo.thislesson inevitably leads to collapsing laughteron our floor and humored disappointed looks frommydad.

Despite all the crazy experiences i have hadwithmydadthispastyear,hetrulyhasbecomelikemyfamily.countlesstimes,he’spickedtheotherhongseongEtasandmyselfupfromthetrainstationlateonsundaynightwhennootherhost-familyvolunteered.hegrinsandactivelyparticipates in learning/teaching how to saydirections inkorean/English in thecar.andiwillforevercherishthecarridewhenitaughthimtheEnglishwordsto‘amazinggrace’.hemeant what he said in the very first moments we met that first day when he said he was my “dad”andifeelsoluckytobehis딸.

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Arrozal, Christine, 2007 Fulbright etAchristinearrozalgrewupasoneoffourchildrenconstantlymovedaroundbytheirmilitaryparents,alfredoandcarmencitaarrozal.they’velivedinguam,thephilippines,andeventuallysettledincalifornia.sheattendedcaliforniastateuniversity,longbeachwhereshereceivedherbachelorsdegreeinbusinessadministrationwithanemphasisinFinance,internationalbusiness,andMis.later,she returned to school to pursue a Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). Upon her return to the US, she will finish her Masters in Linguistics with an emphasis in TESL. In the future, shehopestoutilizehervariousexperienceslivingabroadtoheadastudyabroad/internationalstudentsAffairs Office on a prominent college campus. You can reach her at achristine@gmail.com.

brittain, Christina, 2006 Fulbright etAchristinasuhbrittaingraduatedfromucberkeleyin2006andservedasaFulbrightEtaatseongmogirlshighschoolinDaejeonduringthe2006-2007term.shewasborninseoulandreturnstokoreaoftentovisitherfamily.christinacurrentlyattendsharvardlawschool.

Cesa, Anna, 2007 Fulbright etAannacesagraduatedfromgrinnellcollegeingrinnell,iowain2003withamajorinpsychology.Originallyfromwheaton,illinois,shewasa2007-2008Englishteachingassistantatneungjuhighschoolinhwasun,Jeollanam-do.next,sheplanstoattendtheuniversityofMichiganintheirEducationandpsychologyprogramandhopestoeventuallyworkinachilddevelopmentoreducationalresearchinstitute.heremailaddressisannacesa@gmail.com.

Chudy, Jennifer, 2007 Fulbright etAJenniferchudy,FulbrightEtastudiedpoliticalscienceatbrown.asanEta,shetaughtatseondeokgirls’highschoolinbeautifulgyeongju,andmadefrequenttripstobusantovisitherfamilyandhermother’s alma mater, Busan National University, a fine institution way outside of Seoul! When she returnstotheu.s,shewillworkasanurbanFellowforthenewYorkcitygovernment.shecanbecontactedat:jchudy@alumni.brown.edu

dale, katie, 2006 Fulbright etAkatieDaleisa2006graduatefromgeorgetowncollegewhoenjoysphotographyandtraveling.DuringheryearasanEtainhwasun,southkorea,katiechronicledheradventuresthoughphotos.thesedays,katiespendshertimeworkingandplayinginherhometownofcincinnati,Oh.

durham, emily, 2007 Fulbright etAEmilyDurhamisanativeofgreensboro,northcarolina.shegraduatedfrompomonacollegeinclaremont,californiawithadegreeinEnglishliterature.currently,sheisteachingEnglishto800koreanstudentsingradesfourththroughsixthathongseongElementaryschoolandlovingeveryminuteofit.afterhergrantinkorea,Emilyplanstoreturntotheunitedstatestopursueacareerinstudentaffairs.Emilymaybereachedviaemail,emily.b.durham@gmail.com

eason, hillary, 2007 Fulbright etAhillarylpEasonisnotfromanywhere.shedid,however,attendcentrecollegeinkentucky,whereshegraduatedwithadegreeininternationalrelationsandEnglish.asofthiswriting,sheisateacheratDong

contributorbiographies

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MiddleschoolinJeju-do.herdreamsincludegoingtograduateschoolfordevelopmentstudiesandonedayvisitingDokdo,thelonelyisland.inherfreetime,sheenjoysreading,cooking,andtellingherstudentstowalknotrun.herfavoritekindofkimchiistheshreddedradishkind.

grider, glyptusAnn, 2007 Fulbright etAglyptusanngriderteachesEnglishathallimgirls’MiddleschoolinJejudo,the“honeymoonislandofkorea”famousforitsstonegrandfatherstatues,orangesandbeaches.sheisresearchingwhetherspacekimchi can be marketed on Earth and does her best to avoid raw fish and horsemeat at dinner. She is currentlyagreenbeltintaekwondo.glyptusanngraduatedfromtheuniversityoflouisvilleandwillattendMiamiuniversityinthefallwhereshewillpursueadoctoraldegreeinpoliticalscience.E-mailheratglypie.grider@gmail.com.

guarino, nicole, 2007 Fulbright etAnicoleguarinoisfromMountprospect,il,anorthwestsuburbofchicago.shegraduatedfromtheUniversity of Iowa in May 2007 with degrees in mathematics and English and a teaching certification in secondarymathematics.currently,sheteachesEnglishataco-edmiddleschoolinJeju-si,Jeju-do,whereshe enjoys hearing first grade students eagerly say, “Nice to seeyou!”everymorning.afutureteachingstudentsorstudyinginternationaleducationingraduateschoolawaitsher.

easterday, noelle, 2006-2007 Fulbright etAnoelleEasterdayisananthropologyjunkiewithatravelbug.hailingfromruralbasincity,wa,shegraduatedin2006fromtheuniversityofnotreDame.althoughoriginallyplacedinandong,gyeongsangbuk-do,noellecurrentlyteaches600sleepygirlsonthewestsideofseoul.inthefuture,she hopes to finally read THE THREE MUSKETEERS, learn “Layla” on the guitar, and sing an entire 넬 songbyheart.

lawson, konrad, 2007 Fulbright Junior researcherkonradM.lawsonhasspentthelastfourteenyearsstudyingEastasianlanguagesandhistory.heisaphDcandidateinthehistorydepartmentofharvarduniversity.hewasa2007-2008Fulbrightjunior researcher affiliated with Yonsei University’s Institute of Korean Studies. Konrad is writing his dissertationontreasonandpoliticalretributionagainstaccusedcollaboratorswithJapaninearlypost-liberation Korea and China. You can find his current contact information online at muninn.net.

lee, Jason, 2007 Fulbright etAJasonleeisfromredondobeach,ca,andgraduatedfromtheJohnshopkinsuniversitywithadegreeinneuroscience.heisacurrentFulbrightEta2007-2008atwongokMiddleschoolinansan.inadditiontoteaching,heislearningheadongkumdo(koreanFencing)andresearchingkoreanhealthcareandEasternMedicine.aftercompletinghisgrant,hewillattenduclaschoolofMedicineinthefall.jasonlee85@gmail.com.

Margolies, dan, 2007 Fulbright senior lecturerDanMargoliesisbattenassociateprofessorofhistoryatvirginiawesleyancollegeandaspecialistinthe history of American foreign relations and Southern history. His first book was Henry Watterson and the new south: the Politics of empire, Free trade, and globalization,andheiscurrentlycompletingahistoryofextraterritorialityandempireinamericanforeignrelations.During2007-08hewasaFulbrightseniorscholar/seniorlectureratsoganguniversity.

novaral, Jenna, 2007 Fulbright etAJenna Novaral graduated with a B.A. in History and a Secondary Social Studies Teaching certificate from the University of Colorado at Boulder. This was her first trip to Korea since her adoption 23 years ago. inthefall,JennaplanstopursueaMaster’sdegreeinsocial,Multicultural,andbilingualFoundationsofEducationwithanemphasisinbilingual/Esl/MulticulturalEducationatheralmamater.sheenjoyedeverymomentofteachingatDong-moonhighschoolinDaegu.

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o’brien, Janaki, 2006-2007 Fulbright etAJanaki O’Brien was born in Seattle. She began her first grant year as a Fulbright Teaching assistantimmediatelyaftergraduatingfromwiliamscollegein2006.lastyearshelivedingumi,gyeongsangbujdo,andiscurrentlycompletingasecondgrantyearinJeonju,Jeollabukdo.afterhersecond grant year finishes in July she plans to work at the Korea National Museum in Seoul and undertake asurveyofkoreanhotelarchitecture.Janaki.M.Obrien@gmail.com

rimelspach, Meghan, 2007 Fulbright etAMeghan,originallyfromOhio,isanultraproudgraduateofthenewcollegeofFlorida,whichsheistryingtoconvincekoreaisactually“america’snumber1university,”notharvard.sheteaches,playssoccerwith,motivates,andtamesboysatgeumsungMiddleschoolinherbelovedtownofnaju.afterFulbrightsheplansonquietlysavingtheworld.wallendafan@gmail.com

rydberg, Amber, 2007 Fulbright etAamberrydberggraduatedfromMiddleburycollegeinvermontinFebruary2007withadegreeinchineseliteratureandpoliticalscience.sheiscurrentlyanelementaryEtainpadong,Daegu.attheconclusionofhergrant,shewilltravelforacoupleofmonthsbeforegoingbacktothegreatnortheast.She hopes to find a job that allows her to put her intense studies of Mandarin to good use.

salerno, beth, 2007 Fulbright senior lecturerbethsalernoisanassociateprofessorofhistoryatsaintanselmcollegeinManchester,nh.shewasaFulbrightseniorlecturerintheamericanstudiesDepartmentatpyeongtaekuniversityforthe2007-8academicyear.sheisgratefultoherstudentsandcolleaguesforteachinghersomuchaboutkoreaandbeingsointerestedinlearningaboutamerica.shecanbereachedatbsalerno@anselm.edu.

shin, sara, 2006 Fulbright etAsarashinisanewYorker,bornandraisedinQueens.shegraduatedfromwellesleycollege(yes,theall-girls school) in 2004. She was part of the first Fulbright Elementary ETA program in South Korea from Jan2006-Dec2006andlikeditsomuchshedecidedtoextendforsixmonths.saraisnowbackhomeworking for a nonprofit in NYC. She hopes to work for a few years before heading to graduate school.

silvieus, leah, 2007 Fulbright etAaftergrowingupinruralMontanaandcolorado,leahreceivedherb.a.inEnglishfromwhitworthUniversity in Spokane, Washington. She is currently finishing her teaching assistantship at Jeonggwang Middleschoolingwangju.correspondenceandgoodbookrecommendationscanbesenttoleah.silvieus@gmail.com

sirgo, henry, 2007 Fulbright senior lecturerprofessorhenrybarbiersirgoservedas2007-2008FulbrightseniorlecturerintheDepartmentofpoliticalscience&internationalstudiesfortheunderwoodinternationalcollegeofYonseiuniversity.heservedas2006-2007williaml.McleodEndowedscholaratMcneesestateuniversityinlakecharles,louisiana.heistheformerpresidentofthelouisianapoliticalscienceassociationandoftheMcneesestateuniversityFacultysenate,andservesontheeditorialboardofpolitics&policy.hehaspublishedextensivelyincludingarticlesinpresidentialstudiesQuarterlyandwomen&politics,bookreviewsintheamericanpoliticalsciencereviewandgreatplainssociologist,bookchaptersanda2004bookonenvironmentalpolicy.professorsirgoearnedhisb.a.fromtheuniversityofnewOrleans,andhisM.s.andph.D.degreesfromFloridastateuniversity

smith, lauren, 2007 Fulbright etAlaurensmithisfromkansascity,MOandgraduatefromDrakeuniversityinDesMoinesiowa.shereceived degrees in Graphic Design, Advertising and a Global Ambassador Certification. During her FulbrightEtagrantshetaughtatJejuDongallgirls’MiddleschoolonJejuisland.inherfreetimesheenjoystraveling,readingandrunning.Youcancontactherat:lauren.smith88@hotmail.com

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stratton, Alexis, 2006 Fulbright etAalexisstrattonisfromraleigh,nc,andgraduatedfromtheuniversityofsouthcarolinawithadegreeinEnglish.shewasaFulbrightEta2006-2007,duringwhichtimeshetaughtatJunganggirls’highschoolinYeosu.sheiscurrentlyworkingattheMethodiststudentnetworkatusc,andsheplanstocontinuestudyingEnglishliteratureandcreativewritingingraduateschool.alexis.stratton@gmail.com

strzelecka, nika, 2006-2007 Fulbright etAaftergraduatingfrompomonacollegeinMay2006,nikastrzeleckahasbeenteachingEnglishtomiddleschoolstudentsandtravelingaroundasia.whileshestilllikestakingferryrides,sheprefersthemountainstotheseaandintendstohikethroughallofkorea’snationalandprovincialparksbeforeleavingtherOk.ifyou’dliketojoinher,pleaseemailnika47@gmail.com.

tschop, laura, 2007 Fulbright etAlauratschopgrewupingettysburg,pa.shestudiedpyschologyandEarlychildhoodEducationatwheatoncollegeinnorton,Ma.shelivedthispastyearinthefun-lovingtownofgalsan-myeonwhereshelovedteachingall125ofherelementaryschool’sstudents.whileshe’sunsureofexactlywhereshewillbenextyear,sheknowsthatshewillbeteachingsomewhere.shehopestoteachformanyyearsbeforegoingintoeducationpolicy.she’dlovetotalkaboutkoreasopleaseemailher:lauratschop@gmail.com

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the korean-american Educationalcommission does not take responsibility fortheopinionsandviewsexpressedinthekoreaFulbright review by individual contributors.all submissions, includingbutnot limited to,personalandacademicresearchareviewsheldbytheindividualcontributorandshouldnotbemistaken to represent the official policies of the Fulbrightcommissioninkorea.

the contents of this publication may not bereproducedinwholeorinpartwithoutexpresswritten permission by the korean-americanEducationalcommissionandbytheindividualcontributororcontributorsconcerned.

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