Dragon at the .

unao Lantern Festival, by ETA Jean Lee Duong

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contents

06 Director's Message - Jai Ok Shim

07 u.s. Education Center - Dr. James Larson 09 Fulbright Korea ETA Map

11 Year in Review TimeHne

13 Fulbright Official Happenings 21 60 Years of Fulbright Korea

23 Fulbright Korea Alumni Funds Get to Work! 25 Autumn in Damyang - Anna Tsyklaova

27 Painting as an Avocation - Dr. Sugwon

Kang

29 Small Fish: A Story of War, Fatherhood, and the Birth of International Adoption - Misty Ann Edgecomb

37 Chuncheon Soldier - Rachael Mongold 39 Full Moon Evening / Progress -

Emily Comstock

41 The Rubdown - Nakisha McNeal

42 Imagining English Education in Korean

Cinema - Josie Sohn

43 Ancestors / Escape - Megan McGinley 45 Mega Glasses! - Grace Geir

47 Unmasking Talchum - J.L. Murdoch 49 October in Jeongeup - Grace Park 51 Integrating North Koreans into South

Korean Society - Christina Chang

53 National Identity in Korea: Singular or

Plural? - Franklin Rausch .

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In Lee Duong

v

1

Small F·

feature:

The story of Jimmy Raynor, one of the first Korean children adopted after the Korean War, by Junior Researcher Misty Ann Edgecomb.

Photographs from Korea Images by ETA Meagan McGinley,

Fulbright Fun

Singers Tiger JK, Yoon Mi-Rae and

John Legend performed at a ShowMe Foundation / KKOOM joint event in 2008.

A Passion for PaintIng

An oil painting of Mt. Sorak by Senior Scholar Dr. Sugwon Kang.

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mag a z i n e . h i g h I i g h ts

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Mrs. Jai Ok Shim is the Executive Director of the Korean-American Educational Commission and has

led the Fulbright Korea Organization in Seoul since 2004.

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officia . welcome

Greetings Infusion Readers,

As the 2008-2009 grant year comes to a close, I am filled with pride at the great strides the Korean-AmericanEducational Commission has made this past year, and I look forward to the upcoming year with hopeful anticipation of the possibilities it will bring. Every year is one of challenge and change. Grantees' lives are forever changed by the Fulbright experience, and KAEC always strives to improve our programs for future grantees. Everyone in the Fulbright Korea family, from grantees and alumni to the KAEC staff members, has played a key role in shaping our Commission andfulfiliing the ongoing mission of Fulbright.

With this, the second issue of The Korea Fulbright Infusion, we celebrate the accomplishments of our grantees and alumni this year. The story of each grantee represents a journey - a tale of a path leadinq to Korea, the adventure that is their grant year, and the bright path that leads forward as they share their personal story of Korea with the world. From the story of a young boy adopted in the years surrounding the Korean war, the delicate movements of traditional dance, to the stories of teachers reaching out to their communities, the pages of this year's Infusion offer but a glimpse of our Fulbrighters and their work.

Next year, Fulbright Korea will celebrate its 60th anniversary, and preparationstor the upcoming events are already underway. As the 60th anniversary approaches, Fulbright Korea will be executing the most comprehensive alumni outreach project in the history of our commission. I hope we can bring together as many alumni as possible from as far back as the earliest years of our grant programs.

In the fall of 2010, we will be planning several events to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Fulbright in Korea .. To bring together past Korean and American alumni, we will host a celebration event in Seoul planned for October 2010. Our Commission will publish a book chronicling the history and development Fulbright in Korea. We will also be collecting information from past grantees, including information about what they have done since they finished their time abroad. I hope we can share your story.

After you sign up on our alumni website, aJumni.fulbright.or.kr, please look for emails from us with details on the 60th anniversary festivities and how you can be a part of celebrating 60 years of Fulbright in Korea.

As we work to bring together our Fulbright Korea family in the months to come, we would like to ask alumni to make their best efforts to reach out to fellow alumni, reestablish their ties with KA.EC, and continue the mission of Fulbright.

Enjoy this year's Infusion, and I look forward to the good things still to come.

Sincerely,

Jai Ok Shim

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James Larson, P.h .• D., is currently the

Deputy Director of the Korean-American Educational Commission. A former Peace Corps Volunteer and Fulbright grantee in Korea, he was a professor of communication for more than fifteen years and the author of several books, including Television's Window on the World and The Telecommunications Revolution in Korea ..

Dear Intusion Readers,

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u .. s. Education Center

By accident of history, Fulbright Korea became the host organization for the U.S. Education Center, a State Department-affiliated advising center which is part of a worldwide network of more than 450 centers. Although some of these advising centers are affiliated with Fulbright Commissions, not all are. Some are housed within universities, others in lIE offices, and yet others are located in different organizations. The advising centers share a common mission to promote education in the U.S. by offering accurate, unbiased, comprehensive, objective and timely information about educational institutions in the United States and guidance to qualified individuals on how to access those opportunities.

Although Fulbright Korea receives no operational funding to operate its U.S. Education Center, we have been fortunate over the years to offer this distinctive service in Korea with revenues from other activities, primarily educational testing. For many years. beginning in the early 1980s, the Fulbright Commission served as the representative of ETS for TOEFL, GRE and related testing activities. We have also worked with other U.S. testing organizations to deliver high-stakes academic tests in South Korea and to ensure that these tests are administered in a secure and credible manner. We do so out of a belief that the integrity of these tests is fundamental to U.S.-Korea educational and intercultural exchange in general. Our work in testing strongly complements the basic mission of the U.S. Education Center.

Korea's position as a world leader in broadband internet and the "most networked nation on earth" conditions much of what we doin the U.S. Education Center. We are continually working to enhance our web-based services for U.S. schools, colleges, and universities as well as study fairs and other U.S.-based organizations. We have entered the blogosphere with a blog aimed at admissions and recruitment representatives from U.S. schools (see http://blog.educationusa.or.kr), and we host Korean-language profiles or websites on behalf of a growing number of U.S. institutions. This year we have begun to offer our American Fulbright grantees the opportunity to parttctpate in advising sessions or make special presentations about their universities or field of studies in the U.S. Education Center.

Fulbright's U.S. Education Center is open from 9:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Monday through Friday, except for certain Korean and American holidavs that are observed by the Commission. We invite all Fulbrighters and others with an interest in U.S.-Korea educational exchange to stop by and visit us on the first floor of the Fulbright Building in Mapo.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Education Center,

Sincerely,

James F. Larson

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photo. timeline

Fulbrighters keep busy year-round in Korea. Here are some of the many things on the 2008-2009 calendar.

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1. ETA Orientation - July and August 2008. New ETAs participated in a sixweek training session held at Kangwon National Universityin Chuncheon. This orientation included an intensive Korean language course and a packed schedule of cultural and teaching workshops. ETAs were introduced to Korea. and developed a support network of friends and colleagues.

< ETAs Jane Lee and Grace Gair study for their Korean language classes.

2. Camp Fulbright - August 2008. Fulbright hosted the 5th annual Camp Fulbright in Chuncheon. See page 17 for details. < A "Fulbright City" banner from a camp activity.

3. Welcome Pool Party with Ambassador VershbowAugust 2008. U .. S. Ambassador to Korea, Mr. Alexander Vershbow, threw a pool party welcoming new ETAs to Korea. The party was held at the Ambassador's Residence. Ambassador Vershbow personally welomed the 68 "cultural ambassadors" brought to Korea. by the Fulbright program.

< ETAs Matt Kane and Alex Su go for a swim.

4. Welcome Dinner for Researchers and Scholars - September 2008. In September, KAEC welcomed incoming junior and senior grantees at a dinner at Seokran Korean restaurant near Yonsei University. Grantees met the MinisterCounselor for Public Affairs Patrick Linehan and Deputy Cultural Affairs Officer Jeffrey Beller. < The 2008 Fulbright junior and senior grantees pose with KAEC Executive Director Mrs. Jai Ok Shim, Mr. Linehan and Mr. Beller.

6. Thanksgiving Dinner with Ambassador Stephens - November 2008. Newly apootnted US Ambassador Kathleen Stephens kept a Fulbright tradition a.live by inviting ETAs, KAEC staff, and several Embassy officials to her residence for the fifth annual Thanksgiving dinner celebration.

<ETA Alec Palmerton entertains Ambassador Stephens and the ETAs.

7. Alumni Youth Leadership Program (AYLP) - January 2009. In January, 6 ETAs accompanied students to Seoul for a week-long leadership program. See page 17 for details .. < ETA Elizabeth Gutting poses with an A YLP student.

5. Gyeongju ETA Fall Conference - October 2008. The 2008-9 ETAs traveled to Gyeongju for the program's annual fall conference. Workshops were held to discuss teaching methods and cultural adjustment and to provide ETAs with strategies to make the most of their time in Korea. ETAs also had the opportunity to visit the city's historical Silta Period landmarks ith a day of sightseeing.

< ETA Jon Kelley is interviewed onstage at a concert in Gyeongju.

8. Middle School Youth Diplomacy Program - May 2009. In May, nine ETAs accompanied 25 students to Seoul to learn about diplomacy through a program sponsored by the US Embassy. < A drawing entitled Hope and

Peace, completed by a group of students at MSYDP ..

9. lejuETA Spring Conference - Aprill 2009. The 2008-9 ETAs traveled to Jeju for the program's annual spring conference. ETAs reflected on their nine months in Korea and attended workshops designed to improve resources for future grantees. Workshop topics included predeparture information and resources, race and adoptee issues, and the current ETA handbook. Additionally,ETAs took advantage of Jeju's beautiful scenery on their Sightseeing day. < ETAs enjoy the beautiful weather on Jeju.

10. Jeju Researcher and Scholar Spring Conference - April 2009. All fourteen junior research grantees participated in the fourth annual Jeju Junior Researcher Conference in April. The grantees gave reports on their research, which range from the preservation and redevelopment of traditional Korean dance, the completed genome of the hepatitis B virus, the creation of a documentary on Korean lacquer, and the diagnosis and treatment of autism in Korea. While rain hampered most sightseeing plans, the conference gave grantees an opportunity to receive feedback on their work and hear about their colleagues' exciting and diverse projects. < Fulbright Junior Researcher Tony Hsieh presents his research on the hepatitis B virus in Ieju.

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official. updates

Natasha Trethewe

-e ETA Alex Su poses with Ms. Trethewey.

F u I b r i ch t For um 5 Seven Fulbright Forums were held at the Fulbright BUili~?n9'S 6th floor lecture hall during the 2008 program year. During these monthly lectures, current Fulbright American junior researchers and senior scholars gave presentations about their areas of research to audiences of thirty to sixty people. This year's Fulbright Forum presenters included Dr. Sugwon Kang, Franklin Ra.usch, Josie Sohn and Dr. Danny Wedding, Aimee Lee, Katherine Lee, Dr. Helena Meyer-Knapp, Erin Lee, and Misty Edgecomb.

Fulbrighters in Korea have Fulbright-sponsored activit

5 e ve ra 'n c e H os n ital In January and February, Fulbright ETAs Sarah Chung and Erin Williams were offered !he opportunity to intern at Severance Hospital's International Clinic. Dylan Davis, the internship coordinator and currently the International Affairs Officer at Severance Hospital, is a former Fulbright ETA himself. Seeing the potential to promote cultural understanding in the healthcare field, he created a two-month internship program with the International Health Care Clinic under the supervision of Dr. John Linton. Chung and Williams assisted with administrative processes, guided foreign patients to appointments throughout the hospital,

and assisted in editing and translating documents. They were also fortunate enough to accompany physicians on morning rounds and to observe surgeries.

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Kore

Congratula for Fulbriqt Korea Fulbl research at Chicago, he presented I versity of E state, relig Hwang SaForum in if,

I~L~u~ ;nd ~b!!! ~~u~~lrs l~ S ~ [nm~a~ iPse~1 graciously

invited Fulbright ETAs to intern at their offices to gain experience in Korean-

American relations and foreign affairs. During their month-long internship, nine ETAs worked within the Regional Programming Office, the Cultural Affairs Office, the Information Office, the Information Resource Center, and as assistants to the Public Affairs Off.icer. Interns had the opportunity to assist directly with several projects, including

the historic visit of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in February.

<ETA Grace Park meets the U.S. Ambassador to

Iraq, Christopher Hill.

> ETAs Molly Chidester and Jeremy Dost pose as the Statue of Uberty and Uncle Sam at the U.S. Embassy.

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e

rhters in Korea have been keeping busy with iht-sponsored activities and internships.

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for Fulbright junior researchers. This is the first year that the Foundation, which is closely associated with the Korea Fulbright Alumni Association, has given two scholarshtps for American junior researchers for outstanding research and presentations in their field. Lee, an MFA recipient in book and paper arts from Columbia College in Chicago, has been learning techniques for making hsni), as well as traditional dyeing and paper weaving .. She presented her research to a packed audience at a Fulbright Forum in April. Rausch, a PhD candidate at the Uni'versitv of British Columbia in Vancouver, has been conducting research on the relationship between nation, state, religion, and the legitimization of force in the late Choseon dynasty, with a focus on two Korean Catholics, Hwang Sa-yeong. and An Jung-geun. Mr. Rausch gave a powerful presentation on An Jung-geun at a Fulbright Forum in February ..

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> ETA Jane Lee's second grade students pose for a silly

photo on their Fulbright

field trip.

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officia I. updates. 2

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Ssanavona . ield Trins InMay2009,Cheonan

Ssangyong Hig~c~oOI held t~ 2nd Ssanqvonq-Fulbriqht Cultural Exchange Field Trip. The program, conceived and organized by 2008-2009 Fulbright ETA Jane Lee in order to facilitate a more intimate English-immersion experience for her students, involved 14 ETAs and 64 students. Individual ETAs led groups of five students each during excursions to sites of interest throughout Korea. This year the exchange programs visited folk villages in Suwon and Asan. The 1st Ssangyong-Fulbright Cultural Exchange Field trip was held on January 10, 2009.

" ETA Alex Su

When not teaching or researching, Fulbrighters have taken part

in many volunteer organizations, sports teams, and extracurricular school activities.

J ei u Ba se ba II ETA Eric Reese,

who p~yed baseball at DePauw University, is now a starter for the Jeju Twins, a regional recreational league team. Reese is the youngest member of the team by two decades.

To cor KAEC a boot Fulbri;

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> ETA Eric Reese in uniform.

< ETA Laura Tschop poses with Tiger JK and Yoon .Mi-rae.

v John Legend performs at the ShowMe Fundation/KKOOM benefit concert.

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Korean Kids Orphanage Outreach Mission Benefit Concert

On March 28th, 2009, John Legend and two famous Korean singers, Yoon Mi-rae and Tiger JK, performed a charity concert to raise money for John Legend's ShowMe Foundation and KKOOM (Korean

Kids Orphanage and Outreach Mission), a non-profit that supports projects in South Korean orphanages. The intimate concert was held at an upscale restaurant in Gangnam. Tickets were $700. John legend, Yoon Mi-rae, Tiger JK and special guest US Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens mingled with the crowd, signed autographs and posed for pictures while discussing the fight against world poverty. Yoon Mi-rae and her husband Tiger JK took extra time to record a short video and signed autographs to give to children living in orphanages. ETA Laura Tschop accepted the Show Me Foundation's donation on behalf of KKOOM.

National Water Polo Team

From February 2009 to July 2009, Fulbright ETA Alex Su played water polo with the Korean Nati.onal Team in Seou.l, based at Korea National sports University in the Olympic Park area. Su practiced with the team three nights a week. Presently, the team is preparing for the 2010 Asian Games, where the champion wins an automatic bid to the 2012 Summer otvmptcs in London.

KAEC 60th Annlversarv

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of Fulbright Korea next year,

KAEC will hold special events on october 15 and 16, 2.010, and will publish a book celebrating the history of the commission, with reflections from Fulbright alumni.

A ETA Alex Su plays water polo.

ilar

· e I) 1#

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official. updates. 3

A ETA William Wiegand with students at AYlP

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es

Fulbright teachers keep busy teaching both inside and outside the classroom.

Cam. n F u I b ri oh t In its fifth year, Camp Fulbright continues to offer a unique English immer~n experience for Ko~n erernentarv, middle, and high school students. Organized by Fulbright Korea and staffed by former grantees and English speaking Korean counselors, the program gives Korean campers two weeks of English classes, games, activities, and a great opportunity to make new friends from atl over Korea. In addition, the camp gives new ETA Program grantees the opportunity to meet Korean students in and out of the classroom, better preparing them for their year as English teachers.

This year, the Jeonnam province Shinan-gun Office of Education sponsored the first winter Camp Fulbright program. The camp, held in Mokpo, gave students from the area from diverse backgrounds the chance to experience the camp program.

> A student poses with a mask at Camp Fulbrig.ht

National Drama Winners

Fulbright alumnus Vinnie Flores and members of the 2008 National English Drama Competition champions from Pohang Middle School English Drama Team. The team consistently places at city and provincial levels, and in 2002 and 2008 won the grand prize at the national competition, beating out some of the best middle and high schools in the country.

A Fulbright alumnus Vinnie Flores and members ofthe 200.8 National English Drama Competition championship from Pohang midd.le school.

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Junior Internship

This year, Camp Fulbright will be introducing participants of the first ever Camp Fulbright Junior Internship Program. This program brings students from U.S. middle and high schools to Camp Fulbright to learn about Korean Language and culture, serve as Junior Counselors at camp, and interact with Korean campers.

MS Y D P In late May, eight 'ETAs and 25 students participated in the second Middle School Youth Diplomacy Program. The program,developed by two 'ETAs and funded by the U.S. Embassy, was des.igned to give middle school students the opportunity to learn about careers and opportunities in diplomacy. Students were chosen based on a rigorous interview process and prepared heavily for program activities before traveling to Seoul. At the program, students had the opportunity to learn debate and argumentation skills, hear about studying international relations from Yonsei University students, learn about careers in diplomacy from Foreign Service Officers and a Korean diplomat, and visit the National Assembly. Students

also participated in a diplomacy simulation, in which schools took on the roles of various countries at an international donors' conference for Gaza.

> George Washington, Uncle Sam, and Rosie the Riveter from the American delegation Show off their costumes at the international donors' conference for Gaza,

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official. updates.4

A ETA Stacey Carmichael poses with Lee Ok Sun and other House of Sharing voluteers.

He.

Christina teachers 9{ 1il) in (

Fulbrigh Korean n School h. South Ka what the student (

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> ETAs Christina Chang and Christine Park teach a lesson at the Heavenly Dream school in Cheonan.

v Front left to riqht: ETA Jess LaPorta with a student at the Aewholwon orphanag.e in Daegu, ETA Raisa Belyavina with a student from the Samsungwon orphanage in Gumi, and Karen Bouldin with a student in Samsungwon.

§p~~2fol9~i~ E!~r.iveQrfnHb ~o~}~~~a~K~ and Orphanage Outreach Mission)

to lead volunteer projects at local orphanages, Laura Tschop purchased clothing for the children of Deoksan Saekammaeul Orphanage in Yesan. Karen Bouldin, Raisa Belyavina, and Jen Hayes used their grant money to organize an English language trip for the Samsungwon Orphanage in Gumi, whi.le Jess LaPorta purchased Engl.ish books and movies for children at the Aehwalwon Orphanage in Daegu. KKOOM is a non-profit organization that seeks to enrich the lives of children in South Korean orphanages. Korean Kids & Orphanage Outreach Mission (KKOOM), a registered U.S. nonprofit organization, was established in 2007 by former ETA Aimee Jachym (2004), with the help of Erika Senneseth (2004), Lauren Derebey (2005), Colleen Kohashi (2005), Leanne Stein (2005), and Robin Kim (2006), all of whom currently serve on the KKOOM Board of Directors. Jessica Lee and Amber Rydberg (both 2007 ETAs) jo.ined the KKOO.M Board in 2008.

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American Corners AmericanCorners

are u.s. Embassy-sponsored library rooms that are free to the public and dedicated to providing information about U.S. culture, history, and government. For more information, please visit:

http: / / www.americancorners.or.kr ..

ng voluteers.

tl~~hYng~~hll)~r~~r[1:!d J§S ~ gu9L:~~r E~~~

teachers at a No rth Korea n refu g ee schoo I ca. II ed the Heave n I y Dream School (of ~ £I ::g @.l-M) in Cheonan. ETAs Chang, Chung and Park have also, through a grant from the

Fulbright Korea Alumni Fund (FKAF), designed and organized an art contest for North Korean refugee students entitled "1 Have a Dream." Many students at the Heavenly Dream School have endured unimaginable hardships and face great obstacles in succeeding in South Korean society. Through art, the ETAs hope to give students space to reflect on what they are grateful for in their lives and what they want to achieve in the future. One student describing her dream wrote, "1 want to be a boxer one day because my father was a boxer and I miss him." Winners of the contest will receive donations in their names to the Heavenly Dream School to offset tuition costs.

Fulbright

Res(?ect House

ETA Kristen Brewer volunteered at the Respect House Orphanage in Mokpo .. She taught weekly English classes and helped to organize a. holiday gift drive and party, as well as a summer barbeque.

> ETA Kr!sten Brewer celebrates Christmas with a student at the Respect House in Mokpo.

),

When not teaching or researching, Fulbrighters have taken part in many volunteer organizations.

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Fu I brig ht. celebrates

Dear Fulbright family,

Next year will mark the 60th anniversary of Fulbright Korea. To commemorate this anniversary, Fulbright will host several activities next year including a reception on October 15 and the main celebration event on October 16. We will also be publi.shing a book celebrating the history of the commission with reflections from Fulbright alumni.

In addition to the many events planned for next year, Fulbright Korea is launching the most comprehensive alumni outreach project in its history. Our goal is to contact as many alumni as posstbte, get updated contact informati.on and updates on their llves after Fulbright, and help them maintain their ties with Fulbright Korea in the years to come.

We would like to request that all Fulbright Korea alumni update their contact .information by accessing the web form on alumni.fulbright.or.kr. As the 60th anniversary approaches, we will be sending out more information on the events, how to send Fulbright an update on your activities after your grant, and also on how you can help us with the alumni outreach effort.

If you know of any Fulbright alumni, whether Fulbrighters from your grant year, Friends, colleagues, or alumni from your universities, please direct them to the alumni website. Please also send information about our alumni outreach efforts to your alma maters, your university Fulbright counselor, Asian studi.es program bulletin boards, department mailinq lists, or any other sources you feel might help us reach our Fellow alumni.

With your help we will have the largest, most widely represented group of Fulbrighters represented at our 60th anniversary events next year, and the most comprehensive and up-to-date alumni database in the history of our commission.

If you have any questions about alumni outreach or the 60th anniversary, please contact Vinnie Flores at the Fulbright office in Seoul at 82-2-3275-40 la, or at vflores@fulbright.or.kr.

Thank you very much,

2_:tJ~-

fQS~

Vincent "Vinnie" Flores

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Join the Anniversary Party~

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More: Email Vinnie Flores at VfIOres@fUlbright.Or.kr or call 82_2-3275-4010.

What: The Korean-American Educational commission is organizing the largest alumni outreach campaign in its historyl

the web -matiol1 IU can

Who: All Fulbright Korea Alumni are asked to update their contact information on line at: http;//alumni. tu Ibrigh t. or. kr

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When: In fall 2010, Korea Fulbright will host an event, along with the publication of a retrospective book.

our 60th tory of

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infusion 22

in 2009 ...

Taught a three-bour art workshop to six students from Samsungwon Orphanage, then took them on a one day trip to Haeundae Beach and the Susan Museum of Modern Art, in order to foster English rearning,inter~ cultural dialog and art awareness.Made possible by funding for travel and dinner with additional support from KKOOM (Korean Kids & Orphanage Outreach Mission).

o

~

ttY'sponsored a story writing Q and illustrating contest for for 5th and 6th grade el-

..q ementary students working

QJ collaboratively I in order to

f""""( promote creativity and

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alumni. fund. update

Built a resource library of phonics, grammar, and conversation workbooks for tutors to use when they meet with students at an orphanage, in order to encourage student language learning and build partnerships between a local church and the orphanage.

Taught quilting to elementary and high school students at an orphanage, who then

designed quilt squares with an alphabet theme to sew together and send to a

children's hospital in the U.S. Made possible by funding for quilting supplies.

Sponsored an art contest based on the theme "I Have a Dream," for students from North Korea at the Heavenly Dream School, in order to facilitate creative expression, encourage positive thinking about the future, and educate others about hardships faced by North Korean refugees. Made possible by funding for art supplies .. ETA Jane Lee assisted with the project execution.

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Photographs

1. Autumn in Damyang I

2. Autumn in Damyang II Anna Tsykalova,ETA

I began drawing pictures rather early in my life. One day, when I was 7 or 8, I found an irresistible subject in our family living room. My father had a guest, and, almost compulsively, I started to sketch the face of this interesting-looking man, unbeknownst to my father, after positioning myself behind his back. The gentleman could see what the little boy was up to; out of kindness he put on a grin, without, apparently, realizing that holding a smile is not an easy thing to do. While I tried to put this man out of his misery by being quick about my task, my father was left to wonder what was going on, for the man kept smiling!

A few years thereafter, while still in grade school, with three thousand kids, I won the second prize in the school's art competition, with a pencil drawing of the school's building. During the Korean War I was old enough to feel the pain of dislocation and devastation, but I had the benefit of a loving, supportive and nurturing family. And there was so much more to draw now! Anything that moved was a fair target for me - soldiers, tanks, airplanes - and I did so always from memory.

Unfortunately, I never did meet an established artist who did representational work, the only kind I would have cared to study with. Then, in 1956, after I had arrived in the

States, art took a lonely back seat in my life as I found a new passion: piano-playing. After doing some pencil and pen portraits to supplement my income as an undergraduate I stopped drawing. For a long time.

Then, out of what felt to me like sheer madness, I took up painting in the winter of 1978 and '79, for the first time in my life. And it was not a very uplifting experience. Very often when I finished a new canvas I couldn't bear looking at the one just preceding it! Five years later, in the spring of 1984, after having done a few dozen passably good ones, I stopped painting ~- just as abruptly as I'd started. Then, in the summer of 2001, [ spent a week studying with the eminent portrait painter Daniel Green at his studio in North Salem, New York. More paintings followed, as well as many pencil and pen portraits and figure drawings. My most recent finished oil painting is Korean coastal scenery, thought to be somewhere at or near Mount Sorak. It is a painter's copy of a photograpb with some minor embellishments.

Dr. SUglWf1 Kang . a professor emeritus of political science at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. is currently a visiting professor at Sogang University as a Fulbright Senior Lecturer. He was born and raised in Seoul, moving 10 the United Stales in 1956, where he earned a BA. all MA and a Ph. D., the last from Columbia University. His current appointment with Sogang University is the first opportunity he's had to teach Korean students.ful-

filling his long-cherished dream.

infusion 27

L, _

,I found a pencil and idergradu-

ess, I took ! first time xpenence. ildn't bear ater, in the 1 passably rtly as I'd It a week ~I Green at

. f 1 ntmgs : ~

and figu:re is Korean ear Mount with some

infusion

paintings

Mount Sorak Oil on Canvas, 24" by 30" (2007) Sugwon Kang

infusion 28

SEOUl. SlIlltdnUM RDSPI ORPHANAGE

,Hi-fiT:t. f.~ .0 ~aM_ G""

infusion 29

A Story of War, Fatherhood and the Birth of International Adoption

by Misty Ann Edgecomb Fulbright Junior Researcher

infusion 30

It's difficult to see the echoes of old Seoul amid the neon and concrete caverns of a 21 st century megalopolis. Lights blot out the tired, bullet-scarred buildings, and every day, cockeyed little tileroofed neighborhoods are razed to make room for new high-rise apartments, stacked like dominoes all the way to the horizon. This is a city that wants to forget. But over the past year, I've found bits and pieces of wartime Korea hidden amid a maze of nameless dog-leg streets and in the shadowy corners of countless libraries and archives. They have vividly brought to life the story that my husband and I came here to research; that of my father-in-law 's life as a war orphan on the streets of Seoul. Five-year-old Jimmy one of the more than 10,000 children who were orphaned or abandoned during the Korean War was adopted by a bachelor soldier named Paul Raynor shortly before the war's end in 1953. His story, and that of others like him, is the genesis of international adoption as we know it today:

Seoul - August, 1953: Small fish flick their tails, sending sun-sparks through muddy indigo water that stretches for miles; blanketing tender rice shoots and mirroring the broad morning sky. No planes break the vast blue quiet. No smoke rises from the craggy mountains that crown the valley. Distant bombs no longer crack and rumble over their peaks like a swelling summer storm.

The war is over.

A boy with stiff brown-black hair, round hazel eyes and a serious frown slips off his shoes and slides his toes into the watery sky. The little fish flyaway, sending ripples though the reflected clouds. But Jimmy watches. Jimmy waits, even as fat black leeches attach themselves to his legs and begin to feed. He squints at the hazy expanse' standing completely still, until the minnows, overcome by curiosity, begin to nibble at his wormy white toes and play hide-and-seek with his shadow.

He wriggles a toe and the fish take flight, a blur of sparkle and shine. Jimmy scurries after them, arms and legs churning, sending glittering sprays high into the air as he crashes through the morning calm. He darts ... weaving left and right, splashing through the irrigation ditches that intersect the field ... just a half-step behind the shimmering scales. He could catch them ifhe wanted to, scooping them up with a net or even his quick little hands. He could fry them in a tin can over an open fire; make himself a good meal. He's done it before.

But Jimmy is an American boy now, with a pocket full of American dollars. Raynor sometimes sends money so Jimmy can treat himself to grapes and gum in the marketplace. He sends letters and kisses from Jimmy's new grandma. He'll have a bed of his own and a bike to ride at the American house, Raynor says.

infusion 31

Above: Children at the Seventh Day Adventist Orphanage in Seoul, where Jimmy spent several months as a child. A butldtng at the orphanage complex.

"American boy" ... "America house numbah one" ... Jimmy repeats the words to his friends with a broad grin and a puffed up chest. He writes them in letters to his new "No.1 Grandma," putting his faith in the carefully penciled words. He likes the way they sound. They sound like Raynor.

It's easy enough to slip through the orphanage gate and scramble down the hill. With hundreds of children in their care, none of the nurses notice one less stomach to fill, one less grubby face to wash. The orphanage is overrun with the human cost of war, the mixed-race GI babies

whose mo burdens b) baskets lib phanage, j have the v hair, or fre shade too (

"Send 1 Maybe se mended, aJ Maybe the a nussrona have to do. ings of the eight acres nearly 300 beans and:

Ions of hor distance, a embrace th

It feels Jimmy isn't used three boys smell of u ~'U1kettig or a dozen he tries to Raynor an cowboy ha They only

Above. the Se,

ntury ttle tile-

, dominoes id bits and corners of tnd I came e-year-old »rean War His story,

nagein

A building

lone" ... oroad grin to his new fully penley sound

nage gate .hildren in tomach to

~e IS over~ GI babies

whose mothers give in to poverty or pride and leave their burdens by roadsides or at marketplaces, tucked into wicker baskets like cabbages. Mrs. Grace Rue, who runs the orphanage, finds them on the doorstep; some, like Jimmy, have the wrong kind of eyes, others are marked by blond hair, or freckles, or fuzzy black curls and skin that's just a shade too dark.

"Send to father's country," one mother said.

Maybe someday, when bombed-out roads have been mended, and civilian airplanes are flying across the Pacific. Maybe then, government officers will be willing to listen to a missionary nurse. But for now, Mrs. Rue's orphanage will have to do. Rice fields flank the squat, utilitarian brick buildings of the Seoul Sanitarium and Hospital Orphanage and its eight acres of gardens on the outskirts of the city, where nearly 300 unwanted children tend sweet potatoes and soybeans and row upon row of leafy greens for hundreds of gallons of home-brewed kimchi, The city is a steely blur in the distance, and beyond, ancient, humpbacked gray-blue hills embrace the plain as it explodes with raw new growth.

It feels safe. Protected.

Jimmy likes being outside. He can breathe outside. He isn't used to long aisles of beds packed tight with two or three boys to a bunk. He hates waking at night to the sharp smell of urine from a dozen wet mattresses. He pulls his blanket tight over his ears to drown out the midnight terror of a dozen boys and girls reliving a very grown-up war, and he tries to think about America. Everyone there is big, like Raynor and Gary Cooper and John Wayne. They all wear cowboy hats when they ride their horses and drive their cars. They only take baths when they feel like it. They eat as much

Above: A soldier poses with orphans from the war at the Seventh Day Adventist Orphanage in Seoul.

The Huronite and the Daily Plainsman Huron, South Dakota

5,']" PA UL - II looks like "Jimmy, " the five-year-old Korean orphan who helplessly watched the Chinese Comm lin is Is behead his mother, may soon cross (he Pacific Ocean for a new life with an ex-Army Sergeant ill 5'01l1h Dakota.

A 25-year-old bachelor, 5,'gI. I-c Paul Raynor of Huron, 5,'.D., legally adopted Choi Kyung Hyun - now named Jimmy P. Raynor - as his son while he was with the Seoul City Command in Korea Oil May 22, 1953.

But the lanky soldier didn't calculate that Army regulations and America's immigration and naturalization laws might set up barriers to his plan (0 take Jimmy home with him ... "

The Morning World-Herald Omaha, Nebraska

A 5-year-old Korean War refugee and (he only daddy he has ever known met for thefirst time in five months at Omaha Union Train Station Depot Sunday at 4 a.m. Clutching a fire engine, IWO cowboy pistols and candy, the youngster had eyes only for Paul Raynor, Huron, S.D., GI who adopted him while with the Army in Korea.

There was no hint in the reunion of the red (ape that for months separated the orphan, named Jimmy, and his father, who was granted an unprecedented ruling by the Attorney General of South Dakota before the boy could be brought from Seoul, Korea, to the United States.

When Mr. Raynor and Jimmy saw each other (hey embraced, exchanged greetings and the ex-GI remarked, "Boy, does he look good. "

Sparn and chocolate as they want when they go home to their big houses. They read funny books and watch movies and smoke cigarettes. They don't have worms in their bellies or bugs in their hair. They never wet the bed. They aren't scared of anything.

When the sirens would scream and Jimmy had to run through the streets with his helmet and canteen to sit in a foxhole, hugging his knees close and eating crackers out of his mess kit until Raynor carne to tell him that everything was OK; he wished he could be big and brave. There's a hillside near the orphanage where the dirt rises above Jimmy's shoulders and he can look right into the deep, dark holes between the rocks. The oldest boys say that snakes live in those holes, and they dare each other to plunge their hands deep inside. When the big boys are around, Jimmy throws his shoulders back, and walks tall and slow, sauntering along like Raynor in his uniform. When he's alone, he runs as fast as he can, skidding on the gravel and looking straight ahead down the path. He doesn't want to see any snakes.

Sometimes, Jimmy wakes very early and sneaks out of bed, moving gently so he makes no noise, like an Indian in the movies. He stalks the perimeter of the long, narrow brick building where the boys sleep; one slow step at a time - toe-heel, toe-heel, to muffle the crackling grass - searching the ground for his little birds. Swallows live in the shadow of the flat roof, streaky brown and white birds no bigger than a man's fist. The babies just fit into his cupped palm. He finds one every few days, a limp little ball of feathers that fell from its nest when it tried to fly. He hides it in a box and feeds it

U/wasdoingallo/theWrong thing but/or the

'rang things, but/or the right

Left: Paul Raynor Sr. as a "yardbird, " on his first leave from the Army in 1950.

Right: Paul and Jimmy Raynor shortly after their arrival in Huron, early 1954.

reasons.

"

50

September 1950 United Nations soldiers land at Incheon, and the tide of the war begins

to turn.

March 1951 United Nations and Republic of Korea soldiers retake Seoul.

mes Raynor, Dakota farm drafted into

. Army.

Far left: A boy named Jimmy sits on the lap of a soldier at the Orphan s Home of Korea on Jeju Island. Evidence is mounting to suggest that this photo explains a missing chapter of Jimmy's story. Middle: Jimmy makes cookies with his new American grandma, at home in Huron, South Dakota.

Top right: Jimmy getting his first bath in the barracks, Christmas

Eve, 1952, as Paul's friend Wayne Clarke Perry looks on.

Bottom right: Jimmy loved "ft.' .nny books. " To Pauls dismay, this photograph was later reprinted by the Associated Press to illustrate a

December 1951

North Korean soldiers recapture Seoul. Nearly 1,000 Korean orphans (possibly including Choi Kyung Hyun) are

rounded up from the streets of the city just days before the siege and are flown to safety on Jeju Island.

Uncovering Jimmy's Past: an interview with the author

INFUSION: How did you get started on this project?

EDGECOMB: I heard this story for the first time on [my husband] Caleb's and my first date, 11 years ago now, when we were both college students in Maine. At the time, I was studying journalism and starting to publish freelance articles, and it just set off that story alarm in my brain. However, the versions that circulated through the family were always a bit vague, and I had never met Caleb's grandpa (Paul Raynor, the dad in the story), since we lived on the East Coast and he was in Oregon. Caleb had always talked about trying to interview his grandpa sometime, just to record the story for the family, but it never seemed to work out. But when I decided to go to graduate school at the University of Oregon in the fall of 2006 (Caleb and I had been married that summer after dating long-distance for years), we started thinking about the story again. I met Caleb's grandpa the first time that Christmas, heard him talking about Korea and saw that photograph of Caleb's dad in the cowboy outfit - and I realized that if we were going to interview him, this was the perfect time. So, for about a year, we spent Saturday afternoons sitting in his living room, going over all the details of the story. He was 80 years old, but his memory was amazing. I decided to pursue this story for my master's project, and started conducting additional research. I found newspaper clippings and letters from government officials and all sorts of other documentation, and tracked down some of the other characters in the story - that's when I started to

May 1952

UN and ROK soldiers take Seoul for the last time and refugees, (possibly including Choi Kyung Hyun), begin to return to the city.

August 1952

Paul James Raynor arrives in Seoul and meets a street kid named Choi Kyung Hyun, who lives

with a local prostitute and goes by the nickname Jimmy.

bits of crass and rice leftover from his breakfast. He strokes

;0

its downy back and whispers softly, trying to tell the little bird how to flyaway. But it's no use. They always die and leave him alone.

Someday soon, he won't be alone. Raynor will come back. Jimmy tries to remember how long he's been gone. When he squeezes his eyes shut, he can picture his friend leaning over the door of his Jeep for one last hug and explaining that he had to go back to his country, America, for a while so that Jimmy's country, Korea, would let them live together. He remembers how Raynor waved and smiled and said he would come get him and bring him to America. Raynor promised. He'll come back.

Jimmy just wishes he knew when.

Last week, an orphanage kid was adopted - a tukki, a half-breed like Jimmy - a boy with Korean eyes and fiery orange hair that makes people's mouths fall open when they see him in the marketplace. He got a whole pile of new clothes and toys, and then he disappeared. All the other boys tell Jimmy that they want to be adopted. Jimmy wonders if he wants to be adopted, too. Ah-do-puh-tud-uh. He rolls his tongue around the strange word. He's not sure what it means, but he knows that it brings new shoes and little metal cars and candy.

Maybe it's better than America ...

seriously el wrote three couldn't fin so I appliec

INFUSIor Raynor (Ji piecing tlu much?

EDGECOl\ ries, bits at happy,orv He's also he years, like 1 out over tb Eve 1952, and he told really look Rather, as I aspects of 1 sisters) wei thing he ne a college st

~jUSIOr wife were Caleb. WI

EDGECOl\ a week in.t

Right: Jimmy posing with an Army buddy of Paul's in inch eon, early 1953.

December, 1952 January 1953 May 1953 July 1953 September 1953 October 19
Paul sneaks four- Paul is caught, Paul risks court mar- Paul is sent back to Paul appears on a The United
year-old Jimmy but a kindly colo- tial to falsify docu- the United States Chicago television government
into his billet to nel offers to keep ments, bribe offi- and discharged from show to tell his cides to rec
live with him. his secret and ar- cials and secretly the Army, forcing story and pressure Jimmy's ado
ranges lodging adopt Jimmy under him to leave Jimmy the federal govern- and the Arm
for the two at Korean law - de- behind in the care of ment to give Jimmy ranges to se
Seoul City Com- spite direct orders a friend at a Seoul a VIsa. home to Pau
mand. not to do so. orphanage. South Dako seriously entertain the idea that this could be a book. I wrote three chapters for my project, but knew that I couldn't finish the book without going to Korea myself, so I applied for the Fulbright.

INFUSION: How much was the younger Mr. Raynor (Jimmy, Caleb's father) able to contribute to piecing the story together? Does he remember very much?

EDGECOMB: Caleb's dad has just a few clear memories, bits and pieces, often of times when he was very happy, or very afraid; typical early childhood memories. He's also heard a number of stories from his dad over the years, like the time they climbed a mountain that looked out over the city (Bukhansan) or the story of Christmas Eve 1952, when Paul brought Jimmy to live with him, and he told those stories to his own children. He never really looked into his story more deeply than that. Rather, as he got older he explored some of the cultural aspects of being Korean. His kids (Caleb and his three sisters) were raised eating kim chi as toddlers - something he never had again after he left Korea, until he was a college student living in Boston.

INFUSION: We understand that Jimmy and his wife were in Korea last month visiting you and Caleb. What that was like for him?

EDGECOMB: Yes, Caleb's dad was here for just over a week in April with his wife and I think the experience

was a little overwhelming for him. He spent a lot of time just watching people and taking it all in. So much about the city must have been unrecognizable after 50 years. Every so often, though, he'd see side streets with little crooked buildings and tell us that it felt vaguely familiar. One night, we walked through a subway station late at night and saw a bunch of men around his age settling up their boxes to sleep there. It was hard not to wonder if they, too, had been street kids during the war. We visited the War Memorial of Korea and saw the exhibit about wartime Seoul, pictures of refugees and shantytowns - that was pretty emotional for all of us. Mostly, though, it all just felt strange because Caleb's grandpa had died suddenly just a few weeks earlier, and everyone was still coming to terms with the loss. It was as though everything had come full circle; Caleb's dad was back in Korea, but he was alone again.

INFUSION: Jimmy was around 5 years old when he finally left Korea. Has he retained much of the language? What is your sense of his experience of adjusting to his adopted language and to his new life in the states?

EDGECOMB: He grew up speaking a little Japanese along with Korean and slangy GI English, and had just turned 5 when he headed to the US. They settled in South Dakota farm country for his first year, and he picked up English and lost his Korean pretty quickly. I use the phrase "American boy" in text very intention-

Continued on page 55

Misty Ann Edgecomb is a junior research grantee from Maine, who has spent the past year in Seoul with her husband, Caleb Raynor, researching stories of adoption during the Korean War. Edgecomb started writing Small Fish, which focuses on her husband'sfather's adoption, as her master's project at the University of Oregon, and hopes to publish the book when she returns

home. For more information, visit http://smallflshbookblogspot.com.

1953 October 1953 November 1953 December 1955 September 2008 March 2009 April 2009
s on a The United States F ather and son Jimmy becomes an Paul's grandson, Paul James Jimmy, now 60
evision government de- are reunited. American citizen. Caleb Raynor, and Raynor dies at years old, returns
his cides to recognize his wife, Misty the age of 81. to Korea for the
essure Jimmy's adoption Edgecomb, arrive in first time since
govern- and the Army ar- Korea to research his adoption, to
e Jimmy ranges to send him his story. visit his son.
home to Paul in
South Dakota. infusion 39

Full Moon Evening

Pr

When [ask my coworker if Koreans see a man in the moon,

he says no, they see a rabbit grinding a millstone.

I squint, but it's still

a face to me.

During dinner

my principal teases that I ate too much,

that my face is

round like bread

not thin like rice.

A teacher kindly defends me,

says my haircut makes my face look smaller.

Gazing at these pale waifs I wonder if they're hungry, if their feet ache from years of high heels,

if their faces feel naked without makeup,

if deference ever becomes too much to bear. And the longer I look at the man

in the moon in Korea

the more I am sure he is

a woman,

bare-armed and barefoot round lips unrouged

mouth singing with the joy of escape, eyes sad from the distance between us.

definec progres ways.

I unflatn througl I have is actus

S in the 1 eye bU1 begun 1 sink at didn't,

®- his son jokingl want IT

H and exc out OUI tionary a smol says El tells m: ritated mama

T and bn known of Kon lenee : becorm sighing

Emily Comstock is an ETA at Yuchon Elementary School in Hwacheon County. She majored in English at the University ofOklahoma. Next year she will return to the US to teach middle school students.

Progress

In the teaching world, we say progress is never defined by test results alone. Likewise, in Korea, the progress comes slowly, sometimes in unexpected ways.

I know I have painted my host father somewhat unflatteringly in my mind. It's hard not to see him through the lens of a nation steeped i~n misogyny, and I have unfairly projected stereotypes onto a man who is actually very kind and somewhat shy.

Since my arrival, there have been small changes in the household that would go unnoticed to the naked eye but to me symbolize great leaps forward. He has begun to follow my example in taking his dishes to the sink after finishing his meal, and while he himself didn't want to help me with the laundry, he instructed his son to help. This is the same man who, however jokingly, told me I had a princess complex because I want my husband to someday help with housework.

He plays gruff at the dinner table, rolling his eyes and exclaiming every time my host mother and I break out our dictionaries. Most times, as soon as the dictionary is out, he's up from the table and escaping for a smoke break. Sometimes he shakes his head and says English is difficult, others he feigns surprise and tells me how good my English is. He pretends to be irritated by the 20-minute conversations that my host mom and I hold, but I can tell he likes to listen.

Tonight, we were left to fend for ourselves. Mom and brothers left for a restaurant, and for reasons unknown, Dad and I sat down alone to our favorite meal of Korean pork and kimchi on the grill. We sat in silence for a while, which bothered me none. I've become used to long silences here. He, however, kept sighing and casting abaut for things to say that

This is the same man who, however

jokingly, told me I had a princess complex because I want my husband to someday help with housework.

wouldn't tax our mutual five-word vocabulary. Finally, he hoisted himself from his chair and asked, "Dictionary?". I started giggling; I couldn't help myself. Just as his wife does, he sang, humming out the syllables as he browsed. He searched, his fire-scorched hands thumbing the pages like one who is unaccustomed to books, and fmally sighed. "Obso" Not there.

We let the silence dangle for a few more minutes before I gestured to his soju bottle. "You drank little tonight," I observe. He thinks I want some. I hasten to reassure him no. We lapse into awkward silence once more. Finally, he gestures toward my room. "Emily room. Me drink." Through a combination of English and Korean monosyllables, we communicate that I will go to my room and he will have another bottle - it will be our secret. I make the universal "shh" symbol and then share a confession of my owo. "On Friday, in America, I drink many" I say in broken Korean. "Shh'', We smile at each other, united in our conspiracy against my host mother, and then, just as I wonder how many more miracles I'll witness tonight, he clears the dinner table.

infusion 40

One recent evening, after finishing my teaching responsibilities early, I went shopping. I spotted the perfect pair of pale pink stiletto sandals in a store window and had to have them. I went inside the store to try on the shoes. While I was trying on said footwear, the storeowner sat beside me.

I smiled sweetly at her and resumed admiring the shoes on my feet. I then felt a light caress on my arm. So light that I was certain it was just a March breeze and ignored it. That is, until the light caress turned into a steady rubbing. I then looked at the shop-owner and noticed that she was rubbing my arm, and then

When I was being informed of the "black rubbing," my informants seemed annoyed and angry. Yet, whenever it happens to me, I just can't seem to get angry. It's too funny to me. Plus, I respect curiosity. I have dark skin and dread locked hair. These things are very different from the appearance of the average Korean person and many of the other people living in Korea. It's natural to be curious of things that are different. However, I can understand where the discomfort and anger of my black friends come from. A lot of times, people will touch and examine me without even saying hello. This is hurtful and dehumanizing.

Th e R u bdo wBY MnOkiShO McNeal ~. t::a:~e:.g o~~c~es.!rv.a~ t~

1 ~ be treated as such. Touching • • • me without acknowledging me or asking my permission is impolite. Although I don't get angry, I can understand why someone else might.

My purpose in writing this is to say that I love that Korean people are curious about me and other black people. I feel the same way about Korean people - that's why I wanted to live in this amazing and beautiful country. I saw coming here as a way to learn more about a culture and a people that were unfami liar to me.

That said, [ don't go around rubbing random Korean people. My suggestion is this: whenever you see an interesting black person, simply say hello and shake their hand. That way you get to touch a black person - and see that the black doesn't come off ~ and possibly build a friendship with someone who is probably more like you than you could ever imagine.

pausing to look at her fmgertips. The storeowner noticed that I had caught her and became embarrassed. I was amused at her discomposure. I let out a giggle and she abruptly got up from the bench and went to help another customer in the store.

Some of you may be wondering what the storeowner was doing. It may help if I told you that I am a Black American. She was doing something that I have had quite a few Korean people do to me during my eight months in Korea.

She was curious to see what black skin feels like - and if this blackness could rub off ~ so she rubbed me.

After I arrived in Korea, I consulted with the few black people I encountered here. Each of them assured me that I would have at least one person "try to rub the black off."

I thought that was the funniest thing I had ever heard. I couldn't comprehend that anyone would think that my color would rub off. That is, until people actually began to try it - on the subway, in line at the supermarket, etc.

Nukisha McNeal is an ETA at Dongdo Midd!« School ill Daegu. She majored ill Sociology 01 Georgia State University. 11Iis article was published ill the Korea Times 0/1 April J 7, 2009.

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In 200: issue of E leased one youth corn be laid off, continue tt later, the I Crush and school Ru~ first and th me here i. depart fror

ck rubbing," )t, whenever gry. It's too ark skin and ent from the many of the e curious of stand where come from. mewithout

mZ111g.

~ct. I am a I deserve to L Touching .nowledging ough I don't e might.

u I love that other black ~ople ~ that's rutiful counabouta@I-

domKorean see an intershake their

on ~ and see ibly build a ore like you

ImaginingE--··d· . ..

En lisfi . ucation

•

orean Cinema

by Josie Sohn

In

That every Korean student is Iearning English is not The most obvious link that connects Please Teach Me

news. What is special about Please Teach Me English English to Our School E. T and Crush and Blush is that the (2003) is its holistic imagining of the ordinary people learn- new films, like the former, portray English education in reing English in Korean society. In this romantic comedy, lation to other social issues. First, Our School E..T. prob"Candy" is a local district clerk who is pressured into taking Iematizes how students, no longer the victims of unqualiEnglish classes because no one at the office representing the fied teachers, have become the perpetuators of materialism. "global city" of Seoul is capable of helping English speak- The film features a righteous teacher (a rarity in Korean ers. The dreadful English classes, however, become what youth fiJms) who receives "envelopes" to help poor stu-

she looks forward to when she falls for dents. All of this is perhaps symptom-

a handsome shoe salesperson, whose . I~ atic of the 386-generation director's po-

only interest seems to be flirting with litical and ethical sensibilities. The film

the attractive white instructor. He has, ~ j~ ~Ol continues to touch on other sensitive

however, a more serious reason. He is 0=11 1 J..r::l:::I..Q. [elll topics such as the recent food scare over

getting ready to meet his sister who was--V' AI <::::r2. •..• ...l...!.... beef products and finally brings the

given tip for overseas adoption years OI'6~'1 EH'01~~~!! characters back on the tracks by the end

ago. Another student is a pizza deliverer of the film. There is one catch, however.

from the countryside learning English As the former gym teacher and his sta-

in hopes of becoming a globetrotting dents prepare to run, they holler ,"A

chef A perennial cram-schooler is strong and healthy body is the power of

there, too, because everyone else is. the country!" That is, reciting all of this

English education in this film is thus in English.

loaded with recent Korean historical Crush and Blush, too, zooms in on a

baggage: rural migration, examination number of particular social issues. The

hell, "exporting" babies, and the I1vlF superfluous Russian language tea c her

crisis that intensified the neoliberal glo- gets demoted because there is another

balization of Korea. English education Russian instructor who, unlike her, is at-

in this perky romantic comedy is not Please Teach Me English (2003) tractive and therefore popular among

merely a narrative prop, but rather a vehicle for the explo- students. "Miss Carrot" (for she blushes) is a bundle of in-

ration of more serious subject matter in this otherwise jolly feriority complexes reflecting the widespread obsession

satire of a Korean society obsessed with learning English. with physical beauty in Korea. To make things worse, she

In 2008, two new Korean films that lampoon the very is desperately in love with a male teacher who is having an

issue of English education and Korean society were re- affair with her rival, What she decides to do is to befriend

leased one after another. First, OUf School E.T. (2008) is a the male teacher's daughter, whose only source of self-

youth comedy in which a high school P.E. teacher, about to assurance is the fact that her parents are not divorced like

be laid off, goes through the ordeal of relearning English to

continue teaching as an English teacher. Less than a month later, the 13th Pusan International Film Festival premiered Crush and Blush (2008), a black comedy about a high school Russian language teacher getting demoted to (learn first and then) teach middle school English. What interests me here is how these new films both elaborate on and depart from the themes explored in the older film.

Josie Sohn is a Fulbright Junior Researcher studying the transnational film culture

of contemporary South Korea. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

infusion 42

infusion

Photographs

L Honoring the Ancestors 2. Escape

Meagan McGinley/ETA

could no lc when I had the privacy ent story. 1 glasses, the pop culture term I've c and width world full ( and crisp, , hint of chat

As anE looking for a conversat agist with c for cultural ing kids ab "How man' you have?" wouldn't hi sometimes "Urnm ... b brown," th: eyes look tl u@ngtoin home wher

"Mega. term referri a comersto often seen: seemingly A recent ar tares one ol band "2NE candy COIOI the bright can't help 1 bers of Big

So wha lady its sch seemggeor Ironically, "need" gla: their glasse their finger ask studen bound to eli style" or " However, s the frames.

I n middle school I had the startling realization that I could no longer read anything on the board. I was mortified when I had to get glasses, and to this day I only wear them in the privacy of my own home. Koreans, however, are a different story. In Korea, the larger, the brighter, the thicker the glasses, the better. In the last year, one of the biggest emerging

pop culture trends has been the advent of "mega glasses," a size of the frames and the wide lenses are believed to

term I've coined for the extra large, two-inch plus in height make small eyes look larger and large heads look small-

and width glasses that have become so popular here. In a er=-creating the illusion of the cultural preference for

world full of gray and khaki plaid-pleated jumpers, navy ties, "small faces."

and crisp, white oxford cloth, the jaunty plastic frames add a Pop culture is quite a force to be reckoned with in

hint of character to an otherwise staunch uniformity. the lives of Korean students, Arguably more so than in

As an English teacher always ..... ",.....-..-:;::,."".--",_..,...-.-11"'--... - the West, pop culture in Korea

looking for an excuse to strike up tends to forcibly govern music

a conversation and an anthropol- preferences, brand preferences,

ogist with a bizarre fascination and of course, fashion choices,

for cultural artifacts, I love ask- A long history of geographic

ing kids about their glasses. isolation and colonization, as

"How many pairs of glasses do well as an overwhelming ethnic

you have?" In America, this homogeneity intensify the

wouldn't be hard, but in Korea, strength of cultural forces in

sometimes fingers are involved. Korea, For most Americans,

"Umm. ,. black .... blue..; having grown up with Sesame

brown," they mumble, as their Street and at the very least some

eyes look toward the ceiling, sense of the value of multicul-

Two students from Bukok High School in Busan.

trying to imagine the shelf at

home where their precious frames rest on their off days.

"Mega glasses," an outgrowth of "ganji style," a Japanese term referring to a particular Korean street style, have become a cornerstone of Korean pop culture. Korean celebrities are often seen sporting giant Nixon-era black rimmed frames in a seemingly ironic effort to look more chic, more ~ AI (sexy). A recent ad campaign for the LG cell phone "Lollipop" features one of Korea 's top boy bands, "Big Bang," and debut girl band "2NEI" sporting the phone's namesake while clad in candy colored garb and 80's throw-back accessories. Amid all the bright colors, lollipop props and sparkly make-up, one can't help but notice that TOP, one of the most popular members of Big Bang, sports gigantic black, plastic glasses.

So what does this say about Korean society, and particularly its school culture? Glasses in Korea are for more than just seeing geometry on the board from the back of the classroom. Ironically, kids who don't even need glasses do, in fact, "need" glasses. It is not uncommon to see kids playing with their glasses in class, twirling them in their hands and poking their fingers through where the lenses should be. When you ask students why they like their gigantic frames, you are bound to discover that they are either "fashion trend" or "good style" or "famous style," and for the most part, this is true. However, some students will also reveal that the large size of the frames and the wide lenses are believed to make small eyes

turalism and pluralism, it is very difficult to appreciate the pressure of a mono cuI-

ture.

"Mega glasses" are curious in that they seek to be unique, yet given the sheer number of students wearing them, they have come to add to the overall homogeneity of the student persona. This phenomenon of the unique becoming pedestrian is commonplace in youth culture everywhere but has a particular potency in Korea. As seen with "mega glasses," conformity is not only desirous but in many ways required. Unlike most pop culture trends in the West, pressure to fa now a trend in Korea comes not only horizontally from friends and classmates but also vertically, from parents' teachers and greater society. It isn't that parents

Continued on page 55

Grace Gail' is all ETA (If Saint Jl1m;r's Girls' f 1 igIJ School ill Daejeon .. j gradllale ofEckerd College. site donble majored ill lnternational Relations and .111Ihmp%gy. Nextyear she wil! begin work OIl a l\l(/sler~ q/ Public Policy at the Hertie Schoo!

of Governance in Bertin. Germany.

infusion 46

Talchum Unmasked:

Discovering Korea's Masked Dance-Dram

When I arrived in Seoul in August of2008, I had yet to see a Talchum performance. My previous research on the subject had garnered two books, a handful of web sites, and a limited number of images of masks and masked performers. A graduate class in Asian theatre had brought Talchum, Korea's masked dance-drama, to my attention, and the lack of information in English eventually led me to apply for a Fulbright research grant to learn more.

A trip to Andong early in my grant period led me to the Hahoe Mask Dance Drama Preservation Society. The friend who accompanied me introduced me to the group of men and women talking in the large office. There was a sudden flurry of activity; two places were made for us at the conference table; water, coffee, and snacks were brought; and my questions were given full attention. And so began my journey through Korea discovering, documenting, and learning Talchum. I was assigned to an instructor who taught me the dance steps to each character in Hahoe Talchum, as well as the symbols and meanings preserved in the design of the masks, and the history and theory of the tradition. Once I had finished this process, he began introducing me to other practitioners in other Talchum disciplines. Each mask-dance community has welcomed me generously and their combined efforts at sharing their beloved performance tradition have given me a broad and ever deepening understanding of Talchum and the nation that created it.

Hailed as a popular as well as therapeutic form of entertainment in historic Korea, the folk masked dance-drama form of Talc hum was nearly lost during the Japanese occupation in the first half of the twentieth century. Since the early 1960s, though, practitioners and historians have revived thirteen regional practices of Talc hum and have built thriving tourist and educational programs designed to celebrate, preserve and perpetuate the form. Performances are held in a large, open area called a gmadang and are,

infusion 47

L, _

most often, free to anyone who would like to attend. At the vast majority of performances, seats for the audience are placed around the outside of the madang so that the performers are nearly surrounded by those to whom they are playing. Some performances, though, have taken on a more Western feel, with a raised stage and with the audience seated immediately in front. Generally the performances last one hour, but these are usually abbreviated versions of a longer repertoire. Once a year most of the traditions hold a full performance of several hours in length that are worth the time and effort to attend. The energy of the performers and the audience is high, and masks and characters that are not often seen come out to "play." Regardless of length, though, there is no intermission; audience members simply come and go as they need to. Because of this, there is a rather constant shuffling of seats and vying for better sight lines.

One of the critical elements of Talchum is the

active role played by the audience. Charactefsx, speak directly to the audience and are known to enter the seating area to hide from another character or converse with a specific observer. The audience calls out to those performing and they, in tum, are answered by those in role. Each performance begins with an introduction to the specific type of Talchum as well as the call-andresponse element of that particular form, which helps newcomers to the tradition join in the fun. This relationship is rooted in the ancient

use ofTalcl dured by tb tive emotio members 1 tions, but d formers rer I have spok tionship be important"

Talchum them. Mar c~monial bWpennan( masks are character's this

ked:

,

oreas

e-Drama

by J.L. Murdoch

end. Atthe idience are tat the per~ un they are taken on a :h the audithe perforsviated verif the tradi-

length that ergy of the and characRegardl~s ence memmse of this, i vying for

use of Talc hum to satirize the difficult living situations endured by the lower classes, and to vent accumulated negative emotions. Today the circumstances of most audience members have greatly improved over historical conditions, but the ability to participate in dialogue with the performers remains a significant draw. Every individual that I have spoken to about this interaction speaks of this relationship between the actors and the audience as unique, important, and a highlight of the overall event.

Talchum masks are as varied as the regions that produce them. Many are made of materials that could be burned ceremonially after the performances, some are designed to be permanent so are carved from wood. Nearly all of the masks are colorfully decorated with symbols of their character's station in life, though, a notable exception to this generalization is that of the Hahoe masks whose colors are primarily muted. Distortions in the size or shape of the nose or forehead indicate excesses in the character's personality and the shape of the eyes and mouth often relate the character's sorrows or amount of agency within the larger community structure, The size of the masks affects the motions of the dances that accompany them, Masks that are large in size require movements that are not lost in their shadows while smaller, more realistic masks are paired with gestures that are closer to what an average person might use in daily interactions, This rich and varied performance tradition currently faces a

number of challenges, not the least of which is attempting to simultaneously preserve its history and find relevance fo. r a c. urrent . international audience, Much has been writ-

,

ten in Korean about the masked dance-drama, but finding ways to assist non-Korean speakers in accessing that information and ways to help them understand the cultural indicators embedded within the plotlines and the design of the masks is another significant obstacle to be overcome, In my experience thus far, however, the benefits gained by exploring Talcbum are well worth the effort required to overcome these barriers,

Top Left: Bongsan Talchum monk mask The number of lines above the eyes indicate that this is a "normal" monk.

Bottom: Unyul Shaman mask. Most Talchum performances conclude with a Shaman ritual, but the Unyul is much more detailed in nature than perhaps any other.

Above: Gasan Ogwandae masks made of heavy paper. The death of Halmi is a common style within Talchum styles,

JL Murdoch is a doctoral student in the Department of Theatre and Film at Bowling Green Slate University and is currently on a Fulbright fellowship in South Korea conducting dissertation research on I he folk masked dance-drama form of Tolchum,

infusion 48

- I

L, _

infusion

Photographs

October in Jeongeup Grace Park, ETA

integrating NORTH KOREANS into SOUTH KOREAN society

~;.,

by Christina Chang

One, his head down in the comer, is tucked away between folded anTIS. Two others are eagerly huddled together. One timidly sounds out the question, "May I try this on?" The other nods and responds stiffly, "Yes, you may." The third stares in confusion.

To an outside observer this might look like the scene of a typical classroom of Korean students learning the English language. But a few things are different. The students vary a great deal in age, from a boy barely in the double digits to students almost as old as I am. And, when they inevitably become frustrated speaking in English and revert back to their native tongue, they speak with a peculiar accent you cannot quite place. Or they may not speak Korean at all, but Chinese. Though these students look Korean, they do not quite fit into South Korea's homogenous society by an accident of birth =they were born north of the 38th paralleL

Their stories - of hardships suffered within North Korea, of harrowing escapes, of underground struggles to survive in China and, for the lucky few, of eventual entry into South Korea - have captured the interest of journalists and human rights activists, some of whom have pursued these stories even at the risk of their personal safety. (In April, North Korea announced its decision to indict two American journalists, detained in March for "illegally intruding" into its territory, on charges of committing "hostile acts."). Less attention, however, is focused on the lives led by these refugees once settled in South Korea. Compared to Southeast Asian migrant workers and brides who immigrate to South Korea, North Korean refugees fare relatively well, By national law, South Korea is obliged to open its doors to every North Korean refugee. The South Korean government also provides financial assistance in the form of a monthly stipend and free or highly-subsidized housing, as well as a

infusion 51

three-month compulsory cultural orientation program. Yet despite these efforts to integrate North Korean refugees, there are alarming signs that refugees are not adjusting well to their new lives. In a recent study by Professor Kim Taesuk of the North Korea Research Center, the North Korean refugee crime rate measured 9. I percent, twice that of South Korean citizens.

The South Korean government's policies fall distressingly short in addressing the multi-dimensional challenges that North Korean refugees face in integrating into South Korean society, According to the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), "Integration of refugees is a dynamic two-way process [that] places demands both on receiving societies and on the individuals and communities concerned." South Korean society has failed to uphold their end of the deal in two major ways.

First, a climate of intolerance and disinterest pervades South Korean attitudes regarding their Northern brethren. In the summer of 2006, a contact at the Chosun Ilbo introduced me to North Korean college students in Seoul who expressed their frustrations with the general apathy and stinging prejudices of their South Korean classmates. One refugee even observed that Americans seemed to care more about their plight. A 2007 survey by Sogang University confirms their experiences: though South Koreans responded positively to generic questions such as "How do you feel towards the refugees?" their responses were guarded and unsympathetic when specific questions were posed, such as "How would you feel about employing a North Korean refugee?" or "How would you feel about your children befriending a refugee youth?" Particularly amongst young refugees, the prevalence of these attitudes has engendered feelings of loneliness, alienation, and insecurity.

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Second, there is a lack of political will to meet the special needs of North Korean refugees. It should come as no surprise that many North Korean refugees cope with significant psychological trauma. In North Korea, they may have weathered severe famines, borne extreme poverty, or witnessed or suffered abuses at the hands of North Korean authorities. In China, North Korean refugees most likely lived in a constant state offear and under terrible conditions - refugee women who do not marry, for example, often have no choice but to enter prostitution. These hardships manifest themselves physically; pre-school children raised in North Korea are up to 13 centimeters shorter and up to 7 kilograms lighter than their South Korean counterparts. Psycho 10 gically, many Nom Korean refugees suffer symptoms akin to those of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and some are prone to violence. A scant threeweek program in cultural orientation cannot possibly begin to grapple with, much less resolve, the complex needs of North Korean refugees.

If North Korean refugees are to be successfully integrated into Korean society, it is paramount that the South Korean government work towards fostering a more open society and providing resources that address the special needs of North Korean refugees. Tackling the deep-seated prejudices of South Koreans win be no small feat. The best strategy to produce a shift in such attitudes is to work first through legal channels, Encouraging advances have already been made earlier this year; the Unification Ministry in Seoul announced that the numbering on identification cards will be changed so that employers can no longer infer the Northern origins of refugees. A legal framework that upholds the ideals of equality an.d non-discrimination will be essential in diffusing such ideals into Korean society.

At the same time, the South Korean government must overhaul and expand already existing programs that assist North Korean refugees in their transition into South Korean society. Though there already exist schools organized by non-profits and religious groups that greatly assist North

Korean refugees to build a better future for themselves, these programs are neither well-funded nor extensive enough. Instead, schools like the Heavenly Dream School, where I volunteer as an English teacher, or the Evergreen School can serve as models for similar government-sponsored programs for North Korean refugees.

The South Korean government carmot afford to postpone implementing the changes outlined above. What started out as a trickle of refugees is today a steady flow of several thousand per year. In addition, the current status of North Korean refugees in South Korea serves as a litmus test for the far-off possibility of Korean reunification. The South Korean government must recognize the dynamic nature of the North Korean refugee situation: integrating into another culture is a long-term - perhaps even life-long - process that both sides must engage in. Only then can North Korean refugees enjoy their share of the proverbial

., . d ... . full .. S h K '.. ..

pie an participate l .. y 1TI outh .. orean society as citizens

in the truest sense of the word. Instead of wasting resources perpetuating a failed status-quo, the Korean government could actually attain positive results in the form of a more stable and prosperous populace that contributes to the nation's well-being and success.

Christina Chang is an ETA at Cheonan Wolbong High School, a volunteer at the Heavenly Dream School for North Korean refugees. Christina graduated from Wellesley College with a B.A. in Political Science

infusion 52

National Identity inKorea:

Singular or Plural?

One does not have to live in Korea long to notice Koreans have a strong sense of national identity. Pride in things Korean extends from traditional arts to advances in science. Even Korean food is celebrated, as seen in the historical drama Dae Jang Geum. Naturally this sense of national identity and pride also extends to those who fought for the Korean nation when it was threatened with extinction by Japanese colonization. It is the commemoration of one of these heroes, An Jung-geun (I 879.1910), and what the forms that commemoration takes means for Korean national identity that I will discuss in this article.

An Jung-geun is almost universally known in Korea. In fact, he is one of the few figures from modern Korean history that is admired in both the north andthe south. His famous handprint, with the tip of its ring finger missing (be cut it off and wrote "Korean Independence" on a Korean flag with his blood as part of an oath to fight for his country) can be seen on A statue ofAn Jung-geun at his me- books, hats, posters, the mortal hall in Namsan Park.

backs of delivery motor-

cycles, and even on advertisements for heating and cooling systems. An Jung-geun is most famous for killing Ito Hirobumi, the Japanese statesmen who masterminded the colonization of Korea and served as its first Resident-General. An shot Ito at a railway station in Harbin, in northern Manchuria.

The killing of a Japanese subj ect by a Korean subj ect in Chinese territory controlled by the Russians naturally became an international incident. This was just what An wanted, as he believed that Ito had tricked the Japanese Ernper or, as well as the rest of the world, into believing that Korea wished to be a protectorate of Japan (Korea became a protectorate in 1905). An thought that by killing Ito either

infusion 53

by Franklin Rausch

either Japan would change its policy in East Asia, which harmed not only Korea but peace in the region, or the great western empires would intervene. Unfortunately, neither happened, and An was tried, found guilty, and executed on March 26th, 1910. Korea would be annexed that August.

One of the reasons for An's popularity is that he bad dear results=-the death of Ito--to show for his efforts. However, some Koreans bemoan the fact that this is all that he is known for. They point to the fact that while in prison, An began writing an essay entitled Treatise on Peace in the East to show that he was a great thinker who was concerned not only with the Korean people, but with East Asia as a whole (he was executed before he could finish the essay, however). Furthermore, while An is at times understood by many Koreans to have been anti-Japanese, others point out that this was simply not so; An was only anti-Ito and wanted the Japanese people to enjoy peaceful and prosperous lives.

Religion further complicates the picture of An. While his Catholicism is sometimes glossed over, for Korean Catholics, he is proof that one can be a patriotic Korean and a good Ctholic, For Korean Catholics, stung by the painful fact that the French-led Catholic Church basically collaborated with the Japanese authorities during the colonial period, Thomas (his baptismal name) An Jung-geun is a bright spot in what is otherwise a very dark period of history, and they are thus are inclined to emphasize An's Catholicism and its influence on his life and thought.

March of2009 saw the 99th anniversary of An's death.

I attended two commemoration services that drove home how differently An Jung-geun can be remembered and celebrated in Korea. The first was held on the 25th of March by an organization dedicated to remembering An Junggeun. It began with a moment of silence led by a Catholic priest. There were then several speeches extolling An and his struggle for Korean independence and for peace in East Asia, as well as announcements for a series of books on his life to be published around the time of the lOath anniversary of his killing of Ito.

During the break period I went out and looked at some

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.ed at some

posters that lined the hallway leading up to the meeting room. I quickly realized that they were political in nature and critical of Lee Myung-bak, his party (Han Nara Dang) and the "new right," The posters, using An's image and memory, accused the ruling party of being "pro-Japanese.' After the break, ] went back to the meeting room and heard two academic papers on how An's trial by the Japanese had been illegal.

The next day I went to the commemoration services held at Namsan Park. The auditorium where the services were held was just across the way from An Jung-geun's memorial hall. There, the service, sponsored by the memorial hall, began with the singing of the Korean national anthem. After several solemn speeches were given, various dignitaries offered flowers to An's portrait I noticed a man that seemed to be dressed a little differently and then realized that he was the Japanese Buddhist priest who regularly performs rituals for the consolation of An's soul. When he offered a flower to the portrait of An, many members of the audience spontaneously broke into applause. This makes perfect sense: the memorial hall hopes to use the image of An to help bring about reconciliation between Korea and J apan_ Through paying respect to An, Japanese are able to show regret at what the Japanese state did to Korea and, ideally, to help to heal the rift between the two countries. Next to An's portrait were large floral wreathes, one of which was from President Lee Myung-bak. The ceremony ended with a group of school children, dressed beautifully in traditional Korean clotbes, singing a song about An while waving Korean flags.

After the commemoration services were complete a ground breaking ceremony was beld outside to officially begin construction on a new memorial hall for An. After the singing of the national anthem (the second of the day) and a speech, a message from President Lee Myung-bak was read in which he stated that An Jung-geun was an example of the indomitable Korean spirit, which he said would allow the Korean people to overcome the present economic crisis. It was curious that his message made no reference to Japan or to Ito Hiroburni, but it later occurred to me that, the next time I attend a 4th of July celebration in the United States, I ought to pay attention to how we refer to the British when discussing our national heroes. Several dignitaries then cut a ribbon and threw over several shovelfuls of earth, and the ground was officially broken. The ceremony ended with the sound of a military band playing "Arirang." As it was lunch time, a nice meal, complete with beer, was served, and the attendees were each given a towel and a book on the life of An Jung-geun,

As we can see from the way that An Jung-geun is remembered that Korean national identity, though it might appear monolithic on the outside, is actually quite complex. An is remembered differently by different groups depending on their religious, philosophical, and political affiliations.

Children sing a song while wavingjIags in honor of An Jung-geun.

Furthermore, the ways he is remembered are different, ranging from academic conferences to children singing. Though Koreans may in general have a strong feeling of national identity, they can experience and express it in markedly different ways, even when the focus ofthat identity, in this case, An Jung-geun, is the same.

Franklin Rausch is a Junior Researcher and a native of Indiana. Currently a doctoral student at the University of British Columbia, he is studying Korean religious history. He is married with one son.

infusion 54

infusion

continued

continued from "Cinema "(42): her classmates', and together they sabotage the rival's affair. Directed by one of a handful of women filmmakers in South. Korea, the film has been often dubbed a "woman's film."

What is different and therefore intriguing in these new films is that the satires have become self-reflexive in the recent years. In other words, Our School E.T and Crush and Blush do not merely point to different social issues but reckon what is at stake. In Please Teach Me English, none of the characters loses anything by learning English. Each one actually gains a greater chance at upward social mobility, a better education, family healing, or romance. What the new films suggest, on the other hand, is that the professionalization of English. education exacts costs on physical education, as welJ as on linguistic and literary studies. To put it simply, these new Korean films no longer say, "Please teach me English." Rather, they seem to be saying, "Please teach us English so that we can teach ourselves! "

continued from "Mega Glasses" (46): tell their children that they must follow every pop culture whim, but they do expect their children to adhere to societal conceptions of what it means to be a Korean student. If pop culture dictates that Korean students wear big plastic glasses and Korean students love pop culture, then Korean students should wear big plastic glasses.

So what do plastic glasses have to do with teaching English in Korea? In the case of the English teacher, recognizing and understanding the struggle between individuality and societal expectations is crucial in balancing many issues inside the classroom. English is a subject that everyone needs to be good at (the nationalized test administered at the end of high school demands high proficiency in English grammar), but being "too good" or "too bad" can be socially costly. As we teach, we m.ust seek to grasp that while societal expectations are an. overwhelming narrative we must not lose sight of the individual. and the individual experience of learning English. Just as students do not always need mega glasses, they do not necessarily

infusion 55

need to lack confidence in. their English speaking, even though lacking confidence is something that has come to be expected - it's almost part of what it means to be a Korean student. But when an English teacher has the opportunity to speak to a student alone, more often than not students are able to communicate not only efficiently but also creatively. Getting students to work around that expectation and to feel comfortable in their own right takes both time and a keen understanding of the dynamics of a mono culture environment.

In Korean society, glasses serve a number of latent and manifest functions important to both school culture and to the individual students who wear them. The unique relationshipsthat exist between glasses and student, student and society, are ones that are deeply reflected in pop culture and its trends. For the foreign teacher, pop culture and the towering place it bas in our students' lives can be key, not only in connecting with students, but also in understanding the intricacies and power of cultural forces in Korea. In the end, we must not forget that the same forces that gave birth to and successfully perpetuate the "mega glasses" phenomenon do not sit outside the classroom door; in fact, they often sit and stare at you.

Page 55 To, Bottom: Peac Dreamer, by.

continued , Caleb's dID which he r going to Ii, from the a( sirnilation said. he acn change stu the US, bi though, hi sleep, spee was abrupt potatoes cc being raise kind for th: ferent, Aft, Paul had a tion .. Paul t a fight at called him going out. over an op to eat-· s( scared the

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Page 55 Top: Overlooking the Jeju Beach, by Emily Comstock. Bottom: Peaceful Buddha, by Billy Wiegand. Above: Kindergarten Dreamer. by Jean Lee Duong.

continued from "Small Fish" (34): We have a letter that Caleb's dad wrote when he was still living in Korea, in which he repeats several times, how he's American and is gOLUg to live in America. How much of that attitude came from the adults around him, I'm not sure. The push for assimilation was just so incredibly strong in the 50s. Paul said he actually tried to connect him with some Korean. exchange students at a nearby college after they got settled in the US, but that Jimmy would have Done of it. Today, though, his wife claims that he sometimes talks in his sleep, speaking Korean when he dreams. The transition was abrupt - he moved straight from Seoul to meat-andpotatoes country. Jimmy was the only Asian kid in town, being raised by the only single father in town. People were kind for the most part, but they were definitely seen as different. After about a year, they moved to Oregon, where Paul had a sister, and there was more of a diverse population. Paul told me one story about Caleb's dad getting into a fight at elementary school, because another kid had called him "chinky-boy." Caleb's dad also talks about going out and catching grasshoppers, then roasting them over an open fire in the yard for all the neighborhood kids to eat - something he remembered having in Korea - it scared the heck out of all the suburban moms in Portland!

INFUSION: You do a wonderful job portraying Jimmy's (rapidly) developing sense of himself as an "American boy." One imagines that at least some of tbe impetusfor this must bave been provided by the adults around him. How much of that, do you think, was complicated by the fact that his (biological) father was a G.I.? Would his caretakers have encouraged children like Jimmy to see themselves as American, on the offchance that, like Jimmy, they might eventually be able to find homes "in father's country?"

EDGECOIvIB: I've asked myself the same thing, but don't know if I'm really qualified to answer it! I asked Paul once if he encouraged Jimmy to see himself that way and he said he didn't, not consciously anyway. I do know that from birth, Jimmy would have been told that he was different _. that must have affected his sense of self in some way. And remember, he lived with soldiers during wartime, kind ofa hotbed of patriotism and nationalism. How could he not have picked up a few ideas?

INFUSION: Was sort of diffi.culties did Paul encounter in adjusting to life as a single father (which at the time was considered very unusual)?

EDGECOMB: Paul had a lot of support from his mother and his three older sisters, which made single fatherhood possible at that time. He lived with his mother briefly when they first returned from Korea. I think what demonstrates the difficulty most clearly is that he had to get a legal opinion from the South Dakota attorney general before the state would even recognize the adoption. State adoption law referred to 1Ia man and his wife" and government leaders weren't sure that could be interpreted to allow an unmarried adoptive father.

INFUSION: Finally, what is your sense of how Korea's international adoption system has evolved since Jimmy's adoption, and how do you see it developing in the future?

EDGECOMB: More than 200,000 Korean children have been adopted overseas since the 1950s. And essentially, all modem international adoption uses Korea as a model. This is where it all started. As the years have passed, and Korea's economy has recovered (and thrived), many believe that the time when Korean children need to be adopted overseas has passed. However, some of the cultural barriers to adoption and single-parenthood that initially led to adoptions in the 1950s and 60s still remain. Things will change here, and the rest of the world will be paying attention--it's just a question of exactly how and when.

infusion 56

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I P~ge 1.~2:j. Flowers - Ra£ha~J Mongold .. Page 3~4: Dragon-lean Lee Dilong; Jimmy the Cowboy and Paul

, Raynor - M.I$t fldge£omb aoo th'e R'8yoor Family; J~l:I Flowers - Meagan Mt'GmleYi Mount Sorak - S4gwon K'ang;. figer :J,K andYoon Mi.jtae witt:! t.::ciur:a Tschop - Laura Tschop. Ra,ge 5·6: 'Monks - Walleska Lantigua. Page 7-8,: MistY-E~e~mb-IMme.e ,Lee; Ful.bright Staff on Jeju - Mrs. "'ee Kcee Won; .Aimee Lee - Aimee Lee; Fulbright B(nding .... Vinnie Flor~fs,; Riohard Wbn ~ Aimee Lee; Nicole Guarino, Vinnie Flores, and Noelle Easterday - "{jnnie F.'IGres, Or . .1<an9, M($" Shim, Dr. Zhu, Dr. Shln Dr. Lee, and Dr:. Wedding - DannY' Weddll19. . Page 9~10: JtYLP ~ William Wiegand; Taekwondo - Rach,aerM'ongold.; Ambassador Stephens and Kenny Loui - Kenny l.ou]; Praying to Graves - Rachael Mongold; t.otus F,estlval - Tori Foster; Baddha Statue - Rachael Mongol.di Si!Jnul orl - Grace Park; Busan Fishing - T:om Um; Jeju Stone Gra dfather - Meagan McGinley; Jejl1 FrisbeeS- Meagan McGinley. Pa,ge 11-12: Grace and Jane Rachasl Mengdltl; F'uIBright Bamler - Vinnie Flores; Matt and Alex- RachaelMqngold; Fulbright Group Photo - Nicole Guarino; Jon Kelly Oilstage - V-",·:.tn\1iIi Russell: Alec Palmerton at Piano - Rachael Mongeld; AVLP with Elizabeth Gutting- William Wiegand; MSY.DP Drawing - Nicole Guarino; Girls Jwmping - Rachael Mongold.; Tony Hsieh - Nicole Guarino. Page 13~14: Natasha Trethewey - Alex Su; Grace Park and Christopher Hill - Grace Park; LadY Liberty and Uncle Sam- U.S. Embassy. page 1S-16.:. Ssangyong Jurnptnq, - Rachael Md[lgold.; KKOOM Photos - Laura Tschop; Water Polo - Alex SUi Jeju Baseball - Eric Reese. Page 17-18: AYLP: William Wregand; Camp Fulbriqht - Vinnie Flores; Drama Competition - Vinnie Flores; MSYDP - Nicole Guarino. Page 19~20: House of Sharing - Stacey Carmichael; Heavenly Dream SCh00[ - Christina, Chang; Orphanage Grants, (left: to right) - Jess laPorta, Ralsa Belvavlna, Jen Hayes;;. Respect House - Kristen Brewer .. Page 2.5-26: Trees - Anna Tsykalova. Page 27-28:

MOl!lnt.SDrak, - Sugwol1l. Kang .. Ppge 29-30: Jimmy and SOldier, Seoul Sanitarium Sign: Misty Edgecomb, the Seou.l Sanitarium, and the Raynor FamHy. Page 31-32: Orphanage. Pictures: Seoul Adventist Hospital, George:.Dr.a.ke, The Korean War Children's Memorial in Bellingham, Wa,shington, and Misty Edgecomb. Page 33-34: Paul Raynor, Jimmy and Paul Raynor - Raynor Family and .MiSty Edgecomb; Jimmy with Soldier, Jimmy with Grandma Raynor, Jimmy Bathtime, Jimmy with Comic Book - Paul Raynor and The Korean War Chtldren's Memorial in BelHngham, Washingtan. Page 35-36: JImmy on Incheon - Raynor Family. Page 37-38: Ghuncheon Soldier - Rachael M.ongeld. Page 43-44: Ancestors and Jeju Flowers - Meagan McGinley. Page 45~46: Mega Glasses - Rachael Mongold .. Page 47~48: Talchum Mask - 1.L. Murdoch; Masked Dancer - J.L. Murdoch; Gasan Ogwanc:iae Scene - J.L. Murdoch. Page 49-50: Jsonqeup Grass - Grace Park. Page 53~S4: M.errrorlal - Franklin Rausch;. Choir ~ Franklin Rausch. Page 57~S8: Temple: Wal!eska Lantigua. Ba€k Cover: Design by Rachael Mongold, Photos by Meagan McGinley, Tom Urn, Rachael Mongold, Grace Park.