I am so terrifically grateful that I graduated early. It's as if my time until September is my "gap year." Both as an intern and a weekend sandwich artist at Subway, I've been deliberately surrounding myself with new challenges and new people in new environments.
Just yesterday, I visited the bank to enable online banking service. Before registering, I had to fill out an A4 sized form with about.. 10 fill in the blank questions and 15 checkboxes that I had to either check or leave unchecked. It felt a little weird.. organizing the necessary documents myself. The overwhelming number of choices available to me, now transitioning into an adult, was unfamiliarly new, but definitely delightful.
Why I enabled online banking service? I love jazz. But the realm of dance is strikingly new to me. So with a portion of my February salary from Subway, I enrolled in a swing dance class. (Hahaha I know! It's definitely going to be a lot of fun.) Yesterday was the day I needed to wire the class fee. The self-esteem that I felt in funding my own learning experience through my work can never be described:)
First class is March 15th--and I honestly can't wait (I wish the clock would tick faster)! How fun will it be, with new people from all walks of life? I know for certain that the ages of my classmates range from late teens to early thirties. Their occupations? A whole variety!
How will we connect? What new insights (about the society, humanity, or anything from their experiences/backgrounds) would I gain? How will I grow to be a different (better) person now that they walked into my life? Oh--and of course, what new aspects about me will I discover via swing dance?
For the exact same reasons, I also joined an offline book club and an online Economist discussion meet. I've been encountering people whose ages span from early twenties to early fifties. Peeking inside and interacting with those people, whose majors range from law, musical arts, social welfare, real estate, religion, accounting, and fashion to computer science, has really expanded my worldview and my areas of interests. I feel so rich because I learned so much.
Evermore curious and daring, I want to explore all that this "gap" period has to offer me. I'm eager to see, feel, and do more.
On a random note, I now know how to make about 20 different sandwiches;) And that brings me bliss, because it's a sign that I learned the know-how to make it mine.
Life is good. Life is so good.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
A Sudden Message from Overseas
About a year ago, I met J (the orphan child's initial) at an orphanage in Philippines.
Just last week, J facebook messaged me. It was so sudden and out of the blue. I don't know how he found me, but I was so glad we were re-establishing contact. But many things changed for J over a year. For one, he was transferred to another orphanage, and he also started working in aluminum & glass cutting industry.
J just turned seventeen this January. He asked me whether there was aluminum & glass cutting industry in Korea and whether I could help him to move to Korea in the future. In all honesty, I was stunned. To J, injuries from sharp glass were common and often left untreated. I didn't know what to say. I could only wince at the thought of a glass cutting through J's skin and his blood dripping on the floor.
I wonder what went through J's mind when I told him that I was heading towards college this September. I don't think he finished his high school education. Yet he knows more about the world at the bottom of the ladder than I do.
Maybe I should spend the next nine months at the bottom of the ladder as well. I just turned in my application for an internship position at the Korean National Assembly, but perhaps a ground-level job would give me deeper insights on the human experience and the society.
Just last week, J facebook messaged me. It was so sudden and out of the blue. I don't know how he found me, but I was so glad we were re-establishing contact. But many things changed for J over a year. For one, he was transferred to another orphanage, and he also started working in aluminum & glass cutting industry.
J just turned seventeen this January. He asked me whether there was aluminum & glass cutting industry in Korea and whether I could help him to move to Korea in the future. In all honesty, I was stunned. To J, injuries from sharp glass were common and often left untreated. I didn't know what to say. I could only wince at the thought of a glass cutting through J's skin and his blood dripping on the floor.
I wonder what went through J's mind when I told him that I was heading towards college this September. I don't think he finished his high school education. Yet he knows more about the world at the bottom of the ladder than I do.
Maybe I should spend the next nine months at the bottom of the ladder as well. I just turned in my application for an internship position at the Korean National Assembly, but perhaps a ground-level job would give me deeper insights on the human experience and the society.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
배나사 (People Who Share Learning)
Goodbyes are so hard.
Of course, I plan on teaching my students every time I return back to Korea for vacation, but I want my students to continue their studies while I am gone overseas for college.
For several weeks, I've been searching for an organization that could offer my students a sound education after I leave Korea this September. I found 배움을 나누는 사람들 aka 배나사 (People Who Share Learning). Established in 2007 by a Harvard graduate and a political associate Lee Jun Suk, this organization researches and creates its own educational courses. The volunteers teach and manage the organization. (site: http://www.edushare.kr/)
The only drawback is that the nearest branch (there aren't that many) of this organization is located in Yongsan, which is a little distant from Guryong village. Should I contact Lee Jun Suk and ask him to send few volunteers every Saturday to Guryong village? Or should we cooperate to establish another branch in Gangnam, so the students who dwell in the few slums left in this area could all access the organization? Will this be possible?
Well, at least I will be daring greatly.
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Last week, I took Woo Jung to an orthopedic doctor because she hurt her knee. I hope she recovers her injury by the time I see her this Saturday:') Thankfully, she didn't have any serious bone damages. Whew!
Of course, I plan on teaching my students every time I return back to Korea for vacation, but I want my students to continue their studies while I am gone overseas for college.
For several weeks, I've been searching for an organization that could offer my students a sound education after I leave Korea this September. I found 배움을 나누는 사람들 aka 배나사 (People Who Share Learning). Established in 2007 by a Harvard graduate and a political associate Lee Jun Suk, this organization researches and creates its own educational courses. The volunteers teach and manage the organization. (site: http://www.edushare.kr/)
The only drawback is that the nearest branch (there aren't that many) of this organization is located in Yongsan, which is a little distant from Guryong village. Should I contact Lee Jun Suk and ask him to send few volunteers every Saturday to Guryong village? Or should we cooperate to establish another branch in Gangnam, so the students who dwell in the few slums left in this area could all access the organization? Will this be possible?
Well, at least I will be daring greatly.
-------------------------
Last week, I took Woo Jung to an orthopedic doctor because she hurt her knee. I hope she recovers her injury by the time I see her this Saturday:') Thankfully, she didn't have any serious bone damages. Whew!
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| A photo of study session last summer:) Chae Yeon was most hyper while Se Yeon and Woo Jung prepared for their school exams. |
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| Woo Jung's journal last week! She wrote about her winter festival at school. |
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| Weird shaped Pepero we found ... |
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| Sitting at a cafe, drinking vanilla latte~ |
Sunday, January 12, 2014
RED FLAGS!
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| The front area that separates Guryong village from the rest of wealthy Gangnam. |
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| Look at these daunting flags. Some actually look like they're written with blood (I sincerely hope not). Guryong slum has been protesting that their "district head" conspired with the government to seize their real estate and to push them further into the outskirts. |
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| If these people lose their home, where are they left to go...? If I could describe Guryong slum in one color, it would be.. RED. |
Sunday, December 22, 2013
MERRY CHRISTMAS----- TO ME!:)
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| Christmas time is here, Christmas time is here~ Ms. Lucia (The nun in Guryong slum) gave me a red box! |
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| 'We Can' is a social enterprise. They don't employ the disabled to make cookies, but they make cookies to employ the disabled:') The employees bake the most delicious cookies in the world with the warmest heart. |
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| COOKIES. YUM! (THEY LOOK SO YUMMY AND THERE ARE LOTS OF THEM!) Thank you Ms. Lucia<3 |
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| Savoring chocolate chips~ They are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I think they're more delicious because they are the little symbols of a still warm society:) |
Sunday, December 08, 2013
Shifting Outlook
Winter is inching closer, as does its biting cold.
I haven't been able to keep up with my journaling because of all the credits that needed to be filled and the essays that needed to be written...but woah.. I've gained a deeper grasp of what it's really like to live in a slum.
Every winter, I observe temporal volunteers come into the slum to distribute rice, briquets, and other supplies. Mainly college students, they appear in yellow jerseys that distinguish them from the rest of the slum.
Well, I usually visit Guryong village wearing a hoodie and long training pants. Yeah, I know. To them, I probably look like one of the dwellers of this village. But that's not what bothered me—no, it's how they eyed me that really made me want to find a rat hole. Yesterday, as I walked past a sea of yellow jerseys, every pair of eyes scanned me from top to bottom, peeking at the corner as if I'm some untouchable, as if I needed pity, and as if.. I'm fundamentally different. It was the longest and the awkwardest time I've experienced walking up to Paolo Study Room.
I felt like..an animal in a zoo.
And this is coming from someone who doesn't even live in the village. I felt so self-conscious—almost embarrassed. But for what reason? I had no reason to be self-conscious. I love myself dearly. And yet it happened.
So I get it—I get why my students always dress black, why they choose to take the longer route back home, and why they are afraid to engage in a wholehearted relationship with people. They are just as vulnerable to prejudice as I am, and as everyone is, if not more.
If in all their life people always stared at them as if they're some amusing and unfamiliar spectacle, then my students can't be solely blamed for why they act the way they do.
How could I get across this message to people? How could I get my community to cooperate to give Guryong children more loving attention and encouragement? My head is about to burst!
I haven't been able to keep up with my journaling because of all the credits that needed to be filled and the essays that needed to be written...but woah.. I've gained a deeper grasp of what it's really like to live in a slum.
Every winter, I observe temporal volunteers come into the slum to distribute rice, briquets, and other supplies. Mainly college students, they appear in yellow jerseys that distinguish them from the rest of the slum.
Well, I usually visit Guryong village wearing a hoodie and long training pants. Yeah, I know. To them, I probably look like one of the dwellers of this village. But that's not what bothered me—no, it's how they eyed me that really made me want to find a rat hole. Yesterday, as I walked past a sea of yellow jerseys, every pair of eyes scanned me from top to bottom, peeking at the corner as if I'm some untouchable, as if I needed pity, and as if.. I'm fundamentally different. It was the longest and the awkwardest time I've experienced walking up to Paolo Study Room.
I felt like..an animal in a zoo.
And this is coming from someone who doesn't even live in the village. I felt so self-conscious—almost embarrassed. But for what reason? I had no reason to be self-conscious. I love myself dearly. And yet it happened.
So I get it—I get why my students always dress black, why they choose to take the longer route back home, and why they are afraid to engage in a wholehearted relationship with people. They are just as vulnerable to prejudice as I am, and as everyone is, if not more.
If in all their life people always stared at them as if they're some amusing and unfamiliar spectacle, then my students can't be solely blamed for why they act the way they do.
How could I get across this message to people? How could I get my community to cooperate to give Guryong children more loving attention and encouragement? My head is about to burst!
Saturday, October 12, 2013
COEX World Currency Exhibition!
아이들을 더 잘 알수록 더 많은것들을 공유하고 싶어진다..
오늘은 아이들과 함께 조폐공사가 코엑스 A4홀에서 개최하는 화폐 박람회에 갔었다. 내가 경제에 관심이 많아서 꼭 가고싶었던 박람회에 아이들도 함께 가서 더 많은것을 보고 느끼면 좋겠다고 생각했다 ㅎㅎ
화폐로 보는 세계는 정말 흥미로웠다. 한 나라의 화폐도안에서는 그 나라를 위해 공을 세운 사람들 뿐만 아니라 그 나라의 역사, 가치관, 풍속, 그리고 문화를 엿볼 수 있어서 더욱 새로웠다.
박람회 주제와 같이 화폐에는 정말 많은 숨은 이야기가 있다.
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| 우아 ~ 1000온스 금화! ㅎㅎ 예쁘기도 하지만 정말 크다 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ |
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| 싱가포르에 1만달러 지폐가 있는줄을 몰랐는데 화폐가치가 정말 높구나.. 800만원 ㅋㅋ |
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| 중국과 내가 살았던 홍콩이 화폐에서도 대립했었다더니! ㅋㅋ |
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| 오.. 그렇구나.. 이 점은 매우 흥미로웠다ㅋㅋ go Korea! :) |
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| 미국은 화폐를 어디서 만드는지도 구분하는지 오늘 처음 배웠어요! ㅎㅎ |
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| 폴란드가 자국의 음악역사를 중요시 하는 점을 이 화폐에서 명확하게 알수있다. 근데 저 지폐 너무 예쁘다.. 음표도 세련됬고 색깔 매치도 잘됬는데.. 고급스러워! ㅎㅎ 클래식 좋아하는 친구 생일선물로 저거 줄까? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ |
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| 르완다에서는 커피가 경제수입의 큰 일부분이니 화폐에도 그 점이 그대로 반영됬구나.. |
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| 옜날 돈 ㅎㅎ 우리 세종대왕님은 정말 오래 계셨네~ |
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| 인플레 국가가 대부분 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ우아 짐바브웨의 말로만 듣던 그 백조 달러 지폐! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 돈을 해외에서 차입할 수도 없고.. 국채를 발행해도 팔리지 않고.. 국민이 세금을 낼 경제력도 없고... 결국에는 화폐발행 해서 초인플레이션 상태가 된 슬픈 나라.. |
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| 근데 이상한점 별견! 으잉? 미국에 trillion 달러가 있었다니.. 신기하다! 미국은 아직까진 인플레 국가는 아니지만 빚도 많고 연방정부도 셧다운 했고.. 세계 경제순환에 악영향을 미치지 않으려면 얼른 민주당하고 공화당이 타협점을 찾아야 할텐데.. |
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| 이 아이들이랑 오래 함께 하게 해주세요!! |
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