결론 | In Conclusion

This last Wednesday, I got up very early in the morning and got a ride from my first host family to Incheon, a city nearby Seoul. In this city, the major feature is Incheon International Airport, which was where I got on the plane and finished my year abroad. Upon my return, I realize that there is still quite a lot of things to still experience as a result of the exchange, but I have already learned and experienced so much from the year.

From my year, I learned quite a few skills that I will be taking with me. The first and most obvious of these being some knowledge of the Korean language. I am certainly not fluent (I would probably need another whole year in Korea at least to be fluent), but I definitely made quite a bit of progress. I will be certain to continue my studies of Korean, because it is such a unique and interesting language. I also brought back some skills from the culture classes that I took. The first of these was learning Korean calligraphy, to paint out the letters in the traditional style. I really enjoy doing painting, and the skills that I picked up from this art will certainly be useful. I also was able to bring back the materials so that I can continue with the calligraphy that I learned. The other thing that I learned was through my Samulnori class, where I learned how to play the 장구 (chang-gu). Although I wasn’t able to bring back one of these instruments, I am hoping that I will be able to find a way to continue learning how to play this instrument here.

I also was able to see many new things in Korea and experience many parts of the different culture. One visit that really stands out in my mind was my visit to the DMZ (De-militarized Zone) between North and South Korea, which really brought the conflict between the two countries into perspective for me. In my mention of cultural experiences, the main experience that helped me in learning about Korean culture was getting to live with my three wonderful host families. Getting to experience cultural things firsthand as part of the family.

With my experiences in Korea in mind, this summer, I will be working as a lifeguard at 숲속의 호수 (Sup Sogui Hosu), a Korean camp in Bemidji, Minnesota that is part of the Concordia Language Villages program. I had gone to this camp for a short time before my year abroad, so it will be interesting to go back and see just how much I truly improved in my understanding of the language and culture. Then, in the fall, I will be going to Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I am still undecided on my major though, but I am certain that the skills I gained from learning Korean and living in a foreign culture will be vital tools for any field that I choose.

I am very thankful for Houghton Rotary for providing me with the opportunity to spend this year abroad and for the people in Korea who made it a fantastic experience. It was a difficult year, but I have definitely learned very much from it, some of which I my never fully realize.

비무장 지대 여행 | DMZ Trip

This past weekend, we went on our final Rotary-sponsored trip to see Korea. For this trip, I was able to see a very important piece of Korea’s modern history. This place was the DMZ (The De-Militarized Zone), which acts as the tense barrier between North and South Korea. This one place is what comes to mind first for many when they hear about Korea, so I really wanted to take the chance to see such an important part of the country.

At the Sign for the DMZ

Mrs. Kim, our Rotary Officer, and her husband, the Principal of our school, joined us for the trip, so we went in their car to 임진각 (Imjingak), a park near the border where the tour bus would depart from. Around the ticket window, there were quite a few monuments, and strangely a carnival. We only looked around for a short time before our bus arrived, and we went off to the first portion of our tour, seeing one of the tunnels that was built by North Korea as part of an infiltration plan. We took the tram car down to the area that the third tunnel was in, and from here, we were able to walk quite a distance down the tunnel to the first of three walls built to prevent use of the tunnel past the actual DMZ line by North Korea. The tunnel was very cramped, so I was not alone in my needing to bend down in order to walk through. The alarming thing to me about this tunnel to me was that it was only discovered because of a tip given by a North Korean defector who knew about it. Apparently, the workers had even put black paint on the walls to try disguising it as a coal mine.

The rail for the tram that we took down to the tunnel.

The tour buses ran on a tight schedule, so we had just returned from underground, when they hurried us back onto the bus and off to our next stop, 도라전망대 (Dorasan Observatory), where we would be able to catch a glimpse of 개성시 (Gaesung City) and the surrounding farmland. This city is considered to be somewhat of a fake city set up by the North Korean government, where few people actually live, but it is staged to show a more wealthy style of living. Using one of the coin operated binoculars, I was able to see only  a few cars and people working in the field. The striking feature though is the gigantic flag pole that towers above  part of the city, echoing a smaller one on the other side of the border set up by South Korea. At this point, we could only take pictures from behind a specific point, but thanks to a good zoom on my camera, I was able to capture a few good pictures, but not as many as I would have liked before we had to head back to the bus. This part of the tour was definitely the most interesting to me, as it really was very different to think of North Korea  as a place than it was to actually see the country.

Part of what could be seen of North Korea.

We made one more stop during our tour in order to see 도라산역 (Dorasan Station), which is the final station on the South Korean side of a rail line built to connect the two countries. Unfortunately, shortly after being built the peace talks that had allowed its construction connecting through to Pyeongyang, was not enough to get it so that trains would run. So, instead, this station sits unused. If the connection could eventually be used, though, it would certainly be important, as it would create a connection that would allow one to travel by rail all the way from South Korea to Portugal, completely crossing both Europe and Asia.

Dorasan Station

When we got back to Imjingak, where our tour bus departed, we went by car to Seoul, where we would spend the night. The next day, the major thing that we did was visiting 남대문 (Namdaemun), one of Seoul’s Market Areas, so that we could do some souvenir shopping. Mrs. Kim and the Principal had to head back to Seocheon early, so it was just the exchange students for the day, and from our experience from past trips, we easily made our way home on the train after the interesting trip.

Namdaemun Market