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JB Life January 2017

Volume 5 (January 2017) of JB Life, a publication of the Jeollabuk-do Center for International Affairs. Enjoy!

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Jeollabuk-do’s International Magazine<br />

<strong>January</strong> <strong>2017</strong>, Issue #5<br />

Registration No. ISSN: 2508-1284<br />

<strong>JB</strong> LIFE is published by the <strong>JB</strong>CIA<br />

(Jeonbuk Center for International Affairs)<br />

전라북도 국제교류센터<br />

164 Palgwajeong-ro, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, Korea<br />

Tel:(+82) 63-214-5605~6 Fax: (+82) 63-214-5608<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> Editorial Staff:<br />

ANJEE DISANTO, U.S.A.,<br />

M.A. Communication & Rhetoric<br />

<strong>JB</strong> LIFE LAYOUT & DESIGN<br />

Anjee is a ten-year resident of Jeonju<br />

and visiting professor at Chonbuk National<br />

University. While living here, she<br />

has traveled to 42 countries as well as<br />

explored and photographed most parts<br />

of the Korean peninsula. She is the English<br />

editor of CBNU’s student magazine<br />

and has worked extensively with<br />

10 Magazine in Seoul.<br />

DOWON KIM, Korea,<br />

BA Biological Science<br />

<strong>JB</strong> LIFE <strong>JB</strong>CIA LIAISON<br />

Dowon is a member of <strong>JB</strong>CIA and<br />

delivers stories of what is happening<br />

in the center and what the center does<br />

for Jeollabuk-do. She has lived in New<br />

Zealand so she loves meeting new people<br />

from diverse countries. Passionate<br />

about food, cycle, music and dogs. You<br />

can ask about the center through her<br />

e-mail at dwkim411@jbcia.or.kr.<br />

YOUNG-WOO PARK, Korea,<br />

Ph.D. TESOL<br />

<strong>JB</strong> LIFE KOREAN CONSULTANT<br />

Dr. Park has been teaching English for<br />

33 years, with interests in various levels<br />

from young learner to university.<br />

He has worked for several universities<br />

in Jeonju, Gwangju, and Daejeon, and<br />

maintains strong connections with several<br />

Western and Asian universities. He<br />

is especially interested in training university<br />

students for their job searches.<br />

04<br />

06<br />

08<br />

12<br />

INTERNATIONAL BEAT<br />

- International Center News<br />

HISTORY<br />

- Who Moved These Rocks?<br />

SPORTS<br />

- Amazing Iksan Fencing<br />

TOUR<br />

- The Gochang Dolmens<br />

DAVID VAN MINNEN, Canada,<br />

B.A. Humanities/Classical Languages<br />

<strong>JB</strong> LIFE CHIEF PROOFREADER<br />

David came to Jeonbuk in 2004. In<br />

2006, he created the Jeonju Hub website<br />

to help foreign residents and has<br />

been highly active in outreach since.<br />

After 4 years operating a saloon and<br />

5 running a restaurant, he works as a<br />

corporate English consultant. He lives<br />

with his wife, Jeonju artist Cheon Jeong<br />

Kyeong, and two children.<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> Writers & Artists:<br />

BETSEY NORMAN has been living in Korea for about<br />

3 years. She teaches English speaking at Chonbuk<br />

National University High School. Before coming to<br />

Korea she was a high school teacher in Minnesota.<br />

Betsey loves writing, reading, eating and dancing.<br />

BONNIE CUNNINGHAM, U.S., B.A. Visual Arts, is a<br />

new teacher in Korea. She loves to travel and make<br />

artwork along the way. While she currently focuses<br />

on painting, her background is in film and video.<br />

She is excited to be living here and looks forward<br />

to whatever it lends to her artwork.<br />

DEAN CRAWFORD watches lots of films, meaning<br />

he’s a bit of a geek and spends a lot of time on his<br />

own in dark rooms. After working in the UK film industry<br />

at Hogwarts and the X-Mansion, Dean now<br />

resides in Jeonju where he writes about his two favorite<br />

things, films and food!<br />

FELIPE GOMES, originally from Sao Paulo, divides<br />

his time between freelancing and figuring out how<br />

to make 6 years of digital marketing and game<br />

writing experience link to fun new projects. He has<br />

been having a grand time visiting Jeonju, his Korean<br />

home.<br />

HEATHER ALLMAN, a U.S. native, has been living<br />

and teaching English in Jeonju for 1.5 years. With<br />

a background in International Relations and Spanish,<br />

she has a dexterity for language. Writing and<br />

traveling are her two favorites, so she thought,<br />

why not do them both at once?<br />

MIRIAM LEE, B.A. History/Anthropology, can most<br />

likely be found singing in the hallways of the Jeonju<br />

English Center, where she teaches 5th graders.<br />

Miriam, who avidly defends her noraebang title,<br />

also won 3rd place in a Care Bears coloring contest<br />

in Jersey City in 1986.<br />

RENEE McMILLAN has been living and teaching in<br />

Jeonju for five years. A recovering actress, Renee<br />

has become addicted to travel and photography.<br />

She enjoys sharing her stories and adventures,<br />

and is excited to work with <strong>JB</strong> <strong>Life</strong> in capturing the<br />

beauty of Jeollabukdo.<br />

SARAH HODGKISS, one of our new illustrators, is a<br />

24-year-old British artist who is currently working<br />

as a Kindergarten teacher in Jeonju. If you want to<br />

see more of her work, visit www.facebook.com/<br />

artsydoodling.<br />

SILAYAN CASINO is a multi-lingual Eurasian American<br />

with nearly 6 years’ English teaching experience<br />

in Korea. Hobbies include traveling, writing,<br />

photography and learning languages. She teaches<br />

at CBNU and is an active member of Antioch International<br />

Christian Fellowship.<br />

STUART SCOTT, a Jeonju resident since 2003,<br />

teaches at JJU. One of his favorite hobbies is studying<br />

history, folklore, and myths. Stuart grew up in<br />

Canada, where he graduated with a degree in history<br />

and political science.<br />

Jeollabuk-do Global Living<br />

<strong>January</strong> <strong>2017</strong> / Issue #5<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> is a quarterly project of the Jeollabuk-do<br />

Center for International Affairs. Our goal is to spread news<br />

to Jeollabuk-do’s international community, as well as to<br />

carry news of Jeonbuk throughout Korea and abroad. As<br />

of <strong>2017</strong>, this magazine is bimonthly, publishing in <strong>January</strong>,<br />

March, May, July, September, and November.<br />

To get involved, email jeonbuklife@gmail.com<br />

16<br />

20<br />

22<br />

32<br />

40<br />

44<br />

48<br />

LOCAL FOOD<br />

- Fantastic [Winter] Foods & Where to Find Them<br />

GLOBAL FOOD<br />

- Finding Jeonju’s “Mexican Soul”<br />

ARTS<br />

- The Art of Building a Hanok<br />

- Foreign Artists Showcase: Human Nature<br />

GLOBAL JEONBUK<br />

- Eurasia: Jeonju’s Multitalented Dance Troupe<br />

- Bringing Brazil to Korea: The Lefundes Family<br />

WORLDVIEW<br />

- Buddhism in Jeonbuk<br />

SOCIAL SCOPE<br />

- Helping to Help Others: The JWAU<br />

“BEING” IN JEONBUK<br />

- Celebration: Keeping Indian Traditions Alive Abroad<br />

52<br />

FICTION<br />

- Cassa Daly & the Only Adventure She Ever Really<br />

Had (or Wanted)<br />

SWARNALEE DUTTA, a native of India, has been living<br />

in Jeonju for 2 years, working as a postdoctoral<br />

scientist at the National Institute of Agricultural<br />

Sciences. While her toddler keeps her happily busy,<br />

she loves to read and keeps learning whatever life<br />

holds out for her.<br />

VIKKI CHAN is British-born Chinese. She has been<br />

living in Jeonju since 2013. Vikki loves to find out<br />

more about different cultures residing in Korea.<br />

This month’s COVER DESIGN is by artist<br />

Bonnie Cunningham. Find more of her work within<br />

<strong>JB</strong> <strong>Life</strong> or on her instagram via the username<br />

@soybonnie.<br />

54<br />

55<br />

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION<br />

- “The Future is Dark”<br />

JEOLLA DIALECT<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 3


INTERNATIONAL BEAT<br />

Looking to Locals with the<br />

Here’s a look at what the <strong>JB</strong>CIA (Jeollabuk-do Center<br />

for International Affairs) did in the last quarter of<br />

2016 and what they are planning for the start of the<br />

new year. For further information, always keep an eye on their<br />

website at jbcia.or.kr.<br />

Korea-China Calligraphy Exchange<br />

Korea held a calligraphy exchange at the Jeonju Citizens<br />

Gallery this past Fall for one week. The Calligraphy gallery<br />

was for the two countries to share their homogeneous cultural<br />

areas in order to understand each other and enhance<br />

friendship. It was organized by the <strong>JB</strong>CIA and supervised<br />

by the Korea and China Culture Organization in Jeonbuk.<br />

The gallery was open to everybody, so participants could<br />

see and have fun comparing the artwork of each country. In<br />

total, Korea contributed 100 pieces and China 50 pieces. A<br />

similar gallery event will be held in China next year with<br />

hopes of seeing diverse art work.<br />

4<br />

“J.I.S.U. Sports Day<br />

As a Fall activity, J.I.S.U. (Jeollabuk-do International<br />

Supporters’ Unity) sponsored a sports day to foster camaraderie<br />

between the supporter groups. Through sports,<br />

body gesture games, association games, pair-based games,<br />

zombie simulations, etc., the members from the different<br />

groups had a chance to communicate and strengthen group<br />

solidarity.<br />

The 2nd Foreign Students P.R Team<br />

Completion Ceremony & 1st and 2nd<br />

Combined Workshop<br />

The <strong>JB</strong>CIA’s 2nd Foreign Students Public Relations<br />

Team, formed from September to November to promote<br />

the province through photos and video, recently closed out<br />

their business for the year and held an awards ceremony.<br />

There were six photo teams and three video teams that<br />

could find more vivid elements of the province through<br />

their work. Even though their activity has finished, you can<br />

watch their works over on Facebook (www.facebook.com/<br />

jbcia20151001). To celebrate the successful duration and<br />

participation from all of the 1st and the 2nd Foreign Students<br />

P.R Teams, they went on a combined workshop trip.<br />

The <strong>JB</strong>CIA gave a chance for them to go to Muju, which<br />

is often too far to visit individually, and they experienced<br />

taekwondo and saw the superb natural landscape of Jeollabuk-do.<br />

The 3rd Foreign Students Public Relations Team<br />

will be recruited starting in <strong>January</strong>, and we look forward<br />

LEFT: Closing Ceremony of the 2nd Foreign Students Public Relations<br />

Team. RIGHT: Korea-China Calligraphy Exchange.<br />

A successful<br />

day of sports.<br />

to seeing more talented and passionate foreign students<br />

in Jeonbuk.<br />

Global Talk!Talk!Talk!: 2 Ambassadors<br />

and the Stories of 2 Regions<br />

On December 15th, the <strong>JB</strong>CIA invited two former ambassadors<br />

who are well versed in their particular regions to<br />

speak for the Global Talk!Talk!Talk! program. Ambassadors<br />

Sin Sung Cheol and Jeon Dae Wan both stayed more than 10<br />

years in their respective regions (Latin America and Eurasia),<br />

so they were right for the students and general residents in<br />

terms of sharing various information about cultural, historical,<br />

political, and trending issues. Even though the lecture<br />

lasted more than three hours, lots of students were still curious<br />

about the countries or stories of the ambassadors when<br />

they were conducting diplomacy. Reflecting the opinions<br />

from the attendees, the <strong>JB</strong>CIA will hold more beneficial and<br />

varied lectures for more people, so be sure to track their website<br />

at jbcia.or.kr for future posters and advertisements.<br />

Completion Ceremony and<br />

Volunteer Activity<br />

The first group of volunteers for the Jeollabuk-do International<br />

Supporters Unity program had a completion<br />

ceremony in December after a long journey of about 7<br />

months. The representatives from each group reported<br />

Participants at the<br />

Outreach Counseling event.<br />

what they had done and how they felt about having been<br />

JISU representatives. The chief of the center distributed a<br />

certificate to each person, making it a meaningful experience<br />

for all. After the ceremony, all the members went to<br />

the Paul Center Gym to do volunteer work for the local<br />

elderly in need. They gave free haircuts and massages and<br />

shared food. The second group of JISU representatives<br />

are being recruited, so we hope to see more passionate<br />

local residents doing diverse and interesting activities in<br />

<strong>2017</strong>.<br />

Outreach Counseling Service<br />

To provide consultation for foreigners who are too busy<br />

to visit the center, the <strong>JB</strong>CIA’s counseling service team<br />

visited densely populated foreigner areas in November<br />

and December. There were professional counsellors of<br />

labor, immigration, psychology, and human rights with a<br />

lawyer and labor attorney present, not only counseling but<br />

also giving tips and useful information to live in Jeonbuk.<br />

Volunteers also gave free Chinese medicinal service and<br />

set up some sports (volleyball and basketball) to play with<br />

about 200 foreign residents. Since most people welcomed<br />

the outreach counseling service, the <strong>JB</strong>CIA is planning<br />

to provide the service to more diverse locations and<br />

more frequently. To suggest your city as the next place,<br />

make a proposal to the person in charge, No Lebeon<br />

(063.214.5604/nlb1234@jbcia.or.kr).<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 5


HISTORY<br />

By STUART SCOTT<br />

<strong>JB</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Contributing Writer<br />

Man’s history on this planet has many different<br />

stories about its beginning and<br />

its development. Some cultures interacted<br />

and the collision of cultures was unavoidable.<br />

Food, clothing, music, government, and holidays<br />

have spread by contact with other cultures. Some<br />

traditions, however, seem to have been created independently<br />

by many different cultures. The great<br />

pyramids of Egypt and Mexico are separated by a<br />

vast ocean and many centuries. There is no evidence<br />

to support any contact between the two cultures, yet<br />

the many similarities in their construction and purpose<br />

would strongly suggest that there was contact.<br />

However, to this day, that is only speculation. Alcohol<br />

is another example of something that appears in<br />

many cultures. A consistent theme around the world<br />

is that when man gave up his nomadic ways, alcohol<br />

in the form of wine, whiskey, or other spirits soon<br />

started to appear. There is no evidence of this process<br />

being culturally transferred to distant places. It<br />

is believed that the process used to ferment Korean<br />

drinks is over 5000 years old. It is unlikely travel<br />

between Greece (site of the first European alcohol)<br />

and Korea happened at that time.<br />

One other practice that appears to have happened<br />

independently instead of by cultural interference is<br />

the building of dolmens. A dolmen is usually considered<br />

to be a collection of upright stones with a<br />

larger one laid across as a ceiling or roof. The oldest<br />

ones are in Europe and would be around 7000<br />

years old. Of course, the older ones have suffered<br />

the most weathering over the years. We cannot be<br />

sure who built these first Dolmens, so it impossible<br />

to prove why they built them. It is generally<br />

conceded that they were some sort of a burial<br />

chamber, but this is only speculation. Burial items<br />

found nearby may or may not have been placed at<br />

the time of building. It is possible that they were<br />

changed to burial plots sometime after their construction.<br />

We don’t know. Russian dolmens, for<br />

example, are believed to be vaults for storing their<br />

gold and other precious metals. The people in this<br />

area were miners and eventually the local population<br />

was conquered and enslaved to steal their<br />

treasures.<br />

The size of these dolmens has led to many stories<br />

about their creation. One of the largest ones<br />

is in Spain and is 25 meters long and weighs over<br />

180 metric tons. It is seriously doubted by some<br />

that the engineering technology required to build<br />

such a structure was available at the time. Perhaps<br />

we had visitors from another planet to help build<br />

them. Perhaps some Godlike creature built them.<br />

Again, even though there were many human skeletons<br />

found inside, there is no evidence to prove<br />

that they were placed there at the time of construction<br />

or that it was built earlier with this purpose in<br />

mind.<br />

Another large dolmen is in Ireland. If the construction<br />

date of 4000 to 3000 BC is accurate, then<br />

it would have been built by the earliest farmers to<br />

move to Ireland. How could these early settlers<br />

have moved the 100 metric tons that these stones<br />

represent?<br />

Of course, finally we will look at the dolmens in<br />

Korea. If one includes North Korea, the peninsula<br />

has the largest number of dolmens in the world (an<br />

estimated 35,000). “Dolmen” in Korean is “goindol”<br />

(고안돌). This means “supported stone.” Remarkably,<br />

the building of these structures is mostly<br />

limited to the Korean peninsula in East Asia.<br />

Some are in China and a few much larger ones<br />

also exist off the peninsula. As Korea, too, was<br />

becoming an agricultural society at this time, it<br />

is hard to imagine the people having the time or<br />

ability to build them.<br />

One of the three main locations of Korean dolmen<br />

is right here in North Jeolla province. This<br />

group of dolmen is the largest in Korea. They are<br />

mostly in the village of Maesan, near Gochang.<br />

Sixteen-hundred plus dolmens have been located<br />

here, with over 400 of them designated as World<br />

Heritage sites. The ones in Gochang county are the<br />

largest and most diversified in Korea. Unlike dolmens<br />

around the world, there is evidence to show<br />

the dolmens in Korea were indeed grave sites of<br />

the important or rich citizens. Some in South Jeolla<br />

province actually show the year they were built<br />

and the identity of those buried within.<br />

Also, almost all Korean dolmen are covered.<br />

This would be consistent with the theory of a<br />

burial chamber. The absence of a roof on many<br />

dolmen outside of Korea raises certain questions<br />

about their use.<br />

Burial chambers, early art, protection from wild<br />

animals, or built by visitors from other planets are<br />

possible explanations given for their construction.<br />

You can decide which you feel is correct. Whichever<br />

explanation you choose, a trip to Maesen to<br />

see these ancient rocks is a must, before you leave<br />

Korea.<br />

For more information on the Gochang<br />

Dolmens, check out the TOUR section on<br />

Page 12!<br />

LEFT: A line of dolmens in Gochang.<br />

[Photo by Renee McMillan]<br />

6<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 7


SPORTS<br />

By Anjee DiSanto<br />

During and after the Rio Olympics, a video<br />

circulated of Park Sang-young, a 20-yearold<br />

Korean fencer who competed in the<br />

Games. With 10 points to his opponent’s 14 in the<br />

final match, Park could be seen visibly mouthing a<br />

string of words (in Korean) again and again. “I can<br />

do it. I can do it.” This scene in and of itself was<br />

touching, but was made even more so by the fact that<br />

Park could and did do it. Shortly after this self-pep<br />

talk he came from behind in a burst. The end result?<br />

A win, 15-14, and Korea’s first ever gold medal in<br />

men’s individual épée.<br />

While this was Korea’s first gold in that particular<br />

event, the country is no stranger to Olympic or<br />

international fencing wins. And yet… this is hardly<br />

the sport that outsiders would naturally associate<br />

with Korea if asked. In the minds of many, the sport<br />

tends to be stereotypically linked to svelt Europeans<br />

with long legs or arms. France. Italy. Hungary. Indeed,<br />

these countries boast the most overall medals<br />

throughout time in Olympic fencing and primarily<br />

dominated the sport in the competitions of old. Over<br />

time, though, the field of victors has spread.<br />

At the Amazing Iksan Fencing Club, instructor<br />

Lee Yeol admits between bouts that fencing wasn’t<br />

always so popular amongst Koreans. In the past, he<br />

says, people were mostly only recruited to competitive<br />

fencing clubs in middle and high school, on the<br />

condition that they had long legs or arms and had<br />

already shown to be good at sports. This is no<br />

longer the case. For one thing, as an analysis by<br />

the Australian group Sydney Sabre noted, Koreans<br />

do not generally excel at fencing through long<br />

limbs. Rather, they thrive on their natural speed<br />

and skilled footwork with elegant lunges. Coaches<br />

further emphasize this through vigorous leg exercises<br />

and techniques.<br />

And then there’s the fact that this is no longer<br />

just a competitive sport in Korea. Sponsors of the<br />

Korean Fencing Federation have promoted the activity<br />

as a way to get healthy in recent years, so<br />

nowadays, it’s no surprise to find fencing practices<br />

full of all ages, genders, and shapes.<br />

Such is the case at Amazing Iksan Fencing. Here<br />

we see clusters of young students (primarily female)<br />

and a spattering of differently aged adults,<br />

including Tamryn Zeeman, a South African public<br />

school teacher who has lived in Iksan for four years.<br />

Zeeman joined in April of 2015 on somewhat of a<br />

whim and ended up sticking with it. Though she<br />

admits that she and most others there have joined<br />

the sport far too late to be professionally competitive,<br />

she and others have still had the chance to<br />

develop a love for the sport and its benefits and a<br />

competitive spirit under their coaches, Kim Heewon,<br />

Lee Yeol, and main coach Ju Dal-nim.<br />

“Taking up fencing has benefited me mainly in<br />

health, keeping my mind sharp, and becoming<br />

more involved in the Korean community,” Zeeman<br />

says. “It has also made me aware of the high<br />

level that sports are carried out at in Korea,”<br />

The section of the club in which Zeeman participates<br />

does do some competitions around the peninsula,<br />

but these are not in the same league as those<br />

of Olympians and high-level competitors, some of<br />

whom have trained and do train locally (mostly via<br />

Iksan City Hall). For the hobbyists, they take the<br />

training more mildly, though their progress is nodoubt<br />

serious. Practices take place several times<br />

per week, and while somewhat short and businesslike,<br />

are still in good fun, with handshakes, chats,<br />

and laughs. Zeeman notes that these practices do<br />

get much longer and more intense prior to competitions,<br />

though.<br />

In terms of high-level competitions, the coaches<br />

here explain that the types of fencing vary by<br />

gender. Fencing typically splits into three areas:<br />

foil, which uses the lightest weapon and has the<br />

strictest rules; épée, which uses a sturdier blade<br />

and moves the “slowest”; and sabre, the most offensive<br />

and fastest (with blades sometimes moving<br />

as fast as bullets!). In Korea, they explain, women<br />

tend toward sabre on a competitive level, while<br />

men prefer épée.<br />

The coaches teaching here for the hobbyists and<br />

lower-level competitors focus on épée. This, they<br />

explain, may be a bit more approachable to the beginner.<br />

Around 16 people train in this particular<br />

club, while 30 train in the gym overall (including<br />

the elite competitors). In this group, the ratio is<br />

also 90 percent women.<br />

g<br />

LEFT: Fencers Go Kyeong-hyeon and Tamryn<br />

Zeeman. [All photos by ANJEE DISANTO]<br />

8


FEATURE STORY<br />

10<br />

The Fencing Experience<br />

In the Iksan gym, a night of fencing goes from zero<br />

to full-on at a surprising rate of speed. Fencers arrive<br />

with bulky bags of gear and assemble themselves rapidly,<br />

from undergarment upon undergarment to chest<br />

guard to glove to mask. The gym itself is lined with<br />

garments, weapons, and masks of various kinds, but<br />

most competitors here own their own. Many even<br />

cheer themselves on by embellishing or decorating<br />

their gear. One such competitor, Go Kyeong-hyeon,<br />

has a dragon-like stencil emblazoned on the front of<br />

his mask, making for a more daunting show of force,<br />

as well as the phrase “All is Well” written in marker<br />

atop one ear.<br />

The equipment, Zeeman explains, can be an obstacle<br />

to casual hobbyists. All told, her gear cost around<br />

1.2 million won. Shoes alone might cost 400,000...<br />

used. With this investment, though, you have a collection<br />

of equipment that can endure for nearly as<br />

long as you want to pursue the sport, and the monthly<br />

fees are comparatively rather low.<br />

“If you are on the fence, I would suggest that you go<br />

down to your nearest club and join for a month before<br />

committing to buying the equipment,” Zeeman recommends.<br />

“The club should be able to loan you some<br />

gear. When I started, practices involved learning<br />

footwork, reconditioning your muscles, flexibility,<br />

and fitness. If you are prepared to stick this out, then<br />

you’re probably ready for the expensive commitment.<br />

Thereafter, you can start by investing in the bare basics,<br />

such as your shoes, glove, sword and mask.”<br />

Once everyone is suited up, the practice progresses<br />

at sabre-like speed. Some students, like Zeeman,<br />

get a bit of one-on-one instruction before facing off,<br />

while others plug straight in to the electric cords and<br />

start sparring away with opponents. Cat-like lunges<br />

are exchanged back and forth in front of score and<br />

time boards adorned with the colorful Iksan logo.<br />

The speed is intimidating, as are the occasional characteristic<br />

fencing yells. But in the end, the helmets<br />

come off, the hands shake, and everyone is all smiles<br />

before doing it again.<br />

Even clips of fencing competitions are impressive<br />

to watch, but in person, it becomes clear what a sheer<br />

workout this sport is. It’s unbelievably fast and repetitive<br />

and stretches the body in ways that fall somewhere<br />

between elegant and cruel. Zeeman, who was<br />

already athletic and previously competed on rowing<br />

crews, says she still found the sport challenging. She<br />

also experienced noticeable weight loss and muscle<br />

development over the course of her training, an effect<br />

her coach was proud to affirm.<br />

“Fencing is by far the most challenging sport I have<br />

ever attempted, and I have done various sports my entire<br />

life!” Zeeman explains. “It challenges the way your<br />

body moves and the way you think. It’s quite a mental<br />

workout! The biggest challenge I would have to say is<br />

becoming more flexible and retraining my muscles and<br />

mind to reformat old muscle memories from previous<br />

sports, which required much bigger motions. Fencing<br />

is all about keeping your body still, moving gracefully<br />

and swiftly, yet attacking like a bee.”<br />

All in all, for anyone willing to undertake the expenses<br />

and consistent practice of such a demanding (yet rewarding)<br />

sport, Zeeman and her coaches welcome them<br />

to join in – whether Korean or foreigner, and whether<br />

or not they’ve mastered the Korean language.<br />

“Speaking Korean would benefit you far more during<br />

practices but it’s not a major hindrance,” Zeeman,<br />

who isn’t fluent, explains. “I have been very lucky<br />

with the amazing coaches and fencing team at my club<br />

who were open to accepting the challenge of teaching<br />

me even though I could not speak Korean and they<br />

could not speak English. The exercises and drills are<br />

demonstrated to me to follow, and the names of fencing<br />

moves are actually universal and in French.<br />

“Fencing is a tight knit sport, and I have become<br />

friends with everyone at my club. Even at fencing<br />

competitions I have been welcomed by my competitors.<br />

It really is a beautiful sport that you can continually<br />

improve on throughout your life.“<br />

For the time being, the Iksan club practices on the<br />

bottom level of a stadium far outside the city center.<br />

Soon, though, they will relocate to the much more accessible<br />

Yeongdeung-dong, under the instruction of<br />

Kim Hee-won, where they hope others will join in on<br />

the competitive fun.<br />

For more information and to track the progress of the<br />

group, find them on Facebook:<br />

www.facebook.com/iksanfencing<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 11


JEONBUK TOUR<br />

By RENEE MCMILLAN<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> Contributing Writer<br />

The idea of strolling through a misty field<br />

covered in giant stone monuments calls<br />

to mind images of Stonehenge, druids,<br />

possible ritual sacrifice, and portals into another<br />

time. Perhaps that’s just me, and I may be guilty<br />

of having read The Mists of Avalon and Outlander<br />

far too many times. While Stonehenge may<br />

be the most iconic symbol of stone monuments<br />

in the world, an equally important site lies approximately<br />

an hour and twenty minutes south<br />

of Jeonju in the small, tranquil city of Gochang.<br />

A day trip to Gochang offers several unique and<br />

beautiful sites, including Gochang Fortress and<br />

Seonunsa Temple. However, one of the most important<br />

and often overlooked sites that Gochang<br />

has to offer is the Gochang Dolmen Sites at Maesan<br />

Village.<br />

Dolmens are large stone constructions or megaliths,<br />

and are generally considered to be grave<br />

markers, although much mystery surrounds<br />

them. While dolmen sites are found throughout<br />

the world, Korea has the highest concentration<br />

of dolmens, with an estimated 35,000. The staggering<br />

number of dolmens found on the Korean<br />

Peninsula accounts for 40% of the world’s<br />

megaliths. Gochang has the most concentrated<br />

number of megaliths found in Korea, with<br />

an estimated sixteen hundred stone monuments<br />

found to this day.<br />

The significance of the dolmen sites of Gochang<br />

to anthropological and archeological<br />

research ensured its recognition and protection<br />

from UNESCO. In 2000, together with<br />

the Hwasan and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites of<br />

Jeollanamdo and Gyeonggi Province, UNE-<br />

SCO listed The Gochang Dolmen Site as a<br />

World Heritage Site. With 447 dolmens officially<br />

registered by UNESCO, Maesan Village<br />

in Gochang is one of the largest and most<br />

important megalithic sites on Earth. According<br />

to UNESCO, “All of the constructions are<br />

original, making the Gochang sites one of the<br />

biggest centers of prehistoric megaliths.” The<br />

dolmens serve as proof that the area has been<br />

inhabited since the Bronze Age.<br />

Research into the dolmen sites of Korea is<br />

relatively new. Excavation of the Gochang<br />

megaliths was carried out as a result of the<br />

construction of the West Coast Highway in<br />

the early 1990’s. Although a large number<br />

of dolmens have been identified, only a few<br />

have been excavated. Typically, dolmens are<br />

single isolated monuments, however the clusters<br />

of dolmens found in Gochang suggest the<br />

individuals interred may have been family<br />

burials for tribal leaders or the same dynasty<br />

of rulers. Excavation of the dolmens has<br />

produced bronze implements, which further<br />

supports this theory.<br />

The Korean word for dolmen is “goindol,”<br />

which translates to “supported stone,” or<br />

“propped stone.” There are four types of dolmen<br />

found throughout Korea. The first type<br />

of goindol is the Table Type, where one<br />

g<br />

LEFT: A misty spread of dolmens in Gochang. RIGHT [from top]: A simulated scene inside the Gochang<br />

Dolmen Museum; a scene By ANJEE constructed DISANTO, outside in the historical Jeonbuk dolmen <strong>Life</strong> village; Co-Editor a small dolmen at<br />

the Gochang site. [Photos by RENEE [Shots MCMILLAN] courtesy of Gimje Public Relations]<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 13<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 13<br />

g


JEONBUK TOUR<br />

LEFT:<br />

Scenic view of a table-type<br />

dolmen in the<br />

Gochang Dolmen Park<br />

last Fall.<br />

RIGHT:<br />

Simulated structure of<br />

old at the historical<br />

village in Gochang<br />

Dolmen Park.<br />

[Photos by<br />

RENEE MCMILLAN]<br />

digenous to the Korean Peninsula. Another widely<br />

held academic theory is that there were migrations<br />

of populations from Europe or North America<br />

to the Korean Peninsula, and these migrations<br />

brought the tradition of erecting stone monuments<br />

with them.<br />

A trip to Maesan Village offers several unique<br />

experiences. The first stop is the Gochang Dolmen<br />

Museum, which houses three floors of exhibitions<br />

and galleries. The museum provides a great deal<br />

of information on dolmens found in Gochang and<br />

throughout the world, as well as many life-sized<br />

representations and depictions of daily life during<br />

the Neolithic Era. The third floor of the museum<br />

includes an interactive area for children. Outside<br />

the museum is a Bronze Age theme park, which<br />

includes a life-sized prehistoric village replica.<br />

Admission to the Gochang Dolmen Museum is<br />

3,000 won for adults, and 1,000 for children. The<br />

museum is open from 9:00am to 6:00pm, March<br />

through October, and from 9:00am to 5:00pm November<br />

through February. Final admission is one<br />

hour before closing. Please note that the museum<br />

is closed on Mondays.<br />

The main attraction of the Maesan Village is the<br />

dolmens. The site is spread across a series of hills,<br />

and includes several different areas for viewing.<br />

This area may be explored as thoroughly or leisurely<br />

as one wishes. There are multiple paths and<br />

guide markers allowing visitors to choose how<br />

extensive their exploration becomes. Viewing the<br />

largest dolmen in Maesan requires a two to three<br />

hour hike. The Gochang Dolmen Site includes the<br />

largest cluster of dolmens found in Korea, diverse<br />

types of dolmens, and a quarry which demonstrates<br />

the construction process of dolmens. Visiting<br />

the site is a perfect way to spend the day<br />

for hiking enthusiasts, nature lovers, and history<br />

buffs.<br />

A visit to the Gochang Dolmen Site at Maesan<br />

Village makes for a perfect day trip from Jeonju.<br />

The area offers a rare glimpse into the daily<br />

lives and burial rites of an earlier civilization set<br />

against an incredibly beautiful landscape. Although<br />

no druids or evidence of ritual sacrifice<br />

are on display, one cannot help but feel they may<br />

have indeed found a portal into another time.<br />

For further information on the Gochang Dolmen<br />

Site and the Gochang Dolmen Museum, please<br />

visit their site:<br />

www.gochang.go.kr/gcdolmen<br />

large stone rests horizontally on two or more<br />

upright stones. Second, the Above-ground<br />

Stone-lined Burial Chamber Type, a variation<br />

of the Table Type, consists of an above-ground<br />

burial chamber which was constructed using<br />

several slabs of stone. As they are mostly<br />

found in the Gochang area, they are often<br />

referred to as “Gochang dolmens.” A third<br />

style is the Capstone, which consists of an<br />

underground burial chamber that was directly<br />

covered by a large capstone. The final type is<br />

the Go-board. This style of dolmen consists<br />

of an underground burial chamber which was<br />

flanked by supporting stones and covered with<br />

a capstone. The Go-board dolmens of Gochang<br />

are characterized by their very tall supporting<br />

stones, and often do not have burial chambers.<br />

The varying styles of dolmens demonstrate the<br />

progression of burial rites over time. All four<br />

types of megaliths are found in Gochang, and<br />

may be viewed at the Maesan Village.<br />

While the earliest known dolmens were set<br />

in place nearly 7,000 years ago in Western Europe,<br />

the dolmens of Korea have been examined<br />

and dated to between 1000 and 700 B.C.<br />

Because the Korean megaliths are far younger<br />

than those found in other parts of the world,<br />

much mystery is centered around the high<br />

amount of dolmens found in Korea. The Gochang<br />

Dolmen Museum at Maesan lists three<br />

possible hypotheses regarding the origins of<br />

dolmens on the Korean Peninsula: 1) that they<br />

came from northern Asia, 2) that they came<br />

from southern Asia, and 3) that they were in-<br />

14<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 15


LOCAL FOOD<br />

By ANJEE DISANTO<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> Co-Editor<br />

Winter has come, as they warned us it<br />

would, but with it comes a new range of<br />

foods that flourish in this chilly seasonal<br />

environment. While the foods mentioned here are not<br />

all exclusive to Jeollabuk-do, many do have a satisfying<br />

North Jeolla flare. We’d like to share a few of the<br />

best treats to try this winter, especially for visitors or<br />

those new to the area.<br />

Red Bean Delights<br />

Expats in Korea have long joked that red bean has a<br />

way of turning up when we’re expecting chocolate. It<br />

can be a bit disconcerting in some contexts, but in the<br />

following dishes, one knows exactly what to expect.<br />

Red bean stews and porridges come to the forefront in<br />

winter. In particular, patjuk, red bean porridge, is popular<br />

for traditional reasons – mainly, it is to be eaten on the<br />

Winter Solstice to drive away bad spirits. Why? Likely<br />

because an old Chinese-based legend featured an evil<br />

spirit who could only be driven away with his most hated<br />

food – patjuk. Eating thick, sweet bowls of soupy red<br />

bean were the solution to safety and health for ones family<br />

in the months and year to come.<br />

Legends aside, the porridge is quite healthy, made with<br />

mashed, boiled red beans, and gives something of a respite<br />

from the typically spicy Korean stews. It also tends<br />

to come with honey to sweeten or quail eggs added in,<br />

and in Jeonju’s traditional markets, you might find not<br />

just a sprinkling of these but an overwhelming helping!<br />

(If you want an egg-heavy version, look specifically for<br />

saealpatjuk... “saeal” is “quail egg.”)<br />

Patjuk and saealpatjuk are available all around North<br />

Jeolla province and beyond, but in this area, red bean<br />

also adopts a different role. Many parts of Korea have<br />

their own characteristic noodle or guksu dishes, and one<br />

of Jeollabuk-do’s main claims is patkalguksu, “knife-<br />

LEFT: A stack of hotteok, a characteristic syrup-filled<br />

pancake. RIGHT: Typical bungeoppang,<br />

or fish bread. FOLLOWING PAGES: [Left] a<br />

bowl of patkalguksu, or knife-cut noodles in red<br />

bean, from Jeonju’s Nambu Market. [Right]<br />

Five-colored tteokguk, or rice cake soup.<br />

[Photos by ANJEE DISANTO]<br />

cut” noodles in a thick red-bean broth. Depending on<br />

the shop, noodles may come as the plain wheat flour<br />

variety, or may take a flavored spin (such as through<br />

added notes of green tea). In any case, in comparison<br />

to plain patjuk, patkalguksu tends to be less bland.<br />

Restaurants add their own seasonings, and in this case,<br />

rather than just honey or sugar, you can also have the<br />

choice to add salt. This added range of seasoning may<br />

be more appealing to foreigners on some level than<br />

with the typical red bean porridge.<br />

If you’re hunting patkalguksu around North Jeolla,<br />

there are plenty of options. In Gunsan, Jangteo<br />

Patkalguksu in Naun-dong or Yetnal Patjuk in Jukseong-dong<br />

are two shops that fit the bill. Iksan has<br />

Yetmat Patkalguksu in Shin-dong, and Jeonju has several<br />

options clustered inside its famed Nambu Market.<br />

A Hot Time for Hot Cakes<br />

While available here and there year-round, hotteok, a<br />

honey-filled Korean pancake, has a certain soul-warming<br />

power that just amplifies in the winter. There’s<br />

nothing like receiving a tiny paper cup of fresh-fried<br />

pancake from the old woman or man at the stand on the<br />

street. Nothing like eating it as you stand there, huddled<br />

in the cold, fanning your mouth from the lava-hot<br />

first bite of syrup that pours out. Many of the wintery<br />

stands that sell this fare also have spongy, fish-flavored<br />

skewers of odeng, and they may give you a cup of the<br />

broth for free to wash down your sweet snack.<br />

These pancakes often have added fillings and flavorings<br />

like pine nuts, peanuts, and cinnamon, and<br />

depending on the shop or the region, it might go even<br />

further. Some street stands around Korea have hotteok<br />

with savory fillings like vegetables or noodles, green<br />

tea flavoring, you name it!<br />

If you just want a standard hotteok, you can look to<br />

the street stands practically anywhere in the markets or<br />

downtown areas. For something more special, there<br />

are a few stand-out options here in North Jeolla.<br />

First, in Gunsan, a shop called Jungdong Hotteok<br />

has been serving up the hotcakes since 1943. So famous<br />

are these pancakes, in fact, that at the original<br />

store you may have to take a number – literally. This<br />

shop actually has a bank-like system of waiting in line<br />

with numbered slips to manage backups of dozens of<br />

customers. But why so special? Other than the history,<br />

this hotteok has a crispier quality that makes it slightly<br />

akin to some Indian breads – an interesting con-<br />

16 Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 17<br />

g


LOCAL FOOD<br />

And last but not least, with the Lunar New Year (Seolnal)<br />

approaching, you have to remember to make or<br />

eat a bowl of tteokguk, or rice cake soup, to bring yourself<br />

good fortune. This food is linked to the idea that<br />

Koreans count age differently, with everyone turning a<br />

year older together on Lunar New Year’s Day. It is said<br />

that one must eat tteokguk to officially age, and you can<br />

even ask someone’s age in a traditional way by asking,<br />

“How many bowls of tteokguk have you eaten?”<br />

As for the dish itself, the normal version is rather simple.<br />

Long strips of plain rice cake called garaetteok are<br />

cut into thin ovals and used as a sort of pasta inside of<br />

a thin broth. Bowls get topped with thin strips of egg,<br />

seaweed, seasame, green onions, and sometimes meat.<br />

Of course, since we’re advising on the more “fantastic”<br />

foods of winter, there’s a unique spin you could put<br />

on this dish, particularly if you’re willing to make it at<br />

home. Regular, single-colored tteokguk can be found in<br />

restaurants everywhere, though it usually only reaches<br />

menus in the wintertime. There is, however, a variation<br />

that uses five-colored, five-flavored garaettok slices,<br />

called osaektteokguk (literally, “five-color rice cake<br />

soup”). In this case you’re met with a soft rainbow of<br />

ovals in your soup. There’s of course white (plain rice<br />

cake), but also pink (often using sweet potato), golden<br />

yellow (using pumpkin), brown/black (perhaps using<br />

black sesame), and green (using seaweed or mugwort).<br />

The ingredients and intensity of flavor may vary, but<br />

in any case, this version of tteokguk is even more auspicious<br />

than usual as it easily contains all the colors of<br />

obangsaek, the five colors representing different elements<br />

in Korean culture. (Typically, traditional Korean<br />

meals try to include foods or side dishes covering all<br />

five of these colors.)<br />

If you’re in Jeonbuk, it’s easy to procure a bag of<br />

five-colored garaetteok slices from local sources, such<br />

as Achimuiddang in Iksan. Check on jbplaza.com for a<br />

simple ordering option. Keep in mind that some local<br />

rice cake shops might even sell gifts sets of this colorful<br />

DIY tteok, which could make a great Seolnal gift for<br />

someone whom you wish good fortune.<br />

Sometimes the winter is so cold that warm food is<br />

the only way forward. We hope you eat some of these<br />

sweet and savory treats to warm up and feel the flavor<br />

or North Jeolla this winter.<br />

trast against the smooth, sticky texture of the syrup inside.<br />

Jeonju and Iksan also have the history of some similar<br />

highly traditional spots in their market areas, but if<br />

you’re seeking something less traditional you can visit a<br />

branch of Jeontong Hotteok in the famed Jeonju Hanok<br />

Village. Here you are likely to find modern variations<br />

on the theme, with options like garlic hotteok, cream<br />

cheese hotteok, and beyond. You’re also likely to find<br />

lines, so be prepared!<br />

Fishy Friends<br />

While it’s not a Jeolla specialty, we would be remiss if<br />

we didn’t advise you to try bungeoppang, or fish bread,<br />

in the cold winter months. These pastries are shaped<br />

like a common kind of fish (bungeo) and cooked with a<br />

crafty sort of waffle iron on the street. Traditionally, the<br />

filling for these little fishies would be red bean (to the<br />

dismay of some), but nowadays it’s not uncommon to<br />

find custard fillings or even chocolate! These can often<br />

18<br />

be found at the same stands as the odeng fish skewers<br />

or sometimes hotteok, and they are too affordable not to<br />

try. In fact, they’ll often come in threes or fives for only<br />

1,000 won locally, giving your enough to share (or just<br />

to keep your hands warm on a long winter walk home).<br />

Jeonbuk has many places to enjoy bungeoppang, but<br />

in this case we’ll just recommend to enjoy any version<br />

of this treat in the company of Jeonbuk’s people, huddled<br />

around a winter food stand in camaraderie. If you<br />

are seeking something special, Jeonju’s Hanok Village<br />

and Nambu Market have been known to have stands<br />

selling bibimbap bungeoppang. It has neither the traditional<br />

fillings nor carp-like shape in this incarnation, but<br />

the outer pastry is the same waffle-like heaven and this<br />

form is undeniably Jeonju.<br />

Eating Your Age<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 19


GLOBAL FOOD<br />

left the country for about 12 years, and when<br />

I came back, people are all about killing<br />

“I your tongue with hotness! It’s all about crazy<br />

spice. Crazy tteokbokki, crazy buldakbokkumyeon.<br />

It’s a trend. Then they expect that from Mexican food.<br />

Mexican food isn’t about that - it’s about flavor.”<br />

This is one of the many opinions offered up by Julie<br />

Chu, a former student of Johnson and Wales in Miami,<br />

who spent the last 10 years living and working in World<br />

Class resorts such as Fisher Island and The Mandarin<br />

Oriental in Florida and Washington. Cooking for the<br />

likes of Michelle Obama, Robert DeNiro, and Steven<br />

Spielberg, Julie clearly loved her stay in the U.S but<br />

knew it was time to return to her hometown of Jeonju.<br />

20<br />

By DEAN CRAWFORD<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> Contributing Writer<br />

In doing so, she brought with her a desire to produce not<br />

only great food, but a change in the perception of who<br />

cooks it.<br />

“If you are a man, you are a yosengnam (sexy man<br />

that cooks food), but if you’re a woman who cooks, you<br />

are a jubang imo [kitchen aunt]. I’m pretty educated, I<br />

have a professional background, I take pride in knowing<br />

a lot about cuisine, but what happens is people think<br />

“Oh, she’s female, maybe she just works and cleans in<br />

the kitchen.” No I’m sorry, I’m the chef, I’m the owner,<br />

I create my own recipes, and I want to change your mind<br />

that a woman can be a great chef as well.”<br />

She backs up this statement by painstakingly focusing<br />

on her food. Popular dishes such as the carnitas and<br />

enchiladas are braised for hours while the sauce is reduced,<br />

the meat shredded and the process started again<br />

to create dishes that are full of flavor with a lovely after<br />

taste. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as Julie says she<br />

wants her food to hit you like “a punch in your face!”<br />

She wants her flavors bold, but also authentic.<br />

“The Koreans might say, ‘Hey it’s not spicy enough. I<br />

thought this was Mexican food? I want it flaming hot!’<br />

I’m thinking to myself, “Mexican food is not as spicy<br />

as you think, it’s all about the flavor.” Hotness is not a<br />

flavour. It’s the cumin, the oregano, cilantro, chili powder<br />

- it’s not just jalapeños. Hot is a feeling, so you have<br />

to be really careful because it will cover all the delicate<br />

flavors of your food. My carnitas taco probably has 20-<br />

30 ingredients that the majority of people wouldn’t be<br />

able to tell - but I will know!”<br />

But Julie doesn’t stop there. She is a perfectionist who<br />

focuses on every aspect of her food, not just the flavor<br />

profiles. “I wouldn’t say it’s a science, but I also put a lot<br />

of thought into my textures. So I will put pickled onions<br />

in my pork carnitas, which not only gives color and flavor,<br />

but adds texture. The carnitas are soft and fall apart,<br />

so what happens is I put pickled onions in there, which<br />

is different from pico de gallo because tomato can be<br />

mushy as well. That’s why I put corn salsa in there also,<br />

because it pops. Then, with pickled onions on top, it’s<br />

crunchy. So I put a lot a lot of thought into the balance<br />

of the flavor and texture.”<br />

Briefing her designers to provide a “modern vintage”<br />

feel, the restaurant is chic, yet the long bar is adorned<br />

with traditional Mexican colors in the form of peppers<br />

and bottles. I particularly liked that the bar looks onto<br />

the kitchen, so I could watch the chefs at work whilst enjoying<br />

a cocktail. And judging by her sumptuous food,<br />

I have no doubt Tacocina will have the culinary impact<br />

on the city that Julie desires. I urge you to give her place<br />

a try. It’s not only Julie’s food that will make a big impression,<br />

but also the venue itself, which she sees as an<br />

extension of her own personality.<br />

“What I’m trying to do is make good old Mexican<br />

food that I used to eat all the time, but with good ingredients<br />

with a lot of touches from a real chef. I want<br />

people to think it’s a fun place to be. Come over and feel<br />

at home. Come and hang out. Koreans and foreigners - I<br />

just want people to mingle. Mi casa es su casa!”<br />

Julie’s new home is open 7 days a week from 12pm<br />

to 1am.<br />

BOTTOM LEFT: Julie (right) and her staff perfect<br />

flavors in the Tacocina kitchen. ABOVE: Tacocina’s<br />

enchilada. BELOW: Tacos, an essential order.<br />

[Photos by DEAN CRAWFORD]<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 21


ARTS<br />

22<br />

By Miriam Lee<br />

You haven’t woken up, maybe not at all,<br />

until the morning you wake up to a cold,<br />

piney breeze that quenches your thirst<br />

before you have even moved from the soft heat of<br />

the floor. It’s Christmas morning without the stress,<br />

camping without the dirt, a deep drunken sleep without<br />

the hangover. Heaven. Along with the stationery<br />

shops and the food, what I miss most in Korea<br />

when I’m home are the brilliantly heated floors. You<br />

can get a gentle linoleum hug from your one-room<br />

or rented ondol floor any time, but don’t miss the<br />

chance to sleep amongst the raw wood and feather<br />

comforters of a traditional hanok.<br />

For a weekend to retreat from the world, just far<br />

enough away from Jeonju, lies Dube (doo-bey). Conceived<br />

in antiquity but built very recently (it feels<br />

like the sawdust is still in the air!), the complex of<br />

hanoks is named Dube, which is the name of a constellation<br />

of sisters. Waking up at Dube, Heaven, we<br />

let the rainy morning last as long as possible, lifting<br />

and clipping the puzzle-like wings of the room to<br />

open our view to the plié of the entry gate, framing<br />

the valley below. Humans and nature in harmony, I<br />

was told, was the purpose of the design. It took a<br />

while, but I finally realized my mistake in looking<br />

for the shape of nature through my Western lens,<br />

which we use to see cathedrals and temples climbing<br />

to the sky like holy mountains. Hanoks paint the<br />

mountain shape as well, but rather from peak to peak.<br />

Dating back to the Iron Age, Korean hanoks have<br />

been giving the peaceful rests between the endless<br />

working hours that have stitched Korea into a world<br />

power. The current form of hanoks started in the<br />

fourteenth century, but the earlier forms go back ten<br />

more centuries, to the time (from some perspectives)<br />

of the Roman catacombs.<br />

Hanoks are remarkable for their ability to work<br />

with the flow of the weather, even in the sometimes<br />

harshly cold and unspeakably hot and humid conditions<br />

on the peninsula. The lifting of the floor leaves<br />

space not only for the ondol heating (the same that I<br />

have already raved about, but would be happy to carry<br />

on for days if allowed) but also for the movement<br />

of cool air during the summer months. The shape of<br />

the hanok also serves to work with the weather to<br />

keep the dry air of ideal temperature in. The paper<br />

walls, which have always seemed miraculous to me<br />

just for being able to exist at all, serve the function of<br />

not only being easily repairable, but also serving as<br />

such excellent filters that they are known to provide<br />

health benefits from just one night of rest in their<br />

care.<br />

Architects the world over have long grappled with<br />

how to bring the outside in and the inside out -- the<br />

freshness of running water into a Roman dining court,<br />

the curve of a concert hall’s wall, almost as perfect<br />

acoustics as a dripping cave. Though it often feels as<br />

though our modern shelter is just conceived through<br />

the cheapest possible materials held together by new<br />

layers of wallpaper, there is always something rather<br />

profound about how a home is constructed. Building<br />

a house is a labor of love, full of intentional meaning.<br />

Putting a roof over your family. Carving out the<br />

space for your babies to play and crawl and grow up.<br />

I pull up a chair to the table of one of our favorite<br />

spots in Jeonju -- Poco Poco, a pizza café with a<br />

breezy balcony overlooking the Ajungli Reservoir.<br />

All around, the hills are fat with trees. My friend<br />

Byoung Kwon Lee goes to collect our drinks while I<br />

awkwardly introduce myself to his co-worker,<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 23<br />

g


Lee Min Hyeok (we’re Lees all around the table, but<br />

not related), who has come along for an interview<br />

about their work, the construction of traditional Korean<br />

hanoks.<br />

We sip our tea on the balcony, watching and waiting<br />

patiently for the specks of white in the trees<br />

around the reservoir to spread their heron wings and<br />

dive into the water. You can’t help but wonder if it<br />

looks as beautiful and graceful from the perspective<br />

of the fish, who are about to become a side dish.<br />

But perhaps the fish have accepted the flow of nature<br />

better than us.<br />

Their work sounds grueling as much as fascinating.<br />

I am enchanted by the description of removing<br />

an ancient rooftop for repairs, but maybe less<br />

so by the choking dust resulting from twenty tons<br />

of mud that has been drying for five hundred years.<br />

This is no exaggeration, it turns out. Forty thousand<br />

pounds of mud is quite standard for the construction<br />

of a hanok roof. I ask more about old materials, expecting,<br />

I think, a similar strain of what I’ve heard<br />

from home of carpenters digging carefully for old,<br />

hand-fashioned colonial nails at destruction sites,<br />

24<br />

much higher in quality and durability than our modern,<br />

machine-produced versions. It takes a while<br />

and a few drawings and phone translations for me to<br />

understand what they are trying to explain about ancient<br />

Korean “nails,” though, which turn out to often<br />

be tight collections of dried reeds. Massive beams<br />

of hard wood that take five strong men to move into<br />

place are held there, for hundreds of years, by tough<br />

little twigs.<br />

BK gestures to the hills sloping all around us and<br />

reminds me that during the war the country was<br />

stripped of trees. I had heard that the Arbor Day tradition<br />

of replanting was waning, as there are about<br />

as many trees as there is room for between the growing<br />

skeletal, ever-taller apartment building invasion<br />

of the landscape. What I hadn’t thought of was what<br />

this means for the age of the overall Korean forest.<br />

There are plenty of forty or fifty-year-old trees,<br />

which is fairly young in tree years. So for hanoks,<br />

stronger, old-growth wood is imported from North<br />

America.<br />

I ask BK if it seems sad to him that the trees aren’t<br />

actually Korean trees. Somehow, I had the impres-<br />

sion that, after a cold waterfall shower in the morning,<br />

the hanok builders would turn around and hug<br />

the nearest tree, patriotically. Not exactly. Traditionalism,<br />

and even Korean pride, aren’t always exactly<br />

what you would expect.<br />

It seems a shame to me, at first, considering the<br />

patriotism the trees might feel. But then I remember<br />

my first flight across the States to the Pacific Northwest,<br />

the ugly brown squares cut out of the beautiful<br />

deep green mountains of old-growth forest. “Kimberly<br />

Clark,” said the woman next to me in disgust.<br />

“It all gets chopped down for toilet paper.” If the<br />

majestic, kind, and furry Douglas firs must come<br />

down, I am much more heartened to see them loved<br />

into a beautiful, harmonious hanok far away than<br />

to become local toilet paper. Globalization can be<br />

bittersweet.<br />

“Too-strict rules make us lose culture,” says BK,<br />

poignantly. He tells me about the struggles of building<br />

projects with hard and fast rules about the tools<br />

that can be used. It does seem to make sense that<br />

the original tools would need to be used to create<br />

an authentic structure. He shows me a picture in his<br />

phone of a terrifically old beam revealed in a recent<br />

restoration project. In front is a fresh, light, probably<br />

North American beam, glided into place next to<br />

an older one that is still strong, but dark with age.<br />

Instead of the pettable, smooth furriness of newly<br />

cut wood, the old beam bears proudly the shine of<br />

thousands of painstaking grooves that were left by<br />

someone who must have spent days shaping it by<br />

hand hundreds of years ago.<br />

It’s hard to say if all Korean traditional builders<br />

would feel the same. Patriotism is strong in Korea,<br />

of course. BK has lived and worked in other<br />

countries, embraced other cultures warmly. Perhaps<br />

he can see from the perspective of the bird and the<br />

fish, and perhaps knows exactly how they can build<br />

their nest.<br />

PHOTOS: [Previous and current pages]<br />

Hanok projects by Byoungkyoung<br />

Lee and his crew. [Photos courtesy of<br />

BYOUNGKYOUNG LEE]<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 25


ARTS ESSAY<br />

By VIKKI CHAN<br />

<strong>JB</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Contributing Writer<br />

26<br />

Early this November, I had the opportunity to check<br />

out a pretty cool coffee shop in Iksan called Misulgwan<br />

Café, known to be the place where you can enjoy<br />

coffee (or other beverages) as well as observe intriguing<br />

pieces of art. Whilst I was there, Misulgwan Café was hosting<br />

a multidisciplinary art exhibition focusing on “Human<br />

Nature”.<br />

The owner, Sang-Rin Park, is an art enthusiast as well as<br />

a professional fashion designer. He loves to use his coffee<br />

shop’s space voluntarily as a great canvas to promote events<br />

and artwork. Currently, he has a strong interest in displaying<br />

a mix of expat and Korean artists’ work, demonstrating<br />

a “new culture” in the Korean art gallery industry. This perspective<br />

seems rare.<br />

The exhibit presented ten artists’ artwork. Seven artists<br />

were expats, three of them Korean. As mentioned before,<br />

this was a multidisciplinary exhibition: each artist had a very<br />

different approach in terms of style and perspective towards<br />

the theme, “Human Nature.”<br />

The first things I saw once I entered were four clear plastic<br />

boxes, and in each box there was a different set of red flowers.<br />

For example, one box contained roses; another one contained<br />

red poppies. I found out later that the title of this display is<br />

called “Plant Abuse (I’m Flower Murder),” created by Yun<br />

Jin, a Wonkwang University student majoring in Philosophy.<br />

She expressed that all living things should be treated equally,<br />

and keeping the flowers in boxes was degrading their value<br />

as living objects. In addition to this, Yun Jin contributed two<br />

paintings related to the relationships between people. After<br />

viewing her work, I found that she liked to use bold colours<br />

to express her concept.<br />

Later on, I saw a painting consisting of different-colored<br />

dots illustrating a number of dream-catchers on a black background.<br />

The artist behind this was Mi-Yeon Jin, a graduate<br />

from Wonkwang University. The artist aimed to make viewers<br />

feel at ease when looking at the artwork. Similarly, Jin’s<br />

“Leave Your Nightmare to Me” expressed that everyone<br />

sleeps and dreams.<br />

Another Korean artist, Tae-Gwan Lee, created five pieces<br />

that I believe presented strong masculinity. He defined that<br />

each piece expressed a different atmosphere of how humans<br />

behave with their movements and gestures. He didn’t really<br />

go into detail about each work; however, the interesting part<br />

of his work was that we as viewers could make various interpretations<br />

about them. Lee used different materials for each<br />

piece, displaying his capability to use a variety of media.<br />

Next there were the foreign artists, whom we see more<br />

rarely.<br />

First, Sarah Hodgkiss, a British street artist and illustrator,<br />

created a series of four portraits. In Korea, she specializes in<br />

drawing portraits, and in regards to the exhibit’s theme, Human<br />

Nature, she chose to focus on the inner strength of women.<br />

She believes that in Korean society there seems to be a set<br />

g<br />

ARTWORK: [ABOVE] Original Human Nature<br />

logo designed by Jason Vlasak.<br />

[TOP RIGHT] A multimedia piece by Sarah Vetter.<br />

[BOTTOM RIGHT] Hanji craft works<br />

by Natalie Thibault (left) and part of<br />

an installation by Bonnie Cunningham (right).<br />

[Photos by ANJEE DISANTO]<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 27<br />

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ARTS<br />

of standards women should follow to become the “perfect”<br />

woman, such as domestic goddess, stay-at-home mom, and<br />

so on. In this series, you can clearly see her style of art. Just<br />

like in her non-exhibited works she draws her subjects with<br />

rough lines, then paints colourful splodges and strokes to<br />

highlight their features. She chose four female acquaintances<br />

as her subjects to deliver her concept. The reason behind<br />

this was the idea that each woman consistently faces challenges,<br />

whether racial discrimination, being stereotyped,<br />

or things they have to overcome to achieve their goals.<br />

Nevertheless, to illustrate the strength these women have,<br />

Hodgkiss drew predatory animals (each woman chose one)<br />

aligned with their faces.<br />

Next up, Sabrina Pinksen is a Canadian artist and writer.<br />

She specialises in drawing vibrant portraits, and for this exhibit,<br />

she drew eight portraits emphasizing the diversity of<br />

humans. In other words, Pinksen wants to show that everyone<br />

is culturally and physically different but can influence<br />

each other. Hence, Pinksen linked each drawing with purple<br />

tape to present the “influence” or connection. She drew<br />

a few famous faces among them: for example, the lead singer<br />

of the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl. The reason why she decided<br />

to choose “diversity” as her concept is because, since<br />

being in Korea, she has met so many people with different<br />

ethnic or cultural backgrounds.<br />

Tara Beck, the next exhibitor, is an American art enthusiast<br />

and hobbyist. She has a keen interest in the art revolving<br />

around fantasy and Korean animation known as “illust.”<br />

Thus, in this exhibition, with the influence of “illust,” Beck<br />

chose to demonstrate the five senses: sight, hearing, taste,<br />

smell, and touch. She made two displays. The first one I<br />

saw was an interactive display, where there were items representing<br />

each sense. The jars stated “taste me” and “smell<br />

me,” which reminded of Alice in Wonderland.<br />

In her second display, she produced a series of four paintings<br />

of animals. She chose these animals as they are known<br />

to rely on a particular sense. It’s very interesting how she<br />

played on these identities with words, color, and zentangle<br />

patterns (structured black and white patterns). She used<br />

these patterns to create the animals, as well as using watercolors<br />

and colored pencils to highlight the objects in the<br />

background.<br />

Another foreign participant, Damien Sullivan, is an American<br />

visual artist. He loves travelling with his motorcycle<br />

to view Korea’s countryside, and because of his hobby, he<br />

is able to capture great scenery which is later used as the<br />

reference for his paintings. Damien mentioned to me once<br />

that Korea’s weather suits his style of painting. Considering<br />

that, the weather in Korea is quite humid, and Sullivan is<br />

very competent in painting misty landscapes.<br />

For this exhibit, he contributed six landscape paintings<br />

that showed the natural beauty Korea has to offer. Each<br />

painting was named after the place he took his reference<br />

from. In my opinion, Sullivan’s paintings looked like photos<br />

from afar; but when you looked closer you could see his<br />

admirable brushwork. My favorite painting was the one of<br />

Ungpo, because the clouds looked so pretty and it took me<br />

back to those times when I was travelling.<br />

Bonnie Cunningham, another exhibitor, is an American<br />

painter and illustrator. Sometimes you can see her work in<br />

<strong>JB</strong> <strong>Life</strong> in both article illustrations and her regular<br />

art page titled “The Future is Dark.” Her style is<br />

g<br />

PHOTOS:<br />

[ABOVE LEFT] A photorealistic drawing<br />

by Sabrina Pinksen. [BOTTOM LEFT] A painting<br />

by Tara Beck (left) and a piece titled “Beauty in<br />

Strength“ by Sarah Hodgkiss. [RIGHT] A set of<br />

hanji drawers by Natalie Thibault.<br />

[Photos by ANJEE DISANTO]<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 29


ARTS<br />

quite distinct and she uses a range of brushwork (painting<br />

dots and a combination of different strokes).<br />

In this exhibit, her concept was “getting lost in a world,”<br />

which she portrayed incredibly as she was able to create<br />

three miniature worlds for the viewers to see. She made<br />

a unique display where her paintings were surrounded by<br />

handmade vines of paper leaves and flowers. One of the<br />

worlds that got me thinking was a series of six paintings,<br />

which showed an evolution of a human becoming a fish. In<br />

addition, she made a mask to hang on the right hand corner<br />

of her display, a “creature of nature.”<br />

Quite different from the others, Natalie Thibault is a hanji<br />

artist. “Hanji” itself is a traditional handmade paper in Korea,<br />

and Thibault uses it to make beautiful decorative objects.<br />

This was her first time to display her work in an exhibition,<br />

as she usually displays her goods in hanji festivals<br />

or at arts and craft festivals. She makes practical items for<br />

everyday use, such as jewelry and small furniture.<br />

For the exhibit, Thibault created several objects that were<br />

aesthetically related to “human nature.” She used earthly<br />

coloured hanji paper and animal patterns to decorate her<br />

pieces. One of the items that I liked the most was the yellow<br />

table lamp, because when the lights were on, you could see<br />

a beautiful phoenix.<br />

Lastly, Sarah Vetter is a Canadian conceptual artist, with<br />

work leaning toward the abstract. She enjoys drawing<br />

trunoble-esque (think nuclear-warped) insects. For the exhibition,<br />

she wanted to show “how humanity imposes itself<br />

on nature and how society offers itself as a portrait of human<br />

nature.”<br />

Whilst I was looking at her work I realised that she used<br />

Korean food takeout advertisement leaflets (the ones we get<br />

on our doors) to create part of her artwork. It seemed to me<br />

that she wanted to highlight how capitalism or our rubbish<br />

was affecting nature, which I believe was a very intelligent<br />

approach to “human nature.”<br />

On the whole, it’s rare to find such a relaxing yet awesome<br />

place where you can chat and admire such ingenious work.<br />

While I was visiting the café I brought my friend with me<br />

and we talked about life in general, but once in a while we<br />

would glance at the art and comment how cool it was.<br />

Although the exhibition is now over, there will be new<br />

artwork to see and talk about at Misulgwan. When you visit,<br />

you might also get a chance to play with the café’s mascot,<br />

Munjee, the owner’s very sassy, beautiful grey cat.<br />

In addition, if you are interested in looking at some of the<br />

artists’ work, use the contact details below. As one should<br />

understand, their artwork for the exhibit was just a little<br />

piece of the talent they can offer.<br />

Bonnie Cunningham<br />

Instagram: soybonnie<br />

Website: www.soybonnie.com<br />

Sarah Vetter<br />

Email: addverse@outlook.com<br />

Website: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.<br />

vetter.10<br />

Sarah Hodgkiss<br />

Website: www.facebook.com/artsydoodling<br />

Damien Sullivan<br />

Website: https://www.facebook.com/<br />

damien.sullivan.104<br />

Sabrina Pinksen<br />

Instagram: @smpinksy<br />

Natalie Thibault<br />

Website: www.hanjiaty.com<br />

Tara Beck<br />

Email: tbbadger06@gmail.com<br />

PHOTOS: [LEFT] A Painting by Damien<br />

Sullivan. [RIGHT] One painting out of a<br />

series by Bonnie Cunningham.<br />

30<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 31


GLOBAL JEONBUK<br />

Inside Jeonju’s<br />

Multinational, Multicutural, Multicultural, Multitalented<br />

Dance Troupe<br />

By SILAYAN CASINO<br />

<strong>JB</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Contributing Writer<br />

Dancing has many benefits. It’s healthy. It’s<br />

an excellent stress-reliever. It’s enjoyable.<br />

Sometimes it helps with weight loss. It’s one<br />

type of performance art, too. The added bonus of ethnic<br />

or folk dancing is sharing one’s own culture with others<br />

around us. As Korean society evolves to be more inclusive<br />

of everyone living here, the impetus for welcoming<br />

cultural exchange in such an expressive mode brings<br />

multiculturalism to a new level.<br />

In our perfect city, Jeonju, we have an expanding diaspora<br />

of cultures represented in multi-cultural families,<br />

including a group of Russian-speaking women from several<br />

Eurasian nations. The group is still in its infancy but<br />

seems to be advancing quickly, with growing popularity<br />

nationwide.<br />

Humble Beginnings<br />

The Jeonju Eurasia Dance Troupe first started meeting<br />

in March 2016. Some members of the group have been<br />

dancing for many years, while others just like dancing.<br />

Their common goal is to share the culture of their motherland.<br />

The ladies come from Europe and Central Asia:<br />

Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and the Republic of<br />

Buryatia, a member of the Federated States of Russia.<br />

Most of the ladies are married to Koreans, have children,<br />

and lead very busy lives, working or teaching.<br />

Aida Ulakbekova, the troupe’s publicity person, really<br />

loves her “ladies.” “Dancing is second nature to me,”<br />

she says, talking about her passion and drive to dance.<br />

Vilena, the group’s choreographer, is a freshman student<br />

of Korean history and literature at Chonbuk<br />

g<br />

[All photos by ANJEE DISANTO]<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 33


GLOBAL JEONBUK<br />

National University. She has been dancing since childhood<br />

and is a passionate and dedicated dance instructor<br />

for the group. When asked how she creates the dances,<br />

she replies, through a translator, “On the spot. I listen<br />

to the music and the steps come to me.” She likes listening<br />

to American songs, and looks to artists such as<br />

Ariana Grande and Rihanna as role models.<br />

Performing<br />

To date, the group has learned two dances, a traditional<br />

Uzbek dance and an original dance fusion choreographed<br />

by Vilena. They aim to add dances from their<br />

representative countries to their repertoire as their visibility<br />

in the ethnic dance performance arena increases.<br />

Next in line to be learned is a Russian dance, followed<br />

by a Kyrgyz dance.<br />

Since May last year, the Eurasia Dance Troupe has<br />

performed three times on the big stage. Their very first<br />

performance as a dance group was at a local high school<br />

in Jeonju. Having gained much confidence from their<br />

initial performance, and recognizing that their audience<br />

really enjoyed and appreciated their dances, they applied<br />

to participate in a larger dance competition.<br />

Their next performance was on a much grander scale,<br />

on the stage of the Arirang Multicultural Music Festival<br />

at Everland in May of 2016. At this very public, national<br />

event they met many other festival participants from<br />

their motherland. As one of the dance members, Gulmira<br />

Kulbaeva, shared when interviewed by Arirang,<br />

“We made new friends here. It’s just really cool.” The<br />

group’s spokesperson, Aida, shared that in this particular<br />

event, the group represented four countries in one<br />

dance, as dolls of each country. The dance involved<br />

different songs, melodies, and steps for each of the four<br />

countries represented: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia<br />

and the Republic of Buryatia.<br />

The ladies were overjoyed with the results of their<br />

first competition, coming in 1st place at the Arirang<br />

festival. They received a monetary prize which now<br />

helps cover the group’s expenses – travel and accommodations,<br />

costumes, etc.<br />

Following their national debut, the ladies were gungho,<br />

excited to move forward and do more. They next performed<br />

at the Multicultural Traditional Dance Festival<br />

in Yonggwan. There they met two more dance groups<br />

from the same region. They placed second after one of<br />

those groups, and found out that the winning group had<br />

entered that particular competition four times prior to<br />

winning. It was an inspiration to see how well they were<br />

progressing at doing something they truly loved.<br />

In addition to these big-stage appearances, Eurasia<br />

participated in one parade in Seoul, and has done a<br />

number of smaller performances on-demand, such as<br />

for a UNESCO event and a more local appearance at<br />

Jeonju’s City Hall. Most recently, on November 3rd,<br />

the Jeonju Eurasian Dance Troupe competed at a dance<br />

competition of the 4th Korean Local Autonomy Exposition,<br />

where they landed first prize. Since then, Eurasia’s<br />

main project has been producing and promoting<br />

a video for the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics “Arariyo”<br />

competition, which they hope to hear a good result<br />

from after judging is complete in mid-<strong>January</strong>.<br />

Connections<br />

When it came to costumes for the stage, the ladies<br />

had to find someone reliable and with whom they could<br />

communicate efficiently and effectively. One group<br />

member, Tamara, suggested Olga, from Uzbekistan,<br />

who lives and works in Jeonju as a highly reputable<br />

costume designer and seamstress. She makes costumes<br />

for a variety of audiences, including belly dancers, ice<br />

skaters, theater casts, dance groups and other performers.<br />

She has created the troupe’s dance attire since the<br />

beginning, and will likely continue doing so.<br />

Tamara also volunteers as a teacher of Uzbek language<br />

and culture at the Jeonju Multicultural Center for<br />

mixed families. She is joined every second and fourth<br />

Saturday at the Tamunah Center by fellow group member<br />

Liana, who does the same for Russian. Their pupils<br />

are the children of Russian or Uzbek-speaking parents<br />

(mothers). In this way, their culture, language and history<br />

are being perpetuated in their children.<br />

Sacrifices<br />

As wives and mothers, these women are making great<br />

sacrifices to dance and share their culture. They spend<br />

1-2 evenings per week practicing. During the week prior<br />

to a performance, they practice every night for three<br />

hours. It truly is a commitment and takes much dedication<br />

to learn the steps, practicing at home as well as at<br />

their rented studio space, located across from the Korean<br />

Traditional Cultural Center near Hanok Village. It<br />

reminds me of the saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s<br />

a way.”<br />

Eurasia receives many requests to perform around<br />

Jeonju and takes up each as an opportunity to reach a<br />

larger audience. As their popularity increases and places<br />

demand their time more, the ladies are continually<br />

looking to invite new members to join their troupe. As<br />

the group is still expanding and adjusting, their social<br />

media presence has not yet developed, but a Facebook<br />

page is forthcoming. Until then, keep an eye out for<br />

these multitalented ladies and their performances in<br />

Jeonju and around the peninsula.<br />

Watch Eurasia’s recent entry in<br />

the Pyeongchang Olympics<br />

“Arariyo” video competition!<br />

Search for “Pyeongchang<br />

Arariyo Eurasia MV”<br />

on YouTube.<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 35


GLOBAL JEONBUK<br />

By FELIPE FIRMINO GOMES<br />

<strong>JB</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Contributing Writer<br />

The Lefundes Family might have been a typical<br />

family in Rio – the place where they all<br />

came from – but they are far from typical in<br />

Jeonju. Fábio, the father, is the official physical trainer<br />

for the Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors football club, a frequent<br />

champion in the K-League (the official football league<br />

for Korean teams) and current champion of the AFC<br />

Champions League, having won the recent tourney with<br />

other prominent teams in Asia. Patricia, the mother of the<br />

family and Fábio’s wife, gives physical training advice to<br />

other foreigners in the Jeonju area and has a successful<br />

YouTube channel with almost 23,000 subscribers, mainly<br />

from Brazil. In said channel, Patricia talks about many<br />

aspects of the Korean lifestyle, usually comparing it to<br />

how life works in Brazil, especially in Rio, while she replies<br />

personally to each comment from a subscriber that<br />

comes in touch with her. “Mãe da Marina,” the channel’s<br />

FABIO - Physical Trainer for<br />

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC<br />

PATRICIA<br />

Power<br />

YouTuber,<br />

SuperMom<br />

MARINA<br />

Trilingual,<br />

H.S.<br />

student<br />

name (which translates to “Marina’s mom”), is also a<br />

shared venue of communication with the world for Marina,<br />

a young teenager who lives a life than can be easily<br />

described as “close to a Korean teenager’s life without<br />

actually being born in Korea.” All in all, the Lefundes<br />

family is a perfect example of Jeonbuk’s ordinary yet<br />

extraordinary expat families.<br />

Club Culture and<br />

Culture Clash<br />

The whole family, it seems, is familiar to risks. Fábio<br />

was working in Saudi Arabia when he received an offer<br />

from Jeonbuk Hyundai. After some consideration and<br />

two short contracts, Fábio came to Jeonju again with the<br />

whole family – a five-year story of sacrifice and happiness.<br />

“It doesn’t make sense to come here and expect the<br />

same experience as there,” says Fábio, when referring<br />

to some of the blatant cultural and social differences<br />

between Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil. “You have to<br />

adapt and get used to what you can locally.”<br />

That said, adaptability works both ways and has involved<br />

the Jeonbuk Hyundai staff as well. “We have<br />

three Brazilian players on the team, and the Koreans<br />

have learned that sometimes we just talk way too much,”<br />

Fábio says. “They make fun of it, but they never ever<br />

disrespect us for it. Also, they borrowed our habit of<br />

playing music in the dressing room in the last moments<br />

before a match – that in a place where some months before<br />

there was only silence and total concentration.” But<br />

he assures that it’s not all fun and games. About the roster<br />

and athletes, Fábio pinpoints that he likes to make the<br />

players work so hard after an injury that they won’t need<br />

to see him again for a long time.<br />

In terms of work environment, it’s commonly known<br />

that Koreans follow a rigid structure of respect for their<br />

elders, so a clash of culture would be imminent. Fábio<br />

took that to heart in the lightest way possible, despite<br />

the established structure. “Many times I opted for giving<br />

my most honest opinion about certain techniques and<br />

strategies, and they learned to recognize me for it,” Fábio<br />

says. Truly, he doesn’t seem to have problem settling<br />

down in a place where being hardworking is the rule and<br />

stress can sometimes be common sense, because that has<br />

always been his motto, ever since Brazil.<br />

“That’s one of the main reasons why he succeeds here,<br />

for sure. He can be even more stressed out and focused<br />

than some Koreans,” explains Patricia.<br />

Keeping that in mind, there are some big differences<br />

of football philosophy between Korea and Brazil as well.<br />

“The Korean philosophy is all about discipline and sacrificing<br />

every little time for a better performance,” Fábio<br />

notes. “They are used to that in many ways, and Brazilians<br />

have to work harder than they usually do in Brazil,<br />

to achieve the same.”<br />

Like many expats, tranquility and quality of life are the<br />

main factors that keep the Lefundes family here. Living<br />

like a common Korean family makes a big difference in<br />

their perception of the city.<br />

“It’s funny because [my husband] eats more Korean<br />

food than many of our Korean friends”, says Patricia<br />

about Fábio’s adaptability. “It’s a lot about respect. It’s<br />

how it is here, in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else.” The<br />

family does say that the local food is a big part of the<br />

draw here in the province, in terms of quality of life.<br />

“They have the best food in Korea,” Patricia affirms.<br />

“Even when you go to other places and taste their own<br />

version of said food, the best version of it is here in Jeonju.”<br />

g<br />

36<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 37


Bridging Brazil and Korea<br />

For expats of certain backgrounds, it’s quite easy to<br />

find a base in Korea – English teachers have natural connections,<br />

and Chinese and Vietnamese nationals have<br />

large pools of their countrymen to contact here, for instance.<br />

As for the Lefundes, the whole family agrees<br />

it’s really hard to connect with an actual similar group<br />

of expats in Jeonju, partially because of the nature of<br />

football’s contracts (it’s common for players to stay for<br />

a while and soon find new destinations to work). Croatians,<br />

Spaniards, Koreans and just a few Brazilians end<br />

up finding similar activities to do together in their circles,<br />

but it’s tough to find free time together with people<br />

outside of work, even between members of the family.<br />

Each member has their own small group of people that<br />

is formed by multiple nationalities.<br />

Despite the distance from their country and countrymen<br />

in general, it’s noticeable how the family works to<br />

improve their experience here and live well. They are all<br />

very digitally driven, with their own digital presence and<br />

high influence on thousands of people, but, more than<br />

anything, they are always connected to everything happening<br />

back in Brazil.<br />

“There is so much I wanted to share about Korea, so<br />

I had to have a vlog, a channel about it,” Patricia notes<br />

of the vlog she shares with her daughter. “Family and<br />

everyone were always asking me about life here, so it<br />

38<br />

was just easier to put it all in the same place.” Fábio also<br />

has a channel featuring a series of videos with progress<br />

of training of some of Jeonbuk Hyundai’s big stars like<br />

Leonardo, one of the team’s strikers.<br />

About these YouTube channels, the family all agrees<br />

that there are a lot of responsibilities in conveying any<br />

kind of message through the internet and that there are<br />

some misconceptions about Korea in general, especially<br />

when it comes to education. “Some people want to<br />

supposedly come here to study, thinking that they will<br />

listen to K-pop and watch dramas all day long. But people<br />

who already have a previous knowledge of the excellence<br />

of education come here as an alternative to the<br />

U.S., Canada, or the U.K.,” say Fábio and Patricia. The<br />

family sees it as very important to check all the information<br />

they disseminate to so many people, and Patricia<br />

takes that very seriously: “I am always worried about<br />

checking everything and about being the channel I wanted<br />

to watch before I came to Korea. It’s really important<br />

to show the reality, not reverberating illusions about the<br />

country in people’s minds.”<br />

Believe it or not, Korea and Korean culture are highly<br />

present in Brazil these days. Even verbs like “SHIP UH”<br />

(part of the grammar structure for “to want,” in Korean)<br />

are often used in internet communication in sentences<br />

in plain Brazilian Portuguese, like it is the most natural<br />

thing in the world. About the growing perception of<br />

Korea in Brazil, the family thinks Korean dramas and<br />

K-pop are largely responsible for it, besides the grow-<br />

ing Korean population, especially in Sao Paulo, where<br />

there’s a whole neighborhood composed of Korean expats.<br />

The same phenomenon also happens in Rio. “I was<br />

shocked to know that there was a K-pop concert in Copacabana<br />

during the Rio Olympics this year, with really<br />

high attendance,” comments Patricia.<br />

When asked what they missed the most about Brazil,<br />

it was clear how the family is indeed settled and doesn’t<br />

have too many difficulties in town right now. “I don’t<br />

miss anything from there, because we can talk to family<br />

all the time,” Fábio explained. “I wish I could bring my<br />

whole Brazilian house here, but that is just wishful thinking.”<br />

Marina, meanwhile, does miss something: “French<br />

bread!” she is quick to answer. A very specific kind of<br />

bread with a similar taste to a baguette, but much smaller,<br />

very common practically everywhere in Brazil. These<br />

are the sort of small details that one cannot help but miss,<br />

no matter how easy to adapt to a country or city.<br />

On a person to person level, the daughter, Marina,<br />

notes that the very fact of living abroad can actually have<br />

a good effect on many relationships in the country of origin.<br />

“Sometimes I notice that people say ‘I miss you so<br />

much,’ but I know they only say that because I am far. I<br />

am not sure that they would miss me if I was too close,”<br />

says Marina.<br />

Marina is indeed a thoughtful and gifted girl. After<br />

Find Patricia and Marina’s<br />

channel by searching “Mãe da<br />

Marina” on YouTube.<br />

leaving Brazil, she learned to speak English fluently and<br />

is getting close to fluency in Korean as well. She interacts<br />

everyday with Korean teenagers and borrows a lot<br />

of their realities and stories (splitting life between multiple<br />

academies, championships, and accolades) but never<br />

forgets her past.<br />

“We always make her understand all aspects of her<br />

multiple lives to not be deluded by the day-to-day here<br />

and not feel superior to anyone else,” says Fábio. They<br />

foster her to respect others on all levels, while respecting<br />

her as well. “I like the Korean sense of respect to parents<br />

and teachers,” says Marina, while Fábio adds, “but<br />

that was already part of her personality before she came.<br />

She was always respectful, so it wasn’t that hard to adapt<br />

here. We treat her the same way Korean parents would<br />

treat their kids.”<br />

It’s easy to sense that the Lefundes are made from a<br />

special stock. Chock that up to a charismatic chemistry<br />

and a great sense of adaptability, along with their impossible<br />

roster of unique stories, whether from football, the<br />

local community, or internet exploits. With the nature of<br />

the football lifestyle, it’s of course unknown how long<br />

they will stay with the club and here in Jeonju, but, for<br />

the time being, they are surely a family that represents<br />

the multiplicity and multiculturalism of Jeonju.<br />

Find Fabio’s<br />

channel by searching “Fabio<br />

Lefundes” on YouTube.<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 39


WORLDVIEW<br />

by David van Minnen<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> Co-Editor<br />

NOTE: This article is part of a multi-issue series investigating<br />

the religious roots of North Jeolla and<br />

Korea throughout history until the present. It is the<br />

aim of this series to sketch out the way Jeolla natives<br />

think. This is for the purpose of greater understanding,<br />

multicultural sensitivity, and to tear down the<br />

walls of misunderstanding. Jeonbuk civilization has<br />

its own unique, complex blend of history and mindset.<br />

The picture in this series is admittedly painted with<br />

a broad brush; but it may be a helpful backdrop to<br />

your interactions and appreciation of our beautiful<br />

host culture.<br />

In previous articles, we looked at the Jeonbuk<br />

worldview as a kind of layer cake. The bottom<br />

layer is rather pristine, an animistic and colorful<br />

Shamanism. The next layer on the ‘cake’ is Confucianism.<br />

This layer is by far the thickest, with the strongest<br />

taste, and it really ‘takes the cake.’ It is this layer that<br />

distinguishes Korea apart most from all other cultures,<br />

even nearby Asian cultures. There is no group on the<br />

planet more rigorously Confucian than Koreans. It is<br />

this that makes multicultural interaction most challenging.<br />

It is not really a language barrier so much<br />

as it is a worldview barrier that triggers a plethora of<br />

baffling dramas for people from other cultures living<br />

in Korea.<br />

But this installment is about Buddhism in Korea,<br />

and specifically in Jeollabukdo -- the<br />

next layer of the cake.<br />

Buddhism<br />

<strong>Life</strong> is “dukka”: suffering (Sanskrit).<br />

Young, old, rich, poor, physically,<br />

emotionally, financially, we<br />

all suffer. We all don’t want to. Sex,<br />

drugs, and rock’n’roll are escapes. Religions<br />

offer hope and meaning, but too often,<br />

they just keep us busy. Like our other<br />

escapes, religions actually more often just<br />

give us more suffering.<br />

Siddhartha Gautama left his affluent<br />

home in India to live an ascetic life and<br />

seek the answer to the problem of pain. If you have not<br />

yet read Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, it is a small, easyto-read<br />

volume, and one of the simplest, most endearing<br />

accounts of the beginning of Buddhism ever written.<br />

What follows is a very crude summary, not meant to be<br />

disrespectful, but brief and easy to understand.<br />

Raised in the Hindu worldview, Siddhartha saw that<br />

we all suffer, and whether we are reincarnated as a higher<br />

being or even an insect, our new self still suffers and<br />

dies. Good karma brings you back as a higher form,<br />

but with the same fate anyway. Nobody is free from<br />

the ‘meat-wheel’ of reincarnation (samsara), karma, or<br />

caste. Suffering is the doom of us all, and must somehow<br />

be denied, or transcended.<br />

Siddhartha found a way to overcome suffering.<br />

Through rigorous meditation and self-denial, he denied<br />

everything and achieved enlightenment, or Nirvana. It<br />

turns out, the problem of pain isn’t pain, but wanting to<br />

be comfortable. Comfort is just an illusion. By intense<br />

mental training, he blew out the flame of desire, thus<br />

quenching the sufferings of unmet desires. Thereby his<br />

self, now denied, was flung free of the ‘meat-wheel’ of<br />

endless reincarnation. He was enlightened: no longer<br />

doomed to an endless rerun of a life of pain.<br />

This enlightenment is the basic goal of<br />

Buddhists. Monks shave their heads<br />

and live in poverty to stop feeding<br />

the desires of vanity and greed. To<br />

feed a desire is to give it a stronger<br />

appetite. To starve it is to—hopefully—cause<br />

it to wither. The less<br />

you are hindered by desires—and<br />

their subsequent disappointments—<br />

the more you are free to revel in the<br />

miracle of the now; to lose yourself in<br />

the nothingness. If you lose yourself<br />

fully enough, you have achieved enlightenment,<br />

and Nirvana. But at that<br />

moment you don’t just vanish; you have<br />

to continue to live out that life. So you<br />

serve out your last roll on the ‘meat-wheel’<br />

by sharing and guiding other seekers.<br />

Living well as a Buddhist is where the<br />

two main branches of Buddhism are distinguished:<br />

Theravada and Mahayana.<br />

g<br />

40<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 41


WORLDVIEW<br />

Theravada Buddhism adheres to fewer scriptures: just<br />

older ones (Pali language, from India, where Siddhartha<br />

was from). This way is much more esoteric; silence<br />

is golden, and the spiritual journey (or eightfold path)<br />

is typically more inner, personal, and aloof from the<br />

pursuits of regular daily life. Theravada Buddhists are<br />

pretty serious about meditation and the personal quest<br />

for Nirvana. This branch is dominant in Southeast Asia<br />

(India, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand), and<br />

is more ‘authentic’ to the quest of the first Buddha in<br />

India. In Theravada thinking, you can’t help anyone<br />

reach Nirvana until you have done so yourself. But<br />

you will likely die trying.<br />

Mahayana Buddhism adheres to many more scriptures<br />

(sutras), which have much more to say about<br />

practical living and celebrating and communing with<br />

nature. The desires are denied, but not the whole world.<br />

The monks tend to be a bit chubbier, jollier, and more<br />

pastoral. The goals of enlightenment are applied more<br />

practically, to improve and better enjoy this life, not eschew<br />

it. You may not have achieved Nirvana, and may<br />

even find it unattainable, but you are here to help others<br />

on the quest. It’s kind of like taking down-payments<br />

on Nirvana now, as long as you share the installments.<br />

Mahayana adherents are more accessible, involved in<br />

teaching laypeople and reaching out to the needy. This<br />

branch of Buddhism is dominant in the colder parts of<br />

Asia (Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea, Taiwan).<br />

Won Buddhism<br />

Worthy of special attention is a branch of Mahayana<br />

Buddhism called Won Buddism. The birthplace of<br />

this particular movement is right here in North Jeolla<br />

province! Very reformed and modernized, this could<br />

be called ‘neo-Buddhism.’ The departures from traditional<br />

Buddhism are radical enough that some argue<br />

that it is an entirely new religion. In 1916, in Iksan, a<br />

seeker named ChinSeop Park achieved enlightenment.<br />

He later took the name Sotaesan.<br />

Shortly after his enlightenment, he had a prescient<br />

vision of a new age of materialism in which humanity<br />

would be enslaved by their own creations. The only<br />

way to save the world from this is to spread a double<br />

remedy: spiritual mindset and compassionate living. He<br />

wrote a new canon of Buddhist scriptures called “The<br />

Correct Canon of Buddhism” that made enlightened<br />

living simple, accessible, and practical to uneducated<br />

common people.<br />

Seotaesan called his school the Society of the Study<br />

of the Buddhadharma, founding what we now know as<br />

Wonkwang University. His successor renamed the faith<br />

Won Buddhism and added another tome called The<br />

Scriptures of Won Buddhism in 1962.<br />

“Won,” in this sense, means “circle,” or “round.”<br />

The idea is that this evolved form of Buddhism is<br />

well-rounded and all-encompassing. Whereas one Buddhist<br />

discipline may emphasize meditation, or another<br />

emphasizes more on study or chanting, and yet another<br />

on virtues or following the original Buddha’s quest,<br />

Won Buddhism embraces all of the elements of Buddhism<br />

in a balanced way, bringing all the approaches to<br />

truth full circle.<br />

Conceived and born in Jeonbuk, Korea, it should<br />

not come as a surprise that Won Buddhism has a very<br />

noticeable Confucian flavor. In fact, an astute evaluation<br />

of the faith is that it is a syncretism of Buddhism,<br />

Confucianism, and Daoism, boiled down for the uneducated.<br />

Won Buddhism is now practiced all around the<br />

world, including Argentina, Canada, and Germany, with<br />

53 non-Korean locations listed on their official website.<br />

Won Buddhism is rather unique in its history as well.<br />

According to Daniel J. Adams, professor emeritus at<br />

Hanil Seminary here in Wanju, “Won Buddhism has<br />

emerged to outlive its founder, remain free from accusations<br />

of scandal, avoid splitting into different sects,<br />

and, while being seen as somewhat unorthodox by traditional<br />

Buddhists, has never been accused of heresy.<br />

Unlike other new religious movements in Korea whose<br />

influence has waxed and waned with the times, Won<br />

Buddhism has experienced a slow but steady growth<br />

and its overall influence in Korean society has grown<br />

considerably.” (Won Buddhism in Korea: A New Religious<br />

Movement Comes of Age, D.J. Adams)<br />

Won Buddhism wielded considerable influence during<br />

the modernization of Korea. A number of studies<br />

have been done on Sotaesan’s influence on Korea at a<br />

time when the nation was disillusioned with the Donghak<br />

Revolution and was being introduced to electricity,<br />

railroads, and Western medicine. At this time, Jeolla<br />

province was the most destitute part of a hurting Korea,<br />

and the life of Sotaesan is, in the words of Kelvin Barrett’s<br />

“Won Buddhism: A Modern Way,” “a fascinating<br />

story of a man with little formal education, who moulded<br />

a group of dispossessed people to be masters of their<br />

lives and valuable members of society.”<br />

Buddhism: reformed; updated; done right; the Korean<br />

way; accessible to all... a success story. Won Buddhism’s<br />

contribution to the Korean worldview is not to<br />

be underestimated; it’s got quite a ring to it.<br />

PHOTOS :<br />

PREVIOUS PAGES -- Buddha statue at a<br />

Korean temple in the countryside (Page 40);<br />

monk graphic on a sign at a Buddhist temple in<br />

Korea (Page 41). LEFT (top) -- Monk chanting<br />

at Korean temple; (bottom) -- Buddha statue at<br />

the bottom of Maisan, Jinan County.<br />

ABOVE -- The characteristic “fish bell”<br />

found on the corners of Korean Buddhist<br />

temple roofs.<br />

[Photos by ANJEE DISANTO]<br />

42 Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 43


SOCIAL SCOPE<br />

Aiding the Community through the JWAU<br />

By HEATHER ALLMAN<br />

<strong>JB</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Contributing Writer<br />

The oppression of minority groups knows no<br />

boundaries, whether cultural or international,<br />

physical or mental. Around the globe,<br />

people of every age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality,<br />

and ethnic background are victims of injustice.<br />

Over the past few decades, the recognition<br />

and necessity for a fight against the maltreatment of<br />

minority groups has profoundly strengthened. Every<br />

day, in the news, on social media, and in our own<br />

communities, social and political groups righteously<br />

defend those who may not be strong enough to defend<br />

themselves.<br />

One of the largest minority groups, (although ironically<br />

a majority of the world’s population) is women.<br />

Historically speaking, women in every culture and<br />

society have been forced to combat persecution and<br />

suffering, and have had to fight to gain equal opportunity<br />

in their homes, workplaces, and communities.<br />

The fight has not weakened, and neither has the hardship,<br />

but due to the noble efforts of advocates for<br />

equality across the world, significant progress continues<br />

to be achieved.<br />

It is essential for community<br />

members, including expats, to get<br />

involved with existing organizations<br />

throughout Korea in order<br />

to promote strength and<br />

sociological progress.<br />

44<br />

Upon moving to a new country, foreigners decide<br />

to become part of an already existent and thriving<br />

community. It is their responsibility to offer generosity<br />

to their new home, while working side by side<br />

with its citizens to better the society they have now<br />

become a part of. The Jeollabuk-do area has seen a<br />

multitude of assistance through organizations like the<br />

Jeonbuk Women’s Association United, Neighborly<br />

Neighborly, Stepping Stones, and various other institutions<br />

run by both Korean nationals and foreigners.<br />

By donating time and/or money, it is not only possible<br />

to improve the area that one lives in, but also to<br />

demonstrate a positive representation of one’s own<br />

nation.<br />

The JWAU, or Jeonbuk Women’s Association United,<br />

began in 1988 under the name Chonbuk Democratic<br />

Women’s Association. The organization’s<br />

mission is to uphold peace and human rights as they<br />

should be valued, aiming to globalize and advance<br />

the women of Jeonbuk. Regardless of their sociological<br />

or national background, the JWAU works to help<br />

women become part of a truly democratic society.<br />

Since the introduction of the JWAU, the organization<br />

has fought to ensure the safety and fair treatment of<br />

women and children, barring them from the ever apparent<br />

discrimination and violence in their own community<br />

and across Korea.<br />

In the past, foreigners in Jeonju have worked with<br />

the JWAU to raise money and awareness for their<br />

honorable cause. In 2009 and 2010, Jessica Hovey<br />

served as the community organizer and director for the Jeonju<br />

V-Day production of The Vagina Monologues, a performance<br />

event that has continued over the years in Jeonju. V-Day is a<br />

worldwide movement to end violence against women and girls.<br />

For over 20 years, The Vagina Monologues, written by Eve<br />

Ensler, has been a catalyst for women across the world in the<br />

fight against violence. Based upon interviews that Ensler conducted<br />

with over 200 women about their experiences as victims<br />

of violence, the play addresses the sexual stigma and violent oppression<br />

of those who “were assigned and/or identify as female.”<br />

Unlike any work before it’s time, The Vagina Monologues found<br />

immense success by taking an aggressive approach against a customarily<br />

suppressed topic. After four years of successful touring<br />

and countless testimonies of relatability from patrons of the play,<br />

Ensler and a group of women from New York City established<br />

V-Day on February 14, 1998.<br />

Of the production, Hovey said, “The Vagina Monologues is<br />

produced for two reasons – the first is to raise awareness of violence<br />

towards women and girls (as well as to demystify the vagina)<br />

and the second is to raise money for a charity that is specifically<br />

working [for this cause].” Since it’s inauguration, V-Day<br />

has become recognized as a global movement. In less than two<br />

decades, the V-Day campaign has raised over $100 million which<br />

has been distributed worldwide. The V-Day campaign asks volunteers<br />

around the world to stage a presentation of The Vagina<br />

Monologues anytime in February. With production costs kept<br />

low and admission fees charged, each V-Day program chooses a<br />

local beneficiary working toward ending violence against women<br />

and girls.<br />

Hovey chose to get involved because, “At the time, I was<br />

acutely aware of the physical and sexual violence still plaguing<br />

women and girls; I was also surrounded by good men (and some<br />

women) who were unable to see how violence and sexism still<br />

persist.<br />

THIS PAGE:<br />

Posters from<br />

past expat-run<br />

V-Day productions<br />

in Jeonju,<br />

all to benefit<br />

the JWAU.<br />

g<br />

g


SOCIAL SCOPE<br />

“I wanted and needed to bring these issues up for<br />

serious discussion and I wanted to be able to help the<br />

community I was living in, in a tangible way,” Hovey<br />

said.<br />

“Establishing a relationship with<br />

the JWAU and making the<br />

organization the beneficiary of<br />

the V-Day campaigns allowed me<br />

and all of us involved, to help<br />

without creating cultural conflicts.<br />

“The Jeonju V-Day Campaign and The Vagina<br />

Monologues performances would not have happened<br />

without the JWAU,” Hovey explained.<br />

Over three years, V-Day productions of The Vagina<br />

Monologues in Jeonju were able to raise over 10<br />

million won to donate to the JWAU. No Hyun Jeong<br />

of the JWAU said, “[Because of The Vagina Monologues,<br />

the JWAU] could spend the useful money for<br />

their work.” She continued with how impressed she<br />

was by the support of so many foreigners, and continues<br />

to be thankful to this day. With the money raised<br />

by the Jeonju V-Day Campaign, the JWAU was able<br />

to win a massive victory for women’s rights in South<br />

Korea. As a result, Hovey was awarded the “Stepping<br />

Stone Prize,” which was created in response to the<br />

assistance given to the organization for “the development<br />

of feminist movement and the improvement of<br />

women’s rights in Jeonbuk.”<br />

Women in even the most powerful and affluential<br />

countries in the world continue to face domestic violence<br />

and abuse today. In 2016, the World Health Organization<br />

concluded that about one third of women<br />

worldwide had been victims of physical and/or sexual<br />

violence in their lifetime. In South Korea alone, 22%<br />

of adult women have reported being raped. Without<br />

community outreach and involvement, organizations<br />

like the JWAU would be unable to find such substantial<br />

success. In a world where, at times, the idea of<br />

discussing domestic abuse and violence can be considered<br />

“taboo,” it is imperative for community members,<br />

both foreign and national, to intervene and raise<br />

awareness.<br />

The JWAU does not solely focus on combating violence<br />

and abuse against women. Ms. No stated, “It<br />

focuses on all kinds of women’s rights. There are 10<br />

groups that have activated in Jeollabuk-do. Temporary<br />

workers, sexual abuse, violence, the fair treatment of<br />

handicapped women, labor [issues], political [issues]<br />

and welfare are all [focused] on.” The organization<br />

promotes activities for women’s policies, the achievement<br />

of female-oriented laws, the encouragement of<br />

women’s political power, networking activities to<br />

strengthen solidarity with other Non-Governmental<br />

Organizations, and the maintenance of a Center for<br />

the Rights of Sex Workers.<br />

Joni Page also directed and produced The Vagina<br />

Monologues during it’s Jeonju V-Day productions.<br />

She speaks highly of the work of the JWAU, stating<br />

that their work far surpasses raising awareness<br />

of the violent treatment of women and children. “I<br />

was amazed at how much they do,” Page stated,<br />

“And how much they do with their sister organizations<br />

throughout the country. They [bring a lot<br />

of] awareness towards females in general. The fact<br />

that Korea has a female president with the gender<br />

disparity [that existed] in this country [at the time]<br />

was amazing…The stuff that the JWAU does is not<br />

just [providing] a shelter, it’s trying to bring more<br />

gender equality to women.”<br />

The JWAU has not yet planned their events for<br />

<strong>2017</strong>. No said that they are always grateful for any<br />

donations that can be used to support their various<br />

causes. Each month, the JWAU distributes a brochure<br />

throughout Jeonbuk called “Bora Bora” (보<br />

라 보라), which means “Look and Care for Women’s<br />

Rights.” They are always accepting assistance<br />

to fold and distribute the brochures. Additionally,<br />

the JWAU plans to hold one “meaningful performance”<br />

each year, like The Vagina Monologues, a<br />

fashion show, or a concert with singers, where proceeds<br />

will go to benefit the organization.<br />

If you or any woman that you know is looking<br />

for any sort of assistance, the JWAU helps women<br />

of any nationality. Whether in need of support for<br />

employment, domestic, political, or legal reasons,<br />

regardless of their nature, they are willing to help.<br />

The JWAU can be contacted by telephone at 063-<br />

287-3459, or by email at jwau21@hanmail.net.<br />

For more information, visit the Jeonbuk Women’s<br />

Association United website at: http://jbwomen.<br />

tistory.com/. The JWAU is not affiliated with the<br />

government; therefore, the organization reserves<br />

the right to the complete control of it’s affairs.<br />

V-Day continues to thrive and grow. In <strong>2017</strong>, the<br />

V-Day organization will launch their campaign,<br />

“One Billion Rising Revolution,” for “Solidarity<br />

Against Exploitation of Women.” To find more information<br />

about how to hold a V-Day production<br />

of The Vagina Monologues, to donate to the campaign,<br />

or to learn more, visit www.vday.org.<br />

The original Jeonju<br />

V-Day cast, directed<br />

by Jessica Hovey<br />

(second from left), adhering<br />

to the common<br />

red theme of V-Day<br />

productions.<br />

[Photo by Anjee<br />

DiSanto]<br />

Events run by the JWAU themselves.<br />

[Photos courtesy of JWAU]<br />

46 Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 47 47


“BEING” IN JEONBUK<br />

48<br />

By SWARNALEE DUTTA<br />

<strong>JB</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Contributing Writer<br />

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is the first<br />

in a new section for <strong>2017</strong> titled “‘Being’<br />

in Jeonbuk.” The intention of this section<br />

is to share how local expats maintain their<br />

lifestyles and their sense of “being” while<br />

living in our province. This might include<br />

being from a certain nationality, whether Indian,<br />

Mexican, or Ethiopian, or being part of<br />

a certain lifestyle, such as being vegetarian,<br />

gay, or Muslim. Keep an eye out for this section<br />

to see how people from all walks of life<br />

survive and thrive while abroad.<br />

As an Indian staying abroad, festivals are<br />

the times I really feel homesick and wish<br />

to be at home enjoying the celebrations, food,<br />

excitement, and enthusiasm. I miss the jubilant atmosphere<br />

spreading an intoxicating and infectious<br />

feeling around. Everybody comes together to rejoice<br />

in the traditions, keeping aside their differences.<br />

While some festivals are just close-knit family affairs,<br />

some are arranged and celebrated all together<br />

as a community. Whether deities are worshipped or<br />

just traditional playfulness prevails, the décor and<br />

Rangoli<br />

made of<br />

spices for<br />

Diwali<br />

in 2016.<br />

[Photos<br />

provided by<br />

Swarnalee<br />

Dutta]<br />

food are a must in all. As a child, wearing new clothes<br />

and savoring the delightful food unique to each festival<br />

was the ultimate fun, more so because studies were a<br />

forgotten affair during festivals.<br />

An agriculture-based country, most of India’s festivals<br />

are season-oriented and surround the annual activities<br />

of farming. Nature heralds every festival with<br />

unique blossoms and a signature climate. We can just<br />

feel the approach of a festival in the air without having<br />

to look at the calendar. Staying away from home in a<br />

far-off land, our biological system is so in tune with the<br />

festivals that even if we do not find those welcoming<br />

bouquets of nature here, our body and mind automatically<br />

trigger the festive button sensing the vibes coming<br />

from our native land.<br />

So cherished are my childhood memories of festivals<br />

that I want my child to have the same. But alas! I am<br />

in a foreign land. It is not always possible to join some<br />

of the Indian festivals celebrated by fellow expats here<br />

due to constraints of time and distance. Back home,<br />

the environment and people around make it easy for<br />

the child to grasp the vibes and essence of celebration.<br />

Here, me and my husband are on our own. So, on one<br />

hand, we try to weave the origin, cause and concern,<br />

social and psychological significance of each festival<br />

into stories, narrating them for my toddler’s knowledge;<br />

while on the other hand, we give our best to celebrate<br />

and recreate the aura of a few festivals for him<br />

to enjoy. Doing everything together and the tiny tales<br />

that are created during those moments are actually the<br />

joys we look forward to. The arrangement and preparation<br />

of customary decorations as a family, wearing traditional<br />

dresses, and food are our way of celebration.<br />

Having said that, let me begin with the easiest one first.<br />

Food<br />

Every occasion has unique traditional dishes, and we<br />

are fortunate to have an Indian grocery store at hand<br />

with all the essential supplies. And thanks to globalization<br />

and online markets, ingredients are available<br />

worldwide to prepare the spicy Indian platter. Given<br />

the hectic routine that we have between our respective<br />

jobs, we prefer to make the easy-to-cook snacks like<br />

Laddos made of coconuts,<br />

chickpea flour, and sesame.<br />

Eco-friendly Ganesh idol from<br />

flour, turmeric, and kumkum.<br />

Sweets made from chickpea<br />

flour.<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 49


“BEING” IN JEONBUKS<br />

the laddoos (ball-shaped sweets) of coconut, chickpea<br />

flour, and sesame or kheer (porridge) made of rice,<br />

semolina, etc. Of course, there are some hiccups, like<br />

for the unique Ugadi pachadi (a special New Year recipe<br />

of my husband’s place), which blends the six tastes<br />

– sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and spicy – signifying<br />

life as an amalgamation of happiness, grief, anger,<br />

disgust, fear, and surprise. While jaggery, salt, pepper<br />

powder, and tamarind are available, we do not get raw<br />

mango and neem flowers for the pungent and bitter<br />

tastes here. We substituted these two with dried Indian<br />

gooseberry and fenugreek seeds. We also realized that<br />

sticky Korean rice can substitute for borasaul (a rice<br />

variety of Assam) to prepare pitha (a traditional snack).<br />

So, overall, we can manage the food part of the festivals<br />

and let the budding taste buds of our toddler relish<br />

some of the native delicacies.<br />

50<br />

Dress and Decor<br />

New (traditional) dresses are the foremost source of<br />

joy for children, and mostly these are gifts from parents<br />

and relatives. Although the online market is gearing<br />

up with Indian brands to cater to the needs of fellow<br />

citizens abroad, our dear ones back home kept it the<br />

original way by sending us the dresses as gifts. Required<br />

accessories are also available online. Or we can<br />

make them with the sparkles and glitters available in<br />

any stationery or gift store here, like for the occasion of<br />

Janmashtami (birthday of Lord Krishna), when small<br />

children are dressed up as little Krishna with a crown of<br />

peacock feather and flute in hand, eating maakhan (butter).<br />

For two consecutive years now, I have made the<br />

crown, and this year I even made a dummy flute. Some<br />

day, I hope my toddler feels happy to see his photos in<br />

that attire munching the butter cubes from Costco.<br />

The joy of decorating the house together has a different<br />

charm, be it the alpona (rice-flour floor art) of<br />

Lakshmi puja or rangoli (floor décor with colored powder<br />

and lights) during Diwali. Since we do not get the<br />

colors here, I developed my own rapid rangoli from the<br />

kitchen with colorful lentils last year and spices this<br />

year. Making an eco-friendly idol of the Elephant-God<br />

for Ganesh Chaturthi also challenged my creativity.<br />

Last year, I made a Ganesh idol of ground dates and<br />

nuts, while this year I used flour dough with turmeric<br />

and kumkum (a kind of vermillion) for colours. It was<br />

fun to include my toddler this year in these activities<br />

and the joyous outcome will be cherished forever.<br />

Dressed as<br />

“Little Krishna” in<br />

2015/2016.<br />

Celebrating Holi in Jeonju with<br />

the Indian and foreign community.<br />

[Photos by Jyotiranjan<br />

Bal]<br />

The Rituals and Essence<br />

Having been brought up in a home where rituals during<br />

festivals meant doing things which make us feel<br />

closer to the omnipresent divine strength and finding<br />

inner peace, I have always had my own way of celebrating<br />

each festival apart from the prayers and hymns.<br />

Engaging in decorations had always made me feel<br />

happy, and now, preparing the food also brings a sense<br />

of joy. Then, there are innumerable traditional festive<br />

songs which depict the story behind these festivals. My<br />

almost 2-year-old is grasping and learning these very<br />

fast. I am sure God will not be able to ignore the little<br />

one singing in broken words, repeating it over and over<br />

again in a loop.<br />

While festivals celebrated as community cannot be<br />

duplicated here, we were fortunate to celebrate Holi<br />

(the festival of colors) with fellow-expats in Jeonju. We<br />

could feel the true essence of festival that day when people<br />

irrespective of nationality came together and painted<br />

a picture of happiness and friendship. We enjoyed<br />

playing with home-made colors made of flour, turmeric,<br />

and powders of strawberry and blueberry (courtesy of a<br />

Korean friend in the tteok business) while relishing the<br />

Indian snacks and traditional drinks. Co-hosted by the<br />

local volunteer group “Neighborly Neighborly”<br />

and supported by the Jeollabuk-do Center for International<br />

Affairs, we were glad to be a part of such a<br />

heart-warming celebration.<br />

Blessed are we to be able to celebrate our festivals<br />

here in our own way. The true spirit of any festival is<br />

to celebrate life, and we are fortunate to be in Jeollabuk-do,<br />

the hub of so many native festivals. Walking<br />

on a tight rope balancing the awes and woes of life,<br />

festivals remind us of the beauty and joy we deserve.<br />

Signing off with this quote:<br />

“What life expects of us is<br />

that we celebrate.”<br />

-José Eduardo Agualusa<br />

Mother<br />

and son<br />

in holiday<br />

clothing.<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 51


FICTION<br />

Have you ever had those moments where you<br />

think “I could do that.” And then you picture<br />

yourself doing something outrageous and<br />

impulsive, like kissing a stranger or jumping in a fountain.<br />

But then you don’t do that thing because you are<br />

an adult and you have common sense. I have these kinds<br />

of thoughts often, at least once a day, though I’ve never<br />

actually counted. I don’t know if this is more or less than<br />

the average sane person because I don’t tend to talk about<br />

what goes on in my head with many people. Frankly, I<br />

am pretty certain that I’m about 20% more crazy than the<br />

average female already, no need to add to that number.<br />

Though, if you ask my ex, that number should be way<br />

higher... but that’s a story for another day.<br />

Anyway, so there I was, standing in the middle of the<br />

airport, clutching my little carry-on suitcase, wondering<br />

what the hell I was going to do. Logically, I knew I could<br />

simply find a hotel and enjoy California by myself. I had<br />

plenty of money saved up, and at 23 it’s not like I needed<br />

a chaperone. But that’s when I had the idea. That awful,<br />

reckless idea. I imagined myself going to the ticket counter<br />

and buying a ticket to some random place. I had the<br />

money, and my passport, and I had never traveled much<br />

outside my home state of Minnesota.<br />

And then I did it. I did the crazy impulsive thing. One<br />

tram ride and several minutes of speed walking later (big<br />

airport) I was staring at the ticket counter, watching the<br />

departure flights and trying to pick somewhere to go.<br />

I still don’t know how I chose Seoul. I just saw it and<br />

decided that was the place I wanted to go. Luckily, San<br />

Francisco is a major hub for flights going to South Korea,<br />

so I was able to buy a same-day ticket. When I got off<br />

the plane in Seoul, I had this crazy urge that my journey<br />

wasn’t over yet. So I purchased a bus ticket to another<br />

random destination, a town called Jeonju somewhere in<br />

the country. And so here I am, sitting here in this bus in<br />

the middle of a country I have only heard about briefly on<br />

the news. And just now I am starting to wonder if I am<br />

maybe a little bit more than 20 % crazy.<br />

*****<br />

There is still four minutes left until our departure time.<br />

The bus is starting to fill up and I am fascinated with how<br />

52<br />

By<br />

Betsey<br />

Norman<br />

many Asian people occupy the seats. It hits me that I really<br />

am in another country. The airport was just another<br />

airport, and the bus I boarded was nothing abnormal. But<br />

watching all of the well-dressed Korean people settle into<br />

the seats around me gets me. In America these is almost<br />

always some diversity. Especially if you live in the city<br />

like me, it’s very hard to be somewhere, like a bus, where<br />

there is only one ethnicity present. And then here I am,<br />

one lone yellow-haired Northerner amongst a sea of raven-haired<br />

beauties. It’s a weird feeling; I’m not used to<br />

standing out.<br />

I cringe as that reminds me of the debacle that was Immigration;.<br />

Apparently, it is not looked upon kindly if<br />

your answer to “purpose of visit” is “I don’t know.” Add<br />

to that the fact that I looked like I had just walked through<br />

a tornado, and you get one very silent Immigration officer<br />

checking my passport and documents eight different times<br />

before letting me through. Luckily I didn’t need a visa, or<br />

this little adventure would have been over before it started.<br />

I glance up as I notice an old man putting his bag in the<br />

overhead above our seat. He’s got that wise old grandpa<br />

look about him, and I muse that the look translates pretty<br />

easily through different cultures. He unbuttons his suit<br />

jacket to sit down and I brace myself for the wink.<br />

I have a face old men like to wink at. No, stop laughing,<br />

it’s true. Something about my youthful innocence and<br />

goldilocks-esque curls get the old men winking, not in a<br />

sexual way, in a “you could be my granddaughter” way.<br />

My sister told me once that it’s because I always look lost,<br />

like I need one of those wise old wizards from every fantasy<br />

movie ever to guide me.<br />

This time, however, my seat partner doesn’t wink. I<br />

don’t know why I am disappointed, but I am.<br />

“Anyeonghaseyo,” he says with a smile. I feel my heart<br />

speed up and I rack my brain for anything I could have<br />

learned about the Korean language. Nothing. Nada. I hope<br />

what he says means “hello” because I say it back to him.<br />

Thankfully I am rewarded with a small bow and a bigger<br />

smile; it is definitely some kind of greeting.<br />

“Great.” I tell myself. “Just great Cassa. You are in a<br />

foreign country and you’ve managed to figure out how to<br />

say “hello.” That’s going to be so helpful when this bus<br />

stops who-knows-where and you can’t even ask the bathroom.”<br />

Korean grandpa is oblivious to my self-scolding,<br />

and he holds out his hand.<br />

“My name is James,” he volunteers in English. My relief<br />

at hearing my native tongue must show, because he<br />

chuckles a little before I can collect myself enough to<br />

shake his hand.<br />

“I’m Cassa.”<br />

“Short for Cassandra?”<br />

“No, just Cassa.”<br />

When he raises his eyebrow I laugh.<br />

“I know, my parents are weird. My sister is Angie, not<br />

short for anything, just Angie.”<br />

James gives a small laugh, and that’s all the encouragement<br />

I need to ramble on.<br />

“My theory is they wanted to give us something to<br />

talk about with new people. A unique name is a great ice<br />

breaker,” I say before realizing maybe grandpa James<br />

hadn’t signed up to be seated next to chatty Cathy when<br />

he introduced himself. Before I can catch myself going<br />

on about my parents and my sister, I smile politely at him<br />

turn to look at the back of the seat in front of me.<br />

And there’s the panic again, I turn my attention back to<br />

the clock. Two minutes now.<br />

“What brings you to Korea?” It takes me a moment to<br />

realize the question was directed at me.<br />

“Huh?” I turn to face James again. The amusement is<br />

out in full force now, and he finds me hilarious.<br />

“Correct me if I am wrong, but you don’t seem like<br />

an expat. What brings you to Korea?” He asks again as<br />

illustration by<br />

Sarah Hodgkiss<br />

the driver starts the engine and we pull away onto the<br />

highway.<br />

There it is. The million-dollar question. Why am I here?<br />

Why couldn’t I just have stayed in San Fran? Or gone<br />

somewhere where I know the language? Even my high<br />

school Spanish would have been better than nothing. But<br />

I chose South Korea. The only thing I know about South<br />

Korea is that it’s not North Korea, and there was that song<br />

that was popular on YouTube a few years ago. “Kangnam<br />

style” or was it “Gangnam style”? I don’t remember, I remember<br />

the dance though, it was pretty catchy. But other<br />

than that I know nothing. Until today I have had no desire<br />

to visit South Korea. In fact, if I am being honest, I have<br />

had little desire to visit anywhere really.<br />

I am not the sort to go on adventures. I don’t thrive on<br />

adrenaline and I don’t have an ounce of wanderlust in my<br />

blood. Or so I thought. I like stability. I am an accountant<br />

for goodness sake! Can’t get more boring and stable<br />

than that. I don’t like to do anything out of the ordinary.<br />

I don’t even like to change my order at McDonald’s if<br />

I can help it. So how on Earth did I find myself here?<br />

Halfway across the world with no idea where to go next.<br />

I realize that I had been so lost in my thoughts that I<br />

never answered James’s question. I turn to my seat partner,<br />

whose thin face shows the deep laugh lines and<br />

weathered skin of a man who has lived quite a bit of life.<br />

I wish then that he really was some kind of wise old wizard<br />

sent to guide me. At the very least he seems the sort<br />

of man who would appreciate an honest answer, so I answer<br />

the best I can as the bus speeds away towards our<br />

destination.<br />

“I really don’t know.”<br />

Jeonbuk <strong>Life</strong> 53

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