Where in the World is Laraine Altun?

Gifts from My Students

2010-04-21T00:50:00.003+08:00

I have received so many gifts from my wonderful students---three today alone! I have learned not to compliment my female students on a piece of jewelry; when I did so last week, one young woman took off her necklace and insisted on giving it to me! I received a pair of earrings today from a professor who had been wearing a similar pair the first day I met her. She had had a friend search all over Baghdad for a similar pair. I also received a cell-phone charm from a student and a bead-necklace from the Iraqi rug salesman who has a shop near the dining hall. You have to watch out for those rug salesman!

Really, the generosity and appreciation we receive every day make any inconvenience---even risk---we experience completely worth it.

My Students are a Teacher's Dream

2010-04-08T22:27:00.004+08:00

I cannot say enough good things about my Iraqi students. They definitely make this trip worthwhile. Of course, since the students come to class each day at the cost of great risk and personal sacrifice, I get the most dedicated and enthusiastic of all who were invited to come.

I am teaching the undergraduate students of 10 Iraqi English professors from the University of Baghdad. Most of my students are preparing to teach in Iraqi secondary schools; some hope to find work as interpreters. They are so appreciative of us for coming here, and so anxious to learn. They are so excited to have the chance to speak to native-English-speakers for the first time.

I received this e-mail from one of the professors today: "thanks for you very much lady i prsonally do thank you for ur efforts and for ur courage as well as i do thank the great sacrifices done by your army in liberating us from a tyrant dear lady i am happy to work with u hope we can exchange more ideas about our classes."

I'm glad to hear that SOMEONE was happy that our army came to Iraq! This letter is typical of the attitude of the Iraqis I have met so far. It is such a pleasure to work with them!

My Tribe

2010-04-07T01:42:00.006+08:00

Everyone who knows me knows what a people-person I am. Ever since I began living outside the U.S. in 2005, I have talked about how isolated we are as Americans---all of us living in our individual bubbles, driving around in our individual cars. You don't see people walking on the streets, taking the bus (at least I don't), chatting in tea houses. If you go into Starbucks, everyone is staring at his or her own computer screen or talking on the phone!

Well, I've hit the jackpot here. The other eight teachers and I who are working on the English program together live in large rooms, with individual bathrooms, on the second floor of one of the old hotels here in the compound.

I don't even come close to most of the other teachers in the number and variety of places I've taught. Kathy, a woman about my age, just finished a contract in December in Kabul, Afghanistan. She said she was able to travel fairly freely throughout the city, although she did dress according to local custom (scarf and long coat, not a burqa) and knew which areas to avoid. Another teacher, Ann, lives in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where she and her husband teach at the university. Kent has taught throughout Central and South America, including five visits to Cuba, and John just spent two years in the Republic of Georgia followed by a year in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Among the nine of us, one is married to an Egyptian Jew, one to a Yemeni man and another to a man from Cape Verde, and a fourth to a woman from the Phillipines, while I, of course, am married to a Turk. I have found my people, you could say: men and women who don't think my life is weird or that I'm crazy. How wonderful!

Lotus Blossoms and Scholar Flowers

2008-07-23T21:54:00.004+08:00

I'm not a very good blogger, not like my daughter Kristina who posts several times a week(Pulsipher Predilections.) I'm not nearly as entertaining as she is, either, but I have fun putting up pictures about my travels. I had a great weekend going to Ulsan, on the southeast coast of Korea, courtesy of the U.S. Embassy. They sponsored me to give two workshops for high school English teachers. I really enjoyed meeting the teachers, and they were very interested and involved. The director was very kind and welcoming, as hospitable as my friends in Turkey, which is saying quite a bit. She took me out to lunch, giving me a choice of chicken or dog soup, both of which, she assured me, are very healthy and good to eat in the summer. She also made it clear that the dogs they use for soup are specially raised for that purpose, they're not people's pets. I chose chicken anyway. Their was a small whole chicken in the bowl, so I am sure it really WAS chicken.
I'm going to write more soon about my overnight stay at a Buddhist temple on Saturday night, but for now I'm putting up these pictures of flowers. The "scholar flowers" are called that because traditionally they could only be grown by government officials who had passed the civil service exam and, thus, were scholars. The lotus fields were in the middle of a city about 30 miles from Ulsan called Gyongju. Aren't they gorgeous?

Mom, I know I told you I wouldn't go to North Korea, but...

2008-07-09T06:14:00.007+08:00

Is it just a coincidence that only a few days after I visited the DMZ, North Korea agreed to stop producing nuclear weapons? I leave it to you to decide. Okay, so I only went 3 feet into North Korea, surrounded by U.S. and Republic of Korea (ROK) soldiers and two busloads of other tourists. Still, I can say I was there! I went on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) sponsored by the USO. When I hear USO I think of WWII or Bob Hope, but the organization is alive and well and continuing to serve soldiers overseas. There were two buses full of tourists from the U.S., U.K., Australia, and assorted nationals from other countries, including a beautiful young Serbian photographer I sat next to at lunch. We drove about 45 minutes north of Seoul to Panmunjom, where the armistice suspending the war between North and South Korea was signed in 1953. It is the most heavily-defended border in the world. The pictures are of the buildings that house the negotiating teams for each side when they meet; the table with the ROK soldier standing at its head is where the main talks take place. I am pictured standing next to another ROK soldier, who is in a taekwondo semi-alert stance, on the North Korean side of the building. The other pictures are of the buildings---the blue are owned by U.N. forces, the gray by North Korea. The guard tower is also North Korean. The guy looking through the binoculars at us is a North Korean guard. He alternated between staring at us and ducking behind the pillar, out of sight. The other two NK soldiers would stroll to the limits of their boundary and then stroll back. The tourists would get excited and start taking pictures. It reminded me of bear sightings at Yellowstone. The town is in NK and boasts the biggest flag in the world; it weighs 600 pounds and requires 50 men to bring it down. The soldier who gave us our "briefing" said that Soldier of Fortune magazine has offered a million dollars to anyone who can bring back a 3 foot square piece of that flag. The bridge is called "The Bridge of No Return," used by soldiers in 1953 to return to either the north or the south.

A day in Seoul

2008-07-06T19:32:00.003+08:00

A few weeks ago I spent the day with my friend Jackie as tour guide. We went to the Korean National Museum, where the pagoda is located, on a cruise on the Han River, which divides Seoul between north and south, and to the 63 building, so named for its 63 stories, the tallest in Korea. The building with the green dome is the Korean Legislature, whose session has been delayed by all of the protestors who gather nightly to demonstrate against importing American beef.

Seoul has many beautiful parks. We got off the cruise at Youido Park. It used to be the site of a water treatment facility, but it's been turned into a lovely park, with a footbridge built over the street. We could also see the park that runs all alongside the Han River. Jackie pointed out to me another park across the river, where there used to be two landfills. We Americans could learn a lot from Korea, whose citizens are VERY environmentally conscious. In fact, the biggest surprise the Korean teachers who visited ASU had was the way Americans throw garbage away together, without sorting it. Koreans have different trash bins for everything, which is then carefully recycled.

Hwasong Fortress and its Princess

2008-07-06T17:50:00.007+08:00

I was invited by Brian, a salesman in the office where I work, and his wife Kirsten, an English teacher, to visit them in Suwon, a suburb of Seoul about an hour away by subway. May I just add here how terrific the public transportation system is here? There are six different lines that cover the whole city and its environs, and a ride costs between 1000 won (about $1) and 1500 won--only $1.50 to travel an hour to Suwon.

We visited Hwasong Fortress, built in the 1780's with its great wall, almost 16 kilometers around, complete with watchtowers. Visitors are allowed to ring the great bell at a cost of 1000 won. The first time you toll the bell it is to honor your parents, the second time, to bring prosperity and health to your family, and the third time is to make your personal wishes come true. It was easy to keep my mom and dad and the rest of my family in mind as I swung the huge mallet to hit the bell. The sound was awesome! It's deep gong sound reverberated for at least 2 minutes.

We also visited the palace, which King Jongjo built "as an act of filial devotion", according to the guidebook, to honor the memory of his father and for his mother's 60th birthday. There are 3 important milestones in a Korean person's life: reaching 100 days, their first birthday, and their 60th birthday. Hundreds of years ago, achieving these ages was not taken for granted and was cause for celebration.

Selin, 19 months old, was the little princess of the palace. She insisted on getting out of her stroller and walking almost everywhere we went; of course she promptly fell into a deep sleep as soon as we got back to the car.

Ten-year old Yemeni girl gets a divorce

2008-07-02T20:41:00.001+08:00

This has nothing to do with Korea, except that I read the story in the local Korea Times newspaper. Check out this link in the LA Times http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-childbride11-2008jun11,0,5271790.story.
This little girl is amazing. "All I want now is to finish my education," she adds, her mouth curling into a smile. "I want to be a lawyer.

Some things I'm NEVER going to eat

2008-07-02T20:32:00.003+08:00

Here are two of them. Yep, those are shells, like you find on the beach. Are they crunchy? I don't want to find out. The brown things are the cocoons that silkworms shed. I have it on good authority (from the women I work with) that the worms were removed before they were cooked. When I asked them if they had ever eaten them, Minjoo said she did when she was a child, but not any more.

Another thing I don't plan on eating, which I've heard is popular here, is live seafood---it's moves in your mouth. When I mentioned this to someone, he said, Don't you like sushi? The answer is no, I don't, even when it doesn't move.

Food, Glorious Food

2008-06-29T21:10:00.006+08:00

I really like Korean food--at least most of it. The pictures with this post are of two meals I had. As you can see, Korean meals come with several small dishes, at least three or four. Kimchi made of cabbage, soaked for days in a vinegar brine with garlic, salt, and plenty of red pepper, is a must at every meal. I never knew before I came to Korea that there are many kinds of kimchi, using different vegetables such as cucumbers, radishes, and onions, and other green things I don't know the name for, all pickled the same way. Sometimes the side dishes are some kind of salad with lettuce or bean sprouts, and usually white radish that's been pickled in a yellow sweet-sour mixture. Of course, rice is a must with every meal, unless your dish comes with noodles---and sometimes even then.

The small black casserole contains a soup/stew that is served boiling hot, and continues to bubble for a few minutes after it's placed in front of you. The meat is put into the casserole, as well as anything else you want to add. By the way, Koreans are the only people in Asia who eat with metal chopsticks and also use a spoon.

The other pictures are of bulgogi cooking. There is a burner in the middle of each table for you to cook your meat on. When it's done cooking, you wrap the meat, rice, vegetables, etc. in lettuce---kind of a Korean burrito. Also in the picture is my friend Jackie, who was my student at ASU last February, and who has been a wonderful tour guide and companion.

Hahoe Village and Masks

2008-06-24T21:11:00.005+08:00

Also over the weekend I visited Hahoe village, a living museum of houses built 300-500 years ago, still occupied or turned into restaurants and shops. The tree pictured is more than 600 years old, and is the site of an annual ritual every January 15th to bring good fortune to the village in the new year. The houses with tile roofs were owned by the nobility, and peasants lived in the straw-covered houses. Hahoe is also famous as the home of the mask dance, which dates from the 12th century. There is a very nice museum, and every October there is an international mask dance festival, where men and women from many countries share their dances. http://www.lifeinkorea.com/travel2/nkyongsang/69/ I bought two masks to bring home with me.
Andong region is a major agricultural center; it seemed that every square meter of land is planted with crops, especially rice. Being from the dry western U.S., I had never seen rice paddys before. The large lotus pond was beautiful.

Can you hear the world revolving?

2008-06-24T20:32:00.005+08:00

Over the weekend I went to Andong, my first venture outside of Seoul. It's about 150 miles south of Seoul, three hours by bus. The buses here in Korea are fabulous! Very comfortable, large seats---only three across--clean, and they even give you water and a small bag of cookies---all for only $15.40 each way.

In our very mobile society (and I am one of its most mobile members), few of us remember where our grandparents lived, and almost none of us know where our great-grandparents are from. So it was a uniquely Korean experience for me to spend the weekend with a man who left his career behind to dedicate himself to preserving his family's home and history.

I stayed at the Jirye Artist's Colony, a guest of Mr. and Mrs. Kim. Mr. Kim was a professor of Korean literature at Andong National University and a published poet when, in 1988, the Korean government built a dam that submerged the land where his native village sat. Kim is the oldest son of the oldest son, going back 13 generations, who were the nobility and leaders of this village. He left his position at the university and moved ten buildings of his family's home up on the ridge, where it overlooks the lake created by the dam. Inspired by a Korean novelist friend, who taught in the U.S., Kim decided to create a place where artists could come and work and refresh themselves, similar to places in the U.S. where hs friend had stayed. The pictures document the beautiful setting that is the realization of his dream.

Korean traditional houses were made up of many small rooms organized around a courtyard. The pictures show the room where I stayed, another nearby building that used to be the family shrine, and a large building erected in 1800 as a Confucian school for family and village members. The oldest building out of the ten goes back to 1650, almost to the time of the Pilgrims. Mind boggling! The houses are a five-mile drive on windy roads from the nearest small town, where the closest neighbors live. It was so peaceful and quiet---except for the birds and the frogs, which I could hear throughout the night. No wonder Kim asked if I could hear the world revolving!

Korean War Memorial

2008-06-20T21:15:00.005+08:00

Since my children's Grandpa Charlie served in the Korean War, I made sure to visit the War Memorial here in Seoul. I wished that Matt and Aiden and Cameron were there with me; they would have loved the planes and tanks.

The memorial is very large and very impressive both on the outside and inside. In addition to remembering the Koreans who fought and died in the war, each of the nations who sent troops is honored as well. Not only is each nation recognized, but the names of the people who lost their lives from 15 countries are engraved on the walls. The flower arrangement is placed in the hall with the names of Korean soldiers. As the website says, "This is a place we learned lessons from war and to make a practical determination that we will never experience the tragedy of war again. "

The highlight of my visit to the memorial was my conversation with the man in the picture. He began chatting with me as I walked past the tanks and planes and took pictures. He was a veteran of the war himself; he told me he had loaded ammunition into the anti-aircraft guns. He not only spoke English well, but he told me he had learned Japanese as a school boy, during the time Japan had occupied Korea. Then when the Japanese left at the end of WW II, this man (I never learned his name) was living in Pyongyang, so as a middle school student he learned to speak Russian. He said sometimes all of these languages got mixed up in his head into one mess! He asked me if anyone in my family had served in the war, and I told him about Grandpa Charlie. This man repeated to me several times, "Please thank him for me and for our country. We had no food, no clothes, no money, and the Americans fed and clothed us and fought for us. Please tell him thank you."

There were many groups of school children there; I took a picture of this adorable group.

Jogyesa Temple

2008-06-18T20:48:00.002+08:00

On Saturday, June 7th, David and I met my friend, Jackie, for a brief tour of Seoul before David returned to Portland, Oregon. I had met Jackie when she was in my class at Arizona State University in February as part of a group of 39 teachers sponsored by Korean National University of Education. I e-mailed her before I arrived in Korea, and she has come to act as a guide both on the 7th and 14th. We were very lucky to have her help, as she knew just where to take us and how to get there.

The first two things we did on the 7th were to take a walk by this beautiful urban river that runs through the middle of Seoul. I thought it was a wonderful addition to the landscape and a peaceful place to sit near or walk by. Apparently it has been a source of controversy, however, because Seoul's mayor, Lee Myung-bak, tore down a highway to build the river walkway. This was only the first of his troubles; he is now President Lee and the target of the protesters who gather by the tens of thousands in the middle of the city every night.

Jogyesa Temple is the only Buddhist temple in the old part of Seoul. It was built in 1910, so it is relatively new. According to one website, the temple is dedicated to Huineng, who lived between 683-713. "Born poor and illiterate, Master Huineng attained enlightenment on hearing the Diamond Sutra being chanted while he was selling wood. Eventually he was recognized by the Fifth Patriarch and became his successor. His teachings are simple. One of the most beautiful sayings ascribed to him is a true example of Buddhism. 'In all conditions we should be humble and polite.'＂

That sounds like good advice to me.

Small is the New Big

2008-06-18T20:35:00.003+08:00

It will not come as a surprise to anyone to hear that things in Korea are small, especially when compared with the U.S. People are small, although in height many people younger than 30 are as tall as Americans, but the great majority are smaller-boned and thin. Drinks are small; no Big Gulps here. The regular-size coffee at Starbucks is 8 ounces; a large is 12 ounces, and vending machines sell tall, thin 8 ounce-size drinks.

Given the small sizes, please tell me why toilet paper is sold only in large packages?!!! I stopped at the local market a few days ago to pick up some juice, cheese, and a few other things, including toilet paper. Imagine my surprise to find that the smallest package was 10 rolls; the next size up was 24 rolls. Could it be because they also use it as napkins? All of the napkins I've found in restaurants are about the size and weight of 2 squares of toilet paper.

Another incomprehensible cultural difference!

What's the beef?

2008-06-15T20:17:00.002+08:00

I'm sure you've all heard about the huge protests against American beef here in Korea. We saw some of the protesters on Saturday morning, July 7th, where they had camped out overnight. It was difficult to understand what the big deal was, since there were only 3 cases total of mad cow disease in the U.S., and that was back in 2004. However, Koreans I've talked to as well as newspaper coverage says that the issue is really unhappiness with their new president, Lee Myung-bak, whose popularity ratings here are lower than George Bush's in the U.S. The former CEO of Hyundai Construction, he is perceived as being dictatorial and caving in to U.S. pressure, among other problems. The rallies seem to have taken on a life of their own, with people continuing to get together to protest even though Lee's ministers have all resigned and the trade deal is being renegotiated.

One thing I've been impressed with here is how active people seem to be about issues they care about. The anti-U.S.-beef protest is only one of the public displays of opinion about many different topics, including religion. About 25% of Koreans are Christian, and they are very active in proselyting. One morning there were a few people with signs and a loudspeaker handing out literature in front of the subway station. Later that same day a young woman who spoke perfect English approached me in the mall and wanted to give me a copy of Awake magazine. I've yet to meet any Mormon missionaries, however. Yesterday there was a full band from some Christian denomination performing for passersby in front of one of the large shopping centers. The society is very dynamic in comparison with the U.S.

Scenes of Nature

2008-06-15T19:52:00.006+08:00

The village also contains fields planted with crops, a lotus pond, and a small river where people could take a boat ride. These areas provided peaceful oases to the more crowded and noisy locations where the shows were held. Don't you love this totem, with his big teeth and little hat? What kind of spirits would be scared of him?

More from the Korean Folk Village

2008-06-15T19:27:00.009+08:00

David is in these pictures from the folk village. Doesn't he look sweet, peering out of the window? We watched a horse riding exhibition and a dramatized nobleman's wedding.

Korean Folk Village

2008-06-15T19:06:00.009+08:00

On June 6, the owner of the company I am working for, David Kertzner, and I went to the Korean Folk Village in Suwon, about an hour by bus from Seoul. The village has a variety of small buildings showing typical houses and other buildings that were common in different parts of the country. As the brochure says, " Enjoy ancestors' lifestyles and get away back to memories!"
The figures behind me in the first picture are a kind of totem meant to scare away bad spirits. The band, similar to a typical farmers' band that played at village holidays, was my favorite part of the day. The long white banners shown are attached to the crowns of their hats; they rotate their heads to make them move in time to the music.

Annyeong haseyo?

2008-06-15T18:48:00.005+08:00

Are you at peace? is the greeting here in beautiful Seoul, where I will be for the months of June and July 2008. This picture shows me next to the World Trade Center, the four-step building to my left, where I am teaching English in the office of an international company based in the U.S. I am very happy to be here, and very impressed with Seoul and the Korean people.

Greetings!

2008-06-08T18:16:00.000+08:00

Inspired by my daughter Kristina's blog and wanting a way to share my latest adventure in Seoul, Korea with family and friends, I've decided to start this blog. I won't promise to post every day, but this will give me motivation to record my experiences often AND answer the frequently-asked question: Where in the world is
Laraine Altun?