The week before spring break, Jenna, Vivian, and I discussed about the March 1st Movement, also known as the Samil Movement (sam literally means three and il means one). We watched a couple of videos on YouTube and talked about them afterwards. Growing up, I was exposed to only some of the aspects of Korean culture such as the food, main holidays with family, and some folklore. The history aspect didn’t interest me much until recently. I knew the main parts of Korea’s history, but I wasn’t aware of this movement. I learned that it was a protest for independence from Japan and that more than a tenth of the population took part in it. Ryu Gwansun was one of the organizers who was arrested and tortured and ended up dying from her injuries. The fact that she was younger than me yet brave enough to stand up for her country was amazing. It was surprising to learn that many of the leaders were religious leaders. The video also showed the prison cells and how some of the torture techniques were used on some of the protesters. The videos and discussion afterwards helped me to understand how far Korea has come to become this country. It was an insightful lesson that I’m could reflect upon.
During spring break, I went on a trip to D.C. with the first-year Bonner Scholars. Even though the students couldn’t speak Korean, some of us thought that we could watch the Oscar-winning film, Parasite. The subtitles were on, but I tried to ignore them so that I could really listen to what the characters were saying. Everyone enjoyed the movie and we talked about how great the symbolism was because every country could relate to it. I surprised when some of my friends asked me about the setting in Korea. They wondered if Korea “really looked like that” and I replied that the two houses featured were on the extreme sides since most Koreans live in apartment complexes in the city.
While in D.C., we used subways (along with walking of course) as our way of transportation. During those times we got bored, so Ellie and I decided to teach a Korean game called Bunny Bunny. In the version that I normally play, the word for carrot (당근) comes up. When I said that we could use “carrot” instead, they insisted that we teach them the word. They picked up on the game quickly and we played during our free times. During the long walks, I taught my friends a couple more words and phrases. Some examples are 하지마 (stop it), 인정 (I admit/recognize/agree), and 아줌마 (refers to “aunt” or a middle aged woman).Many of them enjoyed the crash course and it was fun to use bits of Korean to communicate with them. I told them that their Konglish skills were definitely improving. I only spent a short amount of time giving them vocabulary words, so I was impressed that they were able to recognize the them even after a couple of days.
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