Blogs

For this cultural post, I would like to talk about a recent Korean drama that I really enjoyed called Itaewon Class. This Korean drama was originally a webtoon, which means that this story line was originally produced as a cartoon/manga. The drama was then produced by Showbox, and then aired throughout Korea from JTBC Entertainment. Once popularity sparked in Korea, the drama was then released and streamed through Netflix. I personally did not hear about this drama until my parents and brother told me that this was a very entertaining drama to watch. So, I gave it a try and I was immediately hooked on the drama.

            The drama follows Park Saeroyi, the son of a man who works for Director Jang. Director Jang is the man who owns one of the biggest food businesses in all South Korea. As Saeroyi attends high school, he gets into a fight with the son of Director Jang, Jang Geun Won, who abuses his father’s status to rule the school with an iron fist. Saeroyi, an honest, stubborn, and upstanding individual, could not stand the sight of a classmate getting bullied by Jang Geun Won, so he decides to stand up to him and fight him. This resulted in a situation where both parents got involved. Director Jang, who likes Saeroyi’s father, tells him that all will be forgiven if he bows and apologizes to his son. Being the stubborn person that he is, Saeroyi refuses and results in him getting suspended and his father losing his job. Rather than the father being angry at his son, he told him that he was proud of him for standing up to his beliefs. Though their circumstances were not the best, they both put on a bright smile and sought for a way to continue their lives, which was to open a restaurant.

            The summary I gave here only covers about one half of the first episode of the drama. Due to spoiler sake, I will not go any further. However, I can almost guarantee that anyone who watches the first episode of this drama will immediately get hooked, and then fall in love with the characters as the story progresses. I felt like what made this drama so attractive to people are that all the characters are admirable in their own way. The main character stands up for what he believes in and that sense of goodness you get from him makes you want to support him despite all the difficult circumstances he had to overcome. Also, the drama has a mix of romance, action, and comedy so it is continuously engaging, while not being draining or boring to watch. Looking at the reviews, this drama was positively received by most of its audience, and since Netflix has a subtitle option, I think this is a great drama for those who want to get into Korean culture can try out. I know that this drama was the buzz in the Korean community, so I think it will be worth the watch.

For this biweekly journal, I will talk about some of the things I have been working on towards my Korean learning experience, while under quarantine. Over the course of these past few weeks, I found that all I am doing is eating, sleeping, and studying. As a result, I am limited to the number of things I can do. Besides the routine of talking with my parents and teaching from Jimin, I wanted to explore a new way to expand my Korean learning experience. As a result, I decided to try something new, and that has been cooking. In the last biweekly journal, I mentioned that I would be challenging myself by studying and cooking traditional Korean cuisine and talk about my experience.

            Traditional Korean food consists of rice, soup, and many side dishes. If you have ever visited a Korean restaurant, it is common to be given many side dishes along with the main dish you order. Though I do not know when this cultural tradition started, it is evident that this is now an integral part of the culture. As a result, I grew up eating this way, and I even eat like this to this day. So, for my challenge, I wanted to replicate a traditional meal that Koreans would eat. In other words, I wanted to help my mom make food/ have her watch over me and give me pointers as I try to cook for my family.

            My mom is the person who primarily makes food for our family. She cooks very well and is very knowledgeable about how to make a variety of Korean dishes. So, I asked her to help me make a Korean staple dish called dwenjang jjigae. Dwenjang is a type of bean paste that has a very distinct flavor that is like miso in Japanese cuisine. This stew is one of the most common staples of Korean cuisine and is loved by most Koreans. This is a simple dish and a perfect and easy way to get started.

            In order to prepare, I looked online for different recipes and YouTube videos that showed how this stew was made. I also asked my mom to help me. The recipe consists of the bean paste, water, onion, tofu, and potatoes. From the different recipes I looked up, I realize that there is a different variation with a ton of different ingredients, but the ones I listed were the ingredients that all of them agreed on. Once I figured out the recipe and gathered all my ingredients, I was ready to cook. I chopped up the vegetables and tofu and measured out the bean paste that I was going to use. In a bowl, I brought the water to a boil and then diluted the bean paste into the water. I tasted it to make sure that I added enough bean paste. Once the flavor was adjusted to my taste, I added the tofu, potatoes, and onions and allowed the mixture to boil for a couple of minutes. Once the potatoes were cooked, I knew the stew was done and I served it with rice to my family. I was happy with the product. I enjoyed my experience cooking, so this will definitely be something that I will continue to practice and do in the future.

            We have officially been told not to return to campus for the rest of the semester. I am concerned since there is no way in the near future for me to come and get my stuff from my dorm. However, during this pandemic, I am not complaining, since I would rather be at home and be safe. It is quite scary to hear the number of deaths and the economic impact this virus is causing. However, in times like these, it is important to remain positive and ensure that you and your loved ones are self-isolating and only leave when you absolutely have to. If we think about the vulnerable people around us, such as the elderly, and how by staying inside can help them out, it makes quarantining not so bad.

            I bring this up because I have been told this nonstop by my parents, for these past weeks. Koreans, I have learned, are very health conscious. In Korea, people are advised to go to the hospital for virtually anything. As a result, in times of illness and such, Koreans are quick to administer treatment or refer you to treatment. Therefore, I have been keeping up to date with this whole coronavirus situation through my parents and my own research. My own research is primarily America focused, while their research is focused on what is happening in South Korea. I have learned that a pharmaceutical company in Korea has been able to create an efficient testing kit for the coronavirus and is being sought out by other countries. Coincidentally, I am taking a course on molecular virology, so it is extremely relevant during this time. So, I am able to relay the information I learn in class to my parents. However, I cannot explain in English terms, so I am forced to explain a difficult concept like virology to my parents in the Korean language. This required some prior research regarding the vocabulary I would use, but I found that I was able to successfully talk about the subject matter with my family and relay the information that I was taught in my class.

            In addition, regarding my Korean learning process, I am limited to the things I am able to do except for the normal routine that I do regularly, which consists of talking with my family, talking to Jimin, and watching Korean entertainment programs. However, I believe this is arguably the best form of practice since I am constantly speaking with two native Korean speakers, my parents, who are able to teach and correct my Korean. So, though I am unable to access materials I would normally be able to back at school, I gained another amazing resource. Looking forward, I want to challenge myself by applying a passion of mine and try to learn Korean/ Korean culture along with it. Though I learn a lot regarding Korean culture through my parents and entertainment programs, this is an opportunity I can take now that I am home. This challenge is regarding cooking Korean dishes at home. I always had a passion for cooking, so now that I am home, I am able to practice it. So, on my next biweekly journal, I will talk about how I did regarding this challenge.

These past few weeks have been so hectic. As the coronavirus continues to become more and more prevalent throughout the world, it seems as though my sanity is also leaving my body. The only bright side to this situation is that I am able to be home with my family during this time of quarantine and isolation. As a result, I have the opportunity to continuously be exposed to the Korean language. My parents speak only Korean within the household, so they are always willing to teach me and correct my Korean. They also correct my grammar and give me tips on my pronunciation, which has helped me immensely.

            In addition to being at home all day with my family, I started to watch programs that my parents normally watch. By programs, I am referring to Korean entertainment programs and dramas that I normally would never be exposed to. Of these include a show called Mr. Trot. The music genre of trot is very culturally significant for the Korean people. This genre was extremely popular for my grandparent’s generation and is beloved by almost all Korean people. I say almost because I do not see the appeal of the music genre. However, I understand the genre has a significant history and is the music that resonates with the heart of the Korean people. Therefore, this show is beloved by the Korean people and is doing very well with respect to its ratings. The premise of the show is essentially an elimination-style competition program, where people from various backgrounds come out and perform in front of famous Korean celebrities to see who will move onto the next round. The show starts with 100 contestants, but as each round progresses the contestants get eliminated. I could see how this show appealed to all demographics since there were a lot of young people come out and compete singing a genre that appeals to the older generation. I found that, though I do not particularly love Korean trot, thirty minutes to an hour would pass by instantly.

            In addition to this, I found that my ability to understand the Korean language has improved. Since my parents watch Korean programs without the subtitles, I am forced to solely rely on my listening ability to understand what is happening during the show. I believe I did better than I would have expected since I was able to understand what was occurring throughout the whole duration of watching the program. In addition, I found that visual support from the program made it easier to understand, for example when the actors would act out what they were going to do. So, if I do not fully understand what they are saying, I have a general idea of what they are doing. To confirm, I would ask my parents if what I deduced was correct, and they would either tell me that I am right or correct me. So, while I am here stuck at home during quarantine, I found that my Korean learning regiment has only become more intense.

For my last cultural post, I interviewed my language partner, Jenna, about dating culture and relationships in South Korea.  I covered several topics with her to confirm what I found in my research and to add some new information to the subject.  She says that overall, the country is still relatively conservative, so certain things are taboo that are more accepted in other cultures.  For example, the LGBTQ+ subculture is typically ignored by South Korean society.  Jenna thinks this is because people are ignorant about how sexual orientation and gender identity work.  There are many wrong assumptions due to a lack of education about this community.  For the most part, her comments correspond with my post about the LGBTQ+ community.

Traditional values continue to stand even for heterosexual couples when they get married. It is less a bond between two individuals and more of marrying between two families. The paternalistic nature of marriage has the wife join the husband’s family. According to Jenna, it is very common for the newlyweds to move in and live with the husband’s family. For this reason, the parents on both sides of the family are very involved in the relationship. Sometimes parents will set up their kids on blind dates with kids of families that they approve of. Although group blind dates were more popular in the 90s, they are still used today.  However, there is a trend of more people meeting through dating apps as they become more popular.  

The standard age for getting married is between the late 20s and early 30s. While it is discouraged for teens to date in high school, university students are encouraged to start looking for a partner. When people visit their families during the holidays, their relatives will often ask very personal questions about their lives. For example, if they are single and in their 30s or 40s, relatives will have a lot of inquiries and make, sometimes unwelcome, suggestions about how to improve their lives. This can be very stressful if you do not have a stable relationship, job, or financial position. This can persuade some people to not visit their families during the holidays. This begins to address my research about single parents that I wrote about in my last post. I brought up to Jenna how some single mothers have been banned from joining their family because they are seen as a failure. Therefore, they do not have a place to go during the holidays. She had a hard time believing that was true and suggested more of the above reasons why people would choose to stay away from their families. Korean families tend to be very involved in the lives of their younger relatives and will ask many personal questions regarding school job or relationship status.  

Lastly, I asked Jenna about dating outside of your own race. She responded that the older generations hold a stigma against marrying someone who is not Korean because they have not been exposed to different races and cultures. South Korea is one of the most homogeneous countries which would lead many people to be unfamiliar with other races. Anything that is unfamiliar will be judged. Even if you are just a foreigner visiting, you will get a lot of stares and be asked seemingly rude and intrusive questions. Even in the United States, some Korean parents prefer that their kids marry a Korean, but there are many families that are becoming more welcoming to mixed racial marriages. 

April 26 Biweekly journal:

            This past week, Jenna and I met up for our second last time this year with one last lesson plan. I brought her the summary I wrote for a YouTube video I watched the week before that, and she helped me correct some of the mistakes that I made. The video was about the coronavirus and how it has been affecting the economy internationally. There were only 3 mistakes which is the lowest number I have had. After looking over my summary, she gave me one more article on the weather in South Korea. The article talked about some general weather information across South Korea such as the temperature for the week, any precipitation, and coronavirus information (number of people infected and the number of people dead). The questions asked were pretty simple to answer such as “what is the max temperature for the week” and “how many new virus cases have there been in the last week.” I was able to answer the questions correctly but with a couple of mistakes in each answer sentence. I have definitely been getting better at writing and reading faster because I finished the whole article and questions in around 15 minutes and it usually takes me 20-30 minutes. After doing the article and summary, Jenna told me to finish my cultural presentation for next week and be prepared for the podcast recording.

            This week, Jenna and I looked over my cultural presentation on Korean food and she told me some things I could fix and any phrases that I misspelled on the presentation. Afterward, Jenna and I did the podcast interview on our semester. The interview was pretty easy, and it was helpful to acknowledge what I have learned and what I have left to learn for next semester. I definitely improved in many aspects of Korean writing and reading comprehension. I will continue to work on learning common Korean phrases in simple sentences, so I know how to spell them in the future. I think next semester I will continue to focus on Korean writing and reading. A cool thing I have observed over the past semester is that I have been able to communicate with my grandma and my mother in Korean text a lot better than last year. I am able to read and understand their texts in Korean much quicker and able to respond a lot effectively as well. This was one of my goals at the start of the semester and I am happy to say I have achieved it to a certain extent. Over the summer, I hope to continue to read Korean articles on Naver as well as watch some Korean shows and dramas with my parents and sister. It’ll definitely keep me engaged in Korean reading and writing for next semester, so I won’t forget anything over the course of the summer. I had a great time learning about Korean food for my cultural presentation and cannot wait to come back next semester to continue my Korean writing and reading improvement.

For my fourth cultural post, I decided to investigate the culture of the Hanbok in Korea. The Hanbok is one of the most popular and renown outfit in Korean culture. Hanboks are often wore for special occasions and holidays. Hanboks have been worn late in South Korea’s historical past. The Hanbok is made of three main parts: jeogori, baji, and chima. The jeogori is the jacket, the baji is the pants, and the chima is the dress/skirt that goes over the pants. Hanbok can be categorized based on gender, age, and season. The Hanbok is centered around Confucian styles, with delicate lines and angles. The Hanbok is also known for its many vivid colors. Traditional Hanboks base the theme of their colors with the five elements of life: White (metal), red (fire), blue (wood), black (water), yellow (earth). Furthermore, different colors mean different social status and position. For example, brighter colors on a Hanbok are usually worn by children and girls while muted colors and accents are worn by older people. Additionally, one’s social position can be identified by the quality of their Hanbok. Furthermore, patterns represent the wearer’s desires and wishes in life. Lotus flowers represent nobility and hope. Hanbok is one of Korea’s most popular cultural traditions and remains to be a significant part of Korean history. Hanbok designs and patterns continue to change and improve, as well as the quality and patterns. Hanboks used to be worn on an everyday basis in the past, but now is worn only on special occasions such as weddings and birthdays.

In my experience, I wore a Hanbok when I was really young. I don’t remember wearing one, but since I was born in Korea, I was given a traditional Korean birthday party. There are pictures of me wearing a Hanbok with bright colors. Hanboks are also very popular during Lunar New Year. A lot of Korea’s culture is based on respect towards the elders. A popular tradition in Korea is to bow and thank our parents and grandparents during New Years. This significant gesture is called “jul”. It is tradition for the younger children to bow in front of the elders to wish them a happy new year and wish them good health. In return, the elders give the children money and toys. I remember doing this when I was young, even up until elementary school. But since I have lived longer in the United States, many of our Korean traditions have disappeared, especially since our grandparents and extended family still live in Korea. Learning about Hanbok Korean culture has been fun to learn about. I knew what they were, but never really understood the tradition and meaning behind it. I think it is important to understand my Korean culture and understand the meaning behind one of the most popular traditions. Overall, I was really impressed with the different amounts of meaning a Hanbok and how important a type of clothing could mean to a culture like Korea. I am curious to see how it differs with other countries and if other countries have similar gowns that is traditional and cultural like the Hanbok.

Outside of my regular language learning, I spent this past week preparing for my second presentation for SDLC 105. The purpose of this short presentation was to teach something new to my classmates about my target language. I decided to focus on something that had been a goal of a mine for some time now. For some reason, I have never been able to remember my days of the week, which is probably partially due to the fact that I never received a formal lesson about it. I thought it would be interesting to create a lesson based on this because of how the words were originally derived from Chinese. I was able to find a few websites that also shared some historical information about the origin of these words.

Similar to English, all days of the week in Korean share the same suffix in each word– this would be -day in English. In Korean, -day translates to -yo-il -요일. To work on memorizing them, I decided to memorize the prefixes in a sequence, kind of like a mini chant to remember the proper order of the days. From Sunday to Saturday, the order of the sequence is il-wol-hwa-su-mok-geum-to, which in hangul looks like 일-월-화-수-목-금-토. So, Sunday is 일요일, Monday is 월요일, Tuesday is 화요일, Wednesday is 수요일, Thursday is 목요일, Friday is 금요일, and Saturday is 토요일. By repeating the sequence multiple times, I have been able to recall the order of the days of the week much easier. I also use Siri to tell me what day it is, so that I can get verbal reinforcement.

I also learned some of the history behind the days of the week. Like a lot of Korean words, it has been derived from Chinese characters, specifically the five Chinese elements of nature, as well as the moon and the sun. I also found out that Japanese days of the week are based on the same characters, so it sounds pretty similar to Korean. Starting with Sunday 일요일, 일 means sun or day; Monday 월요일, 월 means moon; Tuesday 화요일, 화 means fire; Wednesday 수요일, 수, means water; Thursday 목요일, 목 means wood or tree; Friday 금요일, 금 means gold; and Saturday 토요일, 토 means earth. Something to note is that these prefixes are usually not used by themselves in native Korean, they are simply derived from Sino-Korean, or Chinese Korean words.

In addition to learning days of the week, I decided to add the months of the year, which I already knew and are much easier to learn. If you know how to count from one to twelve in the sino counting system, then you are basically halfway there. Similar to the days of the week, all the months share a common suffix, -wol -월, which just translates to -month. Once you know that, all you have to do is add the corresponding number of the month as the prefix. So, January is 일월, February is 이월, March is 삼월, April is 사월, May is 오월, June is 유월, July is 칠월, August is 팔월, September is 구월, October is 시월, November is 십일월, and December is 십이월. I also found an infographic with this information, as well as important Korean holidays for each month, which I discuss in my lesson.

These last two weeks have been all about wrapping up the final lessons with my language partner and focusing on finishing up my last assignments as the end of the semester arrives. It’s sad to think about how I will be finishing up my last week of my undergraduate career this week and it feels so anti-climatic and abrupt. It feels weird to not officially be able to close the door on the past four years of my life. My language partner and I discussed how unexpected and sad it was to end our senior year this way. It was definitely not something we ever imagined would happen to us. We were both happy and hopeful that we were still getting somewhat of a closing with the possibility of a senior celebration in the future. We also discussed how online classes at home were hard especially when taking tests. I think that the environment in my house is more relaxing and causes me to become lazy especially when needing to study and learning new material. I have always relied on the environment of the library where there are other people around me to study. Surprisingly my teachers have not become more lenient because of online classes. I am having trouble at home studying for exams and learning the material. We also reflected together on how our two semesters of lessons went. Although I am improving in some areas, we discussed how there is still a lot of room for improvement and learning. Specifically the areas of reading and writing are where I can improve the most. I think some ways I can strengthen them is rewriting vocabulary over and over and reading vocabulary lists repeatedly. It might benefit me to make actual flashcards to review which is not something I have really been doing. My language partner suggested that I continue lessons through videos as wells since I am more of a visual learner. 

Although this course is ending soon, one of the benefits of self-directed learning is that I can still teach myself and I can continue to improve and schedule lessons alone especially with the amount of online resources available to me. I will definitely be continuing my education online. The online resources I have mentioned in my last two journals have been really helpful. I think speaking might be harder to improve without the help of a language partner but there is a solution for that as I can always record myself speaking words and listen and compare it to a recording of somebody speaking. Listening will be easy as I can continue watching Korean dramas. I am hoping that at some point I will be able to watch Korean dramas without English subtitles for the most part. I think even if I learn enough Korean, I will still not be able to understand their idioms or word play. The English subtitle translations of those do not give them justice. I think I will continue learning Korean for a while at least until I master it to some point that I am comfortable with. 

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Since my last journal post, I have been trying to supplement my language learning by implementing more Korean into my daily life. In general, I have been extremely busy with other assignments for other classes so I have been trying to integrate things more casually. It has been pretty easy to do so since I am at home now and can speak my language daily with my family. I tend to use Konglish with my mom since she is also pretty fluent in English, but with my grandma, I have to use more formal Korean.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I recently changed my Siri to speak in Korean. Even though I go outside much less than I used to, I still ask her the weather every morning. It has been raining on and off for the past couple of weeks, so this provided the opportunity to learn more new vocabulary of the weather. My mom has still been working so when I need to contact her during the day, I usually ask Siri to call her for me. This might just be me, but sometimes when I get bored, I randomly ask Siri questions because she has a variety of responses and it’s interesting to see what she has to say. I have been doing this more since I changed her to Korean and I have been able to practice speaking a variety of phrases as a result. She also uses some new terminology sometimes so after going back and forth for a bit, I look up any unknown words or phrases.

I was also cleaning a few weeks ago and came across some Korean workbooks from when I took Korean at my old university. The books we used were actually published by the school I went to and I personally really enjoy the lessons that they provide. The layout is simple but it allows me to learn a variety of new material. I have been doing a chapter per week and I decided to start from the beginning of the book to refresh my memory on some of the lessons that I had already completed. Each chapter begins with some sort of story or scenario using a set of vocabulary terms as well as new grammar. I usually begin by translating the story and then moving onto a new grammar lesson each day since there are multiple in one chapter. The textbook also comes with a workbook so I have been completing the corresponding exercises, although some of them are missing since I used to study from it.

Learning Korean has been a little difficult since I have not had access to my language partner, but this has just really emphasized the self-directed part of the program. I can usually get through the lessons by myself without looking anything up, but I also ask my mom any questions if any arise. Because I have always been an independent person, I almost prefer learning Korean this way but I also really enjoyed my time with Jimin. 

Due to COVID-19, I have been spending a lot of time at home eating and cooking, so I thought it would be appropriate to explore the history of kimchi 김치 for my last cultural post. Kimchi today is a staple in Korean cuisine and is made from salted and fermented vegetables, usually cabbage or radish. There are countless versions of it, but most will include chili powder or gochugaru 고춧가루, green onions, garlic, ginger and salted seafood. It is undoubtedly one of my favorite foods, although I guess it is really more of a side dish. When I am at school, I never get to have it, which is really different from when I am at home and I get to eat it everyday. I looked up a few articles highlighting the origin of kimchi and I was able to learn some new things!

The earliest dated record of kimchi goes back to the early period of the Three Kingdoms, which existed prior to the unification of the Korean peninsula. During this time, fermented foods were widely available, ranging from fish to wine to soybean paste. Because refrigerators were not available yet, it was also common to pickle vegetables and store a variety of foods with longer lifespans than if kept fresh. This was especially useful during the winter when it was difficult to find other sources of nourishment. The kimchi would be packed into traditional brown ceramic pots and buried underground to preserve it. I was really intrigued to learn that historical versions were not spicy, even though most kimchi today is. Chili peppers were apparently introduced to Korea in the early 17th century, but did not appear in kimchi recipes until the 19th century. Since kimchi existed before the split of the Korean peninsula, it is a food that is enjoyed by both North and South Koreans, although I am unable to comment on what kimchi is like in North Korea.

I also looked up a few recipes because my family members are always telling me that kimchi is actually really easy to make and that I should give it a shot. There are various different vegetables that you use to make the dish, but I decided to focus on the most popular version, which uses napa cabbage. First, chop up the cabbage into bite sized pieces. Next, soak the cabbage pieces in cold salt water for about 1.5 hours. Rinse and drain the cabbage and set aside. Now for the kimchi paste. This varies depending on how salty or spicy you like your kimchi but most recipes include the same seasoning. Mix together crushed garlic, minced onion, minced ginger, chili pepper flakes, and fish sauce or salted seafood. Then, mix in sliced green onions, chopped leeks, and julienned radish. The last step is to add in the cabbage and to put everything in an air-sealed container. You can enjoy it fresh or wait until it ferments. I personally like my kimchi really fresh but it always tastes good either way. Once it gets really sour, my family likes to either fry it or cook it in kimchi stew, or kimchi jjigae 김치찌개.

I grew up watching my family make kimchi and it is definitely something I want to try out soon since the recipe is pretty simple.

             For this cultural post, I decided to focus on the stigma around single parents in South Korea.  A 2018 survey of 2,500 single parents revealed that 51% were single mothers, around 21% were single fathers, and the remaining number were kids raised by other family members (Kim 2019).  A shocking 80% expressed financial distress, the cause of which is said to be the South Korean government’s financial aid system.  There are strict requirements in terms of age and income, including the income of the parent’s family, which dictates the small monthly assistance payment of around 115 USD.  Additionally, around half of the 84% of single parents who are employed work 10-hour days, and 16.7% don’t have regular days off.   Asian Boss did a dual episode focus on single mothers and single fathers and the hardships they face on a day to day basis (2020).  They interviewed a woman, Moon Jung, who told her story about how she became a single mother.  In her instance, her boyfriend was physically and emotionally abusive, even after realizing she was pregnant.  She decided to leave him but was very unsure of how she was going to support herself and her son financially.  Unfortunately, she didn’t receive any aid from her ex-boyfriend or friends/family.  When her son was old enough to start daycare, she was able to work full-time, but had to take a few days off in a row whenever her son got sick.  The company would soon force her to quit.  Despite her desperate situation, it was very difficult to receive aid from the government.  After her third application, she was eventually approved.  She says that although many single mothers have supportive families who can help them, there is a considerable number who have nowhere to turn. 

              After watching the video about single fathers by Asian Boss, I realized one critical difference between them and single mothers (2019).  Single fathers have to file a lawsuit to legally obtain a birth certificate with a Social Security Number for their child so they can receive health insurance and be registered for childcare.  This is a very long process, so during this time, the child lives without the same benefits as children with both parents.  Before Kim Ji-Hwan had registered his daughter’s birth, she got sick and had to receive a two-week hospital treatment amounting to around 7,000 USD.  He was unable to work so he could stay by his child’s side and ended up selling his possessions and took out a private loan to pay for the hospital bills.  Now that his daughter is six years old and can be in school, Ji-Hwan works part-time as a driver and does some freelance work as well.  He makes just enough for him and his daughter to get by comfortably and contributes any remaining money to the organization he started.  It was originally for single fathers, but many single mothers have joined as well.  The organization aims to create a community for single parents, so they know they have the support of others and do not deserve to be discriminated against.  Within the community, some parents can offer to watch over other kids so their parents can go to work.  Parents can donate clothes their children have outgrown and provide some basic food for other parents using any extra money they make. 

              There is a similar organization that has a broader base with the aim of supporting single mothers called KUMFA (Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network).  They create a community for single mothers, so they have an emotional support group (Babe 2018).  They also provide essentials and fund short trips for parent-child bonding.  These are especially appreciated during national holidays when most people visit their families (married couples visit the husband’s family).  Most of the women who are a part of KUMFA have been rejected by their families and don’t have anywhere to go during this time.  Korean society is still quite conservative and although people are becoming more progressive, there is an underlying stigma around single parents.  Some grandparents refuse to help support their grandchildren and push for them to be put up for adoption.  Organizations such as KUMFA and Ji-Hwan’s smaller-scale support group are not only helping out single parents financially but are beginning to change how the Korean society treats them. 

Citations

Babe, Ann. “The Stigma of Being a Single Mother in South Korea.” Women's Rights | Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera, March 1, 2018. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/stigma-single-mother-south-korea-180226144516720.html.

Being a Single Father in Korea. Asian Boss, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=486bxVeDpIo.

Being a Single Mother in Korea. Asian Boss, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZh_eTRWCMs.

Kim, Jae-heun. “Single-Parent Families Suffer Financial Difficulties.” TheKoreaTimes, April 11, 2019. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/04/119_267020.html.

Podcast.m4a

            One portion of deaf culture that I have heard about in the past, but know very little information on, are deaf clubs. Deaf clubs were originally established during the 1920s through the 1950s to bring Deaf people together. During this time, being deaf was still considered a disability that was to be “normalized” within the hearing society, thus little effort from communities, companies, and the government was made to encourage social gathering of Deaf individuals. In addition, Deaf people often worked in jobs where no other Deaf people worked. Thus, being Deaf seemed to be a sentence of social isolation. That is, at least, before Deaf clubs.

            In a world of hearing, Deaf clubs provided the Deaf with a place to fulfill their social needs. They were safe, unique spaces where Deaf individuals could go and communicate with other individuals through sign language. However, these clubs were not limited to just chit-chatting between friends, but these clubs also organized activates to promote a sense of community. They organized sports teams, hired Deaf performers, held film screenings, holiday parties, and beauty pageants, and etc. In addition to this, Deaf club’s also provided the Deaf youth with an adult who often provided guidance, a meeting place for future spouses, and overall a place to seek aid and friendship. Deaf clubs were also extremely important in the development and creation of shared signs, further contributing to the development of Deaf society and culture. In general, the clubs were located close to large cities, which is where deaf schools were commonly located, or near communities with a high Deaf population.

            Interestingly enough, before Deaf clubs became popular for deaf individuals, these clubs were held in rented spaced and frequently changed locations. It was only after they gained popularity and dues were collected from the members that permanent accommodations were obtained.

                        Luckily, by the mid-1960s these viewpoints began to change and the Deaf communities, which were originally viewed as a disabled group, were identified instead as a cultural and linguistic minority. However, also during this time, Deaf Clubs began to decline in popularity. The civil rights movement promoted equal treatment, and as such, more Deaf people began working white-collar jobs for companies that focused on hiring other Deaf people, thus diminishing the need for Deaf clubs. Alongside this, the emerging presence of technology has also been attributed to the decline of Deaf Clubs.  With advances in technology, new devices were invented that specifically mitigated the lifestyle differences between the Deaf and the hearing. Inventions like the TTY in the 1970’s and wider use of Closed Captioning for movies increased the opportunities of entertainment within Deaf society, thus deaf clubs were not as imperative for entertainment services. Furthermore, Deaf people turned towards a more private lifestyle and they lost interest in the traditional group activities that were accompanied by Deaf clubs. Today, there are some Deaf Clubs still in existence, however, the numbers have decreased dramatically. In America, the majority of them are within the Midwest and the south, but their membership is small and only decreasing with time.

Deaf Clubs Today: Do They Still Have a Role to Play? The Cases of Cyprus and Greece https://muse-jhu-edu.newman.richmond.edu/article/425304

https://ifmyhandscouldspeak.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/deaf-clubs/

This week, I repeated the routine from last week. Like in the previous journal period, these two weeks were also reading intensive. My language partner sent me articles again and they were very challenging to understand. However, I was able to completely dissect and analyze the articles after spending some time with them. One of the articles I read was about the confirmation of China's cover-up of death tolls in Wuhan. The Wuhan Municipal government stated that the number of deaths was actually 3,869, which is 1,290 deaths higher than what was originally reported. The city authorities gave a reasonable explanation for the gap in the reported numbers and actual numbers. They stated that many of the patients died at home because the hospitals in Wuhan were completely booked and did not have enough medical personnel to look after new patients. However, citizens are not very accepting of this explanation. They accuse the government of displacing the responsibility to the medical professionals and health care providers rather than taking full responsibility. In addition, Chinese media has reported that the number of urns ordered far exceeds the number of deaths reported. While more investigation is needed, we still cannot completely trust the released reports from the Wuhan municipal government.

I thought that this was an interesting article because it confirmed a suspicion that was going on for some time. I also took a questionnaire like last time, except I had to explain the article and answer questions in conversation format. The conversation aspect was different from the one from the last journal period because it was testing different aspects of my Hangul. I'm glad that I was able to talk about the article through conversation because I was able to practice it. Because of the quarantine, I do not have many opportunities to practice conversation. The questionnaire was challenging, but doable. While I was explaining, I would correctly answer the main idea questions, but misinterpret some of the minor details. I received a decent score with some constructive feedback, which made me not only glad, but also motivated and confident in reading more difficult material.

Another article that I read was about the abrupt decline in oil prices due to lack of demand for gasoline. This lack of demand was caused by government lockdown policies that forced citizens to stay indoors. Earlier this year, the price of each oil barrel was around $60, but now it is around $20. Because of this sudden decrease, OPEC announced that they would cut oil drilling by 9.2 million barrels a day in order to combat the sudden decrease in demand. Experts, however, state that this will not be enough to combat the decline of growth in the oil industry. This was an article that I was interested in because it deals with economic issues. Because I was interested, I was more attentive to the words and the interpretation of the article as a whole. I was able to use context clues to define words such as "petroleum", "economic decline", "slash of production", and etc.

Since my class sessions with my learning partner has moved online, the ways we can learn are pretty limited compared to before. This is because my language partner and I operate on different time zones as we live in different countries. Despite this, we try our best to improve my Hangul. For the past two weeks, my learning was very reading intensive because I asked my language partner to provide me with difficult material to understand, analyze, and discuss. One of the articles I read was about South Korea's achievement in stabilizing the Coronavirus situation. The article summarizes a conversation between South Korean President Moon Jae In and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. The Prime Minister congratulated and praised South Korea in its successful results in calming the situation. The President expressed worry about the situation in Europe at the time. The two leaders stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation to not only improve the economy, but also to produce a vaccine as quickly as possible.

The article was challenging to understand because there were a lot of vocabulary terms that I did not know. While I recognized some words from previously reading articles that deal with political issues, this article was simply on another level. It took me about an hour to read through the seven paragraphs. I made lots of mistakes when explaining to my language partner the meaning and main idea of the article. To test my knowledge further, I was given a questionnaire that would ask me specific questions about the article. I have to admit that I did not get a perfect score, but I was able to answer some questions about the two leaders' conversation. While I was proud that I received a decent score, I know that I need to work harder. 

Another article I read talked about the United States increasing pressure on South Korea to agree to the increase in defense costs. This news was released shortly after the South Korean government furloughed employees from the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).The United States responded stating that it would compensate South Korea by stationing some of its troops there. This would only happen, however, if South Korea agreed to the Special Measures Agreement (SMA). The questionnaire for this article was challenging as well because I needed to understand what the military agreements were and their implications for the relations between the United States and South Korea. Unfortunately, I received a lower score on this questionnaire than the one mentioned in the previous paragraphs. Despite this, I'm glad that I am still being challenged despite living in uncertain times. While there are lots of room to relax, the intensity of study has not diminished as much as I thought it would.

In light of the pandemic that is going on right now, I have seen several videos about COVID-19 showing up on YouTube. One video that I came across was a video by the YouTube channel, Vox. The video I watched is called The big lesson from South Korea’s coronavirus response. As you can probably guess from the title, this video talked about South Korea’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Early on, South Korea was one of the first countries that had a major outbreak of coronavirus cases. This all began when a patient, known as patient No. 31, went to a megachurch in Daegu. After this huge outbreak happened in Daegu, Korea took immediate action in containing this outbreak. They did something called contact tracing. They have been able to test many people for the virus and have done such a successful job of containing it. They introduced one of the largest and best-organized epidemic control programs in the world. This system involves testing mass populations of the virus and isolate anyone who is infected. Beyond that, the government will trace and quarantine whoever had come in contact with the infected person as well. Although this sounds extreme, it has been very effective for Korea. Contact tracing wasn’t enough either. People who were infected may have moved through the city, touching doors and subway handles, which is another way that the virus could spread. In order to combat this problem, Korea traced the infected person’s footsteps and alerted citizens of their trail and where they have been. These alerts let people know if they have cross paths with an infected person so they can go get tested themselves. This may be giving people less privacy, but it has been a large reason why Korea has been able to contain the virus. Their efforts have led to them being able to test more people than any other country at the time. This has resulted in Korea not having to have aggressive lockdowns, like the ones we are currently experiencing in the United States. Through Korea’s efforts, they have been able to do something that many of the other countries have struggled to do. They’ve been able to bend the curve. I am very impressed by Korea’s response to this pandemic and makes me wish that the United States had taken proper steps like Korea did in preventing the spread of coronavirus.

I think that the way South Korea handled this outbreak shows a lot about their culture. I think that this has really shown the difference between Korean culture and American culture. When Koreans heard from the government about the outbreak, people were very willing to listen the government and self-quarantine, as opposed to some Americans who took it as a joke and had large gatherings. In the video, they mentioned how many Koreans value public health over their privacy. This is something that may sound absurd to an American, since privacy is so highly valued. Even after preventing the first wave of infections, Korea is still alert and taking precautions to prevent a second wave from happening. I think that this attitude by both the government and its citizens are something that is unique to Korea and speaks a lot to their values and culture.

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE-cA4UK07c