Korean Men Marrying Foreigners Get Paid

Article @ Korea Times

An interesting article here about how foreign couples in Korea can start attending a 20-hour seminar hosted by the government to help them deal with the difficulties they may face as a mixed-nationality couple in Korea. For attending the seminar the government is willing to subsidize the couple by paying them 1 million won.

In theory this makes sense - it's nice to see the government proactively trying to encourage diversity and make things easier for mixed-nationality couples. Try thinking about some of the difficulties that a Korean man and a Japanese woman who are married might face in Korea. What about a Korean woman and an African-American man? Why do you think these difficulties, roadblocks, or prejudices exist?

Here's the alarming part of the article: this subsidy is ONLY available to Korean men who marry foreign females. If you are a Korean woman who marries a foreign man - too bad, you're out of luck. What do we call a practice like this?

Keywords & Idioms

(n.) conflagration / a destructive and intense fire, usually widespread and potentially causing substantial devastation

Example: The conflagration grew and threatened the existence of the small town.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=conflagration&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=&aqi=



(idiom) to pay with plastic / in this idiom plastic refers to a credit card and therefore refers to payment through the use of credit rather than cash or check
Example: Will you pay for dinner in cash? No, I'll just pay with plastic.

Korea - Globalized?

Just how "international" is Korea?

Euna Lee and Laura Ling Released from North Korea

Euna Lee and Laura Ling are both back on American soil after intervention by former President Bill Clinton. Laura Ling addresses a crowd at Burbank Airport in Southern California.

Video of the speech can be found here.

Transcript
Laura Ling: "Thirty hours ago Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea. We feared at any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp.

And then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. We were taken to a location and when we walked in through the doors we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton.

*Applause*

We were shocked. But we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. And now we stand here, home, and free.

Euna and I would like to express our deepest gratitude to President Clinton and his wonderful, amazing, not to mention super-cool team. Including: John Pedesta, Doug Band, Justin Cooper, Dr. Roger Band, David Straub, Minji Kwon, and the United States Secret Service who traveled half way around the world and then some to secure our release. We'd also like to thank President Obama, Secretary Clinton, Vice President Gore (who we also call Al), the Swedish Ambassador Matts Foyer, Kurt Thong, Linda McFayden and the people of the U.S. State Department - who worked so hard to win the release of their fellow Americans. Steve Bing and his crew. And Andrew Liverous and the Dow Company. And I know that I'm forgetting a bunch of instrumental people right now - forgive me if I'm a little incoherent.

To our loved ones, friends, colleagues, and the complete strangers with the kindest of hearts who showed us so much love and sent us so many positive thoughts and energy. We thank you. We could feel your love all the way in North Korea. It is what kept us going in the darkest of hours. It is what sustained our faith that we would come home.

The past 140 days have been the most difficult, heart wrenching time of our lives. We are very grateful that we were granted amnesty by the government of North Korea. And we are so happy to be home. And we are just so anxious to be able to spend some quiet, private time, getting reacquainted with our families. Thank you so much."

The Article "The"

This is a simple little mistake I have been noticing students committing in a variety of essays lately. The article "the" should be used in front of a specific or particular noun. But, when we are dealing with geography there are some unique rules to follow.

The key rule I want to emphasize is that "the" should not be placed in front of countries or cities.

Incorrect example: "In the America there is an obesity problem."
Correct example: "In America there is an obesity problem."

Now, it gets even more complicated because if you are talking about The United States of America, then yes, go ahead and write "the U.S.", but that is a unique case. I don't want to see "the Korea", or "the Japan" in essays in the future.

Recent Korean News

01. Protesters Protest their Inability to Protest @ Gwanghwamun Plaza
- Follows up nicely with the issues surrounding the barricading of Seoul City Hall Plaza after President Roh's passing. Should public spaces be open to protest in Korea?

02. Bill Clinton meets Kim Jong-il in North Korea
- Keep in mind, this was one of our essay topics at the beginning of the term and is a prime example of the issue of media rights, protection, and US-SK-DPRK relations. Keep in mind the name of these two journalists: Lee Yu-na & Laura Ling. This is an issue you should stay on top of as news develops.

03. Lee Myung-Bak's Administration authorizes some Aid for North Korea
- An interesting step forward in policy change. Remember, if the issue of SK-DPRK relations come up, you've got to talk about how foreign relations policies have changed since Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Lee Myung-bak. If you can trace this history and make some interesting comments about it you will certainly stand out!

The Simplest Interview Question

In our most recent class we covered the most basic interview question:

Tell me about yourself.

It seems simple enough but in our mock interview panels it was clear that a lot of students had a difficult time answering this straightforward question. First we brainstormed what the appropriate information to include in this kind of response would be - our general outline came out like this:

Intro - State your name and what school you attend.
Personal Info - Personal information or story - this can be rather open-ended and it is up for you to decide what to talk about. Some examples of what we came up with include:

• Short term vs. Long Term Goals
• Your dreams or aspirations
• Your motivation in attending your school
• Special skills or abilities you possess
• Your inspirations

Tie Back - How do the items above relate to the school you are applying to?

The key thing is you need to have some kind of story or explanation that you can express in about one minute that sounds natural, unscripted and demonstrates your passionate attitude about getting into the school of your choice.

This seems simple, but it's not. Everything matters in answering a simple question like this - plus, the interview is giving you free reign to control the answer. You've got to sell yourself and get your interviewer interested in you. Also, if you are in a group interview, you've got to stand out next to other enthusiastic, excited applicants.

An example response,
"My name is ______ and I'm currently attending ______ middle school. I've been the class president for the past year and I've actively participated in school leadership opportunities. As far as my personality, I'd say that a lot of my motivation stems from my experiences abroad. A few years ago I went on vacation to New York and visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was just blown away by the art that I saw there. Right away I knew my life had changed and ever since that moment I've always been visiting museums whenever I have the chance. I've done independent research and studied a lot about Renaissance artists and one day want to be a museum curator.

I know that a foreign language high school isn't an art school, but museums are international places that are designed to attract tourists and display a country's artistic treasures. I want to attend your school because I know that I'll finish high school with a mastery of English, which is a vital part of my long term goal."*

Note - This response basically has three parts: 1) background info 2) an interesting experiencing that reveals the applicant's passion for art 3) a tie back which explains how this passion fits in with the opportunities that the school will provide.

Follow up questions - Know everything about your interests. If you volunteer information about one of your passions, it's logical that the interviewer will ask you a follow up question, so be prepared to speak intelligently about the issues that you care about. For example, if you mention that you want to be a high school teacher in Korea because you think that the education system has problems and needs reform, be prepared to explain what you think those problems are and how you would go about changing them. If you can't follow through and logically respond to follow up questions, then you will sound like your response was scripted and insincere.

General tips from our mock interviews:

• Eye contact - do not look down at the desk or at your hands, you need to make eye contact with your interviewer(s) throughout your response.
• Avoid scripted phrases - don't use phrases that sound like your response is a script. Some examples are, "I'd like to tell you about my experience..." or "Now I will tell you about myself..."
• Don't talk too long - the average interview response should be about 60-75 seconds, anything too long can become boring and the interview may lose interest.
• Energy - you've GOT to be excited when you talk about yourself. You need to be proud of your accomplishments - you have to KNOW that you are going to excel at Yongin or Anyang and that the school is going to be lucky to have you. This will show as you speak about your accomplishments or aspirations. Vary the tone of your voice and when you talk about something that you are proud of smile. If your eyes look glazed over or you seem uninterested, you will get marked down right at the start of your interview.
• Don't touch/pick at yourself - ideally you'll be using hand gestures to accentuate your points, but if this is too difficult for you just fold your hands in your lap and keep them there. Don't put your hand up behind your head because you are nervous, don't pick at your finger nails, don't scratch your arms! This is a difficult habit to break, but through practice you should be able to master your body language.
• Seating - sit up straight and close to your desk. Don't slump down in your seat and don't lean back against the back of the chair, you should be sitting upright with strong posture.
  

National Assembly Skirmishes, Korea's International Image

Today we had some pretty interesting discussions about the ethical implications and international reception of the recent fights in the Korea National Assembly between the Grand National Party (GNP) and Democratic Party (DP). Some of the key points that were brought up include:

• Physical fights undercut the basic idea of democracy.
• International reception will probably distort the story and make it appear worse than it is.
• When assembly members fight it can negatively influence the youth by letting them believe that violence can solve disputes.
• Potentially terminating officials who fight would have a very negative impact as it would force new elections.

Pointers:

1. If you propose some kind of solution to a problem, you can simply describe the first one or two things you would do, but when it's a large domestic issue like the one mentioned above, don't end your solution weakly and say something like "I think that would be an okay solution." State your points with confidence, and if you are not entirely positive you can always state that, "This complex problem has no simple solution, but I think step A and step B are the first actions to take to make sure that we move in the right direction."
2. Eye contact, eye contact, eye contact! Look your interviewer in the eyes and speak with confidence.

We also had a discussion about the government's current plan to give up the old Korean branding phrases of "Dynamic Korea" and "Korea Sparkling" for something more applicable and perhaps more useful. We generally looked at this issue from the perspective of protests, discrimination, and cuisine.

Concerning protests, some people argued that Korean citizens are too quick to protest and when protests turn to violence it often reflects poorly on the international level. At the same time though, protests are one of the key signs of a healthy democracy, so if the international community cannot recognize the benefits of a population that is able to protest, then perhaps it's not a community worth trying to appease.

Also along political lines, we examined the motivations of Lee Myung-bak's restoration of the Cheonggyecheon River while he was Mayor of Seoul in 2003. One thing that was mentioned was that rumors exist that the city government used some forceful and gang-like tactics to evict residents of the dilapidated stream to begin construction. Ultimately though we decided that no matter who the President is, and no matter the accomplishments, the person who holds the title of President will always face heavy criticism from the public because of some kind of cultural imperative to constantly criticize. We referenced how this kind of criticism often goes too far in the case of President Roh's recent suicide and how moments of crisis in history often trigger great changes in the status-quo and fundamental beliefs of societies.

Concerning discrimination, we unanimously agreed that there are many underlying stereotypes, racism, and xenophobic tendencies in Korea. After working our way through this point we decided one of the major mechanisms powering this discrimination was the Korean Education System's concept of "one blood", or Korea existing as a "pure" race.

Concerning cuisine, when asked how Korea might be able to make Korean Food more international we agreed that the best way to get people abroad to like Korean Food is to let them taste it. Whether or not the government can spread an appreciation for Korean food seems debatable. We also decided that when Ko San became the first Korean in space the inevitable media hype surrounding the fact that he carried "kimchi" with him was laughable. Because the kimchi was not true kimchi (read: fermented goodness) it was just a media ploy that actually undercut some aspects of the accomplishment.

Finally, when asked how to make Korea famous for "International Cuisine" we decided that the best way to get authentic food from other countries into Korea is by opening up immigration opportunities for foreigners.

Keywords
(n.) prowess / exceptional or superior ability, skill, or strength; he showed true prowess as a debater
(adj.) disparate / distinct in kind; essentially different; dissimilar; the father and son had disparate philosophies

Criticism & Thoreau

<-- Thoreau, brave enough to sport "neck-beard"

We recently had an interesting essay topic concerning the value and importance of criticism. Here is a short excerpt from Henry David Thoreau's Walden that we covered in class which has some relevance to the topic,

"But if my jacket and trousers, my hat and shoes, are fit to worship God in, they will do; will they not? Who ever saw his old clothes, -his old coat, actually worn out, resolved into its primitive elements, so that it was not a deed of charity to bestow it on some poor boy, by him perchance to be bestowed on some poorer still, or shall we say, richer, who could do with less? I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. If there is not a new man, how can the new clothes be made to fit? If you have any enterprise before you, try it in your old clothes... ...Our moulting season, like that of the fowls, must be a crisis in our lives."

To quickly summarize Walden, for more than a year Thoreau went out to a pond near his hometown, Walden Pond, built a hut and lived on his own away from society. He didn't have to spend any money and was in complete solitude. He was mostly interested in exploring the possibility of escaping the rules and expectations of society to explore an individual life.

In this quote Thoreau makes an interesting point by making us think: Why do we buy new clothes when our old clothes work just fine? A lot of this has to do with expectations - we want to fit in, we want to look as nice as other people, we consider ourselves "fashionable". But Thoreau seems especially interested in how clothes are connected to our work. If we buy new clothes we are probably doing so because we don't want to face the criticism of dressing differently from everyone else. We want to fit in with the crowd. Once we fit in, we escape criticism. But Thoreau wants us to consider changing our souls before we change our clothes.

You might argue that Thoreau wanted to escape all criticism and only deal with self-criticism, he felt the best critic was internal because it knows itself best.

Greetings

Hello students!

I wanted to put together an online resource to keep track of some of the lessons that we cover about writing and interviewing in preparation for your Foreign Language High School applications that are coming up this November. I'll be posting some supplementary information, lessons, keywords, ways to organize essays, and exemplar essays with analysis for you to peruse through at your leisure. I'll also include links to interesting issues in Korea with some analysis and general summary as well.

All this with the long (or at this point, I suppose short) term goal of helping you become confident in writing interesting essays and confident enough to talk about issues an interview and demonstrate that you are a global leader. So stay posted and any feedback is appreciated.