Jungwon University, Goesan-gun (중원대학교, 괴산군)

Greetings from Korea,
     I hope you all are doing well and enjoying your summers. This first post will serve as an introduction to my stay at Jungwon University, which is located in Goesan County, Chungcheong Province. Before starting with some fast-fact FAQ, just know that when I write 'ETA,' this stands for English Teaching Assistant.

Where am I?

Chungcheong province is the darker gray portion; Goesan County is in red.

What's the University like?

Well, it's nickname (at least among ETAs) is the "Marble Mansion."It's extremely young, having been established in 2008. It's quite a fascinating place. The University sits low in a shallow basin surrounded by lush green mountains and hills. Encircling campus is a beautifully laid-out golf course. Much like Grove City (nudge nudge, Mom :)), the grass is gorgeous...but you can't really step on it. At least that's what I hear. I'm still not sure what I can and cannot do because I can't read all the signs, so I'm siding with caution and hearsay. There's a mysterious temple right behind campus, and boy is it ornate. It's immense in size and I would really like to check it out, but I've been told by several people that you can't enter it if you don't believe in their God. I'm not sure how you can prove that, but everyone (Korean students included) seem afraid of it and pretends like it's not there. It certainly seems to be shrouded in mystery. From what I understand, the temple was there first and the people of that faith established the university. So, I am going to travel for a Buddhist temple stay even though there's one within a 3 minute walk of my dorm. Life's funny.

Universities in Korea are ranked in two ways. Most important is where they are located. Following in place of second importance is the school name and actual level of academic excellence. Given that this school is not in Seoul or even in a big city means to me that it's rather low on the totem pole. The fact that it is also so new solidifies that hypothesis all the more. 

 

Not many people seem to be at the University in the summer. At meal times, it's all us ETAs and about 30 Korean students. Since it seems we are the ones keeping the University in business during the summer, the buildings are pretty vacant. Most hallways are dark because the University doesn't feel such a small number of students is worth the energy waste. It gets a bit creepy at times, but it makes for quiet living. 

The main building is that one in the back of the photo. It's unusual to me that essentially the whole university is located in one building. Surrounding the main building you will find little pagodas and other structures that provide a more traditional, Asian architectural landscape.

This is Waterpia. Yes, the University has a random waterpark plopped right in the middle of campus. There's inflatable rafts, waterslides, and even those little cylinder things that you can run around in like a hamster in a wheel. Sometimes I find myself wondering whether I'm at an academic institution, a religious site, a waterpark, a golf resort, a ritzy country club, or rural Korea. To put it best, it's beautifully bizarre.

Here's an aerial view of campus. To get to Goesan town, it's about a 10-15 minute walk. You follow the road to the left that runs across the top of the photo (right in front of the dark green mountains). After passing the security entrance to the University (not in the picture), you eventually hook a right and you can see the town. 

What am I doing?
      I am participating in a 6-week Orientation program to prepare me for a couple things:

1. to learn how to better teach English to elementary level Korean students, 
2. to learn how to not only adjust to but to thrive in Korean culture and society 
3. to improve my Korean so that I have a basic competency for authentic communication when I embark on my grant year.
4. to make friends with other Fulbrighters from the program to build a support system (and travel buddies) for the duration of the grant year.

What will a typical week look like for me during these 6 weeks?

• Breakfast is 8:00-9:00am
• Korean language class is 9:00am-1:00pm (with little 10 minute breaks every 50 minutes)
• Lunch is 1:00-2:00pm
• Dinner is 6:00-7:00pm
• Interspersed are:
• Extracurriculars (see orange sheet above)
•  I signed up for the biweekly Taekwondo class, Buddhist temple stay, and the K-pop dance class. 
• A weekend trip to explore Seoul 
• A pool party! (refer to the pool pictures above...this should be rather fun). 
• Camp Fulbright (a little teaching practicum that allows us to teach English to Koreans)
• Teaching Pedagogy workshops
• 1-1 meetings with our trainers to gauge how we're doing and progressing
• Social Sundays (which I'm guessing should be fun, although I'm not sure of the details yet)
• Korean Culture workshops (to prep us for homestay life, sexual harassment, crime, security...etc.) 
• A couple of us are working on starting our own classes within the group. 
• We'll take turns teaching yoga classes, dance classes, and even foreign language classes. In regards to dance instructors so far, we've got belly-dancing, Indian dancing, hip hop, contemporary, and yoga. I just bought myself a $5 yoga mat in town, so I'm ready to go!!!

What's my living situation like?

 I live in a dorm on the 10th floor of the building. Unlike my last stay in  a Korean university, males are females are allowed to roam in and out of  both genders' dorm floors. In contrast to this, the elevators and laundry rooms are segregated by gender.

Note the beautiful pictures of all y'all on the wall.

The view from my window.

Where all the magic happens. 

 

This is my roommate, Hayley. She's from beautiful South Carolina. Instead of a door, we've got these funky little sliding windows in between our sides of the room which makes for a cozy, neighborly feel. After seeing Falling Water with my parents recently, I'm surprised Frank Lloyd Wright never thought to include such a nifty architectural piece.

 

What's the deal with the other ETA Fulbright grantees?

• There's 76 of us here in Korea; ~15% males/ ~85% female
• Average age seems to be about 22.
• We come from 28 states across the U.S.
• The majority of us are fresh beginners, knowing little more than the Korean alphabet. There are a few intermediate students (that's me), and a handful of advanced students as well. Unlike my last summer in Korea, there exists no Korean-only Language Pledge. This means that yes in fact we can speak English in more than just dark, remote corners of campus.
• At least one of the Fulbright grantees has been to North Korea on a research visit.
• One of the grantees was a flying trapeze artist.
• Another (my roommate!) is involved with competitive Indian dancing.
• Everyone seems to have traveled a lot by the young age of ~22. Off the top of my head, other grantees have lived in and/or traveled to Guyana, Brazil, China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Spain, Colombia, Jamaica, and Kyrgystan. 

Some notes on Korean culture:

 

 

 

What's the Korean educational system like?

 

Studying is considered a job for students. When not in school, high school students (especially the high-ranking ones) are often enforced to rent out Tokso Rooms for self-study hours. Although illegal, these rooms are made available (and forced to be used) as late as 2:00am. This time frame seems problematic given that students wake up at 6:30 for school. In some cases, students are forbidden from going to bed until 2:00am. If they are caught sleeping, the supervising teachers (who live in the dorms with them) may wake them up. This may involve hitting. However, corporal punishment was officially banned recently. But, enforcement is rather lax. To stay awake, some students put the air conditioner up so that it's too cold to sleep. In even more dangerous cases, some students study hanging out the window so that they're forced to stay awake. As one might imagine, the suicide rate is rather high. The Korean system can certainly be considered rigorous, structure, and competitive.

This is in contrast with the Western model, in which students switch classrooms and teachers have a designated room.

 

Shaming America... :/

Good to know. I'm wondering whether or not the U.S. generally prioritizes these two values this way.

A big motif throughout Korean culture

Another important concept within Korean culture

I like that they have a word for this.

That's all for now, but there's more where that came from!