Thesis Proposal

Step 1 of Project Thesis Completion done!

Today, I completed the first step towards my goal of completing my thesis by the end of this year: my thesis proposal.

Although my written proposal was in English, my presentation was in Korean. This picture isn't a very good one but it's the only one where you can actually see my face. I spent most of the presentation with my head down, reading the Korean, and trying to finish in 15 minutes. :)

Next step: Data collection

Dankook University Cheonan Campus Institute of Korean Studies

One of the things I need to do in order to get my Ph.D. degree is pass Level 5 of the TOPIK test (Test of Proficiency in Korean). So far, I passed Level 3. Because of cost and time I usually study by myself, but this past fall I decided to take a course to give me a much-needed boost.

I was lucky to find a class at a university here in Cheonan. There are two that I know of--one at Sun Moon University and the other at Dankook University--where I ended up going, again mostly because of cost and because it's much closer to where I live.

Soon enough, I was on campus every day just like in under-grad, with students in their early 20's (no mature students that I could see). I often experienced people nodding at me, probably thinking I was a teacher, although they also probably wondered why I was usually wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.

All of my classmates were from China, taking the class so that they could pass the TOPIK exam in order to get  into university here in Korea. As the only "westerner", I felt like I was representing my whole country and all westerners every time I answered a question. Since we were learning about Korean culture and issues as part of the class, my teacher would often ask what it was like in China and Canada to compare. In Korea, it is more common to have one kind of standard or accepted way of doing things. Not that everyone follows this, but you can speak more generally about Korean culture than you can about a Canadian one, I think. I kept saying, "It depends on the person." "Every family is different." or more often, "I'm not sure." Mostly I was afraid of speaking in case someone used what I said to tell others what all Canadians are like.

Anyways, I was thankful that my classmates and teachers tolerated me. I was older than all of them and the only "westerner" so they had to make adjustments for me. For some reason, I never felt old or conscious of my age in Canada, but I often do in Korea and I definitely did taking the class. One of the teachers decided that since I was older, that everyone including her should call me "Onni" or "Nuna" (meaning older sister, depending on if you are a girl or a boy). I've never had this happen in Korea before. It felt strange. I just wanted to be a student like everyone else.

Despite all of the challenges though, I learned a lot. I had practice doing presentations in Korean, discussing different topics, and did a lot of writing and preparing and homework each day. I think I definitely improved my Korean grammar, vocabulary, and study habits. Hopefully, it will help me when I go to write the TOPIK test at the end of this month. I guess I will find out soon!

Marek in Korea

In December, my husband Marek visited Korea. How lucky am I? It was great to spend time with him, especially over Christmas, and to be able to introduce him to people and travel around a bit. I appreciate all of the family and friends in Canada and here in Korea who helped to make his visit possible.

Brain Education Cultural Center in Cheonan

At the beginning of October 2011, the Brain Education Cultural Center opened here in Cheonan. Like many other cultural centers here in Korea, it is meant to provide members of the community with opportunities to take workshops and general interest courses at a fairly reasonable cost. Most department stores and big discount supermarket chains like E-mart have cultural centers while others are located in the community.

What makes this center unique is that in addition to some of the courses normally offered like Sports Dancing or language classes, there are also courses specifically geared towards Brain Education, like mediation, parent coaching, or Brain Education English classes.

At the end of December, we celebrated the end of the first Children's and Adults's BE classes in English. Congratulations!

Ginseng Festival in Geumsan

This is the one of the logos for the town of Geumsan.

This Sunday I went to the International Ginseng Expo in Geumsan (about an hour and a half from Cheonan). Ginseng is a really important product here in Korea and I understand much better the health benefits and why it is so important. I'm not usually a big fan of ginseng--I usually find it to be quite bitter but I found some ginseng products I like (for example, those made of Hongsam, which is a milder ginseng) and realized what a difference eating fresh ginseng can make.

Samgyetang: Chicken Soup with ginseng and lots of other healthy ingredients (Delicious and good for you!)

Selling fresh ginger

Korean ginseng grows for 6 years so it contains a larger amount of saponins. After 6 years, the ginseng looks like a human, thus the name "insam" in Korean or "human-shaped plant".

A Russian electric violin group

This is how ginseng grows in the U.S. and Canada

This is how ginseng is grown in China

This is how ginseng is grown in Korea

Deep-fried ginseng (Delicious!)

Some of the many products made from ginseng

Cheonan Dance Festival Street Parade

This weekend is the annual International Dance Festival here in Cheonan. Last night I saw the street parade with all of the different teams from each different country. Countries included Korea, Japan, China, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and countries from the Russian federation.

Enjoy!

 

Beautiful Busan

Busan is the second biggest city in South Korea. It's a port city on the south-east coast. Ever since I came to Korea, I've wanted to visit Busan because I love the sea. Finally, this past weekend, my roommate and I made it for one night and one day (1N1D).

I was really glad we did. There's a different feel to Busan than Seoul--it's more relaxed and open, which makes sense since Seoul is a capital city. People were more talkative and even the foreigners I saw seemed to be more relaxed and comfortable than in other cities in Korea.

My roommate and I had a tight schedule and budget but we managed to fit a lot in. Busan is a 5-hour by slow-train, 2 1/2 hours by rapid train ride from Seoul.

We arrived late at night and stayed in this jjimjilbang on Gwangalli Beach. It was called Aqua Palace.



A jjimjilbang is a Korean sauna with showers and public baths separate for men and women. There's also a "resting" public area, where you can sleep. If you are okay with sleeping on a hard floor in a room with lots of people with snoring, talking, cellphones ringing, etc., it's a cheap place to stay and you can have a relaxing shower and bath.

This jjimjilbang was nothing fancy but it had a great view of the beach and the sea from the bath and resting areas.



The next morning we headed out and saw Gwangalli Beach by day. This is the view from the beach.


After that, we visited the "World's Biggest Department Store", the Shinsegae Department Store. It has an ice rink, a spa, a golf course, a roof-top park, and boasts the largest amount of retail space in the world.



We then visited one of only a few of Korea's Buddhist temples on the sea. This one is called Yonggunsa. Isn't the view beautiful?







After that we stopped off at the famous Haeundae Beach. We dipped our feet in the water where there were lots of people bobbing in floating tubes. The sand has lots of crushed shells and stuck to our feet. In the busy season, this beach is normally packed full of umbrellas so even though there were lots of people it wasn't considered to be crowded at all.


We ended off the day by going to the Jagalchi Fish Market. We saw lots of interesting live and dried fish, including these octopus below. There are lots of restaurants, too, where you can choose the fish or seafood you like and have it cooked right in front of you.




While waiting for our train back to Cheonan, we were treated to a light, music, and water show at the fountain in front of the train station. I think this might be common in Korea in big cities (I've seen a small one in the stream in downtown Cheonan behind our apartment building) but this one lasted for about 40 minutes and lots of people gathered to watch.





When I first arrived in Korea, someone asked me if I liked the mountains or the sea. My first thought was to say, "Both", but my answer came quicker than my thinking, "The sea". I like the mountains, too, but there's something about water that makes me feel relaxed, happy, and more connected with nature, with other people, and with myself. I'm glad I had the chance to visit Busan and if I get the chance, I'll definitely be back.