Saying Goodbye to my Brain Education Journey in South Korea

It is now over a year after I graduated from UBE with a PhD in Brain Education (February 2013). I thought it would be a good time to finish this blog now. :)

The picture above is of me and my good friend in South Korea. She and her daughter helped me pack up my stuff, settle things with my landlord, and sent me off on the bus to the airport. I'm having my "last supper" (or lunch :) in Korea at Lotteria (like Korean McDonald's, but not like McDonald's).

It has been quite the experience to be back "home", where I can really say I feel like a foreigner again. It's so funny to me that after about five years of being in Korea, I found a way to fit in (even if I stood out) and then when I came back home, I really felt like I was a foreigner all over again. My brain, including my ways of thinking and seeing and responding to the world, literally changed.

For me, this is a reflection of what I learned from my journey with Brain Education. For those who may not know, Brain Education is an experiential education approach designed to foster the development and effective management of the brain's unlimited potential and ability to create health, happiness, and peace for individuals and collectively. Brain Education is also a field of study focused on researching and developing theory and methods for the wholistic development of brain potential that integrate theory and practice from fields such as brain science, neuroscience, physiology, kinesiology, and nutritional science.

At the individual level, for me, my journey with Brain Education was really about becoming more conscious of the value and power of my brain--to notice how I thought, felt, sensed, and responded to the world based on the biology of my brain and on my experiences and programming, and then to choose what I wanted to do with that. My experience in South Korea was a good example of this. So many things here challenged me and were so different than what I would have experienced in my environment at home, that I really got to notice and meet different parts of myself and my brain. It was definitely a life-changing experience and a gift.

I learned a lot about myself through my journey with Brain Education and the impact of my experiences in Korea contributed to changes that were already occurring in me. Because of those changes, I've decided to not continue with my plans for Brain Education and to take time for myself and for my husband right now.

I am very grateful to all I met on my Brain Education journey--the members and staff of the former Dahn Yoga Centers in Canada; Ilchi Lee, the President of IBREA and UBE; the staff at IBREA, BRC, BE, Dahn Yoga, Sun Tao, and other affiliates in the U.S. and Korea; the staff and students at UBE; and all of the people in Korea I met--those who were kind to me and those who challenged me. Through my connecting with all of you, I learned something about myself and I am thankful for that.

My South Korea Top Ten Gratitude List

While in South Korea for my graduation, I was glad to have time to spend with people who had helped me while I was there and to say goodbye. I also tried to enjoy doing things that I liked as a way of saying goodbye to the country where I had spent much of the past four and half years. As I travelled to Seoul and back and spent time visiting the city, I thought about the many things I appreciated about South Korea.

Below is a list of the ten things I most appreciate about South Korea at this point in time (in no particular order):

1. Noraebangs (Singing rooms): I love singing, but was always intimidated by singing Karaoke at a bar. The music tracks at Noraebangs are much easier to sing along to and the small rooms provide enough intimacy to make almost anyone comfortable with giving singing a go. And you can sing whatever you want (I think so anyway). Picture me singing "You spin me right round, baby right round" by myself on my birthday. If this makes you sad for me, don't be. I was having the time of my life! :)

2. Saunas/spas: There's something great about being able to shower, bathe, go in different saunas, sleep and relax all you want all for about $10. My favorite spa is one in Seoul called Spa Lei. It's a women's-only spa, with wonderful white robes instead of the short sets you get at other Korean saunas.

3. Fast service and delicious and healthy food: I keep looking for the button to push on the table when I'm at a restaurant. I was shy to use this at first in Korea (it's like a doorbell that customers use to call the servers), but I really miss it now. Nothing like asking for and getting what you want quickly and efficiently, with hardly any lines or waiting. I have to remind myself to be patient again when I am waiting in lines in Canada.

I also gained an appreciation for "food as medicine" in Korea. I wasn't always able to practice this in Korea as much as I wanted to, but I have definitely made a commitment to eating more healthy food now that I am home and I'm not necessarily being pressured to eat something. I am a much better eater after going to Korea. My mom would be proud.

I recently read a book called the "5-Factor World Diet" and South Korea was included in it as one of the countries' traditional diets from whom we in North America could learn a lot. The picture below shows banchan (side dishes, like tapas, that are usually served before a meal). According to the book, eating side dishes like these helps to slow down eating and reduce portion size, particularly when you're using chopsticks (although I never really saw anyone eating slowly or in a small way in Korea...there's the food--go! ;). Also these side dishes help to ensure that there is a variety of tastes, including sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and spicy (the five-flavor approach often used in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cooking). The picture above is of a savory pancake-like dish made with buckwheat and scallions. The red fermented dish is kimchi and the other side dishes are mushrooms, black soy beans, some soy sauce for the pancake, and some kind of seaweed (I still don't eat seaweed yet so I'm not familiar with the different kinds).

4. Eclecticism: There's a great mix of old and new, of history and modernity, of different styles and ideas being tried on. When people try something on in South Korea, they really try it on. I admired this passion. I guess this is true of many places around the world, but it seemed like there was a focus on promoting old and new and everything mixed in between and that really struck me.

5. Healthy skin and a sense of style and focus on appearance: There are drawbacks to this, of course, like not feeling like you can go out when your hair is all messed up and you are wearing your oldest and most comfy sweatpants. But, there was something about people's concern for their appearance and health that I liked. It made me take care of myself better.

6. Broadband speed and Wifi: Everywhere you go you can access wifi, even in the subway, and...it's fast (like most things in Korea).

7. Safety: I rarely felt unsafe. Maybe this is because there are usually so many people everywhere you go. Also, I could easily tell where and when it was safe to walk by myself. My laptop was stolen from my one-room apartment, and then safely returned in the wee hours of the next morning (through the gaps in the bars of my window while I was sleeping--see picture below). I'm not sure why it was returned--maybe because it had an English O/S and couldn't be sold on the black market? But, regardless, I was happy to have my laptop with all of my PhD data and research on it back. Some people also suggested it spoke to the "honesty" of the thief who stole it.

8. The sea and the mountains: Love having both so close to each other.

9. Public transportation: Reasonable, clean, and efficient. I especially loved the Express Buses, taxis (the ones with the friendly drivers), and subway system in Seoul. Having travelled back and forth from Cheonan to Seoul often, I spent a lot of time on them and really miss this level of efficiency and how reasonable public transit was there.

10. The smiles and passion: This helped me somehow feel at home in South Korea. There's always something happening and people doing it with passion and an openness to trying new things and to change. I appreciated all of the smiles I received and people's intent to connect, which I could sense, even though they might have been too scared to actually talk to me because they thought I was going to speak to them in English.

Goodbye and thank-you, South Korea, and all those I met and who touched my life. Until we meet again! :)

Graduation 2013

On February 23, 2013 I graduated with a Ph.D. in Brain Education from UBE.

Here's a link to an article for an interview I did about my experience doing a Ph.D at UBE (it's in Korean).

http://m.ikoreanspirit.com/articleView.html?idxno=37412

Here's me receiving the President's award:

Thank you to the friends and supporters who were there in person and in spirit. Some of you are in these pictures.

Public Presentation at the 11th Brain Education Conference

On January 13, 2013, I completed the final requirement for my PhD--a public presentation of my thesis. The topic was: An investigation of the factors contributing to life satisfaction and prosocial behavior and the presentation was in Korean. I had help from one of my dear friends and English students, Scarlett, who helped me translate and practice the presentation. I appreciate her, and all those who supported me while I was giving the presentation by giving me their attention and doing their best to follow what I was saying. This was the final requirement for my PhD requirement. The next day I left my one-room apartment and took the bus from Cheonan to the airport for the last time, and headed back to Canada.

Below are some of the presenters (from left to right): Kim Sunha, another PhD presenter; Professor Shim Junyoung; Professor Yoo Seongmo, my thesis supervisor; me; and Professor Seo Hochan.

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.