Independence Day in Korea

Today, March 1st, is Independence Day in Korea. It marks the March 1st movement in 1919, when the Korean people declared independence from Japan.

You can read more about the March 1st movement here.

This statue is one of the statues here at the Hanminjok (traditional name for the Korean people) Historical and Cultural Park. It is one of several statues representing those involved in the Independence movement. It also happens to be the only statue of a woman here at the park so I feel a special affinity to her.

Yu Gwan-sun was a student and organizer in the March 1st movement. Having been inspired by the beginnings of the March 1st movement as a high school student in Seoul, she returned to her hometown (in this area) and planned a demonstration for independence. About 2000 people attended. Yu Gwan-sun and others were arrested and her parents were both killed during the demonstration. She was sentenced to six years in prison, where she continued protesting for independence and received harsh beatings and torture.

Yu Gwan-sun died at the age of 18 in prison, reportedly as a result of torture. For many Koreans, she represents the courage and perseverance that, throughout history, helped them to preserve their culture and develop their country despite difficult times. I visited her birthplace, which is located in this area close to the university, last year. And on my daily walks in the park here, her statue is a constant reminder of the courage and strength inside all of us.

You can read more about Yu Gwan-sun here.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/march_1st_movement; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/yu_gwan-sun

Happy Lunar New Year!

I took this picture as I was coming down from hiking the mountain behind our university. Up on top of the mountain, the air was clear but closer to the ground, there was a lot of fog since there is snow on the ground but the air is getting warmer.

Yesterday marked the first day of the new year according to the lunar calendar. Here at UBE, most staff had gone home to spend the new year with their families. This and Chuseok (like Korean Thanksgiving) are the most important holidays of the year for most Koreans. There are usually a lot of traffic jams as people leave the cities to travel back to their hometowns.

Families gather to eat food typically eaten for Sol Nal (New Year), including Ddeokguk (rice cake soup) and have traditional ceremonial rites for their ancestors. Young people also do three bows to their elders who give blessings (spoken and usually in the form of money).

This year is the "Year of the Rabbit" according to the Chinese zodiac. The rabbit is said to signify peace and prosperity. Wishing you all a happy lunar new year with much peace and prosperity!

English Meeting in the Mountains

Last weekend, some of the students from our Brain Education English group at UBE spent the weekend in the mountains.

We met in the town of Mungyeong and from there went to the Mungyeong Saejae Provincial Park and hiked to a cabin in the mountains. That night, we enjoyed good food, music, and conversation with our host, the owner of the cabin (first picture).




The next morning we walked to the nearby falls.




After lunch, we walked to the First Gate and then Second Gates (built after the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 and 1598), of a mountain pass that had once been the main route for scholars travelling from Busan to Seoul for the public officials exam during the early Joseon Dynasty (in the 1400s). Along the way, we saw rest stops that were used by the officials and one of the filming sites used by the Korean Broadcasting System for historical dramas. We also visited the Mungyeong Saejae museum.


On Saturday night, we visited the home of a well-known potter who makes traditional tea bowls. Each bowl is unique, has a name, and a story. We each chose a bowl, heard the name and story of the bowl and then watched the tea-making ceremony and drank the fresh ground tea, which was similar to green tea. That evening we slept at the sauna at the Mungyeong Hot Springs and in the morning bathed in the hot spring water.

The next morning we had our English meeting about one of the tools used in Brain Education, called PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Action)--a tool that is helpful for planning, evaluating and achieving goals.

For more information about PDCA, click here. Click on the PDCA tag, for a series of articles about PDCA and ideas for applying it to your life.

Many thanks go to fellow students--Hee Jeong Kim and his friend for organizing our accomodations and our weekend activities and the other Hee Jeong Kim and her lovely daughter Kum Kang for participating.

Want to Learn Korean? Some online resources...

Watching "Yes Man" my first year here in Korea was good motivation. I was really impressed with how well Jim Carrey could speak Korean even though he probably hadn't really learned it before.

Besides watching "Yes Man" and Korean movies and dramas, I've benefited from a lot of different online resources to help me learn Korean, many of which are free. I thought I would share them here (in no particular order):

Free Resources
Sogang University: Includes lessons from Beginner to Intermediate level and a useful introduction to Korean history, culture, and language. Each lesson includes: a dialogue (usually animated), listening or reading comprehension, vocabulary and grammar practice.

www.koreanclass101.com: A free lifetime account gives you access to audio lessons. Other free resources include "Word of the Day" and Vocabulary lists. You can upgrade to other options.

Intermediate College Korean: This course provides lessons at the Intermediate level, each with audio text, grammar and vocabulary practice.

Seoul National University, Korean Language Education Center: Includes lessons with animated dialogue, vocabulary, and grammar, offering a basic introduction to Korean.

Talk To Me In Korean: Talk To Me In Korean has lots of free video and podcast lessons and PDF files. The lessons are about both culture and language.

Youtube: There are also lots of resources that can be found on youtube, mostly for beginners. Type in "Learn Korean" and you will find them.

Paid Resources
Yonsei University Korean Language Institute: Yonsei online offers six courses from the Beginner to Advanced level. Each course costs $100 (USD), is one month long, and has 20 lessons (one lesson a day five days/week). The lessons take about an hour to complete. Each lesson includes an animated dialogue, explanation by a teacher, and vocabulary and grammar practice.

www.koreanlesson.net: I haven't actually used this but have suggested to others who cannot attend courses and want to have interaction with a real live teacher. It looks like one of the best sites offering lessons by Skype.

Happy Studying! Aja! Aja! Aja!

"Jim Carrey speaking Korean in "Yes Man"

The Prayer of Peace

Yesterday, I was part of a group of people from around the world who read the "Prayer of Peace" to commemorate the first day of 2011.

The Prayer was originally presented by Ilchi Lee, the founder of Brain Education, at the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations on August 28th, 2000.

It suggests that we recognize the Earth as our common home and express the "true nature" that exists inside all of us (regardless of our religion, race, or country of origin) to create peace.

I climbed the mountain behind our university in the morning and read the prayer there. The old fort at the top of the mountain has been opened for visitors, so I had a great view of our university, Cheonan city, and the surrounding countryside.






Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2011 for all!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Prayer of Peace

I offer this prayer of peace
Not to the Christian God
Nor to the Buddhist God
Nor to the Islamic God
Nor to the Jewish God
But to the God of all humanity

For the peace that we wish for
Is Not a Christian peace
Nor a Buddhist peace
Nor an Islamic peace
Nor a Jewish peace
But a human peace
For all of us.

I offer this prayer of peace
To the God that lives within all of us
That fills us with happiness and joy
To make us whole
And help us understand life
As an expression of love for all human beings

For no religion can be better
Than any other religion
For no truth can be truer
Than any other truth
For no nation can be bigger
Than the earth itself.

Help us all go beyond
Our small limits
And realize that we are one
That we are all from the earth.
That we are all earth people
before we are Indians, Koreans, or Americans

God made the earth
We humans have to make it prosper
By realizing that we are of the earth
And not of any nation, race, or religion.
By knowing that we are truly one
In our spiritual heritage.

Let us now apologize
to all humanity
For the hurt that religions have caused
So that we can heal the hurt
Let us now promise to one another
To go beyond egotism and competition
To come together as one in God.

I offer this prayer of peace
To you the almighty
To help us find you within all of us
So that we may stand proudly one day before you
As one humanity.
I offer this prayer of peace
With all my fellow earth people
For a lasting peace on earth.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2010

I thought I would share this video with you...

One of the staff at UBE gave me the lyrics to this song the other day. I remembered seeing the movie based on the real story a few years ago. It's about soldiers on opposing sides who declared their own truce in order to enjoy Christmas Eve together.

For me, it is a reminder of how peace and love can prevail even in the most unexpected circumstances. I think it can definitely happen again!

If It Could Happen Again - Collin Raye

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Here's to having the courage to end wars in our families, workplaces, communities, nations, and around the world.

With love,


Jenny

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If It Could Happen Again - Collin Raye

(Narration: One frozen night in 1914, at the height of World War I, the unthinkable happened: all along the entire western front, the British and German soldiers lay down their weapons, an unofficial cease fire, to celebrate Christmas Eve together. They exchanged gifts, and saw each other as brothers, and that peace lasted for two more days, when they were ordered back to battle. In those few days, though, men remembered the reason for Christmas amongst the devastation, and it's a story that should never be forgotten.)

Through the smoke filled night silence rose from both sides
Across a bloody battlefield
It was a cold Christmas Eve in 1914
To those who were there, it seemed unreal
As time was still the spirit moved the soldiers
To lay down their arms and raise their voice in song
And pretend for a while the war was over

If it could happened then, it could happen again
A world torn apart could join hands and hearts
To celebrate his birth and peace on this Earth
If for one magic night we could find again a reason not to fight
Maybe there's a chance; This time it might last.

As opposing sides approached through broken words they spoke
It wasn't long before they felt at ease
They shared their cigarettes, what they had they used as gifts
They didn't feel like enemies
With candles lit they stood shoulder to shoulder
And on that field they found true common ground
And as they prayed they dreamed the war was over

If it could happen then, it could happen again
A world torn apart could join hands and hearts
To celebrate his birth and peace on this Earth
If for one magic night we could find again a reason not to fight
Maybe there's a chance; This time it might last.

If it could happen then, it could happen again.

EEG and Neurofeedback in the ROK Army

Last Sunday, I was invited to join a class as they visited the workplace of one of their classmates who works for the ROK (Republic of Korea) army. He works as part of the Intelligence Department and his job includes using QEEG (Electroencephalogram) and Neurofeedback, tools used to measure and improve brain activity and function.

Here he is explaining how QEEG works.



Here, I am playing a "bowling" game using neurofeedback--my level of concentration and relaxation determined the outcome of my bowling game. If only I could use this approach in real-life! (I probably can--just never thought about it anytime I bowled in the past). Neurofeedback training is used in particular to help individuals with ADHD and anxiety improve their concentration and relaxation.