Our group has an interesting combination of individuals and cultures. We have 11 Hmong American students whose families came to the U.S. as refugees after the war in Southeast Asia. Two of the students are Hispanic/Chicana with close ties to Mexico and El Salvador. One is Tibetan. The other 4 are Caucasian but interestingly 3 of their grandfathers fought in the Korean War.
When learning about the evolution of the role of women in Korea many of the Hmong students saw parallels to their own culture and discussed the process of changing social norms and gaining equal status from a very personal perspective.
One of the favorite things about this course has been the interaction with Korea college students and Korean Buddhist nuns who were all about the same age as our students. We spent 3 days living in a Buddhist Temple where bonds were formed and new Facebook friends emerged. Our students began the Temple Stay with some trepidation. It all seemed so foreign and scary. By the time we left there were hugs and tears of parting. For me one of the highlights of the Temple stay was the interfaith dialog that took place both formally and informally. On the informal side there was the devout Catholic student making the sigh go the cross before each prostration and the many chats over coffee between the head Buddhist Sunim, a Catholic nun, a Catholic theologian, and myself (the daughter of Protestant missionaries). During the 4:15 chants each morning there was a Christian prayer offered. Our last evening at the temple the Buddhist and Catholic nuns led a discussion of faith. We were then divided into groups of 3 with one Sunim in each group.
In Gwangju the students learned about the massacre of May 18, 1980. They shared the experience with Korean college students who had close family ties to that event. The Korean and U.S. Students shared rooms in the retreat center, shared beer and chicken parties, and worked together on a family history project geared towards helping them find connections with each other and with the history of Korea. The connections and the learning were amazing. The Korean students were surprised to learn of the 3 grandfathers who fought in the Korean War. Many of them also had relatives who had fought in Southeast Asia and related to the Hmong students' stories of war, refugee camps, and forced immigration. More Facebook friends and tearful goodbyes.
Other highlights included a trip to Peace Life Valley in the Gong-wondo region of the DMZ which included not only a beautiful trip into the mountains and some fun Korean folk tales, but the opportunity to warm up and bond in a Korean style sauna.
Our last stop before returning to Seoul was in Congjeong village in Jeju. Jeju showed a different Korean women's history as well as connections to U.S. Policy in modern Korean history. It combined beauty with sadness and brought many things together for the students.
From the "comfort women" and the plight of North Korean refugee women sold to Chinese men, we heard about historical and present oppression of women. But we also learned about the leadership of Korean women from the Jeju Heonyo to the students and graduates of Ewha.
These young women will return home with new perspectives and new self-awareness. But first they have a few more days in Seoul to shop, play, and reconnect with Korean friends they have met along their journey.
For me it has been a time to learn, grow, and reconnect with friends here in Korea as well as the opportunity to meet new friends and to get to know 18 amazing young women who came along for thus journey.
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