Return to Holy Ground

This blog is called All Korea Considered. I began considering Korea in 1979, when I was very fortunate to live, in the provincial capital city of Daejeon. Its Chinese characters mean "Big Field." About 100 miles south of Seoul, you have to want to go there. Guide books have not shown hospitality to the city, as it is not all that attractive a place for many travelers to spend the night. The official flag of the city:

As a young adult in his early 20's, I lived there two years, as a teacher at Korea Christian Academy (KCA), where I started my teaching career. There I taught East Asian History, Social Studies, Elementary Science(!), and was the Athletic Director(!!) and the Women's Volleyball coach(!!!).

[KCA is now TCIS, or Taejeon Christian International School; same school, same mission, claiming the same heritage. See http://www.tcis.or.kr/]

I arrived at KCA with a Master in East Asian History in 1979. When I left two years later, after teaching a course in Christian Theology, in the room (I mean, holy ground) pictured just below, I  headed off to the first of two theological grad schools.

This room is holy ground for me. I was reading C. S. Lewis, Frederick Buechner, and William James at the time, and it became clear from this course that the theological classroom was my future!

KCA is my wife's (Grace Boyer, who grew up in a missionary family in Korea) former school, too. A couple of days ago, 26 January 2013, we both headed down for a great afternoon at both the new campus and the old campus of KCA-TCIS. A memorable afternoon.

We were met by the Assistant Head Ryan Roberts and Alumni Relations officer Ms. Eun Joo Jung at the TCIS campus in Daejeon's Techno Valley. After a great lunch, our tour began (BTW, there are more of such pictures here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.584167527487.2037660.105600820&type=1&l=d94d2a40aa):

Some of the schools that graduates attend:

For TCIS/KCA alums, this is the old scoreboard from the old campus:

A Saturday afternoon of basketball games.

The men's team stretching pre-game.

After our tour of the new campus, we headed over to the old campus, now taken over by the adjacent Hannam University. It was begun as Korea Christian Academy by The Korea Mission of the Presbyterian Church, USA in the 1950s. By the time I got there in 1979, there were about 100 students, K-12. Most were missionary kids (MK's), and many of their parents lived nearby on "Baptist" and "Presbyterian" compounds. A dormitory housed MK's and business kids.

KCA became TCIS in the 1990s, I believe. The school still plays inter-school sports with the American Army Base high schools from Seoul, Taegu and Busan, as well as Seoul Foreign and Seoul International Schools. Until last August, the following pictures depicted the site of TCIS. There's quite a contrast in the facilities, and do forgive this walk down my memory lane. By this point, I suspect only KCA/TCIS-related folks will be reading: (smile)

Much of the area is under reconstruction by Hannam University. On its website, it maps the major buildings here, which we surmise to mean that Hannam will renovate or preserve the buildings. But now, it's mostly a construction mess.

I'll return to words at the very bottom, with some concluding thoughts and reflections.

 Once again: Holy Ground. This is THE classroom where I got saved, FROM a future teaching East Asian History, TO a future in the academic study and teaching of religion/theology. The picture just after that shows the outside of the same room.

 

Why this post? Whenever I "consider Korea," KCA is the lens through which I see this country. There I learned most of the Korean I know, studied there a year of Chinese characters, and started learning how to do this thing called "teaching." I use all three activities on a daily basis here at Ewha.

KCA/TCIS was so formative in my life, and in so many other lives I know ... a crucial, intense time of life-shaping and -changing. It is my "road less traveled" that has "made all the difference." Without it, I would have had different major milestones marking my life since I was 25: marriage, daughter, schools, career. No New York City, no Mars Hill College, no Ewha Womans University.

I am sad the old site of KCA is so changed. When I lived there, I walked through rice and strawberry fields to get to the school. Small houses had drying peppers out front. Now, it's all high-rise and business, and one loses one's orientation quickly. The old KCA site is difficult to find for the visitor.

Maybe there are many alums or former teachers with similar stories as mine! Our sojourn at the school was a clarifying process: We come to know, at a relatively young age, that which we should do! How fortunate to be able to say that!

Thanks for reading.

Till next post.
Marc

A Stitch in Time

Today's entry gets a bit into some of the inner workings of the popular mind, through language. 

But first, I DO have a place for my cats. They are safely in Greenville, SC. Thank you Kathy!

Aphorisms and popular sayings pop up all the time when we are in familiar situations that might require a linguistic resolution. Repeating  a popular wisdom-saying helps carry a conversation, establishes rapport among the speakers, and is - for us outsiders - a way to feel the "cultural wind" in our face of this foreign culture.

A country's aphorisms convey encapsulated nuggets of wisdom to the rising generation. 

"A stitch in time saves nine" or "The early bird captures the worm" is a short-hand way to express thrift or work ethic. And we all nod in agreement.

Readers: Please supply your own folk wisdom in the Comments below. What encapsulated wisdom does this list stimulate from your childhood, and from around the world? 

Below is my own collection of aphorisms from Korea. It is incomplete, some are a bit out of date, and some have resonance in next-door Japan. I hope this list provides the English reader with an insight or two about this nation's psyche. The bold-face is the aphorism, and the italics is an explanation.

1. "Don't try to cover the whole sky with the palm of your hand."
Why deny the obvious?

2. "In a place where there is will, there is a road."
Where there's a will, there's a way.

3. "Beans come out from where beans are planted, and red beans come out from where red beans are planted."
You know the tree by its fruit.

4. "Even monkeys may fall from trees."
Anyone can make a mistake. Often used to keep the arrogant or overconfident in check.

5. "Birds listen to day-words and rats listen to night-words."
The walls have ears. Be careful of when or where you say, because there are always people around that may overhear you.

6. "After three years at a village schoolhouse, even a dog can recite a poem."
Practice makes perfect.

7. "An empty cart rattles loudly."
It is not the advertiser of self who achieves the most.

8. "Even if you know the way, ask one more time."
Do not be overconfident and assume that you know anything perfectly well. There are always unknown or unexpected details.

9. "Well begun is half-done."
[This is what I have heard in English.]

10. "Seven falls, eight rises."
Persistence and resilience in a "tortoise and hare" way.

11. "Licking the outside of a watermelon."
Just scratching the surface will not get you dealing with the real problem.

12. "Even Diamond Mountain should be seen after eating."
When deciding what to do, eating should take priority first. (Diamond Mountain, now in North Korea, is the mountain of legends here.) 

13. "The other person's rice cake looks bigger."
The grass is greener on the other side of the hill.

14. "Fixing the stable door after losing the ox."
Too little, too late.

15. "East question, West answer."
When someone gives an answer which is unrelated to the question. Ships (of conversation) passing each other in the night.

16. "A frog in a well."
A person lacking vision and perspective.

17. "A dragon emerges from a ditch."
The greatest and strongest of people often come from a poor background and humble beginnings. (The dragon often symbolizes royalty or leaders.)

18. "Shrimps' backs are broken in a whale fight."
It's the small people or tiny nations who are hurt during a war.

19. "A small pepper is hot."
Fortitude and toughness to accomplish great things has little to do with size or appearance.

20 "A tiger comes when spoken about."
Speak of the devil...!

21. "Too many carpenters knock over the house."
Too many cooks spoil the broth.

Additions? Comments?