Traveling Beans

Cheon Saeng Yeon Bun**

**note on romanization: eo = uh, ae = e in "open", u = oo

Cheon Saeng: from God or the heavens
Yeon Bun: ordained, predestined, fate
Cheon Saeng + Yeon Bun: ~ what is meant to be

It is so clear that this was meant to be. At 11 pm I just got back from 4 hours with a group of 6 others and our caligraphy teacher. The past four weeks every Monday we have either gone to her caligraphy school or she has come here to campus where we have done caligraphy in the cafeteria (not during dining hours of course). The OCs (Orientation Coordinators) set up these little "cultural workshops" with local schools, etc. (another group does ceramics on Thursdays). However, our caligraphy group has been especially fortunate.

Today was our last day so we went to the hagwan (private school; in this case, caligraphy school). I brought along my 4 character saying that we were going to write out today. Someone gave it to me right before we left; she said it meant "1000 years, a matchmade in heaven". I thought it was kind of funny and figured I would give it to Kristofer. So when the teacher wrote it out for me to trace and practice she explained that it had something to do with heaven and something decided upon or given from heaven. I figured Karen had been right about the translation and I didn't think anything of it. I just ate the mandoo (steamed dumplings) the teacher surprised us with, and did my caligraphy. When we were done, she took us to her husband's do jang (martial arts school) where he and a group of his students practice the Korean style Kung Fu (Cheon San Mu Yae Won). It was truly amazing. We had our time with him and his students, who were very impressed by and thankful for our comments about how amazed we were by their beautiful, powerful, and fluid the movements were. They said our eyes were sharp and they had not heard comments from regular people with such acute observations. This did not move me as much as when they explained that the martial art is the way the body makes music, like playing the piano.

Then when we left, in my broken Korean (which has helped me help the rest of us survive at various restaurants, stores, our Monday excursions with our caligraphy teachers, etc.) I thanked her for giving us so many experiences that we may never experience again. Then she referred back to my four character saying, Cheon Saeng Yeon Bun, and said it's a lot like that, and that's why she wanted to do these things for us (last week she also took us to a beautiful coffee shop/cottage on this amazing mountain overlooking a beautiful lake and hills). That was when I realized that Cheon Saeng Yeon Bun meant, it was meant to be. She said it was meant to be that we met each other. And it truly was because after she dropped us off, she quickly came into the dorm to show me the online stream of when she and her husband were on a morning news show 2 weeks ago. The segment opens with great pictures of her and her husband--of their wedding, trips they have gone on together--, then she shows some tea tasting, her caligraphy school, and then she does tai chi with some students at her husband's school. And I noticed throughout the segment the titles and words appearing on the screen said something about pursuing what you love. I asked if that was correct and she confirmed and said, "Yes, when you pursue what you want or love that's what will truly make you happy." The news segment must have been how she and her husband have together pursued what they love and are a couple that is equally happy in just being together. Guess it is how it was meant to be.

This is how most of my days go. Amidst the horrible cafeteria food and bathrooms (I guess no matter where you are, dining hall food and dorm bathrooms are not fun!), every day brings a new adventure and new people in my life. Whether it is a 10 minute conversation with a taxi driver who is from the province I will be living in (Mokpo, the south-western province of Jeollanam-do. a port city!), spending time with my caligraphy teacher, reading about resistance movements in Korean History (read about the Gwangju Uprising or read The Kwangju Uprising), I am amazed and overwhelmed at all that I have been learning about life here and my own history.

There is so much that has happened. I wish I had been able to write everyday, but my days have been very full with language classes (taught by professional professors from Korea University), teaching workshops, cultural workshops (on the "Korean psyche", Korean customs and traditions, and others...I will post pages later), Fulbright English immersion camp for middle schoolers, drinking with Kangwon National University students (friendly and wise drinking is one of the main ways to bond here in Korea), eating Chuncheon's famous ddalk kalbi, and more. Kangwon Dae (KNU) is the university we have been staying at, and I have found solace in the various, hidden running/walking paths in the forests and sanctuaries. When I have needed time to be alone from the other 59 English Teaching Asssitants (ETA--that's our title) or to think about whether giving Koreans my Korean name, Kook Hae Won, is a facecious attempt to be authentic (the answer is no of course, and whoever tried to come up with challenging another's authenticity, should just worry about himself!).

Again, there is so much to write about. This is to let you know I am happy, healthy, safe, learning, and still a bit overwhelmed. My initial homesickness is slowly being replaced with nervous anticipation for when I meet my principal, co-teacher, and host family next Thursday, August 18. Send good thoughts my way! I need them! I will begin making different pages for the thoughts, information, and visions I have come across up until now. I did not think I would love it here so much. I suppose the blunt honesty and love people have had for me makes it hard not to love it here. My ignorance, bitterness, and skepticism of Korea and the people is being transformed and rewritten with history, pride, music, art, dance, hangul (Korean), and more. I can't wait to share and write more!

posted by jacquelina @ 2:10 AM