FUTURE STAR

I love USA school!!

My daughter, Ester, wrote.

2007, August 1st, I moved to U.S.A from Korea which was a big change of my life. I came to America because my mom wanted me to have better education. And really, compared to Korea, U.S has a great education. This is a writing comparing U.S.A and Korea’s education.

Korea’s education is not much to say of. They always study study. Lots of kids play piano, or other instruments, but they don’t care seriously because they have to quit once they reach 4 or 5th grader to focus on their study. Most of Korean students go to institutes after school. Institutes are like small private schools, where you study different subjects relating to school academics such as Math, English, Reading, Writing, and Science. Students usually go to several institutes. Here’s an example: A 4th grader or higher grader would come home from school at about 3 to 4 PM, and go to different institutes until approximately 10 PM or longer. During summer and winter vacation, these students go to institute from 8 AM till midnight. Korea’s institute education is very competitive and serious. In contrast, the quality of regular school is not that good because most of the parents in Korea only care about institutes for their sons and daughters which is why they pay a lot for the institutes. I think people should care more about the regular schools than institutes because the school is where you spend a lot of hours and hang out with friends.

Other side on the globe, USA, has great schools and good education system. The school is huge and the people here are so nice and encouraging each other. But the students here don’t study as much as Korean students do. But, they more involve for other activities like music, sports. Since I have moved to this great new place with a good school, I have been studying a lot more because I have to catch up my English with kids lived here whole life and I found learning is fun. My speaking, writing and reading improved a lot and I am very happy because I think I am doing more than fine at school. I’m proud of myself ^^. It was a good choice moving to USA for good education except for the fact that I had to leave all my friends and other family.

There are lots of interesting things to learn here, but I would never give up my Korean language because that is who I am and my identity.

My Family's Adjustment Journey

In the book Among Cultures by B.J. Hall, one of the models was introduced for understanding the acculturation process called U. In this model, a person living in other country must go through the stages of Honeymoon, Crisis, Recovery, and finally Adjustment process. I don’t believe people go through the same process and the time it takes for them in each of these stages varies dramatically depending on their own situation. Luckily, everyone in my family seems to be adjusting new culture fairly smoothly. Years of prior effort for English acquisition made us acculturate much easier to live in the United States. But, my son, as a teenager, has been going through a unique experience and he adapted to the new culture faster than anybody else to fit in peer group. But the problem is that he seems to be confused with his identity He doesn’t value things he used to deem important as a Korean any more and try to follow American patterns of behavior wholesale. Oftentimes, his newly adopted attitude clashes with the rest of our family members, especially with me. While my son is having a difficult time of his own, I as a mom also have trouble watching my increasingly Americanized son change his attitude so abruptly. In addition, I often have doubt about how to present myself when I have to give him right advices such as “You have be selective in accepting American way while keeping desirable elements in traditional Asian values.” Even when I say this, I know it is not such a good advice to my son, who I am well aware is struggling hard to assimilate to peer group. I have sought advices from my husband and his other family members, my professors, and classmates. In addition to that, I have tried to reach out other parents who are in similar situation to share and exchange our adjustment experience so that our children could grow up to be balanced young adults while taking full advantage of bilingual and bicultural opportunities.

Living in Another Country

My son, Kalvin wrote.

A year ago, I came to USA from Korea. It was the biggest change and an adventure in my life since I have lived all my life in Korea. Change of the language to English was not a big deal because I have learned English in Korea. I could communicate, read and write with no difficulty. I still use Korean at home not to lose my mother language with my mom. The school was the biggest change for me. At my first sight, I was dazzled by the huge High School complex. Once the school year started, I had to adjust to the American high school teenager’s life. Many things were new for me. Moving class to class is one of the challenges I had to deal with from the first day. I started playing sports and music in school, which is not offered in Korean schools.

I do not think I would have done anything differently to get through my adjustment in USA. But, it did take a long time to adjust to this new country and I did have many mistakes, such as not properly dressing up for the band concert. I have only few experience of wearing a tuxedo in Korea, and I did not take it serious when the band conductor said I needed a white college shirt and a black tuxedo jacket. Living in another country can be difficult with a lot of surprises, but once you adjust to the host country, you get to appreciate the positive side of America and it will help you grow.

Korea Education

The following article is taken from The New York Times. I think it fairly describes the educational problems in Korea. Every parent is concerned about the obsession with sending their children to prestigious colleges and paying enormous sums to get them through foreign (in many cases U.S.) education. In this nation of almost 50 million people in a landmass no bigger than the state of Indiana, the economic pie is limited which necessitates fierce competition. For this reason, the people’s energy doesn’t seem to be directed to productive use and instead wasted in unnecessary endeavors http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/world/asia/27seoul.html?scp=31&sq=korea%20education&st=cse

Seaweed Soup

Koreans have long enjoyed the health benefits of seaweed soup, called mi-yuk gook.

In Korean culture, seaweed soup is considered a must for pregnant and nursing women, as eating seaweed is an effective way of stimulating healthy breast milk production.

Seaweed is also given to students, usually without fail on the night before an important exam, as seaweed is believed to support optimal brain function.

If you have access to a local Korean market and can find the variety of seaweed used to make mi-yuk gook, give the following traditional Korean seaweed soup recipe a try - it's an acquired taste for some people, but once it sticks, don't be surprised if it becomes a staple in your kitchen.

Ingredients:

Ingredients (enough for 3-4 servings, ready in 15 - 20 minutes)
35g dried brown seaweed (Miyeok)
70g sliced beef shank
2 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp soy sauce (soy sauce for soup only)
1 tbsp Korean sesame oil
4 cups water
1/2 tbsp sesame oil and 3 sprinkles ground black pepper - to season the meat

DIRECTIONS
Soak seaweed in water to cover. When soft, drain, and cut into 2 inch pieces. Heat a saucepan or pot over medium heat; add beef, sesame oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and a little salt, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in seaweed and remaining 2 tablespoon soy sauce; cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Pour in 2 cups water, and bring to a boil. Stir in garlic and remaining 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Loving Denmark Even More

September 1, 1996, I arrived in Aarhus to begin a one year term of post doctoral study at the Universitets Kemisk Institut. Little did I know that the place would dominate my life until I began work at the factory in the spring of 2005.

My arrival was a great big “best of times, worst of times” moment. My advisor was the smartest man alive today, the Swedish mathematical physicist Jan Linderberg (his work will never be recognized with a Nobel prize, as committee member Ole Siegbahn has been feuding with him since forever). The six month Danish night arrived two weeks after I did, plunging me into a hell of cold and damp and deprivation of light. The people are kind and content and super-duper nice. The national language (five major dialects dividing the five million citizens) is a mish-mash of archaic German with Old English, belched with a cake of hot potato lodged in the back of the throat. The streets are peaceful, any time and every where. Houses are small, if comfortable, and the furnishings spare.

Denmark is the nation that gave us Kirkegaard and quantum mechanics, the perfect way station in the life of an idealistic theoretical wandering mendicant bachelor scientist. That happy aspect kept me going in the dark days of the Scandanavian winter, when the loneliness of a new job on a distant continent was threatening to crush my very soul. In the fullness of time I made a happy circle of friends, became comfortable in my new surroundings, and made time to reflect upon recent experience. Two principle lessons floated up from the Danish murk:

There is a time table for adjustment to new cirmumstances.

In my case the pattern is six months of seeing what I expect to see, eighteen months of ripping the scales from my eyes, and a lifetime of dealing with the place as it is. In retrospect I can see this dynamic in all of the major changes in my life: Lenox, Cambridge, Salt Lake City, Aarhus, Buenos Aires, Niskayuna, marriage.

As much as you know that it will be hard, You never imagine that it could be THIS hard.

No matter how hard you plan, something unexpected always rises up to disturb the process. That is no excuse to slack off on the preparation phase (proper planning prevents piss-poor performance, as they say, and failing to prepare is preparing to fail). That is a motive to cultivate an attitude of calm in the face of catastrophe, of balance and poise, a studied indifference to the insults and rewards of happenstance.

In light of my experiences I would have made a few changes in preparing myself for the move. I would have made a stronger effort to practice a few polite phrases, as a gesture of respect to my hosts, but would have abandoned all fantasies of becoming proficient in the short time available. I would have been quicker to let go my expectations of how things ought to go, based on my native experience, and more open to observation of local expectations. Above all, I would have made a greater effort to maintain and cultivate my contacts in the Old Country: both as a means of support in the present and as an aide to my eventual return.

As much as Denmark is a peaceful, happy, prosperous kingdom, the memory of which I treasure, my home is here with my family and my country.