August 2019 "Speechgrass"

There's lots of beautiful places near my new school,
like 연희동 (yeon-hee-dong) above!
 I think I'll have a good time exploring this area.

I finally left the countryside for good this month. It surprised me how sad I felt to see the familiar buildings pass by without any idea when I'd return to them. It's not like I was leaving my dream city, but I made good memories there and have always hated starting all over. I liked knowing what I was going to do every day, I liked going to the same restaurants and cafes, and I liked getting comfortable enough with people to share more than pleasantries. Now I'm once again a stranger to everyone and they're a stranger to me. At least I get to be here for 18 months, but I'm already dreading when the clock strikes midnight and I turn back into a pumpkin. (That's how the story goes, right?) When can I skip to the part where I'm an old grandma who's lived in the same neighborhood for 50 years?

But I'm complaining too much, aren't I? Change is hard but I've moved somewhere I really want to be to do something I really want to do, so compared to some other times in my life my satisfaction level is relatively high. I'm also confident this place will become familiar in a few short months. Yonsei University is surrounded by popular districts filled with shops, entertainment venues, cafes (my favorite), and restaurants I'm hoping to become a regular at.

About a 30 minute walk from the dorm is a secondhand shop where
 I finally bought my first English book in a year! I feel guilty when
I don't spend my time either studying Korean or studying culture
 so it took some will power to bring it to the check out counter.

Now on to the interesting stuff!

Korean Word

독후감 (dohk-hoo-gahm), when translated into natural English, means "book report." However to memorize it quickly I broke it down into the three characters which each have individual meanings of their own. 독 carries the meaning of reading, 후 carries the meaning of after, and 감 carries the meaning of feeling so in my head I read it as the after book feeling which is such a cute way to think of a book report!

What I'm Reading

For those of you who read my earlier newsletters you might remember I received the first Harry Potter book translated to Korean for Christmas.

The artwork is cool too!

When I first opened it I had no idea what 90% of the words meant, even after months in the Korean language program. It was discouraging to even look at so I hid it away on my bookshelf for the better part of a year, only bringing it back out after graduation. I can't say it's an easy read; I feel like a kindergartner trying to read a big kid's book to prove to myself how smart I am (which isn't super far from the truth). Harry Potter sounds like it'll be easy but it's full of difficult adjectives I've never studied and fake words I assume are unknown Korean ones until I can find nothing about them in the dictionary. However, I'm proud to say I've finally struggled through the first 2 1/2 chapters! *distant cheering* Since I've already read HP (many, many times) I can figure out where I am in the story from a few known words, so understanding the content isn't difficult. I can also compare how English sentences or phrases tend to be translated to Korean, and I hope by reading it I'll get used to the way grammar's put in practice. So even if I don't look up every unfamiliar word (and I don't because it would take forever) I'm still learning a lot.

Another way I'm working on Korean is through watching a drama I've already finished but this time without any subtitles. I mentioned the show One Spring Night last week, which I watched in English because I didn't want to miss any dialogue, but now I'm watching again so I can further familiarize myself with everyday conversation and hopefully begin to imitate it. Ideally I'd watch it AGAIN even after the second round, which sounds swell to me. I'd probably watch the drama again anyway but now I can call it studying.

Though I want to sound more like a local, I do think there's something really special about speaking in new and often awkward ways...

What I'm Thinking

...When I first studied abroad in Korea I fancied myself pretty special indeed because I could read hangul (the writing system) and knew some key phrases here and there, but in reality I had no idea how to form complete thoughts or understand more than 5% of what people said. That ego is still something I'm trying to shake off.

Because I thought myself so grand I accompanied a friend to her Korean bible study, hoping if I didn't understand I could just sit there and listen. But the group members were incredibly kind and tried really hard to include me by translating most everything into broken English. Hearing them talk about God or Jesus without any of the Christianese I'm used to hearing was really refreshing and stuck with me. ("Christianese" is the word people us to refer to the unique religious phrases Christians use in casual conversation, such as "this was such a blessing," "on fire for God," "the lord works in mysteries ways," "put this in God's hands," "mountaintop experience," etc, all terminology tossed into even non-religious conversation.) Many Christianese phrases are so overused their original meaning runs hollow. At it's worst they become nothing more than conversational fodder, but obviously Christianese isn't the only culprit of over-familiarizing language to the point of ineffectiveness; in any language plenty of phrases become so commonplace they're more like rituals, such as, "have a good day," followed by the automatic, "you too." Or, "have a good meal," also followed by the automatic, "you too," which leaves many customers feeling sheepish as they exit the drive-thru.

Olga Tokarczuk put it well in her essay for Korean Literature Now titled How Translators Are Saving the World, "It becomes an act of courage to recall a word or an idea from outside that system (of ritualized language), or to pronounce aloud a truth that is apparent though not accepted by the system. Amongst the system’s adherents, the collective language gradually becomes so obvious that it is increasingly used reflexively, words being emptied of their meaning, contexts growing too threadbare to be recalled. This sort of language turns into what is known in Polish as “speechgrass,” meaning language that’s simply there, that communicates nothing in particular, that can only be a ritual, a shouted slogan. Ideas without contours, suitable only for chants."

Though the above passage paints a negative view of the ritualized language system, I long to be part of it. Using it would distinguish me as an insider, part of the same group. Unconsciously, it may alert people I have a similar upbringing and similar values despite my foreign looks, removing one of the many barriers I have to "fitting in." 

But for the time being I'm not there yet, and until I am I hope by using awkward expressions native speakers won't be frustrated but rather pleased to hear something said in a new way. 

What I'm Listening to

Last month I wrote at length about what artists I'm listening to, but with all the moving I've been doing and meeting up with friends I've just been enjoying songs I already know. This I wanted to share a couple bands that have impressed me for a while:

The Rose

• The Rose I don't remember how I discovered this band but I'm glad I did. The music has a soft rock vibe and the lead singer's wispy vocals are unique and really beautiful. Their first single was named one of the best Korean pop songs of 2017 by Billboard, but I'm more of a fan of the second. They're both super great though!
• 어른아이 (adult child) I discovered this band (which only has two albums that I know of) through the 2007 k-drama Coffee Prince. This is FAR removed from the pop genre, and best listened to while drinking a cup of something warm in a room lit by candles and while cuddling a cat. 
•  새로운 노래 (New Songs) Again I'll include the link to my new song playlist on Spotify. It's mostly Korean music with a few others tossed in.

What I'm Watching

As mentioned above the only Korean drama I'm watching is One Spring Night (still highly recommended). Instead of beginning new shows I've focused on decreasing the 70+ YouTube videos I have saved on my "to-watch" playlist. (No matter how many videos I watch the list ALWAYS hovers around 70. Guess I gotta marathon it one of these days.) Here's a list of my favorite channels and a short description of each.

• 온도 (Ondo) A Korean vlogger who posts quiet videos making food in her cute apartment, visiting cafes, making gifts for friends, shopping, and so on. She includes subtitles in English and Korean.
  
• 조싀앤바믜 Josh & Bamui These two make fun workout videos to mostly kpop songs. My friend Sophia introduced them to me and I gotta say it beats sit-ups. ㅋㅋ
• Asian Boss This channel has interviewers throughout East and Southeast Asia who explore current issues or interesting subjects. They have videos with topics ranging from a man in Japan who married a hologram, to transgender women in Thailand. Many of the interviews are conducted on the street, so the views expressed are hardly representative of the entire population, but it's still a really interesting resource if you're interested in different issues around Asia.
  
• Future Neighbor A Korean recipe channel that always makes me laugh and crave delicious food.
• Sophia imo_Korean Auntie My friend started her own cooking channel! Her food is really good and she's super sweet herself. 

Extra Photos
On a Jeonju visit with a friend of mine! This lake was filled with pink lotuses, but the day was a bit uncomfortable because of the humidity. Thankfully it's mostly gone now and fall is on the way!

 How one goes out when it's too hot to fix one's hair and makeup.

 The last week at church I'd ben attending during language school. Though I sometimes had issues with the church everyone was so kind to me throughout the year, and even gave me a Starbucks thermos before I left!

Some gifts from my friend from Oman. I'm going to miss these lovely people.

Enjoying one of our last meals together: Jjimdak! (찜닭)

Korea and Japan relations have never been great, but now they're going through a trade war that's arguably grown out of remaining hurts from the colonial period. Cities and even our university in made signs like the one below encouraging most Korean people to ban Japanese goods. Some places are even giving discounts to those who can prove they've cancelled plane tickets to Japan. One of my professors says relations are worse now than they've been in decades.

The sign reads:
'Don't go' 'Don't buy'
Let's protect the sovereignty of the Republic of Korea!

Food time! Seafood udon at a restaurant that opened RIGHT BEFORE WE LEFT. Ah, 아쉽다.

Enjoying some café time and using up all the film in my camera.

Our last night together. :'(

I stayed with my friend and her husband during my two homeless weeks before the dorms at Yonsei opened. During that time they were so kind to not only share their food and home with me, but also take me on trips around Seoul! This lovely library is in COEX mall, and though it was a prime place for pictures it was much too loud and crowded to get proper reading done.

With the gang from an English speaking church I went to as an exchange student and visited again while staying nearby. It's an hour away from Yonsei though, so I'm debating whether I should find a closer community. But I'm very thankful for this group and would love to at least visit!

Just your monthly dose of awkward English! I don't find this a great example of using language in a new way to give it some life, but it does make me smile.

This was just a funny thing that happened while reading automatic translations online. Even the classics can't escape the havoc of google translate!

Here's some cafes I went to this past month, and one home pic because my friend's French toast was too lovely to leave out.

Orientation was on August 27th and I was so excited I couldn't even take a proper picture.

 마무리까지 읽어주셔서 감사합니다! See you next month!