Have Lots of Babies --> Make Korea Proud

One of the things I like best about the SNU program is how we are learning about the history and culture of Korea while we are learning Korean. As a 교포 (a Korean living abroad), I have always felt that I lacked so much knowledge about Korean history/culture and I'm glad to be able to get mini lessons during class.

Last week, one of our chapters was titled 출산율이 떨어지고 있어요 (The Birth Rate is Decreasing). I've read about South Korea's birth rate and how it is decreasing at a dangerous rate. It's a big enough problem that the Korean government is launching a campaign to raise the birth rate and one of the ways it's doing this (other than by cutting work hours to increase the birth rate) is by creating propaganda. This is all information that I already knew about. What I did not know is that the Korean government has a long history of using propaganda to encourage/discourage Koreans from having children. Here's a brief summary of what we learned in class:

1960s (birth rate = 5+ children per family)

많이낳아 고생말고 적게낳아 잘키우자 (Instead of having lots of kids and suffering, let's have few and raise them well)

This was after the Korean War when Korea was still a poor nation. It was not possible for most families to feed 5 children. Also, it was really important for families to have at least one son in the family to continue that family's name. Since women technically "left" their birth family when they got married, only sons could continue the family name. Thus, families would keep having children until they gave birth to a son. This practice combined with the poverty of post-war Korea meant that there were many many starving daughters in Korea.

1970s (birth rate = 2.65 - 4.1 children per family)

딸/아들 구별말고 둘만낳아 잘기르자 (Don't discriminate between daughters and sons. Let's just have two kids and raise them well.)

The government was still trying to lower the birth rate and went as far as to designate the ideal number of kids. It also wanted to put an end to the practice of having daughter after daughter until a son was born. My teacher says that during this time, if you had more than 2 kids people thought you were 무식해 (ignorant). People would ask "how many kids do you have?" and they would get embarrassed and respond "oh, we have kind of a large family..." The wealthiest, most educated families would only have one or two children.

1980s - 1990s (birth rate = 1.59 - 2.83 children per family)

둘도 많다! (Even two is too much!)

지구가 두개라면 해결될까요 (Would [the problem] be solved in there were two Earths?)

Self-explanatory.

present (birth rate = 1.15 - 1.17 children per family)

엄마! 아빠! 혼자는 싫어요... (Mom! Dad! I don't like being alone...)

하나의 촛불보다는 여러 개의 촛불이 더 밝습니다 (Many candle lights are brighter than one candle light)

Now the birth rate is too low and from what I understand, people blame it mainly on two things: 1.) the high cost of education and 2.) the increasing number of 맛벌이 부부s (couples where both the husband and wife work) and DINKS (double income, no kids = married couples that have no kids).

The first reason is the main problem. Starting as early as elementary school children get supplemental education after school. Whereas American kids might be learning how to play an instrument or playing sports, Korean students are studying English, math, English, art, English, etc. It is a huge financial burden for parents and one of the most-cited reasons for not having more kids is that a couple cannot afford to pay for another child's education costs. It's to the point where families with 3+ kids are assumed to be wealthy (and they're right most of the time) because that means that a family is able to afford 3 childrens' education costs. Also, if people find out you have more than 2 kids in your family, they will say that you have a lot of Korean pride or are "doing a great service for the nation." I wish I could remember how my teacher phrased that in class because I actually laughed out loud. But I guess it's a big enough problem that 2+ kids = service to your country.

The second reason is a relatively new phenomenon since women have only been working for a few decades now. The DINKS (yes, this is a real word people use in Korea and my teacher said it and looked at me as if she expected me to explain what it was since it was in English, but obviously I had no idea what that meant) are a rare breed of 맛벌이 부부s that both work but don't have kids, usually because they'd rather just enjoy life than share their income with a third person. Personally, I don't understand how two people could think this way. But hey, to each his own ... I guess.

Anyway, I hope that was informative and the tiniest bit interesting. To be honest, my entire class fell asleep during this lesson. I, on the other hand, thought it was so cool how in learning about the history of the birth rate of Korea I was able to learn so much more about Korea's changing social norms and how the implications of children have changed throughout the years. Either that, or I just really like babies.

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The English Have Got Nothing On Us

도자기 (ceramics) and 차 (tea). Two things that have always been present in my life but held little significance. In the states, I think of ceramics as things I look at in museums and tea as a drink that requires hot water and a tea bag. In Korea, 도자기 is not just something to admire from time-to-time, but a part of daily life, and 차 is so much more than just hot water and tea.

For 3 generations now (I think) my mom's side of the family has produced 도자기. When I was younger, I never thought twice about the cups, dishes, and vases that decorated many of my relatives' homes. Furthermore, I didn't like to sit down and drink tea with the adults because the whole process just seemed unnecessarily long. A lot of boiling, rinsing, dipping, cleansing, and repeating. In other words, really boring.

When I returned home this summer, I was struck by how different everything seemed. Each piece of ware was such a work of art and the process of making and drinking the tea always puts me in a tranquil state. The top floor of my dad's house is actually just a room that was supposed to be shared by my sister, Lydia, and me. Since we don't spend all that much time at home even when we do visit Korea in the summer, it's been turned into a tea room. I don't mind at all, actually. I love it. We drink tea there now and I plan on doing it as often as possible while I'm in Korea. Our room is nothing special since it's just something my dad put together while we were away, but here are a couple of pictures I took while my dad and I had morning tea one rainy day. My great uncle who actually makes 도자기 lives right across the street and has the most exquisite showroom. Maybe next time I'll take pictures? If I remember my camera, that is ...

So if I remember correctly (which I probably don't) you have to first boil the water. Then you pour it into the teapot and then pour the water out (to clean the inside of the teapot). Then you put more hot water into another bowl and use wooden tongs to dip each cup into the water (to clean the cups). Then you put the tea into the teapot, pour water into it, and then empty it (to rinse the tea which might have dirt on it). Then you pour water into it again and then this time you can actually drink the tea. My dad says the Japanese have too elaborate a process and the Koreans have too simple a process. I don't know though ... I wouldn't necessarily call Korea's process "simple."

Absolutely adorable, no? Chopstick holders.

This is for The Reds!! (Plus, I just really like this cup) Speaking of The Reds, though, did you guys watch the game yesterday? (Of course you did)

KOREA PLAYED AMAZINGLY / I LOST MY VOICE SCREAMING BUT THAT'S OK / I'M KIND OF IN LOVE WITH 이정수 BUT SO IS HALF OF KOREA (jk like all of Korea because basically all of Korea watched the game yesterday) / IT WAS AN AMAZING DAY TO BE KOREAN

My dad says this was some Chinese emperor's cup. I don't know if I believe him, though :P Nonetheless, it's a beautiful cup. It's not actually ceramic, though. My dad told me what it was, but as always I have forgotten what he said.

Daddy, mommy, and baby. Not really, but still I thought it was adorable.

Tea from 1318? Pretty cool. You know what else is pretty cool? People used to bury tea in the ground and then build homes on top of it. This was for two reasons: 1.) the longer tea is buried in the ground the better it tastes 2.) the buried tea could only be retrieved if they wanted tear down the currently house and build a new one, and by then the tea had been in the ground for long enough that it was pretty valuable (and could fund the new house-building).

Obviously most Koreans don't drink tea like this. There are likely more coffee shops in Korea than in the U.S. and Koreans really love their cafe culture. But you can still find those in Korea who practice this type of tea drinking. Unfortunately it's mostly the older generations that cherish such practices as younger generations continue to look to the Western world to set trends (and how easily influenced the younger generations are by trends). As Korea continues to progress as a developed country, I hope that Koreans don't forget about the charming traditional customs that are unique to Korea. If anything, I know that this tradition of tea drinking will always hold a special place in my heart and I will definitely try to have a tea room of my own when I'm older. When that happens, you are all welcome to come join me for tea if you wish :D

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In Korea

I'm finally here! I don't really know what to say, though ... My trip here was nothing special. Sleep, eat, read, watch movie, and repeat. My dad picked me up and we went to eat 자장면 at the same place we always go to after he picks me up at the airport. They make the noodles by hand and it is literally the most delicious 자장면 you will ever eat in your life. This is a picture from last summer, but you can see the 아저씨 who makes the noodles. I love you 아저씨 who makes the noodles.

Then we went to the supermarket to buy some things before heading home. So basically, the 자장면 was the highlight of my day.

Tomorrow the room-hunting begins (aka I still haven't found a place yet and classes start Monday ... oops). A couple of girls from my program have decided to get one-rooms together in the same building so that we can have each other nearby but still have our own rooms. That way I won't be too scared (I am the biggest 겁쟁이 in the world) but I don't have to worry about getting some weird roommate I've never met before (only Meaghan will do).

This post has taken me almost two hours to write because I am simultaneously watching 신데렐라 언니. This will not do. I will focus now my attention on what is more important. One more episode and I'm off to bed so I can overcome jetlag in one night. We'll see how that goes ...

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