"A Journey
to Breathe
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Over
the three days of our journey we visited
many places related to Korean culture but
unfortunately because of a lack of space
it is rather difficult to give a detailed
description of everything we saw. However,
I would like to mention one place, where
I could feel the unique atmosphere of Korean
history. On our second day, we toured the
Yangdong Folk Village, where we visited
the birthplace of the famous Confucian scholar
Yi Eonjeok of the Joseon Dynasty. In my
opinion, the tour of Yangdong Folk Village
allowed us to experience and see up close
how people actually lived in the past. The
explanation about the historical meaning
of this site was given by a descendant of
this scholar. In spite of the fact |
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Listening to the words of this man
so full of patriotic sentiments who was able to realize
his destiny to preserve the culture of his ancestors
for the benefit of future generations, I felt a deep
respect for this country. I believe that a country with
such patriots as Mr. Yi will, in the end, in spite of
the difficulties it may have, find its own way to happiness
and prosperity.
As I have already mentioned, during our journey we had
an opportunity to see many interesting places that must
be visited by everyone who comes to Korea and we were
given general historical information, which can easily
be found in numerous books, articles or Internet sites.
But besides this, we also received something else which
cannot be found in any book. What I mean is that this
trip gave to all of the Korean Foundation fellows the
chance to visit an area outside of Seoul and to observe
life in a Korean village. I think that everybody will
agree with me that the true culture of a nation cannot
be found in the big industrial cities, where everything
conforms to world standards. The true breath of the
culture can be heard in small remote districts, where
farmers still use cows to cultivate the land, where
the air is clean and where the mountainous landscape
is not covered with smoke. A journey to the countryside
is an opportunity to closely observe the ways of life
of local residents, to become familiar with the smells
there, to glimpse their traditional way of thinking,
and in short fully experience traditional lifestyle.
Finally, I would like to underline one more important
thing: the international character of the Korean Foun-dation
programs. By meeting and communicating with people living
in different cultural environments, whose everyday lives
and ways of thinking are so vastly different from yours,
you discover much to talk about. Usually, after meeting
someone the first question you are asked is about the
your impressions of Korea. It is interesting to talk
with people from countries all over the world and appreciate
how they learned to accept and adapt to the Korean environment.
In such cases you get a chan-ce not only to become closer
to these foreign cultures, but also to compare them
with yourself and to refresh the views of your own country
and your own personality. When you try to compare the
way of thinking of different nations, you automatically
analyze your own mind as well.
When I returned to my room after this trip I was full
of impressions and feelings. At that time one interesting
idea came to my mind. To speak in general, exceeding
the borders of the trip, I can say that by visiting
Korea I have been able to experience not only Korea
itself, its language and culture, but also to acquire
knowledge about many countries of the world and take
advantage of this opportunity to look inside my own
soul, which helped me understand myself as a small but
meaningful part of the huge world.
July 24, 2001
Seoul
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