“Because you’re foreign…” Western, White and English privilege in Korea
*Note: This post chronicles my own experiences with privilege in Korea as a White, American female. I am NOT speaking for all White people, females, Americans, Westerners or even Koreans. I nervously sat among my classmates in a holography class at the Korea National University of Arts in February 2009. A few days earlier, I’d...
Instagram as a visual diary
Seoul, South Korea: Buddha’s Birthday lanterns. Love it or hate it, call it photography or not, there’s something romantic about Instagram. Captured spur of the moment with a smartphone, these digitally-enhanced, square-formatted images are both visually appealing and a great tool for documentation. For about a year, I’ve been uploading photos on Instagram, and in some...
Spring festivals in Korea: the Jindo Sea Parting and Butterflies
Last weekend, I walked across a parted sea wearing thigh-high rubber boots, chewed on wiggling octopus tentacles, and saw a baby wild boar poop on a guy’s t-shirt–all within 24 hours. With Adventure Korea, a budget travel company catered to foreigners, I traveled to Jeollanam-do, Korea’s southwestern province, to attend two annual spring festivals. On...
“I think Shaw is an outright bigot.” Encountering trolls on the internet
I don’t really want to write this, but I feel like I owe it to myself. Yesterday, an anonymous woman ardently bashed my recent Glimpse story, “Riding the white horse: On being foreign in Korea,” by twisting my words and failing to comprehend the meaning behind the narrative. She concluded her irrational argument with, “I think Shaw is an outright...
Riding the white horse: On being foreign in South Korea
KEVIN, my Korean co-teacher, had an idea for our open class. “Let’s make a motivational video,” he suggested. “I’ll ask, ‘Would you like some more?’ you’ll say, ‘Yes, please,’ and after we repeat this a couple times, you’ll stuff your shirt with balloons. When you stand up to clear your tray, you’ll look really fat!” “Really,...
Biking around Upo Wetland, strawberry picking, and experiencing my own funeral
Last Saturday, I embarked on a weekend trip to the southeast province of Gyeongsangnam-do to bike around a famous wetland, mingle with other travelers and teachers, pick fresh strawberries and visit a festival celebrating the Daegaya Kingdom. Once again, I traveled with Adventure Korea, a well-established tour company catered to foreigners and travelers in Korea....
Dear Dahae,
A few weeks ago, I was catching up with a friend who I’d met while studying abroad in 2009 at the Korea National University of Arts. As we were eating slices of Turkish pizza, I casually mentioned my former roommate Dahae. Much to my surprise, my friend suddenly responded, “Oh, she died.” I held my...
From city to country
I climbed onto the Seoul-bound bus in Inje. The only seat remaining was next to a pimply teenage boy leaning his head against the window. He avoided my gaze, reluctantly removing his backpack from the seat and placing it on the floor beneath his feet. It was summer. My friends and I had gone rafting...
A peek inside a Buddhist sculpture studio
Over the past few years, I’ve attended an array of lantern parades and festivals throughout Asia, filled with skillfully-crafted floats and lanterns. I snapped the photo above at the Buddha’s birthday lantern parade in 2009, and ever since, I’ve been curious as to how these massive, fragile works of art are created. Surprisingly, I happened...
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