Friday, August 3, morning session - Korean Cultural Center

[Jane Shen]

I am in the middle with mint green shirt wearing sunglasses.

In the Korean Culture Center, I found the model of an Korean Wife's room is very interesting. According to the descriptions, Men's quarter in a house is called " Sarangbang" means " the love room", and the " Anbang" is the name for the women's quarter meaning " Inner ( private) room". Affected by the Chinese culture-Confutious values, it required that the living spaces of men and women to be strictly divided. So the Sarangbang is for men meeting visitors while teh Anbang is for wife's as well as the bedroom for the couple. Noble women were educated at an early age the virtues of women as defined by confucian principles. Women were responsible for all the housework and well skilled in cooking, sewing and weaving.

As for the furniture in Anbang, we can see an elegant designed wardrobe chest and cabinets. There is also a fire iron in the Anbang as well. 

This indicates the passive waiting as a wife to her husband's visit while doing the heavy house work at the same time.

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[Jane Shen]

While comparing the Korean Culture center and the Chinese Meuseum, and also combine with some previous seminars held in the Korean Culture center, I felt like the Korean government is really supportive in oversea broadcast of the Korean Culture, not only finacially but also by sending well trained staffs to guide the field trips like ours.

The field trip is well organized, a video clip to show was made by professionals to show the best of South Korean culture. And the downstais exhibition was made foreign visitor friendly.

While the Chinese Meuseum seems to be more like a private funded. Many of the exhibited items were from family collections. The exhibit show no clues of Chinese government support at all. Still I was amazed that few people funded and preserved the meuseum in memory of the early Chinese immigrants.

[Daniel Horowitz]

I can actually say "I'm third from the right in the back row".

Hi Akunna- I also attended the week long seminar earlier this summer, so this visit was a revisit for both of us. I learned so much about Korean culture during the week I was there. I am including a picture of a Korean wedding I participated in (I'm pretty sure they weren't really married) dressed as the chief of police. The costumes were all so colorful. The entire week was an amazing experience.

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[Anthony Pollard]

     Carissa, I have to agree, I was astonished by the knowledge the Korean writing system was so young. I thought to myself (after having our tour guide and colleague explain the writing system to us) that I would attempt to study the Korean writing system. But then, I realized I would need to actually learn the langauge too.

     On another note, I remember hearing people speaking the Korean langauge, thinking they were speaking the Japanese language, and found it was the Korean langauge. I have been embarassed many times because I starting speaking Japanese to a Korean person, and then having them tell me they were not Japanese, and did not speak Japanese.

[Anthony Pollard]

     I wrote this down "A Nation of Miracles and Wonders", but do not remember why? Can anybody help me remember? Were we talking about Korea, or was that the name of the visual recording we saw at the Korean Cultural Center? I remember learning quite a bit about Korea's location and geography. I have been to Korea, but was not as immersed as I felt by just visiting the Korean Cultural Center. 

     I was able to realize several contribution's to American culture, we might as well say it's been adapted as if it were already American culture. For example, Americans have adopted clothing, style, food, technology, and K-Pop! I learned about a style of paper made from the Mulberry tree; a name I learned was Jeonju.

    Our tour guide gave us one special command, as we took wonderful photographs and sampled technology. She said, "Befriend Korea." 

     

[Donna Jamshidnejad]

I had no idea that we had a Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Around 20% of my students are Korean, I'm sure they would love to take a field trip there. The most interesting part of the tour for me was learning about the Korean alphabet. The mechanics of the alphabet are fascinating. However, I also appreciated the lesson because I am guilty of being unfamiliar with all East Asian script. After our quick lesson, I can now easily see the difference between Chinese, Japanese, and Korean script. I also want to stop by the Korean language class in my school now that I now how easily one can memorize/learn this alphabet. 

[Jessica Rodarte]

I had never thought about American tourism media.  I think you are right in wanting to see some of it.  My curiosity is now piqued also.  A good assignment might be a comparative tourism media assignment in which different groups of kids look at tourism media from different countries, paying close attention to the narratives told and the histories ommitted.  It would make for an interesting exercise in which the students would really get a sense of national narratives, marketing, and the importance of knowing history beyond the textbook.

[Nira Sun]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Honestly, It never really came across my mind about the lack of historical and political information in the video presented at the Korean Culture Center. After reading all the posts here, I really appreacited that Jessica pointed it out. Isn't it a type of so called "soft power" we have discussed in the seminar? The way Korean was presented in the video was biased due to its targeted audiences. Like Natali mentioned, having students comparing promotion videos made in different countries promots critical thinking training among students. I think I will introduce this concept to my students to train them to become indepent thinkers.

[Nira Sun]

I agree with what you said about Korean government supports oversea broadcast of Korean culture. The videos and all the exihibits in the museum are very advanced and organized. All the touchscreens encourage visitors to engage in experiencing the culture. I was able to play around and find out how to write my name in Korean language. I found that very interesting. Althought I might be one of those who will never get the chance to learn Korean language, this interactive media gives me an opportunity to make the connection between my language and Korean one.

In terms of Chinese American Museum, I was impressed with how everything was maintained in an old fashion way. Just like you said, it seems to be preserved by private party instead of government. I am so glad it is still up and running. I do appreciate whoever that ensures this museum gets preserved. It is absolutely a great resource for young generation to have an insight on Chinese immigrant history.

[Nira Sun]

Since you mentioned Hangeul, I remembered a teacher introduced to us how she taught Hangeul in class. She even had a whole set of Hangeul with matching movement. I found that very interesting. I have seen resources online regarding teaching Chinese strokes with matching KungFu Panda KungFu movements. I appreaciated the teachers who invented these ideas. Becasue of these teachers, our students can enjoy learning languages, especially challenging languages.

[Jessica Rodarte]

Ms. Sun, I hadn't thought of soft power in this context but your definitly right.  There's an element of this in the curated history and culture that they are "selling"  It would be an amazing discussion with students.  With a little research, this would be a great exercise for the kids.

[Helen Kang]

I am 7th from the left in the front row.

I teach Korean language in my school at North Hollywood High School and I take my students here every year and they offer a $200 grant to help pay for a bus.

The KCC is not very big and without a knowledgeable docent, the walk-through can be very brief. The docent that met us on this particular field trip, however, was exceptional and I was very impressed with her level of knowledge and her command of information about Korea, its history and culture as people asked questions and she gave very seasoned and complete answers. This has not always been the case sometimes in the last few years.

I do like the fact that KCC is very active in how its venue gets utiized with its free concerts and movie nights that are packed full with artistic and educational contents of S. Korea.

 

[Ruth Hickman]

Hi everyone! I'm wearing the sunglasses and purple scarf on the right, next my new friend Jessica Rodarte! xo

[Ruth Hickman]

I really enjoyed our field trip to the Korean Cultural Center! I especially loved the displays and enjoyed the interactive technologies throughout the exhibit! I have to agree with you Jessica that I too found it very strange to not hear more detailed information on the history and politics given that culture always happens in the context of history and politics. I was hoping to learn more about the politics and history of Korea that I maybe I did not know. I was also happy that I learned more about the landscapes of Korea and about the areas that are now considered Heritage sites, along with the technology work. I too am more curious about learning more information on the Heritage sites and on the technologies being advanced in Korea. We should plan a trip to South Korea Jessica, so we can explore the history in the country and find what secrets we can uncover!

[Juana Evink]

 Today, I was looking at the pictures we took when we went to the Korean Cultural Center. It reminded me that it will be an amazing opportunity for my studnets to learn more about Korea. Sadly, the 7th grade history content standards, barely mention Korea in relation to Japan and China. Yet, Korea has an amazing history, they developed their on language, which is very easy for people to learn. I have had the opportunity to attend a semianr on Korea at the cultural center, and I will love to do it again.

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