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Vera ChiuWill Xi,Jinping's "China Dream" and governing power be crashed through the outbreak of recent global pendemic? Will China consider switching or at least reforming its government system from one-party Communism to a pro-democracy or Western country's open socialist government? Perhaps throgh this horrible experience, when China's is considering unification with Taiwan, should China consider a step-by-step peaceful and "learning" approach with equality and respect to Taiwan?
Vera ChiuHi everyone! I am a Mandarin teacher used to teach K-12 in the U.S. My parents moved from China to Korea around1940's. They both went through Korean War. My Dad and his family went through China's Cultural Revolution. I had the opportunity to listen to many stories that my parents had gone through. I was born in South Korea, stayed in Korea until high school in Korea's Chinese Overseas School, immigrated to the U.S. with my family, lived in the U.S. for over 30 years, and now moved to Taiwan. I am gratful for USC's U.S._China Institute programs. While I was in the U.S. I attended the "Asia in My Classroom" program. Because of this program's inspiration, I had been using one film per year for each Mandarin level, and incoporated many lessons that I learned there into my Mandarin lessons. I am looking forward to learning about contemporary China with you.
Vera ChiuI only know bits and pieces how South and North Korea were divided when I heard from people who actually suffered from and witnessed Korean War. It was great to hear the entire history of how the armies were pushed all the way to the South end, then pushed all the way to the North end, then got divided in the middle of Korea, roughly on latitude 38N at the current line at DMZ. My mother was in elemantary school in her 2nd grade when she went through the Korean War. She had to walk on piles of the dead bodies when she fled. My grandmother used to tell us a lot of war time stories of what she had to go through. We still feel very fortunate that my mother'sfamily was not divided between the two Koreas like thousands of other families had been divided or killed. The post war recovery was not easy, either. After fleeing from the war zone, when they went back to their home, they had to face how to chase out the people who occupied my grandparents' home. Not only legal actions had to be taken, but also had to mobilize neighbors using forces to chase them out.
Even after staying in Korea for over thirty five years or so after the war, before we left Korea, every other month we would hear the news that the South Korean government caught spies from North Korea or discovered heavily armed tunnels connecting two Koreas prepared for another attack on South Korea. Fearing to face another Korean War, my parents decided to immigrate out from Korea when I was in high school. Another thirty plus years had been passed. The tension between the two Koreas intensified even more.
Vera ChiuHi, Everyone,
Currently I am staying in Taiwan teaching Mandarin Chinese. I spent most of my childhood in South Korea before my family immigrated to the U.S., and just in recent years my husband and I moved back to Asia again in Taiwan. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to join this forum. I look forward to learning this great topic, Two Koreas, with you all!
