Impressions of the Club President
Erin Bingham, July 2001

 
The Setting
The morning I saw the sun push warm fog over the mountains I understood why Korea is known as "Land of the Morning Calm." From the southern tip of the peninsula to Seoul, Korea offered a kind of serenity I've never experienced. I was struck by the simplicity yet majesty of the landscape. Because our group traveled between the universities by bus, we were able to see a lot of the Korean countryside. On the edge of cities where the rice fields began, apartment high rises stood like the neck and high-held head of a lady who defined Korean modesty and beauty. The noise of scooters, delivery trucks and construction of the cities even seemed tempered by the beauty of the countryside.

 
The Training
Before any training was done at each new university, our hosts treated us to a demonstration of martial arts, traditional dance or music—and sometimes all three! As always, the Koreans demonstrated impeccable skill and creativity. I have seen demonstrations by groups traveling in the US, but what became clear in a way that I had not observed was that demos take work! To achieve a performance that makes the impossible techniques seem easy requires dedication and patience.

Each training session began with the American group joining the Koreans to bow in—a sometimes difficult event considering the large number of people. A typical workout began with a warm-up led by a student. The warm-up exercises were very similar to what I've practiced in American schools. The Koreans on average, however, spent less time stretching. The Taekwondo practices included drills for basic kicking, paddles and chest protectors. The sweat poured off us, but it felt kind of natural. There was an awesome sense of solidarity in training with such a large group of skilled people.

I observed that there seemed to be less talking in a Korean training session by both the instructor and the students. The practices seemed to be arranged in such a way that everyone was clear on the format and anticipated what would be next.

 
The Food
Koreans are very generous people—especially when it comes to food. Each friendship visit to a new university included banquets and buffets and our group happily chowed down! Korean meals are a variety of tastes, colors and textures arranged in an eye pleasing way. A few of my favorites included:

• bulgogi, thin strips of beef marinated in soy sauce, garlic, green onions and sugar;
• chop chae, clear noodles;
• kalbi, short ribs; and
• mandoo small dumplings filled with meat and vegetables.

 
The Accomodations
Upon arriving in Korea, we were welcomed by host families who kindly provided a place to sleep for two nights and breakfast each morning. Although the apartment of the host family I stayed at lacked air conditioning, our host mother made my friend Paige and I comfortable by providing a fan and a snack of cold watermelon before bedtime. The Kong Ju University dorms, our accommodations for the next two nights, also lacked air conditioning, but we were provided with fans. After our stay at Kong Ju, the group went to Yong In University where we also stayed in the dorms. (The Kong Ju and Yong In dorms were very much like American dorms.) The floor we stayed on was also recently built, so the rooms were very nice‹complete with mini-refrigerators, air conditioning and TV/VCRs. Having spent most of my time at Yong In sick, I am very grateful that our accommodations were so nice.

 
The People
The workouts made our trip exciting, the food and accommodations made it fun, but the people made our trip to Korea memorable. The Kong Ju University Taekwondo club members helped our group celebrate the 4th of July American-style with fireworks at the dorms and then a night on the town. The group started out an arcade where the Koreans showed their dance moves on Dance, Dance Revolution machines before taking our group to a "no-rae-bang" for a night of crooning in English and Korean. Although the language barrier was sometimes rather large, we managed to form bonds with many of the students we met. Our extended stay at Yong In allowed us to get to know the volunteers who spent five days seeing to our every need. Their sense of humor allowed them to be patient with our attempts to speak Korean and a lot of nonverbal communication was utilized.