담양: 문화와 대나무

이 번 주말엔 최 은영 선생님이 광주 초대 해 주셨다. 아침 10 시 쯤에 여수 시외터미널에서 출발했고 약 2 시간 후 광주의 예술문화회관에서 도착했다.


최 은영 선생님이 예술문화회관에서 태웠다. 그리고 점심 먹으러 갔다. 그 식당은 자연에 가까이 만든 식당이다. 식당을 묘사하기 전에 담양에 대한 한 말을 하면 좋다. 담양은 대나무로 유명한 곳이고 유명한 대나무 축제도 있다. 우리가 점심을 한 이 식당도 대나무로 먼들었다. 식당의 벽은 토벽식으로 설계되었다. 대나무를 와틀로 하고 흙을 다웁으로 썼다.

점심 후에 環碧堂 (환벽당)에 갔다. 이 곳은 무등산에 있고 자연스러운 아름다움을 가진다. 환벽당에는 유명한 선비께서 감정적인 시를 쓰셨다.

다음 곳은 한국가사문학관이다. 가사는 네이버에 따라 조선 초기에 나타난, 시가와 산문 중간 형태의 문학. 가사문학관이 시의 예도 있고 목판도 있고 아주 오랫된 책도 있다. 문학에 관심이 있는 사람은 이 곳이 볼만하다.

문학관 다음에瀟灑園 (소쇄원)으로 갔다. 이 동원은 아주 좋다. 숲 속에 있고 보석 같다. 거기에 갈 때 죽림을 지나 걷어야 하니까 동양의 특성을 느낄 수 있었다. 그런 죽림이 미국에 하나도 없다. 수플 지나 걸으면서 해양이 빤짝 빤짝였다. 작은 폭포가 완전히 언어붙어 있다. 봄에 진짜 아름다운가 본다.

다음 목적지는 무등산 위에 있는 망보는 곳. 그 곳에서 광주를 단번에 알아볼 수 있다. 대전 같이 광주가 크다. 마지막으로 신세계 백화점에 갔다. 최 은영 선생님과 저녁 식사를 했다. 선생님께서 해물 파스타 드셨고 각시가 닭 먹었고 내가 폭립을 먹었다. 폭립이 달콤했다.  식사하면서 서후가 질겁게 놀았다. 
이 번 토요일은 아주 재미있다. 

한국어능력시험을 잘 못 봤다 또는 쓰기의 필요성

지난 주에는 TOPIK 점수를 볼 수 있게 됐다. 4급을 합격 하면 좋겠었지만 68.5% 받았다. 1.5% 더 받았더라면 합격할텐데. 물론 안타까운 것이지. 그래도 단념하지 않는다. 오늘 매우 어려운 프로젝트를 끝냈다. 이 프로젝트는 위기에 처한 언어인 어원어에 대한 연구를 영어로 번역하는 것이었다. 힘들긴 한데 한국어 언어학 용어를 배웠고 김주원 교수님과 함께 일 할 수 있었으니 좋은 경험이었다.

마지막의 TOPIK 점수에는 쓰기가 최저였다. 그리하여 일주일 한번 이상 한국어로 쓰기로 결정했다. 여기에서 언어학의 일이나 생각을 표기하려고 한다. 규칙적으로 한국어로 쓰면 쓰기 실력이 반드시 늘어날 것 같다.

요즘 공부할 시간이 별로 없다. 러시아어와 한자, 한국어 등을 배우려지만 시간을 내도록 하지 않다면 절대 못 배운다. 물론 서울에 간 후에는 공부할 시간을 많아질 것이지만 계획을 잘 만들 수 없으니 성취한 대학원생이 될 수 있을까?

한국어는 다른 언어보다 우선하야 한다. 근래 김주원 교수님께 내 개인 설명을 영어로 쓸 수 있냐고 해는데 한국어로 하면 더 좋다고 하는 답편을 받았다. 게다가 대학원의 강의를 들을 때 주로 한국어로 할 것 같다.

다음 주 미국에 간다. 고기에서는 GRE도 봐야 된다. 이 시험은 아주 무섭다. 왜냐하면 벌써 두 번 했는데 분석적인 쓰기의 부분이 안 늘어났다. 이 번은 아마 잘 보도록 마지막 기회다. 연습 많이 해야 성취한다. 영어로도 규칙적으로 해야 한 것 같다.

성취하기로 마음을 먹었다. 회이팅.

Progressive Superintendents say “Indirect Corporal Punishment of Students is not Permitted”

Four locations in Gyeonggi-do and Seoul oppose the policies of the Dept of Education

An ordinance permitting the use of indirect corporal punishments to students in Elementary and Middle schools has come into effect recently, but the Departments of Education in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do, and Jeollabuk-do plan not to permit this form of punishment from now on.

Department of Education stated that, “the final status of the revision of last year’s Primary and Secondary school regulations agree with the student’s rights ordinance forbidding all forms of corporal punishment in all Gyeongi-do Elementary and Middle schools. In the cases of some principals who chose to continue to have rules allowing indirect corporal punishment by asking permission from their superintendents, they will be persuaded to change this. Since the high-ranking ordinance was revised should it not be fixed to accord with the students rights they asked, saying “Students rights are being reduced from a high-ranking law to a low-ranking one, while at the same time we are getting advice on legislation expanding the scope of the coverage. Since the ordinance also carries legal binding force, if schools choose regulations out of step with the ordinance, administrative and financial restrictions can be imposed.”

Earlier on the 14th, the government opened a cabinet meeting and agreed on a revision to the Elementary and Middle school law ordinance which contained the clause ‘forbidding the use of methods using a tool or the body to cause pain in the body of a student (when disciplining students).’ This ordinance came into effect on the 18th.

But in Seoul’s case, the student right’s ordinance prohibits all corporal punishment including indirect corporal punishment similar to that in force in Gyeonggi-do. This is because the Seoul Department of Education removed the clause permitting the use of corporal punishment in the Elementary, Middle and High school regulations. According to the ordinance the front line schools can bring back the removed clause about corporal punishment, but the Seoul Department of Education is of that position not to permit them. The Department of Education stated that, “In the situation that school regulations permitting corporal punishment are submitted, the superintendant plan to not permit them by using their power to authorize school rules proscribed by the Elementary and Middle school Education Law.

Gangwon-do’s Department of Education recently announced last November a ‘basic proposal on school regulation’ that forbid all forms of corporal punishment and stipulated that corporal punishment is forbidden in the school regulations of all Elementary, Middle and High schools. Gangwon-do Department of Education’s Choe Seunglyong indicated, “every primary and secondary school in the province revised its school regulations to forbid the use of corporal punishment.” Jeollabuk-do Department of Education also recommended the schools forbid corporal punishment in the school regulations. The regulations on school life are the embodiment of the contents related to the human rights and the student’s school environment proscribed in the basic articles of the school regulations.

About this Ministry of Education’s School Culture department said, “the revised ordinance of the Elementary and Middle School education law at its core guarantees the power for the members of the school to choose contents related to student’s human rights in the school regulations. In case the school principals with the agreement of the schools members request permission to allow ‘Educational Punishments’ in the school regulations is out of step with the policy of the Department of Education but it would not be proper to not allow them this. However the Ministry of Education advised that they are not considering separate legal actions against those cities or provinces that forbid the use of indirect corporal punishment.

Movement to Enact Student’s Human Rights Ordinance Seoul Office Assistant Administrator Jeon Nuri pointed out that, “While referencing Educational Punishments, the Ministry of Education should not raising this indirect corporal punishment controversy but instead be giving some concretely applicable plan to guarantee student’s rights.”

Jin Myeongseon Reporter torani@hani.co.kr

Korean is here.

Self imposed ‘Democratic / Human Rights’ rules blossoming in the classroom

Primary/Secondary school Voluntary Activity Idea Award

Class four of Gwangju Yudeok Elementary school’s sixth grade have been busy since last week with the making of the classes rules. Each of the class’ 30 students has joined some departments in groups of six, like the Department of Justice, Department of Education, Department of Culture, Department of the Environment, Department of News. They are freely preparing drafts. The students in the Department of Justice are wracking their brains to come up with punishments to give the students who don’t bring their homework or are chatting too noisily. Some examples are as follows; For 10 days meditate every 10 minutes, For 10 days speak with the teacher after class for 10 minutes, and Go to ten classes and tell confess your mistakes. These rules are expected to be decided upon by next week by means of a class meeting.

Homeroom teacher Im Uhyeon reported, “the children are creating the class rules by themselves, which pertain to what can and can’t be done during class time, classroom order as well as punishments.”

A contest exhibiting these class rules being made at the beginning of the semester has opened in Gwangju. The Korean Teachers Union Gwangju branch request students submit a portfolio organizing the process of enacting the class rules as well as the results between the 22nd and 31st. On the 8th of next month Korean Teachers Union will choose three class rules from the elementary, middle, and high schools and award the nine winners with generous gift certificates redeemable for food.

Bak Samwon, the policy director of the Gwanju branch of the Korean Teachers Union stated, “The contest attempts to impart the wisdom to not offend one another in the classroom but achieve the academic goals. We are hoping for an overflow of ideas on how to reduce the unneccessary friction that occurs with emphasis on the rights of the student. (062)528-0772. Reporter An Kwanok

For four days 250,000 people visited Paju’s Shinsegae Chelsea... Smaller Outlets’ sales down 30 - 40 %

Business district ‘tottering’...”Securing foreign investment is taking the bread off our table”

In Paju, Gyeongi-do, Shinsegae Chelsea Outlet, attracted some 160,000 people to visit the weekend after opening 19th and 20th and achieved certain level of success. Compared to this, neighboring Deokidong located in West Ilsan, Goyang; Janggi-dong Outlet in Gimpo, as well as clothing retailers in Geumchon-dong, Paju didn’t have even half as many visitors as an average weekend. The concern over the downfall of the area’s small to medium sized businesses has been increasing.

When one puts together what interested parties from both Shinsegae and Gyeonggi North-western area outlets have said on the 21st, for the four days following the opening of Paju’s Shinsegae Chelsea on the 17th, 250,000 visitors were attracted to the store. This caused severe traffic jams on Freedom Highway and surrounding streets during the weekend. Contrarily appx. 14 km away, Deokidong Outlet took the hit and customer levels were 20% below average weekend levels. Its sales as well as the sales in stores in Goyang, Gimpo and the area around Geumchon were tentatively said to have dropped 30 - 40%.

As was worried with the construction of Paju’s Shinsegae Chelsea, the small and medium sized businesses north west of the capital have taken a large blow. Without any form of countermeasures, area businessmen have ignored Gyeonggi-do’s attracting investment into Shinsegae Chelsea and the Small and Medium sized Business Administration’s ‘Advice on the temporary stoppage of a business’ opening’, but strongly criticized Shinsegae’s enforcement of the opening. Until the results of the deliberations were released by the Business Arbitration Office, the Small and Medium sized Business Administration advised in temporarily stopping the opening of the business.

Goyang Fasion Outlet Alliance’s president Yi, Changheui stated that “Gyeonggi-do being blind to the attraction of investment, have their hands tied about the collapse of the business district saying we don’t know.” Yi, Changheui asked “if the attration of foreign capital is taking the bread off from the area’s main economic “units”, what value does it have?” On the 18th, some 200 owners of local small to medium sized businesses began to demonstrate, pressing for their right to survive.

Gyeonggi Outlet Alliance’s interested parties said “as per our own investigation due to the opening of Paju’s Shinsegae Chelsea, the sales of some 400 small outlets in Goyang, Paju, Gimpo and other cities in the area northwest of Seoul have decreased by some 37%. If at the end of the year Lotte Outlet is opened in Paju, sales will drop 61% and within 1 or 2 years most businesses will close.”

The governor of Gyeonggi-do, Kim Munsu visited America in September of 2009 and signed a MoU with Chelsea attracting $80,000,000 in foreign investment promising to participate actively. The head of Gyeonggi-do’s Foreign Investment Promotion department, Kim Jinmun stated “In attracting Shinsegae Chelsea to Paju we are expecting about 3000 new jobs and to attract 300,000 customers, reving up the economy of Northwest Gyeonggi-do. Gyeonggi-do does not have the jurisdiction over business arbitration, but by means of private arbitration by those directly involved we are searching for a measure that is a ‘win-win’ for everyone.

The Korean is located here.

Sending Heart Icons to Students is not Sexual Harassment

Court, “Professor sending “heart symbol” to students is not sexual harassment”

A professor’s sending of a ‘heart symbol’ in text messages to his student has been found not to be sexual harassment by a court decision.

Seoul Administrative Court ?? (Presiding Judge Kim Hongdo) stated that there was no evidence that a full-time instructor at a University in Seoul, Mr. A had committed sexual harassment. In this case to reverse his dismissal after viewing the 'heart symbol' along with the intimate everyday contents of the message, declared the dismissal as an abuse of discretionary power. Mr. A was dismissed from his duties last March on account of the charge of sexual harassment.

The presiding judge stated that “Mr. A at Teaching evaluation board request for the revoking of his dismissal the case was decided in the favor of the plaintiff” judging that the professor had in fact sent a message to his pupil with excessive content, but sent messages back and forth with the student containing intimate everyday contents.

The presiding judge decided that the dismissal was an illegal use of discretionary power, because this ‘heart symbol’ is used as a symbol of intimacy with the other party and that even though the content of the messages sent contained expressions like “hug me” there were no sexual motives or intentions.

The school discovered that for three months beginning in November of 2009, Mr. A frequently sent student B texts containing messages like “♥ I think of you often”, “♥ I miss you a lot” and “Until you hug me.. I’m afraid.” At that time the school stated that he had committed verbal sexual abuse and dismissed him last March.

The Korean is located here.

성격, or My First Korean Report

I have been taking Korean language courses at an 학원 (private institute) in Seoul for the past few months. This last month the teacher had me write a paper on personalities. Now keep in mind that this has been corrected and is not exactly the rough paper I wrote but the ideas and the words are mine. It is just the grammar that has been polished.

성격

사람에 따라 성격이 다릅니다. 심지어 쌍둥이의 성격도 가끔 다릅니다. 형은 느긋하고 정중하지만 동생은 성급하고 게으를 수사 있습니다. 성격은 평생 동안 바뀔 수 있습니다. 이를테면, 젊었을 때 성급하다 자란 후엔 느긋해질 수 있습니다.

성격과 관련해서 6명의 사람을 소개하겠습니다. 우선, 저는 내성적인데 솔직합니다. 저는 언어에 관심이 많고 열심히 공부합니다. 그래서 저는 부지런합니다. 제 남동생 '팀'도 솔직하지만 저보다 느긋합니다. '팀'은 긍정적인데 저는 그렇지 않습니다. 제 여동생 '앰버'도 솔직합니다. 우리 어머니 때문에 그런 것 같습니다. '앰버'는 소ㅗ극적이고 외향적입니다. 우리는 형제인데 다릅니다.

제 여자친구는 이정아라고 합니다. 정아는 느긋하고 긍정적입니다. 정아도 부지런합니다. 그녀와 저는 다른 점도 있고 비슷한 점도 있습니다. 학교에는 'co-teacher' 2명이 있습니다. 홍효심과 전효민이라고 합니다. 홍효심선생님은 근면 성실하고 부정적이며 내성적입니다. 다른 한편 전효민선생님은 느긋하고 소극적이고 아주 정중합니다. 이 선생님들은 영어를 가르치는데, 서로 아주 다릅니다.