Seodaemun Prison & History Hall

Seodaemun Prison was built in 1907 for anti-colonial (AKA anti-Japanese occupation) activists and was used for that purpose until 1945 when the Japanese left. The prison was then used by the Korean government till 1987. In 1992 it was dedicated as a history hall and a part of Independence Park. (see blog post here) The first stop on your self-guided tour once entering the compound is the exhibition hall, which gives a brief overview of Korean history as it relates to the jail, mostly anti-colonial activities. There are some relics of the prison, original pieces of wood, an old guard chair, handcuffs, things like that, on display. There is one room in which the the walls are covered with the mugshots of people who (I assume) died in the prison. 

A panaromic of one wall.

Communicating with neighboring
cell mate by tapping.

The next building is the former office center of the jail, which you walk through as it is connected to the cells for better control (that's what the sign said). There are several jail cells open for you to go in and view, though some cells are still 'occupied'. There was one cell in the solitary confinement area that once you walk close a sensor is triggered and a holographic type guy starts screaming. It was a bit startling. There are quite a few things in the jail to give you a touch of the creeps. The torture areas are also recreated, some with a little too life-like mannequins.

You can't see because the bar is blocking it, but
there are fake blood stains on the table.

 Next there were a few ancillary buildings, nothing of note. There was a memorial, then you get to view the execution center. As you can imagine, quite a few people died from the torture or simple privation, but apparently there were numerous others executed. It's a wooden building surrounded by a tall brick wall with what appears to be a judging area, and a noose. The building was built much later, so I assume it used to simply be a gallows within the brick wall. There aren't any details in English, so you just have to guess at how all that came about. Nearby is a what used to be a secret tunnel the Japanese used to remove the bodies from the premises. You can look, but cannot enter.

There is a separate small building that housed the women.  A memorial from the inside:

It was an interesting trip, more so than I expected, and even my daughters must have found it somewhat captivating as there were no complaints of "I'm bored!".

Jail cells with Inwangsan in the background.

More thoughts: The myth of elder respect

Asian cultures in general are widely believed in the Western world to revere their elderly. After our extended time here, I don't see this. In a very small way this is true, but not in the way that most Westerners think. There are reserved seats on the subway for elderly. That's about it. The biggest way I see 'respect' given is that no one speaks out when the elderly act like total jackas**s to everyone else. Keep in my mind, we're not talking about frail old people. Most Korean elders are quite robust, at least the ones that get out and about - which makes sense since they are out and about. Getting around in Korea always requires some walking, so you can't be sickly and get around. I often think how difficult it must be to be handicapped in Korea. When we first moved here I used a stroller fairly often, and I noticed quickly the lack of wheelchair accessibility that we have in the States that also makes stroller usage easier.

Back on topic, let me give personal examples. I have been in the subway when an elderly lady slipped on the stairs. Not a single Korean even paused to look, much less help. The American friend I was with stopped to help her get up and walked her the rest of the way down the stairs. Another time, and elderly man with a cane got on the subway and when the train jerkily started before he could sit, he slipped. Not a single Korean on the subway bothered to even question him, so I helped him up and to a seat. I have a few more personal examples, but at the risk of self-aggrandizing, I'll stop with those two. What I have witnessed is elderly Korean people violently shoving and pushing their way to the front of a line or to a seat simply because it is expected that they are to be 'respected'. I had an elderly woman try to rip my hand from my daughter's in order to shove through us to catch the subway before the doors closed. She physically (and emotionally) hurt my child! I have to ask, What happened to human respect? Are we not fully human and deserving of personal respect until we reach a certain age? At this old age are we then granted permission to treat everyone else as less than human? For every one instance I have seen of someone genuinely respecting an elder, I've seen 1,000 more of an elder taking advantage of their privileged position.

Basically, this elder respect idea has been abused by many of the elderly. And I think that has led to many people to superficially 'respect' the elderly because they have to follow a certain code. True respect is virtually non-existent in this situation. Respect is not just demanded here, it is forcefully taken, and therefore, in my opinion, there is no respect at all.

Suwon Hwaseong Fortress

The impressive, and mostly reconstructed, Hwaseong fortress in Suwon has long been on my to-see list. I was finally able to go! The verdict: I enjoyed it immensely, the rest of my family, one in particular, not so much.

My husband, NOT enjoying the fortress.

The fortress walls are 5.7 kilometers around, and my plan was to walk the circuit to see the outer walls. Inside the walls, most of the are has been built up into modern Suwon city, but there is still a palace museum. Since I've seen all the palaces in Seoul, and viewing it from the outside this one didn't seem any different, we decided to start with the walls first and go back to the museum palace if time allowed. Time did not allow (we were starving!) so all we saw was the fortress walls, which is what I really came for anyway. If you're interested in the history, you can read more here. I'll just let the pictures do the talking for this post. (Quick Korean lesson when reading the names: buk = north, nam = south, dong = east, seo = west, mun = gate)

Hwaseomun with seobuk gongsimdon in background

artillery post

Janganmun

on the walls of janganmun

janganmun from the side

banghwasuryujeong pavilion

hwahongmun over Suwon stream

seonodae

Education Musings

I thought since we were leaving Korea soon, now would be the time to share my opinions that I have developed over the last (almost) four years of living in Korea on certain cultural topics that I find worth pondering. This post will be about the Korean education system versus the American.

As a parent who home educates, I have a different starting point of view than many others I'm sure. However, I did grow up in American public schools and attended both a private university and a public university, so I have some insight to the American education process. While in Korea, I have tutored a few students ranging from kinder age to teenage in English and have gained some insight into a teen's point of view of the Korean education system.

One thing I feel you must know: Koreans calculate age differently than Americans. Koreans count the time in the womb as age, and depending on when in the year you were born, the age of a Korean child is different than an American child born at the same time. (I don't fully understand how they calculate age myself.) So while a Korean may say they started school at age 6, to an American they would really be 4 or 5.

As an introduction, I'm going to describe a typical Korean student day. Keep in mind that Koreans start school - not the daycare Americans pass off as pre-school - at the age of three. Saturdays usually involve extra classes and homework time. Koreans attend school 240 days a year (my number may be slightly off).
Leave for school around 8, school until 3 or 4, then home. As they get older (6 -7) more extra classes get added on at hagwons. Pretty much all boys take taekwondo, or there may be music lessons or English and/or Chinese classes. As they get older, there will be extra math classes. By the time they are 13, they are at school or extra lessons from 7 in the morning until 8 or 9 at night. High school students then have homework until midnight or so, then repeat. High school in Korea is the time to prove yourself. College in Korea is all about building your Rolodex so to speak. College is less about the academics, and more about making connections. Those connections are what get you the job. I've heard from a Korean college graduate, that college is basically a vacation compared to high school. Obviously, this is a blanket statement, and not every college and degree is like this but the majority are.

I've noticed in America there is an idea that the Asian system of education is better due to test scores that are frequently cited as statistics of proof. I strongly disagree with this idea. I can't speak for all Asian countries, though I suspect they operate under the same methods, but in Korea, education is a lengthy process of continued memorization. While this certainly has a place in the education system, it should not be the main focus. Conceptual understanding is not important in the Korean system, the student need only regurgitate the right answer on the test. I'll give a real person example. I have an American friend whose children go to an international school in Seoul, where a large majority of the students are Korean. This school, run by Koreans, is actively trying to move away from the Korean memorization system. If it is so effective, why are they fighting the cultural tsunami to change it? They give a math test, tell the children to show their work. The Korean students answer correctly, but cannot show their work. They cannot show the conceptual understanding of how they came to an answer because all they did was memorize. How does knowing an answer, but not knowing how you got there, aid in problem solving for future work? As a parent who educates my own children, I can see this at work. I could teach my daughter simply to memorize the multiplication table and she would 'know' multiplication, but I don't just have her memorize the facts. First, I teach her what multiplication is, then I teach her the lengthy way of calculating an answer, then I teach her to memorize the multiplication facts. At the end, she know what the concept of multiplication is, not just an answer. It's why your math teacher in eighth grade never let you use a calculator. So, Asian students study hard for a test, excel at choosing the right answer, then forget it all because they never learned the concepts behind the answer. (Not unlike many tests I suspect any reader of this post has taken.) Compare the difference between an artist and an architect. An artist can draw a beautiful house, but he could never be trusted to construct it like an architect. He doesn't have knowledge to conceptualize the inner workings to make the house real.

Another brief point, Korean students must never question the teacher. This would violate the sanctity of the classroom and create a revolutionary change in the foundation of society! I'm being dramatic, but not so over dramatic as you might think. Simply put, thinking outside the box is not encouraged. Creativity is not encouraged. You are to do exactly what the book says, no questions asked. At the risk of getting offensive, I'll omit details, but trust me when I say that every time I leave my house, the desperate lack of critical thinking in this country is glaringly displayed. As an authority figure, having no one question you can have benefits, but questioning the establishment or bucking the 'we've-always-done-it-this-way' mind set is what leads to the major changes of life. That is what led to the invention of the wheel, a heliocentric solar system, the abolition of slavery, pre-sliced bread! In a society where everyone just goes along with what they are told, what do you think will happen?

I have been reading Fareed Zakaria's book, The Post-American World: 2.0 (which I would recommend to anyone) and he addresses the issue I'm discussing in his book. Mr. Zakaria was born and raised in India, a country whose educational style (at least when he attended) he describes in his book as very similar to what I know about Korea's. He presents numerous statistics as to why simply comparing test scores does not prove at all that American students are learning less than their Asian counterparts. He recounts how Singapore, the top math scoring country in the world, sent researchers to a school in Virginia to examine US teaching methods, and came away impressed by the students ability to vocalize questions and  their active engagement (as opposed to a teacher lecturing silent students who are only intent on taking in what is being said to recite for a test). Har Hui Pen, from Singapore's Hwa Chong Institution said "...you can see students are more engaged, instead of being spoon-fed all day." Zakaria writes "While America marvels at Asia's test-taking skills, Asian countries come to America to figure out how to get their kids to think.", then provides paragraphs of information and statistics to back this statement up. The now-former Singapore minister of education made this statement in a speech discussing his country's and America's systems: "We know how to train people to take exams. You know how to use people's talents to the fullest." You're referring to Singapore, not Korea you say. What does all this have to do with Korea? "While the American system is too lax on rigor and memorization - whether in math or poetry -  it is much better at developing the critical faculties of the mind, which is what you need to succeed in life." (Zakaria, p.193, italics added) The systems are the same, I think it is safe to assume the same conclusions can be drawn. Great test scores do not equal great intelligence or superiority of educational system. The results come from what happens when that education is put to use in society. Let's compare America's political and economic power to 'the rest', as Zakaria calls it. While in current times it may be comparatively waning, it is still far stronger than any other country. That comes from applied education, not stellar test scores. I could go on with nationalist sentiments, but I think the point is made. The results of post-education productivity speak much more forcefully than a survey of eighth-grader's test scores.

The one area I do acknowledge the Koreans and other Asian societies excel in the academic arena is parental involvement. This is good and bad. Good, because the parents take the time to be actively involved in their child's education albeit in a very different way than American parents would. It is bad because they also take their child's school performance as a way to measure their family against others. It is bragging points for their ability as a mother, not for the child's ability as a student. The student becomes the standard bearer for the family. This is a lot of external pressure for a child, versus an internal desire to achieve. This same pride is what causes the parent to push their child into so many extracurricular activities. Not to benefit the child's education or personal growth, but for the mother's benefit to brag. For example, why would an American parent hire a private tutor to teach their child a foreign language? Usually, in order for the child to learn because of the child's expressed desire. The students I tutored were there simply because their mom wanted to tell her friends that she had hired an American tutor. This is fact, not conjecture on my part. Once again, I'm making blanket statements, but generalizations are called that because they are generally true. (Side note, I keep referring to singular child and not plural children. Most Koreans only have one child so that they can focus all monies and attention on that one child to prove the family honor.)

I know there are those who disagree with my assessment, and that's okay. Yes, there are negative things about the American system as well, notably a lack of respect for teachers from the student and an undermining of the teacher by the parents. However, I refer to my statement previously made: the results speak for themselves.