The Marines Have Landed

North and South Korea never signed a peace agreement and are still technically at war.  This necessitates a strong presence in this country by the US military to help keep the peace. We had heard there was a small U.S. Marine base near Pohang.  Our congregation at Handong International Congregation was delighted to have 3 Marines visit our service a couple of weeks ago from that base.  We had a chance to meet them and invite them over to our home for lunch after service this past Sunday.  Susan prepared her pot roast for the troops with homemade bread and salad.  It was exciting to hear over lunch their stories about the Marine Corps as they've traveled the world serving our country in hot spots such as Iraq and Afghanistan.  One's father was a pastor, another's was a Youth Camp Director and the third has been deeply involved in music ministry (part of well known Christian rock bands) before joining the Marines. (The last one found our church over the internet and started listening to the services with his wife even before coming to Korea.)  We all sat around a table enjoying the pot roast as they shared memories of home and God's goodness.  By the end of the afternoon we'd pretty much adopted all three into our family and look forward to helping them explore Korea.  One expressed that the Koreans made him feel more welcome than any of the dozens of other countries he had visited.  Listening to them share how they came to be deployed in Korea and comparing it to the circumstances that brought our family to this far off land caused all of to feel a very special sense of God's purpose being worked out in our lives.  Two of the men have a wife and children at their homes in North Carolina.  Susan and I sensed our time together helped soften their feelings of separation from their loved ones for just a a little while.  They told us stories of the difficulty of using snail mail to communicate with home before Skype and Magic Jack made it so easy to pick up a phone and call.  Now if one of the kids needs help finding a hammer, he can pick up the phone and make a local call to dad in Korea.  All us had a special sense of God's direction in these difficult times, His love for the Korean people and the special place of Handong University in helping to carry out the great commission in our generation.  I have a deeper appreciation for the sacrifice our military men and women make to serve our country in these far off lands.

Korea and Kite Flying Season

Susan has mentioned over the years the fascination that Koreans have with flying kites.  She informed me that winter is kite flying season in Korea (where our city of Pohang has the perfect combination of winds and blue skies.)   Daniel and Robert got kites for Christmas and were anxious to try them out.  Surprisingly, I hadn't seen any Koreans flying kites over the five months we've been here.  I asked some students about this national past time and got quizzical looks in response.  Then one remembered that their "grandparents" liked to fly kites.  Mystery solved.  Susan had memories from her childhood of children and adults flying kites (she left Korea when she was nine years old.)  Obviously things have changed since then.  Still, Daniel and Robert had a lot of fun flying their kites on the new athletic field and a number of students stopped to watch.  Imagine my surprise this afternoon when I looked out our apartment window and saw in the distance dozens of kites and lots of kids running around.  I walked over and saw two fields filled with school kids all running, laughing  and flying kites.  Apparently they had built the kites as a school project (we have an international elementary and high school on campus) and they were out enjoying them in the afternoon breeze.  From all appearances, I'd say that kite flying simply skipped a generation or two.

Ken Chinn

Christmas Eve in Korea

Mark and Elysabeth arrived in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, bringing the entire Chinn family together this year.  Who would have ever imagined this a year ago?  Our family wanted to find a way of serving this university that has brought so many blessings to our family over the past 4 months.  During this winter break from school there are many international students who have no where to go for the holidays.  These also include many Korean missionary children whose parents serve in many foreign lands.  We are constantly surprised by the number of missionary kids here at Handong University.  Susan and I decided to serve all these students by inviting them over for dinner on Christmas Eve.  We made a Costco run and laid in a supply of chickens to roast in the oven along with mashed potatoes, creamed corn, homemade dinner rolls and lots of fresh salad.  We weren't sure how many would come, but were surprised and delighted when close to 60 students crowded into our apartment for dinner.  The food multiplied like fishes and loaves with some additional supplies rapidly defrosted from the freezer and a bit of help from another faculty family.  Everyone got seconds and thirds with students sitting and standing everywhere imaginable in our little apartment.  It seemed like we had a cross section of the world for dinner.  the students were clearly delighted and so were we.  After dinner we all headed over to join in the Christmas Eve service on campus.  Several faculty families were asked to take turns leading the congregation in carols and took turns reading various portions of the Christmas story.  Our family was asked to sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing and then read a passage from Luke.  It was so much fun for our family and the kids did a wonderful job singing and reading their portions of the scriptures.  After a time of worship and scripture reading, Pastor Young Ho gave a wonderful message pointing out that all of scripture is part of the Christmas story.  Although it was icy cold outside, the warmth we all felt at the end of the service made a perfect ending to a very special evening.  It was a Christmas Eve our family will always treasure.

Ken Chinn

Hapkido Kids

I don't know why judo, tae kwon do, and karate are almost a rite of passage for many young boys these days.  Perhaps it is all the energy at that young age that needs a constructive outlet.  When I was a kid, your Dad, with the possible assistance of other adult male relatives, schooled you on the fine art of self defense.  These lessons usually including the purchase of boxing gloves and, if you were lucky, possibly even a real punching bag.  Here in Korea, Daniel and Robert are each taking hapkido (also spelled hap ki do) lessons three times a week.  Hapkido is a distinctively Korean form of martial arts that focuses on self defense.  Lessons include physical training, tumbling, disarming opponents, deflecting blows and rendering an opponent unable to continue an attack through the use of leverage, kicks and other forms of striking.  The boys are taking lessons along with some of their friends here at Handong.  Mary simply wasn't interested though one of her girl friends is also taking the classes with her brother.  Daniel wasn't interested at first, but decided to tag along and watch - just to make sure he wasn't missing something.  By the end of the lesson he had joined in and was hooked.  Susan is enthused about the classes because so much of the teaching is centered on respect.  Daniel and Robert recently tested for their first advancement and proudly traded their white belts in for yellow ones.  I'm happy they are learning some self defense, but not surprised to learn that Robert's favorite times in hapkido are the games they play on Wednesdays.  That little guy seems to have fun 24/7 no matter what he is doing.   I think one of the main attractions are the totally cool ninja style outfits they get to wear.  Below are a couple of photos of our Hapkido Kids.

Ken

Double Digits

Today we celebrated Robert's 10th birthday.  Well, actually, we started celebrating it yesterday.  Elysabeth started this tradition by extending her birthday celebrations for up to an entire week.  Yesterday's festivities included a trip to the theater to see the new Hobbit movie.  We originally planned to see Wreck It Ralph.  That didn't work since American children's movies in Korea are dubbed rather than using subtitles.  Young kids can't read subtitles.  The kid's Korean isn't yet good enough to follow the dubbing.  So we elected to see The Hobbit: Unexpected Journey instead.  Since it isn't a kid's movie, there is no dubbing.  Subtitles aren't a problem since you hear the English dialogue clearly and hardly notice the subtitles at the bottom of the screen.  Mary didn't want to go because her earlier movie experience with The Lord of the Rings was scary.  With some coaxing, she agreed reluctantly to be see this movie.  I made a point of watching her from time to time during the show.  She was as absorbed as the boys.  The boys were exuberant afterwards and Mary allowed that is wasn't the worst movie she had ever seen.  If it matters, Susan and I both thoroughly enjoyed it.  It will be a blockbuster here in Korea.  The local 8 screen multiplex theater devoted 5 of its screens to this movie.  After sharing a tub of popcorn flavored like cracker jacks (do they do this in the US?) during the move, we set off for McDonald's for some dinner.  The kids ordered Chicken McNuggets and Susan slipped across the street for some kimbap (Korean burrito with rice and vegetables.)  Dad settled for a Big Mac set (set is the Korean term for a combination.)  Today we continued the birthday celebration with home made french dip sandwiches, home made birthday cake (delicious, but no threat to Jeannie Scott's wonderful creations) and opening his present (a remote control toy helicopter) and a surprise extra present of a BB gun from one of his buddies in the faculty housing.  The helicopter has been flying around our apartment for much of the evening.  Robert's had 5 pieces of his birthday cake, and the BB gun will wait until tomorrow for play in the woods.  Susan will rehearse her "don't shoot your eyes out" speech tonight to have it ready for the morning.  In the midst of all this celebrating, we managed to slip in a trip to downtown Pohong to join with others from our fellowship and another local church in singing Christmas carols for the shoppers as they walked by.  Somehow the little guy manipulated us into still another surprise birthday outing in the next week or so.  All in all, a pretty good haul for a very happy 10 year old.  Mom and Dad are pretty proud of the little guy and delighted he had a very special celebration of his special day.

Ken

Cake baked by mom, frosted and decorated by the kids!

Korean DMV

In Korea it is easy to get along without a vehicle.  Their mass transit system is very efficient.  Buses, railways, subways, taxis and planes take you most anywhere you want to go at affordable prices.  Here at Handong the school shuttle system complements all the other transportation by running a route into town every half hour.  Still, for a Southern Californian who grew up in a culture where the car is king, there is a sense of a loss of freedom.  This loss is particularly noticeable when it's dark and cold and you're waiting for the shuttle bus to come by as the snow is falling.  As convenient as the transportation system is, it always seemed that a trip into town took 3-4 hours.  So, when another professor who is moving in January put the family car up for sale, we were very interested.   We purchased their 8 passenger Kia minivan with a diesel engine.  Part of our agreement is that they keep using the car until January, but it feels good to have wheels again.  

Like California, you must have insurance to register a car.  A phone call took care of the insurance.  The professor friend called his insurance agent who, in turn called us.  I gave the agent the information he needed over the phone and had my insurance company in the US email a declaration that we had no claims on our auto policy over the past 3 years.  Susan was able to pay for the insurance through a direct bank transfer using an ATM machine (surprisingly, we can even use this feature to transfer money directly to our US bank account, though it doesn't work the other way from the US to Korean accounts.)  After confirming payment, the Korean agent emailed the declaration page from our new policy and gave me a call.  He cautioned me to be careful to never follow a taxi in Korea while driving.  Taxis are allowed to stop anywhere to pick up a fare.  If you have even a minor contact with a taxi, Korean law (undoubtedly influenced by a strong taxi union) requires the taxi driver be taken directly to the hospital and he is given at least a month off of work to recover.  All this has to be paid for by the insurance company - hence the lecture to the new policy holder.  Another interesting tidbit gleaned from the insurance agent is that, in Korea, you can park illegally as long as you put the hood of your car up and move within an hour.  I would think this is designed for vehicle breakdowns, but the law is broad enough to allow this even if there is no breakdown.  Why must it be moved within an hour?  That's because every insurance policy includes roadside service.  If you car breaks down, you simply call roadside service who will respond within 30 minutes.  They change tires, provide 3 liters of free fuel and will tow the vehicle up to 10 kilometers at no cost if necessary.  So, in Korea there is no need to be disabled on the side of the road for longer than an hour.  Pretty efficient system.

Now that we had the insurance, it was time to transfer the registration at the Korean Motor Vehicle Department.  It's located on the ground floor of the local sports arena, next to the playing field.  My guess is that, with land at a premium, it makes sense to use the stadium during the week for government offices.  The attendants in the office couldn't have been more helpful.  Susan did the interpreting and the professor friend accompanied us to make sure all the paperwork was in order.  My job was to sign a series of documents written entirely in Korean.  I have absolutely no idea what the documents said.  This probably seems odd, but in my experience is entirely normal for foreigners here in Korea.  I love old stuff, and was delighted to see that Korea allows you to use a seal instead of a signature on documents.  The seal is red and has your name inscribed in Korean.  You dip the seal into a sponge like pad at the  government office and then affix the seal to the document.  I NEED ONE OF THESE.  What a nice 18th century affectation!    The professor had one of these and its now on the top of my Christmas list.  Susan paid the transfer tax and we were on our way within a half an hour.  At the Department of Motor Vehicles In California, assuming they weren't closed that day due to the budget crisis, we'd still be in the first line at the information desk waiting to ask which line we go to next.

Below are couple of photos of the new vehicle.

With Apologies to Lewis Carroll

The time has come the walrus said, to talk of many things - of snow and sleet and and semester's end, of dynasties and kings.

Winter has officially arrived.  Last week we experienced both snow and sleet and much more snow today.  Of course, with the snow falling, the kids hustled through their work, declared home school out of session and it was time for snow play.  Tonight is 3 degrees below zero Celsius, and tomorrow will be 3 degrees colder.  Normally this would be a night to huddle inside, but we had tickets to Miso II, Silla, The Land of Gods in the city of Gyeongju.  It is a nearby historic city where many of the ancient kings of the Silla Dynasty are buried.  The fall semester is over and exams are graded and it is a night to celebrate.  So we slipped and slid down the hill to the shuttle bus and joined a bunch of students and faculty on their way to the performance.  After an hour and a half on the bus, we arrived at the performance hall.  To our amazement, and probably because of the inclement weather, our group was almost the entire audience for the performance.  There must have been 50 dancers on the stage with incredible costumes, lighting and music - especially the Korean drumming.  We were mesmerized by what we saw.  Spoiler alert - the young likely future king dies in the end, sacrificing his life for restoration of the 3 kingdoms.  It felt like we received a command performance suited for royalty.  For those adventurous enough to come to Korea for a visit, this performance is one of many places we'd love to take you to taste the Korean culture and history.

Graduation is tomorrow for the law school and we have the honor of having Chief Justice Roy Moore from the State of Alabama as our commencement speaker.  Those who follow the culture wars in the U.S. will probably remember the judge who was removed from office a number of years ago in Alabama by a state bar ethics committee for refusing to remove the 10 commandments from his courtroom.  In Alabama the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is elected.  In one of the few bright spots from the last election, the people of Alabama returned Judge Moore to his position as their Chief Justice.  I am looking forward to meeting this man of conviction who was willing to lose his position rather than submit to an unconstitutional demand.  

Ken "the walrus" Chinn

Snow!  A view from our living room balcony.  Off in the distance, several students made a 4' plus snowman.  He's still standing the day after.

The snow started falling while we were in town to pick up a new pair of glasses.

 Miso II was fantastic!  The musical was beyond our expectation.  Even the little guys enjoyed it. 

Thanksgiving pictures and video

Mark and Elysabeth joined us for Thanksgiving 2012.  Elysabeth made a short video of the trip to Pohang.  Scroll down to the end of the pictures of her most recent post on her blog.  Enjoy!

Susan

http://sansborders.blogspot.kr/

Thanksgiving Irony and a Mystery

I'm starting to get a bit confused over holidays.  Our kids assert that all holidays in the US and Korea are holidays from homeschooling.  What is it about these little rug rats that makes them so adept at bold assertions that adults find somehow logical and surprisingly compelling?   Perhaps it is the attraction adults also feel to the idea of "doubling up" and celebrating two sets of holidays.  Thanksgiving in Korea is a perfect example.  What is not to like about avoiding the traffic jams, crowded grocery stores and the stressful silliness of "Black Friday" in America while enjoying the wonderful benefits of a holiday still centered on the idea of giving thanks for God's bountiful blessings.  We had a wonderful time sharing overflowing tables at a traditional Thanksgiving feast with a multitude of new friends among the ex patriot community of professors and their families here at Handong University.  Americans, Canadians, Australians (I don't think they have a Thanksgiving holiday, but are happy to join us in celebrating ours) and even a student or two joined in the progressive dinner at three homes.  

Stuffed and ready for a nap at the end of the evening, I searched for my shoes among the dozens piled up at the entry to one of the professor's homes (shoes aren't worn inside in Korea.)  Spying an extraordinarily large pair of brown shoes that must have been mine, I put them on and started on my way home. The shoes didn't feel right on my feet.  I figured an evening of wandering around in my socks and a full stomach must have changed the shape of my feet.  Upon closer inspection after arriving home, I realized they weren't mine at all.  I had worn someone else's size 13 brown shoes home.  I quickly sent Daniel back to the party to return the shoes and find my missing pair.  Thankfully he arrived just as another professor of my stature was searching for his shoes.  Still, after checking the piles of shoes at all three homes, Daniel returned having failed to find mine.  One of the hosts of last night's dinner sent out an email to the faculty this morning  explaining that a pair of very large brown shoes were left at the party and wondering how someone had managed to find their way home, shoeless, in last night's cold.  There's also a bit of irony along with the mystery.  I can't help but wonder at the irony of feeling a greater sense of thanksgiving 6,500 miles away in Korea than most Americans experience in the U.S. where the holiday has largely become just another over commercialized reason to spend money.

Ken Chinn

p.s. I enjoyed sharing with the other professor after church this morning that I now knew what it was like to walk in his shoes.

A smile here, a smile there . . .

Pictures that make mom smile.  It appears the kids' favorite toy is mom's phone.  Many of the pictures were discovered when uploading onto the computer today.

Robert's breakfast of choice.   

Robert's shot of his brother.

and sister.

Mary and her chocolate rocks.

A Festival treat for Robert.

The Festival stage with lots of great HGU talent.

Dad and the kids trying out some food booths at the Festival.

The kids' favorite~the Mission Booth served Tim Tam Slams.  Tim Tams are Australian biscuit like cookies.  Ken said it's the best cookie he's ever eaten.  You bite off both ends of the cookie, sip hot chocolate through it, slam the Tim Tam into your mouth as soon as you feel the hot chocolate (before the cookie falls apart). :-)

  

Fall colors.

A great day for a walk along the beach with a friend. 

A sweet friend taking shots of the beach scene during our walk.

The kids loved seeing chicken run loose behind a restaurant in Kyeong Ju (a historical city an hour away).

Mary and her friends' fort #1.  

Robert trying it out.

The girls found a better location for fort #2.  A path leading to their spot.

The "scaffolding" for their new fort.

They found yet another (BETTER) place.  Pictures of the new place coming soon.

We attended another wedding.  The bride and groom looked like they walked off the pages of a wedding magazine.  It was a beautiful ceremony.

 Apparently the kids were not impressed with the wedding that mom was "oohing and aahing" over.  They wouldn't allow mom to post the shots they took with mom's phone during the ceremony.  Let's just say, I saw way too many pictures of their eyes.

Dad multi-tasking.  Reading and blogging.

Hot chocolate at HisBeans Coffee Shop on a cold day!

Lawsuits in Korea

By any measure, the U.S. is a litigious country.  Car wrecks, slip and falls, product liability - all of this and much more keeps our courtrooms busy and our insurance industry profitable - not to mention the byproduct of employment for hundreds of thousands of attorneys.

Korea is very different.  Interwoven brick and occasional cobblestone walkways are almost always uneven and a bit of a hazard to the unwary.  Still, they are part of the charm and beauty of Korea.  I'm told that liability lawsuits are almost unheard of if someone slips and falls.  It is part of normal life and not a big deal.  The boys and I were invited to a birthday party the other day for one of their friends here in the faculty housing.  We started the evening out with trampolines, followed up by a trip to McDonald's for bacon burgers and incredibly delicious homemade bacon cupcakes (our boys are already insisting that mom get the recipe), and ending up with a trip to the batting cages with an adjoining driving range for young golfers.  Refreshingly, there were no warning and disclaimer messages posted everywhere.  No need for helmets at the batting cages (really they are a protection from misdirected pitches by real human beings, not machines).  All of it was perfectly sensible and enormously fun for the boys.  I doubt that any of the businesses had a bit of liability insurance and they probably really didn't need any in this country where common sense seems to prevail when dealing with most common hazards in life.  I'm told when conflict arises, most disputes are settled informally relying on common bonds of family, community or business to settle differences without resorting to the courts.

It is very difficult to become a lawyer in Korea where admission to law school is very restrictive and, reportedly, less than 1% of the takers pass the Korean bar exam.  Surprisingly, hiring an attorney in Korea is not necessarily an expensive endeavor.  Susan had to have a translated document certified by a Korean notary public.  The notary needed to have an attorney review some aspect of the document.  The attorney's review was included in the really modest price charged by the notary. I'm sure that is not always true in Korea, but I cannot image such inexpensive service if the document had to be reviewed by an American attorney.  My suspicion is that most attorneys in Korea work for either the government or large companies that engage in international business (probably countering the hoards of U.S. attorneys employed by other nations).  All of this makes me yearn for the era of the "handshake" deal where integrity was the primary underpinning of business affairs.

All this reminds me of an incident over the Chusok holiday about a month ago.  We rented a 12 passenger van to see as much of Korea as we could during the 5 day break..  The car performed beautifully and we were very happy with it.  After the rental company picked up the car at the university, an employee drove back to see us.  It seems the car had some fairly serious damage to a tire and rim from having hit some object.  It would take $390 to make the needed repairs.  This was a surprise to us, because I didn't remember hitting anything that would have caused the damage.  Still, I did remember hitting a flexible plastic pole when  I needed to make a sudden lane change to stay on the proper roadway due to a lane spit in the highway.  Perhaps there was a metal device holding the plastic pole to the roadway that might have caused the damage.  In any event, the damage was there and the employee was quite certain it must have happened during the rental period.  We decided to trust the rental company that had a long a good relationship providing vehicles to the university.  They knew we were part of the university and we paid for the damage.  It's the Korean way with their common bond of using relationships to resolve disputes in this fascinating country.

Ken Chinn

Thanksgiving

I've been told it costs about $100 to purchase a turkey in Korea.  I've yet to see one in a grocery store.  If we are able to find one, we could probably air ship it to to the states overnight and bring the total cost in under $250.  That does seem a little steep since the cost in the states is probably around 12-13 dollars.  Still, if you would like a Korean turkey, let us know and we'll try and work something out.

I don't know why turkeys and Thanksgiving aren't a big deal here.  Perhaps the Pilgrims didn't make a stop here on their way to America.  The closest holiday is what they call Chusok which is kind of similar to our holiday.  The families members all travel back to their childhood family homes as the businesses, schools and government offices all close.  Traffic on the roads is almost at gridlock.  In that respect, it does remind me of our Thanksgiving holiday.

The ex patriot professors and their families are getting together for a Thanksgiving meal on Friday (which is Thursday - and Thanksgiving day - in the states due to the international date line).  We will have a traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, stuffing etc.  It should be a lot of fun and a nice reminder of home.  For the rest of Korea, it will just be another day.  We are thankful Mark and Elysabeth will be able to travel down to join us and perhaps bring a friend or two as well.  The most important part of the tradition is that we will be able to be together as a family and remember all the things we have to be thankful for.  This year, the list is pretty long.  Thanks especially to the many family and friends who read this blog and are such an encouragement to us during our adventure in Korea.  May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.  God bless you all.

The Chinn family

Fall is Magnificent

The fall colors are in glorious bloom as Korea starts to brace itself for the coming winter.  Everywhere you see bursts of bright yellow, orange and red on campus.  Even the grass had a surprise in store.  Unlike Southern California, the grass grows long in Korea.  Pale green when we arrived in summer, it recently turned yellow with the colder air.  Now it is turning a shade of orange, painting a lovely foreground for the trees and bushes as they prepare to shed their leaves to the advancing cold.  This morning the hills were shrouded with fog and a slight mist was falling from the gray skies.  It all has a very magical look and feel.

Our apartment has south facing balcony like area that is completely enclosed with screens and glass.  Susan's sister Mary planted seeds in small tubs during her visit in September and October.  The seedlings have now grown into thriving tomato and pepper plants along with a crop of cilantro.  Susan has been busy transplanting her garden into larger pots and containers with the hope they will survive the winter in this greenhouse like area. Look for future crop reports as the winter sets in.

Heating our apartment during the winter can be quite expensive with the cost of electricity in Korea.  The house is heated by electrical pipes under the floor that emanate heat up into the room through the floorboards.  To keep costs down, residents often further insulate the windows with heavy plastic sheeting and even blankets.  We have turned off the heat to portions of the apartment and will wear warmer clothes.  In a happy break for Ken and the kids, Susan has decided to take up baking with our gas stove in order to provide both fresh bread and heat for the apartment.  After some initial disappointing results, she has now acquired a knack for baking.  I have high hopes of encouraging this talent with the goal of producing a talented pastry chef.  It is a delight to come home to the smell of fresh bread, cinnamon rolls and perhaps (someday) even a home made pie in time for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Despite the increased cold outside, the warmth from the south facing windows and oven has keep us comfortable without the need to use the electrical heating so far.

We are continuing to love our simple life in Korea.  The kids are busy with their new friends building forts, working on crafts and exploring the woods.  The kids often bring me a home cooked freshly grilled sandwich for lunch at my office, just minutes away from our home.  Evenings are whiled away reading books (each of the children has read over 30 since our arrival), movies, special performances and lectures on campus, a board game, or reruns of Leave It To Beaver on the DVD.  Amazingly, although we have a t.v., it is rarely used.  The channel offerings are mostly Korean language with CNN and BBC newscasts as English alternatives.  The t.v. was almost always on at home, but it has faded away with nary a complaint.  Speaking of complaints, I've yet to hear the words "I'm bored" from the kids or any inkling of homesickness for Southern California.  As I'm writing these words, Susan is off on a visit to town via the shuttle to meet a new friend from South Africa for coffee and the kids are busy playing with their friends around the complex.  Dad is enjoying this quiet time to pen a few thoughts on the family blog.  Life is really good and we are very thankful.

Ken Chinn

Integrity and Christian Education

Education in extremely important in Korean society.  Parents will sacrifice enormously to ensure that their children have the best educational opportunities.  In many homes much of the traditional Korean carefree childhood is sacrificed in the endeavor to be admitted to the best schools.  Children start at very early ages to attend Hagwon private schools designed to supplement the education supplied in both private and public schools.  At the Hagwon the students will study English and other academic subjects at very early ages.  Finishing their normal school hours, many students study well into the night at the Hagwon schools.  As you might imagine, the pressure is enormous on students in Korea to excel and obtain admission to the best university possible.

I mention all this to explain that cheating is a serious problem in the Korean educational system.  For years I've heard that cheating is epidemic in the U.S. educational system.  That this problem existed in Korea surprised me since honesty is such a virtue over here.  Theft is only a minor problem in Korea, and usually found only in the largest cities.  A lost wallet or cell phone is usually returned to its owner with nothing missing at all.   My strong suspicion is that cheating is a product of the enormous pressure and competition in the educational system.

At Handong Global University, there is an honor code that is taken seriously by students and professors.  One of the major components of the honor code is unsupervised exams.  There are no professors or proctors in the classroom when students take exams.  It is not unheard of for a class to even have a take home exam.  Such an idea is virtually unheard of, even in Christian education, in the U.S.  I've read a bit about this practice at Handong Global University and spoken with other professors about it.   I wish I could report that there are no instances of cheating at Handong.  I can, however, report that cheating is uncommon.  The student government conducted a study in 2000 of the entire student body on compliance with the honor code.  They learned that 60% of the students reported that they had observed the honor code with a clear conscience before God.  20% of the students reported they had been tempted from time to time, but had not erred.  16% reported that they had failed several times, but had repented and were determined not to do it again.  4% reported that thy had violated the honor code before and would continue to do so in the future.

In my conversations with other professors I've learned that there are serious repercussions for violating the honor code - usually a failing grade in the course.  Now here is the really interesting benefit of the code.  I am told that HGU graduates are highly sought after by employers.  Their graduates tend to be more successful in the job market than those of the most prestigious universities in Korea.  The employers report that they are attracted to HGU graduates because they know they are students that didn't cheat in obtaining their degrees and would really know the skills they obtained through their education.  Students deeply appreciate the trust they receive under the honor code.  The honor code calls on all the students to uphold the code.  It is based on trust and respect.  If a student witnesses a violation of the honor code, they have a responsibility to go privately to the offending student, with respect, and encourage them to self report their violation to the professor.  If the offending student does not respond within 2-3 days, the other student must approach the professor and explain the circumstances.  This is undoubtedly difficult, but it is part of the culture of the school.

As a professor with an extensive background in the criminal justice system, I can't help but think that HGU is onto something important.  Integrity is a virtue that seems to have diminished greatly in my lifetime.  I like the idea that Christian education can reintroduce integrity to the classroom.  It seems to be working at Handong Global University.  I hope it spreads.

Ken Chinn

Frugal Living

Living in Korea has helped me to seriously reconsider our spending habits as a family.  Every year in the US, we had to scramble to make ends meet on our family budget.  Actually, "budget" is too strong a word.  In reality, it was not unusual for more money to go out than came in during the month.  Our kids were in a private Christian school.  We had two cars.  I liked to eat my favorite foods in healthy portions.  We justified eating out for fast food because of our busy schedule.  I felt entitled to purchase an occasional antiquarian book, justifying it as a reward for hard work.  You pretty much get the picture without having to detail other indulgences that routinely ran up the family expenses.  Unfortunately, we reflected an attitude towards spending that is all too common in the states. (My apologies to the many we know who are the exception to the rule.)

 

Korea has given me a different perspective on spending.  I recognized this change this morning at the faculty chapel service.  We had the former president of a prestigious university in Seoul speak to the faculty.  He spoke about the things that really matter in life.  One of his illustrations described his pleasure in driving a small and inexpensive car.  This made him happy because it freed up funds he could use to travel to encourage (and support) missionaries in Africa and other far off places.  Many may have the impression that Korea reflects the American lifestyle of extravagant living.  Although there are segments of Korean society that create this impression (like the Gangnam district of Seoul parodied in the Gangnam Style video), it is not the culture in this country.  Instead, most people, including the wealthy, tend to be quite frugal and see that way of living as a virtue.

 

Susan is quite committed to adopting this same frugal life style for our family.  She is starting to make a believer out of me.  We are now home schooling our kids.  This alone saves us close to $2,000 a month on school and school related expenses.  Food is expensive in Korea.  If we were to eat the same foods we liked in the U.S., our food bill would go up considerably.  Instead, we shop much more carefully.  Our meal portions are smaller and contain less meat and more vegetables than ever before.  We do not eat out very often, and when we do, we tend to visit the restaurants on campus where a meal costs about 3-5 dollars per person.  We are spending less on food than we've ever spent before.  We do not have a car.  Between the cost of the car, gas and insurance, this is quite an additional saving.  The downside is that the lack of a car is also quite an inconvenience.  Trips to town usually take about 3-4 hours for most errands as we take the free shuttle from the university and then walk or take a cab (about $2.00) to reach our destination.  Shopping trips are a challenge for a family our size.  We are loaded down with bags on our return trip.  We will likely eventually purchase a car, but it is worthy to note the financial benefits to our current budget.  I must admit, it feels pretty good.  It's even had a positive impact on my health due to the improved diet and need to walk almost everywhere we go.   I think I've probably lost some weight, though we're now too frugal to purchase a scale to find out!

 

We currently are able to set aside savings every month.  Because of these savings we hope to be able to take our family to Cambodia and perhaps Thailand and Laos over the Christmas holidays without our usual practice of pulling out a credit card.  This would be a wonderful opportunity for our family to see and experience foreign missions.  I'm hoping this change in our spending habits is something that will last as we become more Korean in our outlook on money.  Wouldn't this be a good souvenir to bring back with us to the States?

 

Ken Chinn

"Camping Korean Style" pictures

 

HIC Youth Camp.  We took a few pictures of the beautiful Fall colors while the cars were being loaded with camp gear.  Our apartment is the second row from top, far right.

When are we going to leave?

Homigot, "The Village on the Tiger's Tail" (reference picture below). We all just call it "The Hand".

New Millenium Memorial Hall

 

Sun god, Yeonrang and his lover, Se o nyeo.

Lighthouse museum

A quick lunch under a cover before heading to the camp ground.

Setting up our tents while the wind blooowwwwwsss!

Our kitchen area

Nice job David!

I wish we had pictures of the beautiful weather on Day 2.  The sun was out, the sky was blue, the ocean sparkled and the kids had a blast!