Kontakt with Korea

As usual, it's been far too long since I last posted anything...nearly a month.

Here is a brief overview of a wonderful experience in northeast Asia with pictures to follow.

In March my brother, Tyler, and I (who both won full scholarships from the Korea Foundation) went to South Korea. There we encountered a very unique culture rich in its own history, language, foods and dress. We flew from Omaha through Dallas to Seoul. The latter of the flights was wonderful, because we got our boarding passes nearly too late and all the economy seats had already been filled, so we were upgraded to "prestige".

We stayed at an extremely fancy hotel in which we ate several buffet style meals, which included both Western food and Korean foods- always including rice and Kimchi. Kimchi is a spicy fermented cabbage dish that is served with every Korean meal. I also ate my fair share of Bibimbap- a dish that is made of a pile of white rice mixed with sprouts and a red (supposedly spicy) sauce.

We got to meet several students from Yonsei University (the host university in Korea) and also attened lectures there. These lectures were each very interesting. They included topics on Korean language, North-South Korean relations, US-Korean relations and Korea's history, culture and society. All the Koreans with whom I interacted were extremely friendly and respectful.

During the days, various activities and excursions were organized for us. We went took a walking tour of Yonsei University, where we saw the Samsung Library, which is a paperless library. I must admit, this defies every sense of what I think of when I think of a library, but it was very interesting. All books, magazines, newspapers, notes, etc are on touch screens of varying sizes like iPads and overgrown iPads. We also saw the largest women's university in the world, which is located nearby in the same district of Seoul. We had the evenings to ourselves to explore Seoul.

Other sites that we saw in Seoul included a reconstruction of a palace, the president's home, known as the Blue House for its blue roof, the site of the G20 Summit talks, the Korean War Memorial with an enourmous hallway which lists the names of all the fallen troops from other nations who helped fight in this war, including giant plaques listing the members of each US state.

Outside of Seoul we visited the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) which was extremely fascinating. It was an interesting atmosphere mixed with tension, armed soldiers, passport checks, barricades and live mines along the edges of the road, yet with gift shops as tourist attractions- asking for our contributions to support their economy. we saw the uninhabited North Korean propaganda village with its flag which weighs 600 pounds and is raised on a pole 160 meters tall!

In addition to the DMZ we visited a Hyundai car plant where a new car rolls off the line every 57 seconds. Hyundai along with SK, Samsung and LG account for the majority of South Korea's economy. Before returning to Seoul we went to Everland (South Korea's Disneyland). This was my least favorite part of the trip, but I can now say that I have been on the world's steepest wooden roller coaster, and I never need to go on a roller coaster or go back to an amusement park again.

During our final evening in Seoul we saw attended "Cookin' NANTA" a primarily non-verbal, comic, cooking, dancing and musical show. I can draw several parallels between Nanta and Blue Man Group.

This is not all that we did, but a brief overview of the wonderful opportunity provided to us. One last note...we tasted Corn Icecream! This was not exactly delicious...but after seeing it we decided we must try it. The corn icecream came in a wrapper and was encased by a thin layer of chocolate surrounded by a wafer-cone in the shape of an ear of corn. The icecream was corn-flavored and had real kernels of corn in it. Where do people get ideas like that?!

Time flies!

I have definitely fallen behind on posting! Much has happened this semester. A brief recap and I'll try to post again in the next two weeks.

Being back at Doane has had both its ups and downs. In some ways things are seemingly much easier, since I usually know who to see about a problem or where to go or how to behave myself in different situations, but in other ways it is difficult because teaching styles here are much different than those to which I have been exposed for the past year, many of the people I knew are no longer here and I broadened my world-view which makes it difficult sometimes for others to see where I am coming from.

I've been working on getting back into running track after being quite out of shape at the beginning of indoor season. Indoor season has now come to a close. I only competed once in the 5k and achieved a disappointing time. Our men's and women's teams both won the conference championship and it was fun to watch them compete. Now indoor season in over and the first outdoor season meet will be in a few weeks.

I started out volunteering with Adult English as a Foreign Language classes again as I had done before I left to study abroad. After one teacher resigned, I ended up taking over her class. They are all wonderful students and I love working with them. They are enthusiastic about learning English and I always end the day in high spirits.

I'm leaving for South Korea in 2 days. I'll be there for about 1.5 weeks to get a taste of the country's language, culture and history. It's almost time for take off...ready or not, here I go!

back at Doane...

I'm back at Doane and getting into the swing of things again. Today is the third time it has snowed since I've been in Crete, I believe. Although it isn't a lot of fun to be out in the cold weather, silently sinking snowflakes drift through the air resting on trees and on Doane Lake leaving a beautiful scenery lying all around. I can't stop thinking about how blessed to have the luxury of being in a safe, warm building whenever I please.

In some ways it is nice to be back, but in other ways I feel out of place. It will take time to meet new students, get reacquainted with old ones and I'll need to continue to remember that change is a simple part of life.

This month I've been taking sign language class. It's been interesting and I have learned quite a bit. Indoor track season is in full swing, but I have not competed yet, and may wait until outdoor season to begin competing again.

Highlights of my past 2 weeks on campus include cooking and eating with friends, rooming with a really good friend, volunteering for adult English as a Foreign Language classes again, and receiving a visit of my brother, Tyler.

Journey home...then home sweet home

I've been home for about 3 weeks now. I left Munich and went to France for a few days where I stayed with a friend before flying home. He showed me around Paris and around his town. Since then I've been home a lot of the time and am enjoying time spent with my family before I head back to college at the beginning of January. As much as I love being home, I must say it has been an adjustment and there are things I miss about Germany and Peru.

Some pictures from France:








Merry Christmas! Frohe Weihnachten! ¡Feliz navidad!

Recent realizations...

...I've spent more time out of the States since my high school graduation than in the USA.

...By the time I get home, I will have traveled with all of my luggage 10 times! That's a lot of work, and 10 seems like a good place to stop.

...Over this year, I've lived in 4 different cities.

...By the time I get home, I will can say that I have visited 5 countries since I was last in the US.

...Weather here is even more unpredictable than at home.

...It isn't very long till I go home!

lately...

It’s been a long time since I’ve taken the time to update you on what I’ve been doing. Here’s a brief overview of my last month here in Munich. Besides for the everyday things like running, going to class, reading, and attempting to keep my room free from the fruit fly infestation (primarily in the kitchen, but throughout the apartment), I was able to do a number of cultural activities.

My fruitfly trap

Some of the museums that I visited include two technical and automotive museums, the Munich city museum, and 4 art museums. I’ve come to realize that most things can be interesting if approached in the right way. Art never really interested me before, but I found the museums here as well as the architecture of several buildings, especially churches fascinating. When combined with historical anecdotes and being able to see things first-hand, it all makes a lot more sense. I can now better appreciate the different art movements. One thing, that catches my attention each time that I hear or read it, is that the reason that Munich so much artwork has, even though 80% of the city was completely destroyed in WWII, is that they knew the bombs would come and because Hitler loved artwork, he saw to it that all most of the artwork was removed from the city and stored in safer places.

I visited Schloss Neuschwanstein (the castle that looks like the Disney castle) and Schloss Nymphenburg. The first of those two was neat to learn about and see, but had way to much decoration and ornamentation for my tastes. The surrounding landscape with the autumn leaves was gorgeous.





Many days were rainy and dreary, but there were a few days on which we had gorgeous weather, such as those this weekend. I took full advantage of the sunny days spending my entire time outdoors going for walks along the Starnberger See, in the Englischer Garten and in the garden belonging to Nymphenburg Palace.

This past Saturday, I spent attempting avoiding city center, yet having a difficult time getting around the city because of protests that were being held. A group of about 1000 neo-Nazis were demonstrating in the city’s center. Their actions were condemned by the mayor as well as numerous others here. An anti-protest was held by about 5000 people and police from several large cities in Germany were here to enforce safety and crowd control.

I also watched a theatrical production of a book by a Swiss author that I read a few years ago and got to see a ballet. Both were excellent.

Oh, and I’ve seen two shops with names about as close to mine as they come: “April April” and “Aprilia”

Being American...

Being American…
As my time abroad draws to an end I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about personal growth…who I was, who I’ve become and who I want to become.

Of course our personal image of ourselves is influenced by comments from others and by the way in which they interact with us, but we see ourselves in a different light. It may be similar. It may not be.
For example, I never considered myself to have blond hair before I went to Peru, but there I was always described as having “pelo rubio.” I thought of myself as average in stature, but in Peru I was tall. Here in Germany I am short.

I asked myself with which categories I would identify myself.

The first first things that came to my mind were: Christian, young, Bodlak, and grew up on a farm.
-Christian because my faith in Christ as my savior is important to me.
-young because statistically speaking, I still have a lot of life to live and am always thinking about all my opportunities for the future.
-Bodlak because my family is a huge part of my life and the person I am.
-Grew up on a farm because the more I encounter people who have only lived in a city, the more I realize I tend to have different values than them, and the more time I spend living in cities, the more I realize how much I need the chance to escape to calm, quiet, wide-open, green spaces.

I would say that the number one category I’ve been placed into throughout this year is the category “American.” When I think about this, thoughts rush through my head, so quickly that I cannot even begin to write them all down—random thoughts, silly things, serious topics, misconceptions, and blessings. Sometimes I’m thankful to be an American; other times I hate it.

I am blessed that English is my first language. What others study for and try to master, I simply know and don’t have to work at. But on the other side of things, it how can I be proud of that? It wasn’t by my choice that I was born in the United States, that I would grow up speaking a language with many irregularities that others must struggle to learn. Sometimes it is frustration when I want to learn another language, because everyone around me speaks English and sometimes it would be easier to just speak English with them. Sometimes I can’t understand them. Sometimes I get frustrated, because they have mastered two or more languages and speaking English is practice for them, but for me it is not.

I am blessed. At home, I can expect warm water to flow out of the faucet when I turn it on. Even though I don’t like going outside by myself at night, I can do that safely. I don’t need to live in fear. I can trust my neighbors. I can trust the officials. Bars are not necessary on the doors and windows of my home. I am respected and treated as another human being regardless of my hair, skin, or eye color. I’m so blessed to have been born in the United States, a land truly full of opportunities. Opportunities on some level for everyone, not just for the elite. I could go to and complete elementary and high school. I have the chance to be a part of that tiny percentage of the world’s population who get continue their beyond the high school level. I admittedly forget that sometimes when I have a lot of homework or have to study for an exam and just feel like complaining. But I am blessed. I do not have to worry about where food or water will come from. Quality medical attention is available. I have clothes for every season of the year. I am blessed. I’ve had the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of cultures and values- an opportunity not available everywhere.

Being American. Sometimes it is nice to be able to see or hear things in English, to see stores and restaurants from back home, to be able to say things like “ok” because it has become a globally recognized and accepted word. Sometimes people think it’s cool. Sometimes people want to know if I’ve been to Hollywood and New York City.

Being American. Sometimes it’s super frustrating. Everyone knows something about my country. Many think they know it all. Being American. Am I that? I don’t know everything about the United States. I haven’t seen that much of it myself. I grew up in Nebraska and study there. Why does that have to make me "American?" I feel like even though I don’t know everything about the USA, I do know more than most people who have never lived there. Can I be both American and Nebraskan? I think so, but here, only the American part of me can be recognized by the people who I meet. Most have never even heard of Nebraska. So…as an “American,” I must face the questions and the statements; whether truth or misconceptions.

Sometimes when someone approaches me to talk about my country, the American in me asks:
Why does my government always get involved in other nations’ business? Are we heroes or are we villains? Do we even have a culture? Well, certainly we do. But how can I explain it? All Americans are not superficial, in fact most aren’t. We just have different values and different ways of expressing ourselves. Yes, on the whole we are very wasteful and we don’t recognize the many blessings that we have.

The American in me cries out:
All Americans are not ignorant. The entire United States is not just like everything that one sees in the movies and on shows. No, just because I come from the United States does not mean that I should be familiar with every single movie, show, singer, and song that comes from or is produced in the United States.

We need a new name for ourselves…why do we call ourselves “Americans” when the inhabitants of an entire 2 continents are really “Americans?”

Other things I have found funny:
-Do American kids really ride big yellow buses to school? Can I drive? And the question while talking to an 11th grade class about the United States and after asking which part of the US I lived in, one kid asked, “Since you live so far away from civilization, do you have TV’s?” Or one thing that I have experienced a few times and find really humorous, when someone wants to hold my jacket and help me put it on, and I kindly tell them, thanks but that it is not necessary and I can do it for myself. All the while, thoughts like this are running through my head, “Haha. Ok, that was kind of nice, but strange. I am a capable human being. Yes, I am a woman, but I can put on my own jacket.” Other such instances, where I felt like my independence was being restricted although, that was by no means the intent, have included the offer to carry super light things for me, to help me step out of a train, and to bring me a chair to sit, even though everyone else was standing! Oh, and the German idea of Line Dancing and their fascination with cowboys and the “Wild West.”

This past year I’ve seen and experienced many things that I had not expected. I have learned many things about others, academically, and about myself. But I can also confirm the statement, that the more you know, the more you know, you know, you don’t know.