GIC Events
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[March 2015] Book Review by William UrbanskiNIGHT OVER WATER AUTHOR: Ken Follet GIC LIBRARY GENRE: Crime, Mystery, Thriller STARS: 4 out of 5 REVIEWER: William Urbanski Ken Follet is my favorite author. Ever since reading his 1,000 page opus "The Pillars of the Earth" many moons ago, which is also at the GIC Library, Follet is the one and only author whose books I have made a deliberate effort to read. Most of his books share some common features - for example, they often lack a central character and instead, follow a number of different story lines that eventually interweave to create an intricate and suspenseful tapestry. That being said, Follet's writing style is surprisingly engaging and easy to read. Despite the myriad characters and plot details, I find myself enjoying the story to the point of distraction (and sometimes negligence of my other daily duties). Ken Follet is definitely what I would call a "feel-good writer." The hero gets the girl (or vice versa), the bad guy gets his punishment and for the most part, those who survive until the final pages end up living happily ever after. If I have one criticism of Follet's works in general, it is that after reading 5 or 6 of his books, they tend to be somewhat predictable. But this could also be due to the fact that they are so well-written that following the series of plot developments increases my situational awareness to the point of prescience. Another strong point of a Ken Follet book is its strict attention to historical details, and he obviously spends countless hours making sure to get his facts straight. "Night Over Water" tells the story of one of the earliest trans-Atlantic flights during the opening days of World War II. Among its passengers of the magnificent and ludicrously luxurious Boeing 314 are barons, actresses, FBI agents, a jewel thief, a world-prominent physicist and many other people trying to escape the war. Needless to say, there is a colourful cast of people, representative of all walks of life. In my opinion, the 30-hour-flight of the Clipper is a metaphor for the personal transformation many of the characters undergo. Those that succeed in making the transition are rewarded and better off, while those who resist changing are deprived of such benefits. To clarify my point, the jewel-thief decides to not steal a priceless broach from his love interest's mother, ending up with not only with the girl, but also with something else. But, the overweight, racist who believes he is honestly better than others, refuses to amend his ways and thus loses both of his daughters and the respect of the rest of his family. As stated above, the outcome is predictable, but "Night over Water" has enough twists and turns to keep any reader turning pages until the end. Also, just as in life in general, the destination is not as important as the journey, or in this case, the trans-Atlantic flight. Do you have any book from the GIC Library that you would like to share with the community? We would like to hear from you! Submit your review by providing these details: Book's Title, Author, GIC Library Genre, Stars (out of 5), and Your Name. Then, please attach a picture of the same cover that you remember reading. We will publish your review based on first come basis.GIC 15.03.09
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[Review] The Truth About LoveSpeaker : Tori Brown and Jamie Jones Writer : Ko Eunbit Co-Writer : Ashlyn Winter Date : February 28, 2015 Today’s GIC talk, presented by Tori Brown and Jamie Jones, informed us about their theater business, Unpuzzled, its mission statement and aims. They also shared with us how they incorporated movement and drama in to teaching English in Korea. They also mentioned several aims of their business, but the two most important aims were to ‘give people who have limited arts access, a chance to be part of a world they feel excluded from’ and to ‘actively encourage and reflect equality and diversity in all our work’. Their business focuses on including the community around them, not only providing a service to people who can afford it or who have experience in acting They continued their talk by telling us about their next production, The Truth About Love. This production has one main objective: to bring together the Korean and foreign community in Gwangju. This community orientated production includes all people of different races, religions and ages. To be part of this production, you do not need to have any previous experience or acting ability. You need to be willing to work hard and put in effort to learn and be a part of the team. We are looking forward to watching this production in the near future! This couple is planning on leave Korea and going back to the place they call home: The United Kingdom. They will continue their passion for working with different communities and hopefully their business will grow to new heights and influence many people positively. Photo : http://goo.gl/J77lcc Video : http://goo.gl/3PvuMUGIC 15.03.03
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GIC News in FebruaryGIC News in February Here's what happened at the GIC in February! Visit from Other Organization South Jeolla Provincial Governor’s Visit [Feb. 4] On February 4, GIC received a special guest from South Jeolla Provincial Office. South Jeolla Governor, Lee Nak-yeon, visited the GIC after a visit to the Gwangju City Hall. The GIC introduced our programs, members and staff, and got the chance to have a little chat with the governor. The governor hopes that the GIC will be a connection to help bridge Gwangju and South Jeolla with the world. Geoje International Center Visit [Feb. 23] Jo Yoonseong, the Geoje International Center director visited the GIC on February 23. Geoje International Center, also abbreviated as GIC, is located in South Gyeongsan Province. It is also an non-profit organization, to connect with both local and international residents in Geoje. Being a rather new organization, they said that they look up to the GIC as an example. We hope that we can also pay a visit to Geoje one day! GIC Trek First Introduced and Received Warm Welcome [Feb. 14] GIC Trek is created to help us appreciate nature and to keep ourselves healthy by trekking Mudeung Mountain. GIC's beloved tour guide, Warren Parsons, led this trek, with the first tour being on February 14. Around 10 participants joined in and we received a lot of positive feedback, so we are going to do the second trek on March 14. Stay tuned for more updates on our website and Facebook. For more info on the next trek, please email gictour@gic.or.kr. New Classes to be Introduced for Kids and Adults! From March, GIC will introduce many new classes, catering to Korean and international residents, from kids to adults. For kids, there are Kids Art Camp, Junior Talk and Kids Chinese Class, and for adults, there will be Calligraphy Class, Zumba, a new Latin Language Class and many more! Discover your new talents and learn new things while making new friends and networking with the GIC! The Translation Volunteers Received Their Orientation Today [Feb.25] GIC recruited Korean volunteers which formed the Translation Team. This team will help hand-in-hand with the External Support Team while also supporting other GIC programs. We wish them best of luck and thank you for their contribution to the GIC. New Members Welcome our new members in February: 김초롱, 공정례, 최대수, 금기형, 이천휴, 이정하, 이정신, 장봉주, 전인근, 김유미, 박연후, 박세현, 차유나, 윤준영, 남규성, 문장엽, 최윤아, 고정호, Kevin Ward. Thank you for your support to the GIC!GIC 15.02.25
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[Review] A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer: V-Day Gwangju 2015Speaker : Ynell Lumantao and Calen Cygan Writer : Lee Jueun Co-Writer : Lee Jueun and Ashlyn Winter Date: February 14, 2015 In celebration of Valentine’s day, we had pretty special GIC TALK related to the “V” character. Ynell Lumantao and Calen Cygan spoke about “A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer”, the play they are producing and preforming in, in April. First, the speakers asked a question, ‘What do you think of V-day?’ inviting the audience to participate in the talk and creating an atmosphere of anticipation ready to hear what they had to say. They continued their talk by describing V-day; a worldwide campaign which was created by Eve Ensler in 1998 by interviewing 200 women about their views on sex, relationships and violence against women. V-Day, after originally starting in Seoul, came to Gwangju in 2012. In addition, they asked “What is violence against women?” They defined it as any act that is likely to result in physical, sexual or mental harm to women. They went further and said violence against women is global, systematic, a health crisis and cyclical. Around the world right now, women are dancing and singing to a song to express their opinions about these problems. instead of fighting and rioting about these kinds of problems, there is a movement to express women’s opinion by singing a song and dancing with people. Even though Gwangju is somewhat a small city, through other plays and events, these ladies and others involved have managed to raise a lot of money. The money has been given it to different women and children empowerment organizations around the world and in Gwangju such as ‘Our House’ and ‘Women Hotline’.. So, how you can get involved? The speakers showed specific events, dates, times and what it costs to get involved in supporting women and children who have experience an act of violence in this community. All the proceeds of these events will go to different women empowerment organizations within Gwangju. The first event is happening at The First Alleyway. People will pay 5000 W to enter and play. If you are interested in it, try to go there! As I am a woman, the talk made a really big impression on me. Even though the topic was serious, the speakers kept the atmosphere light and created a balance between the topic, showing statistics, relaying women’s stories and talking about how you can make a small difference by attending events in Gwangju to show your support.GIC 15.02.17
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[Feb. 2015] Book Review by Joey NunezONE THOUSAND CHESTNUT TREES AUTHOR: Mira Stout GIC LIBRARY GENRE: Korea STARS: 4.5 out of 5 Stars Reviewer: Joey Nunez (GIC Coordinator) One Thousand Chestnut Trees by Mira Stout, written in English in 1988, reveals how Anna Kim, the story’s main character, becomes interested in discovering her Korean heritage. A Korean American with a Western father and a Korean mother, Anna is fully satisfied with life in Vermont, even after Uncle Hong-do from Korea comes for a visit. As a teenager, Anna dismisses Hong-do’s Korean customs as bizarre. But when she becomes later dissatisfied with her own life in New York City and starts looking for life’s meaning, Anna takes five months to explore Korea, even learning the enjoy the companionship of Uncle Hong-do. Her mother only shares names and brief historical points of what their family did and how they struggled. The rest of the details are what Anna discovers, in wonderful and frustrating ways. One Thousand Chestnut Trees’ title refers to the place where Anna’s great-great, grandfather, from the Kang family line, escaped Japanese imperialism and built a Buddhist temple on Mount Sorak. Thus, Uncle Hong-do still has a lively spark in him, and he agrees to help Anna find this literal “diamond in the rough,” because none of their family has ever visited. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I know others will be too, as they rejoice, understand frustrations, become devastated, and reflect with Anna. While painful at times, what is necessary is that we truly learn how to live. And by discovering what is in our past, we are able to fully live in the present, and then, work towards developing our future.GIC 15.02.11
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[Review] Community – Love of the Broadest KindSpeaker : Heather Aitken Writer : Taehoon Park Co-Writer : Ashlyn Winter Date : February 7th 2015 Heather left Australia, her family, friends and career to move to Korea to start new chapter in her life. She was working really long hours as a scientist, sometimes up to 20 hours a day and, through her job, she even had many opportunities to travel around the world. She came to Korea looking for more fulfilling job and thought she could find that through teaching, so decided to become an English teacher. She wanted to work with people, not for people. Heather interviewed five people for her talk. There were three things in common about these interviewees: they had a passion for the arts, they were women, and all foreigners. The questions asked their opinion of community and what that word means to them. There was a common thread throughout all their answers: locality, interests and goals. They felt Gwang-ju was a great community as it possesses all of these. One of her interviewees said that the Gwang-ju’s community is so special in comparison to other communities because smaller communities exist within the bigger community. Heather ended her talk by sharing some thoughts about how we can improve Gwang-ju’s community life: don’t be exclusive, include in people activities you want to do and don’t wait for people to come to you, go and find them. If you have an idea, act upon it. Be adventurous and try something new and invite other people whether they are foreigner or Korean. Heather, at the end of her talk, said “Gwang-ju is full of people who don’t want to create a barrier between foreigners and Koreans” and this sums up exactly why Gwang-ju is the perfect community to be a part of. photo : http://goo.gl/47e6G2 video : http://goo.gl/w8DKnFGIC 15.02.10
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[Review] A Peace Corps VolunteerSpeaker : Chad LaRoche Writer : Taehoon Park Co-Writer : Ricky Taylor Date : January 31st, 2015 Chad talked us today about peace corps. He shared with us his experiences could give us glimpse of what’s life is like in peace corps and how it “changed you physically and mentally and he would recommended to anyone to participate” He worked on the island of Grenadies, a volcanic island in the Caribbean. His primary assignment was to become a literacy teacher. He also created Journalism club to encourage student to take more active approach to develop literacy skills. Teaching that he found the student attitude was the “polar opposite” with “education (being) made values dance at Saint Vincent”. Outside of work he participated in a drum group which performed for the community as well as assisting community in a variety of ways. “The snapshot of education and adopting overcoming challenge” let him to teaching position in Korea. He still stays touch with the school counselor. His biggest challenge was “being underequipped fending for himself but he found the school of Saint Vincent”. “The people are very vibrant”. The most rewarding aspect were “the connection in Saint Vincent really opened up his perspective”. Photo : http://goo.gl/ddb8sC Video : http://goo.gl/LV9c0SGIC 15.02.06
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[Review] Coca is Life: The Story of the Coca LeafSpeaker: Emma Hillian Writers: Eunbit Ko Co-Writer: Ricky Taylor Date: January 24th, 2015 Emma Hillion who was the speaker of today’s GIC talk, her first experience with coca leaf was when she was 21 in Bolivia. During her 3 weeks stay, she suffered from altitude sickness due to Bolivia’s elevation, to treat this her friends gave her some coca tea. After drinking the tea, she found that her symptoms had been relieved. Due to coca leaf being the primary ingredient, in the production of cocaine, it has banned in Korea as well as many other countries. But in Bolivia “It is at the very center of the culture.” It can also be used as cooking ingredient and it is used to make cake, Agwa (an alcoholic beverage) and even Coca-cola. Unfortunately, the coca leaf is mainly used in the production of cocaine this leads to it’s negative stigma. “There should be many other market for coca other than cocaine” From her talk I now know many advantages about coca leaves. Fortunately, in 2013, the UN allowed Bolivia to produce the coca leaf legally allowing Bolivia to regain a cornerstone of her culture. photo : http://goo.gl/pNTmWT video : http://goo.gl/WkDy98GIC 15.01.26
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[Review] “A Review of the Phenomenal Non-Fiction Books of the GIC – Amazing Reading for the New Yea…A Review of the Phenomenal Non-Fiction Books of the GIC – Amazing Reading for the New Year Speaker: Lex Rain Spahr Co-Writers: Lee Jueun and Joey Nunez Date: January 17, 2015 Lex Rain Spahr, who is an Assistant Professor at Gwangju Women’s University, introduced her favorite books found in the GIC Library, by providing reasons for her recommendations and sharing her thoughts with the GIC Talk audience on Saturday, January 17, 2015. Among many kinds of non-fiction books, Lex loves to read books related to prisons, saying: “I love to read about the human spirit and how to survive.” Explaining her reasoning further, she also said: “I love to know how people can build communities in such terrible circumstances.” These thoughts from Lex come from two GIC Library Books that she highly recommends: Brother One Cell, written by Cullen Thomas and The Gulag Archipelago, written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Lex also shared her heartaches with what is happening right now to North Koreans and the prison camps where many citizens live out their lives, without experiencing any glimpse of freedom. “They are five hours away from us, it’s still continuing.” She felt this way after reading Escape from Camp 14, written by Blaine Harden about a North Korean’s survival story. She described the circumstances people still face in North Korea, saying, “As I feel the cold in my hands, I’m thinking about these people. They are still there.” When talking about books, Lex shared that E-books, audio books and real books all educate, showing that it never hurts anyone to learn more in life about any subject. Lastly, the most impressive quote that Lex shared was: “I rely on libraries, wherever I go to live. The library is my second home.” After watching this GIC Talk video, we welcome you to visit the GIC and check out one to five of Lex’s recommendations for enjoyable reading. Photo : http://goo.gl/dUspvv Video : http://goo.gl/4xnpDEGIC 15.01.21
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[Review] “Where are You From?” A Danish Korean Adoption Story“Where are You From?” A Danish Korean Adoption Story Speaker : Kasper Eriksen Co-Writers: Lee Jueun and Joey Nunez Date: January 10th, 2015 “I keep coming back, there is something here that I cannot find in Denmark.” Kasper Eriksen shared his thoughts and perspectives as the GIC Talk Speaker on Saturday, January 10, 2015. Kasper showed the audience that his first life in Denmark is as a Korean adoptee and his second life in Korea is as an international resident. First, Kasper enjoyed growing up with his family in Denmark, but when he became a teenager, he began to notice multiple stereotypes against him. For example, he shared that when he played games with other Asian children, some people would automatically assume that they were siblings. Second, Kasper has visited Korea on three separate occasions, and every time he has come, Kasper has felt a part of community, until he has opened his mouth. Kasper is still learning Korean but he has to explain that he does not know the language to some Koreans who just cannot understand why he does not speak Korean. This specific GIC Talk generated many questions from the audience, proving immense interest in Kasper’s life and perspectives. And, beginning January’s month of “New Beginnings,” the GIC’s first Theme for 2015, Kasper showed how he has enjoyed the “new beginnings” of being of both Korean and Danish descent in Korea. Because, as he mentioned, Kasper is both, “not a minority,” but he is just as much Danish as he is Korean. photo : http://goo.gl/qOsGFj video : http://goo.gl/VW3LvGGIC 15.01.13