Gwangju International Center

Creating Your Own Travel Adventure   Speaker: Courtney Snyder Reviewer: Jueun Lee Proofreader: Richard Taylor Date: October 25th, 2014     A GIC talk was entitled “On the fringe of society” by Courtney Snyder on Saturday, October 25, which aimed to inform us of the lives of institutionalized children in Korea.   Have you ever helped the child in need? To give a little help to a child, you can adopt a one. But, for many of us, this is simply not an option because of the lack of time and money. So, what can we do for them? We have a few options such as volunteering at institutions, donating or even buying cup cakes!   This talk shows us that every child deserves love and a home and we need to change our views to help them. If we do that, these children will have a chance to live a decent life.   Photo: http://goo.gl/5xihUF Video: http://goo.gl/uLdqPF  

Creating Your Own Travel Adventure     Speaker: Crystal Smith Reviewer: Jueun Lee Proofreader: Adriano Salamone Date: October 18th, 2014     Have you ever experienced traveling abroad in your life? Crystal Smith discussed her experiences and shared some valuable travel tips during her GIC Talk ‘Creating Your Own Travel Adventure’ on Saturday, October 18, 2014.      Crystal provided the audience with tips such as: things to do before your trip, things to do while traveling, and how to create the best experience while abroad. These tips and recommendations included staying in touch with your network of friends and facilities available to provide the best experience in any country. Crystal also underlined the importance of not just taking pictures, but taking pictures with you in them, as well as taking pictures of things that are unfamiliar to those you share the pictures with. One of the other important aspects of travel she touched on was ensuring you get enough rest, which could be sleeping in or relaxing in a hammock. All of the tips she shared allow you to experience a fun trip and possibly wild trip!     In short, Crystal said “Take a chance, let’s do it!” when you travel anywhere. People may look at you funny while you make a crazy pose for the camera, but chances are you will never see them again!   Photo: http://goo.gl/RYfXqT Video: http://goo.gl/zedQzO  

The 2014 Adopt a Child for Christmas initiative in Gwangju   Speaker:  Jordan VanHartingsveldt Reviewer: Jueun Lee Proofreader: Bradley Weiss Date: October 11th, 2014     What is your best memory from Christmas?  Speaker Jordan VanHartingsveldt explained during his GIC Talk on Saturday, October 11, 2014 how members of the Gwangju community, as well as others, can help to create memories for others through the 2014 Adopt-A-Child program.     During the talk, the speaker described the history and accomplishments of project over the past five years, since its creation by founder Al Barnum. Jordan shared his vision and passion for this project by saying, “It’s not just Santa who cares for you. Other people care too.” He also urged Gwangju citizens and residents to donate money by registering online and to volunteer time to help with the purchasing of gifts for 800 Gwangju orphans. Additional upcoming activities for community involvement were also announced, and the speaker urged the audience to stay tuned for more information about these future opportunities to help.     Jordan emphasized the need for the interest and the support of Gwangju’s general public to care for the orphans of Gwangju. So, share your love with your neighbors by giving the best Christmas memories for some of Gwangju’s less-fortunate children.   Photo: http://goo.gl/iO8YW0 Video: http://goo.gl/BTBMDI

Social Rights and Human Rights - Korea and Sweden in a Global Perspective   Speaker: Dr. Sven Hort Reviewer: Jueun LEE Proofreader: Richard Taylor Date: October 4th,2014     Nowadays, people are getting interested in social and human rights over the world with the changes of time. From the beginning, Dr. Sven started speaking with a bright smile in order to liven up the atmosphere with a little bit difficult topic.    First of all, he let us know about change of laws and institutions related to social rights in Sweden. He emphasized tripled nature of citizenship (civil rights, political rights and social rights) because of population growth. In human rights parts, it is significant to pay taxes to support institutions as well as society. Taxes are the full resources and it is for Common Pool Resources (CPR) which is taxes and social benefits and services. In addition, both equality and liberty are necessary to make local working community great.    Next, as for Asian part, he pointed three nations, China, Japan and Korea and explained the situation of Asian regarding social and human rights. Especially, he said that Korea has a lot of possibility to develop in any other fields as if he looked like to really love Korea. The most important thing is being together to improve social institutions and solve problems about social and human rights.    Actually, in Q&A time, there were many questions from audiences related to not only the topic but also the speaker. Therefore, it showed that this GIC Talk time was so special because audiences were engaged in this topic a lot.      Photo: http://goo.gl/7ptpIZ Video: http://goo.gl/XnFxBp

  GIC Library always welcomes new donations for our book collection. For more info, please contact: library@gic.or.kr

The art of being fully human based on "Living, Loving, Learning"   Speaker: Dana Han Date: September 27th, 2014     Dana Han‘s discussion, “Life, Love, Learning” was enlightening, uplifting, and motivating, if it’s possible to sum up in a few short words. I use the word discussion instead of talk because during the whole event there was a dialogue maintained between the speaker and the audience, created through open answer questions. It was a great experience to be a part of; I’m sure a great majority of the audience was able to take something positive out of the GIC Talk. The discussion was centered on a book in which Dana has read and feels very passionate about. It offers an in depth look at what it means to be yourself, and what it means to love yourself. Dana touched on the most important aspects of the book, and relates this to the audience through the discussion. Her refreshing perspective on loving one’s self was welcomed by every audience member in the room.   Photo: http://goo.gl/YyVJ73 Video: http://goo.gl/igOLbW

Gwangju Drawing Classes at the GIC Speaker: Mariya Haponenko Proofreader: Ivan Yososaputro Date: September 20th, 2014     Last Saturday, Mariya Haponenko, from Ukraine, gave us a talk about drawing classes at the GIC.  At the beginning of the talk, she showed us answers on questions as why drawing and what kind of benefits come when we draw. By drawing, we can develop our artist skills. She also said that it is a great way to realize our hidden talent and meet like-minded individuals. Drawing is easy to practice because we always have things to draw around us like we have our body and we can try to imitate it whenever we want.    So, why is Art important in community? She suggested that we can share our ideas and technics as the quote '2 is better than 1. Of course for the GIC drawing classes, is open for anyone to join. She also organizes the GIC “Kids Art Camp” so if you are interested in art education, it will be a nice chance for your kids to learn Art.   As she came from Ukraine, there was an interesting political question about current situation in Ukraine. If you missed this talk, you can watch it on YouTube! You can find the link of the video on the GIC homepage.     Photo: http://goo.gl/ywd5XZ Video: http://goo.gl/91lvN1

Nazis, NATO, Ukraine, and the EU   Speaker: Jonathan Joseph Chiarella Proofreader: Ivan Date: September 13th, 2014              No one can fully understand the complicated international relations. The situation in Ukraine may seem like Ukraine’s internal affairs, but it involves many different countries. Judging the whole situation is limited by the media as it is filled with biased information. We should have objective judgment when we look at international affairs. The most important thing to do is to know and understand not only Ukraine’s history but also other country’s history. Through his Talk, I got to know how many countries are involved in every affair and how many things are concealed. Robert Shiller, who got Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics, said that 'The current situation of the world economy is similar to 1937, which was spread by fascism.' The thing we should have is the insight that can go through genuine truth.   Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.291980610992161.1073741863.181572228699667&type=1 Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq1OhRaSsdU  

    Host: Lee Joon Yeop (hyuk-Jin) | Guest: Reza Mirhard (Indonesia) |  Duration: April 12, 2014 (Saturday) ~ April 13, 2014 (Sunday) - 2 days     I am really glad that I decided to apply for the GIC Homestay Program. I had really good times with my Korean family, one of my best experiences in life. We first met at the GIC when we attended the Welcoming Party for the families and students who were joining the Homestay Program. At that time, Mr. Lee Jun Yeob came with his son, Hyukjin. We talked a lot during the session. We introduced ourselves, talked about our families, experiences, and many other things. I learned that Mr. Lee is really nice, and although he spoke a little bit of English, he still tried to speak with me. Hyukjin is a really smart boy, and he spoke English really well! I was impressed by both of them, and we went around the city a week after the cultural day which was arranged by GIC.   The cultural day was awesome. We made kimchi, had a lunch, and also wore hanbok. That was my first time wearing traditional Korean clothes. I don’t know if it was just me or if I looked really funny wearing hanbok, but I had fun. At the end of the cultural day, we continued hanging out together. We drove around the city, and they introduced me to every place that we passed through. Then we stopped at Yeomju to ice skate. Unfortunately, the skating ring was already close because it was too late. Mr. Lee did not want me to feel bad about it, so he asked me to play golf. Then we moved to the golf court, as it was still in the Yeomju area. Since it was my first time playing golf, he taught me how to play properly. It was really hard, it was not like any game I had played before.We played golf for about two hours. I never expected that playing golf would be so tiring. After that he asked me to sleep over at his house and I just said yes. Before we went to his house, we went shopping to meet his wife.   Their house was really nice and so warm. Behind their house, there were a lot of paddy fields. It was so refreshing and relaxing. It felt like it was my second house in Korea, as I loved it. In his house, he lives with his wife, son, daughter, mom, and brother. They all were really nice to me. Even though most of them could not speak a lot of English, they always tried and they always smiled. I could feel the warmness of his family. He is lucky to have them as his family. We had spaghetti for dinner and they did not forget to serve banchan (a Korean side dish). We talked a lot about the family and living styles in Korea and Indonesia. I showed them my family pictures. We talked and we laughed together. Sometimes the language became a gap between us but it was ok. Then Mr. Lee brought me and Hyukjin to the nearby middle school. He said it was better to exercise a little bit after eating dinner. We walked around the soccer field many times to burn off some unwanted calories. I had a really long night with them and it was fun!   The next morning before I went back to the dormitory, Mrs. Lee and I made breakfast together. It was kimbap. I can conclude that making kimbap is not that hard, because all we need to have is just the ingredients. I told them that Indonesians love to eat spicy foods. So, when I ate kimbap with chili sauce, they laughed at me. Well actually I did eat kimbap with so much chili sauce on it, so that is why they laughed. After finishing breakfast, I played a computer game with Hyukjin. He was a really good gamer! When it was time for me to go home, Mr. Lee and Hyukjin took me back to the dormitory. Before I left, I did not forget to say thank you to them. It was my pleasure to have really unforgettable moments with them.           It was a month after my Homestay and we still kept in contact with each other when I was living in Korea. On another day, Mr. Lee asked me to come over to his house again and my answer obviously was a yes! That time I had time to prepare myself to go there. And the day had come, that time I brought fruit as a souvenir. That time, Mr. Lee did not come with Hyukjin, but with Tae Ho. Tae Ho is Hyukjin’s cousin who used to live in Canada to learn English and was seeking for new experiences. We headed to Tae Ho’s house because all of Mr. Lee’s family was there. They said it was a celebration for the return of Tae Ho and to greet me. When there was a celebration, there must have been a cake. We had a strawberry cake, and it was yummy! For dinner, we ate a lot of food dishes. We had a kind of beef sashimi at the beginning. It was really strange for me since I only knew sashimi was only for seafood. At first, I doubted it would be good as seafood sashimi. But then I realized, it was really good! I liked it, I dipped the beef sashimi into sesame oil, and it was even better! For the main course, we had bulgogi. It was really delicious, but I think it was similar with the Indonesian dish of semur daging. The difference there was sesame in the bulgogi, while there is not any kind of seasoning like it in the semur daging. Again, we had a really good time. We talked a lot about our families, countries, cultures, and many other things.   The next morning we planned to visit the Seaweed Festival in Wando. I helped make a Korean-style picnic lunch. We made variations of kimbap. We also brought instant ramen and fruit, and I was glad that I brought my fruit. Then we were ready to go, as Tae Ho also went with us. It took us about three hours to get to his house in Wando. After we arrived in Wando, we were a bit unlucky, because it was raining and the wind blew so fast. Stilll, we enjoyed the Seaweed Expo. It provided every kind of benefit coming from seaweed. I already love seaweed, but I loved seaweed even more after I went to Wando. I also managed to use a Korean massage chair. I felt like an old man that time while being massaged. We also ate abalone, as Tae Ho said it was really good for our health. Actually, I wanted to ride the water cycle, but due to rain and wind, I could not do it. After we finished going through the Expo, we had lunch. It was proven that eating together can help us get to know each other more. Then we headed back to Gwangju. I loved that day so much.   I really enjoyed every second that I spent with Mr. Lee’s family, and I won’t forget everything that we did together. I must say that I was really glad to have joined this program, so thank you so much to my Korean family. And, thank you, GIC, for creating such an awesome program.  

Adventure Sports    Speaker: Surjit Singh Puri Reviewer: Sewoon Baek Proofreader: Ivan Date: July 26th, 2014   'Adventure sports', when we heard the word, we could imagine a lot of scenes such as caving, scuba diving, surfing and so on. They look great but dangerous, too. The most interesting thing is that we haven’t experienced most of them due to many excuses like money, jobs, time and courage. These always interrupt us to challenge those sports. However, through his talk, we could realize that we can do adventure sports if we really want them. We usually give up when we face limitations or bad situations before trying them. There is no rule and no competitor. The only one who we have to compete with is ourselves. In other words, only we can make the rule. Overcome yourself! And Challenge against limitations by experiencing adventure sports which can grow us up.    Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.272109339645955.1073741862.181572228699667&type=1 Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CDQG6wyNYw&list=UUw22s4ed3HHu1d7g-teo_yw