Gwangju International Center

SPEAKER: Jonathan ChiarellaCO-WRITERS:​ BeomjinGIC TALK DATE: January 16, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: U.S. Control of ROK Forces Everyone knows that there is a special relationship between Korea and U.S.A. Today’s speaker Jonathan Chiarella gave a speech about U.S. Control of ROK Forces.  Firstly, he introduced what is OPCON which stands for Operational Control of Military Forces. Then, he talked about war-time OPCON Deal. According to Jonathan, Korea would have been able to  control their forces military in 2012, but that was delayed by 3 Reasons. First, the Emerging Threats. Second, Korea was not ready for it. And lastly, because of a need for missile defense.  Based on his prediction about OPCON, he supposed that Korea will be able to control its own military forces by 2020. He finally tackled Missile Defense and stated that the USA really wish to have it.  His content was based on political and historical issues. It was a quite difficult and controversial topic which raised a lot of questions from the audience and was followed by lots of conversations after his speech.  From Jonathan's speech, we could think about Korea’s military conditions, which is a topic that people don't always think about. Let’s see whether his prediction will come true or not.

SPEAKER: Ryne SantosCO-WRITERS:​ Vivien and Yang EunsukGIC TALK DATE: January 9, 2016GIC TALK TITLE: Pecha Kucha Night  GIC Talk speaker Ryne Santos introduced the audience to Pecha Kucha 20x20 which is a simple presentation format where participants show 20 images/slides, and speak for 20 seconds about each of them. This format teaches the participants who usually talk too much to speak more concisely, and allows every participant to speak for the same amount of time. His GIC Talk was here to present and promote the first ever Gwangju Pecha Kucha Night which will be held in February 2016. Since Pecha Kucha debuted in Tokyo as a one-time event in 2003, this presentation meeting has been building a meaningful history. As of December 30, 2015, Pecha Kucha Nights were hosted in 889 cities around the world.  Ryne Santos also explained that anyone can join the meeting and/or give a presentation about any topics that they want to share with the audience members. Topics can be about fashion, technology, culture, food, art, education, sports, music, photography, or any other personal project. This coming Pecha Kucha night in February, there will be a participant turning his 20 slides into poetry, and another one displaying his macro photography. The GIC Talk speaker successfully raised interest about the Pecha Kucha Night. If you want to network with more like-minded people, this event might be what you are looking for.  It can help raise awareness about any subject you want to present. 

GIC Talk reviewSPEAKER: Joel KeralisCO-WRITERS: Elizabeth AugustovizGIC TALK DATE: August 22, 2015GIC TALK TITLE: Data Driven Growth: Application of Current Opinions to GIC Programming  Today’s speaker, Joel Keralis , an international  intern at the GIC, presented about the recent survey project that was designed to evaluate from GIC members, the public, and GIC staff members. First, Mr. Keralis  talked about the importance of numbers and the reasons he had for creating the survey project. He said, “The purpose of numbers is to guide the discussion.”  According to Mr. Keralis before this survey project the GIC did not have a central database that could be used to reference in  important discussions.  He designed this survey to establish that type of database. Next, the speaker spoke about the overall goal of the project which was to get opinions from both members of the GIC and nonmembers about what they knew about GIC programs. He stated that it was important to see what GIC members knew about the programs because it can show how well information is being distributed to members.  Conversely, it is also important to know what the non-members know about the GIC to see what their impressions of GIC programming are and use that information to better serve them in the future. Then, Mr. Keralis went over some of the data finding of the survey. Over 150 people responded to the survey, this number includes members, non-members, and GIC staff. To highlight some of the survey’s findings briefly: most international GIC members are between the ages of 25-35, whereas Korean GIC members are in their 40-50s, and the highest reason why non-members do not become members of the GIC is because of the membership price. The survey also asked what services that people wanted the GIC to provide. The number one response was the GIC should provide information for Gwangju residents. The survey affirmed the GIC is doing a good job at providing information because the two highest rated programs were the Gwangju News and the Interpretation/Translation service. Mr. Keralis concluded his talk by stating that these numbers should be just a guide in the discussion about the future of the GIC.  What really matters is what the members and the staff of the GIC want the center to become in the future.  

Goodbye, Joey!Written by Joey Nunez▲ When he has just started working at GIC in 2014 (on the right) 1. How did you start to work at GIC? I heard from multiple people about the GIC’s credibility and services upon my arrival to Gwangju in August 2012. I visited the GIC, during a time when also the Gwangju Performance Project (GPP) was holding auditions for their next play in December 2012. All in one day, I auditioned first (and got my first part later), then received information about the GIC, and immediately afterwards, I became a GIC Member.Then, I started volunteering with the GIC in September 2012, all the way until February 2014, for a total of 17 amazing months. I stopped volunteering, because I started working at the GIC in March 2014, all they way until January 2016, for a total of 22 incredible months. 2. What kind of work did you do in GIC? As a GIC Volunteer, I helped with rewriting GIC Library Labels and reorganizing the GIC Library Genres, as well as I later helped as a Proofreader, Writer, Copy Editor, and Print Editor of Gwangju News. Most of my time of volunteering was being involved with both the GIC Library and Gwangju News. I also helped with proofreading a few documents for the GIC and gave a GIC Talk about my year’s experience in Thailand.As a GIC Coordinator, I provided programming structuring: for GIC Library, GIC International Membership, English Proofreading, GIC International Volunteering, GIC Junior Talk, the World Human Rights Cities Forum Discussion Groups, GIC Talk, and First Floor Space Management, Maintenance, and Records. I did more as a Coordinator than I thought possible, and I loved every program, project, and opportunity I was blessed to have been given.  3. What was your favorite job when you work at GIC?My favorite aspects of my job were serving this incredible community of Gwangju. Most times when I was volunteering, I constantly thought: “I wonder what it would be like if I worked at the GIC …,” but, I always dismissed that consideration, thinking my helping of other people would need to be utilized elsewhere. I am so blessed and grateful that a wish I had repeatedly dreamed of acquiring, now is presently a beautiful memory as my third and best international position. 4. When is the best moment for you in GIC? Every time that someone entered the GIC: Staff Member, Staff Intern, Staff Volunteer, GIC Member, GIC non-Member, and Visitor, are my best memories at the GIC. Choosing one best memory is too difficult and selective, so I hope this answer is sufficient: every moment was my favorite, because I learned from every moment. 5. What were the lessons did you received from working at GIC?Time is the best gift I can give another person. Money, sacrifices and traditions are nothing, compared to the gracious gift of giving someone else “my clock,” ranging from a few minutes to several hours, and learning NOT to keep track of time, but instead, investing in the moment and here-and-now of what needs can be achieved.Also, while I volunteered and worked at the GIC, I better defined my strengths, acknowledged my weaknesses and appreciated every moment where I have become a better person with a better-developed purpose, a better-emphasized calling and a better-enhanced vision.6. What is the meaning of GIC to you at the moment that you finished working at GIC?GIC is my second home, so leaving home to go elsewhere is difficult. Yet, I know I have been called and created for something that is no longer at my second home. Still, I will always cherish my time at the GIC, and I am excited to continue my support of the GIC as a Lifetime Member with financial support, providing assistance for Gwangju News with continual editing, and providing another set of eyes on any proofreading projects that the GIC produces.7. What are you going to miss about the GIC and Korea after you are back home?I will miss the incredible people at the GIC, again those who are: Staff Members, Staff Interns, Staff Volunteers, GIC Members, GIC non-Members, and Visitors. Within Korea, I will miss my church family at Wolgwang English Ministry, my theatre friends with the Gwangju Performance Project, and the multiple other people I met and connected with in various ways and at different moments.The beautiful sights that Korea so easily displays, the incredible main dishes that Gwangju so easily creates, and the incredibly deep conversations that both Korea and Gwangju so easily provides finalizes my top misses upon returning home. 8. What are your future plans?I have the blessing to travel to Japan, Mexico, and Honduras, before returning to the United States in April 2016. I will be returning to work in a summer position, helping summer camp participants feel at home. Then afterwards, I am hoping to drive solo on a road trip throughout the United States and Canada, visiting both family and friends along the way, some I have not seen in as short as a few months and as long as 10 years. By 2017, my goal is to be in a new country, advancing the name of Jesus Christ in a journalism and service-oriented capacity. 9. Is there anything you want to say to the people of GIC as your final thoughts?Always remember whom you are helping (staff) and who is helping you (members and visitors). We are all people first, not “to-do” lists or genies. If we daily remind and transform ourselves to match what Dr. Shin first envisioned and created back in 1999, with the GIC being a place where Korean and International residents can gather, meet, fellowship, learn from, and grow together as one, we will always be satisfied with how we help and how we receive help. Without this goal, why are we at the GIC in the first place, honestly? The difference in this life will ultimately come when we find the Truth that sets us free and the Peace that passes earthly understanding. 

    GIC Talk Review   SPEAKER: Jordan VanHartingsveldt CO-WRITERS: Kim Eunho, Lee Soyoung, and Ashlyn Winter   GIC TALK DATE: July 18, 2015   GIC TALK TITLE: Alleycon: A Waygeek Event   Today’s speaker, Jordan VanHartingsveldt, one of the main organizers of Alleycon, presented about this year’s activities at Alleycon.   He shared with us first about Alleycon, with multiple organizers and sponsors from the community. At this convention, people can dress up as fantasy characters, play video games and entertain themselves with board/P2PRPG games. There are also artists and performers from the Gwangju Performance Project which the attendees can watch and enjoy throughout the convention.   Alleycon was created at a table tops day at the First Alleyway (borrowing their name from this popular restaurant). Alleycon is an “upgrade version” of the table tops day; therefore many more people can attend and can enjoy a different and wider variety of activities.   Jordan compared the 2013 and 2014 Alleycon event during his talk. 2013 was the first time that Alleycon was held and 30 people attended. In 2014, more people attended and it was the first time that vendors opened their stores during the event. In 2014, Alleycon cost 3,000,000 won to fund and they made a profit of 3,500,000 won. The profits were shared with different orphanages and the community of Gwangju.   This year’s Alleycon event will be held on September 19th and 20th at the Gwangju Design Center in Cheomdan. The supporters are Corana, Pedro’s House, the First Alleyway, Korea Mac PC, the GPP, and Tequilaz. They expect to host up to 500 people for this year’s two-day convention.   Jordan has high hopes for Alleycon’s future. He hopes Alleycon will continue to grow and be an event that many foreigners and native Koreans want to attend in Korea. He hopes that by 2020, there will be between 5,000 and 10,000 participants attending this convention.   Alleycon is the first event in Asia which celebrates “geeks.” We thank Jordan for helping create and manage this event and for following this passion.

    GIC Talk Review   SPEAKER: Ana Traynin   CO-WRITERS: Onyou Kim and Duc Nguyen Thanh   GIC TALK DATE: July 11, 2015   GIC TALK TITLE: Education in Korea   Education is important in South Korea because it not only helps us to generate better generations but it also relatively makes our society become a more worthy and better place to live.   Ana Traynin, the GIC Talk Speaker, gave her thoughts and perspectives about what alternative education in Korea is and what makes alternative education in Korea differ from that in other countries, as well as some advantages of how Korean high school students can benefit. Through videos, pictures, and personal stories, Ana explained that alternative education offers something different than what is offered with typical Korean high school curriculums.   According to her talk, Ana also presented five educational principles which are currently becoming practically at a high school where she is serving as a teacher. Those principles are: Dormitory Life, being “Well-Rounded,” Environment, Civics, and Autonomous Education.   Ana provided some evidence at her school, especially concerning outdoor activities that help build students’ skills and provide first hands-on experiences, such as: nature experience learning, walking alongside the Seomjin River, hiking Jiri Mountain, and farming.   Participating in these activities and enjoying them will definitely help young students open their eyes to the variety of knowledge that is in this world and achieve better futures.

    GIC Talk Review   SPEAKER: Kang Hyun   WRITERS: Juyeon Lee and Ashlyn Winter   DATE: July 4, 2015   GIC TALK TITLE: Safety and Health in our Lives and Workplaces   Kang Hyun, who works for KOSHA (Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency), presented information about health and safety in our workplaces. He taught us about having a culture of safety in our city also by showing us how important safety is and what can happen if safety rules and regulations are not followed.   For example, Mr. Kang mentioned the collapse of the Sampung Department store, which collapsed due to frequent illegal changing of plans without proper approvals.   Mr. Kang also expressed how the importance of safety in a country should be advocated and compared such circumstances to life in the U.S.A. to Korea. In Korea, the country's rules of safety and health are enforced in different ways in comparison to what happens in America.   Mr. Kang thus added that "safety is a concept." He showed the negative implications of not following safety laws. We should not want to learn safety by accident, as we need to know rules so that we can avoid accidents. When accidents occur, families experience losses and sadness, companies have a decline in production and sales and the companies’ image can be ruined.   Accidents occur due to unsafe behavior and unsafe conditions, but such behavior can be resolved through reeducation and informing people in more appealing ways.   Safety is not just simply considering and following health and safety laws. Safety demands action, requiring us to ensure that we and others can work and live in an environment safely.

  GIC Talk Review   SPEAKER: Tony Cheston   WRITERS: Eunho Kim and Duc Thanh   DATE: June 27, 2015   GIC TALK TITLE: Bringing Learning and Fun Together   Tony is British and his father was a British soldier, so he can knew about South Korea since he was a child, and that was how he came to Korea to teach English at 1977. When he taught younger people, they gave him energy so he could teach them more of what he had prepared. But when he taught in similar ways to the older generations, they seemed burned out because of their lives. The older students only looked at their desks or books. And these days, 70 percent of middle or high school students think that English is useless, as they are taught less in conversation and more in grammar or spelling.     So Tony wanted students to have more fun while studying English. His GIC Talk of “Bringing Learning and Fun Together” was visible, as he studied how and discovered great methods for creating interactive games.game. Inspired by Bingo, Memory, and Scrabble, Tony thus created his own versions of games, such as Alphabetony, Numberotony, and What's-itony. These games help people have fun while studying English, even the GIC Talk Audience Members. While playing these games, people should talk with each other and there is a sense of healthy competition.   More information about Tony’s company, which is called: “Tony’s Fun Factory,” can be found at www.tonysfunfactory.com . 

  GIC Talk Review       SPEAKERS: Heather Aitken, Calen Cygan, and Caitlin O’Neill   WRITERS: Juyeon Lee and Ashlyn Winter   DATE: June 20, 2015   GIC TALK TITLE: “The Last Five Years: Bringing A Musical to Gwangju”   Heather Aitken, the Musical’s Director, started out the GIC Talk by telling the audience about ”The Last 5 Years” and introduced Jason Robert Brown, the Musical’s Author. Heather described Jason as a young and upcoming author with creating unconventional music styles. The play, a modern romance, is a story about the conception and ending/culmination/termination of a relationship between a husband and a wife, Jamie and Cathy.   This play is really interesting because the two characters do not meet until the middle of the story, and each character is telling a different side of the story, their side of the story. We were introduced to two other cast members, Calen Cygan and Caitlin O’Neill, the other two Speakers. Also, Chris Bleeker, the Musical’s Stage Director, shared a few words as well. Caitlin even sang a song entitled “A Summer in Ohio” that will be performed in this show. It was brilliant and a great motivator to go and see the show!   The show is being performed on Friday, July 17, Saturday, July 18 (with 2 shows) and Sunday, July 19 at the Gwangju Art Hall Downtown. You can reserve tickets at www.gpptickets@gmail.com. Tickets cost 12,000 if they are reserved before the show or you can also buy tickets for 15,000 at the door (depending on availability).   For more information, find the Gwangju Performance Project online (www.gwangjutheatre.com) and on Facebook.  

  GIC Talk Review     SPEAKERS: Nancy Harcar, Arlo Matisz and Tim Whitman   WRITERS: Juyeon Lee and Huong Nguyen   DATE: June 13, 2015   GIC TALK TITLE: The Michael Simning Community Builder Award Presentation Ceremony       Michael Simning: an honorable man whom his friend Arlo Matisz claimed to have built “a home away from home” for international friends from different countries living in Gwangju.   Tim Whitman, Michael Simning’s business partner and also one of his greatest friends, asserted that Mr. Simning is “a man of quality.”He believed that Michael Simning’s legacy was to “build things here in Gwangju so people can be happy and to make Gwangju like their home.”   And with that legacy continuing, the Michael Simning Community Builder Award has been created and to award annually. This year’s nominees and finalists included: Lianne Bronzo, Brian Burgoyne, Sunjin Choi, Calen Cygan, Kim Young-Im, Jen Lee, David Shaffer, and Jordan Vanhartingsveldt. Al Barnum, the Award Ceremony’s First Recipient, gave a stirring talk about how everyone was a winner for community service.   The GIC Talk Program would like to acknowledge and thank the Award Ceremony committee organizers and all distinguished individuals for their enomous efforts and contributions to Gwangju's children community, teachers' network and charities. With over 60 people in attendance, everyone came together to hear how Gwangu has become a better place, with Michael Simning's legacy living on through others.