Early Expat Korean Learners

OVERVIEW

Foreign Language Education in the 19^th Century

Asian Language Education in the 19^th Century

Missionaries

• John Ross (1842 – 1915)
• Horace Grant Underwood (1859 – 1916)
• James Scarth Gale (1863 – 1937)
• Homer Hubert (1863 – 1949)

Scholars

• William George Aston (1841 – 1911)
• Gustaf John Ramstedt (1873 – 1950)

 Grammar-Translation Method

• Developed from the 1500s as a method of teaching Latin and classical Greek and remained dominant until the end of the 19^th century
• Applied to teaching modern languages in the 19^th century
• Goals
• Develop ability to read literature in target language
• Develop mental discipline
• Method
• Instruction in learners’ native language
• Grammar rules taught deductively
• Drills consist mainly of translation from target language into learners’ native language
• Little attention to pronunciation and oral aspects of the language
• Materials
• Textbooks containing a bilingual word list, a codified set of grammar rules, translation practice

Direct (Natural) Method

• Developed in France and Germany in the lage 19^th century
• Response to dissatisfaction with grammar translation method
• Emphasis on modern languages
• Goals
• Teach the spoken language for practical use
• Method
• Instructing entirely in the target language
• Emphasis on oral practice during lessons
• Vocabulary, sentences, and phrases taught at beginning level
• Grammar taught inductively starting at intermediate level
• Materials
• Specially designed textbooks based on situations 

Asian Language Education in the 19^th Century

• Sanskrit: Sir Williams Jones (1746 – 1794) founded the “Asiatic Society of Calcutta” in 1784 … from there, the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded in 1824 by Henry Thomas Colbrooke (1765 – 1837); translation of Sanskrit classics
• Chinese: Jesuits Michele Ruggieri (1543 – 1607), Matteo Ricci (1552 – 1610); 19^th century grammars and dictionaries, chair in Chinese at College de France (1814)
• Japanese: Serious study began after 1868 Meiji Restoration; Earnest Mason Satow (1843 – 1929) British diplomat and founding member of the Asiatic Society of Japan (1872); William George Aston (1841 – 1911) British diplomat and scholar: Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850 – 1935) British professor Japanese at the Imperial University; James Curtis Hepburn (1815 – 1911) American Presbyterian missionary and author of first major Japanese-English dictionary

Influences of 19th Century Learners of Korean

• Influence of grammar-translation method remained strong
• Asian languages studied primarily for translating canonical texts or Bible translation
• Grammars and dictionaries produced for self-study and translation work
• Missionary work required proficiency in the spoken language
• Terra incognita: Almost no interaction with the West prior to the mid-19^th century

EXPAT KOREAN LANGUAGE LEARNERS

John Ross (1842 – 1915)

• Born in northern Scotland, educated at Fearn School, Glasgow University and Theological Hall, Edinburgh
• Presbyterian Minister in Gaelic-speaking churches before going to China in 1872
• Worked in Shenyang and learned Chinese and Manchurian; gave first sermon in Chinese in 1873
• Learned Korean from Yi Eung-chan, a Korean dealer in traditional medicine in border areas of Manchuria
• Wrote phrase book (1877) and grammar (1882), and a history of Korea (1879)
• Oversaw the first Korean translation of the New Testament (1887)
• Returned to Scotland in 1910
• Language bibliography:

o   Ross, John. Corean primer: being lessons in Corean on all subjects, transliterated on the principles of the “Mandarin primer”, by the same author. Shainhai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, 1877.

o   Ross, John. Korean Speech with Grammar and Vocabulary. Yokohama: Kelley and Walsh, 1882.

o   Ross, John. The History of Corea: Ancient and Modern; With Descriptions of Manners and Customs, Language and Geography. London: Elliot Stock, 1891.

• Approach: language learning = mastery of grammar through example sentences that reflect practical needs.
• Method: Intensive language learning through self-study and use of Korean tutors; development of teaching materials
• Second languages: English (native speaker of Gaelic), German, French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chinese, Manchu, and Korean

Horace Grant Underwood / 원두우 (1859 – 1916)

• Born in London, immigrated to the US with his family in 1872, educated at New York University and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary
• Arrived in Korea in 1885 with Henry Appenzeller
• Founded Saemunan Presbyterian Church (1886)
• Married Lillias Stirling Horton who was a doctor to Empress Myeongseong (Queen Min), their son Horace Horton Underwood, three grandsons, and great-grandson continued service to Korea
• Collaborated with Gale to organized the Seoul branch of the YMCA and founded the Chosen Union Christian College (now Yonsei University) in 1915
• Collaborated with Appenzeller, Scranton, Gale, and Reynolds in translating the New Testament (1900) and the Old Testament (1910)
• Published grammars, edited dictionaries, and wrote textbooks
• Language bibliography:

o   Underwood, Horace Grant. An Introduction to the Korean Spoken Language. Yokohama: Kelly and Walsh, 1890.

o   Unerwood, Horace Grant, James Scarth Gale and Homer B. Hulbert. A Concise Dictionary of the Korean Language: In Two Parts, Korean-English and English-Korean. Yokohama: Kelly & Walsh; New York: ADF Randolph, 1890.

o   Underwood, Horace Grant and Horace Horton Underwood. An Introduction to the Korean Spoken Language. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1914.

• Approach: Mastery of codified grammatical rules and language / culture immersion
• Method: Intensive language learning through self-study with Korean tutors and mentors; development of teaching materials
• Second languages learned: French and Korean

James Scarth Gale / 게일 (1863 – 1937)

• Born in Ontario and educated at the University of Toronto
• Arrived in Korea in 1888 as a lay missionary of the University College YMCA, but joined the Presbyterian mission
• Established a mission in Wonson and traveled widely in Korea
• Wrote grammars, dictionaries, educational materials, and translated literature
• Wrote on Korean history and culture; gave first RASKB lecture; founded the Korean Music Society in 1917
• Language bibliography:

o   Underwood, Horace Grant, James Scarth Gale and Homer B. Hulbert. A Concise Dictionary of the Korean Language: In Two Parts, Korean-English and English-Korean. Yokohama: Kelly & Walsh: New York: ADF Randolph, 1890.

o   Gale, James Scarth. Korean Grammatical Forms. Seoul: Trilingual Press, 1894.

o   Gales, James Scarth. The Thousand Character Series: Korean Reader Number 3. Korea: Korean Religious Tract Society, 1905.

o   Gale, James Scarth. A Korean-English Dictionary. Yokohama: Printed by Fukuin Printing, 1911.

o   Gale, James Scarth. A Korean-English Dictionary (the Chinese Character). Part II. Yokohama: Printed by Fukuin Printing, 1914.

o   Gale, James Scarth. Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies. Translated from the Korean of Im Bang and Yi Ryuk. London: New York: JM Dent & Sons, Dutton & Co., 1913.

o   Gales, James Scarth. Cloud Dream of the Nine [A translation of a Korean novel by Kim Manjung, a story of the times of the Tangs of China about 840 AD]. With an introduction by Elspet Keith Robertson Scott and Sixteen Illustrations. London: Westminster Press, 1922.

o   Gale, James Scarth. The Great Learning. [A translation of Confucius from Chinese into English and the Korean vernacular, with parallel text]. Seoul: Christian Literature Society of Korea, 1924.

o   Gale, James Scarth and Alexander A. Pieters. The Unabridged Korean-English Dictionary, 3^rd ed. Seoul: Christian Literature Society of Korea, 1931.

• Approach: Applying grammatical rules to translating canonical texts
• Method: Intensive language learning through self-study and use of Korean tutors and mentors; development of teaching materials; writing in Korean
• Second languages learned: French, Korean and classical Chinese

HomerBezaleel Hulbert / 흘법 (1863 – 1949)

• Born in Vermont, educated at Dartmouth and Union Theological Seminary
• Arrived in Korea in 1886 and taught English at the Royal English School (육영공원) for five years
• Did missionary work with the Methodist Episcopal Church in Korea from 1893 – 1897
• Supported reform and independence movements
• Served as principal of Imperial Normal and Middle Schools from 1897 – 1905
• Expelled from Korea in 1907; returned to the US and continued to speak out on behalf of Korean independence
• Syngman Rhee invited him to Korea and he returned in 1949, but died soon after
• Language bibliography:

o   Underwood, Horace Grant, James Scarth Gale and Homer B. Hulbert. A Concise Dictionary of the Korean Language: In Two Parts, Korean-English and English-Korean. Yokohama: Kelly & Walsh; New York: ADF Randolph, 1890.

o   Hulbert, Homer B (ed). The Korean Language. Washington:  n.p., 1904.

o   Hulbert, Homer B. A Comparative Grammar of the Korean Language and the Dravidian Languages of India. Seoul: The Methodist Publishing House, 1905.

• Approach: Language learning through basic understanding of grammar and use of language à learning by doing
• Method: Intensive language learning through self-study and contact with wide range of native speakers; little interest in classical Chinese
• Second languages learned: Korean

William George Aston (1841 – 1911)

• Born in Derry, Ireland; educated at Queen’s University Belfast
• Appointed Japanese interpreter to Japanese Legation in Japan in 1864
• Began research on Japanese grammar and expanded to translation work
• Served as British counsel-general in Korea from 1884 – 1885; first European diplomat to reside in Korea; returned to Japan in 1885
• Began learning Korean in 1870s with the help of Yi Dong-jin and continued studying in Tokyo with Kim Jae-guk, who he worked with in Seoul, until 1887
• Retired in 1889 and returned to England
• Language bibliography:

o   Aston, William George. “A Comparative Study of the Japanese and Korean Languages.” The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland New Series, Vol. 11, No. 3 (pp. 317-3640, 1879.

o   Aston, William George. “Corean Popular Literature.” The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland New Series, Vol. 18, (pp. 104 – 118), 1890.

o   Aston, William George. “Chhoi chhung: A Corean Marchen.” The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland New Series, Vol., (pp. 1 – 30), 1900.

• Approach: Mastery of codified grammatical rules applied to translation of literary texts and research on linguistic structures
• Method: Self-study using 1841 textbooks for Japanese learners of Koreans by Urase Iwajiro and used Korean tutors
• Second languages learned: Latin, Greek, French, German, Japanese, Korean

 Gustaf John Ramstedt (1873 – 1950)

• Born in southern Finland, educated at the University of Helsinki
• Studied Finno-Ugric languages and later Altaic languages with a focus on Mongolian
• Became active in Mongolian independence movements
• Served as a Finnish diplomat in Japan (1920 – 1929)
• Known in scholarly linguistics circles; acquainted with Ogura Shimpei, the leading Japanese Korean linguist of the early 20^th century
• Learned Korean in Japan, spent no time in Korea
• Active in Esperanto movement
• Language bibliography

o   Ramstedt, Gustaf John. A Korean Grammar. Helsinki: Suomalais-ugrilainen Seura, 1939.

o   Ramstedt, Gustaf John. “Studies in Korean Etyology,” MSFOu 95, Helsinki: Suomalais-ugrilainen Seura, 1949.

• Approach: Mastery of codified grammatical rules and applying them to linguistic research
• Method: Language learning through self-study and use of Korean informant/tutor Ryu Jin-geol
• Second languages learned: Finnish (native speaker of Swedish), English, German, French, Russian, Mongolian, Japanese, Korean, Esperanto

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

• Mastery of grammar à Grammar-translation method
• Self-study, often intensively
• Korean tutor/mentor:

o   Ross à Yi Eung-chan

o   Underwood à Song Sun-yong

o   Gale à Yi Chang-jik, Ji Si-gyeong?

o   Aston à Yi Dong-jin, Kim Jae-guk

o   Ramstedt à Ryu Jin-geol

• Developed language learning materials
• Translation of canonical texts
• Use of available “language resources”

Implications for Korean language learners today:

• Rethink grammar à mastery of grammar is important
• Rethink native speakers à frequent, mentor-like contact is important
• Rethink literature and translation à close reading and translation are important, particularly at advanced levels
• Rethink Chinese characters à assist vocabulary development and access to cultural heritage
• Rethink motivation à inner drive, desire for perfection, “language person,” “passion for Korea,” etc.

à Old-fashioned language learning with passion is what we should be striving for?

_________________________________________

Robert Frouser, with a B.A. in Japanese language and literature, an M.A. in applied linguistics, and a PhD in applied linguistics gave this presentation on the early learners of Korean. Robert has lived off and on in Korea since the mid-1980s. He has written numerous articles on Korean art and cuisine, and has translated Understanding Korean Literature by Kim Hunggyu into English. Since 2009, he has been active in hanok preservation, particularly in the Seochan neighborhood of Seoul. He also has been a member of the RASKB Council since 2011.

He was careful to teach the difference between two types of grammar for the audience to have deeper understanding of his presentation on language learning, transcribing and in some ways, teaching:

scholarly grammar - a grammar for describing

pedagogical grammar - grammar for teaching

Penal System in the Joseon Period

In the Joseon period, the family network with its guilt by blood and association along with punishment were the norms for controlling any socially unacceptable deviation within society. Family, the network of the extended family and its relationship ties and how a social offense would affect those relationship ties were the largest social controls of criminal acts in the period. However, as society was very heirarchical from the king, his ministers, the yangban class and all the necessary titled people on downward to the peasant class and the outcasts, the Joseon dynasty established many rulings for controlling the tight heirarchy, for maintaining its inflexible social structure, and also for punishing any errant drift from established social expectations.
 

Punishment wasn't always ethically administered. In fact, the two purposes of punishment were to get retribution (usually of an angered higher classed individual against someone under his or her power) or for administering punishment itself, albeit rather harsh punishments were often sentenced, e.g., for the theft of a bit of food to assuage the hunger of an overworked, starving peasant.

Flogging was a typical form of punishment and was, at least in part, included in all of the five levels of punishment:

• Tae-hyung / Flogging A: Tae-hyung was the punishment for a minor offense. This kind of flogging was done with a short branch which was stuck on the bare buttocks from 10-50 times, depending on the gravity of the crime.

• Jang-hyung / Flogging B: Jang-hyung was for a slight graver offense, and was also a flogging. However, the branch used was slightly larger and the flogging itself consisted of 60-100 strokes on the bare buttocks.
  
  

 
• Do-hyung / Imprisonment: Do-hyung was a combination of being flogged 60-100 times on the bare buttocks and then being imprisoned for 1-3 years, a harsh sentence in a society that shamed not only the offender but also the family by its blood relationship. Families were wrung with shame if there was even a whisper that a member, no matter how distant, was in or had served a prison sentence.

• Yu-hyung / Banishment: Yu-hyung was a punishment that was more typically given to the yangban or ruling classes than the peasant classes. It was a combination of being flogged the typical and shameful 60-100 times on the bared buttocks and then being banned far from one's hometown in a very remote area. This banishment method was used to prevent families with position, wealth, or land from conspiring revenge or recovering power as being removed from one's hometown in a country that had poor transportation systems and disconnected from one's families was a rather efficient method for controlling the offender as well as  the family without inflicting prison on an honored, but brooding, threat.
   

• Sa-hyung / Death Penalty: Sa-hyung was punishment for the most serious crimes, e.g. killing one's parent, and only the king had the authority to give this sentence. As a result, floggings were heavily administered to control society. The lower classes were much more likely to be imprisoned while the upper or ruling classes were more likely to be sequestered far from any family ties and away from the environment to plot and get revenge. 

This information is a sketch from a presentation on "crime"

given by Kang Minseok and Lee Yeong Ji. Thank you, guys, for letting me borrow your info.

It is quite insightful on the past era.

Carbon Footprint

For my freshmen students' final presentation, groups of three were made and the groups had the freedom of choosing a social or environemental problem, and then to do research on their topic. They were given the guidelines of 3.5~5 minutes and 3~5 slides per individual. The reason being for limiting the number of slides is to get students to give an oral presentation rather than just a visual one. More specifically, students were to do the 3-step method when presenting each slide, i.e. (1) introduce the picture/data, (2) explain the picture/data, and (3) emphasize the picture/data following the principle of "If you write it, talk about it; if you show it, explain it." This following presentation was given by Park So Mi, Kim Ji Hyun and Oh Chan Ho, and is published here by their permission. This was one of the best presentation of the semester so I asked to share it and they were delighted that others would be interested in their well-organized research. Very phenomenal job, guys!

[ originally printed in my blog Anthroscopes on February 11, 2013, also under "Carbon Footprint" ]

Long-forgotten WWII POW Camps in Korea

As an (unwilling) part of the Japanese Empire, Korea was involved in World War II. We have all heard of the conscripts, the forced labor, and the comfort women. However, fighting did not actually occur on Korean soil. WWII was effectively over as Soviet forces arrived in Korea from Manchuria in mid to late August 1945, and US troops made landfall in Incheon on September 8, 1945 to receive the Japanese surrender and disarm and demobilize Japan’s military.

One aspect of Korean history during that period, however, that has been forgotten – seemingly by all sides – is the approximately 1,500 Allied Prisoners of War who were held in Korea from September 1942 until their release in 1945, only a couple of months after the last non-Axis foreign civilians had been forcibly deported from Korea by ship. The first Allies to be imprisoned here were British and Australian troops from the fall of Singapore. They were joined towards the end of the war by American soldiers captured in the Philippines, after they were initially held in the notorious “hell ships,” as well as in Japan. In all, three camps were operated, run by Japanese officers and staffed by Korean conscripts and civilians. A few POWs died, but most were rescued and brought home in September 1945.

(click to enlarge)

With the fall of Singapore on February 15, 1942, 80,000 British soldiers surrender. This was the largest surrender of the British forces in the history. 3,000 of the men were sent to Changi Prison in Singapore. 50,000 were placed in the British Army's Selarang Barracks. Others were sent on hell ships to perform forced labor: Siam-Burma death railroad, and the Sandakan Airfield in North Borneo. On August 16, 1942 1,000 prisoners boarded the Fukkai Maru, staying on board for four solid days with the hatches tightly closed till they sailed on August 20 for Takao Harbor, arriving August 29. Two weeks were spent in loading the ship with bauxite, whereupon on September 15, the ship set sail for Busan, arriving seven days later. On September 24, POWs disembarked, marched and boarded trains bound for Yongsan, where they were marched into the Yongsan Garrison for temporary keeping.

Yongsan Garrison had once been the site of Seoul's public cemetery; that is, until Japan bought it during the Russo-Japanese War. Approximately one-third of the buildings date to Japanese colonial period. This place functioned as the site for the Chosen Army Garrison until September 1945, and Itagaki Seishiro was the Commanding General of the Chosen Army.

Yongsan Garrison (?)

When POWs arrived in Busan on the hell ships, they were fumigated, inspected and then forced to march, fed somewhat, and loaded on trains to Yongsan, where they again were inspected, forced to march to wherever they were to be held, and lectured on POW camp rules upon arrival.

Yongsan Garrison appears to be where POWs were sent after arriving in Korea. Upon their arrival, their POW camp was decided and the POWs were sent out to their respective new prisoner camp locations. The camp with one of the worst reputations was Konan, in present-day North Korea. 230 men were sent to Konan, a relatively small camp but one that required forced hard labor in a carbine factory. It seems that men weren't sent directly to this camp but were first interred in Camps Keijo and Jinsen, before being relocated. This camp is the location of a secret atomic weapon program, but knowing to what extent is difficult to say as the camp fell into Soviet hands on August 15, 1945.

Konan POW camp (in present-day Hungnam, North Korea)

There appears to be a lot of movement of POWs in Korea. Some were sent on to Mukden, beyond North Korea into Manchura, some were sent to Japan. Mukden was another notorious POW camp (but won't be discussed here as the focus is on WWII POW camps with the Korean peninsula).

POW camp in Mukden, Manchuria

Then, on April 9, 1942 Bataan fell, shortly followed on May 6, 1942 by the fall of Corregidor. The infamous Bataan Death March took its toll on many captured soldiers. Hell ships were loaded with prisoners as well as weapons. These ships were sometimes bombed by US planes and sunk. Those POWs who made it to the shores of Japan were forced into labor ... but there were few survivors. One example is the Brazil Maru. It arrived in Japan with 581 living prisoners and 550 dead men. 73 more died within a month. Only 372 of the initial lot survived the war.

With the US bombing of Japanese islands being stepped up, approximately 150 US POWs were moved to Korea in the spring of 1945. Americans held prisoner in Korea required the US military to investigate. On September 6, 1945 Captain Stengel is in Korea and makes arrangements to meet British Lt. Col. Elrington, the highest officer in Camp Keijo, one of the three POW camps in Korea. Col. Yusuru Noguchi, who is in charge of the POW camps in Korea, is in the party also. A list of camps, prisoners and deaths is given to the Americans. The following day (September 7), Captain Stengel visits both Camps Keijo and Jinsen. Of interest, he finds that the men have made an American flag out of a parachute dropped by a B-29. That evening all men held retreat. On September 8, 24 Corps ships made harbor in Incheon, and three of the ships were made available for POW evacuations.  By September 9, all Jinsen and Keijo POWs had boarded evacuation ships.

However, the single remaining POW camp was Konan, which presented a problem as it was in the north above the 28th parallel and now occupied by the Soviets. To ensure that the POWs there got a more balanced diet than prisoner fare until they could be rescued, and to give them medical and other supplies, three aerial drops were made over the camp. In one of these drops, the plane "Hog Wild" was shot down and forced to land in Soviet territory. [For more on this camp and the interment of POWs there as well as the atomic program discovered, read "The Flight of the Hog Wild: The Day the World Went Cold" by co-authors Bill Streifer (American journalist) and Irek Sabitov (Russian journalist) and reference this site.] The flight crew was held for two weeks after which the Soviets apologized and on September 21, 1945 the POWs and Hog Wild crew were sent to Seoul by train. They arrived in Seoul on September 22 and by that afternoon were loaded on the Mercy hospital ship for medical care in their repatriation journey.

Four days after the release of POWs in Korea, on September 12, Itagaki Seishiro, Commanding General of the Chosen Army, surrendered all his Japanese forces in SE Asia to the British Admiral Mountbatten in Singapore. Many charges were made against Itagaki. One of note is his decision to send 2,000 Allied POWs to Korea so that they could be publicly humiliated for the purpose of improving civilian morale. However, the prosecution does not enter into evidence data regarding treatment of POWs in Korea, but despite that, Itagaki Seishiro was found guilty of war crimes on eight other counts, and he was hanged on December 23, 1948.

This historical presentation of discovery was given by Jacco Zwetsloot, who describes himself as a “Jacco of all trades, master of some.” In the past year he has worked as a business English teacher, translator, interpreter, simulation facilitator, corporate trainer, documentary cameraman and cataloguer, cultural lecturer, souvenir evaluator, radio commentator, magazine writer, voice actor, researcher, copy editor and tour guide. He is currently seeking a publisher interested in releasing translations of several North Korean comic books. He has a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in Korean Studies from Monash University, and has lived in South Korea for over 12 years. Matt Van Volkenburg assisted Jacco in rediscovering these forgotten POW camp sites.

Adding some notes:

The Japanese goal was to hold at least 2,000 white prisoners: 1,000 British and 1,000 American. The point was to intern the white people in the camps as a psychological tool to break the (Koreans?)

Keijo, Seoul, was the largest POW camp. The main building was an abandoned silk-winding factory, and it was located very close to where Sookmyung Women's University is today. The prisoners were made to carry bags of grain (predominantly millet), load and unload trucks at Keiji Station, tie and untie rice ropes, and carry and "bale" hay.

Jinsen (the Japanese name) was the second camp located in Chemulpo (Incheon today). It was located on land that had been reclaimed from the sea in 1930s and 1940s.

Konan (the Japanese name for the present-day 흥남) in the far northeast of North Korea opened in September 1943, also on reclaimed land. This was a work camp, and the 350 people were expected to work 15 hours/day, 7 days/wk. There work comprised tending the lime kilns, blacksmithing, stoking the carbide furnaces (which was the hottest and most dangerous job, especially as workers stoked for 20 minutes and recovered for 40).

Shamans: At the East Sea

A book, a breeze and some Shamans

Kangneung is my getaway place. Several times a year I do my grand escape from Seoul to just relax on the Kangneung beaches and walk around the adjacent lake park. Sometimes the weather cooperates for a lot of beach-walking, and other times like today, the cold icy wind strikes and prevents me from lounging too long with a book.

Today for some unknown reason there were a lot of shamanic rites in progress along the beach. Some had more elaborate tables of food prepared, a couple were just older people beating the timpani (drum) while bowing continuously over wafting incense as they faced and hid their faces from the Buddhist shrine just feet away. One particular family had rented a large low-platformed house, threw the floor-to-ceiling windows open wide and spread a very complicated arrangement of food - fruits, meats, fish, nuts and candies - on the open verandah-floor and were conducting a less sandy ceremony on the polished false-wood floors.

The best arrangement was a beach setting. A low table carefully spread with colorful fruits and two dried fish and faced the ocean. A tent was set up to protect the drummer and the mudang during the long two to three hour ceremony. Tea and hot coffee were brewing to offset the briskness blowing in from the ocean.

This particular gut might have been to thank the water gods for their abundance during the summer. If the gut had been held in spring, I would think it would be more likely for the appeal for spring and summer fishing blessings and overall abundance for the coming year.

Central to the shamanic rituals are mudang (females who function as intercessors between the physical and spirit world) presiding. They preform a gut (loosely translated as 'exorcism', as in an exorcism to rid one of a bad spirit, bad luck, etc.) And to perform the gut they offer sacrifices to the gods and consider their own ancestors and the ancestors of those they are performing the ceremony for. Through rhythmic dance movements, songs, prayers and spirit encounters the rites are thought to create a connection between the spiritual and mundane world to re-establish harmony, confer blessings, and promote welfare. This particular gut was soon to start, and since it's a private affair to appeal to the spirit world, I moved quickly on.

Along the secluded walk along the beach and getting further away from the several Shamanic rituals was my own peace - gulls frolicking above the waves, peaceful sandy spots for digging my toes in, and a quiet place to hear myself think and escape into my book.

The beach got a bit cold so I left the beach scene to go to the adjacent but more protected Kyungpo Lake, where I walked the four kilometer circumference trail around the lake. And wahlah! I've been to Kangneung many times but this was the first to see 해파리 (jellyfish) in the lake. And there were tons of jellyfish, but only along the western shores where the water was warmer and furthest from the ocean. Koreans really love to eat jellyfish - jellyfish salad, jellyfish in stews - so wasn't surprised that many Koreans were getting all excited about seeing the clouds of jellyfish off the menu and probably thinking about how to put them on.