I was digging through some old files and found this article I wrote. I thought it would interest some folks. The following is the English version of the Seoul Serenade article as it appeared in the Korean Edition of Newsweek dated 8/20/2008. A Journey of Heart Felt Memories By Steve Nissen I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Korea in the early 1970’s working as a rural vocation training instructor as part of the K-22 group. After training my assignment took me to the Rural Vocational Training Center in Iksan Gun just outside of Iri City, now known as Iksan, Jeollabuk-do. Our K-22 group has the distinction of being the 1st Korean Peace Corps group to train entirely in Korea. Our training staff was made up of 2 past PCVs, Brian Berry (past PCV currently living in Korea) and Cathy Mathews (past PCV currently ranching in rural New York) with an occasional visit from Gary Rector (past PCV currently living in Korea and working at Newsweek). We had three native language instructors Mr. So Sang Su, Mr. Chu Yum Dom, and Ms Song Yeong Dong. On occasion we would have a guest teacher. Our training consisted of learning the language, customs (things to do and things not to do), cultural activities, and some Korean history. Our group entered Korea in late September 1971. We began our training at a place called Academy House in Seoul. After about a month we moved to the Catholic Center in Jeonju-Si Jeollabuk-do. In the course of our training we visited several of our future assignment sites, various famous places, orphanages, families, wine houses, and etc. At the completion of our training program we took an extended group trip to Busan City in a rented mini-bus. After returning to Jeonju, we were given the opportunity to select the center we most preferred. We were sworn in as PCVs on March 3, 1972 by then Peace Corps Korea Director Don Hess. (Later on he was the Peace Corps Director in Washington DC.) The K-22 group was a small group of six people. Each of the men in the group worked in Rural Vocational Training Centers in various parts of the country. Susan worked in physical therapy and Margerite taught English at Ewa Women’s University. After swearing in we were given envelops that contained the names our assigned centers. We were all satisfied with our assignments. Henry was assigned Gyeongi-do, Larry was assigned Nonsan, Dave was assigned Gwangju Jeollanam-do, and I was assigned Iksan Jeollabuk-do. All PCVs have some memorable experiences and lasting influences that resulted from their Peace Corps experiences and the people they lived, worked, and played with during that period. Because of the span of years since those days I only remember bits and pieces of what I experienced. One thing I remember was how I enjoyed spending time with my Korean colleagues, friends, and even strangers. I also remember how I enjoyed the time spent with the older generation of people. I remember these older people as generous, humorous, wise, unique in expressing their thoughts, and eager to share experiences and ideas. One thing I learned from these people was that we should only worry about things we have the power and ability to change. Those things we cannot change we should be concerned about and try to help, but don’t worry since worry causes lose of our good health. Also I recall being impressed at the level of respect and deference given to the older people by the young people. Even when the young people disagreed with their elders they still maintained their manners and respect. I worked a great deal with young people in the vocational training centers. I recall the dedication of the Korean instructors and administrators in the center who were helping the students and community. The high regard that the people of Korea have for improving themselves and children through education and training was very much in evidence. In addition to providing training to our own students, we would work with the local agriculture office to provide assistance and guidance to local farmers in more modern technologies and techniques. The people we worked with seemed very grateful and did what they could to express their gratitude, usually in the form of food and drink. Mokoli was the drink of choice at those times and it tasted better then the modern mokoli sold in the markets. Although I did work closely with the students on an everyday basis, my main focus was working with the instructors. The goal was to help them better understanding how to best use available resources, skills, and technologies so they could better carry-on after I left. I became close to the staff at the center and I spent time with them and their families during off work hours. We would go on weekend hiking trips, enjoy meals together, relax at the local wine (makoli) houses, and consult each other on problems. I even remember times when I spent time at the center doing night duty. This experience gave me a change to improve my makoli consumption, Korean card playing, Korean chess, and language ability. In those days soju existed but was more expensive then makoli so we cheap skates drank makoli. The experiences gained in those days came about to a large extent because of the kindness and closeness of the Korean people. At that time rural Korea had limited access to modern conveniences such as TV and outside entertainment common to larger cities. And of coarse computers did not exist. The local entertainment for both old and young consisted mainly of gathering of family and friends and enjoying food, drink, stories, singing, and various games. I rarely got sick, but on the few occasions when I did word would get out and people would come from around the area to visit and express their concern. The desire of my Korean hosts, friends, work associates, and later on family, to make sure I was comfortable was unexpected and very much appreciated. At first I thought this concern from the people was because they were being polite and felt obligated. But I soon found out that their actions and concern came more from their hearts and reflected their true feeling of wanting to help in anyway they could to make my life easier and memorable. This was their way of saying “thank you” to me for undergoing what they saw as hardships as a PCV for their benefit. To this day I do not consider my Peace Corps service as a hardship to me. Rather I view the time and experiences as a great adventure in my life where I was able to help someone else in some small way while at the same time improving my own vision of life, becoming more understanding of people of a different culture, and showing other people something good about our way of life and culture. In the spring of 1976 I married a wonderful Korean woman and we returned to the United States in early 1977. I have been back to Korea several times since leaving in 1977. Most recently I visited in the spring of 2007 with my wife. We visited friends and family and tried to remember what things looked like before all the recent changes. After leaving Korea in early 1977 the first time I returned to Korea (about 15 years later) I was shocked by all the changes. Public transportation is still widely used, but cars had multiplied like rabbits. Public transportation was good, reliable, clean, and very affordable. Health clubs have sprouted up everywhere. Smoking in public places has been restricted because of health concerns. There are limousine buses from the airports (both Inchon and Kimpo) to most major cities and un-like the express and inter-city buses they have much more leg room for us long legged westerners. English TV channels, CNN in English and Korean, modern western music, the latest fashions, the latest movies, latest electronic devices, and etc. all exist. More recently my wife and I arrived in Inchon after midnight on a flight from China. My niece had arranged for us to stay at a guesthouse near Inchon Airport. It turned out to be hostel type of place. Very clean, lots of room, bathroom in the room, shower, refrigerator, TV, and simple but adequately furnished. This was not like the modern hotels we have become accustom to. In my Peace Corps days this place would have been a palace, now I have become spoiled and prefer the more modern type hotel. In the 1970’s we stayed at yeo-kwans whenever we traveled throughout the country. At that time we found them to be convenient, economical, clean, and quite suitable as a place to sleep for the night. Now yeo-kwans are something of the past in Korea and I am told many of the ones that now exist do not always have good reputations. The same goes for the old style taabons (tea houses). At one time they were the place to go and relax, meet friends, conduct business, or watch TV. Now days there are modern coffee shops like Starbucks, internet cafes, music rooms, and etc. I found no shortage of modern western conveniences in Korea today (Pizza, McDonalds, Costco, super markets, lots of international ethnic foods, etc. all exist). Soju seems to be the drink of choice for many people now. Makoli can be found, but does not taste as good as before. Health care is now world class, in fact better than in some western countries because it is more affordable and more accessible. Koreans are very well traveled and many go to other countries for vacations. In fact this is so much the case that when we were in China we found the Korean Won just as desirable as the dollar and many Chinese who spoke Korean rather than English. During all my visits I have observed that Korea is now very modern, the people (especially the young people are very computer and technically oriented), and the people in general seem as friendly and considerate as ever they were. Yet with all this modernization the families still seem very close and traditions continue to be honored. If asked how my experiences in Korea have affected my life. My answer is simply “for the better”. Today I have a wonderful wife I would not have had I not gone to Korea. This fact alone has influenced what I have been doing since I left Korea in 1977. In addition, I have life experiences and knowledge that I would not have gotten anywhere else that affect my daily living, choices, and concern for others. I also have my memories and the knowledge that I did something to improve the world we live in. My wife and I are looking forward to attending the Peace Corps reunion in Korea this fall. We have been looking at old pictures and drumming up old memories. For the past 30 years we have been living in Arvada Colorado just outside of Denver Colorado. I am currently software engineer working for a large corporation. We have raised 2 beautiful and wonderful daughters who have both finished college and are now making their own ways in life by challenging the world in ways not much unlike us. Our oldest is married and living close by us. The youngest is not yet married. As yet we are not grandparents but look forward to grandchildren who someday will take after us. End of article Notes: 1. On the 1st page of the article there is a side bar sentence in large bold text. The text reads: “Yet with all this modernization the families still seem very close and traditions continue to be honored.” 2. At the end of the article is a small photo of Steve with an accompanying caption. “Steve Nissen American Peace Corps Volunteer (K-22) in the early 1970’s who served 46 months at a rural vocational center. Katherine Stevens former Peace Corps Volunteer (K-55) the designated American Ambassador to Korea will help host a Peace Corps reunion this fall. The story as it appears here was originally written in English and translated into Korean by Newsweek.”
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:18:49 +0000
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