Korean translation, 년[neon,nyawn]: year



Korean translation, 년[neon,nyawn]: year




To whoever is looking at this blog, know that while although one of the functions of this blog is to inform others of my time here, I also use this blog as a way to document what I am doing in Korea for myself. I do this so that come a year, two years, ten, twenty from now, I can look back and remember some of the the amazing people I met, the places I went and the meaningful experiences I had.

Why am I in Seoul, anyways?

Why am I in Seoul, anyways? I'm studying language in Seoul for the year through the National Security Language Initiative for Youth operated by the U.S. State Department. While in Seoul, I attend a local Korean high school as a regular Korean student and have intensive language classes three times a week at an international institute in Seoul. My school is a digital media vocational school. Both in school and in many other settings, I am often the only American they have met and almost always the only Jew. As such, I have an important role, not only as an American or a Jew, but as The American and The Jew. Because of this, I have been prone to some alarming, but insightful questions. Like when it was drizzling outside, weather that does not necessarily warrant carrying an umbrella, but being asked by my host brother, "Do all Jews not use umbrellas?" I am constantly being put in new situations. I make mistakes sometimes. Like when I clearly asked for "not spicy," however later realized, tears in my eyes, that the woman's shocked expression when I ordered "meh-un tteokbokki" was not from my Korean ordering skills, but was because I had probably been the first foreigner to specifically ask for the spiciest food on the menu. These year as the non-umbrella-carrying-spicy-food-eating-American-Jew living in Seoul has been exhausting and exhilarating, but a year of experiences I will bring with me for the rest of my life. .

American Soil

A Day at the United States Embassy in Seoul
Some facts:

  • When it was built after the Korean War, it was the tallest building in Korea. As it stands now, it is surrounded by high rises and skyscraper-hotels. A perfect reminder to those working in the Embassy that as the world around us changes, we must change. We must change our actions and our policy as the world's leaders shift seats and new players call for a new set of rules. 
  • The Embassy in Seoul is one of the largest American Embassies around the world. It consists of two grounds- one the embassy and the other an American Cultural Center (where the Thanksgiving dinner took place). 

We met with two foreign service officers: A former journalist and a former NGO worker were Americans who had led a career in journalism and NGOs, respectively, before entering the foreign service. It was interesting to note how complex the embassy was. How each department is in and of itself its own bureaucracy.



The former journalist we met had been an editor for the Joongang Daily Newspaper in Korea and the writer for a post in the United States which provided for valuable insight as to how a Korean news agency is run. Because it was owned by Samsung, he said that the news reported was very bias and ultimately led to Samsung having to sell the company. Unrelated to this particular instance, Korea has recently received much criticism for its almost excessive internet and news censorship policies.

The woman who worked for the NGO's had volunteered in many relief efforts both in Indonesia after the tsunami and in Haiti after the earthquake. Much of her work was language based, like going out into the fields of Haiti to speak in Creole to the farmers and so she told us she could empathize with of the challenges we face. But through all of the challenges of speaking a foreign language, the people you are speaking with feel honored that you took the time to learn their language. Do not be afraid to make mistakes.

Neither had served in the Peace Corps. However both had come to the foreign service not in search of a new job, as many of them had already held multiple positions in their lives, but to find a career. In it for the long haul. I thought was made the foreign service even better than being able to assist both foreigners and Americans abroad--fairly surface level--was the truly varied staff. The foreign service values diverse backgrounds and experiences and so to have a workforce comprised of so many different people all devoted to the same cause, each bringing new insight, is something that makes our foreign service unique.

In speaking with both of them mainly about the foreign service and listening to their life stories that seemed to span more than the borders of this world, we had the opportunity to hear real accounts from real people about what real life in the embassy was like.

Soil is a foundation of life; with rotten soil comes faulty growth. American soil refers to the base of what America is and wants to be. Our soil abroad comes in the form of foreign officers and diplomats. These people form a strong American Soil base abroad and allow a solid, sturdy representation of America abroad.