From the Editor
We were optimistic.
With glittering eyes, we embarked on our 2023 Fulbright grant year with ambitious goals. A fervor surged through us as we rushed to build connections in our placements. The local cafe became our favorite. New friends and neighbors quickly became our family. The students and school community became our joy. As our grant year comes to a close, these memories will be the most precious to us. In conjuction with the joys of living abroad, we also overcame challenges as we tried to acclimate to this new environment called South Korea.
Mirroring our encounters, both familiar and unfamiliar, this volume is structured into different chapters that represent the phases of culture shock one experiences when moving to a new country. Guiding us through this journey is our search for belonging.
Our volume opens with the chapter “New Home” as grantees are forced to reconcile with their new environment. Leah Yan Doherty’s “River Child” beautifully illustrates the merging of her background as a Chinese adoptee with her life in Korea. Brittany Scardigno also highlights this boundary of familiar and unfamiliar through contrasting acts of physical touch between her host mother and real mother. As Doherty and Scardigno discuss the collision between identity and host family interactions, they bring a whirlwind of emotions and memories as they search for a true meaning of belonging.
Once faced with these new possibilities, we move onto “The Honeymoon Phase.” Here, things are new and thrilling. Each interaction creates a burning memory. A fever dream. Martha “Cati” Pudner’s “Mangoes” captures this feeling exactly as she details an encounter with a mango seller in the countryside. Then, Isa Koreniuk’s Connections through Coffee shines a light on a special part of Korean culture: cafes and coffee. The chapter ends with two art collections, both memorializing different facets of the ETAs’ precious memories. Noé Toroczkai’s Landscape Reflections depicts her travels in Korea through scenic digital paintings, and Elisabeth “Suds” Sudbey’s When Words Are Not Enough illustrates her experiences in her new placement city through a collection of frames.
However, the next chapter brings us to a pivotal change as “Reality Sets In.” Ky Pontious’ At Summer’s End brings us through a whirlwind of emotions as the seasons change. With such change, there often comes turmoil. Iris Hyun-A Kim’s Between Belonging and Sunday BEEF illustrate her conflict of identities throughout her grant year, while Brittany Scardigno’s Twenty-One Twenty tackles feelings of frustration when forgetting the code to her digital keypad.
Finally, we arrive at the last phase of culture shock: “Adaptation.” In this chapter, we see reflection on multiple aspects of our lives in this new environment. Maggie Backus kicks off this new phase with Defining Moments, portraying her local community and exploring the true meaning of “friend.” Then, William Landers travels through key points of his life in Korea with Vignettes from the Metro. Grace Moon Meharg’s poem “할머니” depicts learning about the generations of women in her family by living in their birthplace. We close this chapter of our journey with Kat Ray’s the goldfish and a great lake, an allegory about self-growth and self-care in a foreign environment.
Just before the reader finishes, you will notice the student contest placed at the very end, as if to signify us succumbing to a type of “Peace” with our journey. As you read the selected student entries, we hope it brings you a kind of peace as well.
Sprinkled throughout all these chapters are photos taken by our cohort. You will notice that every single photo is taken in Korea, immortalizing time in a photograph. This brings us to this year’s theme: Snapshots of Belonging. As we progressed through our grant year, we all searched to reconcile our identities with this new experience. We sought warmth and comfort by delving deep into specific memories and asking ourselves what it truly means to belong in a community. As you read, I encourage you to take part in this experience with us — to imagine yourself living in these snapshots of our memories riding the waves of emotions that come.
I am incredibly fortunate to have overseen this volume as Editor-in-Chief. This work would not have been possible if it was not for the dedication of our staff, writers, photographers, and Publishing Coordinator, Heidi Little, who tirelessly worked towards our goal of sharing the Fulbright experience. Additionally, we are grateful to the United States Embassy and the Korean-American Educational Commission for their continued support of our magazine.
It is with great pleasure I welcome you into the world of Fulbright Infusion Volume 16. I hope you enjoy looking into these snapshots of our lives.
Francesca Duong
Editor-in-Chief
1st Year ETA, Changpyeong, Jeollanam-do
