Ode to Ochang Lake Park
Ode to Ochang Lake Park By Maya Nylund, a first-year ETA PSA traveling at the speed of pixels spelling balloons of trash, chemical spillage, I don’t look today. I know. It says: meters and meters of rain The runoff gushes into the ground, vortical— I walk here everyday. Old ladies flap walking sticks and fishermen’s hats, crinkle-faced as the apple dolls out of Amish country graceful sweeping in the Jinro‑bottle green. A family of ducks lives behind that bush, there, dinosaur nostrils and yellow enamel breathing— remember when the world was liquid swamp? This place was scooped from the dry earth, manicured marsh, an artificial lake; once there were lotuses, but now there are none. The benches are marked for lovers. They walk the LED moonlight while we talk at the pace of pixels, always orbiting, never nearing, and I remember—that everything is expanding and dissolving, the whole world tending towards entropy. The mold spores splattered across my gym’s ceiling, reeds mangling water, the home address I don’t know by heart— Remember? That to prune is to give attention to, but to disentangle is to love. A man shelters under a pagoda, head shaking, rueful with delay, knowing that to expand is also to evolve. The lake swells, roiling, swallowing the flood. The horizon may unsettle you, the neat and numbered apartments, but this place reminds. We must unravel to grow. My cuticles constantly fraying, the dampness always in the bathroom, the laundry in the corner and the dust bunnies at the doctor’s, spinning toward the dark…
From the Executive Director
With 2022 drawing to a close, I am pleased to share with you this year’s volume of Infusion. Volume 15 brings together an impressive collection of work from our Fulbrighters and their students, reflecting experiences of change, growth, and discovery. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Fulbright Korea’s English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program. Through the ETA Program, the largest of our U.S. programs, we have had the honor and pleasure of welcoming hundreds of American young people to Korea. For many, their experience with Fulbright has been the first spending any significant length of time in the country, and in some cases, any significant length of time abroad at all. As all our Fulbright participants can attest, whether Korean or American, stepping into the unknown (or in some cases, the half-known) brings a unique set of triumphs and tribulations which require new ways of thinking, new ways of considering oneself and others, and identifying one’s position in the global and local community. It is with such experiences in mind that we are pleased to celebrate this milestone anniversary for the ETA Program and the contributions of all our Fulbright participants, past and present. As they have taken the step into the unknown, they have simultaneously shared knowledge across communities through the international educational and cultural exchange core to Fulbright’s mission of building mutual understanding. I encourage you to savor this exchange of knowledge as you reflect on the stories and images shared within this volume by our many talented Fulbright participants. I would like to thank these individuals for inviting us in to part of their experience. I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to the dedicated members of the Infusion team who have carefully compiled these experiences for us to peruse and enjoy. May Volume 15 leave us feeling newly inspired to make meaningful connections with others and the world around us. Dr. Byungok Kwon Executive Director Korean-American Educational Commission
From the Embassy
Congratulations on the publication of the 16th volume of Infusion! It has been one year since I arrived in the Republic of Korea and have had the honor to join the Fulbright Korea community through my role as Chair of the Korean-American Educational Commission. Over the past year, I have been fortunate to witness tremendous developments in the relationship between the United States and Korea. This year, we celebrate the 70th anniversary of our Alliance, and what was once primarily a military relationship has been transformed into today’s truly comprehensive global partnership. U.S. President Biden put it well when he said that “the alliance formed in war has flourished in peace.” For the past 70 years, people-to-people exchanges have been the cornerstone for the advancement of our relationship, as more than 7,000 Korean and American Fulbright alumni have played a key role in building bridges between the two countries. During President Yoon Suk-yeol’s State Visit to the United States earlier this year, the leaders of our two countries agreed on the New Educational Exchange Initiative to further deepen our people-to-people ties and educational cooperation for future generations in the fields of humanities and social sciences, as well as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The multi-year, $60 million educational exchange program includes the largest-ever Fulbright graduate program focused on STEM research. I am confident that this program will further advance Fulbright’s role in making our relationship closer and more vibrant. I hope that all of you will continue to advance your education and careers and promote our countries’close ties. Robert Post Minister-Counselor for Public Diplomacy Embassy of the United States of America Chair, Korean-American Educational Commission