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
Sounds the Mountains Make
Sounds the Mountains Make By Teddy Ajluni, a first year ETA in Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do At first, you won’t be able to hear it. It’s funny that way. Ambient noise is usually more noticeable to those whose ears it is new to. But not this. You will never notice it unless you were born there or until you’ve been there for a very, very long time. And even then, the first time you notice it, it will be coming from you—a soft, sweet tune that has been leaving your lips unconsciously as you hum it. But how do you know that tune? When did you first hear it? It’s no use asking those questions. You will never get clear answers. Instead, you should just enjoy the melody. Having said this, if you do ask any halmeoni or halabeoji about it, they will only laugh at your foolishness. Didn’t you know that the mountains make sounds? But it’s not just they who know. They are just the only ones who will talk about it. To everyone younger it is boring, merely a fact of life; but to those who have lived to the ripeness of an old age just before death’s doorstep, they understand that it’s more than just a “fact” of life. It is life. The sounds glide gently through the air, combing the sky in strokes reminiscent of the Jeulmun pottery of which those mountains have borne witness. They sweep through the valleys, mingling with the pansori of Joseon street performers long gone—and carrying their stories too. They cry out in pain for a land that has been colonized, and then indefinitely divided without their consent. Now, they even spread their wings and fly, beyond the shores of the country they call home, each flap of those wings making waves across the sea as the people they guide spread their culture worldwide. Sometimes hopeful, sometimes melancholic, the sounds tell us a story that changes its tune. But in the end, as varied as the tones might be, they all flow seamlessly together like the Han which they once blessed with a miracle—a symphony as beautiful as the land it blankets. Yes, the mountains make sounds. They are the heartbeat of a country, making a rhythm that will roll smoothly through your being like the beat of a barrel drum. You may see, you may feel, you may smell, and you may taste. But if you do not hear, then you will miss the most beautiful part of the whole. So please, if you wish to know the soul of this country then pause, breathe, and open your ears to all those sonorous notes, good and bad, loud and soft. The mountains are speaking. Just listen. Can you hear the mountains? Can you hear them? If you listen carefully—no, if you listen consciously—maybe you will start to hear their cry. Here is Korea, the land where the mountains weave a nation and a song. In every village, every city, every town, there is always a 동네 뒷산 . Sometimes, their nobility is hidden by the mist of morning’s humidity. Sometimes, their majesty is concealed by clouds that have fallen from the heavens above. But they were always there, and they always will be. And they will sing. [Featured photo by Lulu Johnson]
To the Stars and Birds
Translation by Ethan Fenlon, a first year ETA in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do My experience teaching at an all-boys middle school this year could be described as almost anything but serene. On the more chaotic days, I find it helpful to turn to the quiet good sense of those who came before me. I feel a particular connection with the poet Yoon Kon-Kang, author of “To the stars and birds,” who taught at Boseong Middle School in the 1940s and grew up in my adopted province of Chungcheongnam-do. Yoon often writes with clear, direct imagery influenced by the literary movement known as the Korean Artists’ Proletarian Federation (KAPF). His tone, somber yet resilient, also evokes his experiences as a political prisoner under Japanese colonial rule. Published four years after his release, this poem imagines Yoon’s own dissent like an echo that is heard at long last. To the stars and birds If I die without a hope, laid to rest in tranquil grass May my untold joy be sung by the woodland birds. But at night, the golden stars will paint above my woeful story. My friends and rivals, now alike, might listen on the mountain ridge. My body was born of a star, I will not shed a single tear! My fate is sealed — the day I die, nature will take my voice and go. 별과 새에게 만약 내가 속절없이 죽어 어느 고요한 풀섶에 묻히면 말하지 못한 나의 기쁜 이야기는 숲에 사는 적은 새가 노래해 주고 밤이면 눈물어린 금빛 눈동자 별떼가 지니고 간 나의 슬픈 이야기를 말해 주리라 그것을 나의 벗과 나의 원수는 어느 작은 산모롱이에서 들으리라 한개 별의 넋을 받아 태어난 몸이니 나는 우지 마자 슬피 우지 말자 나의 명이 다―하여 내가 죽는 날 나는 별과 새에게 내 뜻을 심고 가리라 [Featured photo by Miranda Magaña]