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| cherry blossoms behind my school |
My favorite thing about traveling is the opportunity to learn about history where it happened. The more I travel the more I realize that this world is filled with billions and billions of stories. I will never have the time to learn about every facet of every place and that saddens me, but it also gives me the drive to learn as much as I can when I have the chance to do so.
I knew next to nothing about Korean history before I came. The American public school system does Korea, and all of Asia, so dirty. I know that the US was involved in a war here and I know a little about the drama with North Korea and nuclear proliferation, but that's it. Let me share with you one interesting fact I've learned since being here.
April is National Poetry Month, so I've been writing a poem a day. And yes, they are all shit. However, one of my shitty poems led me down a path of historical knowledge. I decided to write about the cherry blossoms since they line my walk to school and are blooming EVERYWHERE, so I brought up their Wikipedia page just to learn a little bit more.
"The origins of cherry blossoms in South Korea is contentious. The Japanese planted Yoshino cherry trees at Seoul's Changgyeonggung Palace and the viewing of cherry blossoms was introduced to Korea during Japanese rule.[51] The festivals continued even after the Japanese surrendered at the end of WWII but have been controversial, and many cherry trees were cut down to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Japanese surrender because they were seen as symbols of the occupation."
Who knew that cherry blossoms could be a symbol of colonialism? Now we know!
Traveling as a white monolingual American has forced me to think long and hard about colonialism and globalism and the exchange of cultures. How people with my skin color have done terrible things to others. How people who speak my sole language have forced that language upon others, to the point where I can travel to almost anywhere and get around just fine without learning the local language. (The English language is a WHOLE other post for some other time. I have so many thoughts about English. Language is such an intrinsic part of us and I don't think native English speakers spend enough time thinking about how LUCKY we are to be born into this language.) I think about how my American passport grants me access to so, so many countries and people and cultures that others are barred from ever experiencing just because we were born between different borders.
I'm very thankful to Korea for allowing me to live and work in their country. I have learned so much already. Not to undermine their history but to make it brief since I can't sum up a country's entire history in one blog post, but man Korea has had a shit time. Invasion and war and rape and oppression. Japan removed itself in 1945 and the Korean War ended in 1953. The progress this country has made in 66 years is outstanding. This country's history deserves a lot more attention from people on the outside (as does every country, but this is where I currently am so of course that's where my attention is focused) so I'll link a few books and articles below if you want to do further reading. This is a very short list of resources but don't worry, I'm working on an exhaustive list of Korean reading material. :)
Books:
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin
The Korean War by Max Hastings
Articles:
Korean Skin Care Secrets
Anton Hur's blog
good English site for Korean news, about Korea from Korea