Day 1- Fulbright IEA Orientation & Korean History & Culture

On Sunday, June 9th- eight jet-lagged international educators touched down at Seoul-Incheon airport. By some miracle, we all arrived from different U.S. cities within an hour of one another and met up as a group at the baggage claim. We retired to bed quickly after arriving by shuttle to our hotel in the Mapo district of Seoul, in anticipation of the start of our program the next day!

This morning, we eagerly greeted our Fulbright program organizers in the lobby of our hotel and they walked us to the Fulbright Korea Office. We received welcoming remarks from the Executive Director of Fulbright Korea (Korean American Educational Commission) followed by an overview of the Korean Higher Education System and International Exchanges.

Our morning session was complemented by an afternoon presentation from EducationUSA, Korea which discussed Korean education trends, challenges and opportunities. During both sessions, we learned about the different types of Korean universities, including National, Private, Public and other (such as community and technical colleges). Korea also has a 100% literacy rate, and nearly 80% of Koreans pursue higher education, with the country focused on skilled manpower as their greatest resource (in a geographic location lacking natural resources). While Korea remains the third largest sending country for inbound international students to the U.S., we learned that due to Korea's low birth rate and resulting decline in school-aged population, this will have an eventual impact on overall numbers of Korean students. However, the popularity of the U.S. education persists in Korea, with the country's education system sharing many resemblances with the U.S. model, and the U.S. remaining as the top study destination for Korean students.

We rounded out our orientation day by learning about Korean history, culture, traditions and food. Our afternoon was enlivened by a session with the Korean Spirit & Culture Promotion Project (KSCPP), who educated us about the "Land of the Morning Calm" and its various kingdoms throughout history. The presentation also highlighted key elements of the Korean spirit, including an impressive history of invention and innovation, resilience throughout many outside invasions, and a strong group-oriented identity embodied by the concept of "Hongik Ingan" which roughly translates to "the devotion to the welfare of mankind." As an example of this concept, we heard the story of Korea's "gold-collecting campaign" in the 1990's. When the Korean government went into debt with the IMF during a financial crisis, the people came together to bail their country out by collectively donating from their personal possessions, about 227 tons of gold (more than $2 Billion). Korea eventually became the first country to shift from being an international aid recipient, to an OECD donor country.

I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention the exciting variety of Korean food I've already encountered. Even on my Korean Airlines flight, I enjoyed some of the more well-known Korean cuisine (Bibimbap), and have since enjoyed some grab-and-go meals from the local 7-11 (Ramen and Kimbap). But I also discovered some new tastes during today's orientation, including a summer-style soup with fresh buckwheat noodles and chilled sweet-and-spicy broth (Mak-Guksu), as well as a sweet rice beverage (Sikhye) and Magnolia berry tea (Omija-cha) which means "five flavors"- sweet, sour, bitter, salty and pungent.

Finally, we ended our day with a bit of fun when our presenters from the KSCPP dressed us in traditional Korean clothing, called "Hanbok", taught us about a few Korean customs, and we all posed for the picture that's included at the top of this post!