Reminiscences 2025
The second part of my sabbatical was conceived as an opportunity to work in China (the better to tell my international business classes about being an expatriate). I talked with my contacts at Motorola about the possibility or working in Beijing or Tianjin and had some positive feedback, which would combine a job with some time to travel. That fell when the Asian financial crisis erupted.
Looking for a way to spend time in Asia, I learned that the local Rotary was sending four non-Rotarians in an exchange with a chapter in Korea. I had some connection with the interviewers in Champaign, and wound up being selected. That meant nearly a month in Korea, staying with Rotarians, mostly in their homes, in an area based in Gumi. That meant little time in Seoul and more time in smaller towns, including Kyongju, Taegu, and Andong.
There were four non-Rotarians led by a Rotarian who was a professor at Eastern Illinois. Three others were from Champaign-Urbana, Paul Adams and Jen-Jen. Paul was returning “home.” He was a Korean-American product of the Korean War (American father, Korean mother) who had been adopted by the Adams family. The Adams were among the first missionaries to arrive in Korea (Methodists, who divided the country with the Presbyterians, I believe). His grandfather had founded one of the universities in Taegu, so he was something of a celebrity on our trip. He was also a skilled cook, and one night when we had been left alone, introduced me to chapchae (sweet potato noodles) that have become one of my favorite Korean dishes.
We were mostly hosted by Rotarians, however, living in their apartments, and like them, sleeping on a heated floor that resembled the homes they had in the countryside, which had fireplaces and in effect chimneys under the floor. We stayed one holiday weekend in a farmhouse (two cows in the garage) when our host returned to his family homestead. Grampa got up in the night to restart the fire. As was true in Korea, young people had fled to Seoul and there was no longer a school in the area.
What else do I remember from that trip over 20 years ago? Confucius was still alive in this country in several senses. We were there in May, and the national exams were coming up that would essential determine their future. Korea has one of the highest expenditures for additional education, and several of our host’s children begged off playing or conversing to study.
The lesson was reinforced when we went to a university in Andong, a second-tier school. The students complained that they were unable to get jobs with the chaebols, who interviewed only students from tier one schools.
We got a great introduction to Korean nationalism. We were in an area that had been invaded by Japan in ancient days. There were reminders of those battles and several shrines, including a temple that was featured on one of the Korean bills. The results of 40 years of Japanese occupation were still evident in our hosts–the lingering taste of being treated as inferiors.
One other sign of national pride. We went to visit with the first Ford dealer in Seoul, but on the streets, the cars were Hyundai or Kia or Daewoo. Nary a Toyota. I was so impressed with the cars that I bought and proudly drove a Hyundai wagon.
It is always fun for me to spend time in 
Kyongju, which was also in our district. The remaining mounds and ruins such as the observatory are reminders of the Silla Kingdom and the inheritance of many Chinese cultural features from the Tang dynasty, subsequently passed on to their Japanese neighbors. How powerful was Chinese culture: Confucius, Buddhism, imperial splendor, language–borrowed and transformed, but still apparent.
We were an excuse to entertain, which meant eat, drink, and sing karaoke. Our song was “Stand By Me,” and we got passable at it,
easily enough with the repetition. As for drinking, soju is powerful, but our hosts must have been in practice. I never saw so much booze consumed–and yet people were able to function the next day. We were a good excuse for kalbi and pulgogi every day, with the ubiquitous sides including kimchee. Sometimes we ate sitting on the floor, Korean style, and I bet I still have kimchi stains on my pants as a result.
A cell phone was not only a necessity, but a fashion item, colored to go with apparel. No wonder I learned to say, “Anyang haseo.” I still remember one fellow talking on two cellphones at the same time. Now that’s ambidextrous.
It was also cherry blossom time, and the industrial giant that is Gumi was cloaked in white, camouflaged and gracefully hidden. I would not recognize it a few years later when the cherry trees were barren. But for a few weeks, it was bathed in beauty.