Weekly Report 2

1. What did you learn about Korea this week?

I learned that Korea is one of the few countries that can name the inventor of its language.  The Korean alphabet, Hangeul, was invented by King Sejong the Great and his scholars in 1443 in order to improve literacy in Korea.  

According to my Korean language reference book, "Hangeul consists of 40 letters, of which 21 letters are vowels and 19 letters consonants.  The vowels of Hangeul were developed according to Confucianism's three basic components of the universe: Heaven, Earth, and Man.  ㅇ, ㅡ, and ㅣ represent the circular shape of the heaven, the earth, and man, respectively.  The consonants of Hangeul were designed to reflect the place and manner of articulation.  For example, 'ㄴ' represents the shape of the tongue body when it is pronounced.  For these reasons, Hangeul is widely acclaimed by linguists as an ingenious invention."

Learning this was an epiphany for me.  It explained why ㄴ, the n consonant, and ㄱ, the k consonant, are represented with those symbols and why they are the inverse of each other.

2. Summarize your project status.

Being sick was a setback, so I am about a week behind in my Research Plan.  I did get a few articles printed and read the week of 6/7-6/13, but I won't have a written consolidated report for Choel until the end of this work week, 6/14-6/18.

3. Take photos and select one to be the photo of the week. Describe it and why you shot and selected it.

This is a picture of my health clinic goodie bag, its contents, and the vitamin C candies and green tea lozenges that I have lived on for the week.  I took this picture and chose to include it here because it represents how I spent the week and how well people took care of me here.  The doctor in the clinic was very warm and eager to help.  When I first went in, she only took my temperature and my description of my symptoms, and gave me the bag and description of the pills.  Sara brought me food once or twice, and the girls on the hall were happy to lend me the thermometer and flu medicine before I could get to the clinic.  People in the lab were also supportive when I couldn't come in to work and welcomed me back enthusiastically.

Here's the cute detail on the bag:

4. What did you learn about yourself this week?

If my body's shutting down and recharging this week is any indication, then I can conclude that my first week in Korea was too much adventuring.  This second week was too uneventful, so I'm trying hard to find the balance that I need in the third week of my time here.  I now know how much I can put myself out there in terms of socialization and planning, but I also know my limit.  

5. Who are the new people (Koreans not affiliated with the Hubo Lab) that you met this week?

I met the mother of the male lead in Hong Gil Dong after Thursday's performance.  She was an older Korean woman who did not speak any English, but was very happy to hear that Sara and I were fans of the cast (we told her through a bilingual audience member who we also chatted with after the show).  It was so cool to find a real use for the introductions that we learned in Korean class, and I felt like we really did make her happy.