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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

Enjoying a Well-rounded Experience in Korea

The Foundation regularly organizes field trips for the visiting fellows of its various fellowship programs so that they can enjoy a well-rounded experience in Korea, while taking a break from their primary focus on language training or research efforts. For this year’s autumn field trip (November 1-3), some 55 Korean Language Training Fellows from 25 countries toured the southwestern region of Korea, the home of Baekje culture, which included visits to sites in Gongju, Mokpo, Goheung-gun, and Anmyeon Island, Taean-gun of Chungcheongnam-do Province.

The Fellowship for Korean Language Training program provides an opportunity for foreign scholars and graduate students of Korean Studies, and those working in Korea-related fields, such as diplomatic officials, to undergo systematic Korean instruction at language institutions operated by Korea’s leading universities.
Applicants eligible for the fellowship program include graduate students, pursuing a major or minor in Korea-related fields, who have acquired basic knowledge of Korean. Also eligible are faculty members and research staff engaged in Korea-related areas, as well as relevant professionals, including museum curators, librarians, and government officials.
For most of the fellows of this year’s program, this was their first visit to Korea. In age, Uzbek diplomat Alikhanov Bakhodir was the oldest at 36, while Tsareva Svetlana, a 21-year-old senior at Russia’s Moscow State Institute of International Relations, was the youngest. Korea Studies graduate students, along with Korea-related faculty members and research specialists, accounted for a majority of the program fellows.
The basic fellowship term is six months, after which those who have achieved an outstanding academic performance are offered an extended term of another three to six months. The fellows invited not only learn the Korean language but are also able to become familiar with Korea’s culture and society through their everyday activities here, away from their regular study or work at home. Through this immersion, it is hoped that the fellows will serve as unofficial ambassadors, who promote a positive image of Korea in their home countries.



Appreciation of Korean Culture
On the second day of the field trip, the fellows hiked up the slopes of Mt. Yudal, in Mokpo, which offered a panoramic view of the Sinan Islands, and later visited the National Maritime Museum. Then, they moved on to Gochang, where they visited dolmen relics and Gochang Fortress village. When the group arrived at Gochang Fortress, they all wandered about the area, intently looking over whatever attracted their attention.
Along with the fortresses at Nagan, in Seungju, Jeollanam-do Province, and Haemi in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do Province, the Gochang Fortress is regarded as a representative Korean fortress structure, which is situated on an open plain. With a circumference of some 1.7 kilometers that encloses an area of 165,858 square meters, the fortress was built in 1453, the inaugural year of King Danjong’s reign, to protect villagers in the area from Japanese marauders.
The visit to Gochang Fortress enabled the fellows to learn about the everyday life and culture of ordinary Korean people during the Joseon period, when foreign intruders posed a constant threat. While walking about the fortress, they listened to an explanation about the function of the chiseong (protrusion of the fortress wall for defensive purposes) and the differences in the design of a fortress, when built on an open plain and on mountainous terrain, in addition to the need for a fortress to provide overnight accommodations for traveling government officials.
For the fellows, who had been spending most of time in Seoul, they were all impressed with the delightful autumn scenery of Korea’s provincial areas. One fellow remarked: “The countryside is so beautiful with broadleaf trees tinged in brown, the blue sky, and harvested fields. Just looking at such beautiful scenery, which I can hardly see in Seoul, deepens my love for Korea.”

Interview
Irina Alexandrovna Korgun
Ph.D Candidate, Dept. of Economics, St. Petersburg State University, Russia>

Ms. Irina Alexandrovna Korgun, a doctoral candidate majoring in international economics at St. Petersburg State University, Russia, has visited Korea once a year since 2005. Now, as a fellow of the Foundation’s Korean language program, this is her third visit to Korea.
“As a major in international economics, I became interested in the economic development of Korea. I am working hard to learn Korean because my doctoral dissertation is about the Korean economy and its rapid development.”
She said that she has come to enjoy everything about Korea, while to her the most impressive activity during the field trip was the performance of the Jeollanam-do Provincial Institute for Korean Traditional Performing Arts, which was staged at the Hyundai Hotel in Mokpo. While viewing the traditional performing arts of Korea for the first time, she was impressed by the attractive costumes and graceful dancers.
With a big smile, she noted: “In Russia, there are only coniferous forests, but here in Korea, the scenery in autumn, with the colorful leaves, is very beautiful. And the bibimbap we ate at the restaurant in downtown Gochang, before stopping at Gochang Fortress, was very delicious.”
She plans to work as a researcher at an economy-related institute after earning her Ph.D. degree. But she also dreams of teaching students at a university. Her study of Korea, which began with her interest in the Korean economy, is now about to reap fruitful results.





Manish Kumar Barnwal
Graduate Student of Korean Literature, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

Mr. Manish Kumar Barnwal, who is in his first year of the master’s course program for Korean language and literature at Jawaharlal Nehru University, came to be introduced to Korean culture quite by accident. Just by chance, in 1995, he happened to meet a Korean Buddhist monk who was visiting India. This encounter inspired him to learn about unfamiliar cultures. He noted that India’s cultural environment, which includes a diverse variety of cultures, encouraged him to pursue his curiosity about Korean Buddhism.
This was his second visit to Korea, following a previous visit in August 2006, when he participated in an event for Asian youth. During his first stay in Korea, of almost one month, he experienced new cultures and met young people from various countries from around the world. He noted that the Buddhist relics and sites in Gyeongju had left a memorable impression on him.
He also thought: “I, however, was often disappointed that there remained only stories but no historic relics in places other than Gyeongju.” He seemed to lament the great loss of historic works that has resulted from the conflicts on Korean soil and today’s development-first mindset. After completing his study, he plans to participate in community-minded activities for the benefit of the general public.

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