Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Special Opportunity for GW Students: Tour of the East Wing of the White House

TRIP TO THE WHITE HOUSE

The Student Association, in conjunction with the White House, have the opportunity for 1,500 GW Students to take a tour of the East Wing of the White House. If you are interested, please send the following information to WhiteHouseVisit@gmail.com.

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SSN (no dashes or spaces)
Citizen (Y or N)
Country
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Time Slot (7:30AM, 8:00, 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00AM)

This information needs to be filled out in the exact order, complete, and as specified to be considered valid.

Graduate Student Internship Opportunity with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS

The Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS is seeking current graduate students focusing on China and defense/security studies for a fall internship. The internship is paid and will require a 30-40 hours/week commitment. Strong writing skills are required; intermediate to advanced Chinese language abilities preferred.

If interested, please send resume and writing sample to Bonnie Glaser at bglaser@csis.org.

Monday, August 29, 2011

2011 Korea Summer Fellows - Reflection


As I write this post during my long layover in Tokyo Narita Airport, it definitely feels bittersweet to be heading back home. I think that what usually makes a person fall in love with a place is the people, and before arriving in Seoul this summer, I had no idea how close I would become with so many amazing people. I came with the primary purpose of improving my Korean language skills and didn’t expect much beyond that, but not only did my language skills improve considerably as I hoped and expected, but I also learned a surprising amount about Korean culture that I somehow missed or overlooked before.
As for my Korean language learning, my speed, listening and speaking skills improved dramatically, which is what I was really hoping for. Sogang University lived up to it’s name and everything I heard about it. While it wasn’t an immersion program, Sogang’s Korean language classes force students to interact with each other repeatedly and immediately after learning a new grammar structure. They were also quite strict about their Korean Language Only policy inside the class. Also, the vast majority of students at Sogang were dedicated, disciplined, and serious about their studies. That system coupled with living in a Korean household made for a great combination. On all of my tests in each class, Comprehension is what I scored highest in every time. I myself noticed my sharp increase in comprehension and was surprised at how it came so suddenly and passively. For all future Korean Language Fellows, I highly recommend considering Sogang University’s program.
As for what I took from my experiences with and in Korean culture, one clear lesson I will take away from this summer is how different of an experience one will have if they purpose to immerse themselves in a foreign culture, as opposed to merely living in another country and sort of dipping into the culture from time to time when one “has the energy” or finds it convenient. I found that I am much more inclined to be privately judgmental of things I don’t understand or agree with when looking in from the outside “as a foreigner”. It’s another experience altogether to spend all of your time, day in and day out, with Koreans, and to naturally begin viewing things through their lens. No doubt, it can be exasperating at times when differences seem so sharp in certain moments and all one can do is accept it. There were several times where I couldn’t (or didn’t want to) comprehend why something was being done a certain way, convinced that my way was superior somehow. In reality, maybe I was right in some way and some of the time, but what does “right” mean? If everyone in this country says that I’m wrong while everyone back home might say I’m right…then I think it simply comes down to “When in Rome….” Fortunately those moments were far outweighed by overwhelmingly positive ones. Time and again I was touched by how much my Korean friends and “family” were willing to share with me. I almost feel like the secret mission of every Korean person I met was to give me the best possible experience and best possible impression of their country. In that, they certainly succeeded.
I am so grateful to The Sigur Center for making these kinds of opportunities available to my fellow classmates and I. Before this summer it had been a very long time that I had wanted to seriously take up Korean language studies again, but both the time and money were never there. Because of The Sigur Center’s generous grant, it enabled me to realize this long-time wish of mine. I am now even more encouraged than before to continue my Korean studies, and to continue pushing to refine my Mandarin skills as well. Besides accomplishing my goals for language study this summer, my life was personally enriched. Right now I can’t imagine not having done it all.
Caleb R. Dependahl
Double B.A. Asian Studies and Chinese Language & Literature 2012,
Sigur Center 2011 Korean Language Fellow, Sogang University, South Korea

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Korea 2011 Summer Fellows: In Retrospective

My trip to South Korea was amazing. Not only was I there to experience the crazy rain and flood during the Monsoon season, but I have also learned more about Korean culture living there than I did by reading textbooks. My summer in South Korea has left me a stranger in my own land. I am still in the process of re-intergrating back into American society. I need to constantly remind myself, that I should not bow or say annyeonghaseyo when I greet people, and that almost no restaurant in DC is open passed 10/11pm--so I should eat a lot earlier or cook at home because eating out in DC is a lot more expensive and less satisfying than having a delicious full blown out meal that cost only $5 in Korea.

In retrospective, my summer in Korea has been by far the best time of my young adult life. Though I am happy to be back home in my comfort zone, I miss Korea very much. I miss the new friends that I have made there, my host family, the curious ajummahs (older women) that made me food at all hours of the night, going to noraebang (karaoke rooms) on the weekends, the crazy shuffle dance young Koreans do, the massive comatose that comes after most meals, the efficient subway system, the catchy K-pop music, and the Korean lifestyle in general!

I can definitely see myself in 3-5 years working in Korea. It is also interesting to note how most of the foreigners that I encountered in Korea are English teachers. The demand and trend to learn how to speak English is ridiculous. I am not saying that I too want to be an English teacher, but I would like to find a different position there working with Koreans and development in Korea. And I feel that my intensive language program at Seoul National University has prepared me for Korean3105. Prior to studying in Korea I was nervous about going into advanced Korean without having a strong foundation in the language. Now I am starting the semester ready to tackle Korean business jargon. Bring on the heat Professor Pak! :]


Julianna Ngo

BA International Affairs and Asian Studies 2013

Sigur Center 2011--Korean Language Fellow

Seoul National University, South Korea

Taiwan: 2011 Summer Fellows – Taipei


Taipei, the city I spent most of this summer in, is the capital of Taiwan . Although the city does not represent every aspect of Taiwan, understanding the everyday life of Taipei people has a considerable meaning to the study on contemporary Asia; it demonstrates us, the future of Taiwan, as the most developed area of the country and model of harmony between Western and Asian culture as one of the most Westernized place in Northeast Asia. This blog post will introduce you to the general life among Taipei people and provide some useful tips if you plan on visiting Taiwan.

Food
If you are planning a trip to Taiwan, you do not have to worry about food, thanks to a variety of cuisines. Taiwanese food is arguably one of the world’s most enjoyable foods. Using various ingredients and spices, Taiwanese cooks make diverse flavors in dishes that can satisfy all tastes. Even if you do not enjoy Chinese style cuisine, you may also have a diverse alternative. There are so many choices you can have due to Taiwanese people’s open attitude toward foreign culture. For instance, I saw German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese cuisine specialty restaurants in the National Taiwan University area.

In addition, Taipei is a vegetarian heaven. Because Buddhism is the most popular religion in Taiwan (some people believe that eating vegetables brings them peace of mind), there are quite a few vegetarian restaurants in Taiwan; you can enjoy a variety of vegetable cuisine. Regular restaurants usually serve some vegetarian dishes on their menu. Because chefs usually use small amounts of spice and sweetener, these vegetarian foods have light flavor. They might be less delicious in my opinion, but taste healthy.

Furthermore, it would be pointless to discuss Taiwanese food without mentioning their exotic fruits. Taiwanese fruits are well known for its heavenly taste. In Taipei, you can enjoy various fruits such as pineapple, mango, papaya, litchi, dragon fruit and many more unique fruits, with a cheap price, too. Besides fresh fruits, you also can have numerous snacks or drinks made from these fruits including fenglisu, a delicious pineapple pastry; dried fruits ; lattes; and sorbe. If you visit Taipei during the summer months, you should not forget to try mangguobing, it is an amazing dessert of shaved ice with sliced mango.

Transportation
Like most highly populated cities, Taipei’s traffic is congested. Streets are fully filled with automobiles during commuting times. That is why numerous Taipei people own scooters. Although, public transportation of Taipei is well developed such as the Massive Rapid Transportation (MRT) system, which is quite fast and clean. If you ever choose to ride the MRT train, never eat or drink there. If you do, you may be slapped with a huge fine and there are no excuses for foreigners. Besides MRT, bus lines are also well organized.

What you should keep in mind is that drivers in Taipei do not respect pedestrians very much. Some automobile and scooter drivers do not stop their vehicles at crosswalks, even when the traffic sgnal is red. Policemen also consider auto traffic flow first rather than pedestrians when they control traffic. My Taiwanese friends always warned me to beware of autos when I cross the street. It took several weeks to adapt myself to such an environment.

Night Life
As any country in a tropical region, Taiwanese people enjoy a rich nightlife . People usually leave their houses after dawn since it is too hot and sticky to be outside during the day. There are night markets in almost every single town in Taipei. They sell various foods such as oyster pancakes and stinking tofu. One night in Taipei takes you through an ordinary person’s life living there. But watch out, some popular night markets are extremely crowded!

Interestingly, Taiwanese people seem to not like drinking alcohol. It is quite difficult to find a bar or pub on the streets and most restaurants are closed before midnight. There are, however, areas around the city hall where large numbers of clubs and bars for foreigners are clustered. For more specific information, you may ask Kazu.:)


Language study in Taiwan was quite productive and delightful. As a future expert of Asia, I equipped two precious instruments for my future research. My Mandarin Chinese made huge progress, and I was able to gain further understanding of Taiwan through numerous direct/indirect experiences. I want to express my gratitude to the Sigur Center for granting such a wonderful opportunity through this blog post and want to encourage students who are interested in Taiwan or Mainland China to apply for the 2012 Language Grant in Taiwan!


Seung Joon PAIK
Ph.D. Political Science, 2015
Sigur Center 2011 Chinese Language Fellow
National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Friday, August 26, 2011

2011 Korea Summer Fellows - Working In Korea


One of the most interesting learning experiences I’ve had has been working at a major think tank here in Seoul for the summer. As one might guess, the working environment as well as professional business culture in East Asia is world’s apart from what most of us are used to in the United States. There is more than enough room for miscommunication, misunderstandings, and frustration. A good deal of my experience was no different! Korean culture in general was no great mystery to me, but I was surprised to find how differently things really work. However, I slowly became aware of the ins and outs of what was expected of me as I asked multitudes of questions and learned when and to whom I could ask them.
Korean culture in general is very hierarchical and male-dominated, with one’s status and position depending more upon family background and the name brand value of your university than work ethic, ability or intellect. As the old adage goes, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” While I’ve seen this to be true to a great degree in Washington, D.C., it seems to ring even truer here. Nearly all of the senior researchers and administrators at my workplace had incredibly interesting family histories and were tied to some of the most powerful and influential people in Korea. These are the people that run things in Seoul. While we see some degree of this from time to time in the U.S. such as in the Kennedy, Clinton and Bush families, it seems to be much more long-lasting, tight-knit, and intensive in Korea.
When I began working at this think tank, I was struck by the large array of titles I was expected to memorize. From President, to Manager, to Researcher, to I don’t even know what, anyone with any amount of authority had their own title (in Korean, of course), and they were usually addressed by the title only, even if they weren’t present! If I was talking about one of the senior staffers with a group of fellow interns, they would only talk about the person using their official title. In this structure of titles, authority and workload trickled down directly. Mid-level managers seemed quick to delegate the tasks given to them to a group beneath them, and I’m pretty sure that’s what happened above them and resulted in them being “given” the task in the first place. To me, it all looked very hectic and disjointed, with not a lot of communication going around. There were no clear directions or channels for information sharing. Someone gives you a job, you ask as few questions as possible, and you just do it. I seldom felt as if my suggestions or comments would have been welcome or considered valid.
Another thing I found curious was how workloads came in unpredictable waves and never from the same authority. There would be times when we would have an incredible amount of work, and then nothing for days. However, when we didn’t have anyone delegating work to us, my fellow interns encouraged me to pretend to be working. I ask them why, and whether or not we should go to offer our help to our immediate superiors. I was firmly told, “No! If we tell them we aren’t working or don’t have any work, then they will scold us and ask us why.” I scratched my head and followed suit. It got stranger one time when around 6:30 in the evening I found a group of interns sort of hiding in an office. They were waiting anxiously for the President to leave so they could then go home. They didn’t dare run the risk of him finding out that they had either left to go home before him, as that would mean they didn’t have enough work or weren’t working hard enough.
One of my more awkward experiences was when I was scolded for having my hands in my pockets during a conference. During one of the major conferences that we held during the summer, I was handling a microphone for the Q&A session. Apparently, at one point I had put a hand in my pocket. After the session was over, I was immediately taken aside and told that that was extremely disrespectful as it showed carelessness or a lack of attentiveness. “Interesting”…I thought.
While I can’t say I personally enjoyed every moment of working within the Korean system, I can honestly say that I was thrilled with the ever-present awareness I had that I was learning and experiencing much. I now have a much greater appreciation for the brain-wracking work that diplomats do. It is easy to imagine how a lot of hard work could be undone with the slip-up of a misplaced word, expression, or look. I can now see how there is tremendous value in purposing to take the extra step to ensure that your counterpart fully understands you, why you do something, and even why you have your particular line of thinking supporting what you do. These are not givens or easily guessable when dealing across cultures – especially when the two are literally on opposite sides of the globe.

Caleb R. Dependahl
Double B.A. Asian Studies and Chinese Language & Literature 2012,

Sigur Center 2011 Korean Language Fellow, Sogang University, South Korea

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Korea: 2011 Summer Fellows: Saying Goodbye


In just the past 3 months, my conversational skills in Korean had increased tremendously thanks to the program that I was in. I agree with Caleb Dependahl in that I highly recommend people who want to learn Korean to take it at Sogang University in order to improve their speaking skills.

And now the time has come to say goodbye to my classmates. They definitely made my experience in Korea very unique and special. I will miss those times that we studied very hard in memorizing dialogues and trying out restaurants and dessert places in the area. We had a farewell dinner last Wednesday and ended the night Korean style by going to a "noraebang", which is a karaoke room. In a "noraebang", you have a private room with disco lights and musical instruments that you can bang with such as tambourines. We also were able to eat ice cream for free; however, not all places give out free ice cream. We only payed for 2 hours but they gave us about 30 minutes more to sing. Each hour was equivalent to about $24. We had a big group but typically each hour in a noraebang is about $13 or even less. It's better to go in the daytime because it's cheaper and often times they'll add more minutes for free.

In the book "Korea Unmasked" by Won-bok Rhie, it said that "noraebang" came to Korea around the 1990s and appeared in Japan in the 1980s. So noraebang is fairly a recent phenomenon in Korea, and there are at least one or two on everyblock and sometimes there is a microphone projected outside of the place to lure in customers. They'll choose a room to advertise, but from my experience by being caught off guard by walking past one, they usually choose the room with the worst singers.

One of my favorite experiences that I had with my classmates was going to a Korean pop concert about a month and a half ago. Famous k-pop stars such as 2pm, F(x), 4minute, No Brain and much more came out to sing. The crowd consisted of overly excited middle school kids holding up signs of their favorite groups and families. If you like catchy dance music, then you'll love k-pop. The concert was free which is always a good thing. It's hard to catch a free show like this because they usually put it together the very last minute. One of my classmates who is into k-pop was on top of things when it came to k-pop concerts so we were able to check it out.

One thing that I'll miss about Korea is their coffee shops. There alot of cute and unique French-style coffee shops. Alot of the shops are 3 or even 4 stories high and is filled with people on the weekends. I will miss drinks that I could find only in Korea such as iced sweet potato latte. I have been desperately trying to find a place that sells sweet potato latte in VA and Breeze Bakery in Annandale, VA sells it, thank goodness!! I'd have to say that one of the most unique cafes that I had ever been to was going to a cat cafe. It's a cafe but you can play with cats at the same time. Don't worry dog lovers, there are also dog cafes around. At the cat cafe that I went to, we had to pay $7 as an entrance fee and we got one drink free. The selection wasn't too bad, and I ordered an iced caramel macchiato. There was a list of rules that they showed us, and one was that we were not allowed to hold the cats. They had pictures of them on the wall with their names and ages.

I am very thankful to have given this opportunity to learn Korean and travel there once more. I definitely made so many memories and discovered new things about the culture this time around.

Susie Greenbaum
MA Speech and Language Pathology 2013
Sigur Center 2011 Korean Language Fellow
Sogang Unviersity, South Korea

Monday, August 22, 2011

Conclusion: Summer Fellows 2011 Taiwan

As I said goodbye to my classmates and teachers, I could not help but think when I would return to Taiwan. This summer went by very quickly, full of time well spent on studying and meeting new friends. I know that these eight weeks that I spent at the International Language Chinese Program not only improved my Chinese, but also gave me valuable experiences that would help me in the near future.

My biggest problem going into ICLP was my speaking and listening skills. I remember that during my first week in Taiwan, the street vendors were so perplexed by my Chinese that they would feel the need to repeat the price in English. I was also self-conscious, so I avoided speaking as much as possible. In my first cab ride from the airport, I didn’t say a single word to the driver in those thirty minutes (except a ‘xiexie’ when I got off). In those first two weeks of classes, I thought to myself, am I really going to pick up this language? What if I return to GW without much improvement?

I think the two biggest reasons that I was able to improve my speaking and listening were ICLP’s teaching approach and the quality of the teachers. Because class sizes were incredibly small, I was able to use class time to the fullest extent to participate in discussions. Since all of the class sessions focused on oral exercises (I only got tested on reading and writing on the midterm exam), they were perfect to fill my needs. I also need to thank all of my teachers who were all highly trained. Their teaching approach was direct but nevertheless interactive, weaving together sentence patterns and vocabulary exercises with questions about personal thoughts and experiences. I was impressed with their level of patience. When students hesitated to think or rephrase their sentences, teachers generally waited to hear the complete thought before making corrections. I frequently jumble up word orders, so I appreciated my teachers letting me take my time with my answers.

I return to GW with a greater confidence in expressing myself. Although I still stutter or mix up words, I can get my message across without resorting to English. At the airport on my way out of Taiwan, I noticed the employees at the souvenir shops switched from English to Chinese to speak to me after they knew that I understood Chinese.

I think the greatest benefit in ICLP outside of learning Chinese was getting to know students from across the country. Although the vast majority was from American institutions, it was a diverse mix of students from different regions. I admired their diligence, and they were great motivators for me to continue working hard throughout the program. A great number of them, like me, were studying international relations, political science or Asian studies. Naturally, we shared much in common to talk about. Through conversations with them outside of class, I learned much more beyond the realms of language.

I am incredibly grateful for GW’s generous scholarship in giving me this opportunity to study at the International Chinese Language Program. Without GW’s help, it would have been difficult for me to participate in such a well-established program. I will go back to Washington with a higher level of Chinese, and a network of friends from various universities. My only regret is that I cannot extend my stay.

Kazunori Koyama
B.A., International Affairs 2012
Taipei, Taiwan

2011 Korea Summer Fellows - Being Part of a Korean Family



Many travelers to South Korea are shocked at how distinct and unique Korea is. I certainly was when I first visited in 2004. It wasn’t just the food or language, either. To me, Koreans possess a certain sense of “togetherness”, whether as a nation, a family, a group of friends, or even a group of students who have just met for the first time. My experience has been that Koreans readily speak their mind readily and respectfully, are intensely proud of their heritage, and are more than ready to share everything they have. Any time spent with Koreans is incredibly rewarding, insightful, and…well…fun!
My time studying in Seoul this summer was no different in that respect. It was different, however, in that I lived with a Korean family during these 3 months. I can honestly say that despite having previously lived in Korea for 1 year and in China for 2, I never felt so immersed, and later accepted, in another culture as this time.
While I often pride myself in having traveled extensively throughout Asia and having the experiential knowledge that comes with it, time and again I find myself humbled at the realization that when faced with aspects of other cultures that I feel don’t “measure up” to their equivalents in American culture, my initial reaction is often to discount, disregard, and be critical. I think it’s much easier to discount something one doesn’t understand as stupid, naïve, or simple, rather than taking the effort to step out of one’s comfort zone and view life through someone else’s lens and regard their perspective as equally respectable. I never knew that living day in and day out with a Korean family would teach me so much.
The first thing that stood out as odd to me was the importance of greetings, goodbyes, and the appropriate expressions that should follow, insamal. When in doubt, copy what everyone around you is doing, right? Well…the first night that the Father of the house came home from work and everyone dropped what they were doing, stood up, and went to the door to greet him, I was a bit slow on the draw. I thought that surely he had special news, brought something home for everyone, or something of great significance had occurred to elicit such a response from everyone? Nope. It was just Dad coming home! When everyone started greeting him (in Korean of course) with the English equivalents of, “Father, you’re home?” and “You went to work and came back!”, I didn’t know what to think. However, what was clear to me from the start was that it was nice to see a family so strongly together. Things got even more interesting when I noticed the different exchanges that took place when a family member left. Whoever was leaving would purpose to stop by every room and let everyone in the family know that they were leaving. They would say something like “I’m going to work but and I’ll be back later” or simply, “I’m going now!”. Replies would often be something like “Go well to work and return!” or “Work hard and come back!” Again, I was taken aback at the simplicity and sincerity of their words. This wasn’t just a routine. Similar exchanges take place before meals, after meals, and before going to bed as well. While I first thought that their greetings were almost comical, over time I came to see the sweetness of turning what would otherwise be a routine, mundane event in life, into something special and worth celebrating. Before long, I found myself making sure that I let everyone know I was leaving, which to my surprise and joy, brought the whole family to the door to see me off with warm smiles and good wishes. I now find myself wondering, “Why isn’t this commonplace back home?”
Another thing that took some getting used to was anything and everything involved with meal times. Anyone who has never been to Korea before might be taken aback when expected to sit on the floor and share spoonfuls from the same big pot of soup as everyone else at the table. While this wasn’t my particular problem this time around, getting accustomed to and eventually understanding my host Mother was! I still remember the feeling I had during my first couple of meals. I was enjoying myself immensely and munching along when Omma started telling me what to eat! “Try this! This is delicious!” “Try that! You really should try that! It’s from Grandmother’s home in the countryside!” “Eat more! Eat a lot! Really, eat a lot!” I definitely wasn’t used to obeying orders when eating! As an adult who has already lived abroad alone for several years, I didn’t exactly enjoy playing what in my mind was the part of a 5-year old kid. If I want to eat more of this or that I will, right? I can clearly see that that dish is right there, and yes, I already tasted it, and yes, it is delicious, thank you very much! Things escalated when Omma started actually putting things in my bowl for me! This wasn’t a one-time occurrence either. When I attempted to figure things out for myself, I didn’t come up with much. Perhaps she thinks of me as a child because I don’t speak Korean perfectly? Perhaps she didn’t know I had already eaten all those things before? Does she think Korean food is so out of this world for a foreigner, that I couldn’t possible know better? Well, thanks to the wonderful instructors at Sogang University’s Korean Language Education Center, I was able to ask my host sisters about this phenomenon. To my surprise, they told me this is how she showed care and concern for me. She only wanted me to truly enjoy everything as much as possible. To her, if she didn’t do all of the above it would be the equivalent of neglect, carelessness, or a lack of respect. Wow. Needless to say, I have since let Mama be Mama, gone for the ride, and gained a few pounds, too!
Yet another rewarding learning experience has been my, ahem, scholarly study of Korean drinking culture. Most of my learning has come from my host Father, his brothers, and brothers-in-law. After all, most of the rules of drinking culture are directly related to age. The younger must pour for the older first, never letting their glasses remain empty, and must never pour for themselves. When pouring one must support the bottle with both hands, and one must receive a pour with two hands as well. This is all easier said than done, especially since you’re expected to keep pace taking shots with the eldest male present and the drink in question is soju, a Korean alcohol that averages about 20% ABV. When I was first taught all of this, I was initially…scared. I can still remember a meal I shared with my host Father’s brother-in-law. He was knocking back shots like water between his vacuum-like gulps of food. I barely had time to take bites of food between pouring shots for him and others and attempting to do the same. It felt like work more than a meal, and I was practically sweating by the end of it! But I was happy. In my host Uncle’s mind, I had done him respect by seeing that his glass was never empty and that he never drank alone. The knowing nods of approval he gave me as we walked out of the restaurant were more than worth it.
Over time, as I learned and I adopted, I began to realize that I was experiencing the Korean “togetherness” I had so admired since the first time I visited Korea – and I wasn’t looking from the outside anymore. I can’t fully express the sense of reward I got from realizing that as my Korean host family and friends knew that I had learned more about the culture, they expected more from me - and I was able to deliver. For the past several weeks I’ve overheard my host family and friends saying to others, “It’s so easy having him. He eats, talks, and acts just like a Korean!”
I couldn’t ask for a better compliment.

Caleb R. Dependahl
Double B.A. Asian Studies and Chinese Language & Literature 2012,
Sigur Center 2011 Korean Language Fellow, Sogang University, South Korea

Hugs and Exploitation in Northern Thailand

In addition to their stories, I'll remember the hugs the most. In my many meetings I had with Alezandra Russell, the founder of Urban Light, before I left to spend a month at that organization this summer, she had cautioned me that it takes many months or even years for her clients to develop a sense of trust with anyone -- let alone a farang (foreign) man. I therefore should be neither hurt nor surprised when I leave after my month there and the young men barely acknowledge my departure. The reason for this is simple: I'm a farang man -- literally the face of the type of people that have exploited many of these young men for years. Instead of a casual or indifferent wave of the hand on my last day, however, I received hugs, many of them. One of them wouldn't let me go. It was an unexpected and emotional way to end my four weeks in northern Thailand.

With the generous support of the Sigur Center, I left DC on July 19 to spend a month in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand's largest city, at an organization called Urban Light. UL serves as a drop-in and resource center for young men who work in the bars of Chiang Mai's night bazaar, a major tourist attraction. Most of them do not have formal jobs at the bars such as waiters or bartenders. Instead, they primarily just hang out in the bars with their friends, play snooker, drink, and chat with customers. The customers -- about 80 percent farang and 20 percent Thai -- according to my interviews with the young men, do not come for the ambiance. Beyond a couple requisite rainbow flags, the poster of a shirtless Andy Roddick, and a few photos of good looking Asian men in their underwear, these bars are not any different than many others in Chiang Mai. The customers come for neither the atmosphere nor the drinks here: they come for the boys.

Both from numerous observations at the bars and from interviewing the young men who work there, when a customer enters and takes a seat, one of the young men will usually take a break from snooker or hanging out with his friends and go sit next to the customer. They'll chat and the customer will usually flirt with and start touching the young man. The latter will encourage the customer to buy cocktails instead of a beer because he gets a 20 baht (66 US cents) commission for each one he sells. Depending on the mood of each party, after a few drinks and groping by the customer, he may leave. Sometimes he will tip the young man 100-200B ($3-6) for spending time with him. If he wants more, though, he will proceed with negotiating the price and details of what he wants sexually from the young man. In Thai, this is called the Off fee or going Off. From the 12 interviews I conducted with young male bar workers age 18-25, they told me the Off fee is usually between 500B-2,000B ($16-$66) at these bars in Chiang Mai.

At this point I should make two important notes. First, there are many young men under the age of 18 who both do this work in the bars and attend Urban Light's programming and activities. The customers who purchase sex from these minors are de jure committing trafficking in persons (TIP) under both Thailand's 2003 law against human trafficking and the 2000 UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, the primary instrument of international law that deals with TIP. Thailand has signed but not yet ratified this protocol and thus it is non-binding in the Kingdom. Thailand's domestic law does carry legal force, however. Both laws specify engaging in commercial sex with an individual under the age of 18 as one of the "worst forms" of human trafficking. But of course the real world, in this case the bars of Chiang Mai's night bazaar, are far from the halls of power in Bangkok and Rome where the two aforementioned laws were promulgated.

The second critical note is that few, if any, of the young men I interviewed and the dozens of others who go to Urban Light during the day and/or work in the bars at night are gay or bisexual. These young men are members of the MSM category, Men Who Have Sex With Men, which is a crucial to the discourse and literature in many disciplines, public health in particular. The young men of Chiang Mai's night bazaar engage in this work for money. There are not emotional attachments to the customers who often are old enough to be their fathers -- or even their grandfathers (one of my interviewees told me that "many old, old, old men, often with canes" come in to Off the young men). I asked each one of the 12 I interviewed if he thought this was a good job. They all said no. I asked each one if they would recommend this work to someone they knew who needed a job. They all said no. Many expressed shame and embarrassment when talking about their work -- which brings me back to the hugs.

I went to the Thailand with a straightforward assumption and a simple objective. The assumption was that few people or organizations (with the notable exception of Urban Light) has ever paid much attention to these societal throwaways or ever listened to their stories. Most people in Thailand and elsewhere just assume these young men do this work because they like it. After all, what straight 18-year-old man wouldn't want to have sex with a man 50 years his senior for $20? Therefore, my most basic objective was to simply listen to their story and then help them share it, if the interviewee so desired. Nearly every one of the Urban Light participants 18 or older (I chose not to interview any minors given the particular sensitivities of interviewing children about such difficult topics) agreed to speak with my wonderful interpreter, Neung, and I. Each one shared his story and I was constantly amazed with how open they were with us. They told us details I never imagined they would entrust us with, and I was honored and humbled by their decision to share so much. Once a few of them got started, they delved into graphic detail about sex and labor abuse and exploitation to which they were subjected, often as children. It quickly seemed to became apparent that having a sympathetic ear with which to share these stories was perhaps helpful, or maybe even a bit cathartic. This brings me to my last day at Urban Light.

Before I left, I sat all the young men down and spoke to them about how appreciative, honored, and humbled I was that they had shared so much of their stories and lives with me. I told them of my apprehensions about doing this research - namely that they would understandably not really trust what I was doing there. I told them how much I respected them and had learned from them and that I was truly sad to be leaving Chiang Mai and all of them. I expected a smile and a friendly "goodye" but instead, one of them came up to me and asked Neung to ask me if he could hug me. Taken aback, I said "of course" and outstretched my arms. He squeezed me tight and after a few seconds I started to loosen my grip but instead he pulled me closer and hugged me harder and wouldn't let me go. My eyes watered because I realized then that I had made an unexpectedly profound connection. As he pulled away and walked off to the side, I saw that almost all of the UL guys had lined up behind him to hug me. After each one hugged me and bade me goodbye, I was shaken and had a much harder time walking out of that center than I ever would have imagined. It is extremely difficult to know that I will probably never see most of those guys ever again. As I rounded the bend on the side street on which UL is located, I glanced over my shoulder to take one more look at the young men who had made such an impact on my life and my academic perception of sex work and exploitation. They were climbing on their motos and driving off toward the bars.

Matt Grieger
MA candidate, Asian Studies
2011 Sigur Center Summer Field Research Fellow

Friday, August 19, 2011

Taiwan: 2011 Summer Fellows – Taking Stock at the End of the Summer


It’s 3 o’clock in the morning as I sit down to write the first draft of my last post, and the jetlag from the twelve hour time difference in New Jersey has had me wide awake for awhile already. At this time of night, and with sentimental Taiwanese singer-songwriter music playing on my iTunes, I really miss being in Taipei.
From a Chinese-learning perspective, the past couple of months have been a success. I learned a lot from the program at National Taiwan University (NTU), and I can feel in my day-to-day conversation how much I have improved. I nailed my end-of-term presentation and did pretty well on last week’s exit examination. My last night in the country was also one of my prouder nights, when I met up with a local friend who I hadn’t seen since my first few nights in Taipei at the end of May. It was crazy how much more smoothly we could chat together compared to when I first arrived. I find myself thinking back to Peter Hessler’s account of experiencing mainland China for the first time, and how learning Chinese was like a photograph becoming more and more in focus over time. I can gradually feel my hold on Chinese getting stronger and stronger.
Language learning aside, the past month in particular has been pretty special. I came to Taiwan with the intention of throwing myself more-or-less entirely into language studies, and I had fewer expectations of developing particular affections for my program, colleagues, or the city. I spent my first few weeks in Taipei doing Chinese pretty much all of the time before I started to realize that my time in the country was running out and that half of the purpose of flying to Taipei was to experience as much of the culture and city as possible. In the end it felt really good to get on a schedule of waking up at 6am every morning, spending a solid day studying Chinese, and then trying to make something different of my evening, like doing a language exchange, checking out a local music performance, or just taking a long walk in a different direction. I filled up more pages in my journal these past three months than I’d written in nearly the past two years.
For me the key to language learning has always been about having the passion to actually want to use the language. I’m convinced that the main reason I washed out of French, despite studying it in high school and college, was because I never came to see it as much more than a required course. I wasn’t so enthusiastic about beginning to learn Chinese either when I first moved to the mainland a few years ago. It wasn’t until I started to make connections with the people and the place that putting in the effort to improve my communication skills became personally important.
A similar thing happened in Taiwan this summer. I feel reenergized for learning Chinese thanks to the experiences I’ve been fortunate enough to have. I hope that I can find the opportunity to return to NTU to continue my studies or at least visit the people I’ve met. I’m even surprised at myself that I intend on continuing to study traditional Chinese characters even after I’ve returned to the US. It’s a goal that I honestly never thought I would take up before I left for Taiwan, since all of my previous experience was with simplified characters, but it’s something that I want to continue with because of the relationships that I’ve developed. I even purchased a hefty traditional character textbook on my last day of class that I’ll use to study with independently. It's made for a fulfilling summer knowing that my experience in Taipei is something that I want to remember and build upon for a long time.

Christopher Wong
MA International Affairs, 2012
Sigur Center 2011 Chinese Language Fellow
National Taiwan University, Taiwan