Global Reflections-Greg

Early in our journey I was asked about the value of study abroad.  Why invest so much time and money into an experience that can, in part be replicated by local museums, books, 3D Internet simulations and faculty expertise?  I was struck by the question but felt confident that study abroad was valuable and was indeed the “high impact practice” that was so strongly supported by the college and validated through credible research.  My answer in that moment was based mostly on my experience teaching chemistry.  I can explain a chemical reaction on the board and a student can understand the notation but it is not until we go into the laboratory does the true learning take place.  No until the powders are weighed out, the liquids measured and solutions brought to volume in specially designed flasks does the solution become part of long-term memory.  Only then do I feel absolutely confident that learning has been given the best opportunity to blossom.

            Study abroad can also be a powerful experiential and transformative learning opportunity.  You can look at pictures of the pyramids or the treasures of King Tut’s tomb but it is not until you climb inside the pyramid and feel the weight of centuries above you or smell the must of the Cairo Museum does the depth of the meaning of these artifacts seep into and become part of your lexicon.  But experience alone is only one component of my teaching philosophy.  Pairing experience with reflection, social constructivism and dissemination is necessary for the whole package to come together in full.

            When we began our journey I felt that everything was in place for an extremely powerful learning opportunity.  We were about to embark on a journey that would take us into the heart of world treasures, the places richest in culture and all done under the flag of academia.  What could go wrong?  I had a group of college students committed to fun, learning, respect, responsibility and communication all embracing the challenges of international experience.  My course had intentional exercises to promote deep and meaningful reflection, discussion of the day’s events and assignments in place too allow students to share their observations and questions.  And so we began with eyes wide open and hearts ready to receive what the entire world had to offer.

            While in the thick of it you force yourself awake, you grit through discomfort and you encourage the best out of people while fighting tooth and nail with yourself not to blow your stack every other moment.  Then, in the blink of an eye, it is over and you are sinking into the depths of your own bed.  What just happened? Did we really just go all the way around the world? Did learning take place?  What role did I play in the learning and or lack of learning?  Was all of the stress and anxiety worth it?  I am reminded of a reflection a student shared.  He talked about visiting an art installation in Berlin and how deeply the experience moved him.  He couldn’t quite put a finger on why it was so moving or what the meaning was to him at this point in time.  I assured him that was OK and that it might take years to fully embrace the experience and put it into context.  I also said the context and meaning might change over time.  It was easy to be a coach in the manner of being excited for his potential and smile at his impatience knowing that fro him, if he keeps working at it, it will all come together some day.

            Will I too have an epiphany someday where the light goes on and I realize the true meaning of the past five months?  Was the hard work, the stress on the family and battles with the students worth it?  Today I know deep down that yes, it was amazing; important life-long learning took place but I am having a hard time articulating and compartmentalizing the experience into concrete pieces.  I know I love to teach, I know I love to travel and I know I have a lot to offer those who join me on journeys.  I know that the kids grew and Janet added to her repertoire of international experiences.  But now as I sift through pictures, assign final grades and write the last report I am still processing my answer to the question, “So, how was your trip?”

This volume of the Muth Family Adventures comes to a close with lots of neat passport stamps, thousands of pictures and most importantly a boatload of frequent flier miles that will be cashed in soon enough to take us yet again on another journey of discovery.  Woohoo!

Global Reflections - Maggie

When mom and dad said they where going to take an interview for global I thought it was going to be a 1 month trip that dad went on. But I was so wrong. We got a letter a few months later that said we were chosen to go. Everyone freaked and ran around the driveway.

For the next two years we prepared for a 5 month long trip. I was starting to get nervous. I was right I should be nervous. I’m leaving every thing I care about behind to go around the world. Yes things can be annoying at home but it’s better than not having a home at all. Traveling can be rough. It’s hard for everyone.

Before we left we would tell someone about our trip and they would say, “You’re so lucky, can I ride in your suitcase?” Yes I knew they were joking, but now I think it would be fun to have a friend along. Every single place we have been something has been missing. Home. I love having opportunities like this but I’m sick and tired of touring, traveling, moving, and living out of a suitcase. Next time, (if there is one) maybe I will bring a friend along.

By traveling I have learned so much about home. At home there is easy access to laundry, but when traveling, you might have to do laundry in a bathtub. Food is also a struggle when traveling. At home it’s easy to get groceries, but when traveling things can be expensive. Transportation is the hardest. At home you have a car, but when traveling you need to walk, walk, or maybe take the metro or you could just walk. It sounds crazy but it’s true. Traveling is so much work but it’s fun and challenging. One of the things I learned on this trip is there is no place like home.

-Maggie Muth

Global Reflections - James

By James Muth

After global, when you ask me how my trip was, I will probably tell you a number of things. Some things will be along the lines of: awesome, fun, exhausting and amazing. But there is one thing that really describes this trip: Awakening. People in the US have no idea how good they have it: consistent power, strong Wi-Fi, lots of personal space, a car and many other simple things that make life easier. Laundry, hot water and a TV were all considered optional or a bonus in some of the countries we visited. We have it good in the US. Some of the countries even think of the US like heaven. It is only for exclusive people. It makes exclusive products and it is difficult to get into. Now I understand how awesome the US is. We live in a wonderful country, and we take it for granted. We should appreciate how good we have it, and be a little more generous. We have plenty, so let’s spread the love!

The Trick Eye Museum

By: Grace Muth      

            One thing I’ve noticed while being in Korea is things are weird.  Not bad weird, but cool, different and interesting weird.  Another thing I’ve noticed is people like to take selfies and pictures of other people.  There are also a lot of museums here in Korea.  It was no surprise to me that there was something here in Seoul that combined all three of those observations.  Yesterday James, Maggie and I were invited to go to the Trick Eye museum.  A basic description of the museum is optical illusion and selfie paradise.  After a delicious lunch of tacos and Snickers we met up with Nik, the St. Olaf student who invited us to the Trick Eye museum, at the big red pipe outside the Sinchon station.  We rode the metro over one stop and got off into the cold.  Fortunately the museum was only a block away.  We entered the museum, got tickets, which included the trick eye museum, the carnival, and the ice museum.

            The first place we went was the trick eye museum.  We started in the classic optical illusion where it looks like one person is a giant and the other person is very small.  We took a couple pictures there then continued.  The whole museum consisted of little photo zones that were optical illusions.  There was a sideways room that you could do stunts in.  Maggie held up Nik in that room.  There was a place where you could be a floating head on a table.  James climbed some bamboo with pandas, Maggie went to candy land, and I some how turned into a ballerina.  We also rode unicorns, dolphins, and almost got eaten by a giant snake and a sea monster.  James got trapped in a bottle with a giant pelican.  Maggie and I went in Mona Lisa’s head, and Maggie poured gold coins on James.  To get out of the trick eye museum there was a mirror make.  It was a good mirror maze with a lot of dead ends and it was dark, which made it harder.  After the trick eye museum we went to the carnival.  There were a few games and a dunk tank, which was fun.  We didn’t spend very much time there.

            After the carnival we bundled up in our winter clothes again and went into the ice museum.  There were ice thrones, ice penguins, and an igloo with and ice fire.  Everything was made of ice.  There was an ice-house with a piano, bathroom, living room with chairs and a TV, and a bedroom with an ice bed.  It was awesome!  To everything off there was an ice slide.  We wen down the ice slide at least 10 times each to make up for all the sledding we didn’t do this winter.  We spent a good two to two and a half hours at the museum before heading home.

       

     Going to the Trick Eye museum was super fun and exciting.  I really enjoyed the experience, and it felt like I was in the fun weird part of Seoul that I expected.  It was fun, cool, interesting, and weird.  All in all I’m really glad I went and if I had one tip for being in Korea it would be go to the Trick Eye museum in Seoul.

A Quick History Lesson

History has never really been my thing.  I love historical fiction (Downton Abby has taught me all I need to know about early 20^th century Britain, right?), but I think it is because of the characters.  I like to know about the people of different ages and places, but less so the historical facts.  So when Greg and I decided to flip our roles for this final month of the Global Semester, I was thrilled to know that I’d be attending a Sociology course about Korea as opposed to History.  Little did I know that I would not only be learning about Korean history, but loving it.

Korea is a fascinating place with a rich and complicated history.  From its cultural and economic ties to China starting back before 200 BCE through its colonization by Japan in 1910, Korea has been an important and interesting player in East Asia.  But it is its more modern history – the time from after the Korean War until the present day – that I find so compelling.  I think the history of both North and South Korea is amazing, but I’ll focus on South Korea since that’s where we are.

First off –here’s a quick timeline to give you the major dates:

1953 Korean War halted by armistice agreement, Syngman Rhee continues as President of First Republic of Korea

1960 April Revolution overthrows Rhee’s government and Second Republic of Korea established

1961 Military forces led by Park Chung Hee overthrow Second Republic of Korea

1968 Unsuccessful attempt by North Korea to assassinate Park Chung Hee

1972 Park Chung Hee announces emergency Martial Law and rewrites constitution so he can stay in office indefinitely

1974 First Lady assassinated by North Korean

1979 Park Chung Hee assassinated by his own cabinet member; coup d’etat; Chun Doo Hwan gets power

1980 Martial Law declared after Gwangju Massacre between dissenters and armed forces takes lives of at least 100

1987 Student uprisings lead to establishment of Fifth Republic of Korea, democratic elections held

1988 Host Olympic Games

1993 President Kim Young-Sam elected

1998 President Kim Dae-Jung elected

2003 President Roh Moo-Hyun elected

2008 President Lee Myung-Bak elected

2012 Park Geun-Hye, daughter of the late Park Chung Hee, is elected first female president

I was stunned when I first understood just how much upheaval and military rule has been in place since the Korean War.  Somehow I had always thought that South Korea was a peaceful democracy.  How they managed to host the ’88 Olympics is still a mystery to me.  And yet, while Park Chung Hee is regarded as essentially a dictator, South Korea experienced some of the most rapid economic development of any country during his tenure.  Their rocket like growth from one of the poorest countries in the world to a member of the OECD is hard to comprehend.

Nowadays, if you talk to almost anyone about South Korea’s modern history, they will look around to see who is listening.  Seriously, we had two different professors tell us that they could get in trouble for discussing some of the things they discussed with us, and a third actually told the students not to take notes during a specific discussion.  Why?  Because the current president is the daughter of former president/dictator Park Chung Hee and she wants to assure that his legacy is not tarnished.  In fact, she’s put together a government committee to rewrite the history text books.  One of our contacts said that she was incredibly depressed when Park Guen-Hye was elected because it felt like a slide backwards.

I certainly can’t predict where things will go for South Korea in the near future.  President Park Guen-Hye is supposed to end her single, five-year term in 2018, but there are rumblings that she might be inclined to do as her father did and change the constitution.  With South Korea back on the world stage as the hosts of the 2018 Winter Olympics, it will be very interesting to watch what she does.