South Korean Children: School... then more School

by Vivian Tong

Korean Students taking the Crucial Exams for University

It’s become a common fact that South Korea churns out world-beating exam scores year after year envied by the western world. The reason for this nation’s large number of bright students lies in the Asian mindset of achieving top academic results that the Korean parents widely adopt. Like a lot of parents from neighboring Asian countries, they believe top grades are essential to a professional career, which they thrust upon the shoulders of their offspring to achieve. This is done through the method of cramming, which is an approach deeply embedded not only in South Korea, but also in other Asian countries as well which is widely seen as the most efficient way to “learn”.

But the story behind their success goes beyond the bright side which the western world is blinded by. It is one of a more intricate problem that is beginning to worry the Korean government. As the education system in Korea is very competitive due to wide quest for positions to good universities, a recent phenomenon start to arise where students attend tutor centers (학원 hakwon) outside of school in order to improve their grades. These hakwons are intensive learning centers that occupy these young children to extreme hours of the night. The Korean government realizes this as a problem to the welfare of this young generation, and began to take measures such as setting a curfew, going as far as carrying out raids at night to stake out cram-schools that are violating the government-imposed curfew. The Korean government acknowledges the inflexibility of the Korean education system, as the heavy grades-based form of assessing these students only encourage these bright young children to pursue academics through numbers. However, some hagwons still continue to ignore the government’s laws and continue to operate pass the curfew, reflecting how widely the education system is dominant to the blunt academics approach students continue to undertake in South Korea.

Source: Time magazine Issue October 3, 2011

LOTTE WORLD!

by Nicolia Ng

Indoors

Outdoors

Adventure. Magic. Kids. Laughter. These are what one would find in an amusement park. That’s right, my friends. Located in the heart of Seoul, Lotte World is the perfect place for entertaining, sightseeing and shopping. Lotte World is divided into two sections—“Adventure Land” (indoor theme park) and “Magic Island” (outdoor theme park). Start you fun in Adventure Land and make your to Magic Island then come back to Adventure Land by 9pm to catch the laser night show before you head home!
Now, what’s an amusement park without thrilling rides? Located next to the dazzling Magic Castle, the thrilling high-altitude rides are constantly full of people waiting in lines. The Gyro Drop and Gyro Swing are the most popular rides—a steep drop with an altitude of 70m or a thrilling sensation of being inside a tornado. Besides the excitement of these rides, are fantasy parades, films, laser shows and all sorts of international cuisines to enjoy inside Lotte World.
Lotte World is a perfect place not only for kids and their parents, but also for couples going on dates (how romantic). The most popular “couple ride” is the carousel because it starred in one of the scenes in the Korean drama Stairway to Heaven. Oops, did I not mention that Lotte World was one of the locations that was used to film Stairway to Heaven (천국의 계단)? Now that I mentioned it, does it make you want to go to Lotte World more?
Hesitate no more.
Just go.

Visit Korea – The DMZ (De-militarized Zone)

Kenneth Lee

For those born after the collapse of the Soviet Union, to get a glimpse of the last standoff point between communism and democracy, they must travel to Korea’s DMZ, the only surviving, and operational, artifact left from the Cold War. This unique 248-mile iron curtain – loaded with various military tools of war – separates the North and South Koreas, who are technically still at war with each other: the Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace agreement.

Visitors on a guided tour to the DMZ will first stop at Camp Bonifas, a large military vase that serves as the base camp of the United Nations Command Security Force of the Joint Security Area (JSA). There, you get to be briefed, usually by a US officer, about the JSA’s history and regulations. You should also check out ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Golf Course” – a par-3, one-hole course where you get to lose your golf balls together once you hit them, lest you wish to die from the live mine fields surrounding it.

Korean Crossword puzzle!

Bored? Need something to fill those eager young minds of yours?
Check out our crossword puzzle made by member Cherie Ho.
If you have been reading along with our material, you will find it a breeze.

http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/bin/crossword.cgi