By Bernard Rowan
I moved this summer to a new home. I packed up my life over several decades and "put it" in a new place. In turn, I have begun to sort through my effects. There are books I am going to give to my school library. There are clothes, toys, and carpets to present to Goodwill, a charitable non-for-profit in America. However, I found treasures, not with monetary value, but for my soul. Pictures, toys from my childhood, photographs and family objects, and artifacts of my life as a son, brother, husband, father, and professor.
Among my treasures are souvenirs, pamphlets, professional works, and mementos of my visits to Korea, my sabbatical, and related comings and goings over the years. Learning about and studying Korean politics, society, and culture were not originally my ideas for effort as a professor. Following my first visit in 1998, I decided to make this work a center of my research and scholarship. It continues to contribute to my happiness, teaching, and professional work.
When I review the memories of my times in South Korea, I have a sense of satisfaction, peace, and longing to continue. I also achieve a feeling of harmony in realizing that I have shared my love of South Korea with American and South Korean students. It was a great high mark of my career to host students to Chicago and to see them grow in their use of English and knowledge about America. It was another high mark to see my students travel to South Korea to learn about Korean civilization and its progress.
I decided to share some thoughts with this poem:
Looking Back and Ahead
I found the other day a comb, linen coasters, a silk image of two ducks, and a "jangdo" knife.
In doing so, my memories drifted back over three decades of life.
How I have visited the Land of Morning Calm,
How its wonders and people taught me so much.
These simple gifts reminded me, once again,
Of the lives and sacrifices made by Korean women, the ajumeoni, as well as their younger and older sisters and friends, for Korean children and men,
To build one of the world's best and prosperous places.
My mind returned to a great many familiar people and faces who remind me of them.
I found in my trunk images of Chalduseon, Seodaemun, and Panmunjeom.
Fighters for the Korean nation to worship God and freedom.
These pamphlets reminded me, once again,
Of sacrifices made by countless Korean men and their friends, for Korean children and women,
To build one of the world's constitutional democracies.
I found in my trunk these and many other things ―
They fill my heart with gladness and my mind with stillness
To the South Korean people.
Now at harvest, and amid times of thanksgiving,
I remember my mentors, friends, and those I call family.
May the sun and moon continue to bless the Land
May the night never cease to give way to the new day,
And the time from morning to evening see the land still calm.
Now, always, and forever more.
I've never enjoyed moving. I've moved10 or so times in my life. Each move marks the end of a life chapter, but it brings a beginning too. My spirit quickened to rediscover parts of who I am and what I've done because of Korea. It's no exaggeration to say I'm most grateful to the South Korean people, in particular to my friends, family, and colleagues there. For two decades of happiness in work and leisure, in learning and growing, which I think will continue, thank you. I am one of millions who could say the same.
Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and academic services and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University.
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Among my treasures are souvenirs, pamphlets, professional works, and mementos of my visits to Korea, my sabbatical, and related comings and goings over the years. Learning about and studying Korean politics, society, and culture were not originally my ideas for effort as a professor. Following my first visit in 1998, I decided to make this work a center of my research and scholarship. It continues to contribute to my happiness, teaching, and professional work.
When I review the memories of my times in South Korea, I have a sense of satisfaction, peace, and longing to continue. I also achieve a feeling of harmony in realizing that I have shared my love of South Korea with American and South Korean students. It was a great high mark of my career to host students to Chicago and to see them grow in their use of English and knowledge about America. It was another high mark to see my students travel to South Korea to learn about Korean civilization and its progress.
I decided to share some thoughts with this poem:
Looking Back and Ahead
I found the other day a comb, linen coasters, a silk image of two ducks, and a "jangdo" knife.
In doing so, my memories drifted back over three decades of life.
How I have visited the Land of Morning Calm,
How its wonders and people taught me so much.
These simple gifts reminded me, once again,
Of the lives and sacrifices made by Korean women, the ajumeoni, as well as their younger and older sisters and friends, for Korean children and men,
To build one of the world's best and prosperous places.
My mind returned to a great many familiar people and faces who remind me of them.
I found in my trunk images of Chalduseon, Seodaemun, and Panmunjeom.
Fighters for the Korean nation to worship God and freedom.
These pamphlets reminded me, once again,
Of sacrifices made by countless Korean men and their friends, for Korean children and women,
To build one of the world's constitutional democracies.
I found in my trunk these and many other things ―
They fill my heart with gladness and my mind with stillness
To the South Korean people.
Now at harvest, and amid times of thanksgiving,
I remember my mentors, friends, and those I call family.
May the sun and moon continue to bless the Land
May the night never cease to give way to the new day,
And the time from morning to evening see the land still calm.
Now, always, and forever more.
I've never enjoyed moving. I've moved10 or so times in my life. Each move marks the end of a life chapter, but it brings a beginning too. My spirit quickened to rediscover parts of who I am and what I've done because of Korea. It's no exaggeration to say I'm most grateful to the South Korean people, in particular to my friends, family, and colleagues there. For two decades of happiness in work and leisure, in learning and growing, which I think will continue, thank you. I am one of millions who could say the same.
Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and academic services and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University.
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