Korea!

On Wednesday I attended the Korea Peace Day & DEEP Report back in Silver. What an amazing experience! The event began with traditional Korean Food (which was delicious) and refreshments, and moved into a series of speakers. The first speaker was a professor at New York University who gave an overview of the current relations situation between Korea and the United States.  In fitting with a number of the things I’ve learned thus far in our course, I can’t believe how much I didn’t know! For example, a crucial detail I’m embarrassed to admit, but the Korean War is technically still going on? I was under the impression it was a thing of the past, but after the speakers, my understanding that history and world affairs always have more than one side was solidified. Additionally, they had a war veteran speak giving another perspective on the need to action in Korea, particularly on behalf of the United States and how the citizens can make that happen. And finally, a panel who embarked on a trip to North Korea to develop partnerships and human to human relationships spoke of their experiences and what more could be done.

As I mentioned before, I was amazed at how unaware I was of the realities of our world, and those involving our own country! As we’ve discussed numerous times, and even read about in Loewen, there are more sides to history that we are typically aware of. Thinking as a teacher, I feel ashamed that I don’t know more about these realities, although I’m trying. I was to be able to present accurate information for my students, and allow them to discover these realities on their own as well. Additionally thinking about how culturally diverse our city is, I’m sure there is a high chance that a student of mine may be directly effected by the situation between North and South Korea, and as their teacher I want to be aware of what their investment is. I want to be sure I’m sympathetic to all students experiences, as different or similar as they may be to my own.