A moment of a study crisis
Originally posted on October 31st, 2013.
Wow. November is knocking at the door. The leaves have changed into beautiful autumn colors. I am living in Seoul since 2,5 months = 12 weeks = 88 days now.
My study abroad life consists of Korean Language classes that I have 4 times per week starting from 8 to 11 am. Besides that I chose 3 classes referring to my major: Gender and Development, Poverty and Development and last but not least Political Economy of Development.
Why Poverty and Development? I grew up in a developed country, where government provides at least basic needs to their citizens who can live in peace and prosperity. But I also grew up with the comprehension that in our world also poverty exists (at this point I do not argue the fact that developed countries certainly have other relevant issues and obstacles that create inequality and problems such as poverty in their society as well).
What I mean is poverty in which parents are not able to feed their children who have to starve and rarely have access to clean water. Poverty which is created through wars and nowadays long lasting or repeating domestic wars, the civil wars. Poverty sometimes created by a government who certainly does not care about the needs of their citizens. Poverty which is created by an immense increase of natural disasters due to climate change but also man-made disasters. I am certainly not saying anything new and I certainly do not want to bore anyone. We all know this. We can see it on the news every day.
For my part, I grew up in this context because my parents escaped from a poverty like that. I grew up with stories they told me about the life they had when they were at my age, growing up during and after the War in Vietnam. What I will tell next is very personal but I am telling it because personal experiences do shape our lives at any time.
It was during my first visit 13 years ago in Vietnam when my parents took me to a Southern province of Saigon, Kien Giang. On our way, I saw a small and poor boy, maybe 4 or 5 years old, selling lottery cards to passing cars at the resting places. „Oh, I remember when your brother also tried to earn little money like that when he was at his age“ my mom said. Although she did not intended to give me any sad feelings, I felt sad and thought „What can we do so that children like him do not have to grow up in poverty like that anymore?“.
I hope, I am getting closer to the answer during my studies here as I have the feeling I have been educated enough to focus on these complex issues and field of study. In the field of economics and developmental theory, the study about Poverty and Development is relatively new. The Indian economist Amartya K. Sen is a pioneer in poverty studies. People who come from an economical view normally do not have enough in-depth sight into poverty issues and the relationship to development. Of course lack of money is an effect on poverty. But it is not enough to look only on this factor. Primarily, lack of capability and human development cause poverty. Amartya Sen provided empirical proof by his studies to convince other economists.
Moreover this class focuses on the causes of poverty and introduces debates about poverty and inequality as they relate to globalization. We also learn in a practical way how poverty can be reduced through another component of the seminar: the Project Cycle Management which is a tool many international organizations, governments and NGOs adopt for poverty reduction. I chose to work on a Water-supply project which was been implemented in 5 provinces in Vietnam in which one of it was Kien Giang. The outcome of this project was a reduction of one of the most crucial issues referring to poor areas which rarely have access to clean water; the health conditions in these provinces. Furthermore it also has an impact on higher rates of school attendance and empowers women through an increase of time for productivity, as they are normally responsible for water provision for the family. So, not that I can gain very interesting and important knowledge but I also can expand (to be honest) my little knowledge about Vietnam, the country of my roots, through this class.
All three classes are linked to the topics of poverty in development countries. I will come back to them in detail for sure.
The professor of this class and also my other class Political Economy of Development is a “Koriphäe” (expert) in this field of study and an internationally well-known scholar. Meaning she has been invited to contribute her expertise at the Kyoto Protocol and missed our class last week as she had to travel to the OECD in Paris foras a representative of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Okay, I do not want to boast but I am proud to have the privilege to study in her classes.
From my experiences until now, the EWU certainly provides a special and high quality education to female students.
Another unexpected privilege is: the 8 of us in my Political Economy of Development class are provided to go to special field trip to Hanoi, Vietnam in 3 weeks. We will visit some development programs and get the chance to exchange knowledge with students from the University in Hanoi. Well, I think even for Ewha standards this is very very special. So anyways, I am looking forward and I am really excited to get the chance for this experience.
Hmm... so why did I started to write this post? Oh right: I am having a studying crisis right now. The workload in the last weeks has been immense and I did not expect my study abroad to be like this. Studying and staying up until sometimes 4 am to finish all these synopsis and presentations every week. So crazy. Right now I am trying to study and do research for my final papers that are due in 7 weeks. How am I gonna do this? I do not know. But one thing I also learned during the last weeks here is how one can be stretched to one's limit and still somehow manage the situation.
I will not complain. I have learned so many interesting and important things for my study and my future life. I can even chat in Korean now: 안녕하세요. 저는 반안 이에요.만나서 반갑습니다. 😄
During the last weeks I lived a life which could not be more fulfilled. Meeting and chatting with my international classmates and friends from Korea, China, America, England, Brazil, France, Nigeria, Myanmar, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Uganda, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Japan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Nepal, Ghana and Ruanda. So many countries and even more. Of course I made many German friends too as we are sooo many German exchange students during this semester. So whenever there is time to talk I learn so many precious things about our different lives and backgrounds. We have so many tense but also funny conversations about our families, how men are different but sometimes similar in our cultures, about the political situations in their countries and sometimes difficult circumstances under which they live. Today it is possible to learn from these different life circumstances worldwide through media.
But that is nothing compared to the fact that you can hear it in your classroom or in the kitchen from a person's own experience and perspective!
The study motivation of my classmates particularly from those who come from arabian, asian, african countries or the Pacific Islands is certainly much more different than mine. As they come from developing countries and are working in Ministries and Organizations related to poverty issues, I feel, and I think I am right, that theirs is much more important than mine.
One of the most important persons in my life just said to me today: “Many people are annoyed that they have too few chances (or do not realize the chances they are given), instead of being happy how great it is to have this chance”. And I can tell You: I am happy and thankful and I sincerely appreciate the time I can spend with the people around me during these past and the following 7 weeks.
