"Among the scholars who have built the field of Korean studies are former Peace Corps volunteers who served in South Korea in the 1960s and 1970s before pursuing advanced degrees in anthropology, history, and literature. These scholars, who formed the core of the second generation of Korean Studies scholars in the US, reflect in this volume on their personal experience of serving during Korea's period of military dictatorship, on issues of gender and the Peace Corps experience, and on how random assignment to Korea sparked fascination and led to lifelong professional involvement with the country. Two chapters by Korean studies scholars who were not Peace Corps volunteers (one American and one Korean) assess how Peace Corps volunteers have influenced development of the field"--

This volume is a compilation of Peace Corps Volunteer experiences in Korea.

Contrary to the image of Korea as a largely self-contained country until its economy became global during the 1990s, this book shows that transnationalism has firmly been part of modern Korea’s national experience throughout its existence. The volume portrays Korea’s frequent transnational entanglements with other nations in East Asia and the West from the start of its annexation into the Empire of Japan in 1910 to the present day. It explores how modern Korea negotiated its complicated colonial relations with imperial Japan and its political and economic relations with the West in meeting the challenges of the globalized world. Early chapters cover the origins of Korea’s democratic republicanism among Korean immigrants in the United States, the Royal-Dutch oil industry in Korea, military hygiene and sex workers, and prisons in the Japanese empire. From the latter half of the twentieth century to the present, the book probes Cold War politics between Korea and Europe, transnational Korean communities in China, Japan, the Russian Far East, and the West, and ethnic Korean returnees from the Russian Far East. With contributions from leading international scholars, this collection’s attention to modern Korean history, economy, gender studies, and migration is ideal for upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates.

In the summer of 1967 a young couple departed home and family in Southern California to embark on a grand adventure. Finding Our Way chronicles two years of their life together as Peace Corps Volunteers in South Korea. Living with a host Korean family, they discovered the patterns and rhythms of everyday life in a country whose culture and customs were unfamiliar. Stationed in Taegu, Korea's third largest city, they introduced spoken English to Korean middle school students. As guests in a foreign land they faced cultural dilemmas, embraced adventures of discovery, experienced trying times and built lifelong friendships. Korea in the late 1960s was emerging from decades of Japanese occupation, and a devastating war with cultural neighbors and political enemies in the North. It was a time of economic hardship for much of the population as the country worked to establish itself in a competitive world. As the author was introduced to local traditions, the couple developed insights into their own lives. When troubling events occurred back home, they grappled with their own emotions and struggled to answer difficult questions. And when they encountered puzzling events they learned to accept and understand contrasting values. Adventure was a constant in their odyssey of discovery. Camping in the mountainous countryside, a summer time trek along the peninsula's east coast, visits to friends in rural villages, and teaching seventh-graders create a mosaic of life as members of the Peace Corps. So much was new: the diet, local markets, family relationships, public transportation, and communal baths. All were part of the experience. The story that unfolds in this memoir is unique, as is that of every Peace Corps Volunteer, no matter where they serve. Historic events of the late 1960s, in both Korea and the United States, are woven into a story that illustrates the impact of Peace Corps service. The experiences described by the author-some humorous, some joyful, some troubling, and others mysterious-are the stuff of lifetime memories.