House of Sharing

Art therapy has helped many of the Halmoni express their testimonies

On Sunday, February 19th,  I headed to Gwanju City (about an hour east of Seoul) to visit the House of Sharing. This home is a place of healing for survivors of sexual slavery. It opened up in 1992 and there are currently 8 women residing here. These women are activists that continuously share their testimonies to bring awareness about the issue of sex slavery. The House of Sharing also has an extensive museum that is dedicated to the issue of military sexual slavery. This museum displays key evidence, photographs, artifacts, video testimonies and artwork by the survivors.


From 1932 until the end of World War II, the Japanese military held women as sex slaves all over Asia. An estimated 200,000 girls and women, mostly Korean, served as sexual slaves in the military's brothel system. These women, often referred to as "comfort women" were raped, abused, starved, tortured and many of them were also killed. Towards the end of the war, many were massacred or abandoned by military personnel throughout Asia.

After years of silence, this issue was brought into the public spotlight in 1991 and since then, 220 former "comfort women" in South Korea have come forward. These women are called Halmoni which means granny in Korean. To this day, the Japanese government still denies its involvement in the abduction of these girls and women and the organized system of "comfort stations."

 Every Wednesday at noon since January of 1992, survivors gather outside of the Japanese embassy here in Seoul to protest the government's denial of its role in military sexual slavery. The government has also refused to meet the demands of the victims. Today, many Halmoni and human rights activists continue to attend the weekly demonstrations. I hope to attend and support these modern-day abolitionists before I leave Korea.

To know more about this issue visit www.houseofsharing.org. To find out how you can help combat slavery, visit www.notforsalecampaign.org.



Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
-Brandon Heath

Biographies of the Halmoni

A sculpture representing the desired lives of these women:  whole and with a family.

A sculpture representing the actual lives of these women: suffering and incomplete

Statues of the Halmoni

Restaurant etiquette

One of my favorite things about this wonderful country: the FOOD. If you were to look at my Hana Bank account, you would find that most of my spending goes to restaurants ( which is fine by me). I blogged about food here so now it's time for a little lesson on Korean restaurant etiquette.


The Yeogiyo Button and the Yeogiyo yell:
If you need something in a Korean restaurant, you have to call the waiter over to your table. A loud ‘yeogiyo!’ (over here!) will usually suffice, but most restaurants also have a yeogiyo button. It’s a plastic button built into the end of your table. Push it and a bell rings, summoning your waiter. This is not considered rude or disrespectful. It's the norm and so efficient. Nice-uh! 

Mool juseyo!

One menu:


This one can be a little frustrating at points, especially when you are eating out with a group of 10. Many of the restaurants here only give you one menu. Just one. Perhaps it's the whole individualistic society mentality but sometimes, I want my own menu! I've learned to share, though.

Itty-bitty napkins and toilet paper used as napkins: 
I think Korea has the smallest napkins known to man. I go through about 30 of them when I'm out for Korean barbecue. If the restaurant doesn't have napkins, then just look around and you'll find the perfect roll of toilet paper. 

Incomplete without a cutesy toilet paper holder

Suhbuhsuh:
Ahhh suhbusuh/service-ee (Konglish for service). Service in Korea is the act of receiving free things. Yep, free. Sometimes at Homeplus, they'll throw in a couple of toothbrushes for "subbuhsuh." At Etude House, you'll get subbuhsuh in the form of nail polish and make-up remover.  At restaurants in Korea, they'll give you an extra side dish, some soju or dessert as suhbuhsuh. Assa!

Mool teeshoo:
Korean restaurants will give you a small wet napkin known as mool teeshoo (water tissue). You can use this to clean your hands before diving into the lettuce, soybean paste and meat when you're out feasting on wonderful Korean barbecue. You can also use this to clean your hands and face after your feast.

Scissors as knives:
Scissors are often used for food in Korea. In many restaurants, you will receive a pair of scissors to cut food (especially meet and noodles that are too long to handle). 

MELK....from KE

 Thankful for this group of adventurous chingus:

KE and her fab post:

http://keffinger.blogspot.com/2012/02/melk.html?spref=fb