Geotourism

     Seoul has more tourist attractions and tourists than any of other places in Korea. Most of the visitors are highly concentrated in Seoul, especially in North of Seoul, where Myung-dong, Insa-dong and Itaewon is at. However, it is hard to say that traveling Seoul is a great chance to see the geographical diversity and distinctiveness of the place. On the other hand, Jeonju can be a good example of geotourism. The environment and cultural properties are quite well-preserved and also, tourists are able to see how local people lives at the same time. As Jeonju is an emerging tourist attraction, there are a few possible effects of geotourism in Jeonju.

     One possible effect of geotourisom in Jeonju is that it is good for informing Korean traditional culture. Hanok maeul, which is consisted of many beautiful korean-style houses, is the most famous place in Jeonju. Most of koreans are shy about wearing hanbok, but in here, there are a bunch of people wearing hanbok wandering and eating traditional foods. It would be a good chance for foreign visitors to see cultural relics, try on hanbok and enjoy delicious traditional foods at the same time. So if they visit Jeonju, there are a lot of advantages for them to know about Korean culture without wasting time seeing each thing. Also, 

     Another possible effect of geotourism in Jeonju is that it helps Jeonju to preserve traditional heritage more and more. As tourists in Jeonju are increasing in numbers, the government is looking for ways to preserve and inform hanok and all the other local environment. For example, they recently hold a Gamaek festival, which is a specialty of the city, to promote that the city has much more thing to enjoy than just one thing, Hanok maeul. Since it was a festival about beer, a lot of people came to take part of the festival and enjoyed delicious foods and beer. The increase in tourism also benefits Jeonju in economic point of views. So if the government keeps working on ways to preserve and promote Jeonju, the numbers of visitors would increase gradually and the government and the local people would benefit from that. They could go for the effect of killing two birds with one stone.

     To sum up, geotourism in Jeonju benefits both tourists and local people. Tourists are able to watch and experience a variety of traditional culture at the same time and local people are able to create economic profit and receive help from the government to preserve their local environment.

Unit 1, Lesson B: "Gender in the Wild: Three Studies Reveal New Findings"

Those three studies show how gender impacts animals' societies.

     Elephants live in large matriarchal society which is composed of mothers, grandmothers and female relatives and friends. Female elephants build strong relationships with each other, which makes their society more stable. They take care of not only their biological child but also every young elephants in their communities including orphan elephants. However, a recent study revealed that few male elephants form a group and create strong bonds between them, They also have a similar hierarchy to that of female extended families. A behavioral psychologist noted that such strict hierarchy is beneficial for them to survive in dry years.

     Gelada family units are another example of matriarchal society. They are usually composed of few female geladas, their children and a primary male. In this society, female geladas play a important role in decision-making. They also decide which male they want to have as a primary male. After making a decision, they invites a bachelor gelada to the family. However, the previous male does not leave the family. Instead, he take a role as a kind of grandfather.

     A study young chimps revealed that some young chimps in captivity show gender-role-related behaviors. According to the research, young female chimps played with sticks just like they were making nests and taking care of babies, while young male chimps played with toys like trucks and preferred active play to playing with objects like sticks.

   It's a little bit surprising for me that how young chimps play shows their gender roles because I have never thought that there would be gender roles even in their society. These studies are quite interesting because I'm interested in gender-related issues. My biggest curiosity is this; Is there a set gender role? Regarding this question, I think it is wrong. Some people think that there are stereotypes of the roles of men and women but these are usually negative and incorrect. Gender roles are different throughout the world and there are some counterexamples. However, I am still curious about this question because most of the stereotypes are formed throughout centuries. I think I should read more researches and history books to get a more precise answer for this.

Welcome to my blog!

     Hello,everyone! My name is Yoon won Kang. You can call me Lily if that's convenient for you. I'm from Seoul. I have been living here since I was born. 

     I'm majoring in history and English literature. I prefer the latter to the former. Last spring, I took a modern British novel class. I studied two British novels written by female writers; Northanger Abbey and Wuthering Heights. I was so fascinated by how the writers express and criticize the suppression of women and gender inequality of the 18th century. Thanks to those novels, I was able to broaden my perspective.

     Also, I really love movies. My CGV VIP card proves it. I watch more than 80 movies a year. I'm a member of a campus film club. I really love talking about movies so please feel free to talk to me if you love movies. I like all genres except horror. My favorite movie is 'The Great Gatsby', directed by Baz Luhrmann. When I first watched the movie, the visual splendor of the movie caught my eyes. I literally could not take my eyes off of it. I also like soap operas. I'm watching Miranda recently. It is my favorite television comedy series. I would strongly recommend it to you if you love slapstick humor. I recommended it to my friends and all of them loved it very much.

     I also like learning languages. I think that each languages have their own charm and that they shows a lot about their countries. I am learning French since the summer vacation. My goal is to watch French film without any subtitles. 

     I would like to study more about English literature or film after graduation and then I want to work for a film distributor. It would be really hard to enter the company so I should prepare for it from now on. Fluent English is required for this job so I would like to improve my English language skills through this class.

Thank you!