Germantown High School - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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aid PXELVNG , H PQGNS AJ .seen by .Marjorie Erdman and told to Benjamin Kamer ROM the other end of the earth, from that little peninsula off Manchuria, a land of lotus and of mud, of ancient civilization and of Ford cars, comes Marjoire Erdman. lV1arjorie's parents were missionaries and she was born in Korea in the midst of all and lived there for twelve years. Then, because of the ill health of her parents, the family came to this country. As is the case with many people who have seen interesting things, her store of memories is abundant, and is more a collection of vivid impressions than a chronological list of facts. As Majorie loosened her flow of remi- niscences, we tightened our belt, got out our pencil and note book, and tried to record for you the facts as she presented them. XVe hope we have in a measure, succeeded. First, however, let us refer to our Atlas. Korea is situated at about one hun- dred and twenty-seven degrees longi- tude east of Greenwich, and at the same latitude as Philadelphia--the fortieth parallel. Its surface is very moun- tainous, and the climate is extremely x . cold in the winter. The summers, on the contrary, are very hot, except where modified by the proximity of the ocean. The Yellow Sea and the Iapan Sea hem the peninsual in on both sides, and off to the west lie the islands that make up the Empire of Japan. Korean civilization is known to have existed twelve centuries B. C. The country was conquered by China in 1122 B. C., and since then it has been constantly changing hands. In 1895, Korea was declared independent. Later, her government was taken over by Iapan. In 1910 a Iapanese Governor- General was installed, and the name of the country was changed from Korea to Chosen. Since then, there has been progress on every hand. The population in 1921 was 17,288,989, and is fast growing, but not too much in proportion to her progress in other lines. That, I think, is a fair summary of all the figures, and will set the stage for what Marjorie has to say. Marjorie is easy to interview. We did not know how to begin exactly, so all we did was to say a word or two here

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1 6. Q.. If 3' 5 I IIHIICIMININDIIR lll9llD6lll.' Continued C Clam E Cla.r.r Lila Barr George Bond Mymll Cohn Anna Cummings Frances Darlin ton Doroth Doerniach Lucile Everhart Harry Dannenbaum lrene Demarest Ruth Ellis Oliver Fanning Harriet Fell Otto Gardner lvalter Gerbron Ruth Henderson Eleanor Henshaw Nlyrtle Hobson Lydia M. Humphreys Irene lones Nlildred Kohn Gladys Libanoff Ira Lambert Rudolph Linquist hlildred Long Ben. Loenstein Mildred Nlichener Ruth Nightingale las. Price Elda Roman Sarah Rowe Myrtle Scanlin Alvin Sheerr David Sheplan Irwin Slipakotf David Small leannette Tevis XVilliam Thompson Elizabeth Weaver D Cla.r.r Leonard Bauer Carol Bryant Catherine Dentzer Charles Dickinson Fred YV. Eickholf Betty Gauff Frances Eleanor Iameson Norman Lichtenstein Harriet McKnight Ruth Newton Dorothy Smith L 'Edwin Sutherland Edith Van Auken Ruth Wanner Walter Blizard Henry Boyd S lvia Carlis ltllary Downham Carrie Di. Ebert Helen V. Ellis Halford Ennis H. Yvalter Forster Elizabeth Fowler Dorothy Frith Elizabeth Fritz Doris Galbraith Virginia Gernhard Ray Hahn Richard Hart Florence Glass Margaret Hicks Lillian lngerle Genevieve Iaeger Acis lenkinson Ruth Libanotif Q Helen Layton Helen Kreuser Louise Kiefer Albert Mellor Beatrice Nlosesof Agnes Murdock Anna Nagel Howard Nicholson Richard Nusbaum Robert O'Callagha Rita Pearsall Thomas Pugh Isabelle Ruch Margaret Rutherford Eleanor Ryan Charles Schaelifer Anita Schwalbe Charles Smith Sylvia Swartley Frieda Tinnerman Ruth Tonkin Yvilliam Van Dyke YVilliam YVeil Roberta Yvright F Cfaaxr Rose Bank Laura Barr Vivianne Blum ' Emma Bosworth Beatrice Buchanan Penniah Burd Margaret Carlson Eleanor Fell Iennie Galante Richard Hagy Orlean Hewlett Frank Hibbs lane Holland Nancy Hovev Catherine Ioihnson Violet Keen Robert Kenworthy lVilliam Lamberton Richard Landis Yvilliam Larzelere Bernice Lush Charlotte lVlcKelvey Grace Madley Ieauette Mattis Arthur Michener Edith Mitchell Florence Moon Louis Moskowitz Edith Phillips Louise Pole Eleanor Rodgers Elizabeth Schwartz Isabel Souder Nlargaret Spicher ' Robert Shertz YVilliam Soden Taba Stark Howard Stringer Grace Van Etten Florence Yvickland Esther Yvilcoxon n G Cla.r.r Claire Bryant Arthur Byers Boynton Callahan Charlotte Caraher Marvin Cohen Ruth Dewees Thomas Edwards Irma Grissom Richard Hayden Eleanor Hayward Laura Lister Eleanore Lord Anne lVlcCaughey Erna McNeil Natalie Moss Eva Nloskowitz Doroth Pfender Anna Slier Babette Stamm Louise Stieff Margaret Tonkin Dorothy Towers Helen Vanderbucken Robert R. Xvorthington 'Q l at' .cl 2 5 Ig..

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THE CLIVEDEN and there, and after that, we had to write down what she said.' The first thing we mentioned was, of course, the subject closest to us. Education? began Majorie, YVell, the main item in the education of the Korean used to be the teaching of Chinese characters. The man with the greatest knowledge of Chinese charac- ters was considered the most educated. Some of the men achieve great pro- ficiency in this, and these men were the cream of Korean culture. Now, how- ever, the foreigners have introduced the English language, mathematics, his- tory, and the like. The foreign children are given the regular American type of education at the school in Pyeng Yang. There is a foreign dormitory here for the boys and girls of missionaries and business men. This is the only foreign dormitory in Korea. There are about one hundred and seven children in the foreign school. The dormitory is filled to overflowing. Plans are on foot to build a new one, which will require several thousand dollars. The native houses have walls of mud mixed with straw, and the roofs are covered with thatch. The dwellings are heated by building fires underneath the floor. At night the natives sleep on the floor, and thus keep warm. On entering the house, they remove their shoes. ' The women wash their clothing in some nearby stream. The garments are laid upon flat rocks and pounded withtwo sticks. They are turned over and over again, and continually pounded until clean. The same method is used for ironing them. The clothes are spread on a dry flat rock, and pounded in the same way. Their speech is the reverse of ours. YNe would say they talk 'backwards'. In Korea you 'needle a thread' instead of 'threading a needle'. Everything is like that. . . f The native Koreans dress' in long, white robes. The women wear a skirt which is wrapped around the waist, and a short jacket, either white or black. The foreign people wear regular clothes, the same as we wear here in America. On holidays, the natives dress in many bright colors. The whole picture is very gay and carefree. One item of the native dress on festal occasions is espe- cially interesting. The people like red and pink in contrast. They take strips of cloth in these colors or in other gaudy combinations, and sew the strips to- gether and thus have a showy sleeve. They also wear regular cotton or silk cloth, printed in stripes and hues to suit, and these make the feast times very brilliant indeed. Since Iapan took over Korea, her mail service is nearly the same as that over here. One thing is different, how- ever, and that is the censoring of the mail. Your letters are often read, and the mail is not very prompt. Fre- quently you' receive your letter in the wrong envelope. Candies and other delicacies that happen to be in parcels are filched to satisfy the appetites of the postal officials. There is a high tax on all luxuries, and a duty of one hundred per cent is not uncommon. Labor is very cheap in Korea, as in the other Oriental countries. Many regular commodities are unbelievably inexpensive. A live spring chicken costs twenty-five centsl Yes, twenty-five! Eggs are bought by the string. They are wrapped in long pieces of straw. The main point in buying eggs is to test their freshness. Eggs in Korea are rather dubious. Along all the roads and streets, there are wayside stands at which they sell --11.27 Il-