Germantown High School - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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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-

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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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THE CLIVEDEN everything-candy and other delicacies. We even find chewing gum copied from America. Also, there are combs, pipes, and shoes, oh, yes, and the shoes are made of rubber. No, the streets in the city are not paved as a rule. They are plain dirt, and the roads are very muddy in rainy weather. The sidewalk is usually sepa- rated from the street proper by a cement curb, though there is nothing but dirt inside the curb. There are many stores-barber shops, and a few jewelry shops, too. In the city there are some big stores. Some of them keep open at night but most of them close at six. In the stores which handle clothing, they have more of their stock in materials than in fin- ished garments. Yes, there are some theatres, where they show moving- pictures, but we never go unless they have a Douglas Fairbanks picture or something else very good. The Koreans are usually downstairs and the foreigners upstairs. In the movies, the natives all smoke and drop ashes on the floor, which makes an awful mess. fEditor's note: The Eternal womanluj They smoke cig- arettes, but they also have pipes. Some pipes are very odd. One kind is about three feet long, with a tiny bowl at the very tip. On the highways, the traffic is run differently from ours. There, the traffic is on the left side of the road. The trolley cars run on the left too. It was hard to get used to the way they do it here, on the right. Most of the traffic consists of bull carts, water wagons, and loads of hay. Yes, there are automo- biles-chiefly Fords and Chevrolets. There are a few of the more expensive cars, too. ' The trains are very filthy. The natives smoke in the cars and every- where. It's not very healthful. There are three classes of travel, first, second, and third. The Koreans travel third class usually, as it, of course, is the cheapest. Certainly, we have running water and electric lights. Part of the city is lighted by electricity, and a few of the big stores have changing electric signs. Truly Korea is not to be taken lightly. She has perhaps one of the oldest civilizations in existence, and though immersed in her old culture, she is, by the grace of God, rapidly catching up in the new civilization. The com- mercial and missionary man from Amer- ica are blazing the way. Korea must be considered as important among coun- tries of the world. Waqlw if fx' as .ag N- : Wg .1 ru- I .:,e if,-few -4 - - . i v: w. ' f a 1 .,i1' .As 155, g 5:1153 . . .a . 4-, - -'K va jg 5 H . A 7 Y if' -. f 1-fr f' . -I-fe-1 -'il I- li 4F3i f ri - r.-'Wm-C '-Qs i. .di a- :n ' fix F.. 5 .'.. 4: W: Il 'firm'-' 's ails gi -4 - . . . rr: 1 LE. :: . '-. - - ,nl - l 55 '-. IP' wax . -1128 If:-