As as follow-up to my previous post, I’ve compiled a list of various media sources on South Korea which I think express the nature of our situation here in a more concise way. First is a video about the education system. It describes the environment here well– pretty much everything you see in the video we have seen here ( aside from the sections on tongue surgery). Unfortunately, the video has no English subtitles, but the English narration is interesting.

Tongue Tied – South Korea

Ellen mentioned a New York times article concerning South Korean adoption in her comment on our last post. We saw this article last week and it is shocking to say the least. I think it provides some sense of the conservative traditions and social mores that are so pervasive here:

Korea Aims to End Stigma of Adoption and Stop ‘Exporting’ Babies

Here’s another NYTimes piece from a few months ago about cram schools. The specific school discussed in the article is apparently very close to our city (Yongin):

A Taste of Failure Fuels an Appetite for Success at South Korea’s Cram Schools

Finally, of course there must be a Wikipedia article on South Korean education included in this list. The entire thing is pretty informative, but if you don’t have the time or interest to read the whole page, this link will take you right to the “controversies” section at the bottom of the page:

Controversies in South Korean Education

We really have appreciated all your comments and hope they continue. They keep us going, especially when we have a particularly difficult day. We love and miss you all!

P.S. We’ve got a fun post going up within the next day or so with a couple homemade videos you might be interested in, so check back soon!