Alternative Schools

There is an alternative school in Korea with 15 students in each grade. I asked about it and I'm pretty sure they said the schools starts with kindergarten and has an elementary and middle school. I can't remember for sure if they said they have a high school.

Having been in Korea a while and having learned so much about the system of education, it's really hard for me to believe than anyone in Korea would allow their kids to go to a school like this. Their education is tough and really determines what people go on to do with their lives. The college entrance exam means almost everything. Most parents and others would say that kids going to alternative schools or being homeschooled have no chance of doing well on the exam and therefore no chance of getting a good job. Koreans look at their kids' future as their family's future.

The kind of people who would send their kids to alternative schools must be very unique people. I'm sure that a lot of people would love to do that but wouldn't because they think their kids need the traditional education. Knowing this makes me think that the people who would go for alternative schooling are even more unique.

This reminds me that once I met a hairdresser who told me her daughters were "attending" high school online through a program based in the US. This is a good option I think for Koreans who want their kids to have English education but can't send them to an international school or to another country.

I know a group of middle schools students studying at the alternative school I mentioned above who are spending most of one semester living and attending school in the country. They help cook and clean up after meals which I think is good because most Korean kids don't. They take field trips sometimes to nice places in the country such as Buddhist temples. The kids actually didn't really want to be in the country and away from their famlies and computer games, but their parents wanted it. So many parents would want this for their kids. I guess if other people in Korea heard about this they would probably say they wish their kids could do such a thing but they would feel it's impossible for their kids to leave their regular schools and institutes.

Jehovah's Witnesses

They make their presence known in every country so there doesn't seem to be a shortage of them anywhere. However I'd estimate the percentage of Koreans in this church to be about 1%. They may have an advantage in Korea because so many people are Christian. They may find it easier converting people who are already Christian. However, the Christians I've known in Korea have been strongly against these smaller groups such as the witnesses, Mormons or Seventh Day Adventists (SDAs as Koreans call them.)

One unique thing about Jehovah's witnesses and I think SDAs also is that they can't perform the required military service which Korean young men must perform. It's considered something which every man must do. In fact men who don't do it or have some good reason for not doing it are not hired by Korean companies. This limits the jobs which members of this group can get.

A year or so ago I read an article in which young men were asking the Korean government for to allow them to perform some other service in place of military service. The article mentioned that most of the group were witnesses.

One Korean student I had told me that any man who refuses to perform the service has to spend the same amount of time in a military prison. And heard that's a pretty bad place.

Koreans used to spend over two years performing the service. That was shortened to two years. Now I hear it was shortened again to 1 1/2 years.

Orthodox Christians

I met one English teacher in Korea who was originally from one of the former Soviet republics who was an Orthodox Christian. He showed me some paper or pamphlet on the history of this church in Korea. Turns out the first came about 100 years ago. There are beautiful Orthodox churches in all or most Korean major cities. There were pictures of the Orthodox priests with their long, white beards and black robes taken with Koreans 100 years ago. I have never seen anyone looking like that in Korea that's for sure. On top of that had I never met this teacher I never would've known about this.

I've met a lot of Korean Christians but not one which told me they belonged to this church. There are a lot of Russians living in Korea, also some people from Ukraine, Uzbekistan or other former USSR countries. Likely most of the members of these churches come from these countries. Also it's likely the Korean members are friends or family members of those people.

Organic Farmers

Living in one of the Korean provinces I have met some people who could be called farmers. Some of them only have a little land. Some have other work also so they're not really full time farmers.

There is one group I know of who live together in a place which is pretty much a commune. They don't raise animals but do have a little land where they grown some fruit. They may have vegetables but I'm not sure. I think they do. After harvesting they trade some of their produce with other farms. I guess so that everyone can have more of a variety.

Like every country the number of farmers who are organic farmers are a minority. Before coming to this province I didn't hear much about them.

Muslims

This sounds strange but there's a mosque in every major city in Korea. The one which most people probably know about is located in Itaewon, Seoul. Having gotten to know a few Muslims in Korea, I was shown some pamphlet with photos of the mosques. There is one near Inchon, and I think ones in Busan, Kwangju and Daegu. There are a few more but I'm not sure about their locations.

One Muslim told me it started during the Korean War when a number of Turkish came to fight. They got to know Koreans and converted some. I saw the number tof Korean Muslims somewhere but I can't remember. I think it's between 100,000 and 300,000.

There are so many Muslim countries represented among the foreigners in Korea. I've seen Turkish, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indonesians and a few Afghans. So the total number of Muslims in Korea I ould estimate at 500,000.

Korean muslims must have a lifestytle which is completely different from other Koreans. Not consuming alchohol or pork must be hard because they are popular in Korea. Actually one Muslim friend told me about a Korean who either converted or was trying to, but he was unable to go without alcohol being a salaryman or fast during the month of Ramadan. Another muslim told me of another Korean who was unable or unwilling to fast. I believe that person converted but they may have been just becoming Muslim more slowly by adapting to the lifestyle like the first person I mentioned. Some women who convert also are unable or unwilling to wear the headscarf. I met a few Korean women who had converted but didn't wear the head cover.

There's a street in Itaewon I think should be called Muslim-Ro or Muslim Street. All the shops seemed to be owned by foreigners who are Muslim. There's at least one bakery which has Turkish delight, there are restaurants, shops and at least one travel agency. And there are bookstores with books on Islam. I saw a few Korean converts but most people on the street are foreign.

Korean Vegetarians

There is a day called International Vegan Day. People can visit a website which will tell them where they can go in various countries to sample vegan food. Local vegans prepare the foods for that day. While visiting the website I looked at a few different countries including Korea. I noticed that the group preparing the vegan food in Korea were followers of Master Ching Hai whereas in other countries they seemed more like ordinary groups of people. There are very few vegans/vegetarians in Korea. People assume that Buddhists are vegetarian but they are not. Buddhist monks are supposed to be, however a Korean friend translated something a Buddhist monk said which was that sometimes members of a Buddhist temple bring foods for the monks which are sometimes dishes with meat because they are concerned about the monks' health. I believe though that most or all monks are true vegetarians. Possibly a few very serious Buddhists in Korea are as well, but not many. Meat eating has become very popular here. Supposedly not long ago when Korea was a poor country people couldn't eat meat very often. It has really changed though. There's a huge number of Korean barbecue or fried/barbecued chicken restaurants.

Looking at Northeast Asia, I don't think there are many vegetarians in any of the countries. Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand seem to have more. Also Western countries have a lot. Especially young people in Western countries are increasingly becoming vegetarian.

The followers of Ching Hai run a chain of restaurants called Loving Hut which are around the world. I was looking at their flyer and found out there are at least 30 of them in Korea. Members of their association must make a promise to be vegan and I'm sure that it's very hard for them. Korean salarymen often go out to eat and drink and almost all the foods they eat are meat or fish-based dishes. Korean children love to eat pizza or snacks such as cheese or yogurt. Both adults and children in Korea don't really understand the need for veganism, therefore I am sure that they question any followers of this diet, and probably even look down on them. I was talking with a member of this group who told me that children make fun of children in this group, calling them 'wang da 왕따' which is a bad name in Korean with a meaning similar to 'very stupid.'

Buddhists

It seems funny to think of Buddhists as a minority in Korea when people think the country is mostly Buddhist. However I've figured that the number of Koreans who are serious Buddhists make up about ten percent of the Korean population.

If the government of Korea were to report the number of Koreans who are Buddhist they would likely say about 40 percent however most of these Buddhists are just Buddhist in name.

Based on my obeservations there are very few young Koreans who call themselves Buddhist. The vast majority of serious Buddhists are older, meaning older than fifty. Most tof them elderly. On top of that there are many more outside of Seoul than inside. The smallest towns and the countryside has the largest concentration of Buddhists. I don't have evidence to back this up but I'm almost certain.

For a Korean young person such as a college student to openly report they are a serious Buddhist would not be normal. Many other young people wouldn't care. Some serious Chrisitians would try to convert him, or just invite him to church which is pretty common in Korea.

I have met a lot of people who are not members of any religion. The majority of Koreans, I can conclude are either Christians or non-religious.

A hundred years ago the country was likely 80 percent Buddhist and 20 percent Confuscianist. There could've been about 1 percent or less who were Christian at that time. It has changed a lot.

Knowing that most of the serious Buddhists are older, one can conclude that in the future the percent of serous Buddhists in Korea will go down to about one percent.