Ana Dols is blogger, intrapreneur, creative and out of the box thinking. She has focused her career to social innovation, social technologies and coaching. She has researched and published on open innovation (living labs), the future of work and how to improve employability in 2.0 environments. Her specialty is empowering people to discover their worth and potential and as well as supporting them in their career reinvention and personal branding process. In Spain she presented the radio show "Young people 4.0".
I conceived workshops as to-be-continued conversations. Last Monday we started one and I committed myself to keep it alive.
Here I am to talk you about a new chance to have a deeper understanding about North Korea, North Korean refugees and to learn about opportunities for you to get directly involved.
“If you have been thinking about getting involved with helping North Korean refugees then here’s your chance. After this workshop is over, you will have a deeper understanding about North Korea, North Korean refugees and to learn about opportunities for you to get directly involved.
* Andrei Lankov, author of The Real North Korea, has confirmed he will deliver the keynote address. This will be a great chance to hear from and talk with someone who has been studying about North Korea for almost three decades.
* We also have two North Korean refugees scheduled to speak at the workshop. One of them was the winner of the third English speech contest hosted by TNKR.
* You will also get to hear directly from representatives of several NGOs actively involved with helping North Korean refugees in Seoul and other places around the world.
You can reserve a space here and the updates will post them here“.
Introducing the workshop and testing the energy level! We started with some great energy but I saw it increased!
Kris Moon speaking.
Casey Lartigue speaking.
Yeongnam Eom or Ken, as he likes to be called, speaking.
Rachel Stine speaking.
The whole panel answering people’s questions.
We were more than 44 people and started a fruitful conversation about North Korea, North Korean Refugees and how we could help them to find their way and make them more powerful.
From right to left, Mallory Gleizer, Casey Lartigue, Kris Moon and me.
I made three Spanish Tortillas for this special occasion. I made Gazpacho too.
We shared indeed and look at what you’ve accomplished for North Korean Refugees: 1,000,000 Won has been raised!!
You did it! You did it and the credit for it all belongs to you! (You did it, “My Fair Lady”, by Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe).
We truly could not have accomplished it without your active support.
I have already transferred all your donations and I am sure they will make a huge impact.
THANK YOU.
A 500,000 Won donation went to Rachel Stine (Helping Hands Korea). They will use it for refugee rescues.
A 500,000 Won donation went to Teach North Korean Refugees. They will give 100,000 Won to Ken and 400,000 Won will help refugees with resettlement and language classes.
I would like to finish this entry by mentioningCasey Lartigue‘s lovely words which make the perfect colophon:
“Yesterday I spoke at a fantastic event organized by Ana Dols. I met her on Feb 2 when I was a featured speaker at an event introducing (TNKR) Teach North Korean Refugees to the American Women’s Club.
I said then during Q&A: I hope this will be a movement rather than a moment. At the end of the event, Ana told me that she wanted to invite me to speak at an event.
27 days later, I was speaking at a Women Lab Korea event. Ana is a newcomer to NK refugee issues, but she organized a really smart panel.
Sunghoon Kris Moon to give an overview about North Korea. Ken Eom to discuss his own escape from North Korea and his adjustment. Casey Lartigue to discuss the way (TNKR) Teach North Korean Refugees(now the North Korean Refugee Education Center at AOU) helps North Korean refugees improve themselves. Rachel Stine to discuss rescuing North Koreans trying to escape to freedom.
I learned some things and also had some things I already knew shaken from the cobwebs in the archives of my mind. I have now given so many speeches that I am ready to get to Q&A to hear what people think. Of course many audiences want to talk about titillating stories about the leaders of the NK regime, I try to be patient, count to 10, remember there was a day I was in their shoes, then answer while trying to encourage them to think about something practical they can do.
It seemed that I had a connection with many people in the room. Sunghoon Kris Moon showed one of Yeonmi Park‘s speeches. Of course, Yeonmi was Ambassador of TNKR and we hosted a podcast together. And we discovered some personal connections.
Rachel Stine was one of the volunteer tutors back when I was the International Adviser to the Mulmangcho School.
Several of our current and past volunteers were at the session. Peter Daley is Mr. Reliable, coming to many of our events in addition to being a tutor and coach in our program. Renee Cummins remains one of our biggest cheerleaders. Eileen Chong has kind of snuck up on me, coming to many of our events, being a coach in our program, helping us with graphics.
Many others. But the woman of the hour was Ana Dols. I meet many people at events who say they want to organize an event. There is a lot of happy talk at events, with people saying they will do one thing or another, then when they leave the event, it seems they forget to do most of what they have said. But not Ana. She followed through, kept the speakers updated, then she got it done! Don’t call her a by-stander!”
On Monday, February 29th we undertook an unforgettable journey in Hillside Residence. A panel of both wise and generous speakers brought us to earth and helped us to understand what it means to live under the most repressive totalitarian regime today; how we can fight it and turn into North Korean Refugees Allies!
These were our Guest Speakers
This was our Program.
I wish to express my deepest gratitude to all these great speakers. Thank you, guys!
From right to left: Kris Moon, Rachel Stine, Yeongnam Eom, Casey Lartigue and me!
Sunghoon Kris Moon is a Korean American who has lived, educated and worked both in Korea and the US. She has been a North Korea watcher for almost twenty years ever since she first encountered the conditions of North Korean famine in 1997.
Since then she has been keeping her eyes on North Korea through working with various think tanks/non-profit organizations such as the Institute for Strategic Reconciliation, the United States Institute of Peace, and The Korea Society as well as studies focused on international relations surrounding North Korea and nation-building potentials for post-unification (when it finally happens!) with special interest in equitable urban and social development. She currently serves as Special Linguistic Consultant to Chang Joon Kim, former US Congressman and current advisor to the South Korean President Park Geun Hye on political economy issues.
Yeongnam Eom, or Ken as he likes to be called, escaped from North Korea in 2010 after serving ten years in the North Korean military. Upon completing his military service, he was unable to get a job because his family was missing, presumed defected. His ten years of loyalty was rewarded with unemployment and suspicion. Soon after defecting, Ken spent three years in Canada. He returned to South Korea in early 2014 and joined Teach North Korean Refugees soon after, later becoming Special Ambassador. Since then, Ken has been actively sharing his story and experiences through interviews, speeches, and presentations. He is now a Special Ambassador to the North Korean Refugee Education Center at American Orientalism University.
Casey Lartigue, Jr., joined Atlas Network as a fellow in December 2013. He lives in South Korea, where he is the co-founder of Teach North Korean Refugees. In South Korea, he is also the director for international relations for the newly established Freedom Factory Co. Ltd., the international adviser to the Mulmangcho School (for adolescent North Korean refugees) in Yeoju, South Korea, and a columnist with the Korea Times. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association in Washington, D.C.
He was previously a policy analyst with the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom in Washington, D.C., and hosted “The Casey Lartigue Show” on XM Radio 169 The Power. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Black Alliance for Educational Options and a former member of the Young Executive Network of the Washington Scholarship Fund. He is co-editor of the book Educational Freedom in Urban America. Lartigue received a bachelor’s degree from the Harvard University Extension School and a master’s degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
Rachel Stine is a nonprofit finance professional with seven years’ experience. In both New York and Seoul, she has managed large-scale budgets, trained canvassing teams, and written marketing content for nonprofit organizations.
In telefunding, she has spearheaded projects exceeding $100,000 USD. With past clients including the ACLU, Liberty in North Korea, and the Metropolitan Opera, she now works on the North Korean underground railroad system that transports refugees into free countries. Her long-term goal is to use her skills to advance human rights in North Korea.
힐사이드 레지던스 오는 방법 How to get to Hillside residence. DIRECTIONS:
BY SUBWAY
Hangangjin Station, Line Number 6, Exit 3 or 2
BY CAR OR TAXI
한남대교 북단에서 직진 – 단국대학교 지나 직진 – 볼보 자동차 빌딩 – 약 100미터 지점 도로 우편(풀향기, 루터교회 지나지 않고) 힐사이드 간판따라 우회전 – 언덕 끝에서 좌회전 – 좌회전 후 오른쪽 언덕으로 올라오면 힐사이드 입구 보안실
Hannam Bridge North side – Dankook Univ. – VOLVO Bldg – go straight to 100m then turn right beside PulHyangGi Restaurant – then come up to the hill then turn left – then turn right and come up to hill until you find the Hillside Security Post.
남산에서 한남대교 방향으로 직진 – 한남대교 건너기 전 고가 밑에서 유턴 – 단국대학교 지나 직진 – 볼보 자동차 빌딩 – 약 100미터 지점 도로 우편(풀향기, 루터교회 지나지 않고) 힐사이드 간판따라 우회전 – 언덕 끝에서 좌회전 – 좌회전 후 오른쪽 언덕으로 올라오면 힐사이드 입구 보안실
From Namsan to Hannam Bridge – U-turn under the overpass of Hannam Bridge – Dankook Univ. – VOLVO Bldg – go straight to 100m then turn right beside PulHyangGi Restaurant -then come up to hill then turn left – then turn right and come up to the Hill until you find the Hillside Security Post.
I came to Seoul in August 2014 and went to live to Hillside Residence. By October, 2014 I started my first women lab workshop there,”Women can shape the future of work” was called.
This entry is just a small tribute to my Seoulite Home, to Deborah Kwon and Luna Baek, who always were ready to help. I also want to thank the wonderful community of Hillside Residents, always kind and loving to me.
I feel overwhelmed by North Korean People’s suffering. I have so many questions about North Korea:
How does all this start? How are human rights in North Korea limited? How do North Koreans escape North Korea? Where do they go? Where do they hide? How does this harrowing journey to freedom pass? What are the North Korean Diaspora destinations? What happens to North Korean Defectors in China? What’s China’s strategy for North Korean Defectors? Who are the people helping to deliver North Koreans to safety? How well do North Korean Defectors integrate into South Korea? Which challenges do they face?
And here is the most important one: how can I help North Korean Defectors?
Last Thursday, I went to the Express Bus Terminal to buy a few stationary things for my next Workshop, Far From Heaven. The Unspeakable Lives of North Korean People. On my way to my favorite stationer’s shop, I crossed Shinsegae Department Store. All of a sudden everything seemed to me so surreal. Cleef and Arpels. La Prairie. Everything so clean. Everything so white. The perfect portrait of luxury. I had to stopped for a few seconds.
I remembered thinking: this world is so weird!
Potato #345 (2010) by Kevin Abosch. A photo of an Irish potato taken by a world-famous visual artist has sold for more than $1 million.
A look at Barbie’s new body types, including tall, curvy and petite. Photo: Barbie
Found on Pinterest.
It is not easy to deal with all this ordeal. So many people ( all these unbearable figures). So much pain indeed. What can we do? we asked ourselves. We suffer because we believe we cannot alleviate this evil. There is a sadness trace in our hearts although the day-to-day life might keep us busy enough to take all this suffering off our mind.
“What can we do? You know, What can we do?” But this feeling of helplessness is just a another limiting belief. Limiting beliefs constraint us in some way. They are only what we think though, there is no necessarily truth in them. How do we fight them?
There is only a way to fight a limiting belief: to exchange it by another more powerful and empowering one. Here we are that I believe that we can help North Korean People.
I have created Far From Heaven. The Unspeakable Lives of North Korean People because I truly believe in solidarity and there is always a chance to challenge the status quo. We can help North Korean Defectors to find freedom and let them master their own lives. If you come next February, 29th you will see it firsthand.
Let me tell you what we have planned for next Monday, February 29th.
Finally, I would like to underline the bi-dimensional approach of this workshop. First, the participatory approach.There is a great panel of speakers but somehow we will manage to hear your voice because we do need to hear you.
Secondly, the positive approach opposite a victim-oriented approach. We want to focus on how we can offer higher quality support to North Korean defectors – empowering more of them to create lasting change in their lives and communities around.
For most people North Korea remains a mystery. “Far From Heaven, The Unspeakable Lives of North Korean People”, is a workshop to explore what North Korea is and what it’s like to be a North Korean.
In addition to that, we wish to contribute to change the victim-focused approach and fixed mindsets about North Korean Defectors and Refugees. We would like to emphasize on post-resettlement success stories, rather than to show them as symbols of evil.
“Generally, people think of North Korea merely as our enemy or a people to pity;” “We are trying to change this, looking at North Korea as two entirely different entities: its citizens and its government.” (Jun Young Ji, for The Daily Dot).
You are invited to visit our board on Pinterest for additional background information.
My name is Ana Dols and live in Seoul. I am the womenlabkorea catalyst and my goal is to use women’s collective intelligence as a driver to generate some impact in their lives and in the lives of women around them.
Women taking part in “Eating by Design. Spanish Food Culture”.
I met Rachel at a Siwa Coffee Morning in October 2015, and since then I have hosted two workshops (“Eating by Design” and “Soohee Kim. Daejanggeum and “the Impossible Country”) and donated all proceeds to programs supporting North Korean Refugees. So it is then my turn to thank you for attending these workshops and contributing. Your participation has an important impact.
For this womenlabtalk we have a group of very special guest speakers with powerful stories to both astonish and move you.
Sunghoon Kris Moon will begin by helping us to understand what it means to live under the most repressive totalitarian regime today and how all this Orwellian machinery has been able to serve so well the regime’s purposes. She considers herself both a native and foreigner to Korea and will lead the talk through the keen lens of her dual identity on what North Korea is and who the North Koreans are.
In order to complete this picture, the talk then will continue by listening to Korean Refugees, learners from Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR), how they struggle to adjust to the outside world, as “freedom is only half the battle” Hyeonseo Lee states.
Park Yeonmi, (second from left) Human Rights Activist and North Korean Defector at TNKR
Afterwards, Casey Lartigue, who cofounder along with Eunkoo Lee of Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR), will explain how this organization provides English learning opportunities to refugees for determining their places in society. More than 200 refugees and 300 volunteers have participated in TNKR since Mr. Lartigue and Ms. Lee co-founded it in March 2013.
“Teach North Korean Refugees” matching session. Refugees chose their English Tutors.
Finally, Rachel Stine will go over the Underground Railroad System that brings North Korean refugees to freedom, how activists are sending seeds to poor North Korean families, and English teaching opportunities for women and how they have established vibrant and flourishing communities.
Rachel Stine teaching English to North Korean Refugees
There is much to learn about North Korea and many ways to support North Korean people to fulfill their potential and their own dreams.
Please join us on February 29th, 2016 when you will have the opportunity to learn firsthand where your donations are going and the massive impact they have. All proceeds will be donated to the TNKR and the Underground Railroad System Project.
At womenlabkorea, we are inspired by remarkable women and women’s organizations, and so we set out to tell stories that highlight women’s lives and their role in South Korea.
We believe that one voice or one story can make a difference and that is why we are rallying female entrepreneurs, expat women, nonprofit founders, bloggers, and more to share their voice and insight.
This time our speaker will be Soohee Kim, a Korean entrepreneur and Korean Language teacher.
Inspired by the true story of Jang-Geum, -an apprentice cook that became the first female royal physician of the Joseon Dynasty-, Ms Kim will tell us her own story of perseverance and her own vision of this fascinating country’s impressive achievements.
Daejanggeum TV Series Original Picture.
All proceeds will be donated to programs supporting North Korean refugees and participants’ support will make an enormous and powerful impact.
Schedule: 10:00 AM-12:30 PM (includes breakfast & a light lunch)
Next Thursday, December 3rd will talk too about Dae Jang Geum (Hangul: 대장금; hanja: 大長今 also known as Jewel in the Palace, a 2003 Korean television series directed by Lee Byung-hoon.
This epic South Korean drama tells the tale of an orphan cook who went on to become the king’s first female physician in a time when women held little influence in society.
It is based on the true story of Jang-geum, the first female royal physician of the Joseon Dynasty. The main themes are her perseverance and the portrayal of traditional Korean culture, including Korean Royal Court cuisine and traditional medicine.
The theme song, Onara (Korean: 오나라) is in Old Korean. The song is in the pansori style, a particular type of Korean music that emerged during the Joseon Dynasty and was very popular in the 19th century.
It is a beautiful and catchy song…Listen to it and be captured by its rythm…We wait for you next Thursday…
On Thursday, May 7th we celebrated another #WMLABTALKS event, our inspirational thought-provoking lectures. WE ARE KOREAN WOMEN!
Along with Hye-Rim Kwon, a Korean journalist, we talked tête à tête about how Korean women view their past and face modernity.
Hye Rim and her friends.
This was our plan for the day and sticked to it quite enough.
Our Schedule Program for the day.
The first thing was the coffee mingle and taste the traditional Spanish tapapantumaca, a Catalonian breakfast or snack. People loved this simple but tasty Spanish dish.
You might be surprised by the name, “The Spanish FIKA” but there is a sentimental story behind. FIKA was our first #wmlabtalk and we liked very much this unique Swedish coffee break that we wanted to pay tribute to it by named it like that.
After we recharged our batteries it was time to get inspired…
We began our presentation. We talked about women, about Korean women and Korean Women’s greatest achievements. We talked about democracy, gender equality and the increase of women’s power in Korean society.
Important Korean Women
However we wanted not only to celebrate Korean Women’s achievements but to go just a little more further. More than spectators we wanted women to interact and discuss. We intended so to set a female-focused collective dialogue to break down stereotypes and go beyond clichés. It was difficult though, always is.
We thought that the only way to do it properly was through a “World Café” dynamic.
The World Café.
According to Wikipedia, the “World Café” is a structured conversational process that fosters an open and intimate discussion and link ideas within a larger group to get access to the “collective intelligence” in the room.
In World Café the focus is on exploring on themes and not on problem-solving and that was what we were after for: to enrich our perspective on Korean Women and give a certain basis for a further intimate reflection.
Small groups of six or seven participants sat around the tables and discussed open-ended questions for a structured amount of time. Individuals switched tables where a “table host” at the new table briefly welcomed people and filled them in on highlights of the earlier discussion.
In this way participants gather a wide range of inputs that help strengthen the ‘ecology’ of the conversation.
The world café session
These were our questions…
Korea has come so far in fifty years, how have women driven that growth?; What are the challenges that women face in Korean society?; What are the challenges that South Korean Women will face in the future?
I think that this World Café was able to deepen the discussion about being a woman in South Korea and maybe widen our viewpoints.
After the World Café, Hye-Rim Kwon taught us about the Sogokju, the Korean 1500 year old beverage and its legend around…
The story of Sogokju. “A long time ago, during the Joseon Dynasty a man who was on his way to Seoul to take a state exam , stopped at a tavern…”
After the storytelling we toasted with Sogokju and we could not find a better closure for our workshop than to read, both in Korean and in English, some excerpts of Simcheongjeon a story of Korean Pansori storytelling tradition.
Simcheong is a girl whose mother died in childbirth. She cares for her blind father… She is the perfect model of Confucian devotion…We found interested to end with this story and use her “own” words to foster our imagination, forgetting about the story and focusing on the philosophical message.
*******WOMENLABKOREA is a creative space to test ideas, initiatives, and projects, a space to co-create, to co-design and prototype with other women, a supportive space where risks can be taken.
WOMENLABKOREA is about social innovation, empowerment and entrepreneurship!
The purpose is to help women step out of their comfort zones to improve their lives and the lives of women around them.
Next Thursday, May 7th we are hosting another #WMLABTALK called “We are Korean Women.”
We have conceived of these #WMLABTALKS as events where we can share and understand more about our lives; events to discover more about our wishes and hopes.
We wanted to create a space where women can speak freely and be ready to challenge stereotypes.
Furthermore, we wanted to dedicate a time to celebrate us, to celebrate women’s rhythms and women’s vision of…
As I wrote in Spain meets Korea there is not just one Spain but many. Basque people, Catalonian people, Galician people, Andalusian people, Madrilenian people…They all have their own language, culture and history.
However, Spain is rapidly connected to siesta, sangría, paella or matadors.Spain is siesta, sangría, paella or matadors, but much more. All these clichés and stereotypes are either born from a lack of knowledge or a simplification of reality.
Spain is diverse and we are here to show it. So welcome to a new culinary lab-adventure! How about a lively, colorful, virtual tour of Madrid, complete with a tasting of cocido madrileño? Welcome on board!
Cocido Madrileño, in La bola Restaurant in Madrid
Last Thursday, April 16th we started start the morning with a cocido madrileño cooking demonstration.
Cocido madrileño is a pork meat, potato and chickpea stew that dates back to the Middle Ages. This fragrant, rich hearty stew is Madrid’s signature dish.
At its most basic a cocido, a stew or a pot-au-feu (French) consists of a big pot (known as olla) where you put everything (vegetables, meats, legumes) in and let it boil.
And do not miss the video of this English chef settled in Madrid, talking about Madrid and cooking its signature dish, the cocido.
I really like cocido very much, I find it tasty and a life guard-dish!: you can eat for two-three days with the leftovers of the cocido. There is nothing to be
is thrown away and you can “re-invent” the dish every time. For example, after first day’s feast you can make ropa vieja, a fried mix of chickpeas and meat (a speechless sacrilege to be committed: ropa vieja with a fried egg!). I love the croquetas made from the cocido’s meat, they are really tasty. Finally I like the Pringá too, which is made with the fried meat leftovers and bread.
Photo taken by Petra Sjögren.
Photo taken by Petra Sjögren
Mónica García, Spanish, incidental cook, blogger and friend.
You might like to know that the chickpea was introduced in Spain many centuries ago, very likely by the Carthaginian, however the Spanish word for this legume is garbanzo, from the Mozarabic word arbanço.
Cocido madrileño is probably the most representative dish of Madrid’s cuisine. Like many other Spanish dishes (e.g. Paella Valenciana) its origins are humble. Being prepared by the popular classes firstly, it is only at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th that the cocido became popular among the high classes and even the Royal Family! –however, ingredients were not the same and by the quantity of meat you might recognize the “royal” cocido.
The cocido is believed to be created in the late fifteenth century as an evolution of the Ashkenazi Jewish cholent (טשאָלנט), (literally: -chaud-, hot, and –lent-, slow)- and the Sephardic (Spanish) Jewish dish adafina, a hearty long-cooking dish of chickpeas, garlic, lamb and seasoned stock, prepared the night before the Jewish Sabbath.
As the pot could remain over a low flame without an attendant, the violation of Jewish religious law was avoided.
Under the power of the Inquisition, the traditional recipe of adafina underwent a change (now you understand from where does the title come).
The Marranos (Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were forced to convert to Christianity), in order to prove the sincerity of their conversions, had to incorporate pork (lard, bacon, chorizo (pork sausage) and morcilla (blood sausage) into their adafines, shaping the stews from which cocido madrileño and its dozen of variants are natural product.
So by the late 15th and early 16th centuries, all these stews were called, interchangeably, adafinas, hamin (or cholent, in Hebrew), trasnochados (in Spanish) cocido (this was commonly used by the late 1500 and it received its appellation madrileño during the 17th century) or olla podrida (that literally means “rotten pot” or hodgepodge). The olla podrida manchega (native from Castilla La Mancha)–whose base was pork and beans- was a popular dish in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Cocido madrileño’s popularity was growing enormously. It was one of the most consumed dishes in Madrid and the most popular, after callos a la madrileña, the Madrid-style tripe. Cocido was included in menus of all kinds of establishments like taverns.
Later, after the Civil War its popularity decreased. Nowadays cocido madrileño is mostly a homemade dish for special occasions. It is more pricey and you can find it not only in bars –offered as menu del día (set menu)-, but also in hotel restaurants as a gourmet specialty.
And then it was time to enjoy the violin recital by Sammy Park and to serve the cocido on the table…
Sammy Park. Photo taken by Petra Sjögren.
Sammy Park. Photo taken by Petra Sjögren.
And we did it traditionally. You have to overturn the pot and the ingredients of cocido must be served separately. Each serving is known as vuelco (overturn or twist).
The first course or vuelco was a soup served with noodles -the stock of the cocido is drained and the noodles (fideos, Spanish) are cooked in it. In the second vuelco, the chickpeas come in a serving dish with the vegetables–the sautéed cabbage, the carrot and the turnip (not the onion which is added to the broth to give it flavor, but it has to be later removed). And then with the third vuelco, the meat is served.
But where to go to have cocido in Madrid?.
Playing with the idea of the vuelcos, an recent article in El País (New twists on Madrid’s most famous dish), introduces us the best places where to have cocido madrileño.
For the fourth year running, the capital has staged a six-week event to promote cocido Madrileño (the route of the cocido madrileño). Twenty-six restaurants have taken part and the article describes us the unique take of each of them.
the Fith Cocido Madrileño Route
But apart from the new restaurants that Camille Lavoix and Andrea Nogueira help us to discover, the classic places are still a marvelous option to enjoy this hearty stew in Madrid.
For example, you can go to Lhardy, one of the first and oldest restaurants of Madrid, located in the centre of Madrid in the Carrera de San Jerónimo street, close to the Congreso de los Diputados (the Spanish Parliament).
You can also try Malacatín established in 1895 as a wine bar and located in a much more modest neighborhood, as La Latina, and that on Sundays hosts the El Rastro flea market.
You might love too the Tavern La Bola, located near the Palacio Real where thousands of cocidos have been served since 1870.
Next Thursday 7th May,all of us will be Korean Women!.
WE ARE KOREAN WOMEN is a female-focused collective dialogue to challenge stereotypes and clichés about being a woman in South Korea. Korean journalistHye-Rim Kwon and I will foster reflection on how Korean women view their past and face modernity.
But more than a workshop, WE ARE KOREAN WOMEN will be a celebration!
We will practise yogafit with Uliana Golovko and taste the traditional Spanish tapapantumaca, a Catalonian breakfast or snack.
Next, we will enjoy a violin recital of Spanish pieces by Korean violin instructor Kang So Eun.
Following the recital, we will begin our presentation and open dialogue. Korea has come so far in fifty years, how have women driven that growth? What are the challenges that women face in Korean society?
We seek to break down stereotypes and go beyond cliches by means of a creative and collaborative dialogue, in which there is not a predetermined answer or solution.
Inspired by the Juanita Brown and David Isaacs’ “World Café”methodology, WE ARE KOREAN WOMEN intends to facilitate open and intimate discussion, focusing on exploring on themes rather than on problem-solving, providing an appropriate environment that encourages everyone’s contribution and allows to connect diverse perspectives.
THE WORLD CAFE: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs
Then, we will taste and learn aboutHansanSogokju, the 1500 year old beverage with an unique scent and sweet flavor.
Finally we will be captured by Simcheongjeon (심청전), one the stories of Korean Pansori storytelling tradition, officially recognized by UNESCO as an important piece of world culture.Simcheong is a girl whose mother died in childbirth. She cares for her blind father, with the utmost care, the perfect model of Confucian devotion… [It will be interesting to discuss about this stereotypes in our round table discussions].
“Pansori”, often referred to as Korean Opera, is a type of traditional Korean music.
In “Pansori” two musicians are sharing the spotlight, a singer, named “sorikkun”, and a drummer called ”gosu”. Through his singing, words, and body language, the singer plays the central role while the drummer plays an accompanying role by providing the rhythm and shouting words of encouragement and passion to the performance, which totally reminds me to the Flamenco music in Spain.
In following video you can watch and listen to Jen Shyu, playing the “sorikkun in a representation sponsored by the National Gugak Center in Seoul, South Korea.
The scenes sung here are from “Drifting Along In the Sea” (범피중류) when Simcheong kills herself by jumping into the water in order to regain her father’s sight and “Simbongsa Opens His Eyes” (심봉사 눈 드는 대목) when her father regains his sight. It was recorded in 2013.
In our WE ARE KOREAN WOMEN we will read an excerpt from that final scene, when her father suddenly regains his sight and, like a wave across the earth, all people and even animals recover from blindness and see the bright world…
I want women to see! I want women to regain their self-esteem! There are lots of stereotypes and lots of glass ceilings to break, but the first ones are only in our minds!.
Prepare to be surprised!
If you wish to participate in “We are Korean Women” meeting on Thursday 7th May, please complete this succinct survey http://goo.gl/forms/E6qsPe6mP0 by Wednesday 6th May, to allow us to prepare this meeting with the greatest care.
WOMENLABKOREA 