Hilary Meets the Land of the Morning Calm

In keeping with my New Year's Resolution to become better involved with my Korean community, I finally fulfilled one of my long-held ambitions to participate in the WWOOF program. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. The program began in England in 1971 in the aims of providing London-dwellers with the opportunity to get involved in the organic farming activities in the countryside. The program became increasingly popular and is now an international phenomenon.

The goal of the program is exchange: the volunteer provides physical labor in return for food, lodging, and sharing of sustainable farming practices. In order to become part of WWOOF, you register with the country of your choice (includes a nominal fee, Korea's was ~$50). This provides you with a year-long membership, and a booklet containing descriptions and contact information of all the farms subscribed to WWOOF in that country. You and the host agree upon the time and duration of your stay. A farm stay can be as short as a couple days, or can last years. Usually the relationship between wwoofer and host becomes familial. 


Signing up with WWOOF Korea is easy. You can contact them through their website and email them your registration information. You can wire them the registration fee via ATM or credit card. You will receive the booklet within a few days after making the payment. Jade, who is the main contact person from the WWOOF office in Seoul, speaks English fluently and responds quickly and thoroughly to any questions/help you may need.

I had a four day weekend in February (13th-16th), for the Lunar New Year, which is a major Korean holiday. Jade warned me this wasn't an ideal time for a farm stay since it was time to relax and spend time with family, but in the end she was able to find a farm willing to host me in a province South of Seoul called ChungcheongNam-Do 충창 남 도. The farm is called Euntoe Farm 은퇴롱장 Here is a map. Annie, my Korean coworker and good friend, helped me get a a cheap bus ticket there and before knew it I was sitting shotgun in a van winding through snowy narrow roads of the countryside, up a long drive way leading to my new host farm.

Day One, Saturday:

I was picked up by Kim Young Chul and his daughter. The daughter, (she said I could call her 언니 "eonni" older sister) spoke some English, so I was able to communicate with her. I discovered however, that she didn't live on the farm with her parents, and she was studying for a big exam for university, so I would see little of her. Her father knew a few words in English, however it wasn't enough to have conversations per se. I would need to use what little Korean I had and my best miming abilities to get by. Yikes!

They had eight cozy one-room buildings along the driveway for farm personnel to live in. These buildings were all heated with the traditional Korean heating system, ondul 온돌, and had a full bathroom, along with plenty of bedding. They gave me a key to one of these buildings and I understood it was to be mine for my four day stay.

We spent the remaining afternoon in their office watching the Vancouver Olympics (speed skating specifically) which they were extremely enthusiastic about since Korea was giving the world a  run--err---skate for its money. Kim Young Chul's wife, who single-handedly prepares three-square meals for close to a dozen people every day, had dinner ready every night at 6PM. The food was plentiful, varied, and always extremely yummy. Over half a dozen men in their 60s-70s joined us for dinner. I came to learn these weren't actually relatives, but retired men who preferred life on a farm as opposed to living in small apartments in the city. They help out with the farm duties as they can, and in exchange have three square meals, a house of their own, and warm family life. Conversations at meals were always plentiful, and it was clear that my host and his wife cared greatly for their extended family.

Day Two, Sunday:

On my second full day, I accepted an invite for a trip into town with Eunni and her mom. Eunni and I went to the train station to buy my return ticket, then we joined her mother at church. This was my first time in a Korean church, and first time attending a religious ceremony in quite a long time. I felt a little guilty not being more smartly dressed:  I had packed lightly and only brought clothes appropriate for doing farm work. The service lasted a little over an hour, and involved the minister preaching and a well practiced choir singing intermittently. After Eunni was able to explain to me that she and her mother were devout Christians, but their father didn't share their faith. I noticed in future meals, that the mother would always bow her head and say a quiet prayer before eating any meal.

The rest of the day was spent eating food with my hosts, watching more Olympics, reading, and taking a lazy afternoon nap. The sun was setting on my second day on the farm, and I hadn't so much as lifted a finger. Meanwhile, I was being very well fed and taken care of. Worried, I grappled several times with my meager Korean, to ask

if there was some work I could do. Each time my host would laugh and say "Hilarya, free-time-uh." I came to understand this was a holiday, and unlike my parents' sheep farm, this farm had no animals so farm chores could be put off a few days. My hosts were taking a day to relax, so I was too.

Day Three, Monday:

The third day was much more active. It started in the morning, Eunni and I went on a great mountain hike on Oseosan 오서산 which was about 45 minutes South of the farm. We left early in the morning and hiked up the mountain in ankle deep snow for close to three hours. The sun was up, the air was clear, and it was quite calm. Eunni had the genius idea to bring large plastic bags containing thin cushions to use as makeshift sleds, and we had a great time sledding our way back down the mountain. On our way down, we made a detour to one of the temples on the mountain, which like most temples, has some famous history behind it, but it was a little complicated for Eunni to explain to me in English.

We arrived back to the farm in time for lunch, and in the afternoon I finally got to do some real work in one of the greenhouses, with two of the older men. It was pleasantly warm in the tunnel, and we worked quietly cutting, trimming, weighing and packaging leeks for sale. The men seemed happy about my work speed, and my name was mentioned a lot at dinner accompanied with lots of smiles and pats, so I think I did alright.

After dinner, Eunni showed me around the extended farming community. As we drove, she pointed out the countless rice fields and showed me how to look for the duck houses to know if it was an organic rice field or not. She showed me an organic dairy farm, a farmer's co-op headquarters where her father sometimes works, a satellite university campus, which has a program in sustainable farming practices and energy production, a building company with works with the university to build energy-conserving houses in the community... the list went on and on. She gave me a book with maps, directory, and detailed description of all the important members of this farming community, but unfortunately its all in Korean, so I can't tell you much more than what I saw for now. It was clear to me however, they have a very nice community that is trying to make itself as sustainable as possible using many different approaches and methods. I wished I could speak more Korean or there was somebody who spoke more English more. Eunni and I promised each other we would study each other's language, so next time we could communicate more.

Day Four, Tuesday:

On my last day, I was relieved that they gave me some more work to do, as I felt greatly indebted for all their generosity. I started by thoroughly cleaning the house I stayed in, then a few more houses. Next, the mother took me to a few of the greenhouses and we cut free greens to make a big mix. (I embarrassed myself by managing to cut my pinky finger with the knife I was using, so I ended up just crouching next to the mom as she did the work). She took me up to their processing facilities, housed by a short, double-wide greenhouse. Inside were many stainless steel counter tops, large triple sink, and walk-in refrigerator/freezer. She washed the lettuce and left me to weigh and package it.

Upon leaving, the mother gifted me with an enormous amount of organic food, including a big box of these crunchy rice cakes she makes that I devoured, as well as a dozen organic eggs, tomato jelly, tomato tea, and three cases of the salad greens I had packaged. Everyone repeated many times their wishes for me to come again, especially in a few months time when there was more work to do and more to see of their farm. I longed to be able to thank them adequately in Korean for their generosity and let them know in their language just how much I appreciated their hospitality.