Long-Time Volunteer Remembers GIC
Warren Parsons has been easily recognizable to people in Gwangju restaurants, temples, cafes and bars over the past six years. “They’ll come up to me and say, ‘You’re Warren from TV, and I have heard about the Gwangju International Center. Where is it? How do I go there?’ So it’s an opportunity for me to talk with them and to introduce them to the Center and tell them where it is.”
Parsons himself first heard of the GIC through a combination of word-of-mouth conversations and reading Gwangju News. His interest was piqued, so he attended some GIC Talks at its former location in the Jeon-il Building across from the YMCA.
Parsons began his volunteering with the GIC Talks program, giving a fall 2009 GIC Talk entitled “Living With Tea” on November 7, 2009. But, he wanted his second GIC Talk on April 17, 2010 to be different. “I suggested having the participants come outside and do a GIC Talk, rather than me lecturing inside with the fluorescent-lit rooms on a beautiful Saturday.”
That all-day GIC Talk included a walking tour of downtown Naju, where participants savored the city’s local foods, witnessed the city’s historical sites, enjoyed tea prepared by a local master, and saw bamboo-roasted salt and traditional sauces on a soy bean farm. This elaborate talk later became the working template for the GIC Tour program, which officially started in 2011.
Parsons enjoyed the full experience of planning, scouting and guiding the GIC Tour. “There’s the interaction that is necessary, so wherever we go, there is always that human connection. … We go there and find the people who are offering the best and to work with us cooperatively, and who we feel should be shared with a larger Gwangju community.”
While creating tours with GIC coordinators and interns, the program’s three features have been food, history/culture and trekking. Participants’ varying preferences helped Parsons “push the envelope every month” for what attendees experienced, learned and even took home.
“It has been a challenge, trying to keep it fresh and new. And of course, revisiting places and revisiting the Koreans who live in those places has been exciting. It’s been fun to foster those relationships, learning more about language for me too and learning more about the history and culture were always parts of the draw.”
Parsons’ desire to explore through trekking has also helped create the GIC Trek Program for hiking enthusiasts, which started in February 2015.
While volunteering for GIC Tours, Parsons also served as a writer, photographer and creative consultant for Gwangju News. Parsons has witnessed this now “robust” publication blossom thanks to numerous volunteers’ and editors’ contributions. “It has become one of the better, more insightful, more diverse English magazines.”
Despite the rapid incoming and outgoing talent, Parsons is proud of what Gwangju News has accomplished. “Throughout the years we have made transitions and we have had people on board who have made the magazine better, more colorful, with higher quality pictures and with higher quality paper stock.”
As a GIC volunteer, Parsons gave his third GIC Talk entitled “Shamanism and Traditional Religion in Korea” on May 21, 2011, attended conferences to represent the GIC, served as a guide for past Chonnam National University Summer Sessions, managed the U.S.A. Pavilion as manager and coordinator during past GIC Days and assisted with multiple freelance projects.
Before returning to his home country, the United States, this summer with Jinju, his wife since April of this year, Parsons recalled what he has learned during his time in Gwangju. “I have been learning how to live well, how to live effectively and how to live happily. I think coming to a foreign country changes your perspective, [and] it allows you to reassess, to see how things are and to see how people live in different places in the world.”
While working at Dongshin University in Naju, Warren stated that he had the ideal job of teaching students and talking with others. “When I first started working at the university, my students were not all that young compared to me, so that was an interesting experience to be in a position to guide, to be a voice of reason or an adult voice, that people look up to.”
Through his work at Dongshin, Warren enjoyed extensive GIC volunteering. “The GIC gave me a forum to share what I have picked up along the way, and to get involved with the community, and to help other people be aware that there is a community here in Gwangju.”
Warren’s final desire is for Korean and international residents alike to remember how the Korean proverb “directly below the lantern is the darkest point where the light does not shine” illuminates profoundly.
“I’ve been fortunate to have a job as a tour guide, so that obviously gets me out there more than the average person. But essentially there is a lot more to the world than what people are convinced there is.”
“There’s a lot more that you can do and a lot more ways that you can be happy with the community, with the people around you, enjoying the nature, enjoying the local food and enjoying the history, and not to take things for granted.”