Korean Language Writing Contest Grand Prize Awarded to Bayarmaa of Mongolia This year’s writing contest showed a drastic growth in the number of participants and in the quality of submissions. The Yonsei University Institute of Language Research and Education increased the number of prizes given out and the participants showed great enthusiasm. After all the other awards had been announced, Tsedenjav Bayarmaa was announced as the winner of the grand prize. Bayarmaa, a 27 year old student from Mongolia, walked to the stage to accept the award and said she hadn’t expected an award but was very happy to receive it. This year’s grand prize winning submission was a poem, like last year. A student at Sogang University, Bayarmaa said that it was the biggest prize she had ever received and asked, “Did I really write that well?” When asked why she decided to enter the contest, she answered, “I was told to come here as part of my class. When I got here, I was surprised to see so many people.” Bayarmaa also explained how she came to write her poem. “When the theme was announced as ‘the dawn’, I thought of what I could write. I was listening to a Korean song where a woman was lamenting that she had been abandoned by her boyfriend. Whenever the seasons change, people with broken hearts wake up at night to remember the past and wish it were the present. I was thinking of the seasons of both Korea and Monglia. In Monglolia, the leaves don’t change color like they do here, but I use the white winter snow of Mongolia for the winter images.” “I majored in Korean Studies at Ulan Bator University and one of my friends did a comparative study of the poetry of Kim Sowol and Mongolian poetry. I myself am more interested in administration than in poetry.” Bayanmar seemed to be unaware of her literary sensitivities that had been revealed through this contest. After finishing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Ulan Bator, Bayamar taught Korean in Mongolia for two years, then came to Korea in March following an invitation from the Korea Foundation. She is taking language courses at Sogang University. “The textbooks and curriculum of my program is similar to regular language courses, but targets Mongolian teachers of Korean.” The class listens to Korean news clips or reads Korean literature, but the focus is on writing. “We practiced writing poetry in class. But we wrote more essays than poetry.” This is not Bayarmaa’s first visit to Korea. Actually, it is her 8th. “Ulan Bator University has a program where 10 students are given a chance to visit Korea. I came to Korea through that program. Also, when former president Roh Moo-Hyun visited Mongolia, I met him as a representative of the students in Korean Studies. Following this meeting, the Korea International Trade Association invited Mongolian students in Korean studies to visit Korea.” She has taken advantage of other programs to come to Korea numerous times. Bayamar first learned Korean in 2000, when she started college. “I studied English in middle school and Russian in high school. I wanted to study an Asian language, but Japanese and Chinese seemed hard because I had to learn the Chinese characters. The Korean alphabet is pretty and doesn’t require the use of Chinese characters, so I chose Korean.” It was easy at first, but became increasingly difficult. “Korean was really easy compared to other languages. The Mongolian language is greatly influenced by Russian and uses the Cyrillic alphabet. Still, the syntax of Mongolian and Korean is similar, and many words are similar, too. Korean did become more difficult as I studied, because I had to increase my vocabulary.” After seven months, Bayamar is well adjusted to life in Korea. “I like Korean food and everything about Korea. Although I was surprised when I first got on the bus, because we get on the bus by the back door in Mongolia, not the front door like in Korea. And there are a lot of people wherever I go in Korea. The population of Mongolia is relatively small, so there is more space and nature.” Bayamar said she has many friends in Korea and plans to continue her studies at Yonsei. “I am returning to Mongolia in November, but I plan to come back to study at Yonsei. I am applying to the Yonsei Ph.D. program in Administration. I would like to come to Yonsei in March when the campus is so pretty. After finishing her doctoral program, I want to connect Mongolia and Korea as a woman leader.”