By Shin Chul-ho
The Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) recently sent my school an official document that asked us if my school's students would attend a field trip to some tidal flats in a western coastal area.
On Oct. 22, I embarked on the trip with the 4th and 6th graders. Two female members of the civic group guided us to the vicinity of a tidal flat and set up four telescopes. The kids stood in queues and watched shorebirds one after another. One civic member talked about the birds with them.
In her explanation, she made an absurd mistake. She showed the children a picture of an adult cattle egret, saying, ``This is a young cattle egret, because it has yellow feathers on its head and neck." But contrary to her ignorant words, a young cattle egret has white feathers on its head and neck. As it grows up, they turn yellow.
Accompanied by the youngsters, we entered a restaurant. The boys and girls held their bowls, scooped short-necked clams and noodle soup from basins into them and ate blissfully. The bus driver and I sat at the first table. Our menu was different from what they were eating. It was a stew made of kimchi and bean curd. We ate the stew with rice. The two women joined us. A few minutes later, the two women set a big pot of stew on the table in which a few small living octopuses were twisting their bodies violently.
I looked over at the tables where the students were still eating the same food. I stood up and went out, saying that I was full already, even though they tried to make me sit down, insisting that I had to eat it at least. I was indignant that we did not eat the same food as the young students did. Why should we have much more expensive food than the students did? When I was a high school teacher, I experienced the same corruption every time students went on a school excursion.
This field trip for the elementary students was funded by KFEM. The fund came from the dues of numerous members and financial support of sponsors. The two women mentioned to me that they quite often had field trips for youngsters. This means they often spend quite a lot of extra money on eating.
After lunch, we drove to another tidal flat a little away from the previous one to watch a myriad of crabs through telescopes. It was a spectacle to see them. Then, the same woman who had made an uneducated remark about the cattle egret said a silly thing again. She told the students that mud-hoppers called ``zzangddungeoh" in Korean are the fry of goby fish called ``mangdungeoh" in Korean. These two fish are totally different species.
KFEM should never forget that the survival of civic groups depends on their commitment to the public interest and political neutrality, not to their own interest.
Last but not least, if KFEM wants to teach younger generation the importance of wetlands, they need to dispatch much more trained and sophisticated members.
The writer teaches English at an elementary school in Seoul. He can be reached at heemy123@hanmail.net.