Hello, my name is Bina (Chae-eun).
My nickname comes from my baptismal name, Lidwina.
I was born in Jinhae and have since lived in Changwon, Gimhae, Incheon, and Aichi in Japan. I was born in Jinhae, which was later incorporated into the larger city of Changwon. I then attended high school in Gimhae. Since I lived in a dormitory, I did not have many opportunities to learn about the local characteristics of Gimhae firsthand. However, I learned a great deal about the history of Gimhae while studying the Gaya civilization at school. I moved to Incheon when I entered university, and I am still staying in Incheon because I am taking some second-year courses. Last year, I also spent a year abroad as an exchange student in Aichi in Japan, which gave me the experience of living overseas for a year.
The place where I have the most memories is my hometown, Jinhae. I attended elementary and middle school in Jinhae, and through field trips, I had many opportunities to learn about the area. At the time, I thought of these activities simply as picnics, but as I grew older and revisited these places, I came to realize that they were actually a form of social studies education. I was able to visit museums in person, and since some people who had actually lived through that period worked as docents, I was able to hear their stories and experience history in a much more vivid way.
Interestingly, Jinhae also has historical connections with Aichi, the Japanese region where I studied abroad. During the Imjin War, Japanese forces took potters from Jinhae to Japan, and they were brought to the area around what is now Nagoya Castle, one of the representative landmarks of Aichi. In addition, present-day Jinhae was developed as a planned city by Imperial Japan as an important naval base. While studying in Japan, I was able to share these historical connections with students during social studies classes. Through this experience, I was also able to learn about the importance of localized education, which connects what students learn in class to the history and characteristics of their own local communities.
