Thursday, June 12, 2003
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Monday, June 09, 2003
Sunday, June 08, 2003
Saturday, June 07, 2003
Friday, June 06, 2003
friday | 06.06.03 | korea | year 2 overseas | day 33
Memorable moment
Today is Remembrance Day in Korea. It is the equivalent holiday to Memorial Day in the States. Schools and many business are closed so I have a much appreciated day off.
Yesterday, at the conclusion of my housewives class and a discussion of the upcoming holiday, one of my students, a kind but silly woman whose gregarious nature masks her limited English language skills, approached me and solemnly said, "Your country, many people died here. Thank you." The moment passed as quickly as it came and left me stunned and humbled.
Thursday, June 05, 2003
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
Monday, June 02, 2003
Sunday, June 01, 2003
Saturday, May 31, 2003
friday | 05.30.03 | korea | year 2 overseas | day 26
Sa Dae Bu Go High School Class 12
I'm the first to admit to favoritism and this class of girls is the recipient of whatever benevolence I can muster twice a week. They're usually lively, attentive, well-behaved, and, as the last high school class I teach each Friday, a perfect way to end the week.
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
tuesday | 05.27.03 | korea | year 2 overseas | day 23
Sa Dae Bu Go High School Class 16
It occurred to me these class pictures might be a little better with the teacher in them. Ooh, smart me. Here's the latest shot of one of my five different classes at the high school. Of the five, three are boys and two are girls. Which do you think I enjoy teaching the most?
Sa Dae Bu Go High School Class 16
It occurred to me these class pictures might be a little better with the teacher in them. Ooh, smart me. Here's the latest shot of one of my five different classes at the high school. Of the five, three are boys and two are girls. Which do you think I enjoy teaching the most?
tuesday | 05.27.03 | korea | year 2 overseas | day 23
Sa Dae Bu Go High School Class 16
It occurred to me these class pictures might be a little better with the teacher in them. Ooh, smart me. Here's the latest shot of one of my five different classes at the high school. Of the five, three are boys and two are girls. Which do you think I enjoy teaching the most?
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Friday, May 23, 2003
thursday | 05.22.03 | korea | year 2 overseas | day 18
Toothless, bug-eyed boy
My kindergarten portrait I believe, taken too many years ago. Specifically, that would make it 1974 or 1975. I know the flag is the common backdrop for these kinds of pictures but it also echoes the patriotic memories of my elementary school days. Good times.
friday | 05.23.03 | korea | year 2 overseas | day 19
A language or a cultural problem
I'll admit upfront it's a little unfair to characterize the growing problem at the academy as a language problem. That gives the impression there is a difficult situation arising out of the differences in the native languages spoken by the English and Korean teachers. It would be more accurate to say the rift, which appears to be stagnant if not growing, is a symptom of the cultural differences between the two groups of teachers.
Since I returned from the States a mere 3 weeks ago, there is a difference in the air at our charming little language academy. The Korean teachers have their clique and the foreign teachers have their clique and "never the twain shall meet." I would argue that I have made attempts to reach out and I imagine some of the Korean teachers would argue likewise but beyond polite salutations, there is little in the way of meaningful interaction.
One might ask, "Why do you care?" and I would proceed to call that person foul names. After I had dispensed with such a foolish person, I might realize he may have had a valid point. I care because I'm tired of reaching out only to never receive reciprocal gestures. I'm tired of being nice and patient with the Koreans' moderatly good English. I'm tired of feeling like a minority (ooh, that's rich with potential material to analyze).
Mostly I think I've grown tired of the living overseas experience and I'm worried I'm going to stay tired unless I can deal with the problem and move beyond it. I still enjoy teaching and I can still see myself doing this long term but for the short term, I've suddenly grown weary of working at this particular academy in this particular country.
Thursday, May 22, 2003
thursday | 05.22.03 | korea | year 2 overseas | day 18
Toothless, bug-eyed boy
My kindergarten portrait I believe, taken too many years ago. Specifically, that would make it 1974 or 1975. I know the flag is the common backdrop for these kinds of pictures but it also echoes the patriotic memories of my elementary school days. Good times.
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Wednesday, March 05, 2003
Saturday, March 01, 2003
Sunday, February 23, 2003
A brief visit to a Communist country
sunday | 02.23.03 | korea | day 345
Taken on my recent visit to Panmunjom in the DMZ between North Korea and South Korean. I am standing next to a South Korean soldier in the North Korean portion of a simple but important conference room which straddles the DMZ. The expression on my face reflects what I felt was the sobering reality of the room.
Taken on my recent visit to Panmunjom in the DMZ between North Korea and South Korean. I am standing next to a South Korean soldier in the North Korean portion of a simple but important conference room which straddles the DMZ. The expression on my face reflects what I felt was the sobering reality of the room.
sunday | 02.23.03 | korea | day 345
A brief visit to Communist North Korea
Taken on my recent visit to Panmunjom in the DMZ between North Korea and South Korean. I am standing next to a South Korean soldier in the North Korean portion of a simple but important conference room which straddles the DMZ. The expression on my face reflects what I felt was the sobering reality of the room.
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
monday | 02.18.03 | korea | day 340
An epiphany
Since making the decision ( a mere five days ago!) to return to Korea after my March - April vacation to the states, several thoughts have fallen into place alongside several events which have confirmed, for me, the wisdom of said decision. Read the full post
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Sunday, January 26, 2003
sunday | 01.26.03 | korea | day 327
S.Korea Races to Erase Web Worm Ahead of Work Week
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean systems engineers raced on Sunday to repair Internet networks ahead of the start of the working week, after the country was hit hard during a global attack by a fast-spreading computer worm.
In what experts called the most damaging attack on the Internet in 18 months, the worm known as "SQL" ("sequel") Slammer targeted a known weakness in Microsoft Corp's software to shut down powerful server computers -- clogging the pipelines of the worldwide network.
South Korea, the world's most wired country, said its Internet companies would boost security spending to try to prevent a repeat of the outage that paralyzed broadband and mobile services on Saturday afternoon.
"It's not clear why Korea was targeted but the damage was huge -- partly because Korea has a huge Internet population and this helped the rapid spread of the worm," said an official at KT Corp, Korea's largest Internet service provider.
(By Kim Miyoung, Sunday, January 26, 2003, 02:14 AM ET )
Hence the bruises on my forehead: I spent Saturday afternoon and evening banging my head against the wall trying in vain to get online. If only my internet provider, KT, had been kind enough to call me and tell me about the problem, I might have avoided having a near-meltdown!
Saturday, January 25, 2003
Friday, January 24, 2003
friday | 01.24.03 | korea | day 325
Respect breeds respect
An brief encounter last night changed my philosophy of the role that should exist between the teachers of children and their parents. First the experience, then the epiphany.
I teach an intermediate writing class for Korean students with advanced English language skills. The class is small (four students, two girls and two boys, 11-15 years old) and they've each lived for an extended period in Canada or the United States. We meet twice a week for two hours. I learned earlier in the day that the father of a 15 year old boy in the class had expressed a desire to meet me. This particular student possesses great speaking skills and has always been eager and well-behaved in class so I was more than anxious to meet his father.
As it happened, he was waiting at the front desk to meet me after the writing class last night. Apparently he is an English teacher himeself at a high school in Chunchon so we had no trouble communicating. He did nothing more than bow courteously, shake my hand, thank me for teaching his son, and express a desire for me to join his family for dinner in the near future.
Dinner with one's family is not to be casually dismissed but it was this man's other actions that I found so deferential. This isn't the first time I've found respect as a simple teacher but it reinforced the personal satisfaction I already take in being a teacher. Upon further reflection, I recognized the wisdom of a parent taking the initiative to establish a cordial relationship with his child's teacher early, before problems can or do arise.
Without uttering the words, the parent's plea is, "Please teach my child well." And a responsible teacher will, in the course of teaching, heed that plea by focusing on that child. A student may act as if he or she doesn't care about learning but if a teacher knows the parent of such a child cares, that teacher can more easily fight the discouragement and despair even the best of us often feel.
I feel bound now to work harder to fulfill what I view as my duties as a teacher. It's a great feeling.
Saturday, January 18, 2003
Friday, January 17, 2003
friday | 01.17.03 | korea | day 318
The "famous" Haeundae Beach
From my visit to Busan in December. It may have been a cold, blustery day, fit for "neither fish nor fowl," but the crashing waves and the flocks of seagulls had a charm all their own.
Wait a minute. By their presence, it must have been fit enough for the fowls and since they're cold-blooded and aquatic, it's hard to believe the fish were all that put out. On second thought, it must have been a sunny, pleasant day.
Friday, January 03, 2003
Friday, December 27, 2002
Sunday, December 22, 2002
Monday, December 09, 2002
Unable to download
The absence of posts these past few weeks is due to two factors. One, I was spending way to much time online so I've taken a wise break from the internet. Second, when I finally went back online, the software on my computer that I use to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer had become corrupt somehow so I was unable to bring new images online. I hope to fix the problem soon and resume regular if not daily posts.
Saturday, November 23, 2002
El Diablo
Utter the words "fresh cut noodles" and "fresh flatbread" and my mouth will water uncontrollably. Spicy, savory, hot, and addictive. And SO cheap when you're eating the real thing in rural China. This particular meal ran us a total of about $2, I seem to recall.
My cousin's devlish appearance can only be attributed to his anger at being forced to wait 2 more seconds to eat. Actually I'm getting a little angry myself that I can't walk outside indulge in a little authentic Chinese cuisine. Curse this mortal body and it's inability to time travel!
Friday, November 22, 2002
Casa de Chunchon
After many requests (well, OK, ONE request - you know who you are), here is a picture of my cozy abode in South Korea. It's a three story apartment building. I live on the ground level and my lone window faces the building next door, barely 10 feet away.
A pleasant picture to gaze upon as the green leaves on the trees are long gone and the ground is now covered in snow and ice. Brrrr!
Thursday, November 21, 2002
Would you like your face filleted today sir?
After two days in the filthy, street-torn city of Datong, China, I wanted a shave. Somehow I thought it would make a memorable end to my stay to get a shave in a salon with a straight edge razor. How I rue THAT decision. 've never had a shave this way so my mind was set (the many warnings from my cousin be damned!).
The razor was sharp and the poor woman assigned to tried very hard to baby my tender face but it all failed to ease the sense that she was slowly peeling the skin from my neck! As the pain intensified and all the muscles in my body tensed in anticipation of the next slice (notice my clenched arms and hands), the departure time of our train drew near and we had to rush out before she finished. What a relief.
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Potty humor
Many parts of China, I'm told, lack what we consider modern plumbing and what little I witnessed this summer supports this claim. Most of the public outhouses I saw were vile, some unspeakably so.
With that as background, my cousin and I spent an hour wandering the picturesque backstreets of a neighborhood in Zhangjiakou, some 4 hours northeast of Beijing. As normally happened, we attracted a following of young children, curious to know about the obvious foreigners. (I'm sure my cousin's excellent Chinese and the colorful stickers I handed out did nothing to encourage this.)
After I suggested we take a picture of this unusualy colorful community outhouse, I was initially annoyed that our entourage wouldn't take the hint to step out of view. Of couse now I'm glad they stayed as we caught them nearly doubled over with laughter.
Why are they laughing? I can't say for certain but wouldn't YOU laugh if some rich foreigner waltzed into YOUR town and decided to take a picture of such a humble, meaningless structure?
Tuesday, November 19, 2002
Chinese canine
Missing my own mutt in Utah, I couldn't resist a close-up of this one we encountered in a remote and poor village some two hours outside of Datong in China. Like the children in the community who all seemed to share ownership with him, he was energetic, carefree, and seemingly oblivious to the outside world as it raced by.
tuesday | 11.19.02 | korea | day 259
the pain, the agony
So sick, so weak, so anxious to die. OK, slight exaggeration. Grand designs to write many delightful posts over the weekend faded along with my strength and energy. What I at first thought was a severe cold has, I believe, morphed into a severe case of the flu instead. Oh, for a cold. Or for a mild case of leprosy.
Monday, November 18, 2002
Samgyopsal in Yangyang
On our way to Seoraksan, we paused in the town of Yangyang to dip our toes in the East Sea and eat lunch. We feasted on my favorite Korean dish, samgyopsal, fried slices of pork, cooked at the table and eaten wrapped in a lettuce leaf with fresh, sliced garlic and red pepper paste.
Please excuse me while I indulge in a guided culinary meditation.
Sunday, November 17, 2002
Seoraksan smiler
Little Richard, a fellow teacher, and I took an impromptu day trip to Seoraksan Mountain National Park in early October, hoping to witness the Autumn changing of the guard. Unfortunately we were a week or two too early so we had to settle for a refreshing day of vigorous hiking, beautiful greenery, and brisk mountain air. What a let-down.
At the end of the day, as we were leaving the park, I shared a private moment with this darling Korean girl and she was gracious enough to hold the pose while I scrambled for my camera.
Saturday, November 16, 2002
Happy happy Chunchon mascot
The flood-control canal behind the hagwon is lined for a few hundred yards with various murals that depict different seasonal events in Chunchon. This is a shot of one of the paintings of the official town mascot. Happy, isn't he? (Or maybe he is a she. Who knows?)
The "happy, happy" is a reference to the "Happy, Happy Girl" song a Korean teacher has been repeatedly singing with her students lately as a means of teaching English. Has anyone else heard this song? It's a teeny bopper type of song and kinda catchy.
Friday, November 15, 2002
Halloween monster
I recycled today's picture from shylock in korea where I neglected to add an explanation.
We celebrated Halloween at the hagwon and to our horror this ghoulish-looking zombie-mutant crashed our party. And then he had to ruin this lovely picture of me by flashing his awful mug in the background. Scary!
Truthfully, the hagwon Director couldn't resist sharing the limelight with this photo of me modeling my great Dracula costume. Who was I to pull rank on the boss?
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Two vagabonds
Taken back in August as my globe-trotting cousin and China tour guide and I parted ways in Incheon: I to sultry though picturesque Chunchon, he to Taiwan, San Francisco, and finally New York. If not for him, my 12-day vacation in China would not have happened but it did, thanks to his previous experience in China and his impressive Chinese and Korean language skills.
What made our travels even more memorable were our lengthy, impassioned discussions about how to advance the cause of conservatism in America. Right cousin?
Doesn't this shot look more like some third world South American village plaza rather than a subway station in a modern Asian country?
(Note about yesterday's post: It has been re-brought to my attention that I'm not as farm animal-deficient as a certain "friend" previously implied. The burden of beast in the picture IS a donkey, not a mule. Ha!)
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
wednesday | 10.13.02 | korea | day 253
Language/culture clash
While studying my beginning Korean textbook at the school this afternoon during a break between classes, the Director walked into the room. When he noticed what I was doing, he was impressed ("Oooh!" "Aaah!"). In what then must have been a desire to test my abilities, he wrote a simple question in Korean for me on the white board. I was semi-confident I knew the answer so I blurted it out.
I was wrong. Obviously I jumbled the vocabulary because he immediately laughed, heartily, at my mistake and proceeded to share my blunder with several Korean teachers standing nearby.
Let me say as I proceed that I like this Director. He is kind, thoughtful (though perpetually late in paying his employees), relaxed, and he has a great sense of humor. I can only guess he was tapping into this "sense of humor" by laughing at me because I can find no other plausible explanation.
Normally I wouldn't be put out by such a response; learning a new language is challenging at best and everyone knows the best way to accelerate the process is by practicing in real world situations. But when I consider the plethora of mistakes I hear when every Korean speaks English, especially those made by this Director and the other Koreans working at the hagwon, I'm primarily angry that they would laugh at my mistakes when I am instead kind, supportive, and more inclined to focus on their language strengths rather than their missteps.
What aggravated this event was the Director's reaction to my reaction. He launched into a speech about how we foreign teachers are too sensitive, that laughing as he did is not offensive in the Korean culture, and that by being offended I was showing my failure to adapt to the culture of the land in which I was living. (My response to THIS preposterous accusations is fodder for another blog entry.)
This is not a colossal problem (though it did degenerate into an "us vs. them" debate for 15 minutes between the Korean and foreign teachers). I am a bit discouraged though that I must now selectively choose where and with whom to practice my budding language skills.
"Oooh, a donkey! I want a picture with a donkey!"
Another quote from my farm animal-deprived Korean friend.
Our day at the Korean Folk Village was drawing to a close. We were tired and cold but satisfied at a day well-spent. Two donkeys (see next paragraph) were tethered in a half-vacant cabbage field, looking lonely and in need of a loving carress from a fellow Korean. Little Richard delivered and this picture also shows I captured the setting sun as the day drew to a close.
It has since been brought to my own farm animal-deficient attention that this is more accurately a mule, not a donkey. Boy, am I embarrassed!
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Life as a sardine
Simply the best b/w picture I've taken on the Seoul subways. It was rush hour and SO crowded which, in fairness, is the exception rather than the rule.
Monday, November 11, 2002
Put your shoulder to the wheel
Following church and a baptism, the ladies of the Chunchon Ward served a delicious lunch of bulgogi. (:o'''' <---me, drooling.) Elders Ellis and Clarkson, noble missionaries both, rose to the task of dish duty.
It also happened to be Elder Ellis' last Sunday in Chunchon where he has served ever since I arrived 8+ months ago. Sad times indeed.
Sunday, November 10, 2002
Got milk?
OK, so the caption and subject don't quite match. Got a better idea? Then get your own blog smart guy!
Seriously though, I welcome comments, suggestions for better captions, and even ideas for changing the mind-numbing drudgery that is my life. I haven't added a 'comment' link to this page yet but you can use the guestbook for now.
Saturday, November 09, 2002
Friday, November 08, 2002
Me and my pal Kyanna
This picture is sort of fuzzy but it's also overly-bright which I think is a nice effect as it was taken in a church on a Sunday. The day was unusually sunny and cold and we posed in the Chunchon LDS Ward building with it's bright white walls and ultra-glossy floors.
And Kyanna manages to be quite the doll, taking the edge off the vacancy I feel, missing my nieces/nephews back home.
friday | 10.08.02 | korea | day 248
daily.picture.post
Try as I do, I have lately failed to submit daily posts. Between teaching at the hagwon, teaching private lessons, attending my Beginning Korean class at Kangwon University, language exchanging with Little Richard, educating my political self at Rush Limbaugh.com, and indulging my guilty pleasure of listening to The Phil Hendrie Show, the time passes too quickly. Writing, I'm ashamed to say, gets displaced by other, often lesser priorities.
So to boost my output by 1,000 words a day, I've created a daily picture post page. Visit it often and you'll have another (or at least one) reason to get out of bed each morning.
Tuesday, November 05, 2002
tuesday | 10.05.02 | korea | day 245
15 hours a week is work?
The new school schedule is hot off the presses! I've dropped precipitously from teaching 28 hours a week to a mere 15 hours a week. It's likely to skyrocket to 17 hours when the long anticipated writing class begins in a week or two, but come on!
As of this day I no longer work in Korea; I live and play in Korea with a few brief moments per week of something that other people call work. Sheesh!
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