Kermit and Joey

Over the past two years I've been surprised to discover how Sesame Street is no longer the universal part of childhood it used to be. Whenever I find a reason, cultural, educational, or otherwise, to reference the iconic show to my students, I get dumb, blank stares.

Unable to connect with my students over MY favorite childhood TV show, I've taken to scouring YouTube for memorable Sesame Street clips. This first clip is my favorite. Of course, the Cookie Monster gimmick is cute, but the final seconds where Kermit and Joey kiss and make up is endearing.



Two is better than one, so I present another classic Kermit and Joey clip. As they count their way to 20, it's especially cute how Joey tries to change the subject by commenting on Kermit's eyes. In the words of one YouTube commenter, it's like she's stalling because she can't remember what number comes next.

Feliz Cumpleaños

Originally uploaded by digitalnut One day a couple of weeks ago, while waiting for the lunch bell, I asked my 3rd grade class if they'd like to learn how to say anything in any language. New to my games, their answers were a blend of yeses, nos, and uncertainty. Perfect.

I said, "Ask me how to say anything in any language."

They said, "How do you say anything in any language?"

I said, "Anything in any language," and waited.

Some got it, but most did not. Before everyone caught up, I said, "OK, this is real. Now I'll teach you how to say, oh, happy birthday in Spanish."

I said, "Ask me how to say happy birthday in Spanish."

They said, "How do you say happy birthday in Spanish?"

I said, "Happy birthday in Spanish."

Most everyone got it by now, and there was laughter all around. As we waited for the lunch bell, we practiced other random phrases in random languages. Their eyes lit up with mischievous glee when I suggested that they wow their parents with their new found skill. I've been amused to hear, with varying degrees of success, how their own stunts went.

Fast forward to last Thursday when I was sitting in restaurant recounting this tale to a friend, also a teacher. At the very moment when I said, "How do you say happy birthday in Spanish," an old woman carrying a baby walked by our booth. I believe she was Mexican.

Overhearing but misunderstanding the context of my question, she paused and turned to us and sweetly interjected, "Happy birthday in Spanish is Feliz Cumpleaños," and then walked away.

I love helpful people.

Boom De Ah Dah!

Color me giddy that I found the expansive Discovery Channel Boom De Ah Dah! commercial on YouTube.

It's especially enjoyable if you follow and love, as I do, some of the shows in the clip, like Dirty Jobs, Man vs. Wild, and MythBusters.

And who doesn't love Stephen Hawking? See him in the last 6 seconds.

Cool.

Weekly recap

With a great week of blogging in the bag, here's a recap of posts.

Story of the week: The party is over

Picture of the week: Korean bathroom instructions

Video of the week: Brian & Katie's evolution of wedding dance

Link of the week: TV buff goldmine

TV buff goldmine

www.tv.com

If you're a movie buff, you must be a TV buff, too.

Becoming a TV buff requires a website. I present www.tv.com. I use it daily to track when episodes from my favorite series play, the names of episodes, and to read up on facts and trivia about series and episodes. Like IMDb, www.tv.com is broad and deep and authoritative.

Brian & Katie's Evolution of Wedding Dance

The first minute and a half of my favorite video this week is dull, but it gets better.

Watch it.

The original Evolution of Dance is equally entertaining. (95 million views can't be wrong!)

Korean bathroom instructions

How to use a urinal
Originally uploaded by digitalnut

One day, while strolling through the TechnoMart in Seoul, I felt the call of nature. While answering said call, I was faced with the above picture. Though I can read Korean, I couldn't understand the words, but I had no problem understanding the graphics.

How about you?

The party is over

Good Bye Chuncheon
Originally uploaded by digitalnut

I'm just shy of two years home from Korea. In some ways, returning to Utah was the right decision: I regained a small portion of my sanity, I proved myself as a capable, appealing teacher on my home court, and I even got back into the dating game (thanks to a helpful push).

In some other ways, though, I wonder if it remains right to stay home. The better money aside, the life of an expatriate teaching English in South Korea is simply more exciting, and I look at the number of pictures these days I take as exhibit number one.

I bought my first digital camera six years ago, prior to visiting China for the first time. Since then, I've organized my photos on my computer by year and month. Though I was an aspiring photog from the beginning, it took a while to reach my monthly average of 300 - 400 pictures a month, which is where it stood two years ago.

Since returning home, I'm lucky if I average 50 a month. I concede we're always surrounded by a multitude of picture taking possibilities, but going from exotic Asia to ordinary America has left me uninspired. Out of habit, I still carry my Canon PowerShot S50 everywhere, but I'm ashamed to admit it often lies forgotten in the bottom of my backpack.

"So," an old friend recently asked, "why don't you go back to Korea?"

Perhaps I could rejoin the dating scene back in Korea, though I'd have to give up living my beloved 춘천 (Chuncheon - see the highway sign in the photo). Perhaps I could take a leave of absence from getting my teaching credentials, though the folks at the USOE ARL office would probably say no. And perhaps I could even find a job in Korea, given my experience, that doesn't require me to take entry level pay and work entry level hours.

Those are a lot of uncertainties I'd be willing to take if it wasn't for the nagging feeling I have that I'm trying to recreate the perfect party. You know how it goes: with apparently little planning or forethought, you and a friend throw a perfect party. The friends, the food, the drinks, the atmosphere, it all comes together and even becomes legendary as the perfect party.

Later, in an attempt to recreate the fun, you try to recreate every element of said perfect party to no avail. Something about that first party will always remain elusive because you've elevated it beyond what it actually was and closed yourself off to a new experience.

In some ways, I prefer to preserve my memories of Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan as they are in my mind right now: the perfect party.

Movie buff goldmine

www.imdb.com

I can't recall when or how I discovered The Internet Movie Database, but it's been a favorite resource at least since I first ventured to South Korea in 2002. IMDb contains such a breadth and depth of movie information, it's a wonder more people (besides Carly and me) don't seem to know about it.

With data such as release dates, actors, quotes, trivia, goofs, ratings, reviews, and plot summaries, anyone with the desire can pass himself off as a movie buff. I'm half convinced Laura Holt and Remington Steele used IMDb to verbally spar with one another and find similarities between their latest case and their favorite Hollywood classics. Never mind Al Gore had yet to invent the Internet in 1982. (Wow, I researched and learned he sort of did invent the Internet. Sneaky bastard.)

Aside from tracking an actor's movie career or reading about the hidden goofs in a movie, the slickest thing I've discovered to do on IMDb is to search for movies two actors starred in together. Can't recall what movie Edward Norton and Brad Pitt starred in? Go, for example, to Edward Norton's filmography page, scroll to the bottom of the page, and enter Brad Pitt. The search leads to Fight Club (a great movie).

Lest one mistake my efforts to promote the benefits and enjoyment of stuffing your head with movie trivia with Hollywood adoration, I can only say I don't. Clever, huh?

Late to the game

Though I'm really nothing more than a typical consumer of electronics, I take a certain amount of pride in being an early adopter. I bought my first digital camera, a Canon Powershot A40, in May 2002 (it had 2 megapixels). I bought my first MP3 player in early 2003 (it held 512MB). I bought and still use my excellent 40GB iRiver H140 the following year. And while I still don't own my own Mac, I gave up on Windows in favor of the new Intel Macs more than 2 years ago.

The list of software and Internet services I adopted before every other schmo is even longer: Picasa (way before Google noticed), P2P, Skype, Ceiva, Firefox, Flickr, del.icio.us, and more. Oh, and Blogger: I starting blogging in mid-2002 before most anyone knew what a blog was.

Many of the services I used had a social networking element, especially since Web 2.0 became big 2 years ago, but none of my friends, acquaintances, or family shared my interests enough to convince me social networking worked. Making them work seemed like too much work.

When I heard the buzz about MySpace and Facebook, I was skeptical. Something about the missionary zeal with which people tried to get other to join turned me off. With school out for the summer though, I've been bored, so I signed up for Facebook.

Then, zoom! Within 36 hours I had 14 friends, real friends, people I've fallen out of touch with, people I might not have been able to find otherwise. It's all very exciting. And life-affirming. I mean, I feel so popular.

And now I want you to join. Won't you please join my newfound cult? Please? Everyone's doing it. Even me.

Later

It's been a year since my last post, exactly.

How lonely.

Why I loved Stranger Than Fiction

I suppose I'll probably be accused of egotism when I say that I appreciated the movie Stranger Than Fiction on a deeper level than most people will probably get, but at least that's better than some of the other labels a few people have prematurely pasted on me lately. Boo-hoo.

People who have seen the preview to this movie likely assume it is a comedy. And why not? With Will Farrell as the leading man it's easy to see past the clever premise of the movie and presume this is the next in a series of funny flicks starring the former SNL funnyman. The preview, however, does a disservice to the movie itself by missing the scope and depth of the film (and by giving away most of the funny lines). What became apparent to me about halfway through the movie was that this story about a story was in fact a compelling metaphor.

I don't possess the skills of a movie critic and I'm too far removed from my days as an English student to properly outline how the lines between fiction and reality cross in this movie and how that clash parallels our reality so I'll just draw attention to the fact that there is more to this movie than just of string of humorous lines and situations.

Unfortunately, most of my fellow moviegoers sounded as though they were swept up in the surface comedy and they didn't seem to appreciate the larger message about life and death as tragedy, which message moved me to marvel by movie's end, "This is one of the best movies I've ever seen." Whether or not my marveling will subside by morning or my hyperbole will, over time, prove to be true, I'm can't say.

I CAN say Stranger Than Fiction is a thought-provoking, sensitive, movie. Significant elements of the movie impressed me and moved me in unique ways because of my own circumstances but I trust, if you are open, you too may walk away from this movie with a little bit of a deeper appreciation of your life as fiction.

Almost time to leave Gapyeong

Laughing at my frustration
Originally uploaded by digitalnut.

After a year of teaching public school in Gapyeong, it's nearly time to leave. I'm nostalgic about the sweet students I'll miss but it will be nice to be home for a while.

Of course my camera is working overtime, taking scads of pictures and video. Unfortunately, cute as they are, some students just don't know the meaning of "Smile!" when snapping a picture so I have to work some magic. You'd think all the popcorn I fed them (thanks Mischelle!) would be enough.

Photos from Mom's trip to Korea

It seems like ages ago that my mother visited me here in Korea but it's only been two months. We had such a great time together and I'm certain her trip will go down as one of my best experiences abroad. I posted these pictures online a while ago. Peruse them as you like. Comments are always appreciated.

Mom in Korea

Jun 9, 2006 - 80 Photos

Suddenly cooler weather

After a month of heat in the low 90s and humidity in the high 80s, when the only relief I could find was swimming in the cool mountain river behind my apartment, an eight hour rainstorm Wednesday night broke the heat and ushered in some of the most delightfully cool, fall weather I can recall.

The breeze that blows through my apartment, even now, animates the wind chime hanging in my window and reminds me how great the post-summer weather is in Korea.

Calvin's dad explains science

Calvin's Dad's Explanations of Scientific Phenomena
I was reading and collecting Calvin and Hobbes back in the 80s when Marmaduke and Ally Oop passed for good comic page reading. Hardly.

This link is a great capture of some of Calvin's father's outlandish explanations of scientific phenomena.

Mother's Day

YouTube is great for a lots of things, like this outstanding comedy short.

Parasite photographers

After I bought my first digital camera four years ago, a Canon A40, I was anxious to make use of the fun settings, so I went to a public park in Seoul and started snapping black and whites of the old men sitting around waiting for a free lunch to be served by the city.

I soon discovered people don't like having their pictures taken without permission by strangers. I got lots of dirty looks, several hands waving me away, and even one scolding. I chuckled inside, unbothered and content that I was simply improving my camera skills.

Fast forward to yesterday. I visited Insadong, in Seoul, an upscale shopping district popular for its paper goods, masks, street vendors, and other souvenirs. (Incidentally, Insadong is only a five minute walk from that park I visited four years ago.) I sat down to take a break from the stifling humidity when I noticed these two men, sporting digital SLRs with fancy zooms, snapping pictures of unsuspecting tourists. When the guy on the right pointed his camera across the lane at me, I covered my face with a shopping bag, irritated to find myself on the other end of a photographer's lens.

Then, I remembered I'm often such a parasite (though I try to be more discrete about it these days), so I opened my own camera, set the autofocus, crossed the lane, said, "Say 'Kimchi!'" and took this picture. I thought they might not appreciate my table-turning but the guy on the left actually obeyed and said, "Kimchi!"

Nice.

10 things I'm going to miss about Korea

My latest teaching contract ends in a few weeks when I plan to return to the States. It is uncertain, for now, where I'll work next.

After four years in Korea, thoughts of leaving for good have made me nostalgic about the things I'll miss when I go. In no particular order, they are:

1-the delicious, often endearing, naiveté of 20-something Korean girls (actually all girls under 35)

2-small breasts (there, I said it)

3-the thrill of learning and being able to actually use a clever new Korean phrase

4-anonymity

5-public transportation

6-the pass I frequently get for being a foreigner

7-every single one of my student, some especially so

8-the green, green, green, green countryside

9-the familiarity I have with my own corner of the country

10-the closeness of Korean history and contemporary culture
*Bonus*
11-high-speed internet

10 Things I Hate About Commandments