Much to my surprise

When I first started thinking about coming to Korea to teach, I started paying attention to the stories I  heard a bit more closely. When it came to schools I heard a lot about orderly classrooms, how Asian students in general were much more studious as well as much more orderly and respectful in the classroom. I was left with the impression of rows of uniformed students sitting rigidly in their seats and participating appropriately.

Yeah, not quite.

Teaching elementary school here means that I teach converstational English to students in grades 3 through 6. In my first week I introduced myself to the students with the help of a powerpoint presentation and then took some time to go over the rules of MY classroom. I was surprised to have a student raise his hand at the end and ask "what will you do if we don't follow your rules?" To be honest I was a little taken aback by this question, but I understood it. He wanted to know if I would hit them. 

Yes, corporal punishment is practiced in the Korean classroom. It didn't take long to see it in action either. In my first week I seen students hit on the hands for failing to complete homework. I seen kids get a rap on the head from a stick for speaking out in class. I even seen a teacher punch a student in the gut. 

Shocking to say the least.

So here was this student asking if I would act in the same manner. 

I of course outlined some disciplinary measures that I was confortable with ending with sending the student to the Vice Principal. I'm not too sure what he thought of all this other than the realization that I would not hit them.

Having now spent four months in the Korean classroom I'm astounded at how the classroom is run. Now obviously I can only speak for those classes which I am involved directly, but overall I think that much of the time organized chaos would be considered success. 

I've been punched by kids, had kids going around saying "Heil, Hitler", kids running around giving one another the finger, kids saying "fuck" thruoghout the class. It seems that the level of expectation is either undefined for the students in their educational environment or that their knowledge of my unwillingness to do what the Korean teachers do, hit them, means that they are much more willing to push the boundaries with me and in my classroom.

Given this context imagine my surprise to learn that corporal punishment in schools was done away with a decade ago!

Here is a brief excerpt from an article which talks about one grade six teacher and her call for corporal punihsment to be reinstated in the classroom:

“Once class starts it’s a disaster. The kids giggle over their cellphones. So the teacher takes them away. One of the kids looks at her with hurt eyes and says, ‘I’m going to call the police’. The student gets angrier as the teacher goes on with the lesson. The students write the answers on the blackboard, one by one. Carrying the chalk, the student says to her ‘fuck you’ [in English]. All the students start laughing uncontrollably. The student has a wide grin at doing such a great thing. So she just had to go on. The teacher whacks the kid on the head. ‘Screw you!’ the kid says [in Korean].”

[...]

Why is this, you wonder? The first shackle placed on teachers’ ability to teach normally was the abolition of corporal punishment 10 years ago. The inability to use corporal punishment has become teachers’ weak point. Mrs. Kim stressed, “with no way to punish students who violate the rules, the school becomes a lawless place with no control over them. We have to allow teachers to use corporal punishment or expulsion when necessary.”  Beginning in elementary school you can clearly see the effects of an inability to punish violations of the rules.

I find the notion that she does not practice corporal punishment hard to believe, but perhaps she doesn't. I mean I've personally witnessed it happening, I've read about it numerous times. I've heard about it numerous times as well. Two instances stand out, neither of which I personally witnessed. The first I read about in a news article that outlined how a teacher swatted a grade 4 girl student so hard that after two weeks there were still welts on her derrier. The teacher in question was demoted from being a home room teacher. A punishment that I'm led to believe would be greeted more with relief than anything else. The second instance was relayed to me by a friend. A particular teacher was known for his unique style of corporal punishment; he would kick the students in the chest. Well on one particular instance, he did so and cracked the ribs of a student. His punishment was to pay the hospital bills of the student and was seen kicking students a week later.

In my opinion, and perhaps I'm coming off as being some Western Elitist here, but the entire Korean educational system needs to be abolished and rebuilt.

Unsupervised and unregulated corporal punishment, schooling that lasts from 9am till 12am, standardardized testing that has Korean students committing suicide as young as age 8 all speak out concerning a system that is broken and damaging to its citizens. 

Of course Korea is not the only country in the world where corporal punishment is practiced in the classroom. This comes from Egypt:

An Egyptian court has sentenced a schoolteacher to six years in jail for beating a pupil to death because he had not done his homework.

Maths teacher Haitham Nabeel Abdelhamid, 23, took Islam Amr Badr outside the classroom and hit him violently in the stomach.

The 11-year-old boy fainted and later died in hospital of heart failure in the city of Alexandria.

The court was told the boy had four broken ribs.

Abdelhamid was convicted of manslaughter.

He said he only meant to discipline the pupil and did not mean to hurt anyone.

The teacher's lawyer was quoted as saying in court: "Hitting [a child] is not banned in schools and my client did not break the law."

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, well I'm gaining a real appreciation for being Canadian.

Pissed off

Well my Principal managed to really piss me off today.

Winter vacation began today for elementary schools in Suncheon. The students arrived, did a little clean up, got a speech from the Principal and were excused at 10:30am. The teachers then gathered for a brief meeting and then were excused at 11am. Things were looking up. One last thing to do before leaving for two months, sign the log book that would detail the times I would be out of the country on my trip to China in February.

Aside: My trip to China was to be paid for by working a series of Winter English camps that would have paid me 2.75 million won, more than enough for a nice trip and a new camera. One camp was to be here in Suncheon, while the others were to be up near Seoul.

The VP takes a look at the dates that I listed and then picks up the phone, speaks for a moment with who I later found out was the Principal and then tells my co-teacher that they need to check my contract and to get the dates of the camps I wanted to attend.

While all of this is going on around me in Korean, I'm left to wonder what is the big deal as it is explicitly stipulated in the contract that I get 26 vacation days in February. This was recently reinforced from the Provincial Education Office who sent a letter to all of the schools telling them not to interfere with the February vacation dates.

Finally I get my one co-teacher to tell me what is going on. The Principal wants me to come to school from January 9th till the 20th. This would obviously interfere with my camps. So I check the calendar to find out what is going on during this time. Nothing. So I ask again, what is going on? It turns out that it wasn't January, it was February that he wants me to be back in school.

By this time my younger female co-teacher (first year teaching) confirms that I am contractually guaranteed 26 vacation days in February. So she goes to talk to the Principal again. I wait.

After about 15 minutes she comes back and its obvious that she has been crying.

Well now I'm pissed off!

This fucking maggot has the temerity to blast my young co-teacher because his pissed off at me and the contract that he signed.

You want to be a man and rip into somebody, do it to me. But of course he won't see me as he can't speak English, I can't speak Korean and it would be very wrong for him to lay into me. Of course picking on an innocent first year female teacher is all good.

So now I have to go in to school throughout January and teach for an hour a day. Apparently, I'll be helping teach music and Korean literacy. All because my Principal can't accept the fact that I don't have to attend the two weeks of school in February that everyone else has to.

I'm fine with having to work, it's in my contract, but to act in such a immature and unnecessary manner is just wrong.

I just hope that they don't ask me to do anything for them from now on, because there is no way I'm going to reward such infantile and hurtful behavior.

Historical (willful) ignorance

Okay, when I first got to Korea I playfully wondered if there was something of a Nazi fetish amongst Koreans. It began when I saw the swastika everywhere, but that was easily explained away as the swastika is an ancient religious symbol that was adopted and perverted by the Nazi's.

It was sort of like my ex-wife's Italian family. I playfully joked around about them being involved in the mob. It was a joke, nothing serious then you find out that her grandfather owns a second hand jewelry shop that does no business but supports a new Cadillac in the driveway every other year. Or the time you attend a wedding and the best way for people to describe the presence of a particular gentleman (when he walked in all of the men lined up and greeted him, while all the women lined up and greeted his wife) was as a Godfather type figure. Then came the time her grandfather attended the funeral of a high ranking NY mobster in the '80s, or her cousin that was killed in a hunting accident (he was double tapped at close range with a .22 to the back of the head). Where there is smoke there is fire?

Back to Korea, there was the SS hotel that I saw, which raised an eyebrow. Then came the time in one of my grade five classes when a student walked around giving everyone a Nazi salute saying 'heil Hitler'. I was flabbergasted by this but was at a loss to try and explain why he should not be doing it.

Now we have this from Japan, a video about Uncle Hitler:



What is a person to think?

Religion vs culture(?)

In most if not all of Western society the belief is that the government has no right to force religious instruction on the members of society. When I went to elementary school we read the Bible at the beginning of each school assembly and recited the Lord's Prayer each morning along with the singing of the national anthem. Today that is no more.

So my question is, should the government have any business forcing cultural belief or values on the members of society, specifically in relation to language?

In Ontario, each student is forced to receive French language instruction from grade 4 through grade 9. At that point students have the right to choose for themselves if they wish to pursue further language instruction. Where I grew up, students could choose to take French, German or Spanish beginning in grade 10. The fact of primary importance in this is personal choice, or the lack there of.

One might think, what's the big deal? Does language instruction, chosen or enforced, really matter?

Well, when it is not a choice, of course it matters. But one might counter that we are not given a choice when it comes to math. True, one can make the case though that math serves a fundamental purpose in the maintenance of life, does the study of additional languages? I think that in many cases the study of multiple languages serves to enrich one's life but I find it hard to equate additional language instruction with mathematics for the maintenance of life.

Of course, there are those that believe that language is of vital importance; Quebec for instance. Quebec promotes three fundamental values of Quebec society, one of which is the French language. Quebec, unlike Canada which has two official languages (English and French), only has one official language; French. This was brought about in 1977 with the support of the Minister of Cultural Development. Like in Ontario, students in Quebec learn English in school beginning in elementary school.

So what's the big deal right?

Well, while students are forced to take additional language instruction to meet the requirements of Canada's language policy, people are given the choice to enhance that aspect of education if they choose by enrolling their children in French or English Immersion schools. However this has become increasingly hard for people in Quebec who wish to have their children attend English immersion schools. So much so that a class action law suit has been brought before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Quebec had passed a law the forced immigrant children into French language instruction despite the express wishes of their parents. The law has been so effective that in approximately twenty years the English language school enrolement has been cut by more than half.

Why?

To protect Fracophone culture.

The Quebec government maintains there's no violation of rights if the Supreme Court takes into account the broader social goal of Bill 104 — to facilitate the assimilation of immigrants into the province's French-speaking society, and protect Quebec's francophone culture.

So should the government be in the business of enforcing cultural homogeneity through proscribe language instruction?

When has enforced societal homogeneity ever been a good thing?

Jubilation

Recently I traveled to Seoul where I was able to attend a performance of the Cirque du Soleil's performance of Alegria. Unfortunately they would not allow for any pictures to be taken before, during or after the performance so I had little to share with those who have not had this amazing opportunity.

In lieu of pictures I have found this short video of Alegria and I wanted to share it so thay you might gain a small glimpse of the performance.

A pleasant surprise

Here is a picture of a grade three classroom at Hyanglim Elementary school in Suncheon South Korea.

What in this picture are you unlikely to see in a Canadian classroom?

The Korean imagination

I try not to complain about this matter to strenuously or publicly but, in my honest opinion, the English language curriculum currently in place is rather ineffective. This past week schools across Jeollanamdo completed their annual student assessments with a series of day long tests. Not something that I would look forward to as a student, but it is expected and I never heard any complaints from students.

English is a mandated course for students in grade three and above. Students in grades three and four receive forty minutes of English language instruction from a Native English speaker each week. Students in grades five and six receive eighty minutes of English language instruction, however I only see my grade five and six classes for forty minutes a week as I work in two seperate schools. The odd thing is that I have no place in student assessment.

Now, previously I did write about giving five of my eight grade six classes a two minute oral examination, however those results go nobody and do not make it to their report cards. The grade that they receive in English comes solely from their home room teacher, who may or may not be comfortable with English.

So it was somewhat surprising when on Wednesday a young girl in one of my grade five classes came to me and excitedly and proudly informed me that she had received a mark of 100% on her English test. I of course congratulated her and was genuinely happy for her. The problem though is that she can't speak much English. But that is the way of English education at this point, and there is little that I can do to change that fact.

***

One thing that is fun about English education is hearing student responses to different situations presented in their lessons.

Each student is given a text book at the beginning of the year. Students in grades three and four will study eight units of four forty minute lessons over the course of the year. Students in grades five and six will study sixteen units of four forty minute lessons during the year. Each unit follows the exact same formula as does each lesson.

Lesson one is always a 'look and listen' exercise followed by a 'listen and repeat' exercise followed by a rather unfun game. The 'look and listen' exercise is simply a cartoon where the students are to be introduced to that unit's core concept. This is done with varying degrees of effectiveness.

The past couple of weeks, for my grade five and grade six classes I used the 'look and listen' portion of the exercise and printed out the dialogue for the students, then made up a dialogue of my own and then had the students write one for themselves so that they could explore the language and concept.

One of my classes took to this concept with gusto and while working in small groups, the class wrote ten seperate dialogues which they presented the class the followign week. It was a lot of fun.

I thought I'd share with you one particular piece that some grade six students wrote. This was based on a dialogue about it being time to go home.

Enjoy.

Boog Boog E: Let's die together.

Snoopy: Wow, great!

Crazy Rabbit: I can't die well.

Boog Boog E: Come on. I'll help you.

Crazy Rabbit: Where is Snoopy?

Boog Boog E: She's over there. She is a good killer.

Crazy Rabbit: Snoopy, don't go that way. Watch out! Snoopy come here. It's time to go to the roof.

Snoopy: What time is it?

Crazy Rabbit: It's 4:40 already. Let's go to the roof.

Snoopy: Not now. I want to live more.

Crazy Rabbit: Come back snoopy!

Boog Boog E: Oh no!

In search of 'Seoul'

I finally made the trek to the nations capital; Seoul.

Waking at 4:30 am I hurried around the apartment making sure that everything was in order for my departure. Rising while the sun sleeps is never fun or easy but in this case it was necessary. I was out the door a little after 5 am, bag in hand, braving the oncoming winter's early morning chill. More than once I wondered why I was up so early on a Saturday morn, as I waited alone in a dark and windy parking lot for my friends to arrive.

Together at last we crammed our burdened bodies into the taxis and sped off to the bus terminal in hopes of leaving Suncheon at 6 am. Luck is a harsh mistress and on this chill morning was not on our side. We consoled ourselves with the knowledge that the next bus would leave at 6:20 am. So we huddled together and warmed ourselves with visions of Seoul and the hope of lofty plans.

Soon after leaving Suncheon the rain came. It lashed the bus in unceasing torrents, while we sat and dozed in our reclining seats. The fear of such rain greeting us in Seoul, cast a pall over the hearts of many. There was nothing to do but sit, wait and hope.

Five hours into our journey we arrived in Seoul. We stepped off the bus into a parking lot drenched in the rays of glorious sun. Now was the time for the parting of company, our journies briefly diverging. Down into the depths I walked, alone with my thoughts, the rumble of the distant beast growing ever louder.

Emerging from the beast's lair, the sun greeted me warmly, welcoming me back once again to the land of sun and wind. The streets were crowded with vendors, shoppers, and gawkers; each pursuing their own agendas. I ventured forth into the chilling wind, to find my own fortune.

Up and down the wind blown street I walked, waiting for the call that would signal my companion's arrival and with it a welcome respite from the cold and a warm meal. We supped on Mexican and went over our plans once again. On such a journey, one can't have too many plans.

The end of the meal brought, once again, an end to our fellowship as we split and followed the compass as we chose. My journey though lie before me in the endless shops and back alleys that would spill forth their treasure for those with purse enough. 

The beginning of my quest complete, the fellowship was once again rejoined in time for a hearty meal of fine Indian cuisine, where tales were shared and plans reformed. Then we were off, to once again ride the beast that would take us to the night's entertainment; Alegria.

The majestic characters soared above us, while others enchanted us with their songs, feats of skill, strength and agility. There were some still who could make two one or appear headless if they chose. Shy were these performers though, for if a camera were to appear others would rush to their aid to ensure that their picture could not be taken.

The night's entertainment delightfully witnessed, we retired to a friendly establishment to end the night amongst friends, cheap ale and the company of two friendly women who welcomed us to their table and spoke of life in Seoul till the early morning hours.

The fellowship, earlier splintered assunder by the weight of darkness, was once again rejoined in the light of day when wonderful markets opened themselves to our curious eye and minds. But alas all good things must too end and so began the end of our journey. Once again we rode the beast that would take us to our means home. 

Finally, at 7 pm on a dark Sunday evening we arrived home, travel weary and burdened with newly purchased treasures. Treasures to once again be marveled at by the warmth of the home hearth.

***

Sorry, I just finished reading The Hobbit and couldn't resist the urge to craft something of an adventure tale myself. Of course mine doesn't feature goblins, bears, giant spiders, eagles, wolves, dwarves, elves, hobbits, wizards, necromancers or dragons.

Sweet Korea High

I recently was given the task of providing five of my grade six classes with an oral exam. It wasn't much of a surprise as grade six students do a lot of testing to see what Middle School they will get to attend. At first I was a little worried about what it was that I should be testing them on, but eventually my co-teacher informed me that the students needed to be able to handle tenses; past and future tense. I thought, no problem. Then I was told that I would have one period per class to do the testing. Let see, that's an average of 36 students per 40 minute class. Surprisingly I had to fight to get an additional class period in which to do the testing, giving me two minutes per student.

Yeah, you can kind of figure out already how well all of this is going to go.

So testing day came and I had prepared a whopping three question quiz to give each student. I was already depressed by the level of importance that English education was being given. Of course I managed to leave the first round of testing more depressed than when I started.

It came as no shock that those students whose parents pay for them to attend an English academy after school did the best. Of course this is a poor school in a poor neighborhood so the number of students wasn't that high. In fact I think the number of students who did quite well on the test was equal to the number of students who didn't utter a single word.

I came out of this first half of testing really wondering what I was doing. Unfortunately, it is very easy to get apathetic about the job and simply coast on through. Most of the students are uninterested in what your teaching, and too many don't have the necessary language skills by grade six to make grade six lessons appropriate. For the most part the Korean teachers have little to do with what is going on. In one school I stand alone in front of the students and struggle to get meaning across while at the other I have two co-teachers who offer limited translation if I specifically ask them for it. It is obvious that far too many simply don't understand what is happening when after four years of English instruction, they still don't understand the difference between 'how are you?' and 'what day is it?'

My unfortunate first reaction was further apathy. It's hopeless to really get them to understand so why fight for it. That lasted about two hours. Then I was left to wonder 'what can I do to change this?' Now when I say 'change this' I don't mean change the entire Korean educational metntality towards English, but rather what can I change about what I do to try and make my English classes more beneficial for the students.

There is definitely some room for thought and experimentation here and perhaps I should feel somewhat sorry for my current students who are going to be used as test subjects for any new ideas or methods that I come up with.

***

The Korean school system is definitely different than the Canadian one. I was talking with my co-teacher yesterday about the testing that our grade six students were going to have to take next week. I was asking if she thought any students might fail. She was puzzled for a moment and then explained to me that the testing has no bearing on whether or not a student would pass or fail as no students fail in Korea (at least at the elementary level). Rather the end of year testing determines which tier of Middle School they will get to attend. 

Unlike back home, where a student attends a school based on proximal geography, here in Korea that only happens with elementary school. In grade six students are tested and placed in an appropriate Middle School. In year three of Middle School the students are tested again to determine what High School they can attend. After three years of High School, they are given the University entrance exams (much like SATs from what I can tell) which will determine what Universities they can attend.

So it doesn't take one long to see that much a person's future success can be determined by their Middle School placement tests taken when they are 10 or 11 years old. 

This is serious stuff. This is the high suicide season in Korea where numerous students kill themselves over poor academic performance. A poor test score not only affects the school they can attend but potentially the career they can achieve. It also brings shame upon the family's honor and such a shame needs to be expiated. 

***

I thought I'd mention another conversation that I had with my co-teacher. She asked me what would a mother in Canada say to their child if the child refused to obey. She explained that the Korean method of guilt was to threaten the child with the absence of their mother. That the mother would leave the recalcitrant child. 

I explained that in Canada it was the other way around. Rather than having the mother leave because of the actions of the child, we would tell the child to leave. The oft-used "if you think you can do it better than go" routine. This of course shocked her to no end. I tried to explain the logic that why should the mother suffer exposure when it is the child that is misbehaving. Rather the child should bear the burden of the consequence. 

She wasn't buying it.

In from the cold

Having been in Korea now for three months there is one thing that I have come to understand; Koreans are cold people. Not 'cold' as in hard hearted or malicious, but rather 'cold' in that they are always complaining about how cold it is. Meanwhile foreigners are still wandering around in t-shirts or occasionaly shorts. The thing I don't understand is why, if you are constantly complaining about how cold it is, do you insist on opening all the windows in the school?

For instance, this morning it was pretty nippy, hovering around 2 degrees celcius. The teacher who is kind enough to give me a ride to work two days a week begins our morning conversation with "it is cold today," and blows on his hands to warm them. Is he wearing a coat? No. Does he have the heat on in the car? No. But he still complains that it is cold.

When I get to school, like any other day, the windows are flung wide as teachers and students alike huddle inside winter coats or with a friend under a blanket. I've seen some wrather interesting wraps that students have brought in in order to keep them warm while at school. 

I've been doing some looking around prior to this, but today I made a point of looking for a heating system throughout the school. I can't find one. They rolled in portable heaters today for the cafeteria. Can you guess where most people congregated?

So I get that they find it cold out. I mean its only 2 degrees (I wish I had packed my toque). But why then, would you do virtually everything in your power to make sure that you remain as cold as possible? Just so that you can constantly complain that it's cold? I'm beginning to think so.

***

In a previous post I commented on the apparent sexualization of young girls here in Korea, as evidenced by their outfits during the school festival. Well, I'm obviously not the first nor will I be the last foreigner to comment on such things as is evidenced by this other bloggers post. 

But I was hoping that against all odds, that it was only apparent sexualization and that it only appeared that way because of my tainted western view point. I'm not so sure. I was discussing the occurances with another foreigner and we are now wondering if it's not so much that they aren't sexualizing children, but that they don't see anything wrong with sexualizing children. That of course is a little scarier. 

I mean, I know we do it back home. All one has to do is take a look at Brittney Spears when she first came out through a number of other examples up the latest one (perhaps) in Miley Cyrus. But back home there seems to be this duality about the whole thing. We do it on one hand and decry it on the other. Hypocritical to be sure, but there is a glimmer there that we are doing something wrong. I have yet to encounter this glimmer here in Korea. I'm hoping that that is only because I haven't been here long enough.

Of course the comments of people who have been here much longer than I, don't give me much comfort. Nor does the survey data that shows one third of teen girls in Busan have been propositioned concerning prostitution, while five percent admitted to being part of the sex trade and another 10 percent were intrigued by it. 

The ministry questioned 2,012 female students in the southeastern port city and found 33.4 percent, or 672, answered they received prostitution offers. 

Among the female students who received the offers, only 35 percent said they ignored them. Nearly 20 percent said they were actually engaged in the sex trade, while the rest said they were ``intrigued'' by the offers. 

Festi-valle!

This past Friday was "Festival Day" at Seongnahm Elementary School, here in Suncheon, South Korea. The following is my impressions, photos and video of the event.

First the impressions.

As with any school pageant of this nature, the kids are always cute. It's also a great way to see your students in a new light. Especially for me, who only gets to see them for one class a week. It was great to see some of the kids that seemingly have no interest in school (from my limited perspective) up on stage performing.

The thing I found a bit shocking were the outfits and nature of some of the performances. From seeing a group of grade one girls wearing short skirt and halter top chearleader outfits while dancing to 'Mickey' or watching a group of grade six girls dressed up as hookers and dancing erotically on stage to the Wonder Girls (much to the delight of the grade 6 boys).

I felt rather awkward at times filming them, but I had agreed to take photos and film the performances for my co-teacher. I kept looking around at the other teachers to see if they had a problem with what was happening and they didn't. Niether did the parents who witnessed the performances.

I guess it speaks to the level of sexualization in their culture, especially of young girls. If such performances were to happen in Canada people would be up in arms.

Here are some photos of the event:

The grade 1 girls dancing to Mickey
One of my grade 5 classes waiting for their chance to perform
The grade 5's in action
Some of the kindergarten kids
A grade 1 class awaiting their chance
The grade 1's having fun
One of my co-teachers with her troupe of singers
Here they are singing
The aforementioned grade 6 girls
Some of my grade 6 boys dressed in school uniforms from 20 years ago
Grade 3 girls dancing up a storm
A very diligent triangle player
A collection of black belts
Some grade 5 girls doing a fan dance
A grade 1 class
A grade 2 class
Another grade 2 class
A grade 4 class doing a traditional dance

Here's a video of the proceedings:

Model prisoners

I seen this and had to share.

I wonder if Canadian prisoners would be interested in something similar.

1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice! This is not the final routine, and definitely not a punishment! 

Thriller

Soulja Boy

Jump

You can see even more here.

New things to worry about

In looking into moving to Korea over the past couple of years (first for a friend and then for myself) I was obviously aware that I would need to worry about the relative value of the Won when compared to the Canadian dollar. In all my time researching the move, it was always rather favorable or at least fairly equal. Now everyone I know is worried about the value of the Won and when would be the best time to send money back home. It's not an inexpensive venture anymore. I had a friend send back money to Canada and effectively lost $700 on the transaction.

So now I find myself checking in on a currency website several times a week, trying to figure out when is the best time to gamble on your money and send some back home. 

Less than a year ago, 1000 Won was worth more than one Canadian dollar. Recently, the Canadian dollar started to climb in relative value (even while losing out against the US dollar) crossing the 1000 Won barrier in early April. In mid-August the Canadian dollar peaked at over 1200 Won. Despite a recent fall of nearly 200 Won per dollar the Won is once again losing out to the Canadian dollar which is steadily gaining in relative value. At the time of writing this the Canadian dollar was worth 1147.74 Won. 

Not a great atmosphere in which to send money back to Canada.

But the news just keeps getting worse.

I received an email from my Korean bank, informing its customers of the poor economy and advising each of us to act responsibly in these uncertain economic times. Wonderful.

Then I read this from the BBC:

Meanwhile, South Korea says growth in its economy, which has been battered by the current financial crisis, is at a four-year low.

Its Kospi benchmark share index fell 7.5% on Thursday to hit a three-year dip, and its currency, the won, has lost a third of its value this year.

In early trading on Friday, the Kospi dipped below 1,000 points for the first since in more than three years, before recovering slightly.

However, it is still down 4.7% on the day so far, having lost almost half its value so far this year.

Samsung, the South Korean electronics firm, has said that its third-quarter profits were down 44%, despite a rise in sales.

So while the Canadian dollar continues its slide against the US dollar (it had been hovering around the 'at par' mark for much of the year but began to dip in late June and nose dived in late August - it is now only worth $0.795 American) the Won is performing even worse (the US dollar crossed the 1000 Won mark in April but is now approaching 1450 Won per dollar). 

So for me to send $1000 back to Canada, I will have to spend 1,128,747.04 Won. I effectively lose $129 in the transaction. I have a feeling that its only going to get worse. 

Wonderful.

***

I recently posted about my trip to Busan and one of the things that I had never thought of concerning the cost of living in a big city was time.

Everyone understands that there are costs to pay when living in a big city. The cost of living is higher, real estate is higher, polution is higher but I never really understood the time one has to invest in simply moving around the city. 

In about two and a half days in Busan, I probably spent close to 6 hours on the subway!

The city by the sea

I've been in South Korea now for about two months, maybe a tad more. Ever since getting here one of my priorities has been to try and hook up with a friend of mine from Canada that I haven't seen in over a year. With two aborted attempts behind me, the third time was a charm as I finally made my way to Busan for my long awaited visit with my friend.

Luckily enough I was given a four day weekend through various school holidays and so spent a lazy Friday getting everything in place for an early Saturday departure.

Up at 5:50am, in the cab at 6:30am and on the bus for Busan at 7am. It was an early start but it would place me in Busan around 10am leaving me a full day for sightseeing general frivolities.

This was the absolute worst part of the trip and simultaneously the worst bus trip I've ever been on. As I was going away for three days I had two bags with me, so I chose a seat at the very back of the bus that afforded me greater leg room ang subsequently more room for my bags. Leaving Suncheon was no problem and we quickly made our way to Gwangyang to pick up a few more travelers. There were two or three people that got onboard, one of which was an older gentleman. Given that the bus was half empty I didn't forsee any problems with seating. Well that gentleman proved me wrong.

After a couple of aborted attempts at choosing a regular seat he decided to sit in one of the four empty seats that lined the back of the bus beside me. At first he sat a seat away from me and I thought nothing of it as I listened to my audio book. After a few minutes though he shifted over to the seat beside me. Okay, still nothing major but in my opinion highly unnecessary. Then he rubs my arm. I'm thinking, okay, no big deal. I've had plenty of Koreans rub my arm looking at the hair on my arm. Then he rubs my leg. Getting a little creaped out at this point, but in trying to be polite I gave him the opportunity to prove that it was simple curiosity that would quickly fade. Nope.

After rubbing my other leg for a second he puts his left hand between our legs an then starts to rub the underside of my right leg. Okay, now I just want to knock the guy out. I push his arm away and say "Anio!" (Korean for no). He gives me a strange look and then starts to say something in Korean that I don't understand. But his hand stays away so I go back to my audio book and the passing scenery, hoping that that was the end of it. Nope.

A few minutes later he starts at it again. Again I tell him no and push his arm away. He gives me another strange look and then pulls out his cell phone and gives it to me. I interpret this as his wanting me to give him my phone number, so in an effort to appease the guy I type in my phone number from Canada, hoping that he will leave it at that. Nope.

About every fifteen minutes I'm forced to tell this guy to stop rubbing my leg. I really did just want to give the old man a shot in the head. Well, actually I wanted to give him repeated shots in the head, but I didn't.

As we are coming into the bus station in Busan he motions for me to go to eat with him. I tell him no, several times. When the bus comes to a stop, he tries dragging me off the bus with him, but I don't go. I wait a couple of minutes hoping that he will wonder off. When I finally do get off the bus I quickly look around and not seeing him think that the coast is clear. So I set about looking over the subway map and making a quick call to my friend. Sure enough the old man comes back trying to drag me off with him again. I tell him no, turn my back to him and continue with my phone call. He simply stands a few feet away looking at me.

When I see him head over to a newspaper stand, I bolt into the terminal up an escalator and back towards the area to buy tickets. I wait there for about fifteen minutes hoping that I had finally lost the old guy. Success!

With that unpleasantness behind me I managed to get ahold of my friend and arrange to meet up in the subway system.

Waiting in the Busan subway

Once we were together we decided to make our way to the Haeundae Beach district, get a motel for the night and start our day off with a quick lunch at Bennigans. After lunch we made our way across the street to the beach and the Busan Aquarium.

One of the many Haeundae markers in the sidewalks

A view of the beach looking east

The Aquarium was pretty good. I couldn't remember if I had ever been to an aquarium before. The shark tank was pretty cool and I liked being able to see a couple of Green Sea Turtles.

A young girl playing with a penguin

One of the many sharks

A Green Sea Turtle

After the aquarium we made our way downtown to one of the open market shopping areas and a temple park. In the park was a observation tower that offered tremendous views of the Busan harbour area.

Looking east towards the docks

The Busan harbour

After the temple area we decided to check out the Texas street shopping area. This is what Lonely Planet has to say about Texas St.:

Dangers and Annoyances

It's best to avoid Texas St. - a small commercial district opposite Busan Station that's home for shifty people, Russians, hostess bars and the occasional street hold up - at night.

I must admit that this was the first time that someone immediately thought I was Russian simply because I was white. That combined with the propositions from 'madams' in Russian set the atmosphere quite nicely. Unfortunately the shops that we wanted to go to were closed by this time in the evening so we left and made a point of going back on Sunday.

On Sunday we went back to Texas St. and found the shirt shop that we had been looking for and as a bonus found a shop that provided me with my most satisfying purchase.

The entrance to Texas St.

One of the many Russian bars

My new Darren McFadden jersey!

After leaving Texas St. on Saturday night we made our way back to the beach area to meet up with a friend of my friend as there was to be a fireworks display at Gwangalli Beach. When we made up to street level from the subway we could already hear the fireworks exploding in the distance. We quickly stopped at a corner store, bought a beer and began to make our way to the beach.

The area was simply one huge mass of people pushing towards the beach trying to gain a better view of the pyrotechnics. I had never been pushed around so much at one time in my life. It made the busses seem spacious by comparison. Through a little luck, determination and the odd well placed elbow I made my to the boardwalk and managed to get a video of the display.

A view of the bridge and the crowd

Me with a few kids were busy making mountains

After the fireworks were over we hung out on the beach for a while. I took some pictures of the bridge as it is supposed to be somewhat famous. Two of my co-teachers commented on it when I told them I was going to Busan. After meeting up with two more people, we made our way back the Haeundae Beach area for a quick dinner at a Lotteria and off to the U2 foreigner bar.

The beer was expensive ($7 for a bottle of Stella Artois), the dj was blaring techno dance music in a bar in which everyone was huddled in booths or around tables trying to talk. The music was a real hinderance in trying to talk with this one particulary nice young Korean woman that I was carrying on a conversation with.

Sunday arrived and three of us made our way to the United Nations Memoria Cemetery to commemorate the allied forces that participated in the Korean War. It was a very peaceful place guarded by two solemn Korean soldiers. It was a sprawling display of monuments, flags, grave markers and flowers. It was definitely worth seeing.

The monument at the entrance to the park

The Canadian monument

A view of the memorial wall

After the cemetery we made our way back to Texas St. (as I said earlier) and then tried to make our way to Democracy Park. We were given directions at Busan Station and with them in hand we boarded the designated bus and got a cheap tour of Busan, but no Democracy Park. We cirled around it a few times, we could see it off the distance in the fading light, but just couldn't quite get there. But we did get to meet a nice Korean woman who was rather pleased to meet us. She had lived for about a year and a half in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

After returning to Busan Station we decided to make our way back to Haeundae and to see about a train for my friend's friend. Now down to the two of we headed off to freshen up at the hotel and then off to dinner, a nice walk along the beach and then a patio for some beers. The patio even came with a floor show when to Korean's decided that they had had enough of stroking one anothers hands and hair and got into a scrap that sent tables and chairs flying.

Monday morning came and with it my journey back to Suncheon that was thankfully uneventful. After an hour on the subway to the bus terminal it was a three hour ride to Suncheon and half hour on the city bus to my apartment. Four and half hours after leaving my seaside hotel room I was back home uploading pictures and putting together my video.

It was a great weekend and I look forward to my next trip to Busan.

It was a good capper to a great weekend.

The greatest of these is love

The apostle Paul wrote "And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." In today's day and age love is misconstrued as many things, but for Paul love was:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is
not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. 8Love never fails.

Now I am fully aware that Christians throughout history have proven themselves to be only human despite a calling of such high regard as:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like
it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these
two commandments."

Now I don't bring this up in the context of the following news story argue against Islam, as I know relatively little concerning Islam. I am confident though that Muslim's believe Allah to be a god of love.

Indeed, "The Loving" is one of Allah's names as He said about Himself: "And He
is the Forgiving and Loving" (Qur'an 85:14). Love is just a word which must be
translated in action and it becomes obedience in the case of His creation, human
beings, and mercy in case of the Creator, Allah. You can see that when love is
translated into action it is mercy and His mercy is unconditional. You receive
Allah's mercy whether you are an obedient servant of Allah or you are a mushrik
(pagan, idolater) and a sinner; they all receive equal treatment in this life.

When people argue against Christianity, many bring up travesties perpetuated in God's name by professing Christians. The Crusades, The Spanish Inquisition and more recently the Church's actions during the rise of the Nazi's in Germany. I believe that honest thinkers understand that simply stating you are doing something in one's name does not mean that it is an accurate reflection of that person. While the Church would not have been able to stop Hitler, that does not mean that it should not have tried through both word and deed.

There is a similar moment happening today, but for the Muslim faith. I believe that, while the actions of these few don't necessarily accurately reflect either the religion or the being of Allah, I think that the Muslim 'church' is making the same mistake that the Christian Church made several decades ago. Just as the Church should have tried to thwart Hitler, modern Muslims should be trying to thwart Muslim extremists in both word and deed. They need to be fighting for the hearts and minds of their young so that they don't give in to a doctrine of hate such as this poor young woman.

From the BBC:

Just married and determined to die

There is a ceasefire in Gaza, but the BBC has found evidence of
militant groups preparing for a return to violence. One group, Islamic Jihad, is
training female suicide bombers.

Middle East correspondent Paul Wood went to meet a Palestinian woman
who has volunteered.

The young, veiled woman was sitting quiet and still as the room bustled around her.

The black flag of Islamic Jihad was pinned on the wall behind her and two Kalashnikovs were carefully placed in camera shot. Her husband, an Islamic
Jihad fighter himself, tied on her "martyr's" headband.

Umm Anas - not her real name - had just graduated from a programme to
train female suicide bombers in Gaza.

Our meeting was a highly-orchestrated propaganda event laid on by
Islamic Jihad. It was almost theatre - and certainly Israel accuses the
Palestinian leadership of manipulating young women like 18-year-old Umm Anas.

Yet, although she nervously twisted her wedding ring, Umm Anas did not
appear to be a cipher.

She was articulate - more so than the men staging the event - and she
knew her own mind.

Secret ambition

When she spoke of becoming a suicide bomber, Umm Anas's voice was
strong and steady: "This is a gift from God.

"We were created to become martyrs for God," she continued, her eyes
burning behind the full face veil.

"All the Palestinian people were created to fight in God's name. If we just
throw stones at the Jews they get scared. Imagine what happens when body parts
fly at them."

The bomb belt which she hopes will end her life - and kill many
Israelis - rested on the table next to us.

Her main motivation in becoming a suicide bomber appears to be
religious rather than nationalistic - the fulfilment of a long-held ambition.
Even getting married recently hadn't changed her mind.

"When my husband married me, he knew my way of thinking. He knew
exactly who I am and based on this he decided to marry me. Marriage doesn't give
me a second's doubt."

I asked if that would alter if she became pregnant.

"I would wait until I delivered the baby," she said. "I would give him
to my parents and ask them to look after him... Then I would leave them and the
baby would remain behind as a piece of me."

Her parents, brothers and sisters did not know.

"Martyrs - male or female - have to work in secret. No one can know
about it. We have to be careful not to give our parents any sign of what we are
about to do.

"Sometimes, maybe, they can tell and see on your face the signs of
martyrdom. They are suspicious but they don't know for certain."

Ready for death

Umm Anas thinks she knows the manner of her death, but she doesn't know
the timing.

She is waiting for the collapse of the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire
between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic movement which rules Gaza.

Would-be suicide bomber Umm Anas talks to the BBC Islamic Jihad
accepted the ceasefire, but accuses Israel of readying for another large
incursion into Gaza.

Israel meanwhile accuses militant groups of using the pause to refit
and rearm.

"There is a clear Zionist decision and trend to end and break the
lull," said an Islamic Jihad spokesman last month.

This, says the organisation, is why it has been running its secret
training programme for female suicide bombers. They want to be ready.

Trainees are being prepared to attack invading Israeli soldiers. But
would Umm Anas be ready to walk into a restaurant full of civilians, too, and
blow herself up?

"Israeli soldiers, of course... are the easier target when they come
here, but [I would kill] civilians too because both civilians and soldiers took
our land."

But wouldn't she have any difficulty killing people not holding a gun?
Wouldn't she feel pity for women and children?

"It is not important because all of them have violated our land.
Children are civilians, but they grow up to become soldiers... They are all
brought up to hate us. Palestine is only for Palestinians. We must kick them all
out in any way we can."

Propaganda of fear

The use of Palestinian women as suicide bombers was once thought of as
immodest - and therefore un-Islamic - but that changed, the militant groups say,
because of shortage of male candidates and because women were better able to get
close to their targets.

That's the official explanation, but female bombers also have much greater
propaganda impact.

Their participation in suicide attacks was made possible
by religious rulings in Gaza.

Chairman of the Muslim Scholars Association Marwan Abu Ras told the BBC
there were many precedents in Islamic history for women joining military
operations.

"We do not encourage death," he said. "Islam prohibits you from harming
yourself, even to cause a small cut in your finger, but now we are fighting a
war of resistance.

"If one nation violates another nation's land, it is the obligation of
everyone - men, women, and children - to fight back."

Finally, I asked Umm Anas if she was ever able to put out of her mind
what she was about to do.

"I never stop thinking of this," she said.

"I take each step carefully because I know I am going to sacrifice
myself. Martyrs must pray all the time. They must fast.

"There are many duties to perform before we are ready to face God. I am
trying not to make any mistakes so that I do not miss this opportunity."

Video

A river of light

Another good week here in South Korea. Language lessons are going well. I think that I've finally gotten a handle on the alphabet, but I'm still having trouble with a few of the vowels.

Friday night was a good time. A number of us got together for a bowling and norebong (karaoke essentially). I even managed to score 100% on two songs: Twist and Shout by the Beatles and Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones.

On Saturday a group of us traveled to Jinju for their annual Namgang Lantern Festival. From Wikipedia:

The Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival [...] is held in October for approximaly ten days. This nationally designated cultural tourism festival, found only in Jinju, features a spectacle of lanterns floating on teh Nam River to commerate the patriotic spirit of the 70,000 militia corps and government troops who died for their country defending Jinju from the Japanese forces during the Imjin War (1592-1598).

From PusanWeb:

During the Japanese invasion, the general Kim Si-Min, raised a lantern in the sky and floated lamplights and torches on the river to send military signals to loyal troops and other support forces outside the castle. The flowing lantern was used as a military tool to signal tactics on preventing Japanese troops from crossing the Namgang. It was also used for communication purposes. Soldiers inside the castle were able to use the lantern as a means of expressing their safety to their families.

It was quite the spectacle.

When we first got there we made our way through a long series of vendor stalls selling numerous items including wonderfully carved and polished wood pieces.

More of the Korean obsession with the phalus

A few of the group got custom stamps made of their name written in Hangul, I was not one of them though. Now that I think back on it I wish I had, they only cost $10. If I ever come across another opportunity to get one I will make a point of it.

The whole event ran along both banks of the Nam River for what must have been a couple of kilometres. Floating on the river were dozens of various characters and diorama. They looked impressive enough during the day.

Part of the festival was that you could make your own lantern in which you would write your wish and then float it down the river, mimicing those soldiers from long ago.

About to float our lanterns down the river

Once night fell, the whole area lit up and it was something to behold. Words won't do it justice.

Just before we left (we had to leave relatively early as the last train for home left at 8:50pm) there was a fantastic fireworks display. The fireworks themselves were launched from both land and from some of the floats on the river. Unfortunately I had gone through both sets of batteries by that point and don't have any photos to share (I did manage, however, to film it with my cell phone. So if I ever figure out how to get it from my phone to my computer, I'll be sure to share.).

It was a long but wonderful day.

I can't wait for the next festival.