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.

The Suncheon adventures - part one

Friday was a holiday here in Korea. I'm not exactly sure why but it was a day off so I'm not going to be the one to question it too much. Despite the fact that it is known as Gaecheonjeol or National Foundation Day, the brief write up I found on wikipedia did little justice to the story that my co-teacher tried to tell me.

So rather than sit around and do nothing (I had originally planned on going to Pusan to visit a friend but he was called away at the last minute to Japan) I decided to check out a bit of Suncheon.

Three days a week I take the bus to work. During the ride I can see a temple perched atop a mountain located in the centre of Suncheon. I thought that this would be a good place to start. So I got on the bus and got off near the base of the mountain figuring it would be easy to find the entrance. Not so much. I walked north for about an hour, following the curve of the mountain before I finally found the road that would lead me to the park. Still not too bad.

The park itself was beautiful and had amazing views of the city. Here is something of a photo diary of that day.

Exercise equipment along the river

A fountain in the river. Don't I look happy?

A view north of the city

The stairway to the temple

Some detail from inside

A view south

Apparently this statue is a famous feature of the park

A mountain in the distance

***

In my previous post I mentioned the numerous 'barber shops' where you could get a little extra service. Here is one such place.

Note the double barber poles on the left

For whatever reason I thought I'd share a photo of my new cell phone. It has a painting for the screen's wallpaper. I think it's by Rubens. Well the kids get a real kick out of it. Two kids asked to see my phone, they opened up, gasped in surprise, closed the phone immediately and then started going on about a nude picture.

My cell phone


A video I made from the temple observatory overlooking Suncheon