Sokcho Triathlon

I arrived really early - embarrassingly early. Well, some foreigners competing at the triathlon told me that the English page of the website was wrong - the race didn't start at 6:30 am but at 8:00am. A bit of a shame because it was as warm or warmer at 6:30 as at 8:00.

Anyway, I had left my sleeping wife and child at home and couldn't stay all day so I watch the prep and the swim leg of the race.
This isn't part of the triathlon although many triathletes are on the ferry.
I did not see the athlete with a disability ( adapted from the competitive swimming designation) in the swim leg but I did see him ride. You might say I wouldn't know the difference between a disabled swimmer and an able bodied one (and, as a later pic will show, you might be right) but the course was two laps of the swimming course with a 10 metre run on shore between laps so I think I would have noticed something.
I helped a little with the cleanup of the water bottles. When they were ready to go, a worker offered me a bottle in gratitude. Gee, thanks for the free water.
I kept an eye on the lifeguarding crew and was surprised to see scuba tanks. A wise precaution, I guess.
As soon as these guys hit the water, they were on the bouyline. As far as I could tell, they did the whole course arm-over-arm on the bouyline. I can understand hanging on after getting a foot in the face or some such thing but these people seemed to be in a triathlon and completely unable to swim.

I saw a little of the cycling and was impressed but the course was not so impressive. At several point athletes had to make 180 degree turns and even more 90 degree turns. There weren't many places to get into a long steady rhythm.

An apology to Canada's native people

I remember a conversation I had with my mother and sister more than twenty years ago. Conversation doesn't describe the heat; argument is a better term. My sister, AlaskaMarci was attacking historic government actions removing native American children from their families, while my mother and I took, not an opposing view exactly, but a counter view.

I felt that the government had done the wrong thing but simply wanted my sister to accept that they were not deliberately being evil.

In hearing the recent apology, I have to change my view. Some (I hope it was only some) authorities wanted to completely end the Native American way of life, culture and religion, creating, I guess, a nation with some variation in color but none in language or supposedly common history (alright, there would be two languages).

Our mother, who grew up in a small northern Ontario town with a reservation (or several) nearby and had many native American classmates, felt the government was wrong to remove children but there might have been a few defendable reasons for doing so. She noted that few Native Americans in her town completed high school (in town) and that even at public school (on the reservations) students had frequent absences for various hunting and fishing seasons. They did not put as much time into class as the other students in the community.

She told me that even a few Parry Sound (Ontario) Native children were sent to residential schools. We were both surprised; she hadn’t heard about it when it was occurring.

When we had this argument, I was naive and less political than I am now. Now, I wonder how the 1950's government could imagine removing children from their parents could possibly have good long-term results.

I am late on commenting on this story but I am glad that the government has apologized:

…aboriginal people packed Parliament to hear the prime minister say it for all Canadians: "We are sorry."

Stephen Harper made the historic apology Wednesday in the House of Commons for generations of racist policy meant to "kill the Indian in the child."

…

The apology is part of a massive compensation and healing package expected to top $4 billion.

The Homind and the police

Cory Doctorow, a sort-of Canadian*, is a big defender of civil liberties and maintaining public rights. On his blog Boing-boing, he frequently publicizes the run-ins everyday citizens have with law enforcement infrigning on their legal rights. I would say his most common posts are on people being on public property and being told they cannot take photographs. There is an interesting post on his blog about a man interviewing a manager at New York's Union Station where she tells the interviewer that photos are legal even as a security man arrives to tell them they can't take photos. His other bugaboo is copyright and he is currently agitating about Canada's upcoming copyright bill.


The Big Hominid has had some interesting run-ins with the police lately. One often hears of officers stopping, I don't know, vagrants or hobos, as they try to enter a town and directing them away or driving them through the town out the other side. I can see why they would do this as a convenience to themselves but people should have a right to walk where they want to go.

Isn't this how Rambo started out? When will people learn?


Both situations were handled very politely. The first appeared to be a sort of neighbourhood watch:

It turns out that the gent in the pickup was an off-duty policeman who called in the fact that a backpacker was strolling into town, which I suppose is why Officer Chuck checked me out.

A commenter at the above post wrote about getting permission to walk on publicly-owned roads. That sounds a little hinky to me:

One of the things I learned from Steve Vaught's Fat Man Walking blog is that, at least in some states, you can get permission from the state highway department to walk along roads where pedestrians are ordinarily prohibited. Something we'll need to look into.

On the second occasion, an officer helped the Hominid across a dangerous section of bridge; it had no shoulder or sidewalk and he had to walk sideways with his luckily-much-smaller gut hanging in traffic before the officer helped him out. He got in an interesting discussion with the officer about the legalities of walking on the side of the road.

I'm not sure I understood (or even correctly recall) the answer. If I'm not mistaken, Officer Boisen's basic point was that, even though it was technically legal to walk 522, the road wasn't "intended for" (his words) pedestrian traffic. The legal implications of "intended for" are lost to me; I'm curious to look up the actual law relevant to what happened today-- not because I dispute Officer Boisen's interpretation of it, but because I want to be clear about it in future, so as not to cause any trouble.

I want the Hominid to be safe and take no unnecessary risks but, at this rate, he may start sympathizing with the Radical-Right, Compound-Living, gubment-hating, religious fanatics. Hey, what an interesting way to start a dialogue, an inter-religious dialogue based on common concerns -way-ta-go, hypothetical-future Hominid!

My own viewpoint is that pedestrians or any users of alternative transportation should not be looked at as second-class citizens.

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I think Doctorow went to school in Canada but he is really a citizen of the world. I think he currently lives in England.

The Happening - nothing is happening

Yesterday, I had the choice of seeing Incredible Hulk or The Happening. Its hard to say why I chose The Happening, but I know now that I made a horrible mistake.

Years ago, I read CS Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, a book describing correspondence between a senior demon and his nephew. Uncle Screwtape gives some advice on how to turn a man from Christianity; he tells his nephew to get the man to accept local spirits and mysterious forces rather than the work of one God.

Lewis would have hated Star Wars and 'the Force' which seems the embodiment of his earlier argument.

As Star Wars is to religion, The Happening is to science.

The difference being, Star Wars was a fantastic movie. Thrilling and imaginative. I am still willing to watch it again (well, the original three of the series).

The Happening is bad or incomprehensible science and a weak plot but little character development.

Our survivors are mere pawns, required to do no more than stop, yammer, then simply push on, trying to vainly outrun a threat they barely comprehend. The cast tries heroically to infuse meaning into vague, unfocused lines, and there is a last act appearance by a psychotic recluse (played by Betty Buckley) that changes the entire tone into something akin to a backwoods exploitation effort. Link

I think Shymalan was trying to update On The Beach, but that was a thoughtful exploration of how people would cope with their mortality over the course of months, while this story takes place over about 26 hours and mostly involves a lot of running.

The people are running from rustling trees. I know that innocuous objects can be made terrifying (windchimes and empty, swaying swings from Nightmare on Elm Street still focus my attention), but wind and rustling trees are not all that scary.

Shymalan was interviewed on Science Friday. One interesting thing he said was that he was known for plot twists but he only made one movie like that. I would have counted two: Sixth Sense (of course) and The Village. True, in the Village, the twist is not at the end but it is close to the end.

Please, go see Incredible Hulk.

If you do watch the movie, help me out. Reviewers online describe Wahlberg as starting in Philadelphia, but I thought he started in New York and was fleeing to Phily. Am I so wrong? Did the reviewers see an early version of the movie that was changed for the commercial release?

Finally, if it were a better movie, it would be cool that we got to see it more than a day before it opens in the US.

Beer drinking cows always make me think of Mexican Chicken

The title, in Korean, is Mexican Chicken. So, why is there a cow drinking beer?
Elsewhere, on the store front, is chicken (not particularly Mexican looking - it is wearing a chef's hat, not a sombrero) and, quite disturbingly, it is holding a drumstick, skewered on a fork, in a wing.

Ugh, animal mascots for food products make me feel queasy - well, maybe not cows on milk cartons, but most others. Oh, right, beer drinking cows advertising chicken are okay, I guess.

My students feel this way.

I found a whiteboard with a hole in it. Not from one of my classrooms but from one of Masuro's rooms. He may have driven one of his students to violence - perhaps they looked like the normally handsome guy in this pic (man, what a pencil-neck!)

Fantasia: a sneak peek

I walked past the new jimjilbang today and was waved in; the grand open(ing) isn't until Friday but people can visit now.
It's a nice place but a little cramped. It is roomy enough but the unrelieved white does make it seem closer.
The weight room is fine for a visit but I wouldn't get a membership for it.
There are two restaurants and a snack concession. Here, you see tables for the western (fast food) restaurant. There are sleeping areas on this, the main floor, but many more above in a sort of crawl space.
KwandongAlex gives you a sense of proportion. Well not at all private, they do offer a feeling of personal space.
They still need to work on a few things (maybe it is the weight-loss sauna).
They are closing early before the Grand Opening, so I was able to take a picture of the baths. The pools pictured here were all of the same temperature but that might change later. There is a cold pool off to the right.
Again, Fantasia is next to the apartment so I expect the family will be visiting frequently.

Jun 13-15 weekend

A busy weekend here - not for me, exactly, but for Sokcho and, I guess, tourists.

On June 13th, Fantasia opens - it's a new jimjilbang, health club and such . The building is right outside my apartment window and I have watched construction and renovations. The exterior looks good. I wouldn't come to Sokcho for Fantasia, but if you are here on Friday, it might be interesting (more for locals) to check out. Oh, a jimjilbang is described as a sauna and I am sure Fantasia has some but normally they are cheap places to sleep for budget travellers. As everyone sleeps in one big room, it may be sanctioned by parents for young couples, I don't know.

On Saturday and Sunday is the 4th International Walking Festival. -Gee, now that I think about it, it may be best for locals and especially for locals with children, like myself. Anyway, KwadongAlex and I will do the 5km walk. The 10 and 20km would be too exhausting for me to carry the little guy and be tortuously boring for him. The courses are all in Seorak National Park, starting at Seorak Dong - the terminus for local bus number 7 or 7-1.

On Saturday should be the local monthly KOTESOL meeting although I haven't heard anything about it yet.

On Sunday morning is a triathlon. I think it is a 1.5km swim, 50km bike and 10km run. The advertising says something like 'enjoy mountainous Sokcho' but the course is pool-table flat, entirely within the confines of Expo Park. That may make it more interesting to spectators - its hard to make triathlons less interesting to spectators - but more than a little repetitive for competitors. I guess they don't look around that much anyway. links: 1, 2 (PDF map),

Also on Sunday, and for locals only, is cheap day at Waterpia. Waterpia is a fair to good water theme park with a variety of pools, water-slides and excellent hot-springs but it is overpriced to my mind at around 30,000won. On the third Sunday of the month, Sokcho and Goseong residents can swim for 6,000 won. The little guy and I haven't missed a day all winter. It'll be great to use the outside facilities in comfort.

Finally on Sunday is a "Sokcho Beach Nude" . Whatever it is, it costs 20,000won, starts at 9:00am and involves nude photos. If others can translate the sign better, please do so in the comments.

City Hall tour of Danoje

Gangneung City Hall hosted a fantastic tour for foreigners allowing us to better understand the UNESCO qualified Danoje festival and rituals. There were two tour groups: one for foreigners residing locally and one for foreigners from across Korea. Oh, I mean foreign ESL teachers. I will try to explain the rituals and have put the photos in a different order than we toured them.


The story starts with a (possibly simple-minded) girl who filled a basin at this well to drink. As the weather was clear, she saw a reflection of the sun in the water. This upset her so she dumped the basin and refilled it. After repeating this until she was tired, she decided to simply drink the water. Soon thereafter, she learned she was pregnant. I am not sure if the sun or the water was considered responsible. Certainly, I could convince none of the others on the tour to drink.Horrified by being pregnant and unmarried, she left the baby under the rocks in this photo. A stork (interesting convergence with western baby mythology) found and fed the baby until the woman came back and took him home.

The son became a famous Buddhist monk and even travelled to China for training.

I need to read some of the material the tour guides gave us but I think the monk worked (prayed?) at a mountain temple in daegwallyeong. His mother one day went to visit him and died. No one could lift her until an artist took her portrait. Then they could move her (somewhere). Her portrait now resides in a shrine in Gangneung - which we later visited.

All this is the background for the ceremony. Now, it all starts here:

Sacred liquor is made here a month before the Danoje Festival. I guess it is carried up to the mountain shrine.
Sadly, just to the left of the frame is a shaman singing and chanting. Sorry 'bout that.

This shrine is dedicated to the monk I described earlier but also to a general who was at least locally famous. This is the first martial looking San-shin (mountain god) but, as ever, he has his faithful tigers close at hand.

Our tour included a lecture by Bak Sungme of Hankuk University, professor of (something relevant). She described the area east of Daegwallyeong as historically being remote and difficult to reach. Local culture was able to diverge from national norms somewhat. Perhaps that explains the somewhat youthful and weapons-carrying mountain god.

danoje 2

This the second of three posts about Danoje, but I am typing them in reverse order - on the blog, they should read in chronological order. I hope I don't repeat myself or skip something.
There is a shrine on the mountain where a sacred tree grows. A branch of the tree or a seedling from the tree is carried down on this trail - which means this trail could be more than a thousand years old. I notice that the trail is in quite a depression - could it be a flood route or did a thousand years of foot traffic help create a depression about three meters deep? This was a great hike, by the way.
The tree is brought to this temple inside the city. This goddess is the mother of the local mountain god revered where the tree was collected. I have limited knowledge of mountain gods but the tiger is a symbol of the mountain god - I think a female with the tiger is unusual.
Finally, the tree is carried to the riverside site for various rites.
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Forgive the blurry focus: I think it and the torches give a frantic "storm Frankenstein's castle" feel.
At Gangneung city hall is a statue, in a courtyard and easily seen from many windows, of a frightened looking topless woman and a another woman, naked in a chair. This is another terrible photo - perhaps soft-focus makes it be not-pornography. Whatever, this is a strange statue for city hall.

people at danoje

KwandongMartin's instructions were to "hold that lantern like you mean it."
GangneungHayley gets free soju, dances with enabler.
Foreign women get hair washed, local press has a frenzy. (a local tradition, at this time people wash their hair with iris water. I hesitantly asked one of the women if I could smell her hair. It smelled great!)
A Gangwon Notes fan, GangneungMatthew - quote "I didn't say I was a fan, I said I read your blog"
Somewhat more than halfway up Daegwallyeong. Our tour bus stopped here for the view and a group of cyclists stopped here to gasp and wheeze -actually they looked sweaty but not as worn down as I had expected.

Audio Relay

Some time ago, the EFL Geek posted about having an audio relay in class. Good call! My students had a lot of fun with it.

Students had to complete four sentences and knew how many words there would be. Today was our last class and note that I also scheduled crying for the end of class (my agendas are very detailed)! - Nobody cried.
Here, a group of students are listening to the recording. The first class tried to memorize the entire recording - and wasted a lot of time just standing there. They eventually got the hang of it. I told later classes to try to pick out three or so words and run in write them down.
A bit of an action shot.
All the students (in the frame) were into the game. Out of sight on the the upper left (but, again, you can't see him) was a student who just sat there. Well, it was the last class so I felt no pressure to push him. I had pushed him somewhat through the semester but his grades will reflect very well his effort - today was a good representative sample.
If you didn't read the Geek's post - and you should read all of them (well, you can make up your own mind about the computer programming and such. Check out the fantastic post about Korean Class 101!) -in the relay, students are in teams. One member of the team at a time goes into the hall and listens to the recording. That student cannot write anything down or use his/her phone while in the hall. The student returns and records what s/he heard. At some point students may argue over words and spelling so there is significant sharing involved.

I eventually gave a few hints - number of letters in the words and the first letter to a few words.
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The sentences related to Connect With English, episodes 6-10. This is a PBS video class that all our second year students take. The story follows Rebecca as she decides to move from Boston to San Fransisco to enrol in music school.

If anyone cares, the sentences are:
I wonder what will happen to Rebecca in San Fransisco.
Will she and Alberto date?
Will he be arrested as a stalker?
I hope she does well in college.

....................................................Although the 'stalker' thing seems out there, Rebecca is concerned for her safety during much of her time with him.

First Ocean Swim of the year

My first swim was almost shamefully late this year. I went to the beach several times in May but my son was with me so I couldn't leave him on shore alone... and it was really cold on my feet and calves.

June 1st, today, my son was with me again but I let him dig sand castles for a minute or two while I went in. I did so twice so the photo isn't of me gritting my teeth and simply staging the shot.

The water was actually okay. I could have stayed in a few more minutes without being uncomfortable.

I asked some random tourist to take the photos for me and she took several but its an old camera and when there's a lot of motion in the shot, the camera dithers and hesitates before deciding to take the picture. There were several photos of my back but this is the closest to a face shot in the bunch. Really, it is me.

If I had a soul, it would be filling with terror!

I learned a new word last week.

Somewhat before class, a student asked if we could have a "Yahweh" class.

Here is an approximation of my stream of consciousness:
Did she just say, "Yahweh"? Does she want a religion class; a Christianity class? What has she heard about me? Am I expected to discuss religion? This is a Christian university.uh, uh, what do I do? What do I do?

Turns out, the Korean word for 'outdoor' sounds similar to to the Christian word for God. It was a beautiful day and she wanted to slack off. Not willing to ask for the hour off, she did the next best thing and asked to go outside for class.
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I am an atheist but that doesn't affect anything I teach. I have never bad mouthed religion, of any sort, in class.
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Has anyone ever had a successful outdoor class - not one based on sports or relevant material, but simply generic material with the class held outside? If so, please give me advice on how to do that. I suspect I could give a good class outside but to do so takes a lot prep and good weather days are unpredictable -except this year when it is easiest to predict bad weather.

The Indiana Jones Quadrology is overrated!!!

There. I said it.

Did I say it right? Is quadrology even a word? Anyway, this series of movies is not that great. Sure, the original Raiders was fantastic and I suspect it still is. The second movie sucked big time -more below, and the third was completely satisfactory, partly due to Connery's involvement. The fourth movie is not good at all - again, more below.

Granted, its been a while, but what I remember most of the second movie is Indy holding a (living, belligerent) swordsman's arm and hand and using them to duel a second swordsman. And that he did that many times. For some reason, that is what strikes me now - that's what I remember now - as being the most unbelievable part. It seems to rank up there with Catwoman (Halle Berry) escaping from jail by squeezing between the bars.

I have just returned from seeing the fourth movie and enjoyed myself. In a few years, I expect my son will enjoy it, too. That is unless 3-d and holo-entertainment haven;t ruined him for entertainment that was good enough for his dad - kids, those days!

Still, there was a lot wrong with the movie. My biggest problem is continuity. There is a scene in a 50's dinner (the movie is set in the 50s, so they probably just called it a dinner) where LaBeouf knocks down the ketchup and mustard containers, in the next scene they are upright and in the next scene, they are down and Indy sets them upright.

That's a small thing. Worse, and this is chiefly because it is the last thing you see in the movie...

[no SPOILERS ALERT!] ......................... [no SPOILERS ALERT!]

In the last scene of the movie, Labeouf is about to take a picture. A slightly interesting thing happens and he is distracted. Then everyone leaves the room, Labeouf is the last to leave, and he walks out, leaving the camera on a chair. It does look like simple forgetfulness; not on the character's part but on the director's or the editor's.

There are other plot problems but there is so much excitement that you can ignore most of it.

Enjoy the score, enjoy the trailers for some cool upcoming movies and don't even try to think about the plot - you'll only hurt your think-bone.

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Added later: Ha, ha! Gangneung doesn't have a good movie theatre!

What's with this movie, Taken?

At the local Primus Cinema*, I saw ads for what looks to be good spy flick, Taken.
At home, I went to Rotten Tomatoes and found info on a 1999 movie with Liam Neeson. Check. It seems to be the same movie.

In Korea, though, the website is advertised as 'Taken2008'.

A friend saw the movie and liked it but why did it take eight or more years to get here?

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* Ha, ha, Gangneung. We have a good theatre here and you guys don't!

Sleep or use your phone in class, join the gallery

Sleeping is one thing, but hiding under the desk to use your phone is a new one for me.

I asked him a question in class, his head popped up to answer -very briefly - then he disappeared. I actually stepped onto a desk, walked across a few rows and shot down at him.

The Hominid has landed!

He is in Canada overnight before starting his walk home. Our mutual friend, Nathan, found him a place to stay and carried him in "the last vehicle I'll be riding in for the next year or two."

I'm an uncle - again!

Congrats to Geoje-JongMyeong, my wife's brother, and his wife on their currently-nameless 3.1 kilo baby boy, born about a month early but healthy and with a lot of hair.

Crappy beach weather

Saturday morning began with thick fog but around 2pm we cast solid shadows outside the apartment building. So KwandongAlex and I went to the beach.

There, the fog remained thick and cool. The little guy had fun running in circles and in patterns that probably made sense to him and we both chased a few pigeons, but I kept him in a long sleeve shirt.

I had hoped for better. I was ready to make the plunge, long overdue. No dice.

KBS was problaby also hoping for better conditions. They interviewed me, requiring that Sokcho's handsomest guy be in the picture - and my son, as well. We may be on the telly on Friday, around or after 7:00am.

Lighting conditions were really weird; it was diffuse but still too bright for me to see the images on the screen of my camera. I tried to take a pic of the KBS crew - the cameraman, the English speaking interviewer and the pretty girl (she probably has lots to do when interviewing Koreans but this is not the first time the producer or someone has interviewed me while the host looks on in a friendly but blank way) - but the camera was claiming there was no memory card. I couldn't see that there was a problem until after they had walked away. I chose not to chase after them to repeat the photo, although that might have been ironic as we took three takes for the video.

Gangwondon't?

A different Brian, linked recently to an interesting post by the Gypsy Scholar, who quotes [with a set of adjustments] extensively from a book by Bruce Bawer. I am uncertain what the post is about.

JeollanamBrian uses the word Gangwondon't, which is kind of clever, except that the article only appears to be about Gangwon Province or South Korea in general.

The style is brilliant; the post describes the unfortunate but not surprising reaction of the proprietor of a B & B to an American. Briefly, the American and his friends are treated badly, they complain mildly and are vilified by the proprietor and the local media.
The article ends:

For me, the episode raised a few questions. Why had the South Korean press paid so much attention to a mere travel article? Why had it then been so eager to repeat a cartoonish lie and obsess over it for days? Were these actions reflective of a society more serious, more thoughtful, than the one I'd left? Or did they reflect a culture -- or, at least, a media class -- that was so awed by America as to be flattered by even its slightest attentions, but that was also reflexively, irrationally belligerent toward it?

This sort of story will sound depressingly familiar to many expats living here in South Korea.

However, the story isn't about South Korea at all. It's about an experience that Bruce Bawer had in Norway and recounts in pages 96-97 of While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within. Another, shorter version of the story can be found online, in Bawer's article "Hating America," HudsonReview.com, Vol. LX, No. 3: Autumn 2007.

Here's the code for deciphering the story posted above: Korean = European; South Korea = Norway; Gangwon-do = Telemark; The Hankyoreh = Aftenposten; Hanwoo (i.e., Korean beef) = reindeer; South Korean = Norwegian; Grand National Party = Conservative Party; and MBC = NRK.

Again, although the story is of bad behaviour, it seems entirely believable that it happened in Korea. I think the idea is clever and the fact that I believed it, when I thought it was set in Korea, says a lot about anti-Americanism in Korea and my own prejudices as well.

Still, as it is not, in fact, about Korea or Gangwondo, it seems unfair for Brian to describe it that way. The Gypsy also links his point to the naivete of most American travellers, which, well, ...I'm a simple guy and wasn't sure what the point was.

Summer travel suggestion

Why not drive to European Rusia (sorry, it seems you can't get to the country with two 's')?


Let this sign be the response to any who say Koreans are not forward thinkers or long term planners.

Sign seen on Highway 7 north of Yangyang.

How did I not think of this?

I am not much of a chess player but thought (I suppose, as any teenager does on any subject) that I knew everything there was to know about silly sports in the water.

This looks cool - well, for a few moves..

Korea's Edison

I am not talking about the owner of the Edison Chamsori Museum in Gangneung - I don't care for him much, but the museum is pretty good.

No, I'm talking about Nam Jong-hyun.

Why do I consider him Korea's Edison? Well, Edison said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. " (link, as if it's needed). Mr Nam found 807 ways that didn't work before his great invention, the one that earned him, " the highest-class industrial award on this year's Invention Day." (Korea Times, as are further quotes). Let's keep the suspense up by not naming his invention just yet.

Invention Day "was established after the same date in 1441, when King Sejong announced the invention of the world's first rain gauge."

Alright, his invention? Dawn 808. It is a hangover cure. King Sejong would be proud.

I'm sorry, it is not merely a hangover cure:

Nam's invention not only covers hangovers and lack of stamina. The renowned inventor has domestic and international patents in various fields from cures for burns to a hair-restorer.

Let me join commenter Jimbo2 in wondering if he sells it from a covered wagon outside of Dogpatch.

What does your tongue actually do when you speak?

New Scientist Magazine has an interesting article about how we can understand what our mouths do when we speak. I get annoyed quickly in trying to describe how my tongue presses my upper palate behind the teeth for the 'T' sound but further back for the 'D' sound. How far back? How hard do I press?

I am not sure if I will be better able to describe the positions and motions verbally but now those criteria can be measured.

In the past, sensor were placed in people's mouths but the sensors themselves altered the shape of the mouth. In a wonderful bit of creative thinking, the sensors have been placed in dentures of people missing their teeth, creating a natural topography for people to speak inside.

From the article:

'Neat trick'

With the physiology of the mouth largely unchanged, the patients could speak normally while the measurements were being taken. They were asked to recite tongue twisters – phrases that are designed to be difficult to articulate rapidly – to generate the results.

"This is a neat trick; a new twist on a methodology that has been around for some time. The idea of using denture patients in this way is clever," says Joe Perkell, a researcher in MIT's Speech Communication Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US.

The researchers have so far published results on the production of the sound "T", and are now turning their attention to other vocalisations. "We could use up to five sensors at the same time in this device," says team member Christophe Jeannin, adding that they also plan to recruit more volunteers for the forthcoming work.

Who knew? Hagwon owners want to block unqualified teachers

The Korea Times has a very convoluted article describing the concerns of the Association of Foreign Language Institutes.

It is convoluted because the first half seems to be verbatim from an AFLI press release with their, uh, interesting, spin on the the subject of greater employment options for foreign teachers.

The AFLI doesn't describe the policy that way. They suggest, quote, "the government should block the inflow of unqualified native English teachers, making clear its opposition to a policy to increase the number of "questionable instructors"."

I have been mostly satisfied with the hagwons or institutes I have worked at in Korea. Min Byung Cheol Hagwon in Seoul was great - the money was okay, but more importantly, their dealings with me were completely above board, honest and transparent. I worked at two different hagwons in Masan and both deducted income tax from my salary but apparently never paid it -when I was set to leave and asked for income tax receipts, I was ignored. They also never supplied me with a health insurance card, as the contract stated they would.

The hagwons are not concerned with "questionable instructors". The real point of concern appears in the second half of the article (KIS, mentioned in the quote, is the Korean Immigrations Service).

Under current rules, E-2 visa holders sign contracts with hagwon owners on a one-year basis and are required to work at least nine months at a maximum of only two locations.

The immigration authorities told the association on April 16 that it will let E-2 visa holders transfer to other working places after a month and allow them to work at more than two locations.
The planned relaxation of the rules is aimed at maximizing the convenience for foreign English teachers, according to the KIS. Hagwon owners, however, are worried that this will lead to a high job turnover rate and jack up wages.

Quality hagwons have no reason to fear the changes and quality instructors will be more likely to stay in the country if they are not trapped in the employ of poorly-run schools.

The EFL Geek is also commenting on the article.

The bridge to somewhere

The village Abai Maul* is perched on the tiny strip of land that separates the ocean from Lake Chungcho -if the strip of land weren't there, Chungcho would be a bay rather than a salt lake.

The lake is harbour for small and medium sized fishing boats and the like and is accessible by a canal pinched between Abai Maul and Sokcho proper. For some time, the canal could be crossed by foot traffic by a human powered ferry (갯배 in Korean). It is a locally famous tourist site.

Before I arrived in Sokcho, a beautiful red bridge was built terminating in Abai Maul. Strangely, one does not need the bridge as the land is continuous on that side. It is an unnecessary bridge that ends at the end of a penninsula - a bridge to nowhere.
Now, work is underway to extend the bridge over the canal. I am not sure why Sokcho needs a big bridge or multi-lane road there, but soon they will have one. The bridge will finally go somewhere. The original bridge to nowhere was not a crazy idea. Lake Chungcho, communicating with the ocean only through a small canal was filling up with pollution. Eventually, the plan is to dig a second canal under the bridge so that water could flow in through one canal and out the other, cleaning the lake (and further polluting the ocean and local beaches.)

In other construction news, for the four years I have lived in Sokcho, the building behind our apartment, 'Sporium', has been closed. It will soon re-open as Fantasia and will be a spa and health club and possibly a jimjilbang - a dry sauna and open sleeping area for budget travellers.

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*Abai Maul may have an interesting history. After living in the area for a few years, a fellow English teacher from the West Coast told me that it was founded by displaced people from North Korea.

Cut off in traffic

The bike shop in Midland, Ontario really came through and delivered a crank with three gear rings to my mother, who then sent them here. The price wasn't much more than the local guy had listed for two gear rings. I know that having three gear rings is a relatively new phenomenon; I never saw any thirty years ago but I sure like the low-speed, high-power ring for hill-climbing. I use it much more than the big, high-speed ring. I am a slow-moving, fat, middle-aged man, after all.

Still, I was riding with traffic today; keeping up with the congestion and the traffic lights. I passed, and was passed by, one car about three times before the driver made a right turn in front of me.

And I couldn't get angry at him, either. That might be the most annoying part.

If he had been fifty metres ahead of me and made the turn and I caught up with and hit him, that would clearly be my fault. If he had passed me and immediately turned, that would just as clearly be his fault.

He was maybe ten metres ahead; just far enough that I don't know for sure that he was to blame.

I had time to hit the brakes, roar, twist and gently broadside his car behind the back door. We stopped together and both apologized. No harm done to either vehicle or person so we went on but I was gasping for several minutes afterwards.

They could've hosted the Olympics

Pyeongchang is reporting heavy snowfall today. I notice that Seorak's highest peak is still white as well.

Sleep in class, join the gallery

Teachers work hard, remember them this Teacher's Day

I know it's not for a few days but I don't actually have classes on Thursday (but, really, I work hard, really) so my students need the opportunity to show how much they respect me.

May 15th is Teacher's Day. Please give generously. (Korean says the same).

I may have mastered the goofy look.

Student assistant Mun demonstrates how its done.
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Just to be certain I don't infuriate anyone, there is no bottom to the box. If a student was gullible enough to donate money, it would fall on his/her feet.

Does Buddhism get a free pass?

Hong-ryeon Am, part of Naksan Temple Complex

As an atheist, I am generally against religion but I would say I mostly condemn Christianity. I have stronger feelings about (and against) Islam but there are few Muslims around.

There are many Buddhists however.

In a recent blog post, Pharyngula's Paul Myers described listening to a Christian Radio Station discussing Atheism and one of the points brought up was Atheist's attacks on Christianity. Myers gave an appropriate response:

Aikman [on the radio] claims the atheists are bringing "pestilence", and claims that we only pick on Christians (what? What about Hitchens?) because Christians are so good and kind and generous and won't blow them up. We're already in stupid territory: the atheists criticize Christians because they are the dominant element in our culture.

Today, just naturally, I visited Naksan Temple and had a great time. We ate Bibim Rice and visited a few shrines where KwandongWife prayed (reason one for not attacking Buddhism - my wife is a small 'b' Buddhist).

I understand only the basics of Buddhism and approve of most of them. They don't exactly have a god (well, if you squint right). They believe in moderation, non-violence and the impermanence of things. So far I'm satisfied.

Buddhism has a thick outer shell of things I like, but it also has an small but integral core of, well, garbage. Reincarnation. You will be reborn and your actions in this life determine your starting point in the next life.

This might be a useful lie, encouraging good behaviour, but I wonder why I do not rail against it, as I have against the foolishness I have occasionally encountered from Christians?

Perhaps because most of the Buddhists I have met have been quiet about their religion; completely willing to discuss their faith but unwilling to volunteer. They answer questions happily but do not evangelize. Well, the ones I have met.

I wonder, am I being hypocritical by not inspecting the claims of Buddhists more closely?

Um, Happy Buddha's Birthday?

The things I do to entertain my son.

Who am I kidding; this was fun and I'd do it even without a child.

A different yellow dust

And not Phillip Pullman's dust, either.

The windows to our classrooms were left open (screened, but open) over the weekend and everything was coated in a yellow powder. I tried to tell me students it was hwangsa (황사), the Korean name for the dust coming from China's deserts and literally 'yellow dust', but htey were having none of it.

Who'da thunk there were that many trees in Korea?

Oh, and identity thieves, here is your chance; how many times can you find perfectly dusted fingerprints just waiting to be printed out and used...somehow?

My work and family life combining terribly!

This morning, my son saw a work videotape on the table and carried it to the VCR.

I guess I am happy that KwandongAlex is interested in my teaching materials. Still, I watch the same episode of Connect with English, nine times a week. I watched them last year and the year before that. I can quote long sections of dialogue and sometimes sing along in class, to the student's amusement and my own horror.

The material is fine but, well, it doesn't fit the student's needs as well as I would like (to be fair, I don't have a better curriculum to put forward). It can be difficult to teach but mostly the result for me is like an adult trying to watch a children's movie and be interested in it. To make it understandable, the issues are skimmed over and not at all shaded.

Interestingly, the issues are serious and can be dark but the dialogue is corny and the whole thing is somewhere between a professional TV show and my own UCC (Konglish for homemade video).

And now my son wants to watch the videos at home....Is there no escape? The horror, the horror.

Another trip to Seoul...

...another student interview.

Many times, when I visit Seoul and go to a tourist site, a group of students will ask for an interview.

Kyobo Book Store seems infested with middle school students ready to ambush foreigners in the foreign book section. Well, it seemed that way a few years ago, things may have changed.

Yesterday, I was interviewed in Insadong by a group of Korea University students and they seemed to be doing real research so I did my best to talk about English Education in Korea.

Most times, however, the interview is a homework assignment given by a teacher who thinks getting the students to speak with different foreigners is a good idea. Ah, put like that, it probably is, but do these teachers realize how small the pool of interview subjects is?

A Korean English professor at my university gave similar homework to one or two hundred students and we 20 foreign staff were overwhelmed and finally hid - partially because the students waited until the last moment and tried to all interview us on the same day in a long line.

Anyone who thinks 'Interview the foreigner' is a good homework assignment, please consider the student/ available foreigner ratio before going ahead with it. I am fine with, I don't know, an interview a year, maybe two, but not ten in a day.

To put it bluntly, I get paid to teach English, don't think I am eager to teach your students for free on my time off!

A letter to pedestrians

If you want to use the sidewalk,...


...You can just go f--k yourself because I am so important that I don't have time to park my company vehicle in a parking space.

Signed,
Telecom Guy

Oh, and seconded by busy van-drivin' guy...



...and Truck Drivin' guy, because...
...I need room in front of my truck for, uh, something, or maybe I was in a hurry and didn't have time to think about others - hey, just like always!

It the first of May!

I suggest you all celebrate the First of May.
WOW version here.

That Coulton is a funny guy.

ADDED Later: Possibly NSFW (not safe for work)