Water-Fire Festival

The festival is on for a week, from Friday the 6 to Saturday the 14th. I don't think there's much for adults, but there are a few things. Kids will have a good time.

Last year, my son was terrified of the mascots; this year he didn't run away but still wasn't eager to pose with them for photos.



Last year's Festival.

This book is going on my wishlist!

Who wouldn't want "Chemical Shifts and Coupling Constants for Silicon-29 (Landolt-Bornstein: Numerical Data and Functional Relationships in Science and Technology - New Series) (Hardcover)"?

I hear you can find it at used books stores for, like, $7000 less so that's probably how I'll go.

Really, read the reviews!

Via the Loom.

The Thagomizer

I bought the book Dinosaurs: The most complete, up-to-date encyclopedia for dinosaur lovers of all ages, ostensibly for my son but really for myself.

We frequently leaf through the book, enjoying the pictures and trying to pronounce the exotic names. I still plan to read the book but haven't sat down to it yet.


Yesterday, we were reading about the stegosaurus and read a matter of fact account of how the "thagomizer of the stegosaurus provided a powerful defence". The word sounded strangely familiar; where had I seen it before? So, I did read the page and found that Thagomizer is now the proper scientific term for the spikes on the end of a stegosaur's tail and came from a Far Side cartoon (image from wikipedia).That Gary Larson was the coolest guy around.

John Carlson at Prairie Ice agrees.

Gangneung is 400 years old

This man's name isn't Gangneung; he's Jo Gyu-sang and he's a youthful 86. But he is at the celebration.
Photo from Korea Beat, who apparently found it here, but I can't find it (blame my poor Korean skills).

A New Brunswick school decision has me facing my own prejudices

I've been following news stories about the removal of official prayer times from schools and the like for quite a while. Atheists do not work in a group with an established hierarchy but I followed the semblance of the party line in feeling that students are entirely welcome to pray at school, but that leaders -teachers, coaches and administration - should not lead such prayer.

My reason for this, again following the party line, is either the individual him/herself or that individual's parents should make decisions about religion. Even in a hypothetical town where everyone is Christian, it is unlikely that all will follow the same type of Christianity.

So, I'm for the removal of prayer from school.

A school in New Brunswick has removed the national anthem from opening announcements.

The principal's explanation doesn't really explain that much:

Whether to sing the national anthem appears to be a delicate matter in the small southern New Brunswick community.

Erik Millett, the school's principal, said he made the decision partly to accommodate parents who didn't want their children taking part in the daily anthem.

"We try to balance the needs of every student, and we want every student to feel welcome in our school," Millett said.

"And part of our school and included in that and if we need to make some accommodations or exceptions then we'll try to put those in place regardless of what the issue is."

At first, I thought the disapproving parents might be from foreign countries and not want their children to sing our anthem. To these, entirely hypothetical, parents, I quickly thought up a counter argument: that religious choice should exist everywhere but nations are not abstract, intangible creations. Well, they are partly, but even more, they are huge block of entirely tangible land. In most places in the world, you can choose your religion, you can even choose your nationality to some extent, but you are standing where you are standing. If you don't want our anthem, you should move.

Man, I've heard the latter bit of that argument stated against me many times (well, against atheists, not me directly that much).

I am confused. If I don't want prayer in school and I have reasons that seem quite solid to me, can I really complain about others not wanting the anthem?

No matter how patriotic you are, you have to admit that the anthem is not exactly part of the core reasons schools exist. O Canada isn't really "readin', ritin', 'rithmatic" (and I hate the way we dumb down the fundamentals of teaching to the three "R"s), is it? If the dissenting parents agreed to allow O Canada to be taught in music class, would that be so bad? Maybe I should have had it in a formal class setting because I now would likely sing it as poorly as Roseanne Barr sang her anthem in 1990 (I really recommend against listening to that clip, but she seemed to remember all the words, which I don't).

I gave a rebuttal to a reason that might not exist but I am having trouble thinking of any other reason and the principal was (admirably?) discrete on the subject. I recall some Jehovah's Witnesses in my elementary school class leaving the room during morning announcements - were they avoiding the national anthem? Are there possible religious reasons? Can I, personally, accept having the anthem taught only in music class and not required of all students (or require students to opt-out)?

I've got some thinking to do.

Darwin Day events in Seoul

D-14

From the Dong-a Ilbo (September of last year)

"Korea will also hold a series of commemorative exhibitions and publications. The Darwin Forum, consisting of philosophers and biologists, is revising the translation of Darwin’s three classics, “The Origin of Species,” “The Descent of Man,” and “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.”

Gwacheon National Science Museum, which opens Nov. 14, will hold a Darwin exhibition to commemorate its opening in Gyeonggi Province. The event will be jointly held with Dong-A Science and display Darwin’s publications and fossils he collected for six months."

I am not sure if the museum will show the fossil for six months or it is a display of fossils Darwin himself collected over the course of six months. Probably the former.

Living a cliche: Mac Vs PC

My computer is now six years old and still soldiering on bravely, but it has broken down a few times and, after the repairs, a few programs will not work.

It's time for a new computer, with this notebook as a back up or portable one.

Photo from here:

Gangneung has a Mac Store - I think it is Sung Ju Computers, or the like. The Macs look great and, among other things, appear to run different languages well. My understanding is that I could sign in as one user and have my OS in English while my wife could sign in and receive Korean service. This has always seemed painful to do with the PCs.

Still, Korea is a Windows shop. Is there a version of Hangeul (the word processor) for Macs? I could run Bootcamp - the PC emulator, I guess.

Also, Macs are expensive enough that I could get a good PC and a new digital camera (the current one is older than the computer) for the same price as a Mac.

I'm leaning toward the Mac but am eager for input. Comments, anyone?

First swim of the year

A kindly but non-camera-savvy man held the camera for Mr Domestic bliss and I. Here, I have patched three clips together to make a short-but-coherent whole.

The experience was cold but not terrible. We went in a total of three times and stood on the beach between swims. Mr Domesticbliss claims to want to do it again next week. I'm in!

Happy New Year

I will be at Sokcho Beach at 12:00 for the first annual Sokcho New Year's Polar Bear Swim, should any readers care to join me (and I won't be quite alone).

I'm not a log driver...

nor a good dancer. I am Canadian and I did watch this animation in my youth, so perhaps that's why it I remember it so fondly.


/>


The National Film Board of Canada has put more than 700 films and clips online. I will have to have a look around to see if I can use some in class.

National Film Board.

Log Driver's Waltz (in case the imbedded video doesn't work)

Via Boingboing.

Racism in active and passive forms, and hope

This post is about racism and will touch on Obama's inauguration. I can't say that it is an "important post, per se, but please don't dismiss it as yet another "I love Obama" post". There may be other, excellent reasons, to dismiss this post, but that isn't one of them

I am not a politcal blogger, not even for my homeland, Canada, nor my current home, Korea, but the American presidential inauguration has me fascinated. Me, and every other blogger.

On January 10, CBC's Quirks and Quarks, an hour long radio science show that I am addicted to and have even written to the host, included a segment on racism that made me uncomfortable. It described a psychology experiment that exposed racism where none was expected.
The experiment ran like this: The subject, presumably after filling out consent forms, entered what she or he thought was a waiting room with two other subjects. The subjects were actually part of the test, were ringers; one was white and the other black. The black person stood up, made a remark about forgetting a book and left the room, bumping the other ringer. After the black man left, the ringer performed one of three actions. He either said nothing, said something moderately racist or very racist. I forget what the middle option was, but the third option was something like, "Clumsy niggers!"

Soon after that, the subject was interviewed about tension and, well, I forget exactly what, but current emotional state and the like. An incredibly low number of subjects mentioned the racist event or claimed to be upset after the event. I suspect few or none actually challenged the man making the comments, but I don't know.

From Q & Q:

Dr. Kawakami, an Associate Professor of Psychology at York University, studies the psychology of racism and she has revealed a disheartening finding: despite the fact we tend to predict we'll feel bad witnessing a racist act, we in fact tend to feel indifferent. What's more, Dr. Kawakami found that when asked to chose between a white person who uttered a racist comment or the black person to whom the comment was directed (in order to work on a problem-solving task) subjects tended to choose the racist white person over the innocent black person. Dr. Kawakami says her study reveals people's deep emotional biases -- specifically towards blacks -- despite their stated belief that they are not racist.

Dr Kawakami on Science Mag.

Far more uplifting, is the concept of people being cultural bridges or xenophiles, as discussed on Spark, another CBC radio show and podcast.

"The Internet Age should be a golden age for bridge figures and for xenophiles."

That's what Ethan Zuckerman, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society wrote in his blog post, Bridgeblogger and Xenophile, a tale of two bloggers. But just what is a xenophile, according to Ethan?

It’s been a challenge for me to define xenophiles as a category without falling victim to definitions that are trivial or superficial. It’s easy to dismiss the idea by suggesting that everyone who eats sushi and listens to world music is - or considers herself to be - a xenophile. Too loose a definition and “xenophile” ends up sounding like a synonym for “liberal”, “multicultural or even “politically correct”, which isn’t what I’m intending.

Xenophilia is about connecting with people, not with cultural artifacts or other things. Liking Japanese food or Senegalese hiphop doesn’t make you a xenophile - xenophilia is about making connections across language and cultural barriers motivated by your interest in making better sushi or translating Daara J lyrics. Xenophilia is broader than the love for a specific culture or an aspect of that culture - it’s a broader fascination with the complexity and diversity of the world. Xenophilia changes your behavior, especially your behavior in seeking for information, leading you to pay attention not just to the parts of the world that have caught your attention, but to others that you know little about.

I think I can be a bridge between cultures, which I define as less than a xenophile but more, or more nuanced, than a cheerleader. I enjoy and admire a great deal of Korean culture and admire many Korean people. I am impressed with Korea's growth after 1953 and by the friendliness of the people I meet all the time, but I am not about to rename this blog, "50 reasons why Dokdo is Korean". So, I am not a cheerleader. On the other hand, after ten years, I don't speak nearly as much Korean as I should. My job of explaining English and the typical culture of English speaking countries, particularly Canada, is almost the definition of a bridge.

I think my wife, who is so much better a person than I in so many ways, is a xenophile, while remaining firmly grounded in her home culture.

Another remarkable person I know and work with has the initials NA and is a Canadian of Somali ethnicity, who speaks, I don't know, five, six languages. She is definitely a xenophile, comfortable in any country she visits.

Recently Pharyngula linked to Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail, which I read and was amazed by. Here are a few long excerpts:

One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: "Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act....But he [the mayor] will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait."
...
How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust....

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal. Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law.
...
We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.
...
...Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . ." ...

I now love the sentence, "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God" but I don't think I am capable of it. I am not describing strength so much as mindfulness. In the Q & Q study, the test subjects appeared to not care enough to get involved. I do not necessarily wish to be confronted but I would like to know the result of such a test.

Hmm, I don't think I have much to say about the inauguration after all. I only hope the American people face the test with courage and that the result is positive.

Polar Bear Swim

Image from chipford.com

Last year around this time, I promised to find or organize a polar bear swim..somewhere and ...sometime.
Well, It's Lunar New Year, it's 12 noon, I don't know where and there are no sponsors.
Okay, to tacks. I will be on a beach at 12 noon. Depending on scheduling, I may have already exercised or will exercise at that time to warm up before going in.

Sokcho Beach is easiest for me but I am willing to go to Yangyang or Gangneung to meet others.

From Sokcho Beach, we could take a quick taxi to haesupia - a large sauna - and I would donate one free ticket.

In Yangyang, we could swim below Naksan Temple, then race up the hill to Naksan Beach Hotel's sauna - then warm our souls at the temple!

In Gangneung, ah, I don't know. There was a crappy shower there but I recall it was cold water and terrible pressure. I am almost certain it is closed in the off season. Still, I guess we could swim then warm up again by towelling off then running around or having a beer or something.

Gangneung people (Pack the El Camino -return from Canada and keep your promise!), let's hear your suggestions.
---------------
Oh, the link at the top leads to my review of last year's Sokcho Fire & Ice Festival, which runs from Feb 6-14 this year. Again, I think there will be a human powered ferry race - anybody interested in putting a team together?

Uljin has an airport?

This story is a few months old but it is one I have been following on this blog.

The ill-conceived plan to build the airport was first hatched in the early 1990s. A series of local experts raised their voices in concern, saying there was simply not enough demand for airline services in the area. The Korea Transport Institute even presented a research paper that warned that the airport, once established, would see as few as 50 users per day...

Embarrassed government officials tried to come through with several backup plans, including turning the airport into an aircraft repair center or selling it to the air force. But there was not enough demand for repair services in the area, and the possible sale to the military faced intense opposition from local provincial governments.

“Everyone knew the airport was doomed,” said Lee Yeong-heok, a professor at Korea Aerospace University. “It was a highly anticipated failure choreographed by lawmakers who only cared about their own constituents and a government that did not do enough preliminary research.”

Uljin is in the middle of nowhere. I can't think of any city or population centre within an hour or two of Uljin. I guess nuclear engineers could fly in and out; Korea has a few reactors in the area.

I had to chuckle (in a grim way) at, " the possible sale to the military faced intense opposition from local provincial governments." I would like them to sell the airport to the military and move Gangneung's fighter wing there - I think they buzz our university specifically when I am teaching.

Another local airport in Gangwon Province faces the same fate. Yangyang Airport, built in 1997, is posting ever-bigger deficits as the number of travelers continues to shrink. Back when it started construction on the airport in January 1997, the ministry said it would replace those at Sokcho and Gangneung, two Gangwon Province airports that suffer from chronic delays due to the area’s foggy weather and weak infrastructure. They also insisted that the new airport, which officially opened in 2002, would greatly help in attracting tourists from China and Japan.

But now, all regular flights to and from the airport have been canceled due to the meager number of travelers. Aviation authorities have no clue what to do with the facility, which posted a deficit of 4.9 billion won ($3.8 million) in its first year of operation, a number that has now topped 10 billion won.

“Yangyang Airport was completely inappropriate in terms of its size and investment return,” said one official at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority who declined to be named.

Yangyang airport appears to be in a slightly better position than Uljin - Sokcho and Gangneung both are less than an hour away as are many tourist sites along the coast. As I recall, the airport was built to attract Chinese tourists and it opened right when SARS appeared; not many people were excited about Chinese tourists.

Yangyang Airpot previously on this blog: 2005, 2007

Gangwon FC

Apparently, there is a new K-League football team, the Gangwon FC.

They are rooming at Kwandong University. I'd seen the buses and some fit looking foreigners around but hadn't thought much of it. The word is, they are the flagship club for Gangwon Province and are the fifth team to be funded by the community rather than a chaebol or the like (and by 'word is', I mean the words in the Korea Times). This is cool: "Some 11.3 billion won has been pumped into the team, six billion of it from around 70,000 people across the three million populace of Gangwon." That's a lot of local supporters, I think.

I met two Brazilians who are player-coaches or something. They seemed (and I only saw them at meals, so I am extrapolating quite a bit) to be team leaders or elders for the Korean players.

I say them at meals but that isn't quite right. I saw them walk past us in the regular dining cafeteria and go into the private cafeteria, where they were served croissants and bacon and more for breakfast. We, on the other hand, got Korean food. That's not bad but kimchi for breakfast is an acquired taste.

MInd Mapping Evolution

Click to bigify
D-25!

A few years ago, I made an ecology textbook for ESL students at the Minjok camp for middle school students. I hope to have an evolution text ready for summer camp and it is my intention to learn (and teach, or, at least, use) mindmaps as an informal experiment to see how well students remember the material.

Professor, why did I fail?

I received a few emails and calls in December from students asking me to change their grades. A few had done well but were worried about their scholarships for next year. These students, I usually helped as much as seemed fair; I would increase their grades until their scores were just below the next better student. In this way, no one jumped the queue...and probably few were satisfied.

A few other students, and one third year student in particular who sent me an email entirely in Korean asking about her score, appeared very surprised with their grades. This is despite the fact that I showed them their midterm scores and most of their homework scores.

Kruger and Dunning (1999) may have the answer:

Using undergraduate college students as subjects, the researchers found that the lowest performers had a consistent and stunning tendency to vastly over-rate their general ability and their performance on the task at hand - much greater than any other group. They found this effect whether the task was intellectual (LSAT questions), social (rating the humor level of jokes), verbal (grammar) or logical. While they actually ranked in the 12th percentile, they estimated their rank as well above average (as in Garrison Keillor's imaginary Lake Wobegon).

Via Monastic Musings.

I'll keep this in mind as I give results next semester - maybe the students really don't know that they need to work harder. I was a terrible student, so maybe I can use this as an excuse myself.

I have wondered in the past if I should be taking students into the hall during class and explaining their poor results and what they mean. There are two concerns here: first, if the student isn't doing well, it may because s/he has made that choice. Second, if the student isn't doing well in English, will I be able to explain anything to them?

Darwin Day is coming!

(From The BBC 'Digi-magazine, via the Loom)

In fact, I have trouble navigating the online magazine and I hope the downloaded version works better.

D-26!

I hunted for a countdown widget but many in the Blogger directory were broken and the few I tried from off-site didn't work.

In less than a month, it will be Darwin's birthday. If he were alive now, he would be hailed as the most amazing man ever - nobody else is 200 years old!

That aside, in his time, he was one of the most famous men alive. Even before he published On the Origin of Species, he was well known from his Beagle travel diaries and his scientific work.

John Wilkins, on his blog, Evolving Thoughts, reminds us, however, that we should not deify Darwin. He was a remarkable man, but evolution has changed greatly since his time.

There are many Darwin day events in the US and elsewhere, including one in Yeoksam Dong in Seoul. It appears to be organized by a computer company and I am not sure what is planned. I will contact them and give further news. The contact website, currently with no Darwin Day information, is Zenitum.

Below are two images of the man. The first shows the currently iconic Darwin, old and bearded, while the second shows him as he likely appeared during his voyages as a young man and is from the Darwin Day website, linked above..



Oh, my understanding that America's first Jewish president was born on the same day. C'mon, Abraham is a Jewish name, isn't it? It was funny when Meathead said it on Archie Bunker.

"In one famous episode in the TV sitcom "All in the Family," Archie Bunker said that Jews had a secret way of identifying each other -- they changed to Anglo last names but kept their Jewish first names. Then Meathead piped up with another example, "Abraham Lincoln," and Edith responded, "I didn't know Lincoln was Jewish."

(im from missouri)

Really exciting stuff - for KwandongAlex

Who are I kidding? It's exciting for me; I'm just glad I can share the news with my son.

Korea's first dinosaur fossils were found recently in Hwa-seong

The Hankyoreh originally reported that triceratops fossils were found but later changed the report to protoceratops. A little Googling tells me that triceratops have previously been found only in North America, while Protoceratops fossils have been found in Mongolia in the past.

I only know the protoceratops from a Discovery Channel DVD I bought for my son (Dino Planet 1: Whitetip's Adventure) which recounts the story of a velociraptor in Mongolia. Anyway, the Triceratops is definitely the more famous of the two so I guess the reporter just thought he was looking at a scientific name or something for the triceratops.

Another interesting thing: Everyone I know pronounces the three-horned dinosaur, "tri-ser-a-tops" and the smaller Mongolian dinosaur as, "proto -ser-a-tops". I don't know what the original Greek that gave us "Ceratops" is but would Greeks have pronounced it "Ker-a-tops"? I ask becuase I see the Korean spelling would be pronounced with a "k" sound rather than an "s" sound:프로토케라톱스

Via Korea Beat.

Slogan wrap up

I was asked by a Sinae Jeong, from the Gangwon Provincial Government to help with creating or choosing an English slogan for the province. She wrote, "You can help me by doing the following:

Let me know what you think of the candidates, and when you do this, please, don't be polite."

Thank you to Gord Sellar and to the commenters at the Marmot's Hole. In response to my request for comments on various slogans emphasizing Gangwon's natural assets, I received a few good suggestions, many sarcastic and negative comments and a few laugh out loud ideas.

Two of the suggested slogans, from the international affairs office of Gangwon Provincial government, used 'green' as part of the phrase. Many of the slogans suggested by bloggers and commenters also used 'Green'. The funniest one went, “Gangwon Green is PEOPLE! It’s PEOPLE!” (by Seth Gecko). The best ones used "evergreen" in the slogan (Evergreen Gangwon, by Jewook).

A few commented noted that most foreigners pronounce the 'gang' in Gangwon as "gaeng" - the same sound in "Gangs of New York" or "Gangster". Add 'Green' to that and you are discussing a horrible disease brought on by unclean conditions.

The negative posters were not (completely) unreasonable. Immigration (admittedly, part of the national government rather than provincial) has made few friends among E-2 visa holders for their poorly-thought-out requirements for criminal records checks (among other things, they have asked for documents that foreign governments don't even produce). Also, English is used the way Latin might be used in English countries, a cheap way to add style without adding substance.

I expect to hear, at some point, what was chosen and hopefully some further follow up.

Blistering Barnacles; Tintin's birhday was yesterday!

I can't think of a memorable quote from Tintin himself.

"To be precise, I can't remember a thinkable quote" -No, that would be a Thompson Twins thing to say...

Perhaps it's because I am not 13 years old anymore.

I wish I had a shark-shaped submarine. I have since I first read Tintin.

Anyway, happy birthday and I don't think you're gay (or real, I don't want people to think I'm confusing fiction and reality).

I am looking forward to the upcoming movie. A Tintin movie would be hard to make. I would like to think I am not racist (I could be wrong- 2nd article), but a Tintin adventure would not feel right without a pitch black African with a bone through his nose... And some blowhard, Spanish-garbling South Americans.
Update: I visited some other sites and realized what being Belgian in the early 1900s meant regarding Africa. Let's not repeat that stuff - the Belgian Congo was a nasty place.

Tintin news. Tintin site.

Fast action needed

I received a comment on a previous post from a Miz Jeong, an International Relations Officer for Gangwon Province. She wants foreigner input for English slogans for Gangwon Province.

Unfortunately, I was at camp and didn't check my email and comments as often as I normally do and her deadline is tomorrow. If anyone can help, please leave comments here. Below is her message:

_____________________

I'm International Relations Officer at Gangwon Provincial Office and was asked to get inputs from foreigners living in Gangwon on the English slogan candidates the office came up with. I will really appreciate if you could help.

These are the candidates:

1. Green Future Gangwon
2. Gangwon UP! (yes, both capitalized)
3. Green up Gangwon (this time just small u)
4. O2 Gangwon

You can probably tell what Gangwon wants its slogan to express: it wants a slogan that reflects Korea's "Low Carbon,Green Growth" initiative and enhances Gangwon's brand-image as the greenest province (fyi, it has the most natural resources in Korea and is well known for its beautiful mountains, sceneries, winter sport resorts and green tourism).

A slogan needs to deliver Gangwon as a green province since Gangwon is heavily investing
in new and renewable energy such as wind power, etc. It already has the nation's biggest wind power plant in Dae-gual-lyung (대관령), which produces and supplies a considerate amount of electricity throughout Korea.

You can help me by doing the following:

1. Let me know what you think of the candidates, and when you do this, please, don't be polite.
The whole point of this is that Gangwon needs honest feedback.
(you can even suggest one if you would like to)

2. Please provide me with info of:
a. name
b. where you work
c. position

Please note that I need such info in order to add credibility to the opinions I will submit to Gangwon Provincial Office. In other words, I need proofs showing that I did not make them up.

3. If it's not too much to ask, can you please ask your friends to do the same?
The more inputs I can get, the better it is for Gangwon.

Phew, I don't think I ever wrote an email this long. Again, I really appreciate your help and
I will be collecting inputs/suggestions until this coming Sunday.

Thanks a bunch!

Sinae Jeong

___________________________

I am never sure about privacy issues, especially for government officials. It is a gmail account and she did ask for input, so you have two choices; leave comments here or email her at: drcine (at) gmail (dot) com I guess you could put "gangwon slogans" in the subject line.

I will send her my response (it is also in the comments in the post below) and any responses in the comments tomorrow (Sunday) evening.

Apparently, I can skate.

I am at an English camp for elementary school students and yesterday we went skating.

Before we went, campers asked if I could skate and at first I nonchalantly replied, "yes". After being asked again and again, I began to think about the question. It has been about fifteen years since I last skated. I began to offer more qualified responses.

Man, I can skate! I'm a bit of a superstar when it comes to skating - in Gangneung, anyway. Despite my boastful tone, I am not really proud of myself...No, that's wrong; I am proud of myself but not exactly boasting. I didn't think I would be able to skate well at all and was very pleasantly surprised by how I managed. I didn't necessarily do well, but I did much better than I expected.

Lost in the joy of effortless speed and grace, I ignored how the rented skates dug into my skin and didn't pay attention into how hard I was working my leg muscles.

Now, a day later, I have 500 won coin-sized patches of skin missing from my feet and ankles. Also, I legs are slowly tightening up. It feels as though I am being bent over a rack and every time I sit down for a few minutes, the rack is ratcheted one gear-tooth tighter. Tomorrow, or possibly Friday, I will be nearly unable to walk.

I need to look for a rink in Sokcho.

Off to camp

See you in five days.

Two hobbies coming together

I have made a bit of a hobby of commenting on problems with religious practises and another hobby of commenting about Korean hiking fashions. Let's see if I can connect them.

"In recent years doctors and researchers have confronted an alarming consensus that billions of people, starting in infancy, are lacking Vitamin D and thus at risk for a host of health problems, including a shorter lifespan plagued with aches and pains. Women suffer from the deficiency more than men."

This is an excerpt from an article about the Burkhas that some Muslim women wear limiting the amount of Vitamin D that they produce.

I have already compared the clothes Korean women wear for hiking to Burkhas and I have also noticed that urban Koreans go out of their way to stay out of the way of the sun.

Anecdotally, it appears that more Korean women suffer from osteoporosis than do sun-loving Westerners. I wonder if there is a connection.

Article via Dododreams.

Glue Traps are the Devil

I don't think I am a tough guy, but I seem to be the only person around who can put animals out of their misery. And glue traps create a whole lot of misery.

A glue trap can be a shallow tray with thick glue or an over-sized sheet of scotch tape. Well, that describes the two traps I have been involved with. Sometimes there is bait in the middle of the trap.

If the user is prepared and has actually read the frickin' instructions, the traps might not be that bad. Apparently (according to Wikipedia), cooking or baby oil will allow the animal to escape the glue. This is useful in a rural area but not so much in a location where the animal will have to be killed anyway.

Seven years ago, I lived and worked for a nightmare company in a beautiful location in rural Kyonggi-do. At one point, there was a problem with mice, so staff set up glue traps - but not very well, as one of the first catches was a little bird. The bird, in terror, tore most of a wing off while staff watched. I had not heard that oil could release the bird, and the people who set the trap weren't prepared; there was none on site. Finally, I took the bird and twisted it's head like I was winding a top. Honestly, I almost cried, but was satisfied the job was done. One jerk co-worker almost got punched for calling me a sadist. He had had no better suggestions in the fifteen minutes previous.

Today, at work, a rat had made it's way into the ESL offices. Again, staff had set up a few glue traps. Now, I approve of live traps if there is a plan to release the critter, but who releases rats? Who buys a glue trap and doesn't prepare to release the critter afterwards?

Anyway, the rat was caught and in it's struggles, nearly tore a leg out of it's socket (I'm not a doctor but I'm repeating what a staff member told me). I was in a meeting and later found the rat, on the floor near a garbage can in an out-of-the-way room. The rat had crapped everywhere - and that too was glued in place and it was clearly in a bad way.

After asking about their plans for it - none, I guess they hoped it would die quietly out there - I stomped on it, ending it's misery.

If you plan to trap an animal, also plan how you will dispose of the animal later. Use a non-leathal trap only if you want to release it afterward. If you plan to kill the animal, get a leathal trap: don't screw around.

These guys at Helping Animals don't care for glue traps either.

Recreating Far-Side comics

This is something I want to do and I am happy someone is already doing it. We live in a great world! It's time to dig out my ten books and collections and such. Actually, they're all in Canada, I think, but I'll find a way.

Far side recreations on Flicker.

Is this one Kevin?

Via Boingboing.

Happy New Year and all that!

The first dawn of the new year, as it's light first hits the Korean peninsula.

Congrats to G-blogger Catherine!

According to Facebook, "...the newest, and possibly craziest, Campbell was born at 11:12AM Korea Time 12/30...weighing in at 4.1kg"

I trust mother and child are doing well and my best wishes to the whole family.

Look for news at Domestic Bliss in South Korea.

Really exciting stuff - for KwandongAlex

My little guy, as with all little guys, loves big machines. In our apartment, we have three excavators and five dump trucks, a few trains and many fire trucks (as displayed in a previous post). Oh, the trucks and such in our apartment aren't that big, I just want to be clear.
Anyway, I thought that snow removal in Sokcho consisted of dumping snow from the roads into the ocean - the melt water and carried pollutants will end up there in any case.

Apparently not. In Expo Park, a vacant parking lot is up to 15 metres deep in snow. We, KwandongAlex and I, watched six or seven dump trucks unload their cargo there in about the same number of minutes. Both Excavator drivers waved to KwandongAlex - They must know that their job is the dream and main aspiration of all boys under 5, 10...ah, heck, I would love to know how to drive one.

Are 6th Grade students the devil?

Sixth-grade Seoul English teacher Kim Yeong-hwa has written a book with that claim. Korea Beat has the story. The one thing that confuses me, though, is the word 'Novel' in their title. The excerpt reads like non-fiction but I thought 'novel' was used to describe fiction. Perhaps it's a story based on real life events and the author is pushing her agenda through a fictionalized account.

An excerpt from the Korea Beat: [Problems began with]

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.

The first satisfactory result from her idea to “allow teachers to use corporal punishment” would be the restoration of respect for teachers. She said, “when children come to school now, the result of corporal punishment is that they think ‘the teacher expects kindness’ instead of ‘what did I do wrong?’ Please don’t cut down the teacher in front of the children… When you have a teacher devoted to scholarship, parents will openly take care of problems. When teachers are not respected, everything is more difficult and they are insulted behind their backs. That is my story.”

I am teaching elementary school students now and enjoying it, but that's only because I'm doing it for only a short period (two hours a day for two months). I worked at a children's hagwon ten years ago and didn't like it. So, I can definitely sympathize with teachers of elementary school children. It is a very challenging job and one that exhausted me.

Still, remove corporal punishment and you have "no way to punish students"? Let's see; telling the parents, or even threatening to, worked for me. Assigning low grades might work for some students (when I was in Elementary school, there was too big a gap between my bad behaviour and my parents seeing my report card- in High school, I understood the connection but not so much in Elementary). Time outs, visits to the principal, detention, loss of privileges...

She somehow thinks that bringing back corporal punishment would restore respect for teachers. Do they use that claim at Guantanamo?

I can't figure this line out: "the result of corporal punishment is that they think ‘the teacher expects kindness’." Does Kim think that violence encourages kindness? Is Gandhi in her class?

I also like the bit about "devotion to scholarship" because that's what corporal punishment means to me.

The Korea Beat also links to a few articles of teachers taking corporal punishment further than even Kim Yeong-hwa would find acceptable - I hope. I think there was a similar Onion article, "Child Abuse: how much is too much?". Here it is (just a picture).

It's possible Kim needs to retire soon.

Nitpicking about wonderful Christmas Toys

As a father, Christmas really is more about giving than receiving (although I liked the shirts and hiking pants, mom).

The little guy received several books and toys that we both really like but I have a few minor points to bring up - constructive criticism, if you will.

This Talking Microscope looks great and I can't wait to use it with the little guy - but I will wait because inside the case were three Triple A batteries while the machine uses three C batteries. Some shirts were packed in the box with the 'scope so I can't be certain if the error happened at the factory or enroute to my home.

Matthew Reinhart's The Jungle Book (What the book / Amazon) is fantastic. These books are no longer described as 'pop-up' books but as examples of 'paper engineering'. The new, fancier title is well-deserved. Still, the book is described as appropriate for ages 4-8 (and that is a group with huge variety!) while I think the book is more appropriate for ages 5 or 6 to 45; again, as a Kipling fan, I love it.
On these pages, Baloo is offering to care for the man-cub, thwarting Shere-khan's scheme to eat the little guy right away.

I am also a fan of Lego and the little guy has played with the remnants of my thirty-plus year old Lego pieces for the last year or so. I had planned to get him a box of general parts- various squares and rectangles - but E-Mart had sold out so I got him a fire truck set. He also likes fire trucks so it's a perfect match. The Lego truck has a trailer and is at the bottom of the picture.
Everything went together fine but I have to complain about the packing. The set consists of three or four parts (the fire fighter was of three pieces, is that enough to be counted as separate?) Inside the box were three plastic bags, each with many pieces. Is it too much to ask that the bags each correspond to one part? One bag - one trailer, one bag- the truck, one bag - the contents of the trailer: makes sense to me.

No. The fire fighter's head was in one bag and his body in another. The wheels were in one bag the the tires in a different bag. And so on.

I put it together for the little guy, with some help from him, but it could've been a little easier.

I hope everyone's troubles are as minor as mine and that they have the same wonderful weather to enjoy as I do.

On December 25th, a savior was born

Oh, and Happy Birthday to the other guy, too.


Ah, what the heck:

Merry Christmas, all!!

Image found here.

snow and stuff

Here I am in beautiful weather, shovelling snow. For a pencil-pusher like myself, sometimes a bit of vigourous labour feels great.
We were clearing the Coast Guard Memorial in Sokcho. Here are some Coast Guard conscripts doing their part - not necessarily voluntarily, as I was.


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At work today, I found Pack the El Camino had received a package. Here, we can see the fragile sticker clearly visible and the box squished into the cubby-hole. That makes a lot of sense.

How to be a super-hero

Yesterday, Spiderman 2 was on TV and the little one and I watched a bit of it. We didn't watch much because he was bored when Spiderman wasn't on and I was concerned when the fight scenes were on. Still, he loved the swinging scenes and jumped around the room, from the kimchi fridge to the sofa to the floor with his hands in the air as though hanging on to webbing. He held on to my wrist with both hands (and I held one of his wrists) and swung him in a big circle from and to the sofa a few times.

I distinctly remember tieing a string to a hook on our basement ceiling in our house on Muskoka Road 14 in Bracebridge and leaping from dad's easy-boy to the sofa and such. I was older than my little guy is now, so I was embarrassed when dad walked in. He told me he pretended to be Superman when he was young.

Well, I read an article today about people who try to be super-heroes (not magical ones or with super powers though, that would be [more] crazy). Later today, I listened to CBC Quirks and Quarks, where the host was interviewing the author of the book, Becoming Batman. The author, a neuroscientist and martial arts expert, suggested that someone could gain Batman's skills in 20 years of training, but would have a career of only about three years before wear and tear would force retirement.

The Rolling Stones article described how some people felt that if Bin Ladin was a super-villain, they could be super heroes. The fact that they have no super powers merely makes their efforts more courageous (to them). Via Pharyngula, which also has links to real hero costume and gadget designers.

I'm a little long in the tooth to train myself and don't care to be killed off to give my son the dedication to train for twenty years, but he is the right age to start. Also, I wonder if there is a niche for a non-super powered aquatic super-hero. There's one I could train for.

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I forgot to mention; this afternoon, I didn't go to the health club, I went to a Coast Guard Memorial Site and helped shovel more snow for another ninety minutes. I definitely don't feel like a superhero right now; my back is tight and I expect my forearms to be in knots tomorrow. Perhaps I will take the little guy to a bathhouse this evening for a long soak.

Snow Day

Today started normally, except for all the spinning tires and horns I heard through the night.

I got up, got KwandongAlex ready for daycare and we went out the door. My plan was to take him to daycare, then go to the health club for an hour or so and get ready for work. Passing all those cars stuck in deep snow made me feel the health club part was a little ridiculous - similar to the ride an elevator-drive a car- ride an elevator to exercise routine that many follow.

So, I dropped off the little guy, went back to my apartment, hung up my jacket and backpack of exercise gear and picked up a shovel.

Here is how deep the snow was.


That's more snow than we normally get in a year.

Anyway, the big problem with parking lots and snow is there is no place to put the snow. I helped a guy clear a route for his car by blocking in another car. Once his car was out of the way, I began digging out the doubly-snowed in car. Happily, he told me he wasn't driving today.

I moved a lot of snow; from the sidewalk, from emergency exits and from the parking lot. Finally, the only thing that could replace me arrived and I went home to relax.
This was better than the health club for a full-body workout. Still, the machines and weights at the club offer measurable amounts of exercise. What do I do now, slowly graduate from shovel to bigger shovel to bigger shovel?

Its weird, but I still feel I should go to the club - I may this afternoon and run, if nothing else. Once I returned home, I found that my university has declared a snow-day and so I have no classes this afternoon.

I'm not exactly fishing for compliments here; a coworker was flabbergasted that I would shovel stranger's cars out with, and for, them*. They aren't complete strangers as we share an apartment building and some of them were clearly older than I; surely anyone with the time would help. Wouldn't they?
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*I don't think the co-worker reads my blog and so doesn't know my feelings about traffic and automobiles and the like. I guess from that point, it is a little strange me helping drivers. The contradiction is similar to my doing volunteer work, teaching ESL, at a local church. I'm a complicated man.

They have some nerve!

Periodically through class, I end up shouting at my students. But sometimes, it's not because I'm angry or drunk; it because fighter jets are buzzing the campus.

These are two pics of a recruiting banner on campus. Those fighter jocks really do have a big pair; after upsetting my classes for six years they ask our students to join them?

Well, I don't want the Norks here so I guess I can't complain too rigourously; I just wish there were some empty area the jets could fly and practise manoeuvres over without irritating people. If only there were an empty space, even one relatively soft for emergency landings; too bad they can't find one on the East Coast.

Should students want stability?

I taught a third year class to administration majors, the majority of whom wanted to work in the civil service. A large part of the class involved job interview questions, a bit challenging for my students and of questionable value, but the answers, at least to me, were interesting.

One answer, in fact. The question was, “Why do you want to work here?” It is, as those who have studied interview questions, a trick.

My students answered the question honestly, in acceptable English, and terribly. The overwhelming majority said, almost verbatim, “A government job is stable and safe. I want stability.”

Again, the English is fine, the question is correctly answered, but the answer is job-killing.

An old man like me, with a young child and serious responsibilities might reasonably want stability and maybe, might mention this in a job interview, but probably not.

A young person, with energy and few responsibilities, should take chances, should want to make changes, even.

It is the ‘make changes’ part that interests me and that I feel should charge youth with energy. Obama and his movement are one thing, an American thing, but most youth, I thought, have some political fire. Those wanting to work in the government should especially want to not merely work, but be involved.

I am now going to make a connection that solely exists in my mind, in stereotypes. I don’t think that my students are now interested in or ever will be interested in bribes or corruption, but I see so clearly a relationship between working in government without desire and sampling helping oneself, in taking the bribes, in asking for bribes.

Here are two articles – old and I hope the links work – about corruption in Korea.

From the Herald:

According to the survey, 50.5 percent of respondents said Korean civil servants are corrupt, whereas only 17.5 percent described them as free of corruption. The perception worsened from last year, when only 45.5 percent answered that Korean government workers are corrupt.

The foreigners' corruption index lowered to 4.05 from last week's 4.16. The index scores are out of 10, with zero being the most corrupt.

And the Korea Times (probably reporting on the same study):

Foreign professionals also gave low marks for the governance of Korean companies ― 40 percent said local companies' governance level remains ``low.'' More than 20 percent said the local business environment still favors chaebol over small- and medium-sized companies, while 25 percent argued conglomerates need to further clean up their ``cozy'' relationship with government officials. About 20 percent also criticized the lack of transparent accounting practices and said the chaebol management structure needs further reform.

They offered up several possible explanations for the corruption problems ― 35 percent argued that the local culture tolerates corruption behavior; others said administrative rules and practices encourage such behavior. Some also cited the legal system, which they described as being lenient toward those charged with corruption.

Oh, I noticed that I called the "Why do you want to work here?" question a trick. The answer should have, and I had trouble explaining this to my students, information about the company looking to hire. "I want to work here because I really like the way your organization does this, works on that, has XXX mission statement, etc." The applicant should research the place s/he wants to work. The applicant should also make a connection between him/herself and 'work on that', 'XXX mission statement' and the like. Anyway, again, statements that sound like, "I want to move into a cubicle and never leave it." should be avoided.

Exceptions to Godwin's Law

This story is a few days old now but I'm approaching it from a slightly different perspective (although no less shallow, as I think about it a bit).

A woman called a bakery in New jersey and asked to have a cake made for her son with his name on it. Normally that would be no problem but the child's name is Adolph Hitler Campbell. According to the article, his sister is named Julie Aryan Nation Campbell. Clearly, the parents have problems.

Now, the reason the story is affecting me a few days late is because a coworker (and good friend) lent me a book, My Father's Keeper, about a group of children who have similar last names. Ah, their names aren't similar to each other, but similar to the young Campbell boy. There are the children of leading Nazis. These children carry the names Hess, Bormann, Goring, Himmler and others.

I imagine there could be humourous exceptions to Godwin's Law, but mostly I am trying imagine doing anything in Germany and giving your name and wondering about the looks you get. If I heard a person were Jimmy Bormann, I wouldn't particularly care, but I would recognize Goring or Himmler and certainly have questions inside.

Oh, info on Godwin's law here. Basically, the law states that anytime someone in an argument compares their opponent to Hitler, they are known to have lost the argument.

I may post a review of the book when I finish it.

YangyangBill is a great host

YangyangBill invited us to dinner last night (by the way, is the TownName thing getting old? I originally did it for a little anonymity but I don't know if it really serves any purpose). The Kwandong family showed up as did a few other coworkers and friends in the area. There was great food, good conversation and more great food.

Let's see; there were smoked oysters, Vietnamese noodles, chips and salsa, shrimp salad, and I'm sure there was more.

Another famous blogger from Gangwon called YangyangBill up to give him a message only minutes after I had said the same thing. YangyangBill had no choice but to believe us, although he had no way to confirm our identical but separate story: last night had the largest full moon of the year (link is to the top google search - I don't think it's about astronomy per se). It was a shame that last night was cloudy until around 11:00 - we did see a very bright but not noticably larger moon as we walked home.

crashing electronics is a new hobby

As you may recall, my notebook died a few weeks ago (at the most exciting time for it - just when I needed all the spreadsheets and files for exams and end of semester stuff). It is back and working fine, although I still have plans to upgrade.

At the health club today, I, uh, did something to two running machines. They had their revenge though.

I guess the air is really dry in the club; as I reached to change the speed, my whole hand went numb with the static... and the controls stopped working. I couldn't turn the machine off, nor change the speed. Don't worry, I wasn't trapped, I stepped onto the side of the machine. The fitness instructor had to unplug the machine from the wall to stop it.

The same thing happened, although this time I grounded with the back of my hand to avoid some of the pain of the shock through my finger. Well, this time the machine shut down and wouldn't restart for me.

Anyway, I'm now okay. I think the treadmills are, too.

exam answers

Edit: I've added to this post a day later- some stuff I forgot the time through and new, but equally boring, stuff from today.
I give midterm exams to all my students but most of my classes have a Korean co-teacher who gives the final. As a result, I only have three exams this week. Still, there have been some interesting answers.

First, what is the Korean phrase that translates to 'hard boiled'? A coworker commented on seeing it a few times in homework and yesterday, in the oral exam, a student told me she respected Helen Keller, partially because she was hard-boiled.

Part of the problem is I don't have a clear definition in my own head of what the phrase means. I thought it was something that only hard drinking '30s detectives could be.

On the exam, students were asked to, "Tell me about someone you respect other than your parents." We'd done this previously in class and as homework, and I knew I needed to add the 'not your parents' bit to avoid honest but trite responses.

The Confucian training was strong, however, as many students told me about their grandfathers. This was more than acceptable as I heard tales of great sacrifices made in conditions I have never experienced.

Edit: Five students - about a tenth- told me they don't respect anyone. Kids these days.
Anyway, one of them gave a well-reasoned answer, in good English, for his response. He is more interested in actions and results than in flattering others.

Anyway, exams are going well- for me, and for some of my students. I posted the questions online three weeks ago and some students told me they hadn't looked at them. I have to admit I don't feel so bad failing such students.

Edit: A coworker is just finishing his Masters and is now applying to start his Doctorate. I find it ironic that he is studying and thinking about complex symbols and metaphors in poetry and I find myself singing along with KwandongAlex's TV shows, "I'm Bori!...Bori, Bori!...I'm Bori! I'm curious!"

Another coworker described how her passion and enthusiasm were in danger of fading. I discussed this with her and she paid me the wonderful compliment of saying she was impressed with my passion for teaching. Thanks DonghaeJennifer and right back at ya! I certainly think you care and advocate for your students with energy and passion.

I promised a KOTESOL conference post and now the conference is six weeks gone. I will still review the material and my opinions but mostly as they relate to how I feel this year of teaching went and what my plans are for the next teaching year.

computer's back...

Thanks, Masuro, but it's the same computer. Still, its working well and I'm getting school work done.

I don't feel much like blogging these days even though I have a pretty light schedule this week; I only need to invigilate (Thanks, Nathan, for teaching me that word) three exams. Still, I'll be busy enough as a single parent; my wife had a 24 hour shift finishing this (Saturday) morning and after 23 hours at home, she is off for several days at sea. I hope she gets some rest after that.

Maybe more later.

Under repairs

The fan on my notebook computer recently gave up and so it (the whole computer) is in Seoul for repairs. The computer is six years old so I am not surprised that it is wearing out, just upset by the timing - final exams are next week at the university and I have grading and such to do .

I am currently typing on the computer in my office - it is running Windows 98! That's pretty old.

More posts when I have something to post on that doesn't make me crazy.