KOTESOL REVIEW # 1

I hope to describe a few of the seminars I went to. I wanted to do this last year, but lost enthusiasm; here's hoping I don't this time.

I almost missed the first presentation as I had trouble with registration. Luckily, I had a small receipt from the bank machine showing that I had transferred money to the treasurer's account. Part of the problem is that the Korean software only accepts Korean length names. We found 'Bria' on a page of unknown depositors on the date listed on my receipt. Anyway, I had to enter my name into a word processor and my card was printed on the spot. It wasn't a big deal, but I waited more than half an hour to get it straightened out. I entered my name and university, but if it happens next time, I will be entering my name and "presenter" to get access to the behind-the-scenes areas.

Anyway, I did make it in in time to see Raymond Wong's presentation on having student make presentations in listening class. He clearly had put a lot of work into his class and his presentation and the information he gave us will allow me to plug it into next semester's classes without great adjustments.

Briefly, he prepared information on eight or so videos and the students (working in teams or pairs) could choose the video they liked. The students needed to find Japanese definitions (his is a Japanese university) for a word list he created. Then, he provided them with a videoscript and they made two pages of questions. Teams that chose the same videos peer-reviewed the question pages, then they were provided to other students.

Mr (Doctor?) Wong used TV programs and burned them to DVDs but I think Youtube would work just as well. He also used documentaries, rather than TV shows.

I found it very interesting and also found the person I sat next to interesting. She was wearing a nametag saying "Chris Backe" and I had thought that person was a he. Anyway, she was, in fact, Mr Backe's "guest" - part of how the registration worked. I later met the man himself.

Oh, Chris and his guest were interesting in their own rights as well. I later had lunch with them and JoeSeoulMan.

Joe taught us a new term for something I admit I had long done but hadn't known such a term existed. Spousal Money Laundering is something a man married to a Korean particularly might do. As many such men are put on an 'allowance' from wives who control finances, one way to get a little more pocket money is to go out to lunch with a group, collect cash from that group, then pay by credit card. Suddenly, one has a surplus of cash.

Milk?

This post would have been a little more topical last week as Boingboing had posts about Dairy Drink and vitamin D Milk.

Click to bigify the picture or accept my claim that the cartons are labelled, "Milk Based Peptides".

Anyway, is this milk?

KOTESOLed Out!

Just got in the door. I'm going to crash soon but thought I'd relax with a beer first. I will post again, later, in more detail about various presentations.

The big-name speakers were not as interesting as in previous years but There were three presentations that I will be thinking about and researching further before next semester's classes. I also sat in three presentations about Masters programs in TESOL.

I think I spent more time with friends than at previous conferences. You couldn't walk down a hallway without tripping over a blogger - that seemed to be true for all of Seoul.

At the conference, I saw the EFL Geek, JoeSeoulman, Chris in South Korea, the Chosun Bimbo. There were even more bloggers but I got the impression that they weren't blogging anymore (John in Kwangju, what is your blog, anyway?).

While walking down the street by city hall, I saw a foreigner and asked him if Bando and Luni's bookstore was nearby. He swiftly responded, "Are you Gangwon Notes?" It was nice to bump, completely randomly, into ZenKimchi. He didn't know where the bookstore was, but may soon have a book published to be placed in such a store. Congrats on his recent wedding.

This process might have worked for Szell, "Die Weisse Engel"

Yesterday evening, I took a night bus to Seoul, arriving at the Express terminal around 2:30am. I spent the rest of the night thinking about sleeping at the Dae Jung Sauna*. In the morning, I went to Myeongji Hospital for a complete physical. I am mostly in good health (well, there should be a long line of "except for....") but have had terrible heart burn for the past few weeks.

I am still awaiting the results of most of the tests (X-rays, pulmonary tests, bloodflow to brain, eye tests and photos and more**) but I was mostly interested in what the scope shoved down my throat would find.

First, the process itself - and if I were able to talk during it, I would have answered any of Szell's questions -"Is it safe?" or any other. Depending upon careful timing, I was given a pill, a liquid to swallow, an injection, another liquid and a liquid spray before I faced the snake (I suppose it literally was a "one-eyed snake").

The second liquid paralyzed my throat so I could swallow - it was soon after taking this that I almost choked on my own saliva. Nurses came running and I was given strict instruction in broken English on how to breathe - slowly and deeply - and to spit up the saliva in my mouth.

Oh, don't worry about the injection. It was just a standard shot in the bum, not some Tarentino-esque needle to the chest or stomach.

Finally came the tube. It went down my throat, into and through my stomach and into the top of my small intestine, nearly one metre total.

Probably the worst part was seeing the numbers on the tube as they disappeared into my mouth. No, the worst part was seeing them come back out and then go back in as the doctor saw something he missed. Yeah, that may beat out the near-drowning event before the scope started.

Alright - good news time.

Probably the best part was hearing that the polyps in my stomach wall had shrank and the pain I had felt was not from spreading cancer. I have to admit some difficult nights thinking about how my father died (from cancer) when I had recurring stomach pain. Oh, I should explain that I had the same test done at the same location a year ago. The physical checkup is a gift from the university.

Also good news was finding that the acid reflux was from a treatable problem - some bleeding in the lower esophagus. Two months of pills and I should be okay. I do hope though, that the doctor wasn't making that up and that the bleeding wasn't from his damn 'scope.

_________________________

*on one of my first trips to Seoul, ten years ago, my girlfriend (now wife) explained that "Dae Jung" wasn't named after the president but meant "The people's". This was "The people's sauna". I was so proud of my, clearer and more evocative translation; "For the great unwashed". - Good stuff, huh?

**Most of the tests are done by (skilled) technicians rather than doctors so realtime analysis is infrequent and brief. This was a good, and terrifying, example from my 2008 visit: "Fat is infiltrating your liver. Next station, please."

_____

Oh, in the title, of course I am referencing one of the best movies of all time, Marathon Man.

I like the look of this

I first noticed the Gyopo Wife mentioning a 'car-free day' in Seoul and now the Joongang Ilbo has photos. As it is currently so early in the morning, I think I am reading yesterday's news and today's on the same page: I can see the announcement and a photo (below) of the result next to each other.

The recent 'green party' in Sokcho also included a long section of street closed to automobiles but cars that did travel through town had to take a somewhat torturous detour. It may have been well-advertised but I didn't see much before the day itself.

Anyway, these events where people can walk on the road always seem so much fun. I don't know if it is the usually forbidden pleasure of dallying where once you had to scurry but I do know I like to walk up and down the middle of the street.

They are so much fun, in fact, and are intended to benefit the environment, so I don't know why they are not more frequent. Perhaps various cities should start 5-day markets, closing the street every fifth day, or make the event once a month. Its not like a joke -if once a year is good, many times a year should also be good.

I'm starting to get carried away - how about opening the roads to automobiles once every five days? This would be a good time for stores to be restocked and ready for the next four days without daytime deliveries.

Tidbits

I don't see any strong story for the day, so here are a few things - Korea and Gangwon related, that caught my eye.

My most recent post was about swine flu and the need to constant care to prevent illness. Today, I have learned that the eighth victim of Swine Flu was from Gangwon Province. The 64-year old woman went to a hospital and:

The hospital treated her with anti-viral medicine for five days, after which she tested negative for the flu, but she finally died of secondary complications from bacterial pneumonia, the ministry said.

I wonder what the anti-virals were. As most people know, there is no cure for viral illness - no cure for the common cold, for example - but the symptoms can be treated. Anyway, it seems the flu weakened her immune system and allowed pneumonia to take hold. I am not Korea-bashing here, but I wonder if she caught pneumonia at the hospital itself. This happens all the time, around the world.

Anyway, there are now 10,000 Koreans sick with swine flu.

At my university, we no longer need to line up and have our temperature taken to enter the campus. I do need to continue asking each class if anyone is hot and sending them to the campus nurse. With Chuseok coming up, we were reminded that we could not leave the country due to infection fears. I presume going to Seoul and eating from the same dish with a dozen family members is still okay.

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I find this funny and I don't even care if the elephant did it.

Police yesterday said they are probing whether an elephant at the zoo inside Children’s Grand Park in Seoul threw a stone at a woman. The Gwangjin Ward Police Station said, “A woman surnamed Kim reported to police that she was hit by a stone thrown by an elephant.”

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Yawn:

By Oct. 15, Pyeongchang will submit a proposal to host the 2018 games to the International Olympics Committee, which will narrow down its choices to three to four final candidates by June. IOC members will visit those finalists between February and March 2011, prior to making their decision at a general assembly in Durban, South Africa on July 6.

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E-books in Korea

Major S. Korean publishers, bookstores create e-book firm

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- A group of major publishers and on- and off-line booksellers in South Korea founded an electric book firm on Wednesday, the new publishing body said in a release.

.

I've been watching NUUT, a Korean brand of E-book reader device, for the last few years. I would totally buy one if I could get content easily without DRM - I don't feel the need to share the books, but I would want to move the e-book from my computer to my reading device, to new computer.... I have a habit of reading a book several times and I frequently buy non-fiction specifically to access at different times in the future.

come to Sokcho - any way you want.

It looks like another airline is going to try flying to our (well, Yangyang's) airport. I wish them well, but give them only a month or so (Click to enlarge the photo).

Earlier, I had heard about hopes for a high-speed train to Sokcho, via Chuncheon. I thought it unlikely but it appears Chuncheon is getting a fast train. Maybe they will extend it here after all.

I am surprised though, at how many transportation links Chuncheon is getting - In July an expressway was officially opened running between Seoul and Chuncheon -it seems to me that it will take passengers away from any rail service and/or that the rail service will take cars from the toll road. From the article:

The toll is 5,900 won for passenger cars for the entire route. Residents in Chuncheon and nearby counties will receive a discount of 700 won.

"We planned to open the highway in August but advanced the opening by one month, for the convenience of vacationers to Chuncheon and other destinations in Gangwon. We hope the road will ease traffic congestion between the two regions on weekends," a ministry official said.

By 2014, the expressway will be extended to reach Yangyang on the eastern coast.

Finally, a new ferry service overseas has started for China, Russia and Japan.

This is the second major ferry traveling from Sokcho; the first links Sokcho and Baekdu Mountain in North Korea....

The ferry can accommodate 750 people and is able to carry 180 containers. Travel starts each week on Monday at noon, when it leaves for Japan, and runs until its return on Sunday. However, it is a longer journey than air travel, taking almost one day to get to Japan and an additional 22 hours to Russia.

Sokcho is excited about the latest opportunity which is expected to boost the local economy as it becomes the first port on the Korean east coast to grab two exclusive international ferry links.

Bikes on subways

Seoul will soon allow bikes on the subway outside of peak of peak hours. In addition, bike storage will be available at some stations.

I like the ideas and hope it catches on.

Something that makes me wish I lived in Seoul

Seoul isn't so bad.  I lived on the slopes of Mount Gwanak for a year and enjoyed hiking the mountain once a week so I could get some kind of nature fix.

On the other hand, the crowds really got to me.  I don't like even Sokcho's E-mart on Saturday afternoons and all Seoul is like that all the time.

I prefer Sokcho and can always visit Seoul once in a while.

One of the few things that could change my mind has appeared in the Herald (the link looks good but that's never certain with the Herald - excerpt below). Turns out, there are several libraries with English books in Seoul.

Excerpts:

Jeongdok Public Library

At the Jeongdok Public Library there are a little more than 4,500 books in foreign languages, nearly 3,800 of which are non-fiction, and all of which may be taken out of the library's facilities.

The library has 25 different magazine titles available for foreign visitors, including Time, Newsweek, Reader's Digest and National Geographic.

...

Namsan Library of Korea

The Namsan Library has a little more than 12,000 books in English, and more than 1,300 of among them have been purchased since 2007.

All registered members of the library can borrow books here. To register, an alien registration card is required for expats.

...

National Assembly Library

The official library of Korea's National Assembly offers about 263,680 non-fiction selections, plus about 2,000 fiction publications in English....To get there, take subway Line 5 to Yeouido Station, leaving through Exit No. 2.

Visit www.nanet.go.kr/english for more information.

There were one or two other libraries listed as well.  I know a continuing education library in Sokcho has children's books in English.  I wonder about other libraries locally. Kwandong University's library has a (relatively) large, and varied, selection of English books, all thirty years old and older.  I'll try to update this as I find out more.