Canadians no longer able to mock English signs in Korea

We sure can't after this!

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will remove the French-language exhibit at a major military memorial [Vimy Ridge, France] after a reporter discovered it was riddled with grammatical errors, Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson said on Thursday.

The issue is an embarrassment for Ottawa, since Canada has been officially bilingual for 40 years and millions of French-speakers are very sensitive about their fate in a country where most people speak English.

a limited method for weight loss

In Canada, I donated blood fairly regularly, encouraged by the examples set by my parents and grandparents.
Here, I've been more cautious. The Red Cross of Canada had some problems somewhat before I started to donate and I was concerned about hygiene and sterile condition here.
I watched how the process worked and was satisfied; single use needles, bags and tubing, and even the swabs used to disinfect were unsealed in front of me and immediately discarded.

I looked at the Bloodmobile as being a little too temporary or somehow lacking in solidity (and the bus did rock as candidates boarded or left -400grams lighter). Still, the blood donor clinic in my hometown arrived in trucks and was set up only for the day in a recreation centre, and the staff here were skilled and experienced.

In the picture below, we see a candidate on the left, filling out the required form. Soon, he will go into the private chamber behind him, take a blood-density test and confirm a few of the questions verbally. The nurse inside the privacy booth spoke no English but was comforted by my Canadian blood donor card and insistence that I was an appropriate candidate. She checked the boxes in the questionnaire in the correct order of 'yes's and 'no's (for the record, I think it was no, yes, then no all the way down).
To the right, in the picture are two people who have completed their donation and recovering with drinks and snacks.


The nurse here found my vein (or artery, I don't know) with no trouble. I've never had trouble in that regard, though so I really can't say she was much better or worse than Canadian nurses. I'm quite proud of my blood donor abilities, in fact. Plug me in and don't go far because it won't take long - funny, my wife was saying the same thing, the other day.

In Canada, one can donate blood every two months or so. I don't know how long one must wait here. I will donate again but I can wait; I was unusually dizzy for the afternoon and evening. The inside of my elbow remains bruised four days later.

Sigler did it (and questionable cooking advice)

As of this morning, Scott Sigler made #1 in the Amazon sci-fi/Fantasy list and #7 overall.

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In listing podcasts I listen to, I mentioned one of his books and I have listened to this one as well. I am not that confident in my ability to rate quality literature so I am hesitant to promote the book too much but his ability to reach #1 was due to careful planning.

He had been turned down by major publisher after major publisher after publisher after minor publisher.... and decided to make his books available online in audio form. After he had more than 10,000 downloads, publishers decided the book might sell after all.

Over the last two months, Sigler promoted his book on many podcasts and asked listeners to wait until the day the book was available and buy it en-mass at 9:00am -um, US East Coast time (I've forgotten the name of the timezone). He even gave away a PDF of the text -slightly different from the audio - with the understanding that e-Books haven't really caught on, no-one would print out the book because reading on loose-leaf A4 isn't that exciting either, so readers would just be more interested in buying the hard-copy (but softcover) book. Loyal listeners did buy on April 1; Australians even waited until 2:00am their time to synchronize their purchases.

I enjoyed Ancestor, but not enough to buy it, even though I feel a kind of connectedness to the author, having listened to him read for the past year.

I wonder if any of my readers do give money for services online. I'm talking about free services with a 'donate here' button, not pay services like Amazon. I listen to PodioBooks and Escape Pod and use Juice to download their content and have never donated; am I a bad man?

Now, on to cooking advice.

Charles at Liminality, has a mouth watering post about making Calzones. He makes the cooking process seem so easy that I may try it soon. Still, I've seen photos of him. He's pretty slim. Can one really trust cooking advice from a thin person?

Daylight Savings...

Starts tonight or tomorrow morning here in Korea. I only mention it because Canada sprang forward three weeks ago to synchronise with the US so I was a little confused about when it starts here.

The Canadian site for Daylight Savings gives this suggestion and warning:

Although daylight savings starts at 2:00am in your timezone, it is easier to set your clock before you go to bed Saturday night or when you wake up Sunday morning. DO NOT set your clock both times!

So, if you find yourself an hour early for events and appointments on Sunday, probably you and your significant other both set the clocks forward. You should be careful about that.

Good work, El Camino Driver

Melvin (blogname: pack the El Camino - I think its a travel blog) has won an award from Gangneung city for volunteering.

Congrats, Camino Driver Man!

Managing my commute

I have a good job that I enjoy doing. I also enjoy the time off, of which I have a great deal. So, I can't really complain about the three hour a day round trip commute I do to get to work. Well, I can, but few would have sympathy for me.

Why don't I move closer to work? Well, my wife works longer hours, more days a week and more months a year than I do. She deserves a short commute (and much more).

I don't really hate the time spent on the bus. This post is about how I spend my time -oh, and at the bottom are a few notes on other parts of the life of Kwandongbrian.

I am pretty comfortable on a moving platform. I have gotten sea-sick but not that badly. Even Korean bus travel is not that bad, so I am able to read without wooziness. I can't easily use my computer on the bus - there is a little too much shaking for that. Still, I have more options than Kwandongwife who can only choose between sleeping or staring out the window while travelling.

For the longest time, I listened to my MP3 player constantly. I still listen, but not as much. I listen to a little music, mostly novelty stuff, and a double handful of podcasts and audio books.

Here is what I listen to:

Science fiction and Fantasy stories, reviews and commentary:

The Rookie (Sigler) -A new quarterback competes in an interstellar football league. Good stuff for the price (free). This and other Sigler audiobooks are among the best to be found free online and I like them. Still, that means they are big fish only in a small pool.

Podiobooks -This is where I found Sigler's first book. This and many others can be found, with variable quality. Great Moments in History is a BBC educational series that is well prepared. There is also a series of interviews on intelligent design.

Escape Pod. Short science fiction and fantasy stories of high quality. Good stuff.

University of Minnesota Narratives in Sci-fi/Fantasy. A favorite author (P.C. Hodgell) and another guy (also good) discuss the history of speculative fiction and interivew a few authors. Good stuff.

Kickass Mystic ninjas - reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy, the good, the bad and the hokey.

podcasts for thinkers

In Our Time. A BBC Radio 4 program looking at subjects from science, literature, history, religion and art. Great stuff but I had to laugh at the segment on Don Quixote, who they called Don Quik-sit.

Ideas The same as above but with Canadian accents (CBC).

Science

Quirks and Quarks A weekly science show from CBC

Science Friday a two hour weekly science show from NPR - it covers research but also political issues in science.

Skepticality An occassional show -not quite weekly about science and humanist issues.

Clean Break - An environmental news 'cast from the Toronto Star

Korea

Liminality - Charles had planned to produce weekly 'casts and I still have high hopes.

The Metropolitician - The scribbler has talked about good stuff. Most of his work is now on video 'casts but his audio 'casts can be found there.

Humor and other

Linwood Barkley - Interesting humor but based on Toronto events and not always comprehensible to outsiders.

The Now Show -Rich audio from BBC. The same caveat as above.

Jonathan Coulton - this is where I get my novelty music. Skullcrusher Mountain is the best.

Academic lectures can be found here. Some are interesting but most are straight audio from a lecture. The audio is not great and any visual aids are missing. You can find some good stuff but it takes work.

__________

I mentioned above that I don't listen to my MP3 player as much as I used to. I just got a few books from What the Book and have relearned how much I prefer reading -audio books are not as interesting for me.

_______________________________________

In other news, I fear that I may be beat up soon. Before Kwandongalex was born, my adventures were mostly in human-power travel. Now, I don't hike or ride as much. Today, possibly as compensation; while crossing a street, a truck turned without signalling and stopped as I was halfway across the street. I walked up to the window and the driver rolled down the window. I reached in and turned on the guy's turn-signal. I felt good about it but I also walked off quickly.

I'm still here

I've been a little busy at work with the new semester starting so I wanted to put in a reminder to check this blog everyday just-in-case!

Another thing keeping me busy is Kwandongson is sick. He's recovering and tomorrow should be fine but he's managed some incredible projectile vomiting! We've been washing clothes frequently just to keep up with the demand.

I have started comment moderation on my blog. There are no heated issues here but spam made it through the word verification filter so I felt I needed more hoops to jump through to get a comment up.

I saw Casino Royale the other day. I thought it was as good as any other Bond film but what I thought about the next day was how boring it is to simply walk up and down stairs. I think they used steps normally twice in the whole movie.

Kwandongbrian's Hinterland's Who's who

A few years ago, my mother bought a stuffed animal - a chickadee for my little one. It had a noise maker inside that reminded me of the start of CBC's Public Service Announcements about Canadian wildlife.

Here is my version:

"The phone using student is a funny fellow, shy and hard to approach. They are sociable animals and friends may make an alarm call as you come near. They prefer large classes where they can blend in."

I am almost embarrassed at how proud I am to have gotten this picture. After spotting the phone-using-student, I had to keep my tone and speed of speaking steady as I reached into my computer case and pulled out the camera. Then I had to keep the camera low and turn it on as I approached, hoping the thirty-five other students wouldn't show too much curiosity until - Snap- had the picture and a class frozen at my response. I was so proud of myself.

Oh, for nostaglic Canadians, visit the spoof page at Hinterland's Who's Who. Best viewed with a hockey jersey and maple syrup pancakes.

What is 'Eco-tourism'?

I do understand the basics. Cycling around a country is a great example of eco-tourism; not just because there is no auto-exhaust involved, but that volume and mass limitations on a bike mean you must buy local. You cannot carry a week's worth of groceries or the like. A big part of eco-tourism ethics is to help local businesses.

In this quote regarding eco-tourism in Gangwon's mountains is an example of mutually exclusive activities being rammed together:

During a conference held at the Yongpyong Resort in PyeongChang, also in Kangwon Province, the organization told local residents that more tourist attractions would be developed in the area, but would be done without damaging the environment.

In the highlands, a kilometer above sea level in Hoenggye-ri, there will be a new tourism complex, a ski resort, golf courses, 52 kilometers of trekking paths and an eco-system tour, it said.

Golf courses, with their heavy loads of fertilizer and pesticides, complete reshaping of the terrain and alteration of plantlife cannot possibly be seriously considered in an eco-resort.

I don't think one can bring eco-tourism to a location, it has to be a grassroots activity. Again, the point is that the locals can support themselves in healthy ways and the money has a chance to circulate locally.

Letting the developers into the parks

The Korea Times discusses a bill currently being evaluated that would open National Parks for development.

A bill that would allow seven national parks to be developed without concern for the environment is under consideration in the National Assembly, triggering a dispute among government offices, civic groups and lawmakers.

According to the Ministry of Environment, the Assembly’s Construction and Transportation Committee is likely to endorse the bill, which applies mainly to the development of the south and east coast, on Monday.

The bill would make studies on the environmental effects of construction in these areas non-binding.

The seven areas to be affected are Mt. Chiri, Hallyo, Wolchul, Kaya, Tokyu and
Naejang national parks.

...

``Seventy percent of wildlife lives in the national parks, which account for 6.6 percent
of the nation’s territory. It is an international trend to preserve the environment rather than
develop it, and the bill will surely destroy that,’’ Yoon Guk-gu, the National Park Service public relations director, said.

More than 151 civic groups in South Kyongsang Province gathered Friday to declare that
the bill would bring a development craze to rural areas, which would not benefit local residents. It is not a step toward sustainable development, they said.

I discussed development of Kyeongpo Provincial Park, comparing it to Haeundae, almost exactly a year ago and I agree with the civic groups. The money will at least leave the rural areas and may well leave Korea entirely.

Lazy public worker may be sent to labour camps.

From the Joongang:

According to the city, “incapable and idle” public workers will join a team that will look for people throwing cigarette butts, vehicles violating speed limits or research the traffic volume on the roads. After six months, the workers will be reevaluated and those with low scores will be discharged for another six months.

The three the suggestions for idle public workers might first sound reasonable but all require some kind of training.

I wish I knew more about what police officers do in Korea instead of what they seem to do. What I have seen of police officers here does not make me proud to tell people my father was a police officer in Canada - but, like so many things in Korea, this is an area that a non- speaker of Korean can only see the surface or read the cover -there just has to be more depth.

Still, my wife, as a Korean Coast Guard officer* trained for twelve weeks and still recieves on-the-job training.

"Incapable" public workers don't seem to be an obvious choice to put into confrontations and that is what's suggested. They aren't picking up cigarette butts, they are 'look[ing] for people throwing cigarette butts'. They are going after speeders.

I could understand getting them to clean streets and giving them whistles, cameras and tickets to go after illegal parking but ... maybe the goal here is to get them into so many confrontations they quit.

*My wife is an officer in the police sense of the word, I don't know how that relates to working the ships. My father was a constable for much of his time in the Force and I think that is comparable to an enlisted soldier, rather than an 'officer'.

Hwa-am Temple and Daesoonjinrihoe

Yesterday, Masuro paid me a visit and we went to Hwa-am Temple.

On the way there, we were never lost but we were often not where we planned to be. I don’t navigate nearly as well as I thought.

Eventually, we reached the temple. Hwa-am Temple is next to Misi-ryeong tunnel, a little north-west of Sokcho. It is a small temple in a beautiful location. It was quiet although there are many Condos nearby; in the tourist season, I have seen many busses and cars jamming the narrow road reaching the temple.

On this quiet day, we just drove right to the temple grounds. Masuro pulled out his big-ass camera and we toured the temple. Upon reaching the ‘three local gods’ shrine (Chil-seong, San-shin and the other guy), colorful, of a pleasing shape and in a natural mountain valley with a river in the background, Masuro took a photo of semi-coiled piece of rusted fence wire.

Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

Hwa-am Temple has its own fire truck- they've learned from Naksan, I guess.

Masuro at work.

Later we hiked to a big boulder above the temple. The trail beyond was closed to grounds recovery. I scrambled about on the boulder and learned how old and cowardly I have become.

The view from the boulder.

On the way home, we passed a big and ugly condo and Masuro commented that when Koreans build western-style architecture, the results are mixed at best. They seem to do very well at traditional Korean architecture. (Send your complaints to---). At that moment, we saw the roofs of a large temple over the trees lining the road.

Nothing to do with the story; just some funky cabins.

I had heard of the place and knew it wasn’t a Buddhist temple exactly but didn’t know what it was. In we went. We were stopped at the gate by men with traffic batons and Masuro asked in Korean if tourists were welcome. They nodded and let us in but the atmosphere was beginning to coalesce around us. Two men, with good English, met us when we parked, welcomed us and invited us to look around, requesting we not take pictures at certain areas. So, in we went and still didn’t know what this place was for.The Main entrance gate.

Maitreya Buddha (Buddha of the future)

The grounds were huge and empty.

The grounds were huge and empty. Although we saw bags from some group –visitors, students, fugitives, who knows, we only saw a few individuals, wearing a badge and quietly watching us. In front of the Buddha of the Future, a man told us about Daesoonjinrihoe. Jesus and Buddha both have prophecies for return. This religious group believes they had a joint incarnation in Korea and are/is expected to return again. There may be a Dao connection in this fusion religion as well.

The buildings were huge, well decorated and in a pleasing style – much as Masuro had said. Still, the constant observation, the welcome without much explanation and the tag I was asked wear while on the grounds made us feel uncomfortable. Everyone was as pleasant as could be but I just felt a little like I had visited some Montana backwoods compound.

As we left, we were invited to return in early May, when the flowers bloom. The grounds are fantastic and despite my irrational discomfort, I hope to get the little guy and Kwandongwife there for the flowers.

Oddities

Just a few unrelated notes I feel like commenting on.

The Joongang Ilbo has an article about economic competition with China and Japan. My favorite part: Companies should look at themselves before blaming others. Entrepreneurs must be brave and look for ways to defeat Japan and China.
Don't look for ways to grow or ways to improve; look for ways to defeat your enemies.

On the bus home today, a TV connected to a satellite dish, was playing a movie. The sound was off and I had my MP3 player on but I was watching idly. Suddenly, Boobs! Woo-hoo! I was riding with a co-worker and we shared a chuckle. I'm not disapproving, just incredulous that someone in the transportation industry wasn't more careful. I don't think it was an 'X' rated bus - and who'd want to touch the seats in such a bus!

Reviewing the IOC evaluation committee's visit.

I found two articles describing how Koreans feel the IOC evaluation committee visit went.

The first, from the Joongang Ilbo, is objective but positive. The second paragraph:.

Korea is too limited in its winter sports abilities and Pyeongchang should improve its access to the giant slalom ski venue, but other than that, inspectors gave the city a good review for its bid to host the 2014 Olympic Games.

I first took 'too limited' to mean not enough snow, not enough height, not enough inanimate resources in general. I think Nagano had problems with the ski hills not being long enough and had to cut into a national park to meet IOC criteria. I expect(ed) similar problems here. Perhaps this is what the 'access to the giant slalom' comment means.

In fact, the inspectors meant:

Korea should be more well-rounded across all of the winter sports, referring to the country’s reliance on a few sports, such as short track speed skating and speed skating, for most of its Winter Olympics medals.

Korean athletes need to shine more at Winter sports, is the real message.

I believe Koreans have the ability to organize an excellent winter olympics, I am not as enthusiastic as Gangwon Governor Kim Jin-sun. Nor do I agree with why Korea would do well.

From the Herald:

Tenacity and calmness are two leading characteristics of Koreans, who have held a long history steeped in tradition.

I'll give Koreans tenacity. Koreans are tough, no question. Calmness? Not so much.

It is said that, in an era of digital technology, the tradition of using chopsticks at the dinner table has gone a long way in developing their manual adroitness and places them at an advantageous position in the semiconductor industry.

F-ck! Not the chopstick story again! I'm glad that Koreans, for whatever reason, are doing well with semiconductors but I'm not sure how this fits. Will this be a new Olympic event? "New this year is the 'Make a semiconductor with chopsticks' event. The Koreans expect to do well but may be surprised by the North American jobseekers who would 'separate flyshit from pepper with gloves on just to say they have a job'. A true battle of East meets West."

Due to their unique dynamism, the world has come to view Koreans as people who can even make mountains or rivers if necessary.

I think Governor Kim is showing his support for Lee Myoung-bak's presidential bid, with the 'making rivers' remark.

All sarcasm aside, I hope Pyeongchang gets the olympics here.
To finish this post, I am happy to see no news of corruption in either article. Finally the triumvirate is broken.

Pyeongchang Olympic Bid

I wish the best of luck to Pyeongchang in their bid to host the 2014 Olympics. I am sincere but also I fear that Koreans might be upset with Canadians because Vancouver stole the 2010 games away.

Earlier, I questioned Korea's bid. Here in Sokcho, we have seen only a brief dusting of snow this winter. In the mountains, I am sure there is more, but enough? Recently, I learned of Swiss ski resorts helicoptering in snow in the days just before an international competition, so Korea's situation doesn't seem so bad.

Two things still concern me. First the wording of the middle banner above (click to enlarge). "Welcome to Gangneung Happy, Peace Olympic"? Actually, there may be an opportunity for ESL teachers here. Despite the many spelling errors on this blog, I do a fair job of editting. Time to throw my hat in.

My second concern is at the end of this quote from the Joongang daily.

Pyeongchang hopes its location in Asia, its experience from its bid in 2010 (when it fell second to Vancouver, Canada by three votes) and its strong infrastructure will outweigh any doubts about political instability or nature-related problems on the peninsula, as well as overcome the bids by the two other cities. An International Olympic Committee member from Korea, Park Yong-sung, was pardoned on corruption charges Monday, allowing him to get out of jail and participate in the bid activities this week.

People have complained on other blogs about Korea's system of pardoning white-collar criminals with political connections, so I'll hold off. Look here if you are interested. I can't really see how returning a convicted felon to the IOC committee can help Korea and Korea's image in the long term. I know that I have mentioned in at least one previous post that it would be nice to see an article in which the words "Korea", "Olympics" and "corruption" were not all present.

Will Korea become a Brave New World?

Huxley envisaged a world where people made to fit their professions before they were born. Alphas given great pre- and post- natal care, specifically including nutrition and education, while Epsilons were deliberately deprived of oxygen and nutrients while still in the fetal stage. Alphas were tall, strong and intelligent and Epsilons were small, possibly stooped (I can't remember) and brain damaged.

From today's Joongang Daily, describing the North Korean situation:

“When pregnant women and infants are malnourished, the physical development of not only themselves but their children and grandchildren are influenced,” said Chang Nam-soo, professor of food and nutritional sciences at Ewha Womans University. “Their stunted physiques will be handed down through generations.”
Experts warned about the dangers faced by babies born to malnourished mothers. Such children are highly likely to suffer from a low immune capability, weakened physical, intellectual and scholastic abilities, a low labor productivity and a higher risk of geriatric diseases, they said.

The average height difference for North and South Korean men is 6.6 cm. In an interesting contrast, East Germans were two centimeters shorter than West Germans at reunification.

"Oh Brave New World,
That has such people in't!"

Missing Coastie

Some sad news for the Sokcho Coast Guard. Three weeks ago, a group of coasties went out for a drink. Afterward, one left the group and has not been seen since. Foul play is suspected.
You can click on the picture to enlarge.

I don't really know police procedure but I've watched a lot of Law and Order. One thing I recall is fights over jurisdiction. You know, the feds withholding info from the cops and suchlike. Here, the Coast Guard are involved, which is mostly unsurprising when you consider the Korean name 'Sea Police'. More surprising is the involvement of Pohang police. I think the missing coastie, named Kwan, is from Pohang or he was out with a group from Pohang, but anyway, Sokcho seems like a reach to me.

Gathering Chilk (칡) and stepping over corpses

Chilk is a very thick root; above ground it is a vine that chokes small trees. I'm told the root is good for your health. I find this likely because it tastes terrible.
One of Kwandongwife's coworkers asked if I would like to collect some, so, with some prodding, out I went.
Below, my friends clean some chilk in icy creek water. They will clean it again at home. I was waiting, reluctantly trying to volunteer to take my turn. Luckily, they did the cleaning and I stayed warm in the van.

Most of the day was warm for us as we were in a narrow valley and evaded the wind, which was terrible at the road and creek.

We collected the chilk in a low mountain valley near Wanggok village. Walking from the van, we found this snare. My friend told me it was intended for boar, which can be found in Gangwondo.

Higher in the valley and off the trail we found two dead animals. A deer, still entangled in a snare and another animal described as a 'go-ran-i' or small, wild cat (maybe similar to a lynx in size). Most distinguishing features were missing but I could certainly see one long canine. However a long canine is not diagnostic for carnivores in Korea. It could have been a water-deer as they have a pair of saber teeth instead of antlers. The fur on both animals was brown and russet so that was no help. Anyway, I have no reason to doubt the greater local knowledge of my guides so I guess it could have been a wild cat. I have photos but have chosen not to post them.

For related subjects, you could read my posts on two bears, recently re-introduced to Chilisan, being caught in farmer's traps. For Korea's saber-toothed deer, look here. Regarding wildlife in general in Korea, the Chosun has an article about the surprising number of road kill.

I'm back

Actually, I've had the computer back for almost a week now but I'm running low on inspiration. Thanks Melissa for your keyboard and drinks story.

A friend drove me home from work the other day and we passed a truck on its way to fish Hell -there's got to be a way of constrasting humanity's mythical trip across the river to the land of death to fish on a highway but I've already pointed out my lack of inspiration.
Aha! Here's my inspiration- I'll get someone else to do it. Nathan, you know what I want- email a good classically inspired caption for me to post here. Please.

don't spill orange juice on your keyboard

Well, duh!

Anyway, it will be a while before I can post blogs from home again. I expect to have the computer back on Wednesday but I may have to wait to get out of the doghouse...we'll see.

Oh, if you do spill a drink on your keyboard, its possible to save the keyboard, but you should act quickly. If you wait a day or two, as I did, the acids in the drink can etch the connection causing you to need a whole new keyboard.

Ijen (instep crampons)

A commenter asked about hiking in Seorak in January. I told him (maybe her), he would need 'ijen'. He asked for a picture. Here are mine, with case, from Kobea (click to enlarge).

Wikipedia also mentions instep crampons (1/3 DOWN THE PAGE).

Will 2007 be about the hagwons?

In 2006 we read many stories about bad foreign teachers making trouble in Korea. The first article on the subject I saw this year lambasted Jeju International English Village and its director, Mr Lee (full name given in the article, isn't that unusual given Korea's libel laws?)

The Herald's article is either poorly organized or the whole story is riddle wrapped in an enigma covered in crap (I don't remember Churchill's exact quote but this story is messy and confused).

My summary of case 1:
A teacher had enough trouble at work to call the police. Officers showed up and said there was a sting going on and could she please wait it out. At the end of her contract, she was told there wasn't time to get her money back before she had to fly out of the country. Soon after, the Herald reporters called the officer who denied any knowledge of wrongdoing. The officer claimed he was checking passports and documents. The Herald called the Immigration Department and was told police don't do that kind of inspection. Jeju police (presumably not the officer in question) then said, 'Yes, we do." Finally Director Lee stated that no police had ever visited the village.

I'm trying to figure this out. I can believe both that a teacher might try to cause trouble for a school s/he was leaving and I can believe some hagwon directors are corrupt. I think the latter is more likely.I also believe a hagwon director might be in cahoots with a police officer. Could the Provincial Police Managers really not know the limits of their authority or could the Herald have called a third conspirator?Finally, could Mr Lee and the police officer not keep their stories straight or are they deliberately creating confusion?

My summary of case 2:
Mr Lee also operates "the Oxford English language hagwon in Seoul" where he is accused of tax fraud, forging signatures and non-payment of salaries. Immigration confirmed that the man is under investigation but may be hiding and has refused invitations to come to the Immigration office for questioning. Mr Lee was interviewed by the Herald and stated that he had not moved nor had he been asked to answer questions.

The whole story simply creates more questions.

Concluding the article:

It is well established that Lee and the highly questionable way he conducts his English teaching enterprises have been brought to the attention of the authorities on several occasions. The lack of initiative shown by the police, labor, and immigration departments to conduct a thorough and coordinated investigation is nothing short of disgraceful.

My own conclusion is that I was unduly harsh on the Herald staff. The article seems to be as well organized as possible and I look forward to learning more.

English teacher killed in paraglider accident on New Year's Day

An American teaching in Gyeongsangbuk Province died while paragliding near Gangneung on January 1. Dangelo Carl was paragliding to photograph the sunrise, possibly committed an operational mistake and crashed into the East Sea. The Coast Guard fished him out so I'll have to see if the missus has any information available to the public.
My condolences to any family and I can only hope that he died doing something he loved.

an alternative to skiing

Here is something I would never have considered; riding a ski lift then hiking (rather than skiing or boarding) back down. When I started reading, I envisioned hikers crossing, and screwing up, the ski-slopes but it turns out their are hike-only trails for use.

I really want to ride this Muju gondola (my highlighting): The gondolas take up to eight people. They run from 9 a.m. through 4 p.m. and take riders to a point 2,671 meters above sea level in 15 minutes.
Wow, fifteen hundred meters above Korea's highest mountain! UPDATE: Its a good thing I am an ESL teacher, not a math teacher - as Masan's greatest hiker (strangely enough, this description is without sarcasm) pointed out, Korea's tallest mountain is much taller than 1100 meters. Still, the gondola, as described, does climb seven hundred meters above Korea's tallest mountain. Uh, you trust me, right? Do I need to show my work?

Temple grounds extended to include entire parks?

This is interesting. Beginning January 1, national parks dropped their entrance fees. However, the temple fees jumped to almost the level of the original combined fee.

This is the most surprising part for me. I didn't realize that, in 2006, when I paid 3,400 won to hike to Ulsan Bowi, around half that fee went to the temple. It does explain why the entrance at O-saek,(the hotsprings and far from any major temples) is, again, about half the Seorak-dong rate (closest to Sokcho). If I hadn't read the article, I would have figured the rate had simply dropped a few hundred won.

Some hikers aren't welcoming the (slightly) reduced entry. They don't intend to visit the temples and are upset to pay for them.

Keeping it fresh: Volunteering may be illegal in Korea

This isn't all that recent and many bloggers have commented on this subject already but no one has mentioned any closure or follow-up on volunteering in Korea.

To refresh people's memories, here is an excerpt from the Korea Times:

Foreigners may face deportation or fines if they volunteer at orphanages or organize performances without reporting them to the authorities.

The interpretation came from Joo Jae-bong, an official at the Ministry of Justice. He said there should be no problem with joining a poetry club but that volunteer activites should be registered with the ministry.

``If it 's just a gathering of friends, there should be no problem,’’ he
said. ``But if they are organizing performances, they need to register to do
those things because they are changing the purpose of their stay here.’’

He said the same rule applies to those who wish to volunteer in an orphanage.
Foreigners need to register those activities with the ministry.

Is volunteering at an orphanage the only prohibited or regulated activity?

I recognize that, in not doing any research myself, I am in no position to point any fingers. Well, I guess I have something to do tomorrow after work.

Is volunteering illegal in Korea?

This is my third post this evening, but it is the one I find to be actually important for foreigners here.

Some foriegners in Busan put on a play or comedy performance and were busted for not having the right visa or permission for it. I'm neutral on the subject but while being questioned by the police, they were told volunteering without first asking for permision from a customs office was also not allowed.

Volunteering is a fairly important part of my life. I guess I shouldn't say whether I am currently volunteering in the current atmosphere (although I did a few posts -back in those happier times).

The Korean blogosphere is active on the subject with the best post on the subject coming from Nathan, the Seoul Hero.

Nathan also comments in a separate post about students asking for better grades. I guess it is common to be able to do so in Korea as my university has the same policy. Now, I do make mistakes so I don't mind the ocassional student asking me to double check my math but there are also students who want to suddenly make up for a semester of slacking. Twice now, once this year and once a few years ago, I had students offer to do a new assignment over the winter holiday if only I would increase their grade. This semester, four students have asked me to change their grades. For two of them, I am sympathetic and will see if there is anything I can do; they were hard workers in class and I am happy to return to their exams and see if I find a mistake on my part for them.
For the other, I will make the effort but with less sympathy. In one such case, the student's father called me and asked if I could make changes. That student is in for a rough winter break if I can't but that isn't my problem.

News on swimmer Park Tae-hwan

The Chosun describes Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan, who picked Korea's first swimming golds at the Pan-Pac games and at the DOHA games as "one of the year's top newsmakers in the sport according to Swim News dot com. "

Swim News does indeed praise him.

The sight of so many nations making international podiums and helping to elevate swimming to a truly global sport, that trend epitomised by 17-year-old Korean Tae Hwan Park's distance freestyle victories at the Pan Pacs and Asian Games.

It also describes a challenge China's swimmers had at DOHA (my highlighting):

China's top swimmers have a tight turnaround in terms of acclimatising in time for the start of racing at the Asian Games in Doha on Friday: they landed in Qatar at 3am on Wednesday and at Thursday training Zhou Yafei, there to defend the 100m butterfly drown, said: "I am still tired from the jet lag, so I don't think my form is very good right now - but for me, it maybe good news because the best form should be reserved for competition."

I competed in the 100m butterfly but I don't know about the 'drown' part!

USB powered slippers

Every USB port in my notebook is filled and I have two more USB peripherals that I plug in as needed. Still, the USB market is where electronics makers can be creative and I'm always looking just to see what's out there.

No more freezing feet in front of the computer: here comes the USB (Universal Serial Bus) to your rescue! These slippers heat up using two USB connectors that you connect directly into your computer. Using the small electrical power supply of the USB, small elements keep your feet warm while you're on the computer.

The writer describes being surprised and amused by the thought of businessmen in formal suits wearing slippers at their desks- clearly s/he has not been to a Korean (or probably, Japanese) cubicle-farm.

Christmas at the Kwandong House

Christmas was a relatively low-key affair- of the four in our home, I am the only one with (somewhat distant) Christian roots and the little guy is still too little to understand that one day is special -I guess they all are for him. Still, he did receive gifts and is more interested in them than in the boxes they arrived in. Here are photos displaying the parts of his gifts that I particularly enjoyed:
The first one seems fit for Jay Leno. -Ah, does he still do the Tonight show? Do they still have a feature with ridiculous signs and such?
Anyway, here is the packaging for a gift for all ages (but not under six) (click to read the fine print).


Dr Seuss was ahead of his time!
Hmmmm. Big nose: check. Big belly: check. Thin pencil-pusher arms: No comment. I guess I'm a Blogger.

Sook (숙) tripping

KwandongAlex was scratching his head yesterday so we cleaned and reloaded the humidifier, figuring the air was dry. Just before we connected the tank to the humidifier, Kwandongmotherinlaw brought out some broth to add to the tank.

The broth was dark brown; it reminded me of consomme. I'm not a fan of hanyak (Korean home remedies) but in Canada we might have added some sort of menthol (Vicks was the first choice at my house) so I didn't mind.

In the middle of the night, I was hot, I was cold, I was dizzy and having some strange dreams. Eventually I turned off the humidifier.

I woke up with basically a hangover. It was then that I learned the broth was Sook tea.

Probably there is no connection but I remember hearing that Korea's sook (a roadside weed) is very similar to Absinthe, a European plant. Is absinthe the same thing as wormwood? Anyway, the European version is infamous as a hallucinatory drug that can cause madness.

I guess I had better beware of cravings for humid air for the next while!

Oh, I learned about sook from Steve Roney. He used to run tours in Seoul but I beleive is back home in Canada now. His site is/was mysterytours.

My son dancing to Buddhist chanting

Snow in Sokcho

At first, I was a little jealous of the Nomad who had snow early in the morning and felt Sokcho might get no snow at all.

Soon after ten this morning it started to snow here. Actually, it started to hail. Iceballs rattled the windows for a while and gradually became snow.

You might be surprised that a Canadian would be so excited about snow. It was KwandongAlex's first snowfall he could be outside for.

He was not excited nor happy. We came in very quickly. As we expect high winds all day, I doubt he will spend much more time outside. We'll see.

Dae Han Brit People

The Korea Times has an article on DNA tests on human bones believed to date back to the Bronze Age reveal similarity with contemporary British sources.

The results are 'very, very rudimentary' and need to be cross-checked before conclusions can be drawn.

The edition of the Korea Times that carried this article also carries news that Dr Hwang is making a quiet comeback. He might just be the perfect person to carry out the cross checking above. Now all Koreans have to do is decide which result they would prefer and Dr Hwang will find it.

I'm not sure of the proper segue for this, but I can see at least a tenuous connection to the recent outcry in Korea with racism on TV. If there were Caucasians here in the Bronze Age, Koreans are a little more heterogeneous than previously thought.

Incidentally, I expect the results are in error- either the similarity in the DNA or the age of the bones.
On the subject of racism on TV, the Metropolitician has an important post that is worth reading - and more.

Two North Korean boys rescued near Sokcho

The ROK Navy -possibly with assistance from the Coast Guard - rescued two North Korean soldiers on the weekend.
The soldiers are in poor health and will likely need significant care before they can leave their hospital.

More exam answers and more ...stuff

Below are two questions and a few answers from my first year final exam for medical students. Their English is quite strong so it is the answers themselves that are interesting or amusing. Where neccessary, I made a few corrections.

What would you do if your friend cheated on his exam and got the scholarship that you should have gotten? I am a Christian, so first I pray to God that father please forgive my revenge. After that, I go to the teacher and saying about his unfair action. And in midnight, guietly following him [I think this is the cheating friend he refers to], I hit him in the back of the head.

I wouldn't tell him that I saw him cheating on the exam. Instead of being against one of my friends, I would congratulate him for his scholarship. I think cheating is a skill that not everyone can have. The important thing is that he got the scholarship by his own hand. This answer might be a sort of response to the claim made in the last answer below. Either the student is extraordinarily open-minded
or is furthering an ugly Korean stereotype.

...And one of my friends (S.R.) cheated again on physics exam... I actually changed the initials - because I think there is only one person in his class with the initials he gave. Its funny to me that students either trust me or don't care about me enough that they give me this kind of specific information.

What do you think will happen in Korea if Japan wins the Soccer World Cup? ...However, respecting the rules and regulations, Korean people will appreciate their work... I honestly laughed when I read this one. This is the middle of what otherwise was a very common answer which followed this form: Koreans would be angry - possibly commit violence [quoted material here] and then really pour money and concern into the Korean soccer team.

The computer is working again; it was fine, we just needed the modem replaced which KT did quickly. Thanks Masan Mark and others for suggestions.

Looking through old photos, I found this one and couldn't remember posting, so here it is.




A bus had squeezed and knocked over a paper collectors cart. After the police got there and harranged the paper collector, the police let the two parties go. The crowd of bystanders immediately jumped in and began picking up the cardboard. I was happy to see civic minded people roll up their sleeves. Click to enlarge.

More recently (yesterday), The Kwandong family, complete with mother-in-law, went to Naksan Temple. For the first time, I ascended to the peak of Naksan. There are many seedlings planted but without their leaves, the mountaintop looks quite barren.
Also on the weekend, I took this picture of Ulsan Bowi. I love the clear air that comes with the cold temperatures.

Again, I'm fine, just...

...lazy, grumpy and having trouble with my computer and the internet connection.

Before I start whining, let me talk about errors. I can (and frequently do) make typos like this, "an dthe ansert is..." Here, we see a space in the middle of the word 'and' and 'ert' instead of 'wer' in answer. The first error is from over-fast typing and the 'ert' is next to the 'wer' so it is the result of sloppy typing. Both are the result of sloppy proofreading. The point is, they are purely typing errors. It is hard to imagine handwriting those errors (actually, my handwriting is bad enough that one might mistake my 'r' for a 't'). No one thinks I think 'answer' is spelled with 'ert' - the error is diagnostic as a typo.

Here is an interesting set of answers a first year student gave me on his final exam:

Write the time as words ('1' as one, '2' as two...)
Morning 8:25 -Sleep it is a pine nut from the house.
Evening 5:40 - Study new all from the library

How's the weather today?The wind swells up today

Tell me three things you did yesterday.
Yesterday, the girlfriend and the rice the in budae chigae.

The answers are wrong but interestingly wrong. It is the way they are wrong that seems diagnostic. My student's errors seem diagnostic of an internet translator -and of misunderstanding my questions, but the two aren't exclusive. I watched the class fairly closely; I don't think he could have used a translator on his phone. Still, this is why I don't worry that much about cheating on exams. I have not yet found a cheater who had answers better than expected compared to classwork.

Time to begin whining.
I have mentioned before that I need to upgrade the security on my computer. When I was no longer able to connect to the internet, I blamed the computer first. Now that it works from a work connection, I am relieved of that worry. On the other hand, a new program icon appeared on the screen a few days ago. It is (English words in Korean) 'Vaccine Plus'. It automatically starts upon starting the computer and neither my wife nor I downloaded it. I'm worried but I need the computer to work until I enter all my student grades, then I have a few months to try to solve the problem.

Second, my mother-in-law is visiting. She is one of the kindest people I have met but she does things old-school. Korean old school. The most obvious example of this (and the one I am most comfortable sharing) is the sudden appearance of many basins of water around the apartment. What is the fascination of older Koreans with basins of water?
I am glad she is spending time with her grandson but this joy is tempered every time I find my cheese sitting in a cupboard to make room for an open glass of unnamed liquid in the fridge. Perhaps I will do more housework so things are prepared my way. Jeez, I now need a new excuse not to do housework.

Suggestions for next year

I had a November homework assignment for my third year class listed on the syllabus. It was titled 'Common Midterm Exam Errors" and in other classes it was a good way for me to remind students what they needed to review.

For my third year class, however, the midterm exam was oral and students did not recieve the same questions. Taking an oral question and repeating it as a written question also seemed contraindicated; spelling would suddenly be a factor while it had not been a testable, and the grammar of conversation is at least a little different than written grammar.

Suddenly needing a new assignment, I asked the students to write about their six semesters of English at my university and also to add a few sentences about my class in particular. I told them I wanted advice on how to teach classes next year.

Although I specifically said I did not want, "I love KwandongBrian's class because..." type statements, I recieved a few. Gratifying and not completely useless: enough of them seemed sincere and indicated my current style and content are satisfactory, at least.

1) I also recieved responses that were clearly done with babelfish or another online translator. Here is a sample:

First time studying, it enjoyed a game all togather and the study which participates listen to person But study listen to old the time look in class appears to be being exchanged not togather.

This was handwritten and I blame the grammar on the translator and the spelling and punctuation on the transcription.

I think the fact that the student used a translator (for the second time) tells me something about my teaching but the criticism I draw from the response itself is something like, "I enjoyed the group activities at the beginning of the semester but later in the semester we students were more distant, separated by major". Certainly, I did more group activities in the first few classes and the rest of the classes were mostly spent with the students staying in their seats. The students self-segregated- they chose to sit in groups and with some distance between groups.

Next semester, I will be sure to add more activity to my classes. I join the students in prefering those classes and it was my lazyness in planning that resulted in more sedentary classes.

2) More than one student wanted "man to man" teaching. I do speak to almost every individual, every class and try to spend extended periods with different students each class but after reviewing the grammar, vocabulary and conversation models, and saving time at the end for whole-class demonstrations, I only have a few minutes to share with individuals and small groups. Still, I am interested in Sook-myoung University's (the bloggin'est university in Korea since Masuro from my university closed up shop) individual tutoring program. I think its called 'The Write Spot' or something and students can voluntarily visit for assistance with english.

Perhaps I need to require students come to my office for chats ouside of class time. I was going to put 'chat' in quotes because required speaking will never be as spontaneous as chatting should be, but requiring "private office time"(quotes deliberate) already sounds, um, possibly icky -quotes would only accentuate that.

3) One student wanted more content beyond or outside the textbook. I wil try this and it fits with my ideas for #4. On the other hand, university students seem worse at holding on to loose pages given them than elementary school students and their note taking ability is not much better.

4) More movies, video and music in class (and improve classroom facilities). Two different suggestions but the latter allows the former. My second year students (second year is a listening class, in which they watch 'Connect with english', a PBS ESL series) are not thrilled with watching video every class. Most of my 'sleeping students' photos come from these classes.

Still, there is good video content available now. I will show and discuss these videos with discussion about how they relate to class on the first day and give Kiwi! and others as homework. I will also continue to create my own content.

5) "Korean professors and Foreigner professor's teaching is insufficiency of connection." - This is true and a big subject for me to improve on. For second and third year classes, I teach one hour and a Korean teacher teaches one hour. Although we use the same basic material, I typically only exchange pleasantries with my co-teacher during the semester and my grades after the semester. I clearly need to communicate more with my co-teachers. In my defence, my co-teachers make little effort to contact me, either.

Students also need to evaluate their professors before recieving their grades but the evaluation is in Korean and also contains items that are beyond the control of teachers. I do not control which text is used, nor the duration of class nor the credit value for my classes. I think I have recieved some useful feedback here and hope to work on these things next year.

Saving time

Its hard to judge ahead of time, when heaters will be needed. I don't really blame the maintanence staff for filling the heater's gas tank after a few days of uncomfortable coolness.

I guess, after recieving many complaints and requests for prompt service, they felt they needed to save time. Here are two men filling the heater's tank while the heater is currently on - the flame is very close to the nozzle of the gascan.


They did the same thing last year, but spilled gas on the floor. Only the foreigners seemed to notice- I have to admit being a little sheeplike; seeing the Korean staff ignore the spill and the smell, I stepped over it myself a few times, preparing for class and did not leave the room.

In both cases, there were no negative consequences but I remember a similar situation of gas fumes filling a room and being ignited in a small town next to my hometown.
A couple were removing carpeting from their basement. To soften the glue, they used gasoline. Later, the gas fumes were bothering them so they turned on a fan. The sparks naturally given off by any fan's armature ignited the gas and the couple were severely burned. I cannot remember if they died. I sincerely hope not but that would be a case of fan-death I would not be sceptical of.

Altruism

Altruism, behavior that helps others to your detriment, has long been claimed as a refutation of evolution. It is claimed that evolution dictates or requires selfishness so if selfless behavior exists, there are problems with evolution.

Social animals, as I was taught, and have in some small part have observed, do indeed help each other sometimes for abstract or distant reward. Seagulls make an alarm cry when danger approaches, attracting attention to themselves. This behavior is advantageous because other gulls will perform the same activity at other times. Is this altruism?

On BBC4's "In Our Time" is another interesting podcast with academics discussing altruism. As the [in]famous Richard Dawkins is one of the speakers, I suspect altruism will be shown to, or at least claimed to, have evolution roots. The recording will be available starting this Thursday, for a week.

On an unrelated note, this week I start volunteering at a Sokcho church, teaching English.

I'm fine, just bored and lazy

Its been a while since I last posted. In the last month or two, I haven't posted much, either.

I'm fine, mostly healthy, work is going well, the little guy is a joy (again, mostly) and all the rest.

Previous years, I blogged about travel. Nearly every week I had a cycling or hiking trip to tell you about, nearly as excited as a little boy.

There also seemed to be more news that seemed important to me. I discussed Gangwondo, Korean rice, farming, work, and more. These days, I feel as if my whole blog is about students that sleep in class, smokers lighting up in the 'no-smoking' area and people who can't park their cars properly. These are all interesting, briefly. To make a steady diet of these subjects is not what this blog is about.

I'm comfortable with who I am, I know what I am about, but the content areas this blog covers are changing and I don't know what to write about.

I've seen lots of fractured english signs and probably somewhere is a post having fun with one but I have resisted going wild on the subject.

I want the blog to be useful- to other residents of Korea, to new and experienced ESL teachers and others. This is not a baby blog, although I will continue to post occassional photos of the little guy.

I enjoy the Big Hominid's blog and find what he shares of his personal life to be interesting yet this is not exactly a diary of my life. I wouldn't be able to compartmentalize what should be public and private as well as he does and the result would be either creepy or bland.

After all this, I may find three new subjects tomorrow. I'm just saying I'm fine and don't stop visiting my site everyday.

Last beach swim of the year

Red Jellyfish

I know the white or translucent ones I see are safe, or relatively safe, but this red one, found in Cheongcho Lake, just looks dangerous. Most of the jellyfish I see have been pounded by surf along shore and have probably already fired their cnematocysts (I am not sure about the spelling but I mean the poison darts carried in their tentacles); this one looks hale and ready for trouble.

Melissa asked about the jellyfish that Koreans eat and I have no idea what kind is eaten. I once bought Hae-pari mustard with bits of jellyfish in it, but again, I don't know what kind it was.

By the way, Pari can mean 'insect' in Korean. Is haepari (해파리) 'ocean insect'?

Click on the images to enlarge.