Saturday…

The weather is warming up here in Korea, and if you’re in the Seoul area on Saturday, November 7th, I’d love to meet up with you. I’m heading out to Gwanghwamun and Gyeongbok Palace (maybe even Namsan Tower) around 1pm to spend the afternoon.

Come and join me so you can introduce yourself!

Steve

Hate Crimes

It never ceases to amaze me how some people can miss the mark so badly that it makes me wonder if they have a brain that works.

When President Barack Obama signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, he also authorized the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Now this largely went under the radar, but has the effect of adding extra penalties to violent crimes when they are motivated by gender, sexual orientation, or disabilities.

Star Parker calls the law a “weakening and damaging our country is not something to be proud of.” Parker continues by saying, “It should be clear that hate crime law has nothing to do with improving our law but rather creating favored political classes. It is something that should be hateful to everyone who cares about a free society, and particularly hateful to those, such as blacks, who have been victimized by politicization of law.”

Hate crimes are premeditated or conducted out of intentions to be overly cruel to an individual. In many cases, the victim did nothing but be born and has been attacked for being a certain race, religion, or sexual orientation. Such crimes should not be tolerated in an evolved society and those who perpetrate them should be dealt with sternly. What I find ironic in Parker’s editorial was the justification cited:

Is it not a sign of our own pathology that we now have codified that it is worse to murder a homosexual than someone who has committed adultery, even with your husband or wife, or who has slandered or robbed? Isn’t the point murder?

No, the point is the intention and the methodology of the crime. This is why when one does face murder charges, the circumstances are factored into case. Is it pre-meditated? Was it an act of “passion?” Was it accidental? Hate is just another factor to the equation to be considered. It is simply one more tool for the legal system to utilize when sentencing.

Tears in the Darkness

A couple of months ago, Jo sent me a little care package from the US. In it was a special treat for me (and I don’t mean coffee). It was a copy of Michael and Elizabeth M. Norman’s Tears in the Darkness. Jo had told me about the book and I was looking forward to receiving it and delving into its pages. For those not familiar with the book, here a brief summary from its website:

Here, from Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman, is the story of the worst defeat in American military history, the four-month fight for the tiny peninsula of Bataan in the Philippine Islands – the first major land battle for America in World War II. On April 9, 1942, more than 76,000 men under American command surrendered to their Japanese captors, who set them walking sixty-six miles to prison camp, a notorious walk that came to be known as “The Bataan Death March.”
“Tears In the Darkness” is history written as story, thousands of sources and hundreds of interviews carefully woven into a tight narrative that recreates those dramatic days and the men – Americans, Japanese and Filipinos – who lived them.

It was a profoundly powerful book for me to read on several levels. First, I enjoy reading about history, and while I am somewhat familiar with the European side of World War II, my knowledge of the events in the Pacific is limited. However, the most important reason why this book affected me was because it is a personal conflict: My Uncle Mort was station in the Philippines and survived the “Death March.”

I was fortunate to grow up with my Uncle close-by and had the chance to talk with him on a few occasions about his time as a POW in the Philippines. Some of what I read, I knew about from his first-hand account. None-the-less, reading this book drove the point home and really made me sit back in awe as the men endured tremendous pain and suffering. I still can’t fathom war or why someone would want to inflict that kind of pain and punishment on another human soul.

One of the great things about the book, is that it weaves together a great narrative, including one-third of the book told from the Japanese perspective. I think one of the most powerful sections comes at the end of the War, when the Allies are handing out “Justice” to those accused of War Crimes. While I can’t comment on the true nature of the events, the research the authors use and depict, indicate that the US railroaded several Japanese officers in an attempt to serve “justice” to the force that handed them such a massive defeat in the Philippines. It also paints MacArthur in a less than positive light for sugar-coating the Philippines war-readiness ability and command.

Jo has already visited Bataan and Corregidor when she lived in the Philippines. When we visit there in 2010, I’m looking forward to seeing where my Uncle so bravely fought, not only for his country, but for his soul.

Five Months…

I can’t believe it. I’m sitting here on November 1st. the time has really gone quickly not that I’m back in the Land of the Morning Calm. For those not keep track of the time in-country, this marks five months teaching English in Dongtan. That’s right, I’m almost halfway through my contract.

That being said, I’m starting to look to the future and what next year will bring. I do love my job and the school. I’ve found Dongtan to be a wonderful place to live and work and really don’t want to move elsewhere. I have only one month left in my flat before I do move into a new, larger place… and I really don’t want to have to do it again.

But what will I be doing next year, or even in 2010?

I have a few ideas… some of them I will share here. First, I will continue to blog- recounting my experiences here in Korea in an effort not only to help those that wish to teach abroad, but to educate the world about what Korea really is. I will also continue to do some broadcasting from time to time for local media. Unfortunately, I can’t do it full-time, since I’m on an E-2 visa, and that prohibits me from getting a second job. I may look at trying to get another type of visa next year that would allow me to do other things.

By far the best and biggest change will take place next month. Jo will be arriving on December 3rd and then for the next 50 days, we’ll be running around to various embassies, ward offices, and immigration offices to get her visa status changed so that she can spend the remainder of my contract with me here in Korea. Each day builds the excitement. I can’t wait for her to get here and for us to start our life together in this wonderful country.

I’m not sure where our first joint trip will be (aka the honeymoon), since it looks like our school holidays will actually take place before we get married. I have a feeling we’ll jet down to Jeju or Busan for a short visit. At it turns out, it looks like we’ll take care of the final marriage documents on December 29th and then submit her paperwork to Immigration thereafter.

I’m also contemplating bringing back the QiRanger Report to YouTube in 2010, which means I’ll moste likely do some filming in Seoul for the intro to take advantage of the HD settings on the computer. I’m also thinking about migrating off the WordPress site and hosting my own blog next year. I’m not sure I really want to do that, but we’ll see what happens. I’ve found that I really do enjoy writing these days. I’ve also settled into making more and more of my videos as well.

One thing I am not happy about is the state of my eye infection. It’s been a month, and still not revolved. I’m hoping that it is done in the next two weeks, as I really miss wearing my contact lenses. But the nice thing is that I haven’t missed my sunglasses, which I lost at Bongeunsa (well, lost is such a hard word… I set them down and failed to pick them up). I should also be finishing the introduction work on the documentary work this next week, which then free up a lot of time to get back to exploring and writing about Korea. I will hold off on some locations, since I want to experience them with Jo. I think the first trip to a Korean Folk Village will be an awesome one… and I can’t wait to share that experience with Jo.

Happy Halloween!

Pirate Steve

The sun has fallen here in the Land of the Morning Calm and while I wish I could report that the weather was frightful for little ghosts and ghouls, I’ll just say that it is frightful… and for once the weather forecasters were correct in saying that it would rain all weekend. The rain started earlier today around 10am and hasn’t let up. It will continue through tomorrow night, making it a rather damp weekend. I applaud all my friends that are venturing out this evening, but I will simply coil up in my room with some good tunes and finish off my book.

A frightful entrance

It may sound a little boring, but for the past two days, I’ve been inundated with so much Halloween, that the thought of going out again doesn’t appeal to me at all. You see, like most English Academies in Korea, our school exposes the kids to several cultural things related to America, Halloween being one of them. So for two days, the entire staff dressed up in costume and ran 100 minute Halloween games that included trick or treating through the halls of our school.

I was hard pressed to get a costume, because I’m 194cm tall and most of the costumes are only 180-185cm in height. I originally wanted to be Super Cow, but I couldn’t find a full-body cow costume to fit. It was going to epic is a big, red cape, mask, and the words “Udderly Fantastic” written on my chest. I may still do it next year. My second idea, was to get a giant banana costume and do a little “peanut butter jelly time” at the school, but the only way to get a costume that would fit was to order it from the States, and it would have wound up costing me a small fortune to get it to Korea. The final solution was an 11th hour Hail Mary pass that scored big.

John (the other native teacher at school) and I went to E-Mart after work Wednesday to look for something. I had been all around Dongtan that day but never found what I needed. Finally, we found a small assortment of masks and hats. I settled on the Pirate look, since I am bald. The set came with an eye patch, gold hoop earring, and a plastic head scarf. The look was pretty solid and I got some great compliments. I really appreciated the look, since it only cost me W1,400. What a steal!

To celebrate the Halloween event being over, John and I went out to Wa Bar for a few drinks and met up with a new addition to the Dongtan community. We also had the opportunity to meet up with some older friends and meet a couple of Brits and Germans in town on business. The night ended (as it usually does) with a trip to 에리스 노래방 (Alice Noraebang). We belted out the tunes until 3am when I called it quits. I was informed today by John that he and the others were at the Family Mart until 6am, drinking the night away. Now that is an all-nighter.

State of repair

I would have stayed up all night, but I had to get back and obtain a little shut-eye, since the repair folks were coming in the morning to work on the AirCon unit once more. They told me that they were coming at 10am… but the doorbell went off bright and early at 8:30am. I was not pleased. For two hours they worked on the unit, trying to salvage it. In the end, they gave up. I had thought they were going to replace it today, but that’s not the case. It seems that there are no replacement units available until APRIL 2010.

Seriously?

How can a company not have any kind of replacement until after the first quarter of 2010. That six months down the road before they’ll be able to get it functioning. I’m glad that the heater part of the unit works and that I’ll be moving out in four weeks. Just so there’s no confusion, the name of the brand of AirCon is Haier and is from China. It’s a worthless piece of crap. Never buy anything made by that company since their repair staff is useless and have no intention of honoring their support contracts. Not being able to offer a solution for eight months is pure incompetence.

Englishee

Panic Attack

Since the earliest part of this year, the world has been in a state of panic over the A/H1N1 “Swine Flu.” I remember people in the United States losing their mind, predicting that doom would descend and that there would be large-scale anarchy. Even with all reports indicating that the flu isn’t much stronger than the seasonal variety, people are still thinking that the A/H1N1 flu will bring on the apocalypse.

In Asia, the fears are even worse. I remember flying into Japan on my way to Korea and being scanned at the airport and then once more when I arrived here in Korea. In fact, over the past 5 months, several public schools have closed when a few students were confirmed to have the dreaded “swine flu.” CDI, one of the largest franchises of English Hagwons closed for 2 weeks this summer because of the flu. Several other schools put restrictions on staff (must wear masks, don’t go out in public, if you leave the country, you’re quarantined, etc.).

At my school, every student is rushed into a room, has their temperature checked, hands sanitized, and is told that they should wear a mask. Instructors are also told to be on the lookout for someone who may be ill and report it right away. They are even more cautious now, since three schools have been closed in our area for the A/H1N1 flu. and as a result, canceled a Halloween Party that for the kids on Saturday.

I really wish people would sit back and really think about the situation. Sure the flu spreads easily, but it isn’t more dangerous than any other flu. If you take normal precautions and are healthy, then there’s really nothing to be worried about. The news this morning is reporting the 33rd fatality from the flu in Korea, which is already stirring up more panic. When you think about the fatality rate in Korea so far 0.00006875% has died from the flu.

But with nearly 48,000,000 people here, I do understand some of the concern. Not because the disease is fatal, but because it can be easily transmitted. Korea is a cramped country. Many foreigners spend most of their initial months saying, “I’m sorry,” when they bump into someone as they walk the crowded streets or subways… Koreans don’t. It’s not because they are rude, but rather that they are accustomed to not having that much personal space, so a little bump doesn’t register as an invasion of your own personal bubble. That being said, if a large number of people get infected, then the A/H1N1 could easily spread throughout the country and impact the work force and overload the medical system.

That is the concern people should have. Imagine no one showing up for work or overloaded clinics addressing those flu cases, rather than addressing more serious cases. People need to stop focusing on the death aspect of the flu, because the flu (the normal variety) causes death every day and this one will too.

I really am an Englishee Teacher

One of the things ESL teachers in Korea deal with on a day-to-day basis is correcting pronunciation of certain English words. Now this isn’t unique to language instructors, but here in Korea it can be a daunting task and some new teachers become frustrated or mock their students without knowing the linguistic background causing the problem.

The root of the “problem” stems from the way Hangeul is written. For those not familiar with Hangeul, here’s the Wiki:

Hangeul is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It was created in the mid-fifteenth century, and is now the official script of both North Korea and South Korea, being co-official in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China.

Hangeul is a phonemic alphabet organized into syllabic blocks. Each block consists of at least two of the 24 Hangeul letters with at least one each of the 14 consonants and 10 vowels. These syllabic blocks can be written horizontally from left to right as well as vertically from top to bottom in columns from right to left.

When one delves into learning Hangeul, you start learning what each letter makes and the different combinations possible. That is one of the strengths of Hangeul: it can be made to approximate almost any sound. However, the consonant and vowel combination can sometimes cause a problem. For example, there is no consonant representing the /sh/ sound in English. The sound is formed by writing /시/ which is pronounced /shee/.

This is where some of the most common pronunciation problems occur with words like English and finish. Students’ native tongue kicks in and when they get to the /sh/ sound add /ee/ to the words making them /Englishee/ and /finishee/, respectively.

Some ESL teachers repeatedly get upset by the consistent use of /Englishee/ in class, but I don’t. Having studied several languages over the years, I hear my English pronunciation drop into Spanish, Tagolog, etc. all the time. When I hear ?Englishee/ or /finishee/ in class, I don’t negatively enforce the students, but provide a gentle reminder that English has a different structure and that the word is /English/ or /finish/. I try to positively reinforce the students as much as possible, for as limited as some of their English may be, it is significantly more advanced that my Korean.

My students often comment on how hard it is to learn English. I agree, but that’s also why I’m here- to try and make it easy and fun for them.

 

Back at it again…

Once can’t help but to wonder what’s going through the minds of those on the Board over at the Performing Rights Society (PRS) in the United Kingdom. For the past few years, the group has been going after anyone playing music, stating that if it is heard by a group of people, it amounts to a performance, and the artist is due royalties.

The PRS’ favorite targets are businesses that play radios or CDs. The know on their door with legal papers and state that since they are playing music that is loud enough to be heard by other people, they are putting on a performance, and thus must pay royalties to the copyright holders.

I can’t believe no one has stood up to these thugs and taken them to court, as the claim is preposterous. If I purchase a CD and play it in my home or office, I’ve already paid my royalties. It isn’t a performance, because no person is creating the music. However, most stores cave under the threat of litigation and pull the plug on their radios, leaving their stores silent.

That’s exactly what happened to the A&T Food store. When the store went silent, 56 year old Sandra Burt started singing as she performed her daily duties stocking shelves. The RPS got wind of the situation and quickly descended on her, stating that she either needed to stop singing or obtain a performer’s license.

What a crock of shit.

Someone needs to take the PRS down a notch or two. They are getting ridiculous about things.

Sure, if someone holds a concert and doesn’t pay royalties for songs they use, they deserve to get hit with fines and other fees. If someone holds a concert and is a professional (or acting as one), some licenses should be obtained. But anyone who wants to play their radio or hum a tune, should be left well enough alone. That is not what the RPS or any other agency was designed to do. They exist to protect the artists’ rights from people who are trying to steal and act maliciously.

Sandra Burt has since received an apology from the PRS, but she shouldn’t have ever needed to get one.

Yongjusa Temple Video