I will write about my trip to Japan in a later blog, but so much has happened since then that I don't want to leave out. My sister is visiting me now, so I am on a busy schedule of showing her most of the things I've seen in Korea and then some.
Last week we went to some exotic little museums including the Chicken Art Museum and the Owl Museum. The Chicken Art Museum we visited is apparently the only one of its type in the world. The exhibition largely centered around the use of chicken on funeral biers in traditional Korean society. Chickens symbolized the passing from one world into the next. I probably should not have told the tour guide of the museum that I knew a little Korean because when I did so, the guy started busting out some mad Korean on me.
Following the Chicken Art Museum, we went to the Owl Museum, which was literally a display of a bunch of owl toys and memorabilia that a Korean woman collected from around the world.
The third bird we saw was Bjork. Her cage was a stage in Olympic Hall. The concert was very populist in the sense that there were visual aids for the synthesizer. During the last song "Declare your Independence," Bjork and the audience repeatedly chanted "Make your own flag," I was reminded of the presentation I'm working on with the kids at school. It's called "English is Everywhere" and it's basically a flag and cultural presentation of all the countries where people speak English.
2008년 2월 21일 목요일
2008년 2월 1일 금요일
New Year's Resolution
So for New Year’s my resolution is to write in this blog once a week. I feel I’ve lost a little contact with those I love, so I want to rekindle that.
Over the break, I ventured to the Philippines (and Taiwan for a short stop on the way back. You might say that I traveled like a Korean because the Philippines is a nice fairly inexpensive getaway spot for them (I also traveled and stayed with Koreans). Many Koreans initially go to the Philippines to learn English, but some find it so pleasant and inexpensive that they just decide to live there.
The Philippines is a strange and interesting place. It’s a blend between Spanish, Asian and Indigenous cultures, but the most prevalent language you will see on road signs, maps, etc. is English. If you go to the Philippines, you will find, bamboos next to palm trees, Chinese templess next to villas and cathedrals, and . The official language other than English is Tagalog, which originally came from the Filipino tribes (some of them Muslim) but has since incorporated Spanish, English, Chinese, Arabic, and other languages into it.
Day 1- Waking up at 6:00 AM was not as difficult as making our way outside to the subway station….without winter clothes. There’s a new subway station very close to where I live that goes straight to the airport. On the airplane trip there, our first stop was Taipei in Taiwan, but we we were only there for an hour, so we had to wait until our ride home to check out the place.
Upon reaching Manila and stepping outside of the airport, I took off my jacket in a state of ecstasy officially declaring my winter vacation to be a summer vacation. For seven days, I would be in the fresh environs of this tropical paradise.
Then I looked around….
Sure there was the occasional palm tree here and there, but it was nowhere near what I had expected. Within moments of stepping outside, children come running to me asking me for money, half of my drink, or anything I was carrying. A man puts a bunch of fruit in front of my face with a note that says “It’s better than stealing.” Apparently, I didn’t get the message that Manila has a very high crime and poverty rate.
I hear in the Southern half of the Philippines, there’s a great deal of resorts, high-living, etc., but that was not going to be my destination. Following my time in Manila, I was heading off towards the Northern half of the Philippines, the land of the highlands and . I would spend two nights in Manila, two nights in Baguio (the summer getaway cool mountain location that was actually a winter getaway for me), one night in the old Spanish City of Vigan near the Northern tip of the Philippines, and then back to Manila.
So with the lack of visible public transportation around, when I asked my traveling companion Sangeun what we were supposed to do next she gave me this half excited, half told-you-so kind or looked that seemed to say “We’re on our own now.”
So we hopped on a bus.. really the first bus we could find, and then had to ask where the bus was going. We wanted to go to Rizal Park (named after one of their revolutionary heroes) to scope it out before the Rizal Day celebrations that would take place in the next morning. After some first few sites, we headed to before making our way to Makate City, where we found our Korean hotel.
Day 2
I thought my rocky start in the Philippines was my first night: when I stepped outside the hotel to get some bottled and was ambushed by a man selling Viagra, a crowd asking me please for a moment of my time, a single Filipino woman asking me to come with her (and then yelling “WHY?” when I told her I couldn’t), and a man holding the door open for me, so I would pay him on the way out.
However, we had our real rocky start (literally) when we foolishly agreed to have a man on a horse and buggy take us from the subway station to Chinatown. After bargaining the ride down to a buck fifty or so, the man took us down a path where horses don’t usually trot. As Sangeun said to me as it was occurring, “I don’t think the horse feels very comfortable right now.”
So the man takes us to a very scenic view to Chinatown, where there are Chines-Filipino friendship murals everywhere and Chinese Filipino people walking about, and then asks us if we want to see a Chinese Temple. I said “Sure why not?” He took us there, we looked around the temple, paid the guard some money at the request of the horse and buggy driver (although we later learned that we didn’t have to pay him), and then the driver asked us if we wanted to go to Rizal Park (where we were last night). Again I said “Why not?” but Sangeun told me quietly, I think he’s going to demand more money when we get there. Sure enough, when we arrived at Rizal Park, the driver said we owed him money for the Chinese Temple and Rizal Park.. driving our cost up to around $10. I don’t want to say how the story ended up exactly but let’s just say it involved a police officer and bargaining it down to a much more reasonable price.
When in the Philippines (or anywhere really), don’t mistake salesmanship for kindness; also, PAY FIRST, so they don’t tell you there was some added cost somewhere or other that you just didn’t hear about. I probably don't need to even mention that when we were in the enclosed old Spanish City in Manila later in the afternoon and had horse and buggy carriages all around us, we were not in the mood to go for another ride.
Day 3
On to Baguio—by far worth the mishaps that had taken place in Manila. Baguio is home to many Koreans learning English, and I could see why. Upon arriving, we immediately checked out a Botanical Garden, where in addition to the beautiful scenery and a statue of an indigenous mother and child resembling mother Mary and Jesus, there were many people and animals trading picture shots for cash. We decided to pay to have our picture taken with this indigenous group of people and not the St. Bernard (a famous dog in the highlands of the Philippines).
New Year’s eve was pretty low key. We met Sangeun’s friend who was a Korean going to graduate school in the Philippines, and his friend Yungsan, who was learning English and was at the time a beginning English speaker. We stayed the night at their place and resolved the next day to go to a beach. It would be no Boracay (the fancy resorts in Southern Philippines), but it would be something.
Day 4
We woke up early . On the bus ride there, Yungsan and I sat beside each other and I exhaustingly exhausted just about all the Korean I knew, while he did the same for English. It was only a few minutes down the road before a guy with a chicken entered the bus. I looked , and the guy said "He's a cock fighter. His name is Tyson." Apparently cock fighting is very big in the Philippines. The gentleman told me that there are thousands of cockfighting arenas in the country. I was going to ask him if his chicken had bitten off any ears lately, but being surrounded by Koreans and Filipinos, I wasn't sure if anyone would get the joke.
We arrived to San Fernando a few hours later, and waiting for us were motorcycle tricycles that would take us directly to a beach for the low cost of 30 cents (this time we paid first). At the beach, we had a boatman take us along the coast until one of the seats broke and the Koreans I was with politely (or perhaps not so politely) asked to return back (they couldn’t swim)..
Following the beach, we went to a Chinese temples (yes another one, we probably went to all the buddhist/taoist Chinese temples in that country), where we posed for several pictures. Sangeun’s friend Sangsoo took out a camera tripod stand that he had actually brought with him as I thought to myself “This is SO Korean.” We ate next at Pizza Hut and then departed on a dangerous voyage on the bus ride back, for the bus driver was driving in the highlands in the pouring down rain extremely rapidly. The would-be 2 hour bus ride took a little over an hour.
Day 5
This day was probably the most enriching cultural experience day, for after visiting yet another Chinese temples (it’s three now) and before visiting the Baguio Museum, we went to a Native Artists Village. Not only was there original artwork by the artists that lived in the community, there were old native Philippine huts you could stay in for a night. We wanted to, but decided against it later because we didn’t bring sleeping bags.
Day 6-7
So next was our final stop in the Philippines- Vigan, the old Spanish City where not much has changed. We were thinking about skipping Vigan and staying another day in Baguio because the trip was so long and we wouldn’t be able to stay a long time. However, if only for the scenic ride up there, it was worth it. We passed through so many cities and towns; we saw the Philippines breathe, and when the sunset came, the driver just stopped and took a break, so we could all take pictures and rest for a bit.
Once we arrived in Vigan, we took another motorcycle tricycle to a hotel by the name of Grandpa’s Inn that I had picked out from the Travel Guide. Apparently, it was reasonably priced and had great food. On that note, here’s some food for thought: Travel Guides usually tell the truth, but not THE WHOLE TRUTH. The food was great: we had a tuna steak and a sizzling steak for about five dollars, but the accommodations were horrendous. The TV had 3 channels (one CNN though so I got to watch the Obama Iowa win), the fan was loud and tedious, and for the entire morning we had no water. At least I got my deposit money back though. After some of the experiences I had with Filipino tourism, I thought that they were going to keep it.
Vigan was a great city to tour for a short time. There’s not much there, but it’s extremely beautiful, not crowded and historical. The high moment of the occasion was when I almost ended up spending some time with some murderers, rapists and armed robbers. The guidebook said the jail was the oldest building in the city (dating back to the 1600s) but neglected to say something else important about it. So when I started to walk inside, the warden gave me a look of disbelief and said “Umm..sir; there is no admittance there.” I said “Why not?” He said “It’s STILL a jail!” He then gave me a brief history of the place, and said that they were currently trying to move the prisoners to a new jail and keep the site strictly historical but didn’t have the funds to do so yet.
We couldn’t stay long because we were leaving the Philippines the next day. We must have taken the third class local ride to Manila because it took about 9 hours to get there. Part of me missed the crazy deranged.driver that zoomed us back from San Fernando.
And what about Taiwan???
We were only in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, for less than 24 hours, so we were only able to go to a few places. Going from the urban jungle—the metropolitan mis-haven of Manila to the cosmopolitan corners of Taipei was like stepping out of a lion’s cage and into Ronald McDonald's playplace. Everything was extremely tourist friendly, clean, and organized. It almost wasn’t fun. But luckily enough I managed to get us lost a few times, and there were plenty of Chinese Temples to see. With that in mind, if seven days in a foreign country is enough to grow accustomed to it as a second or third place of residence, Taipei felt a little bit like home.
Over the break, I ventured to the Philippines (and Taiwan for a short stop on the way back. You might say that I traveled like a Korean because the Philippines is a nice fairly inexpensive getaway spot for them (I also traveled and stayed with Koreans). Many Koreans initially go to the Philippines to learn English, but some find it so pleasant and inexpensive that they just decide to live there.
The Philippines is a strange and interesting place. It’s a blend between Spanish, Asian and Indigenous cultures, but the most prevalent language you will see on road signs, maps, etc. is English. If you go to the Philippines, you will find, bamboos next to palm trees, Chinese templess next to villas and cathedrals, and . The official language other than English is Tagalog, which originally came from the Filipino tribes (some of them Muslim) but has since incorporated Spanish, English, Chinese, Arabic, and other languages into it.
Day 1- Waking up at 6:00 AM was not as difficult as making our way outside to the subway station….without winter clothes. There’s a new subway station very close to where I live that goes straight to the airport. On the airplane trip there, our first stop was Taipei in Taiwan, but we we were only there for an hour, so we had to wait until our ride home to check out the place.
Upon reaching Manila and stepping outside of the airport, I took off my jacket in a state of ecstasy officially declaring my winter vacation to be a summer vacation. For seven days, I would be in the fresh environs of this tropical paradise.
Then I looked around….
Sure there was the occasional palm tree here and there, but it was nowhere near what I had expected. Within moments of stepping outside, children come running to me asking me for money, half of my drink, or anything I was carrying. A man puts a bunch of fruit in front of my face with a note that says “It’s better than stealing.” Apparently, I didn’t get the message that Manila has a very high crime and poverty rate.
I hear in the Southern half of the Philippines, there’s a great deal of resorts, high-living, etc., but that was not going to be my destination. Following my time in Manila, I was heading off towards the Northern half of the Philippines, the land of the highlands and . I would spend two nights in Manila, two nights in Baguio (the summer getaway cool mountain location that was actually a winter getaway for me), one night in the old Spanish City of Vigan near the Northern tip of the Philippines, and then back to Manila.
So with the lack of visible public transportation around, when I asked my traveling companion Sangeun what we were supposed to do next she gave me this half excited, half told-you-so kind or looked that seemed to say “We’re on our own now.”
So we hopped on a bus.. really the first bus we could find, and then had to ask where the bus was going. We wanted to go to Rizal Park (named after one of their revolutionary heroes) to scope it out before the Rizal Day celebrations that would take place in the next morning. After some first few sites, we headed to before making our way to Makate City, where we found our Korean hotel.
Day 2
I thought my rocky start in the Philippines was my first night: when I stepped outside the hotel to get some bottled and was ambushed by a man selling Viagra, a crowd asking me please for a moment of my time, a single Filipino woman asking me to come with her (and then yelling “WHY?” when I told her I couldn’t), and a man holding the door open for me, so I would pay him on the way out.
However, we had our real rocky start (literally) when we foolishly agreed to have a man on a horse and buggy take us from the subway station to Chinatown. After bargaining the ride down to a buck fifty or so, the man took us down a path where horses don’t usually trot. As Sangeun said to me as it was occurring, “I don’t think the horse feels very comfortable right now.”
So the man takes us to a very scenic view to Chinatown, where there are Chines-Filipino friendship murals everywhere and Chinese Filipino people walking about, and then asks us if we want to see a Chinese Temple. I said “Sure why not?” He took us there, we looked around the temple, paid the guard some money at the request of the horse and buggy driver (although we later learned that we didn’t have to pay him), and then the driver asked us if we wanted to go to Rizal Park (where we were last night). Again I said “Why not?” but Sangeun told me quietly, I think he’s going to demand more money when we get there. Sure enough, when we arrived at Rizal Park, the driver said we owed him money for the Chinese Temple and Rizal Park.. driving our cost up to around $10. I don’t want to say how the story ended up exactly but let’s just say it involved a police officer and bargaining it down to a much more reasonable price.
When in the Philippines (or anywhere really), don’t mistake salesmanship for kindness; also, PAY FIRST, so they don’t tell you there was some added cost somewhere or other that you just didn’t hear about. I probably don't need to even mention that when we were in the enclosed old Spanish City in Manila later in the afternoon and had horse and buggy carriages all around us, we were not in the mood to go for another ride.
Day 3
On to Baguio—by far worth the mishaps that had taken place in Manila. Baguio is home to many Koreans learning English, and I could see why. Upon arriving, we immediately checked out a Botanical Garden, where in addition to the beautiful scenery and a statue of an indigenous mother and child resembling mother Mary and Jesus, there were many people and animals trading picture shots for cash. We decided to pay to have our picture taken with this indigenous group of people and not the St. Bernard (a famous dog in the highlands of the Philippines).
New Year’s eve was pretty low key. We met Sangeun’s friend who was a Korean going to graduate school in the Philippines, and his friend Yungsan, who was learning English and was at the time a beginning English speaker. We stayed the night at their place and resolved the next day to go to a beach. It would be no Boracay (the fancy resorts in Southern Philippines), but it would be something.
Day 4
We woke up early . On the bus ride there, Yungsan and I sat beside each other and I exhaustingly exhausted just about all the Korean I knew, while he did the same for English. It was only a few minutes down the road before a guy with a chicken entered the bus. I looked , and the guy said "He's a cock fighter. His name is Tyson." Apparently cock fighting is very big in the Philippines. The gentleman told me that there are thousands of cockfighting arenas in the country. I was going to ask him if his chicken had bitten off any ears lately, but being surrounded by Koreans and Filipinos, I wasn't sure if anyone would get the joke.
We arrived to San Fernando a few hours later, and waiting for us were motorcycle tricycles that would take us directly to a beach for the low cost of 30 cents (this time we paid first). At the beach, we had a boatman take us along the coast until one of the seats broke and the Koreans I was with politely (or perhaps not so politely) asked to return back (they couldn’t swim)..
Following the beach, we went to a Chinese temples (yes another one, we probably went to all the buddhist/taoist Chinese temples in that country), where we posed for several pictures. Sangeun’s friend Sangsoo took out a camera tripod stand that he had actually brought with him as I thought to myself “This is SO Korean.” We ate next at Pizza Hut and then departed on a dangerous voyage on the bus ride back, for the bus driver was driving in the highlands in the pouring down rain extremely rapidly. The would-be 2 hour bus ride took a little over an hour.
Day 5
This day was probably the most enriching cultural experience day, for after visiting yet another Chinese temples (it’s three now) and before visiting the Baguio Museum, we went to a Native Artists Village. Not only was there original artwork by the artists that lived in the community, there were old native Philippine huts you could stay in for a night. We wanted to, but decided against it later because we didn’t bring sleeping bags.
Day 6-7
So next was our final stop in the Philippines- Vigan, the old Spanish City where not much has changed. We were thinking about skipping Vigan and staying another day in Baguio because the trip was so long and we wouldn’t be able to stay a long time. However, if only for the scenic ride up there, it was worth it. We passed through so many cities and towns; we saw the Philippines breathe, and when the sunset came, the driver just stopped and took a break, so we could all take pictures and rest for a bit.
Once we arrived in Vigan, we took another motorcycle tricycle to a hotel by the name of Grandpa’s Inn that I had picked out from the Travel Guide. Apparently, it was reasonably priced and had great food. On that note, here’s some food for thought: Travel Guides usually tell the truth, but not THE WHOLE TRUTH. The food was great: we had a tuna steak and a sizzling steak for about five dollars, but the accommodations were horrendous. The TV had 3 channels (one CNN though so I got to watch the Obama Iowa win), the fan was loud and tedious, and for the entire morning we had no water. At least I got my deposit money back though. After some of the experiences I had with Filipino tourism, I thought that they were going to keep it.
Vigan was a great city to tour for a short time. There’s not much there, but it’s extremely beautiful, not crowded and historical. The high moment of the occasion was when I almost ended up spending some time with some murderers, rapists and armed robbers. The guidebook said the jail was the oldest building in the city (dating back to the 1600s) but neglected to say something else important about it. So when I started to walk inside, the warden gave me a look of disbelief and said “Umm..sir; there is no admittance there.” I said “Why not?” He said “It’s STILL a jail!” He then gave me a brief history of the place, and said that they were currently trying to move the prisoners to a new jail and keep the site strictly historical but didn’t have the funds to do so yet.
We couldn’t stay long because we were leaving the Philippines the next day. We must have taken the third class local ride to Manila because it took about 9 hours to get there. Part of me missed the crazy deranged.driver that zoomed us back from San Fernando.
And what about Taiwan???
We were only in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, for less than 24 hours, so we were only able to go to a few places. Going from the urban jungle—the metropolitan mis-haven of Manila to the cosmopolitan corners of Taipei was like stepping out of a lion’s cage and into Ronald McDonald's playplace. Everything was extremely tourist friendly, clean, and organized. It almost wasn’t fun. But luckily enough I managed to get us lost a few times, and there were plenty of Chinese Temples to see. With that in mind, if seven days in a foreign country is enough to grow accustomed to it as a second or third place of residence, Taipei felt a little bit like home.
2008년 1월 12일 토요일
A Merry American-Korean Christmas
Christmas in Korea isn't as big as it is in America, but we weren't going to let the holiday slip past us.
So for Christmas eve, we didn't know what to do. We almost considered just ordering take-out. But at the last minute, we gathered some Koreans and foreigners together and made a fusion feast with everything we could muster from the local E-mart store.
Steak
Kimchi
Rice
Mushroom Mandoo (dumplings)
Champagne
It even had Christmas colors. Look.......
After the glorious feast, we headed over the the Noribang (singing room) to celebrate with Christmas songs. But since many of the English teachers were fatigued from having taught English Christmas songs all day to our students, we didn't stay long.
The next day, I went to church with Sangeun. We met her sister and her sister's fiance and headed over to a small but warm place of worship in the basement of a building. The congregation wasn't large, but very much alive, as it opened with children's Christmas presentations both modern and contemporary. One girl even recited the gospel by memory in English (I later learned that they had her prepared that just for me). Since I can read Korean phonetically, I was able to sing the Joy to the World and Away in a Manger in Korean. During the sermon, the pastor pointed me out and joked that since I was there, his small church was now an international church. After the service, I talked a little with members of the congregation and we drank tea and ate Dak (Korean rice cakes).
When I'm with Koreans, I can never tell whether they plan activities or just do them spontaneously. It's best not to ask. So when I asked what we were doing next, Sangeun just smiled and said, "wait and see." We went to an outside market in Bupeyong and picked up some ingredients, and to make the story short, Sanguen's sister's fiance fixed us one of the best meals I've had since I'd been in Korea.... seafood pancakes.
It was a Merry Christmas and I had a lot to be thankful for.
So for Christmas eve, we didn't know what to do. We almost considered just ordering take-out. But at the last minute, we gathered some Koreans and foreigners together and made a fusion feast with everything we could muster from the local E-mart store.
Steak
Kimchi
Rice
Mushroom Mandoo (dumplings)
Champagne
It even had Christmas colors. Look.......
After the glorious feast, we headed over the the Noribang (singing room) to celebrate with Christmas songs. But since many of the English teachers were fatigued from having taught English Christmas songs all day to our students, we didn't stay long.
The next day, I went to church with Sangeun. We met her sister and her sister's fiance and headed over to a small but warm place of worship in the basement of a building. The congregation wasn't large, but very much alive, as it opened with children's Christmas presentations both modern and contemporary. One girl even recited the gospel by memory in English (I later learned that they had her prepared that just for me). Since I can read Korean phonetically, I was able to sing the Joy to the World and Away in a Manger in Korean. During the sermon, the pastor pointed me out and joked that since I was there, his small church was now an international church. After the service, I talked a little with members of the congregation and we drank tea and ate Dak (Korean rice cakes).
When I'm with Koreans, I can never tell whether they plan activities or just do them spontaneously. It's best not to ask. So when I asked what we were doing next, Sangeun just smiled and said, "wait and see." We went to an outside market in Bupeyong and picked up some ingredients, and to make the story short, Sanguen's sister's fiance fixed us one of the best meals I've had since I'd been in Korea.... seafood pancakes.
It was a Merry Christmas and I had a lot to be thankful for.
Election Day- December 19, 2007
As the US presidential primary season is just starting, the Korean presidential election is just finishing. Korea is similar to America in the sense that it has an unpopular president (Roh-Moo-hyeon) leaving office after finishing his maximum of two terms (eight years).
Banners publicizing not only the three major candidates, but all 12 are all over Korea:
The winner: a Presbyterianism minister turned President of Hyundai turned mayor of Seoul (kind of a combination of Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Rudy Guiliani). His campaign promise was an interesting synergy of free market capitalism and evangelicalism: put faith in my divine ordinance to reshape the economy and bring prosperity to all.
"Change" is coming to Korea....
Banners publicizing not only the three major candidates, but all 12 are all over Korea:
The winner: a Presbyterianism minister turned President of Hyundai turned mayor of Seoul (kind of a combination of Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Rudy Guiliani). His campaign promise was an interesting synergy of free market capitalism and evangelicalism: put faith in my divine ordinance to reshape the economy and bring prosperity to all.
"Change" is coming to Korea....
2007년 11월 30일 금요일
A Cultural Experience
I've seen some crazy things in Seoul, notably right outside Seoul Station, which is the only place where you really see homeless people. It's pretty much the town square area of Seoul, where people with everything and anything to say come to. I thought I'd seen it all.
But this one takes the cake....
I'd like to say this picture just speaks for itself and leave it at that, but my curiosity led me to check out their website. Apparently it's a social advocacy organization called the WTA (World Toilet Association) dedicated to the global proliferation of high quality sustainable and sanitary toilets. It started off as a national organization simply to improve the quality of toilets in Korea. Now they have expanded their outreach into the world specifically the 3rd one...
From their website: "2.4 billion people do not have access to any type of improved sanitation facility. About 2 million people die every year due to diarrheal diseases; most of them are children less than 5 years of age."
and..
"Promoting a new wave concept of 'Beautiful Toilets' and 'Toilets as a cultural' place is also one of our aims."
http://en.wtaa.or.kr/site/wta/wtavision.htm
But this one takes the cake....
I'd like to say this picture just speaks for itself and leave it at that, but my curiosity led me to check out their website. Apparently it's a social advocacy organization called the WTA (World Toilet Association) dedicated to the global proliferation of high quality sustainable and sanitary toilets. It started off as a national organization simply to improve the quality of toilets in Korea. Now they have expanded their outreach into the world specifically the 3rd one...
From their website: "2.4 billion people do not have access to any type of improved sanitation facility. About 2 million people die every year due to diarrheal diseases; most of them are children less than 5 years of age."
and..
"Promoting a new wave concept of 'Beautiful Toilets' and 'Toilets as a cultural' place is also one of our aims."
http://en.wtaa.or.kr/site/wta/wtavision.htm
2007년 11월 23일 금요일
Blink.
Today in one of my Middle School classes, a student called George Bush a "modern day Kennedy." I understood what she said, but I thought I must have heard wrong. Upon seeing the confusion on my face, she developed a frustrated look on her face and then said to me "Teacher do you know JKF? I mean he's like JFK today."
My feeling of confusion turned into a half state of awe and half state of disbelief, but upon recollecting her earlier comment that she liked George Bush, it all made sense. She also said at one point in the class that she liked Kim Jong-Il more than the current South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun because Kim is a stronger leader. I have to keep reminding myself of the obvious fact that Koreans are just as ideologically diverse (and internally polarized apparently) as anyone else.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
When I told a Korean English teacher about this however, she said Middle Schoolers were too young to understand...... Korean politics much less American politics, and that she couldn't have possibly meant what she said.
Anyway here's some pictures of out Mexican Halloween because we couldn't find traditional Thanksgiving food...
My feeling of confusion turned into a half state of awe and half state of disbelief, but upon recollecting her earlier comment that she liked George Bush, it all made sense. She also said at one point in the class that she liked Kim Jong-Il more than the current South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun because Kim is a stronger leader. I have to keep reminding myself of the obvious fact that Koreans are just as ideologically diverse (and internally polarized apparently) as anyone else.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
When I told a Korean English teacher about this however, she said Middle Schoolers were too young to understand...... Korean politics much less American politics, and that she couldn't have possibly meant what she said.
Anyway here's some pictures of out Mexican Halloween because we couldn't find traditional Thanksgiving food...
2007년 10월 10일 수요일
Walking the Footsteps of an English Teacher in Korea
Check out this musical portrait that my roommate and I did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO9trdGlaV8
It's best viewed not as a full screen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO9trdGlaV8
It's best viewed not as a full screen.
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