Nathan's Updates from Seoul

The End of HifromSeoul

2005-11-21T23:04:00.000+09:00

The convergence of several strands of my life right now has made me decide to finish HifromSeoul. This blog was a labor of love for me, and I'm proud of most of it. There were a few times when I probably used language that I would now avoid for professional reasons. I've also certainly grown up over the past year. On the other hand, I can't think of any other bloggers who've compiled a list of such interesting historical and cultural places--almost all photoblogged--as I have in my "Best of HifromSeoul" page. I'm proud of having been the first foreigner, apparently, to post pictures of the museum that was once the home of South Korea's first president. Few, if any foreigners, have written as lovingly as I have of Gyeonbokgung, Doseonsa, the Gwanghwamun intersection, or any of the other many interesting places in this marvelous sea of humanity that I have photographed and listed on my "BestofHifromSeoul" page. I am pleased and honored to see that, for example, when people google "Myongdong Cathedral," or the "Kansong Art Museum," my blog comes up. I suspect that the fact that Blogger is owned by Google probably helps things out, of course.

So, HifromSeoul is finished, but the constants remain: the love and support of my family and friends, their interest in me, and my interest in Seoul, South Korea. And there are more of both friends and family, too, now, than there were a year ago. That being said, the older I grow the more old friends mean to me, even if they always meant a lot.

And I have not forgotten them. Those who wish may keep in touch with me by reading my new blog. In fact, I suggest they start right here, with the first post, entitled New Beginnings.

I am not going to delete this blog, nor will I move it to the new site, which I am paying for. In the not-so-distant future, the little people who used free webspace on companies like Google will still be read, perhaps, while those who paid for their domain names may be forgotten with the expiration of their URL's. Who knows, if Blogger decided to offer some of the features that Wordpress does, like the popular categories feature, perhaps I'll move back to Blogger again. Of course, I will continue to run my main site, nathanbauman.com.

Good-bye, and thank you all for reading, commenting, and encouraging me. I hope to you at the new blog!

TO MY ADULT STUDENTS--IMPORTANT!

2005-11-21T23:00:00.000+09:00

Hanmail has recently changed their system. As of a few days ago, I have not been able to email anybody with a .hanmail email account. However, you can still email me! When I email, the email always comes back, with Hanmail suggesting that because my IP doesn't match that of my email provider (the University of Toronto), it's "bogus." Please complain to Hanmail so that they can fix the problem.

UPDATE: I've just posted my last update to this blog. However, if you wish me to contact you in print, just leave a comment on this post. I have the comments configured to send me an email every time someone comments, so I will know when you comment. I will reply here.

An Employment Update

2005-11-21T22:46:00.000+09:00

As of March 1st, ladies and gentlemen, yours truly will be an instructor at a university. You'll find out more in another place--and I will introduce that new place to you shortly.

20,000

2005-11-16T22:35:00.000+09:00

Thanks to Mike of Korea-Bound, and to all of you, I just celebrated my 20,000th hit.

ANNOUNCEMENT

2005-11-14T12:31:00.000+09:00

Introducing www.nathanbauman.com!

If you are so inclined, please take a look at the link, and note any problems viewing the site that you may experience. Constructive criticism is welcome. Please write your feedback in the comments section of this post, here, and mention your browser and monitor specifications. Thank you!

Oxford Teacher Development Day

2005-11-13T17:19:00.000+09:00

Today I attended the Oxford Teacher Development Day at Hanyang University. The fifth annual "Oxford Day" featured Michael Swan and Dr. Henry Widdowson, both world-renowned scholars and authors. Nalin Bahuguna also presented Oxford's Person to Person series. Since I had already attended his presentation at the KOTESOL conference, I chose instead to go on what turned out to be a fruitless errand regarding my cellphone.

Michael Swan's talk, like the third edition of his new book, Practical English Usage, was concerned with the issue of helping teachers help students with "real language problems." Mr. (or is it Dr.?) Swan outlined a number of points, but I felt the best was the one regarding inappropriate sentence exercises. Some good examples:

Birds fly high.

Students were to put the verb into the past tense. But neither sentence corresponds to real English usage. When do we say "Birds fly high"? Many birds fly low, and some don't fly at all.

The oxen are stepping on my feet

was a more humorous example! To be true, that sentence requires that more than one ox are stepping on both my feet. I suppose for very young children it might be suitable for producing laughter.

Mr. Swan dabbled a bit in grammarian history when he touched on the prescriptive/descriptive debate. For example, a grammarian in the eighteenth century by the name of Robert Baker had said people should never say "less people." This rule was accepted by the brothers Fowler for their famous text on proper English usage. It was fortunate for both King Alfred and Shakespeare's Shylock that they used the phrase in question before Baker's birth! These examples were used to show that many "rules" of English usage were invented by elites as prescriptions, not descriptions.

What I really enjoyed most, however, about Mr. Swan's talk, was his opening story of his days as an Oxford student. To help make ends meet, he used to give tours to foreigners. After some time, he found his way to a unit that taught English to foreigners. In response to his query "Have you got a job?" he was told to come back the following Monday. It turned out that one of the depatment's teachers had run off to Scotland with one of the students. The young Mr. Swan was in the right place at the right time. Like me, his first year of English teaching to speakers of other languages was not without its typical first-year "learning opportunities." But, he persevered and improved, and by collecting their questions on file cards he eventually built up a significant database, which he turned into his most famous book.

I chatted briefly with Mr. Swan. He is absolutely delightful and down-to-earth. When he asked me what I did, I told him I was teaching children and adults. He immediately said that his son has had experience as an English teacher in Taiwan, and proceeded to chat with me about teaching very young children.

Dr. Widdowson's talk was fascinating, not least because he was very cautious about the whole-sale acceptance of the current dominant approach: Communicative English teaching. Emphasizing that he was not "recommending," merely "pointing out," he argued that authentic language does not have to be taught all the time in the classroom. For example, here is a snippet of authentic text from one of the major corpora:

"Scalpel - clamp - swab."

This is the language of the operating room. The context of the speaker and listeners provides all the necessary information, reducing the need for, and prominence of, spoken communication. The amount of language required is inversely proportional to the amount of context shared. Another example makes the point in a humorous way:

My mother took hers off at a garden party in front of the vicar.

Dr. Widdowson, a red-skinned man with a penchant for innuendo and laughter was obviously having a great time, and so did we in the audience! What, exactly, was the object denoted by "hers"?! As he pointed out, it could be almost any article of clothing. Again, the context makes the meaning clear, not the language.

Dr. Widdowson emphasized that such language, apart from context and the understanding of the purpose of the language, cannot be the model for instruction: "authentic language needs to be authenticated."

Another interesting point Dr. Widdowson made was that "authentic language" can actually be incredibly difficult for foreign language learners. Consider this example:

IT TAKES BOTTLE TO CROSS CHANNEL.
Bibbing tipplers who booze-cruise across the Channel in search of revelry and wassail could be in for a rought ride. Itchy-footed quaffers and pre-Christmas holiday-makers are being warned not to travel to France, where widespread disruption continues despite the lifting of the blockade on trapped British lorry drivers.

Now, for even many advanced learners, this text would be very problematic, and even very discouraging, he argued. There are all kinds of alliterative devices, archaisms, and euphemisms being employed to create ironic and humourous effects, which would naturally be lost on many EFL readers.

Actually, I think a text like that would be quite appropriate in small doses. The problem, of course, is that dissection would likely kill the humour. On the other hand, I think advanced students, depending on their level and interests, should be introduced to difficult, authentic texts.

Asking a very brave and unfashionable question, Dr. Widdowson said, rhetorically, "What was wrong with the old structural methods?--They used inauthentic language," for example,

This is a man. He is John Brown; he is Mr. Brown. He is sitting in his chair. This is a woman. She is Mary Brown; she is Mrs. Brown. She is standing by the table. Mr. Brown has a book in his hand.

Dr. Widdowson responded that while this language might be inauthentically used here, the language itself is appropriate to EFL students in certain levels, since "learners appropriate language for themselves." However, in terms of the Korean EFL experience, I think that, perhaps, more learners have to be pushed to appropriate English for themselves. But that's a topic for another time.

As for the so-called inauthentic, "boring" language, consider the following:

This is a man. He is John Brown; he is Mr. Brown. He is sitting in a chair. This is a woman. She is not Mrs. Brown. She is standing by a table. Mr. Brown has a look in his eye.

Wow! The language elements and structures are all the same, but the second example is a highly amusing and gripping little piece of fiction.

To sum up Dr. Widdowson's position: learning is a process of gradual authentication. True authentication occurs when the context of speaker and learner is shared, the the purpose of the speaker understood. Language as used is not identical with language as learned. Speaking personally, my own position would be that there is room for both "authentic," and the so-called "inauthentic" types of language, but Dr. Widdowson raises some valuable concerns about some people's tendency to uncritically accept the dominant approach du jour.

In a way, both of these presentations undercut and complimented each other. Intentional or otherwise, the juxtaposition of these two events at this year's Oxford Day was highly stimulating.

A question and answer session with both authors followed the final presentation. The questions came from the registration webpage that was used to sign up for the event, and were directed to both authors. I thought this was an excellent stroke on the part of the organizers. The Q & A was not too long, and was far from boring. Michael Swan had a little tip for teaching listening and speaking that I liked. He said a sentence to us, and asked us to quickly say how many words he said. He did this several times, pointing out that we should use sentences with unstressed syllables (like the word "a," pronounced often as the so-called "schwa"). The immediate point of the exercise relates to listening, but later those listening skills will translate into better speaking skills, too. I'm going to try this out on both my children and adults. In a way, I was sad that there wasn't more of the nuts-and-bolts variety of teaching questions, especially because Mr. Swan had such a significant stock of experience to draw on.

So that was my third Oxford event this year, counting both the iBT presentation last month, and the KOTESOL conference. It was definitely worth my time, and I will go again next year, although I do hope that there will be no conflict with Cambridge Day next year, the only negative thing I can say about this year's Oxford Day.

Besides listening to interesting and stimulating presentations, I really enjoyed the humility of all three speakers, who took time to chat with me. I also capitalized on the 20% off sale and booksigning event following the presentations. Perhaps one might point out that it was the publishers who capitalized on me, but it was a win-win situation: the fact is that both books will help me in my teaching. Books are to the teacher like tools to a mechanic, as my dad likes to say.

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UPDATE: EFL Geek's post on the event is now up. Of course, I recommend it, as opposed to merely "pointing towards" it!

What Happens When I Keep My Children Back

2005-11-06T20:41:00.000+09:00

I'm often amazed by the improvement that happens after I "fail" my kids. My hagwon uses a system of numbers and colors to organize its curriculum. So, for instance, a kid in 3 Red would ordinarily progress to 3 Green after his two month term finishes. Sometimes, although rarely, we put a kid up a whole level, not just a color level. Conversely, every month I hold at least one kid from each class at the same level. It depends on the child's ability, of course. In my 3pm MWF class I have six students; three of them I taught before, two of them last term. They weren't ready to move up, so I kept them back. In the girl's case, she lacked focus. Her writing, although beautiful, was much too slow. But most importantly, her listening comprehension was far behind the others. The two boys were both inattentive. One of them, the one I had last term, was actually quite bright, but he just didn't want to pay attention.

Anyway, this term, that class is wonderful. The little girl is now Speedy Gonzalez when she's writing (and it's still neat!). Shee Eun has improved a lot already at listening and speaking; I've helped by directing some of the more difficult questions to her fairly consistently. I love being able to gently push a student like this. It only works if the student herself is ready. My little friend, Tae Young, a real cutie prone to making loud, strange noises, has improved a lot, too, both at speaking and writing. I've always known he was bright; his only problem was a serious lack of attentiveness last term. Finally, there's Ha Yeon, the only question mark at the moment. He's routinely late, so he always misses the start of the lesson. But there's some improvement there, too.

In a way, I feel kind of badly about expecting such little people to be serious about their study. But I don't think I'm a monster, nor do I think I'm unreasonable. Still, children don't have much time to be children in this country, what with all the after-school schools they go to. I try to keep this in mind when I'm teaching them.

An In-Between Post

2005-11-02T21:59:00.000+09:00

I've made the decision to change jobs, but have yet to hear from any institutions (the first two that I've applied to have closing application dates on this Friday). Chae Young and I will be married in December, but in the meantime we're both exhausted. She is also not well. I have yet to receive my transcripts from the University of Toronto. My school assigned me to a different class from my old adult students, which was unfortunate for me, since I was getting quite fond of them. I hope the new teacher feels welcomed there. I also registered a domain name, but the domain and hosting company, Netfirms.com, apparently wants me to fax or email my Visa card to them, despite the fact that I entered all the payment details already when I purchased the domain name through their site. I do hope it is Netfirms, and not some spamming company. Has anyone had any experience to speak of with them? I think it's exceptionally odd that they (if it was they), made this request.

Tomorrow promises to be busy. I will be delivering reference letters that arrived (with thanks to Dr. Park, my boss, Mr. Fullarton, and to the chair of my own department, Dr. Reilly.

I've been having some of the best times of my life in the last several months, so I guess that a little down time would hardly be unexpected in the present circumstances. And I do have to admit that I am well supported by my family, and by my friends, especially, Brian (I miss you, old buddy!), Ian, Rob, and cousin Jen & Lyle.

Tomorrow is another day...

Good night!

UPDATE: I just called Netfirms, and didn't have to provide any other information other than why I was signing up through the US site. No problem! I also left a message for the UofT transcript center. One down, several to go...

UPDATE (Nov. 3rd), UofT assures me that the transcripts have been mailed out. Very good. And on another happy note, both Chae Young and I were feeling rested and better when we woke up at seven this morning. Every morning when I wake up I am conscious that I am blessed (in a strictly non-religious sense, of course), by her presence. I just hope that my dear lady will have a decent day. She has a long, gruelling work week, plus an hour's commute each way on a packed subway and bus.

Countries I've Been To

2005-10-28T21:50:00.000+09:00

Create Your Own Map of Visited Countries

Via EFL Geek, who doesn't think he's traveled sufficiently. As an aside, some of the best traveled people I've met have been Korean elementary teachers. Quite a few of my students past and present have been to many more countries than I have. By the way, don't forget to see that bit of red in the middle of the map; I've been there twice.

Speaking of maps, readers might recall my earlier post on Taiwan about Google Maps' listing Taiwan as a province of China. As reported by the BBC, Google has sinced fixed the problem.

Adult Students

2005-10-27T21:12:00.000+09:00

It was the last day of term, as opposed to the program, of my elementary teachers. I sprung an invitation on them last week, which I didn't realize would inconvenience them. Nevertheless, we all went out for supper today, and they were, as always, very kind. It was a wonderful time. I really have grown very fond of this group, like I was of my first group of adult students. They spoiled me tonight!

In other news, the 7:30am program for adults, which was taught by three teachers at my school, has been cancelled due to lack of enrollment. This is bad. On the one hand, I'm worn out, and I need a bit of a break. The last two months have been wonderful, but also stressful, as I seek to get a better job in order to provide for my future wife and family. I also had the unusual bullying problem in my one class, and all my other classes were more rowdy than usual, too. On the other hand, I will also lose the experience that those three hours a week added. Fortunately, the elementary teachers program remains firmly in place for the Tuesday/Thursday classes. The school could likely have given me a term off the morning classes, but now that opportunity in the morning is gone for good; hence, I'm not has happy about the break as I would be otherwise. Fortunately, I may have just picked up a language partner, as I remain on friendly terms with two of the gentlemen from that program.

Of Blogging and Bloggers

2005-10-26T14:15:00.000+09:00

I had occasion to meet both the Gypsy Scholar and the Big Hominid in the last two days. They are both very interesting, very nice people.
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On another note, I hope you all like the pictures I added at the top. Unfortunately, my computer has suddenly become unhappy loading the pictures (although not the ones on the top of the page), and refuses to cooperate unless I allow both cookies and ads on my firewall. Sometimes, firewalls seem more trouble than they're worth. But if anyone else has problems loading the page, please leave a comment and let me know.

By the way, I've just finished the (X)HTML chapters in my book on the subject, and am about to start the section on CSS, which is what really gives (X)HTML its power. Exciting stuff! Within the next few months, I hope to be able to create a website that will reflect both my interest in teaching English to adults, as well as my growing interest in website creation.

Cultural Differences in the Classroom

2005-10-26T13:48:00.000+09:00

Yesterday two cultural differences combined to give me a very bad day.

As detailed a few posts ago, there's a bully in one of my classes. Or, perhaps there are three. These girls all gang up on the youngest girl, and gossip about her in Korean, and give her "the look" as often as possible. This goes on everyday, but it's been getting worse lately. Anyway, yesterday the mother came to school, and before class chewed out two of the students. They were sullen all day, but persisted in trying to communicate in Korean even after being told to desist. Eventually, I had them spaced far apart from each other, and I gave them a detention afterwards.

Now, let it be said that I have no problem with younger students showing respect to older students. I DO have a problem with older students who will bully younger students. I had some very harsh words for the students after class, and I kind of regret it. On the other hand, I didn't shout, so it's possible the students didn't realize how angry I was. I hate shouting, and rarely do so.

There's an interesting twist on this story. When I asked my class of elementary teachers what I should do, they said I should love the older students much more than the younger student. They said I was wrong to try to treat the students equally, since the older students feel gyped (Note to the Gypsy Scholar: is this word used reasonably? One person informed me otherwise, but I've been saying it all my life). It would be almost impossible to convey to Korean people just how utterly repulsive this idea is to a western person, especially a Canadian or American, whose societies tend towards egalitarianism. As for not saying "onni," well, in theory my school prohibits all Korean during children's classes anyway, so Hai Song & Co. don't have a leg to stand on.

On the other hand, while I am happy to be an instrument of change for the better in society, I don't want to make it worse. English education is changing the country, without doubt. People are more individualistic than they used to be, which is both a blessing and a curse. If hierarchy is the glue that binds the society together, gives it order, keeps it safe, who am I to interfere?

On the other hand, the office staff in my hogwan agree with me, and here we come to what I think is a situation that traditional Korean society has not really had much time to reflect on, namely, what happens when children of different ages are present in the same classroom. This isn't a problem in public school, where teachers only teach one grade. In a hagwon, on the other hand, the classes are sorted by ability, and not by age. In fact, one comment by one of my teacher-students was quite telling, "well, that's a hagwon, and that's what happens in hagwons."

In any case, my hagwon has its policies, and right now I'm on the right side of those policies, so things will continue. As for the bullies, they'll soon be separated into different classes from the youngest girl by the office staff when they draw up new classes for next week.
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There was another cultural difference in view yesterday. It's traditional at my school that the elementary teachers go out for dinner on the last day with the teachers. Usually the teachers themselves bring this up. However, this time, nobody did, so I did--but at the end when some of them had left. I said we would still meet in the room, and leave a note and cell number on the chalkboard, as we always do. The response to this was surprising: "Why didn't you tell us before?" (And I have to say that the person who said this had excellent expression!)

I then said, although not in so many words, that since the point of the event was to have an enjoyable time, we would not have to go, since I don't want to inflict enjoyment on them.

Since the place we would go to is close by, and since people are free to either eat, or not eat, I didn't think this would represent a problem for the teachers. Apparently they thought otherwise. Well, chalk up another one to experience.

I've posted before about how cultural differences can create meaning and enjoyment, so I guess this just comes with the territory. Still, it's kind of surprising to suddenly encounter such problems after over an entire year here.

Dongnimun Independance Park

2005-10-22T17:31:00.000+09:00

Dongnimun

This afternoon while Chae Young was working I met Ian for lunch. It's great that after over a year here my old friend from my university of Toronto days and I can still see each other fairly regularly! After lunch, Ian went to work, and then I went to Dongnimun. I'd been there once before, with Chae Young, but I didn't have my camera that day. I've been wanting to photograph the place for ages, my curiosity being piqued by that wonderful arch, designated "Historic Site 32." I must say that it's great to be photoblogging again!

This peaceful, green place is known as "Independence Park." The next two signs show some information about the park and the archway.

main sign

After exiting from the subway, I went straight into the park, and saw this reconstructed house, which has rich historical associations. Originally used to entertain Chinese diplomats, it was renovated and used by the Independance Club beginning in 1894. The building was destroyed by the Japanese. The present construction dates to 1996, and the present location was not the original one (as is also the case with Dongnimun). The main floor houses memorial stones commemorating those who died fighting the Japanese.

House

Turning right, I found this monument.

In the area behind this monument, I found another, similar monument, with some stonework in relief.

Relief detail

I always find the use of the word "martyrs" rather strange, as I associate the word primarily with religious struggle. That may be a personal thing, however; I was raised on Foxe's Martyrs after all.

Also in the park, you can see the statue of another famous Korean nation-builder, together with an accompanying sign (not shown). This person, a Mr. So Jae Pil (서재필) started the country's first private newspaper, The Independence, and was responsible for pulling down the old gate which preceded the structure now called Dongnimun, as it was a symbol of Chinese dominance. It's interesting to note that the sign's transliteration of this man's name is the eccentric "Suhr Jae Phil," and is just one more reason why I have yet to get hung up on a transliteration scheme for Korean.

It's moderately interesting to read about the sights in the park, but the most impressive sight, and therefore the most interesting, is the great arch.

I have to say that it was a great day to visit the park today; the weather was quite cool, with clear, clean air. Well, readers, I hope this last picture brings you a little pleasure.

Sunlight through the Trees

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And don't forget the "Best of Seoul" link on my sidebar, where you can see many other photoblog posts, including two on another park associated with the independance movement, Tapgol Park.

The Tallest Building in Seoul

2005-10-22T17:23:00.000+09:00

The 63 Building from My Window

Hmmm...

2005-10-22T11:44:00.000+09:00

Looks like I'm not the only person to have some strange things happening lately. Today I receieved an email, ostensibly from this address: myhuh@ku.kinu.or.kr . The email contained a virus which my anti-virus software removed. I was fascinated to receive an email with a virus from a .kr address, so I googled it up, and found a person with this address on this page, which appears to be that of a think-tank organization. I emailed the individual back (the first time I've EVER done that with a virus-laden email), asking him if he really meant to send me a virus, or if he was merely trying to contact me. Unfortunately, I got the email returned with the message "no such domain," so I tried again. Ditto. Does anybody know anything about this man or this organization or this email address? I wonder how this person, if it was he, obtained my email address, and what whoever it was who emailed me wanted.

Values in English Language Teaching

2005-10-21T12:01:00.000+09:00

I do believe in the importance of teaching the best values of western civilization to students. Respect for the individual, equality, critical thinking about the supernatural, the tolerance of dissent, these are important.

But I worry from time to time about the values that the textbooks are teaching. In particular, I worry about the values of the Postcards series by Longman. I don't much care for the series, in general, or at least how my school uses it--as a middle school textbook (there aren't enough dialogues, for one thing). There is a lot of immature conflict in the Postcards books, unresolved conflict. The other day, in the "story" (generally the "stories" feature the same characters, but there is no narrative connection between the series--which is fine) all the girls were bickering over a boy.

I don't think there are enough role models in these texts. And there are too many good examples of bad examples.

Additionally, the Postcards series is heavily dated by excessive references to pop-culture, both in music and fashion. I don't like pop-culture. It's here today, gone tomorrow, for the most part, and it rarely produces anything insightful or beautiful. Are we as English teachers really enriching the lives of our students by teaching them all about the current crop of Hollywood crap? Are Koreans enriched if they trade their own pop-culture, for western pop-culture?

I wish Oxford University Press had something for middle schoolers analogous to their American Headway series, and I wish that Longman would replace the Postcards series.

A Bully

2005-10-21T11:49:00.000+09:00

In North America girl bullying is on the rise. One young lady I know had an absolutely miserable childhood because of it.

I am unfortunate to have in one of my classes a bully. Basically, Hai-Song is eleven, and is jealous of So-Hee, who is only nine, because So Hee speaks better English than she does. Also, on some occasion So-Hee didn't call her older fellow student "onni" ("older sister," a term of respect), and so Hai-Song got angry about it. I pointed out to Hai-Song that in the English classroom we shouldn't be addressing each other in Korean anyways, unless absolutely necessary. "Onni" isn't necessary. In the English classroom, cow-towing to someone who is two years older than you simply because they are two years older is inappropriate. Yesterday after class Hai-Song rounded up the other three girls in the class, and they all complained to So-Hee's mother. I complained to the office--and received assurances that the girls will be split in the next term's class, which starts in two weeks. I have to admit that the tension between these tiny little girls--among other things--kept me awake for more than two hours last night. Hai-Song is clearly a loser--after all, on the first day she had to tell me how Japanese people were bad because of a conflict fifty years ago fought between a generation of people who are mostly dead now.

Welcome to This Term's Adult Students!

2005-10-18T21:45:00.000+09:00

Hello wonderful people! I enjoy our class so much! It was nice to show you my little blog today. Take care for now!

The 2005 KOTESOL Conference

2005-10-16T20:39:00.000+09:00

While I was at the TOEFL iBT presentation on Friday, I happened to see some advertisements for the Oxford University Press sessions at the KOTESOL ("Korea Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages") conference being held on Saturday and Sunday. I decided to go, and became a new KOTESOL member in the process. Unfortunately, Chae Young was very ill, and I couldn't get to as many of the sessions as I had wanted. I felt badly, leaving her even for the time I did, but she told me to go, so I did.

This was my third major conference that I've attended, and it was much cheaper than the other two. It was pretty well-run, and for a 65,000Won fee I purchased a membership and a ticket to the conference. The venue was Sookmyung University, and the opening ceremonies featured the President of the University, among other people. There were bilingual Koreans at strategic points on the campus to direct people. The signage was pretty good, except to that notoriously hard-to-find Room B178.

I managed to meet some very nice people (especially from Oxford University Press, the dominant group there), and learned quite a bit.

Here are a few remarks about the sessions I visited.

On Friday I made it to opening ceremony, and to the plenary session "Language Policy and the Construction of National Cultural Identity," by Dr. Amy B. M. Tsui (Hong Kong). Dr. Tsui pointed out that in many countries, the government has allocated more resources to learning English than to learning native languages. Also, in many countries, this was made something of a national mission. In countries like China, Japan, and Malaysia, this has been the case. In the case of China and South Korea, the motivation was exemplified by a proverb that goes something like this: "to conquer your enemy, you must know him intimately first." That one got something of a chuckle! Less humorous were the English texts authored by Koreans extolling the virtues of Hangul and South Korea. I cannot imagine Canadians or anyone else learning other languages in order to boast about the virtues of Canada or English. But on the other hand, Canadians (with the exception of the aboriginal peoples and the Francophones) already speak English. And of course this is not really representative of English education in this country, either. Dr. Tsui also mentioned a great debate over whether English instruction represents the democratization of an elite resource, or the furtherance of class divisions. I incline to the former.

The first regular session I attended featured Allen Ascher of Pearson Education. He was one of the commercial presenters. I found the commercial presentations I attended very interesting, and Ascher's presentation was no exception. I think Pearson put a great deal of thought into their new Top Notch series for the adult market. Those attending the talk received a free Top Notch 1 student book and CD. I was particularly impressed with the pop song that Ascher played for us (it was not, however, from the book). It was played on TV, and had closed captioning with a moving ball bouncing over the words to indicate rhythm. The Top Notch series was designed with, among other things, a focus on maximizing language recycling. Although hopefully I will be teaching only adults soon, I'd like to see something like it for Middle Schoolers, as I am quite dissatisfied with Longman's Postcards series.

My next presentation was a career development one by Brian English. His presentation confirmed me in my study of HTML. He emphasized that every English teacher should learn HTML in order to add an extra dimension to his/her teaching. For some time I've been meaning to start a website for learning English, and I think that quite soon, now, I'll be able to make that happen, thanks to a great HTML book I'm reading. Dr. English's presentation was very motivating, as well as informative. After attending this conference, and his presentation, my eyes were opened to the plethora of jobs available within the industry. At this point, however, I have other definite, specific interests: content-based education or English for Specific Purposes. I'd like to do both within a university environment.

Nalin Bahuguna of Oxford University Press gave a commercial presentation on Oxford University Press's new Person to Person series for adults. I have a sample copy of the Student Book 1 (with a CD) from that book. The book emphasizes communicative competence in English. The table of contents and index are both illustrative of a functional approach. Unlike the American Headway Series (which I like except for one thing), this book was designed specifically for the Far East EFL market. The text features a lot of task-based activities that are intended to lead to sustained speaking. Nalin Bahuguna really impressed me with his gentlemanly manner.

The biggest disappointment of the conference for me was the paper I didn't attend. I wasn't able to attend EFL Geek's presentation on Sunday morning. Too bad!

The most academic paper I attended was given by Dr. David Robert Hall of Macquarie University, "Trends and Challenges in Teaching Language for Specific Purposes." I thought the paper was more of a history than a predictively oriented approach to the field. Dr. Hall emphasized that English (or, Language) for Specific Purposes (ESP & LSP respectively), are multi- and inter-disciplinary. According to Dr. Hall, the current field of ESP is dominated by models of data approaches (structural linguistics), rather than by models of theory approaches (generative linguistics). As for trends, he noted the increasing cooperation between ESP practicioners and working professionals. The field is huge, which is good news for people like myself who are hoping to attain our potential here.

In "Harnessing Technology to Movitave Students," the very personable Richard Walker of Cambridge University Press demonstrated the Cambridge-Hitachi interactive whiteboard and accompanying Cambridge software. The board is great; it's like a normal white-board, except that it's connected to a computer, and is used on a touch screen basis. What makes it special is that one can plan slides ahead of time, and one can still draw on them, too. Of course, one could do this with Powerpoint, but drawing with a mouse is a ticklish business. I must say that although the interactive whiteboard is a good idea, I'm a bit pessimistic that I'll ever be able to use one, since the costs are fairly high (software + whiteboard [$2000 US] + Powerpoint projector).

Finally, the last presentation I attended was given by a non-native speaker, but was among the most interesting. Ma. Milagros Laurel of the University of the Philipines gave an interesting and highly interactive and fun presentation on "Context-Linked ELT Methodologies and Techniques." Ma. Milagros Laurel showed us how to educate by using authentic advertising and news materials. In doing so, she was also teaching us how to teach values and media-criticism to students at the same time. By comparing advertisements and newspaper frontpage headlines covering the same events, students will be made aware of the nature of advertising and reporting.

So that was my first TESOL conference. I should also mention that I was delighted to make the acquaintance of "J.J." of OUP, who ensured that I got a desk copy of the New American Headway 4, and of Brett Bowie, also of OUP. Both of them were very helpful. I think that OUP put together the best team of people out of the companies that were present.

As for desk copies, I want to review some content-based books, but they are on order from the publisher, whose name escapes me at the moment. Cambridge also gave me the entire New Interchange series, which I have yet to take a look at. Another publisher gave me a very low level ES book, but as I hope to be getting away from teaching children I didn't mention it here.

So, all in all, the 2005 KOTESOL conference was a great experience, except for the AGM, which featured all the usual bickering by puffed-up self-important personalities. I exempt from this characterization the outgoing-President of the organization, Dr. Kyungsook Yeum, who was gracious throughout the proceedings, and all of the Koreans present. Actually, it was the foreigners who behaved rather rudely, although fortunately it was only a small number of them. It seems AGMs are the same everywhere [sigh]. Aside from this, and the fact that I was unable to attend all the sessions I wanted to (and thus meet Gord Sellar and EFL Geek in the process!), I enjoyed the conference very much.

Next year I want to be back, and on the presenting side of things, I hope.
--
UPDATE: I recommend reading about EFL Geek's experience, and also about Gord Sellar's.

Changes in the New TOEFL iBT

2005-10-16T20:09:00.000+09:00

Well, this weekend has been very, very busy. On Friday I attended a free presentation, sponsored by Oxford University Press Korea, given by Gordon Lewis. The conference was held at the Franciscan Educational Insitute, which is quite close to my hagwon, and all those present received free the Oxford University Press "Phrasebuilder Genie" on CD-ROM.

The presentation concerned the changes to the new TOEFL iBT. The Educational Testing Service, the same people who make up the SAT's, the GRE's, and the AP tests, have just added a speaking component to the internet-based test.

The new test is all about integrated tasks and processes. For example, the test-taker will be asked in the speaking section to (a) read a short passage, (b)listen to a response, and then (c), make an oral response. The test is now incorporating into all its sections academic skills like analysis and synthesis, the ability to organize an argument, etc. The four traditional areas of English instruction (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) are still the major structural divisions in the test, but they are now actually integrated within each section. So for example, the written section involves responding to a written text and an oral one, which involves listening.

There is a real fear amongst many in the education industry here that the new test will put Koreans and other Far East Asian students at a disadvantage. For example, the older test had a grammar section, which students could study for. That's gone (the grammar has been embedded within the other sections). And speaking has been a Korean weakness, generally speaking, when compared with, say, Spanish speakers learning English in Mexico, or speakers of Tagalog learning English in the Philipines. On the other hand, I do think that the emphasis on speaking is quite healthy, since a language is primarily used for oral communication.

One of the interesting features of the new iBT test is that it offers competency-descriptors. This should help employers or universities in deciding if remedial work in a focused area is warranted. It also offers students the chance to improve in specific areas.

Gordon Lewis was asked about preparing for the test, and he responded that the test prep industry always has strategies that are important. However, equally, he asserted that basic, general English preparation, (such as that offered by Oxford University Press's American Headway Series), will be extremely important.

All these changes should impact the field of English education, here. For example, hagwons like the Chung-dam Institute (CDI), have been devoting themselves, from what I understand, to prepping students for these kinds of tests. But now the grammar section has been thrown out, and there's a speaking section which requires the student to think and speak in more or less real time. Also, a variety of accents have been used in the iBT, including the English accents of New Zealand and Australia. It turns out that my own hagwon, which has been suffering an enrollment drop over the last year or so, was right after all. LTRC has on staff teachers from Australia and New Zealand as well as from Canada and the US. Also, the focus at my hagwon has been on speaking.

I want to continue to develop my abilities as a conversation English teacher, but I also admit to wanting to do other things, too. Which brings me to the next post.

Congratulations to the New World Champion!

2005-10-15T23:41:00.000+09:00

Veselin Topalov won the recent chess world championship in most convincing fashion. Congratulations to him! Anand came in second, Svidler third. Morozovich, whom I like because he likes the French (he played, by the way, the only French game of the fourteen rounds, if I'm not mistaken)), came in fourth, with a .500 performance and an increase of 36 rating points overall.

Readers might remember me congratulating Vladimer Kramnik on his "World Championship" title some time ago, after he successfully defended his title against Peter Leko of Hungary. That championship, was, of course, the so-called "Classical World Championship," and it is a rather unofficial thing. Anyway, three cheers for "Toppy"!

Canuck Crackdown!

2005-10-13T08:19:00.000+09:00

Gord Sellar has just made some very good points about a recent South Korean crackdown on foreign teachers teaching illegally. Apparently about seventy people have been arrested in the last few days; fifty of them were Canadians. These were people who were either (a) teaching (working) on a tourist visa, or (b) were forging diplomas in order to get jobs.

As someone with a pile of student loans, a future wife and family on the way, I have little sympathy for them. It's not hard to get a valid, working visa, and work for decent amount of money--if you're single. On the other hand, that five sevenths of these foreign illegals should be Canadian raises some troubling issues.

First, what is it about Canada that causes it to send so many of its young people overseas (some of them illegally)? I'd suggest two things: the high cost of tuition and jobless economy. Of course, I don't mean that last phrase literally; it is, however, notoriously difficult for university graduates to get good jobs. It is disturbing that the country whose growth is the envy of the G8 is unable or unwilling to put the conditions in place that would facilitate a reduction of the unemployment or underemployment rate.

Second, why does South Korea prohibit private tutoring? I have never tutored privately because (a) I want to respect South Korean law, and (b), the consequences could be disastrous to my relationship with my fiancee. On the other hand, many people are tutoring privately because of (a) financial pressure from their student loans, and (b) because they can. Let's face it: student loans are a big reason for the presence of Canadian English teachers in this country. And I would say that I have more financial pressure than these Canadians due to my family situation, but they, being single, go laughing all the way to the bank, while, I, who sometimes feel like the only economically-honest foreign English teacher here, have to suffer. If the South Korean government would allow those here on legitimate working visas to tutor privately, I would most happily declare and pay taxes on that extra income that I wish I could be making.

Finally, what is it about South Korea that attracts these illegals? One never reads about problems like this in Japan. I suspect it is because Japan has a reputation for making its teachers wear suits! Since I already like wearing suits, I want to propose that South Korea only let foreigners enter if they are wearing suits at the airport and at their schools! Ok, that's tongue in cheek, but not entirely off the mark! ;-)

A Difference

2005-10-06T22:45:00.000+09:00

One of the funny anecdotes I have about interracial dating: after knowing Chae Young for less than a year, we decided officially to marry, only approximately 10 months after we first met. We'll be married in December, 13 months or so after our first date. In Canada this would be extraordinarily fast, and people might frown and wag their fingers. On the other hand, a Korean friend of mine wrote to me only two days ago, "So you and Chae Young are finally getting married!" When I read that, I laughed! Two other Korean friends of mine, who were single and unattached only half a year ago, are also getting married in two months! On the whole, I like the urgency with which people search here. Maybe it's a bit too quick for many, but on the other hand lower-income Canadian young people co-habit much faster, too, and with less seriousness of purpose. I'm happy.

Taiwan in Straights

2005-10-06T11:53:00.000+09:00

Off topic, but a cause I care about.

I was reading the BBC today, and saw something rather disquieting. Google Maps has apparently listed Taiwan as a province of the People's Republic of China. You can read the BBC article here. Taiwan has requested Google to make the appropriate correction, and the Taiwan Solidarity Union caucus has requested the public to contact Google with their concerns. I have done so already, and you may, too, at this link. The claims made by Google (a parent of my own Blogger, by the way), are obviously made in response to pressure by Beijing. Beijing has been very successful in revising history in an attempt to distort global opinion on the Taiwan issue. For example, Beijing sought to have the People's Republic of China listed as a founding member of the United Nations. The only problem with this is that it wasn't so, as China at that time was not governed by the Maoists. In fact, that government fled to Taiwan, which has quickly become a model and real people's democracy. On another note, there were rumors coming out of the Vatican some time ago that even the Pope was prepared to sacrifice recognition of Taiwan in order to curry favor with Beijing.

Beijing is obviously bent on conquering Taiwan. I use the word deliberately: Beijing is asserting sovereignty over a different country, a country whose citizens have never known anything but their own government. To those people, reality trumps "international recognition" in the everyday experience of each of their lives. I suggest that international opinion should take its cue from reality, and not from the indimitation and grandstanding of the party of Tiennamen square.

By the way, from now on, bloggers in Taiwan with reasonably normal content are encouraged to let me know about their blogs, and I will update my sidebar accordingly.

Revenge of the Brick: Lego Star Wars Movie Now Available Online!

2005-10-05T11:58:00.000+09:00

I posted several months ago about Revenge of the Brick, a Lego Star Wars movie, and now am pleased to announce that you can see it online at Treehouse Animation or at Lego's site! It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but the ending was excellent!

There are two other clips available at the Treehouse Animation site. My personal favorite, as a classical music lover, a Star Wars music lover, and above all as a Darth Vader lover, shows Darth Vader as conductor of a Storm Trooper Orchestra!

You can also see the usual SW "behind the scenes" documentary--except that this time it's Mark Hamill (Treehouse misspelled his name) talking about the application of CGI to Lego. The documentary is available here.

Have fun, Lyle, Sewing, and all other lovers of Star Wars and Lego!

Collecting

2005-10-01T09:46:00.000+09:00

Two days ago while contemplating my student loans and line of credit debt, I realized that I was owed money from several sources. I made a larger than necessary payment to a visa card using my credit union's online banking the other day. I did this because I don't have a client card to replace the one that was lost last year. Anyway, and unfortunately, I made the payment to the old, lost visa card by accident, as the credit union didn't update my payee options automatically (I've since fixed the problem). I sent the credit union a message, and they told me to communicate again as they didn't want to talk through email. My old landlord still owes me most of the rent for almost the entire month of September--I paid early, but then moved out on the 3rd. He gave me 200,000 Won back, but kept the other part for "outstanding bills." However, the bills won't even come close to the balance. He now owes me about 250,000, but mentioned in response to my pestering him that he will transfer 150,000 on Tuesday. He wants to wait until the final bills come in before paying the rest back. I guess I just have to wait. My school also underpaid me by more than 100,000 Won. Finally, there's the government of Canada, which owes me my income tax refund, which I haven't filed.

So here's Nathan on the collections trail:

School: pestered repeatedly--amount paid back yesterday
Landlord: pestered two times--partial amount to be paid back on Tuesday
Credit Union: pestered two times--amount put yesterday on the right Visa card, which now has a $100 surplus
Canada: to be pestered on Tuesday. Filing income tax from another country is complicated.

Othmar Keel Wins Prestigious Swiss Prize

2005-09-30T10:00:00.000+09:00

News via Eisenbrauns

Othmar Keel, Professor emeritus for Old Testament studies at the University of Fribourg, has been awarded the Marcel Benoist Prize 2005. This is the most substantial prize that is granted in Switzerland for outstanding scientific achievements. It is awarded once a year by the committee of the Marcel Benoist Foundation, headed by the Swiss minister of education and science. Othmar Keel is only the third representative of the Humanities to be honoured by this prize which usually goes to other sciences.

The committee was particularly impressed by what they call Othmar Keel's "eclectic interdisciplinarity", which has produced results that would hardly have been possible within the limits of individual disciplines.

More details may be found on the foundation's website in English, German, or French.

The prize will be presented on November 14, 2005 by Mr. Pascal Couchepin, Minister in charge of Science and Education, during a public ceremony to be held at Fribourg University.

I've read two of Keel's books, and a number of his articles. He is an excellent writer, and he presents the iconographic evidence of the ancient Near East in ways that are both interesting and illuminating.

Unified World Championship Underway!

2005-09-29T10:23:00.000+09:00

Anand and Topalov both won with Black in a historic event: two of the highest rated players in the top five are absent: Kasparov, who has entered politics in Russia, and Kramnik, who chose to sit out, perhaps due to his declining ability. Also, Judit Polgar is playing, the first woman to play at a World Championship. The format is that of a double round robin, the fairest way to do things. In the future, I believe the World Champion will likely be defending his title in a match format, although I'm not sure. Anyway, go, Anand, go!

TOEFL Changes

2005-09-27T14:00:00.000+09:00

Via EFL Geek, here is important news about some very big changes to the format of the TOEFL exam. There is going to be a speaking component. Some are worried that this will disadvantage the "Asians," and I'm not surprised given the way most hogwans work here, as they usually emphasize writing and grammar (and even then I'm doubtful about their effectiveness). The hogwan I work at emphasizes speaking. I think that this is going to have to lead to a paradigm shift in EFL education here in South Korea.

Engaged!

2005-09-26T09:42:00.000+09:00

The picture above is my personal favorite of the two of us. Chae Young and I set a date (Dec. 25th), and yesterday we made the reservation. The 25th was chosen because this was the best time for my family to come out, and because that's the only time for the next several months when I can have more than three days off.

Message for Mom

2005-09-20T11:12:00.000+09:00

UPDATED with this image, as per the excellent and hilarious (and, dare I say, tongue in cheek [that's an inside joke]) suggestion by Wyatt in the comments. I'm leaving this post up--it's too funny!

Original post below:

Hi Mom,

Since your email can't read Korean, here's Chae Young's name:
김 채영 . I'll take this post down when you let me know you've read it.

UPDATE: Mom's on vacation at the moment. San Nakji, thank you for your helpful comment. We'll solve this little problem one way or another.

A Little Epiphany

2005-09-20T08:21:00.000+09:00

In the course of my teaching I often use the popular English Time series at my hogwan. Unlike most of the other books we use, often there is no particular grammatical focus to a lesson. For example, I've seen the subjunctive, as well as indicatives in the present and past tenses all used on one page!

While reading Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, recommended to me by Blinger (now EFL Geek), I discovered that many people don't like grammar-based syllabi. There was this movement towards "notional" content, and a later move towards "processes." Essentially, content mattered more than grammar. Actually, the English Time series looks at content and grammar, as well as phonology, which seems about right.

By the way, I definitely recommend the book, which serves as a gateway to the field of TESL/TEFL.

Culture Exchange in the Classroom

2005-09-14T09:40:00.000+09:00

One of the things I love about teaching adults beyond the beginning level is that they tell me the most interesting things. There are two special items I want to mention.

제사

"Chae-sa" is an annual ceremony commemorating an ancestor whom one venerates and to whom one offers food. This date is specific to each ancestor. All the family gather together for this celebration, which is in the home of the oldest son or brother. His wife must do all the cooking, and so it is a consideration for some people when they get married as to how many chae-sa ceremonies the young woman will be expected to prepare food for, if she is marrying an oldest son!

벌초

"Boll-cho" is a twice-yearly event in which one mows the grass and cuts the weeds around the tomb of the ancestors. My students informed me that often the grave is not just for one person, but for many (like in ancient Israel and Jordan, where to "die and join one's ancestors" meant literally that!). Often, the grave is made with a mound. Usually, the grave is located in the mountains, not in a municipal cemetary, as is the norm where I come from.

Some of my adult students, who are mostly teachers, are surprised when they learn there is no English word that easily translates each of these words. That's because, of course, the concepts are entirely foreign to our culture. Other students, the more worldly wise ones, say "of course they don't do that in English-speaking countries!" So these exchanges are always fun for me, as I get to learn a bit about Korean culture on the one hand, while my students get to learn a bit about the culture of English-speaking countries, on the other.

No More Sharia Law in Canada!

2005-09-12T10:42:00.000+09:00

Well, I am pleased! The Province of Ontario has decided to go against its Attorney-General's report and not implement Islamic tribunals for "Family law" arbitrations. In doing so, it will strike down Jewish and Christian legally binding arbitrations, so that all religions will be treated equally.

Perhaps I've even been a very small part of that. Every week people have been googling "Sharia law in Canada," and a previous post of mine came up (I'm currently on page 5 of this search); some of those people actually took the trouble to read it, too. People were googling from places like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and places like France and the Netherlands. According to the link, above, there were protests in the major cities of Europe, and this international criticism of the Ontario government has finally embarrassed it into taking the appropriate action.

Anyone who thinks that such a misogynistic and backward religion is capable of protecting women's rights is just, as one former Muslim in another article put it, stupid. Everyone should be equal before the law, the secular law of the nation.

Heracles

2005-09-10T15:16:00.000+09:00

"Heracles" in Euripides: Heracles and Other Plays. Translated by John Davie. Penguin Books, 2002.

[Final Note: August 8, 2006: I have yet to tidy the post up, apart from one typographical error in the first paragraph. This was my first post on a classical play, and I was blown away by the wonder of what I found in the play. Better, more focussed blog posts on other Euripidean works appear on my new blog, Seoul Hero. (Search for "Ion," "Iphigenia," and "Helen" to find the posts in question). At some point, I may come back to this post, as Heracles is easily my favorite piece of literature in the western canon.]

[Note: I'll probably tidy up this post from time to time. Comments, critical or otherwise, are, as always, welcome. Even as an undergraduate paper it would be pretty sloppy (and of course all my linguistic tools are at home), and as a blog post it may be too long, but I hope people will read and enjoy it.]

Heracles, written by the Greek playwright Euripides, is a thoughtful, probing play concerning the nature of the universe, and how humans can live in it. The basic story of Heracles is well known, and so consequently this paper will omit those details. What Euripides did, however, was to throw in some new, unusual elements.

The story is told from the perspective of Amphytryon, the human father of Heracles, who, along with Heracles's wife, Megara, and their three sons have sought sanctuary at the altar of Zeus the Deliverer, where they pray to avoid death at the hands of the usurper of Thebes: Lycus. There they wait for the return of Heracles from Hades, where he had gone on one of his labors. The scene is one of supplication to the divine.

Like many Greek myths, there is both a human and a divine element to the story. Euripides, however, keeps the action, with one significant exception, on earth. (Note: the italics that follow are all mine)Indeed, the first line asks "Is there anyone on earth who does not know of the Argive Amphitryon, who shared his wife's bed with Zeus?" The turn of phrase, according to the translator, is as shocking in the Greek as it is in English, and sets the stage for human questioning of the usual pious theodicies.

The three motifs of misfortune, father-son relationships, and friendship are sounded by Amphitryon at the very beginning of the play:

"My son left me here in the house to watch over his home and guard his children, when he began his journey into the earth's black gloom. I have tried to save the sons of Heracles from death by joining their mother in supplication at this altar of Zeus the Deliverer.... As for friends, some I see are not to be relied on, while those deserving of the name are powerless to assist. So it is when men encounter misfortune. I pray that no friend of mine, even a mere acquaintance, may have this experience; there is no surer test of friends."

So we come, then, to the basic theme of the play: "What is the nature of this cruel universe, and how should one live in it?" To this question, the play offers a resounding affirmation of the power of friendship, and the father-son relationship, to create meaning in the life of the individual. For such an ancient play, the agnostic, humanistic, and questioning tone seems incredibly modern, even postmodern.

The Moral Nature of the Universe

The universe, according to tbhe Greek mythology familiar to Euripides' audience, is peopled with humans and gods. The origin of humans, or at least of those of Thebes, the city where all the action takes place, is not unusual in the ancient world: the first humans are descended from the slain body of a monster. In this case, there is already a human, Cadmus, associated by tradition with Tyre. Cadmus kills a dragon, and sows his teeth on the earth. From those teeth rise up the first "earthborn" warriors of Thebes, who take immediately to fighting and killing each other. "Those allowed by Ares to live" are the ancestors of the Thebans. For a similar mythological origin of humanity, compare the Mesopotamian tradition where humans are created from the blood of an evil monster, Kingu, to be servants for the gods. For the earth as the giver of human life, compare also the second biblical creation account beginning in Gen. 2, where man ('adam) is formed, like pottery, out of the earth ('adamah).

The phrase concerning Ares seems to be both a figure of speech (war being signified), and a literal reference to the will of a god. The gods are not understood in the same way by all the characters in the play, but the feeling that they are mysterious is common to many of the characters, including Amphitryon, who even as Heracles' own (earthly) father still is ignorant of the reason for his famous labors: "It may have been Hera's cruel jealousy or else the decrees of fate that forced these labours on him, no one knows." The story of Hera's jealousy and rage against the bastard offspring of her unfaithful husband is, of course, well-known. Fate, to which the gods themselves were subject, was another explanation for the why's of the universe, that would have been familiar to Euripides ancient audience. So for every action in the world, there are as many as three kinds of parties to keep in mind: humans, gods, and fate. It's a complicated universe.

The nature of the gods is the subject of much discussion in the play. Active in the myths, they are notably absent when Amphitryon and his family are waiting at the altar. Instead, Amphitryon hopes for a change of fate, Murphy's Law not having being invented yet:

"Men's misfortune's diminish and stormy winds blow out at last; Fortune does not smile on her favorites forever, for all things give place to something else. The true man is he who trusts in hope from first to last; to abandon hope is to be a coward."

Essentially, the protagonist is saying to his daughter-in-law, Megara, "don't give up!" Yet after Lycus's lies about Heracles being in the realm of the dead forever, Amphytrion and his family do give up. He then rails against Zeus, his "partner in marriage":

"You were less a friend to me, its seems, than I had supposed. I have behaved more honorably than you, though you are a great god and I a mere mortal, for I have not betrayed the sons of Heracles. You knew how to steal into another man's bed and enjoy his wife, though no invitation was given, but you do not know how to protect your own family from harm. Either you are a stupid sort of god or you have no sense of justice."

Megara, for her part, blames Fortune for the change which saw her royal family on death row. Speaking to her sons, she mentions how their father, Heracles, had "laid his plans with a proud and confident heart." Her part was to arrange the marriages of her sons, but "Fortune changed and gave you fiends instead of brides, while to me in my misery she gave tears as the ritual water I must carry." Resigning herself to death, and agreeing with Lycus that they will all die quickly, she avoids torture for herself and her family. In one last burst of energy, she implores Heracles to return, "even as a phantom." Immediately, as if in answer to her prayer, her loving husband returns. After being apprised of the situation, he kills Lycus, and resumes his leadership. The chorus, the old, but powerless friends of Amphitryion, is jubilant. The epithet "the Deliverer," or "Savior," is again appended to the name of the king of the gods. At this point the Antistrophe sings a very strange song arguing for two lives for good people: "If the gods possessed understanding and wisdom such as men have, a second youth would be the prize for those whose lives bore clearly the stamp of virtue." Ironically, this has already been fulfilled: first Heracles returned from the depths of Hades, the realm of death, and second, his family, considered "dead" before, are now alive. It is interesting that the language is reminiscent of the writer of Romans: "and you, who were dead in your trespasses and sins, are now alive with Christ," another well-known Savior.

At this point, jubilation breaks out, and all the actors in the play attribute the death of Lycus to divine "Justice! Hail the tide of fate that flows from Heaven!" The Antistrophe continues: The gods, the gods concern themselves with men, unjust as well as pious, so that they take heed of them. No one dares cast his eyes back on the track but, passing by the law and giving rein to lawlessness, he smashes prosperity's dark chariot." Put in biblical terms, we have moved from the accusations of Job and the troubled psalms to the consolations of Job's friends and the happier psalms.

And then comes the most peculiar deus ex machina in all of literature, as the gods descend not at what will be the end of the play, but in the middle. Iris, messenger of Hera, and Madness, appear, striking panic in the hearts of all, and madness in the mind of Heracles, newly returned from the dead. Heracles, laboring under a delusion, kills his children and his wife. His patron, Pallas Athena, throws a stone at him to prevent him from doing further damage, knocking him unconcious.

The songs of rejoicing give way to recrimination and accusation directed heavenward once more. It is interesting in this context that Euripides chose to put into the mouth of Madness moral reservations about harming Heracles, while Iris, messenger of Hera, had to remind her to do her duty. Blaming Hera was nothing new, but in making Madness sympathetic to the plight of her prey, Euripides showed significant insight into human nature.

As for the scene of the slaughter of the children and their mother by Heracles, that is called a "destruction from heaven" by the Chorus. Later, the Chorus leader will ask "O Zeus, why did you feel such strong hatred for your son? Why did you launch him upon this sea of woes?" For his part, Amphitryon does not blame his son, answering the newly recovered Heracles's question about who killed his family: "You and your bow, whichever heavenly power was to blame." In fact, Amphitryon once says that Heracles has been stricken by Fate, while later he cries to the king of the gods: "O Zeus, do you see this from where you sit on Hera's throne?"

Finally, Heracles himself has some thoughts about the nature of the universe, not all of them necessarily coherent. Like Job, he laments that his "life should never have been. First, I am this man's son; he married ... my mother, though he had killed her father and was tained by his blood. When a family's foundations are not soundly laid, misfortune must befall its sons." Here we are not far from the theodicy of Job's friends and the earlier Chorus, who offer to us a world in which bad is always punished in a most mechanistic fashion.

Heracles procedes to blame both Zeus and Hera, while recognizing his true father: "Then Zeus, whoever Zeus is, sired me to become the target of Hera's emnity (no, old man, don't be angry; I count you as my father, not Zeus). While I was still a baby at the breast, Zeus' consort put fierce-eyed serpents in my cradle to cause my death." It is then that the great hero contemplates suicide, from which he is saved by the love of his friend, and to a lesser extent by his father.

How to Live in this Universe

The first thing is to live. This is made possible through live-giving relationships, in this case friendship and sonship. When Heracles would give up, afraid, like Cain, of the curse of bloodguilt which would make him a perpetual outlaw, Theseus, the king of Athens, whom he had brought up from Hades, returns to comfort him. Heracles had covered his face in a black sack. Theseus asks of Amphitryon, upon seeing the bodies of the slain, along with Heracles beside them, "Hera was at work in this; but who is that man among the dead, old man? Amphitryon responds, "He's my son, my son, the man of many labours, who once marched to do battle with the giants." In his hour of need, Heracles is not disowned by his divine father, but accepted by his true one (one might compare the literary character of Jesus while on the cross, forsaken by his Father, but not by his earthly mother). Nor is he disowned by his friend, who asks why he hides his head. The dialogue that follows is one of the most moving scenes in drama:

Theseus: Why does he hide his poor head in his cloak?
Amphitryon: He is ashamed to meet your eye, ashamed before your love as his kinsman, and the blood of his own sons.
Theseus: But what if I come to share his pain? Uncover him.
Amphitryon: My son, take the cloak away from your eyes, throw it down, reveal your face to the sun!

Amphitryon then wrestles with Heracles, and cries, trying to persuade his son to take off the cloak from his face. Theseus then speaks to Heracles

Now then, you who sit there in misery [a phrase reminiscent of the Psalms and Deutero-Isaiah!], I bid you reveal your face to a friend....Why do you shake your hand at me, showing fear? Are you afraid that I may be [ritually] polluted if I speak to you? It does not trouble me if your friendship brings me bad luck; there was a time when it brought me good....I hate a friend whose gratitude fades with age, or one who wants to enjoy your success, but not share your voyage when storms arise. Stand up, uncover your wretched head, and look at me!

Heracles does so, and asks why Theseus has uncovered his head, given his ritual bloodguilt. Theseus anticipates Shakespeare in his response: "You ask that? You are mortal; you cannot pollute what is divine....No avenging curse passes from friend to friend."

Then Theseus hears out Heracles, who tells him of his desire to die. Theseus empathizes with his friend, and weeps for his misfortune. However, he calls Heracles back to his true nature, encouraging him to be brave and face life. Heracles and Theseus have a back-and-forth at this point, with the former accusing the latter of criticizing him. Theseus responds with a question, again, trying to call Heracles back to his potential: "Are these the words of Heracles, the all enduring?" Heracles counters that he is facing too much sorrow. Noting the death of his sons, he parodies the hymns of salvation common in the ancient world: "Let the glorious wife of Zeus now dance for joy and make Olympus shake with her footsteps. She has achieved her will; she has cast down from on high the formost man of Greece." Those with a biblical background here will hear again the voice of Job, who also turned upside down hymns of praise. It is then that Heracles asks a pointed question:

What man would utter prayers to such a goddess? Because of jealousy of another woman's bed, to spite Zeus, she has destroyed the benefactor of Greece, though he was innocent of wrong-doing!"

Like Amphitryon, and the Antistrophe, Heracles questions the justice of the gods.

Theseus responds that even the gods themselves suffer the blows of fortunes, "if poets' tales are true." He offers to take Heracles to Athens, cleanse him of bloodguilt by offering sacrifices there, and name the plots of land that are his own after Heracles, to be memorials to him after the latter's own death. It is at this point that Heracles looks up, offering a different view of the gods:

Ah, these honours do not meet the severity of my woes. I do not believe that the gods indulge themselves in illicit love or bind each other with chains. I have never thought such things worthy of belief and I never will; nor that one god treats another as his slave. A god, if he is truly a god, needs nothing; these are the wicked tales of poets."

And with a single blow the great hero of mythology thus topples the entire pantheon of gods from Olympus's crown.

Still bemoaning the blows of Fortune, and weeping over his dead wife and sons, he accepts the offer of asylum in Athens--and is faced with a dilemna. Does he keep his bow, the "architect of my victories," the bow that killed his family? Though their very presence will remind him of what he has done, he takes them, rather than suffer a shameful death at the hands of his enemies.

Still requiring the exhortations of Theseus to get up, Heracles is reluctant, wishing he could be turned into a rock, "oblivious to suffering." Theseus insists on taking his hand, bloodguilt though there be. Heracles then exlaims "I have sons no more, but in you I have a son." Refusing to further exhort Heracles to bravery when he is suffering so much, Theseus puts his arm around Heracles, the latter noting, "A yoke that binds friends, but one is no friend of fortune. [To Amphitryon] Father, this is the sort of man to have as a friend!" Turning back, he embraces Amphitryon, saying in simple language comparable to the story of the Binding of Isaac, "Farewell, Father!"

"Farewell, my son!" "Bury the children, as I said." "Who will bury me, my child?" "I will." "When will you come?" "When you die, father. Now, take my children's bodies inside--a grevious burden, hard to bear. I, who have devastated my house with deeds of shame, will follow Theseus, utterly ruined, like a boat towed by a ship. If any man desires the benefits of wealth or power more than worthwhile friends, he is a fool."

The law of Thebes requires Heracles to leave the city, and Amphitryon must stay. Nonetheless, Heracles, in offering to bury Amphitryon at the time of his death, is acknowledging Amphitryon to be his true father. For his part, Amphitryon had always acknowledged Heracles as his son, Zeus or no Zeus.

And so ends this magnificent, humanistic play. The nature of the universe isn't really defined for us any more clearly than it was before. It's mysterious, and complicated. Suffering is attributed to various deities throughout the play by all the characters, only to be rebuffed at the end by Heracles' insight. Who are the gods? We don't know. The only thing we can know is the divine right here in our midst, the divine friendship of the mortal Theseus and the mortal Heracles, the love of Amphitryon and Heracles for each other. From the supplication of the people at the altar of Zeus the Deliverer, we have come to a focus on human love and friendship. Although someone might attribute the friendship and help of Theseus as ultimately coming from Zeus, the play does not do so, although as noted there are a few ironies there.

It is interesting to compare the material in this play with the biblical material that corresponds to it. In the book of Proverbs we definitely don't come close to the wisdom of Euripides. Job poses the same questions, but does so through a fairly monotheistic framework. The problem of evil is even harder for monotheistic religions to answer than for polytheistic or pantheistic ones. Of course, Job ultimately ends with the rebuking of the Voice from the Whirlwind, a demonstration of divine power and mystery which still leaves all the questions unanswered. Heracles ends at the human level, also leaving all the questions unanswered, save one. I find Heracles at every level superior to the biblical material. In the Bible, "those who sat in darkness have seen a great light." Of course, in the ancient world the sun is associated with justice (cf. Ps. 19, and the stela of Hammurabi, and J. Glen Taylor's monograph on Yahweh as a solar deity, for examples). Here, however, in this play, the sun is demythologized, a term biblical critics commonly employ when discussing the Hebrew Bible(!), and it is the friendship of Theseus which will bring light into the heart of the stricken Heracles.

The last sentence, spoken by Heracles, ends, at least in English, with the word "fool." The last sentence of the Chorus bemoans the loss of their now exiled "friend." Between these two words the meaning of life, perhaps, is to be found.
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This blog post is dedicated to my loved ones and friends--you know who you are!

Happiness

2005-09-10T12:54:00.000+09:00

I keep asking myself what I've done to deserve my current level of happiness. I'm the happiest I've ever been in life! Of course, there are people I miss, some of my friends in Korea (who I hope I will see again soon), and my family and friends on the other side of the Pacific. On the other hand, I live in a brand new, clean, non-smelly apartment building with a stellar view. More to the point, as that in itself is not enough to make me happy, a very special lady loves me, and we are together everyday. She accepts me as I am and I accept her as she is, and I think that's really been the basis for the durability of our relationship, and the fact that we rarely argue now, after having often had tiffs before. I guess it's our 10 month anniversary or some such thing, although neither of us knows the date we first met in that cafe in Sinchon. Every week Chae Young makes me wonderful, scrumptious dinners. She's starting to learn to let me clean up the dishes after a meal, so we're making progress there. Everyday we go walking together, although only on flat surfaces now, since the reason for my move was to save her bad knee from the hill at Hyewha.

The only clouds on my horizon relate to the general uncertainty of life, together with my worries about my debt load, which is coming down far too slowly if I'm to start a family anytime soon.

Internet

2005-09-08T17:31:00.000+09:00

I'm really enjoying my new apartment, but have yet to get internet access. Thrunet, my previous provider, told me today that they can't service my office building, which is a high rise "oppistel," as the Koreans say. Do any foreigners reading this know of a reputable company that doesn't do pesky things like blocking access to blogs? I'd be very grateful for any tips you'd like to leave either via email or in the comments. Thanks!

Things I Forgot to Say

2005-09-05T08:59:00.000+09:00

When I went some weeks ago from Seoul to Imjingak, a 50 km journey, the trip cost me only 1500W, or about $1.50 CDN.

I forgot the other things I wanted to say!
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In other news, I've been studying my view from my room. It's marvelous. I should correct my previous posting that said in Seoul the mountains are in the north. There are mountains in the south(east?), as well, but the mountains in the north are closer to my old and new homes.
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The move is completed, now. 힘들어! Today I have to make arrangements for the telephone and internet, so it's not over yet.

Moving

2005-09-03T08:36:00.000+09:00

I'm almost done my move from Hyewha to Hapjeong. I still have to cancel my phone and internet access--it's a pain, but I'm almost done, now. I moved alone, using my suitcases, making repeated trips in a taxi, although Hee Jung carried one suitcase down the hill from my home. Chae Young did quite a lot during her breaks at work; she arranged a cleaning lady to come and dust the place (which she didn't do well, however), the electronic payment of my and the school's key money to the right bank account, and she found where to buy some very nice, used furniture.

I am now in Hyehwa, for the last time. My apartment in Hapjeong is much smaller, but also much nicer. It is brand new, and has a superb view to the south, where I can see both the Han River and the National Assembly. I will miss seeing the mountains and greenery, however. Like Vancouver, in Seoul "the mountains are in the north." Too bad there's a couple of thousand missiles aimed at this city in those mountains!

Well, I will miss Hyewha, but I'm moving for a good cause! ;-)

Important Update about Email

2005-08-29T16:58:00.000+09:00

My Utoronto email will be down for a short time on Wednesday and Thursday this week. During this time, mail will be undelivered. UofT apologizes for the inconvenience. If you send me email during the next week, please send it again if I don't respond within 48 hours.

I've Been Tagged!

2005-08-27T15:18:00.000+09:00

Well, Sewing has tagged me. Of course, bloggers always like talking about themselves, so here goes! By the way, I've posted quite a few times in the last few days. If you want to read everything, don't forget to keep scrolling down.

Where was I ten years ago?

I was in high school, at Terry Fox Senior Secondary School in the hometown of Terry Fox, Port Coquitlam. That makes me quite a bit younger than Sewing, who tagged me (cough, cough). Hmm, ahem! My favorite teachers in those days were Mr. Waplington, who taught me English and English Literature, Mr. Anderson, who taught me Western Civilization 12 and History 12, and Mrs. Mitchell, who taught me Spanish 12. I went on to win the Top Student award for Western Civilization 12, and co-won the Humanities award, in addtion to getting several scholarships, including one for excellence on the (then separate) provincial scholarship exams. I also liked Mr. Olding, who taught me Advanced Placement English 12. I was the only student in that class to score a 5 out of 5 on the College Board's AP English test. In my high school year I was anticipating my first year of a degree at the now defunct Northwest Baptist Theological College. I would soon become a hyper-Calvinist. In terms of work I was working part time at McDonald's, where I started when I was fifteen. This part time job put me through six years of full time post secondary education.

Five years ago?

Five years ago I was 22. It being the summer, I was working at McDonald's and flirting with many girls there. It was just prior to my M.A. at the University of Toronto. I had just finished my four year program at Trinity Western University, a private evangelical university in Langley, BC. I transferred there from NBTC, a short time before that school went belly up. I dropped both Hard Determinism and Hyper-Calvinism after my 2 years at NBTC, and I thought myself a real "liberal" attending TWU, where most of the faculty in the Department of Religious Studies are theistic evolutionists. As for evolution, the first key moment for me came when my Scottish friend on a Late Bronze Age dig at Hazor in Israel said to me "Why do you accept the findings of archaeology for historical times, but not for prehistorical times?" My favorite professors at TWU were Dr. Martin Abegg (Hebrew Union College), who taught me biblical Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and a directed reading in epigraphic Hebrew, and Dr. Craig Broyles (Sheffield), who imparted to me a love for contextualizing the Hebrew Bible in its ancient Near Eastern context. As for evolution, when I began to learn about the ancient Near Eastern backgrounds of the creation stories (!) in the Bible, that finished the Creationist position for me. By the way, I still like both men, even though they don't like my rejecting Christianity. During my time at TWU, I purchased, at $173 each, Princeton University Press's Ancient Near Eastern Texts and Ancient Near Eastern Pictures, both edited by Pritchard. I bought a massive tome of ancient Near Eastern pictures from the art publisher Abrams. It was in my senior year at TWU that the very personable Dr. Jon Thompson, if I remember his name correctly, imparted to me a love for the Western tradition of music, beginning with Gregorian chant, passing through the Rennaissance polyphony of Palestrina, and continuing through the Baroque, Classic, and Romantic periods to my own favorite setting: the turn of the century France of Faure and Durufle. This appreciation of music would prepare me for friendship with the amazing and wonderful Brian Mullins!

One year ago?

One year ago? Why, I was in South Korea! After converting from Protestantism to the Roman Catholic church in the theologically liberal Newman center, and then after ultimately rejecting Christianity, I lost the motivation to dedicate myself to Semitic Linguistics, which was my major at UofT, where I had a $10,000 Ontario Graduate Scholarship. With an M.A. in dead languages in hand, I went back to McD's in Port Coquitlam, and tried to think of what to do--when I wasn't volunteering as the Publicity Coordinator for the BC Chess Federation or attending my local chess club. At last I thought of teaching high school. The need to start paying off student loans, together with the need to get experience, prompted me to come here, after having first observed many classes taught by my excellent friend and junior high school teacher Rob Harding. After coming here, I found I had no desire to return to Canada to work, and that's remained the same since. I guess I should mention that I had to go back to Toronto a few months later to deliver a ground-breaking paper at the Society of Biblical Literature's AGM, where I was one of the youngest participants. My paper was a comparison of some of Sennacherib's waterworks inscriptions with the Siloam inscription from Jerusalem (now in a museum in Istanbul). My point was that the latter inscription is not particularly unique, except in being anonymous: its language and diction correspond closely to Sennacherib's waterworks inscriptions.

Yesterday?

Yesterday I was at my hogwan, and at my computer, where I was blogging again. I met my girlfriend in the evening, and we ate taeji kalbi together!

Where am I today?

Today it's Saturday. On Saturdays Chae Young works, and I don't. Right now I'm typing this, but perhaps that's a little obvious! Seriously, blogging is my #1 hobby right now.

Where will I be tomorrow?

Tomorrow Chae Young and I will go somewhere or do something, but, like almost all Sundays, we haven't planned it yet.

Five snacks I enjoy: any chocolate produced by the Nestle company (unfortunately, in Korea that's limited to the excellent KitKat and the Smarties topping on the flurries at McD's. I also like Toblerone, Doritos (Ranch flavour), beef jerkey, and "wagon wheels," or "Choco Pie" as they are usually called here. Boiled silkworm larvae no thank you!

Five bands I know the lyrics of:

I loved the evangelical eighties rock group Crumbacher. Although I am no longer religious, I still like hearing their intelligent, optimistic and catchy music in my head! Aside from them, I'm into composers, not performers or bands. My favorite composers are, in order: Gabriel Faure, Maurice Durufle, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ralph Vaughann Williams, and John Rutter. Others I enjoy almost equally, in no particular order are: Saint-Saens, Gounod, Bottessini, Paganini, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Benjamin Britten (although I'm picky with him), Martinu, Messiaen, Satie, Tchaikovsky, Palestrina, Gorecki (again, I'm picky with him, too), and the always great Anonymous.

Five things I'd do with $100,000,000:

Like Gord Sellar, I'd pay off all my debts and the debts of all those I'm close to (and I'd give them some money, too). Then I'd buy apartments in Toronto, Paris, Jerusalem, and Seoul. I'd establish a foundation dedicated to helping underpriviledged students study the Humanities, especially Classical Greece and the ancient Near East. I'd buy many Canadian coins and go traveling. And by the way, included in item number one is the fact that I'd start a family. Chae Young's overdue for a ring, also...

Five places I'd like to visit: I've been there twice, and am no longer religious, but I'd go back to Israel. First on the list, however, is Mongolia, then Japan, India (where I want to see Benaris and the Taj Mahal), Russia, and Rome. I'm glad I've already seen Paris, southern Germany, and Vienna.

Five bad habits I have:

I eat too much junk food. I'm not particularly disciplined with my time. No further comments! ;-P

Fve things I like doing:

I like visiting historical places in South Korea. Then I like blogging about them, and other things. I like surfing the internet. In Canada I loved cycling and poring over my coin collection. I still like chess, although I rarely play now. I guess that's more than five. Oh well. And of course, most importantly, I like being with my girlfriend and being with or communicating with my friends, including my good friend from grad school, Ian, who is in this city, too.

Five TV shows I like:

I don't watch TV, except on account of my girlfriend. I guess I kind of like "X-Man Knockdown," a gag show involving pretty girls and handsome men performing various funny games.

Famous people I'd like to meet: US Vice President Dick Cheney, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, US President George W. Bush, Mark Steyn (and now you see the "hawk" in me coming out!), and George Lucas. If I could meet dead people I'd like to meet J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Euripides, Sophocles, and Aeschylus, as well as Faure and Durufle.

Biggest joys at the moment:

These are already stated above.

Five favorite toys:

Like Sewing, Lego, Lego, Lego, Lego, and Lego!

Five people to tag: I'll settle for three: Wyatt, Shaun, and Dr. Hodges, you're it!

Some Thoughts on Teaching English

2005-08-27T15:00:00.000+09:00

Recently I've really begun to wonder about some of the constructions that the textbooks at our school use. These textbooks, by the way, aren't wackjobs: they're published by Oxford University Press and Longman.

For one thing, I've noticed that my children who are using both Chatterbox 3 and Chatterbox 5 (both OUP), have begun systematically putting "the" in front of people's names. This is because in the former book the bad guy refers to himself in the third person, with a nickname: "The Spider." His name is "Spider Smith." In Chatterbox 5, the main bad guy's hit man is called "The Gorilla." I do not agree with educational books doing this. It's not standard English. It confuses the children. Since these constructions with the definite article occur in every chapter, I must work very hard to continually refute the textbooks, which are otherwise fairly good. It is not easy to continually remind children of a ubiquitous textbook error.

Another thing I don't approve of is the widespread use of the "it's a quarter to eight" construction in all the OUP titles I've seen, both for children and adults. Until I mentioned this to one colleague of mine who hails from Newfoundland, I've never actually heard anyone use the indefinite article in this way. Of course, I'm hard of hearing, so I may be missing out. But still, I've rarely seen this written, either. I wish OUP would revise these books in future editions to take into account these problems.

Another thing I worry about is the sentence beginning with "Because." In the Longman-published English Time series (especially the 6th volume in the series), and, if I recall, in the Chatterbox series, the workbooks pose questions like this one:

"Why was Annie sad?" The model sentence answers "Because her pie came in fifth place." This is good spoken English, but terrible written English. I'm not sure what to do about this, so lately I've been telling the children to write full sentence answers, while explaining that in spoken English it's appropriate to start the answering sentence with "because." Unfortunately, the distinction seems to go over more than a few heads.

I remember well how much trouble ESL students in my home town had at writing English. Could this be in part because of inadequate education on this side of the Pacific Pond?

An Anecdote

2005-08-27T14:23:00.000+09:00

Another teacher who uses one of my classrooms at a different time recently gave the students an assignment: draw a poster showing all the people they wanted to invite to a party. I was surprised at how several students invited both George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden! Two posters caught my eye: one invited "George H.W. Bush (he's the one with the mean wife)." I'm not sure where that one came from! Another one invited "Jinuchiro Koizumi," the Prime Minister of Japan: "I want to kill him at home. I invited him because I want him to say "Sorry. Dokdo are Korean islands [sic]."

Now of course, these were written by different children, but I must protest the morally blind nationalist fervor that can produce an absolute indifference to one of the cruelest, most fanatical, and most barbaric murderers the world has yet seen, while wanting to kill the elected leader of a democratic country because of a petty difference over a pile of rocks and a war that was fought in which neither the writer nor the subject participated! Nor is this writer alone among South Korean school children. Take a look at this post for publically posted schoolchildren's projects acting out some very violent fantasies on the country of Japan. (Via The Marmot.)

On another note, I was talking with an employee in a certain government office about China. It seems more than half the South Korean companies that went to China to do business in the last several years have come back empty handed--this touches close to home: Chae Young's brother-in-law is one such person. This is because China is an exceedingly corrupt place to do business, where bribery is more or less required. If a company fails to bribe the local officials, all the red tape that is usually never applied is suddenly brought to bear against it by local officials. It seems to me that this is a far more pressing problem than Dokdo, one which actually affects the national economy and well-being of Korean citizens, and yet there is no outcry over China's corruption that is hurting Korean citizens.

Vacation Classes Are Over!--Day 2

2005-08-26T12:32:00.001+09:00

A Beautiful Day at Gwanghwamun

I woke up this morning to my alarm at 6:30 and became conscious that the sun was shining. I slept only a little, but deeply. I wore a shirt and the covers for the first time in many weeks last night. In my head I heard John Rutter's "All Things Bright and Beautiful"--a song from a CD that my wonderful friend Brian gave me, and I was surprised to feel pretty cheerful! Then I went to school, where I had only one adult student. That dampened my cheerfulness a bit, but another teacher had only one, too, and the other had only three. Still, I don't like losing students like that, even if everyone else is, too. After work I went to the bank and paid my bills.

After my visit to the Canadian Embassy (see the previous post), I took this picture near the Kyobo Bookstore at this famous intersection. In the distance you can see the great gate of Gwanghwamun. After that, I went home, emerging some thirty minutes later from an exit at the Hyewha subway station. Since I will be moving, I wanted to photoblog my walk home. It takes a four minute brisk walk from the station to my home. I like my location, and will miss my view of the mountains.

Hyehwa

Walking up the road

Up the Road

My local temple

Dongsoong Art Center

Family Mart and local grocer

The Drycleaners, Barbershop, and another Grocer

Veer to the right (not the left)

Up the Road

Looking Back

To Hee Jung's

I've never been to her home, but that's the way to my language partner's home. The woman in the picture is a stranger.

My Building (in the middle, on the second from the top floor)

Dirty Steps (sometimes with big cockroaches!)

View from the Hill

And now, here I am. I think I will take a short nap. Then I will go to school for my first class at 3pm. TGIF!

The Canadian Embassy in Seoul

2005-08-26T11:44:00.000+09:00

Located on the 9th (and 10th) floors of what the thoroughly unhelpful website calls the "Kolon" (!) building, the Canadian Embassy is a miserable excuse for one. I went there to get my application for overseas residency status. The embassy room itself was small and downright depressing. I got there at 9am, just when it opened. As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, I saw this little memorial, which I thought was appropriate, if a little too small:

Miniature replica of a memorial commemorating Canada's war dead from the Korean War

Here's the room, and this is where it gets depressing:

Next is the Reception area: the lady behind the glass is completely closed off from you. She pushes a little button so you can hear her voice on the speaker. Good Lord, I would have thought from the damn security that we were in Baghdad! She was actually rather nice, insofar as she printed some forms off the internet for me that I didn't know were available online. The communication was to the point, with no extra "how are you's" or anything like an explanation of what "overseas residency" even means. To top it off, the form is written from the perspective of a person who has not yet left Canada.

"Reception/Réception"

This door has a code lock on it

And that door with a combination lock pretty much sums up my view of Canada. It's all advertisement and useless French. There's no opportunity there. If you don't know someone, you'll forever be on the outside of that locked door, talking through impersonal glass on a microphone to a person two feet away from you. It's a Kafkaesque world of impersonal pressures and threats. I remember when one arm of the provincial government in BC was threatening me with collections for my student loans while the other arm was taking literally three months to process my papers asking for interest relief. It was a very alarming experience of an incompetent, impersonal bureaucracy.

(Disclaimer: I actually wish I took French rather than Spanish after grade 8, because most of my favorite composers are French. But in my home in the greater "Hongcouver" area French isn't exactly practical.)

A Strange Subway Display in Mokdong

2005-08-26T11:42:00.000+09:00

You never know what you're going to see in the subway displays. There's a veritable museum of art exhibits in my own station at Hyehwa. In the Gwanghwamun underpass by the #5 station of that name there's a lovely exhibition of paintings that I photographed a very long time ago. Then there's the strange assortment of items by Technomart at Gangbyeon Station. And then there's this, a collection of hairspray, a manikin's head, and some Lego, in Mokdong, where I met Ian after he finished teaching at his hogwan there yesterday night. Of course, we all love Lego, but the rest of this display is just wierd!

And by the way, "Lego" is a collective singular. I absolutely despise the false "Legos" construction usually used by people who couldn't tell a full brick from a "flat one"!

Lego in the Subway

While I'm on the topic of subways, I should mention that Chae Young and I saw a drunken man jump down into the train tracks in Hapjeong a few weeks ago. He was essentially daring a train to come and run him over, but I'm sure he knew people would pull him to safety before a train could come. Fortunately, it was not a peak period, and after some bystanders tried to pull him up, he was pushed up from below by a middle aged man who jumped down. The middle aged man (who had a belly) couldn't get up in time, so he had to wait in the middle section between the tracks while two trains went by simultaneously in opposite directions. Then he got up and out of the tracks.

Sewing, Is This Your Plaque?

2005-08-26T11:41:00.000+09:00

It's actually in the northwest end of the City Hall subway station, by the #3 exit "To Gwanghwamun." This exit has been the route to Deoksugung (see "Best of HifromSeoul" on the sidebar for pictures) for over a year, and will remain so until the newly renovated main gate of the palace opens up. I see this plaque everyday as I come out of the exit. I think I've seen another plaque somewhere else in the station, but I can't recall for sure.

Vacation Classes Are Over!--Day One

2005-08-25T12:33:00.000+09:00

I woke up today, for the last time this morning, feeling depressed. I'm not totally sure why; yesterday Chae Young and I had a lovely meal together, and a happy time. Sometimes little things bother me and get under my skin. For one thing, I am worried about money, about having enough to survive with a family in this country (in fact, in Canada it would be even worse). It's not easy when you have loans to pay back in your home country and a local currency that can't keep up with the "Petro Dollar" that is the Canadian Loon. Perhaps I'm worried about other things. Maybe it's the turn of the weather this morning. Last week was like the last two months: smoggy, humid, and far too hot. A few days ago the weather was gorgeous and exhilarating--sunny and windy and not too hot. I didn't have to sweat outside anymore, and I found myself happy at the prospect of the coming autumn. But today the weather is just cloudy, with a light rain falling. I'm also probably moving, a prospect I'm not really looking forward to, not least because I will likely have to come up with an extra $2000 CDN for the so-called "key money."

I was surprised to feel so down today. I had anticipated blogging, but I don't feel like it at the moment. Don't worry, my readers: there'll be quite a few posts coming up in the next week.

Well, maybe it'll be a better day tomorrow.

More Updates Ahead

2005-08-22T10:35:00.000+09:00

Blogging during a 10 minute break at work.

I've been rather lax on updating my blog lately because I've been so busy. First, this was because Chae Young was taking a break from work. She's been back on the job for a while, but then I had the vacation class everyday that added two hours and forty minutes to my day, plus commuting time (it's a split shift). The vacation class ends this week, on Wednesday. My students have been super, but I will be glad for the additional free time! So stay tuned for more updates soon!

It's My One Year Anniversary!

2005-08-17T08:39:00.000+09:00

On August 17th, 2004 I arrived in this country, and was greeted at the airport by one of my best friends, Ian, an old friend from graduate school in Toronto. I thought that perhaps a few reflections were in order, so here's a little post celebrating my first anniversary!

First things first, I must get the embarrassing part over with: it is surprising how little Korean I've picked up in a full year. Actually, my listening ability is gradually getting better, but that's about all.

There are three things I'm most proud of in my life: thinking critically about my former religion, obtaining my M.A. degree under severe distress, and, last, but not least, making the move here.

I love this country. It's safe, much safer than Canada. People are polite and orderly in their behavior, are friendly and often kind, and usually dress appropriately out of respect for others. At the visual level, almost all the women are beautiful, which is good if you are a guy! Few people are overweight here. Piercing isn't big (yet). Frankly, I think it's one of the few relatively "unfallen" societies left. Ethnic homogeneity, a high level of culture and personal discipline, and respect for family are the reasons for this "unfallenness."

Of course, the country isn't perfect; while the young people are more disciplined and studious than most of their Canadian counterparts, they are overworked, in fact. Group-think prevails, meaning that original ideas are few and far between (from a North American perspective). I think it's far easier to be a foreign teacher here than it is to be a native student! Sometimes also I find superstitions or misconceptions ("fan death" would be an example of both), or political attitudes that are annoying, but I have no need to dwell on those.

I'm most grateful for two things, in particular: the chance to gain paid teaching experience with both adults and children, and the freedom to look for a life partner. And I seem to have found her. As for teaching, I would like to improve, and I have had almost no theoretical training (which is a disadvantage), but the experience itself has been wonderful, in the main. As for looking for that significant other, I've been, frankly, blessed by the Korean attitude to this. In North America, patronizing married people, who married when they were young, always tell twenty and thirty-somethings to relax, stop trying to find that special person, etc. There's nothing more demeaning and frustrating that I can recall from my experience in Canada. In South Korea, on the other hand, it is expected that at some stage people will want to marry, and they begin searching in earnest. It might be a tad embarrassing to be single longer than one wants, but there's certainly no shame in looking intensively.

Living as an outsider has been fascinating, not least because of the opportunity to blog. I started this blog just before I left. Updating it, and reading other expat blogs has been an enriching experience. I enjoy the interaction with my readers, who are often more knowledgable about Korean history and culture than I. I've enjoyed always having something to do, something to see, something to write about. To see my pictures of and reflections on the historical sites I've been to, just click on "Best of HifromSeoul" to the right on the sidebar.

The two most significant people in my life here are my girlfriend, Chae Young, and my good friend, Ian. Chae Young and I love each other, and spend most of our time together. She has made me many delicious meals! We do have our share of conflicts, and she often drives me crazy, but we are drawing closer together through the resolving of those conflicts.

Ian has been steadfast in friendship, has listened to me talk, often endlessly, of everything from love difficulties to politics. Without Ian's friendship, my life here would have been much poorer. The other significant people here are my adult students from my first class, elementary teachers all. Wonderful people and dear friends, whom I often think of, and miss.

I should also mention Hee Jung, my language partner. She has been a good and selfless friend.

Finally, I'm grateful for the support and friendship of my friends at home, especially Brian in Montreal and Rob in Port Coquitlam, and cousin Jen and Lyle of Abbotsford, and for the support of my family, who supported my move here and have been very patient with the time elapsing between phone calls and emails. I do miss my friends and family at home, even as I am very happy here.

It's been a good year, and I have learned a lot about myself. And here's the news: I hope to be here, saying "hi" from Seoul, for many more years to come!

Welcome Mr. Park!

2005-08-17T08:37:00.000+09:00

Hello, there; can you read this? I hope you are going to have a pleasant day at the office.

If you want to see pictures and my thoughts on the various historical sites I've been to, you can click on "Best of HifromSeoul" on the sidebar on the right.

All the best,
Nathan

It's Independence-from-Japan Day!

2005-08-16T01:40:00.000+09:00

A few months ago there was an independence day, or so I thought. Today there was another one. Chae Young and I "celebrated" by going to Changgyeonggung and the Jongmyo Royal Shrine (see "Best of HifromSeoul" on the sidebar for pictures of both places), where I've been begging her to go walking in for several weeks. She thoroughly enjoyed it, as did I. Changgyeonggung is a very special place because of the large park and various kinds of plants inside the palace walls. As it happened, the nominal entrance fee was waived today! Anyway, now I've taken her to a palace, a special shrine for dead kings, and to two temples! While in Jongmyo, she and I went to the special botanical section at the back, where we discovered an ajoshi in a three piece suit and tie ripping up ferns from the ground. When he saw us, he explained that he was removing "Ilbon plants," i.e. Japanese plants, something I found slightly alarming and very hilarious! (The Japanese had redesigned the garden, but it was redesigned again following independence.)
--
On another note, Chae Young and I went to Itaewon yesterday evening, just for kicks, but were surprised when the taxi driver dropped us out in the middle of the short road known as "Hooker Hill"!

I'm Still Here

2005-08-16T01:04:00.000+09:00

Chae Young and I are still together, and I'm still here.

In another sense, this is unusual; there has been a censorious clampdown on blogs in South Korea. Jodi has been having problems, Shaun has been having problems, and Wyatt, who has just returned from a vacation, has had problems. I've accessed my own site, theirs, and more from my apartment everyday with no trouble (I've also accessed my own blog from my place of work). This is all very strange, but I hope that the government removes its petty blocking of blogs. It's an affront to freedom of expression and free society. It may also be xenophobic insofar as there have been no reports of the blocking of Korean language blogs (and there are a few foreigners out there who can and do read them).

She's Driving Me Crazy! n/t

2005-08-13T13:33:00.000+09:00

Panmunjeom

2005-08-05T09:25:00.000+09:00

View towards North Korea

UPDATE: Reader and fellow Blogger Max comments that this is actually 임진각 ("Imjingak"), and I believe he's right. See the comments.

EXTRA NOTE for any Korean readers: The tone of this post is negative and argumentative. That's because I have very strong feelings about the political message of the sign at an important memorial. Although the tone of this particular post is quite negative, please remember that the overall tone of my blog is very positive about South Korea. Thank you & take care.

Chae Young and I went to a spot in 판문점 two or three Sundays ago, but I'm only getting around to posting what had been the earlier draft now. Anyway, this is an area that is close to the border with North Korea. There's an outdoor museum of some old war vehicles that's kind of interesting. There are some shrubs with the national flower, shown below.

National Flower

The politics of the site were maddening. There's a "peace train," which expresses the desire of the South for reunification. In itself that is unobjectionable, of course. The "Peace Bridge" is more of the same. At the end of the bride there's a collage of what must be tacky, ill thought out slogans (the reason for my cynicism will appear shortly).

Peace Bridge

End of Peace Bridge

Memorial Altar

The attractive so-called Memorial Altar, shown above, is a monument to nationalist stupidity because of the accompanying sign:

Atrocious Sign

So there you have it: the deaths of the brave men who came from many countries, including mine, Canada, and, of course, the US are all brushed aside in the interest of national self-pity and false pride. Despite the fact that South Korea would not be the prosperous, democratic country it is today were it not for US military intervention, the US is tagged, along with the old USSR, as being equally to blame for the Korean war:

"...when Korea, a country that had been unified for thousands of years, was divided, much against their will, into two by an arbitrary decision of the superpowers."

As an indication of which way the wind blows, China, which deserves no small share of blame for the Korean War, is not mentioned at all. The government of South Korea deserves the strongest censure for this unfounded bitterness at an ally who is responsible for saving it from oblivion, as well as for the accompanying insult to those other nations who sent their best to die for this land. Frankly, it's a disgrace to the war dead.

That's all I'm going to say about that. The next pictures speak for themselves, and for the men who once used them to help a country in need, a country no longer grateful.

Tank

Old Airplane

Missiles

Despite all the posturing for peace with North Korea, this, however, is still the reality:

Barbed Wire

Noise

2005-08-05T09:10:00.000+09:00

Blogging during a break at work.

There's a kind of animal here that sits in the trees and makes a lot of noise. It's not the usual creek-creek that sounds so pleasurable at night. No, it's more like a small saw, and it seems ubiquitous in this city, whether you're near a park or not. I've heard it in Sinchon, next to Deoksugung, and in my own home, through a closed window at 6am this morning!

UPDATE: The Blogger Max Watson has just provided a nice picture of the noisy creature in question here.

More Important Updates

2005-08-03T08:47:00.000+09:00

Blogging in a break at work.

The meeting with Chae Young's family went fairly well, considering that they couldn't speak (much) English, and I speak about the same amount of Korean. That in itself was quite awkward and stressful (you know, not speaking can very stressful sometimes!). The family was not particularly outgoing on the one hand, but were not unfriendly, either; they showed their welcome for me in actions mostly involving food. I had already met her mother, and the wife of one of her brothers, and their children, as well as a niece from another brother. This time I met, for the first time, her father and a few more family members.

The meeting with her father was interesting. He had many questions for me about my age (there's a story there, but maybe I'll say it later), how much money I make each month, what my qualifications are. He was not pleased to learn I teach in a hogwan, rather than a university, but my M.A. seemed to satisfy him. He used the little English he possessed to make me feel welcome, and told me not to worry about the difficulty of communication, something that touched me. This was particularly noteworthy because many years ago he had stopped the interracial romance of one of Chae Young's siblings. He tried to teach me Janggi (Korean chess), but I'm going to have to get an English speaker to teach me so I can play him. He has a nice smile. He wanted to know when the wedding would be, and how we would survive if Chae Young gets pregnant! In Canada, these questions would be tabboo for a first meeting with a parent, but here they are not uncommon, apparently--especially if a foreigner is involved. But again, in South Korea, children don't introduce their significant other to their parents until things have gotten very serious indeed.

Chae Young's mother spoiled me by insisting on feeding me five meals in one day, despite my protestations. Both parents were very concerned to make only the food that I like. I ate barbequed pork (something the father and I share a great liking for), and Korean pizza. I actually helped the mother in the kitchen for a little while.

I called Chae Young's parents "abbanim" and "ommanim" (I'll have the hangul later).
UPDATE: Sewing was right: 아버님 and 어머님. Chae Young told me just now when I asked her that these terms are somewhat formal. They can be used for either the parents of a friend or significant other. The formality of the terms is in keeping with the father's wishes that I use the formal "imnida" forms with him. The mother, on the other hand, said in no uncertain terms that I should use the less formal "yo" endings with her. There's no need to go into all the details here in this post, but the mother really likes me.

The father also took us on two drives: one on Sunday night, to the place shown on the back of the 5,000 Won bill. Here are the reverse and obverse of the 5000 Won bill, soon to be replaced with a different issue:

이 율곡 ("Ee Yool Goke") was a Confucian scholar during the Chosun dynasty. I regret that I don't know much more about him. Perhaps someone can fill us all in in the comments (thanks!).

The second drive was on Monday afternoon, when we went to many places all over the area in Paju and towards the North Korean border. We visited the tomb of the last king of the Shilla dynasty, whose tombstone was slightly marred by bullets fired during the Korean War.

Many Korean people have told me that I am lucky to have found a Korean woman whose family has not been significantly opposed to an interracial marriage. I agree. Chae Young is very independent, and that probably helped a lot. By the way, she apologized for our tiff the other day, and I know she meant the apology. We've shared a very special series of days together since then.

In other news, I went to immigration last week. I've signed another contract for one year with my school, but have a gentleman's agreement with the director that a release letter will be forthcoming should I get a job in a university after the end of February. So, now, my Alien Residence Card has a sticker on it showing my newly extended period of stay.

Another Important Update

2005-07-31T12:19:00.000+09:00

I'm in a hurry--I'm going with my girlfriend to visit her father. Yesterday she said she wanted to break up with me during a--fortunately--brief fight. Today I'm meeting several relatives. Whew!

Buddhist Monks & Child Abuse: A Documentary

2005-07-30T23:55:00.000+09:00

I've just finished watching a documentary with my girlfriend on the terrible abuse of children being raised by Buddhist monks. It seems the government gives the monasteries money to function as orphanages. Unfortunately, the care, at least in the cases shown on the documentary, amounted to abuse. There were accounts of cockroaches in the milk, pictures of horrible burns and cuts to babies (covering their entire backs), and refusal to allow parents to take back their children. There were also locks on the outside of the bathrooms, where the children were locked in the dark for one hour at a time. A complaint was apparently issued in one case against one temple, but another temple protested, and the complaint was thrown out.

I have a couple of questions: why on earth are monasteries being paid by the government to raise babies? Men, ostensibly celibate (an unrealistic expectation for 99% of us), men who are fed a steady diet of outdated religious ideas, men who know nothing about motherhood or how to raise children are being paid by the government to function as orphanages, with horrible results. South Korea should learn from my own country's sad example and refuse to allow monks to raise children. It seems the problems of monasteries and children are the same the world over.

Tapgol Park, Again and Again

2005-07-25T12:58:00.000+09:00

Long time readers might remember my previous posts on Tapgol Park, here, and here. When I posted my pictures of the pagoda and the stela on the back of the turtle, the extremely narrow angle of my little camera greatly hampered me. Now the estimable Wyatt has posted much better pictures, along with a very amusing anecdote entitled "Watch Out for Those Japanese Bastards!"

Vacation Class: Day 2

2005-07-22T10:33:00.000+09:00

Well, it's only the second day of vacation class, and I already know all the names of my fourteen students, none of whom I have seen before! And by the way, none of those names are English names.

Here's my schedule:
MWF 7:30am-8:30am; 9:30am-11:40am; 3pm-7:35pm
TR 9:30am-11:40am; 3pm-8:15pm

The 9:30am class is the vacation class, which will finish in late August. So far my students are great. They're a little on the quiet side, but they're warming up, and are starting to participate more, being led by one of those students that every teacher hopes to have in his or her class: an actively participating, smart student! I'm teaching a mid-upper level middle school class this term; last vacation (in January), I taught an upper level MS class that was awesome--my best middle school class ever.

My own vacation comes on July 28th, when I will have a six day weekend.

And on another note, stay tuned for Heracles (Hercules); I've been reading a play of that name by Euripides, and it was really wonderful reading.

An Important Update

2005-07-22T09:14:00.000+09:00

Yesterday I met my girlfriend's mother, an important experience I've been wanting to have for many months. She didn't speak English, and even though I could understand some of what she said, I can't really speak Korean yet. I was nervous, of course. Chae Young translated for us, her English having improved dramatically over the last half year or so. I was touched to have the meeting.

Some Thoughts on Learning Korean and English

2005-07-16T20:51:00.000+09:00

Here are some of the most common grammatical errors made by my students, both adults and children. By the way, I don't mean to make anyone feel awkward; I'm sure any group of people speaking any foreign language are bound to get things wrong. I just find the patterns I've observed during the last 10 months here to be interesting.

Incorrect passives: "He was died."

Incorrect present progressive / continuous: "He's swim."

Incorrect gender: "She [about a man]...."

Incorrect 3rd person singular: "He eat pizza everyday."
***

I was in Kyobo bookstore the other day looking at books for adults learning English and Korean. I was simply shocked at the superiority of the English books for Korean learners. The chapters all featured color photographs, off-set boxes for grammatical highlights and reading texts, and appendices containing lists of irregular verb tenses. The books were visually appealing, and appeared to have the goal of internalizing English structures.

The Korean books, on the other hand, were all two-toned: black and white, or green and white, or grey and white (my own Sogang University book). There were no photographs, only little cartoons. Often, and this is most unforgiveable, there was no handy chart showing at a glance the various tenses or irregular forms. My own book, again, is far from ideal, and does not present the material well or systematically. It is imperative that I have somebody explain to me what the book does not. For example, there's a possessive suffix the book introduced at the end of a page. However, in all the chapters before and after, I have yet to see a single example of this possessive suffix! And this is in one of the more popular books for learning Korean! I should also mention that the prices of the English books are similar, or better, which is surprising, given the expense of color ink and shipping costs! Sometimes the mickey-mouse level of things just gets to me--but I don't want to start a rant.
***

Many people will tell you that Korean is written exactly as it sounds. It's easier than English in that regard (I think), but I have found the following interesting points, quite apart from the standard rules governing changes in sounds when certain combinations of letters come together:

ㅁ "m" being pronounced like "b"; ㄹ which can be an "l" or something between an "l" and an "r," or even, at times, a "d," being pronounced like an "n"; ㅓ (short o) being pronounced like ㅗ (long o); and finally, ㄴ(n) being pronounced like "d." This is very confinusing to a beginner, but I guess one just presses on. I'm ashamed that I've put in so little effort into learning Korean; it's too easy for a foreigner to get by armed only with two or three phrases and a pocket dictionary (which is often suspect--when it's not ommitting what should be common words!). I've finally started some flash cards, and am amazed at how much Korean vocabulary I would know--if I had been memorizing properly. Well, that's about to change for the better.

Odds 'n' Ends

2005-07-16T20:33:00.000+09:00

Well, I've had a few strange things happen lately. First, Chae Young and I were on the subway when we got off at Dongdaemun Stadium the other day. The first thing we saw was two small schoolboys, one of whom was a bit bigger than the other, fighting on the platform. A crowd gathered, and an older gentleman pulled them apart. A younger man held one boy, and someone else held another. The boys did not appear to have parents around. Soon they started going at it again, and both were cursing and the smaller one was crying. He had blood on his neck.
***

Two obviously gay Korean young men found me very attractive yesterday, and took a picture of me in the subway. I think they would have taken a few more, but I was a bit shy, so I covered my face with my book. Although many Korean young men are physically affectionate with each other, these two really took the cake, and furthermore they were obviously flirting with me. I'm glad someone finds me attractive, I guess! Of course, there's the ever present "you're handsome" from the ladies, but I wonder if they're just being polite, or if they think all white people are attractive because we "look like movie stars." Then again, I think most Korean women are very beautiful, so I guess it works both ways.
***

One of my students called me an "ajoshi" ([a usually grumpy] middle aged man) the other day. That was a very hyper student in a hyper class. I found it both a compliment, and the ultimate in what I don't want to be called! Recently the class has been better. I gave them the following to write down in their notebooks after some fighting prior to my arrival in the classroom:

"I will come to class on time and quietly. I will sit down, and will open my notebook. I will write the "today is" sentences. I will not make other students angry. I will get good marks at school because I paid attention at [name of hogwan]."

One student asked what "paid attention" meant, so I explained it. Believe it or not, that little exercise worked marvels for the rest of the week!
***

My favorite class is my 3pm class, a class of only six students, all girls! They're all wonderful, and nearly everyday they are teaching me two or three Korean sentences, which they write on the board prior to my arrival. Sometimes I find an English gloss they provide to be in error, so it's good practice for them in translating and remembering their grammar.

The Persians

2005-07-16T20:04:00.000+09:00

Several days ago I finished The Persians, a short play by Aeschylus. This is the earliest surviving tragedy from the classical world, was performed in 472 B.C.E. It happens to contain the earliest references to the Battle of Salamis, when the Persians were defeated by the Athenians. That's interesting in itself.

There are five characters in the play: the chorus of Persian elders (which counts as one from a reading perspective), the mother of Xerxes, the author of the ill-fated expedition to Salamis, a messenger, the ghost of Darius, father of Xerxes, and Xerxes himself, who appears at the end.

The play is fascinating not least because there are no Greek characters. All the Persians with the exception of Xerxes are portrayed very sympathetically. Wisdom is reflected in the ghost of Darius, and the reader's/viewer's empathy and sympathy are stirred by the figures of the messenger, the chorus, and the mother of Xerxes, named Atossa. That such chivalry could be shown the enemies who had invaded so soon before is remarkable, especially in light of the crime attributed to the Persian army: that of burning the sacred places of the Greeks, an unlikely tail from what I know of how the Persians under most of their kings treated religions under their sway, including the nascent Judaism, which was more influenced than most people realize by Persian religion.

I thought I would include this choice quote in this little collection of dots:

When waves of trouble burst on us, each new event
Fills us with terror; but when Fortune's wind blows soft
We think to enjoy the same fair weather all our lives.

Well, I'm done my little volume of Aeschylus, and I've already finished the introduction to my Penguin Classics volume of Euripides. That looks to be a good read, too.

Two Plays by Aeschylus

2005-07-10T01:57:00.000+09:00

[Final Note: August 8, 2006: I have yet to tidy this post up, apart from one typographical error in the first paragraph. Better, more focussed blog posts on other Euripidean works appear on my new blog, Seoul Hero. (Search for "Ion," "Iphigenia," and "Helen" to find the posts in question written to date.)]

I decided I'm going to post a few reflections on what I'm reading. I had intended to do so with both Hardy and the Poetic Edda, but left it until it was too late. This time, I'm not going to write an essay; I will only offer a few observations, something that is quite suited to the nature of blogging, I think.

Well, for approximately $6 CDN I purchased a Penguin Classics edition of a few plays by Aeschylus: Prometheus Bound and Other Plays. Like Jude the Obscure, I read most of it on the subway, making my reasonably short commute seem even shorter. Prometheus Bound I consider to be one of the most important texts in Western Civilization's history. As I read that play before, I began with the second playThe Suppliants, a story about 50 women who have fled Egypt for Argos, in an attempt to avoid forced marriage with their cousins, who are barbaric and mean-spirited. There are a few choice lines, for example "People are quick to be censorious of those who speak with a foreign accent." As a foreigner, I'd have to agree that this can be true at times. At the same time, it's great that it is far less true than it could be. Both my old country, and the place where I am now a sojourner are civilized places where racism rarely results in violence.

One line which struck me, particularly, was about the purposes of Zeus:

For him all things shine clear, though he hides them in black darkness from the eyes of men that perish.

This is much like the descriptions of Yahweh or his purposes in the Bible (cf. Ps. 18:11; 97:2; 139:12). And of course it's always worth noting that both Zeus and Yahweh were storm deities.

An interesting title of Zeus occurs in the play also: "Zeus, the All-Seeing Father." It's true that Yahweh is not often referred to as Father in the Hebrew Bible, but he does see all, according to that corpus. I'm also reminded of Odin/Othin/Woden, however you want to spell that Norse deity's name.

There was also a standout line, from a comparative perspective, in Seven Against Thebes. The context is that of a metaphor and comparison of an annual sailing venture celebrating the destruction of the Minotaur, and something else:

That sacred ship with black sails and no wreaths of flowers [goes] To the land Apollo may not tread
That welcomes all alike,
Where no sun lightens the gloom.

This is exactly like some of the poetic descriptions of Sheol that we find in Job and the Psalms and the other poetic material of the Hebrew Bible. The character of Job, in particular, lays stress on the equality of the realm of death, and the fact that the sun does not shine there. It's interesting to note, although one must be careful with these sort of things, that Apollo had an association with the number 7; of course, 7 was a climactic number all over the ancient Near East. Yahweh also was associated with 7. There is actually extant a mosaic floor from a synagogue of Bet Alpha showing Yahweh depicted in the iconography of Apollo, driving his throne chariot across sky. But, unfortunately, this isn't the time to go into the remnants of solar worship in the Bible, something my old professor J. Glen Taylor and others have looked into extensively. There does seem to be agreement that both Zeus and Yahweh had little presence in Hades/Sheol, a topic that has always interested me.

That takes me up to the last play in the book, The Persians, which like the others, is fascinating in every respect, in addition to being interesting from a comparative standpoint. There are some Persian words and names thrown in by Aeschylus to give a sense of realism, a nice touch.

Odds 'n' Ends

2005-07-10T01:36:00.000+09:00

Well, there's been a paucity of posts lately, because Chae Young and I have been seeing much more of each other, which makes me happy. We care a lot for each other. I had some things to talk about on my blog, but I forgot them. Classroom stuff, both adults and children. I've had a bad cold since Monday, but it's much better now. On Tuesday night I couldn't sleep, because of my cold, until 5am. I was afraid that if I took medicine I'd sleep through my alarm. Of course, like the inquirer of a Greek prophecy, the very action I took to avoid the unfortunate caused it, and I woke up 35 minutes after my 7:30am adult class (which includes a high ranking bank manager as well as a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office) had begun! I felt absolutely terrible, and that was compouded by nervousness. I must have switched off my alarm, which I know I set, and which I can always hear, as it is extraordinarily loud. Anyway, I told my director that I'd move the alarm clock out of reach. He was quite understanding, which was really nice. Anyway, that's the embarassing story for the day.

There's a rooster in my neighborhood. I saw a cat chase him several weeks ago, and both cat and rooster are still around. I live nowhere near a farm, so the presence of this rooster in a heavily populated residential area is kind of funny.

Anyway, I'm going to try to keep posting more often using the time when my significant other is watching TV.

Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon

2005-07-06T20:48:00.001+09:00

On June 29th Ian and I went to Suwon, a neighboring city to Seoul. We went, of course (and it's so nice to say "of course") on the subway, which covers hundreds of kilometers of track. The purpose of our trip was to visit Hwaseong Fortress, or 화성. It was a rainy day, but Ian and I had a nice time anyway. The subway took about an hour and a half, if I remember correctly.

Wall and Steps

The fortress itself, which was begun in 1795, features numerous bastion towers, firearms towers, "secret" gates, a waterworks gate, and very large, impregnable main gates. The lay of the fortress is quite beautiful, and it takes many hours to walk around the whole course. Ian and I didn't quite have the time to do the whole thing, but we spent some six hours or so walking and taking pictures of more than half of the wall and the administrative facility of King Jeongjo, who spent some time there to commemorate his mother's 60th birthday. Apparently the royal visit created a "public nuisance" for the city, and so as compensation a special government exam was held that was open only to Suwon residents. This visit occurred between the beginning and completion of the entire fortress.

The fortress, which was designated "Historic Site #3," many decades ago, is also recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. My long time readers know what I think of the UN as a political body; however, I do like the idea of UNESCO recognizing special sites of cultural importance to humanity. I suppose to some degree this is a subjective process.

Within the administration facility, which is structured rather like a palace, one can see this tree, which was an omen of safety for the city of Suwon as long as it was present.

Sacred Protecting Tree

Beside the tree is a display containing (what I think is a replica of) the royal litter:

Within the compound there is an interesting historical weapons display. Pictures of this section were limited by the poor rainy-day daylight, and by the protective glass.

Joseon firearms

Also in this area, the outer court before the main inner area of the palace, was a historic crane, based on a Chinese design. This crane was used in the construction of the facility.

Proceeding, then, through the door...

...we come to the inner area with the throneroom. The first picture was taken from the throne room, looking towars the inner gate.

View of the administration complex's gate from the throne room

Throne room

Excellent view of the Royal Screen

Long time readers have seen this screen before in my posts on other palaces, and in the little piece of embroidery I bought at the museum in Deoksugung last year. The beauty of the design, whatever the variations, never fails to impress me. This view is unusually good, because this room has more natural light than the throne room in most palaces.

Hwaseong fortress is so large that it encompasses a substantial part of the city of Suwon. The next picture, which is of the Paldalmun, or South gate, sits in the middle of the road. It is a National Treasure. I took pictures all around this gate.

Gate complex

Gate (and a cutie!)

Side view of gate

Even more than the above pictures, the next shows the juxtaposition of traditional and modern elements in Suwon:

Suwon Market from bridge

Beautiful waterway

Ian and I went on a short way from here, and saw a massive church in the distance.

Landmark Church w/ parking lot

This church is visible from many parts of the small "g" great wall, and its exterior attracted me greatly. Ian felt the same tug of curiousity, so we went to investigate. We found the pastor, and he very kindly agreed to give us a tour--in first-rate English, too. He was likable enough for those minutes, although I regret that I am forced to vent in this post my true feelings at the aesthetic first degree murder of the interior of this no longer grand Presbyterian church:

There can scarcely be any excuse for this. Apart from the stained glass windows and the pillars, all remnants of the old facility have been swept away. And we know why this happened, too, as he told us: the interior was renovated, and the musical program "modernized" in an effort to keep young people in the pews. Today when the people sit in their pews they will experience an ugly front in modern theater style, with two huge flatscreen TVs, along with what the pastor acknowledged to be charismatic worship. Ugh! This obvious disdain for aesthetics and history--in the name of "young people," too--was thankfully not present in the program which restored the fortress! (And as always, I issue the disclaimer that I am no longer religious, although I do find religions fascinating.)

After visiting the church, Ian and I began our ascent here:

In this next picture, you can see the church from the distance. The picture was taken from the wall.

After walking for some distance up the stairs, we came to a tower, and I took this picture of the wall below. It is wide enough for two cars to pass.

After walking along the wall...

...we came to a bastion, as they are termed in English (치, "chi"), wherein I observed the following hole useful for attacking the attackers:

Defense hole

There are ten such bastions. The next picture shows this one. Be sure to notice the gun embrasures.

Another defense hole

At some point along the wall one can see the Bell of Filial Piety. Big bronze bells like this one are common in this country, but this one is only a few years old, as the old bell was too cracked to be regularly rung on holidays anymore. The bell is a symbol of Suwon, apparently. I took the trouble to push the great beam into the bell just lightly, and it touched off a bassy vibration that lasted for over a minute.

Fire Extinguisher

I somehow found my heart warmed by the presence of this fire extinguisher in the fortress!

Moving along, we come to the West Command Post. This area was struck by lightning in 1930, and was restored in 1975.

Side view of Command Post

Adjacent to the Command Post is a "Multiple Arrow Launcher Platform." I wish I could have seen a representation of this "Multiple Arrow Launcher."

Tower for "Multiple Arrow Launcher"

The next picture shows one of five "firearms bastions." "It has gun embrasures and loopholes," and the English of the accompanying sign here was very good (although several signs did have "vastion," that was pretty much the only error I can remember).

Firearms Tower

A good view of the wall

Looks like living in South Korea finally got to Ian!

Moving on, then, we come to a sentry tower, one of five.

Sentry post with ondol floor for sleepers

Next is the great Hwaseomun, or West Gate, both beautiful and impregnable, and accordingly designated National Treasure #403. Next to it is the Northwest Observation Tower, an impressive creation. This gate survived the Korean war, which leveled two of the other gates.

I'm not sure of the placement of the next picture as my camera doesn't load them into my computer in the right order all the time. Fortunately, I have a book and a memory to work with, but the view is hard to place. Anyway, it's a great view, of, in Tolkien's phrase from Winter Comes to Nargothrond "glowering heaven, grey and sunless."

View

And now we come to the famous--shhh!--secret gates. This is one of several such gates.

Secret Gate

Path leading away from secret gate outside the wall

Shh--it's a secret!

What makes the gates secret? They were not large, and were located next to wooded areas. Since the fortress was so large, it would be impossible to physically surround it without a very large army indeed. Nevertheless, I'm not sure how impregnable the fortress would be, and didn't read of its defense measures ever being tested. It was built too late, thanks to the widespread use of this next device:

Cannon

So the great fortress may not have been the most impregnable fortress ever constructed. It has nonetheless an artistic beauty (something evanglical church designers and postmodern artists alike could use!). On that note, here are some scenes of beauty to leave with.

Ivy on the Wall

Waterworks

Garden

A New Term

2005-07-01T09:31:00.000+09:00

Well, I had a five day holiday there. Yesterday was my first day back at work. My schedule remains the same, although my adult classes have changed. I have my elementary teachers from two terms ago. It was nice to see them again; they're sincere and hardworking. I will miss my morning adults from last term, but I think I will enjoy teaching the new ones more, in part because they are at a much higher level of language.

--
In other news, did I mention you can listen to classical music in McDonald's here? Just one example of how South Koreans are more cultured than North Americans.

You've Lost My Vote

2005-07-01T09:27:00.000+09:00

An open memo to the Conservative Party of Canada: by choosing to focus on an issue that can't be decided your way--which would be in contravention of the courts--you have condemned yourselves to political outer darkness and the Canadian public to more years of one-party rule. You have lost my confidence. Henceforth I will not vote.

Jude the Obscure

2005-06-30T23:01:00.000+09:00

I just finished reading Jude the Obscure today. It is a wonderful book, if gloomy. In fact, the book is riveting from start to finish, for Hardy's insight into human nature is penetrating, and the theme is of relevance to all generations. This was my third Hardy book (after Tess and The Mayor of Casterbridge), and I'm sure I'll read another one or two before the summer is out. I read the book in the Oxford World's Classics series, whose footnotes provided a diachronic analysis of the novel throughout its revisions showing, in particular, the development of the characters of Sue and Phillotson. I might post more on this, but then again, I might not.

In other news, I went to a famous fortress in Suwon with Ian the other day; look for the pics and commentary within the next week.

The Chohung Bank Museum of Finance

2005-06-27T14:56:00.000+09:00

[Note: the main post doesn't begin until after a few paragraphs of verbal diarrhea.]

"Well, you can have the good news first, or the bad news." First, the bad news: that smile should be wiped off my face: I do not respect this corporation. In addition to the Mugyo Branch's being thoroughly unhelpful when my second money wire to my Canadian bank didn't go through after three weeks (!) last year, the bank's representative the other day at my branch last week transferred 1,000,000 Won when I requested a transfer of 1,100,000W. Yet he debited my account for the latter amount! Then, when I pointed this out, he told me that I needed to pay a cable charge (which isn't necessary, as the Canadian side always charges anyway), and so now I'm out 16,000W, or about $16 CDN. A manager was watching during this time and did not intervene. I couldn't argue as I had to hurry to work (the wait having been unusually long!). So, to all people wiring money home, I say, "Beware of the Chohung Bank (CHB)!"

So much for that. Now, this post requires another prologue, in the sense that I must explain why it was so long in coming. Well, I want to explain, anyway. Ian and I went to the museum on the 15th. Unfortunately for us, the main floor, the third floor, was closed. So we checked out the fourth floor, and I took some pictures. The gallery was deserted, and we were the only ones there. Then we went down to the third floor, and actually walked around in the half-lit room as it was being renovated. Of course, we couldn't stay long.

So, the following Wednesday, the 22nd, we went back. This time, the third floor was open, and the gallery was very nice. My previous "tantalizing" post shows a picture which relates the architecture to the content of the building--a rarity in Seoul. Anyway, that post was simply to keep my loyal readers interest up--the actual post on the museum, namely, the one I'm now writing would have been done much sooner, but for the problem with Hello. Incidentally, the help reply from Hello left a lot to be desired. The problem was not fixed until I uninstalled some wierd program called "View Manager" from my computer. I figured this program was causing the problem because it recently started asking my firewall for permission to access the internet.

So much for the negatives and excuses. Now, on to the real thing, the actual museum! Actually, it's funny how I could walk by that sign so many times and not notice it. The museum is located right next to my branch of the CHB, and is a two minute walk away from my workplace. I must say that it was a delight to see something "new" after all these months!

Located near the Gwangwhamun intersection, and a two minute walk away from my hogwan, this fascinating museum is located on the third (and perhaps for a while longer, on the fourth floor), of the CHB building next to the CFC and Paris Bagette:

Exterior of the building containing the Chohung Museum of Finance

Outside the museum, you can read this sign (with apologies for the odd job on the photography):

Sign

Upon entering the doors on the ground floor, you can see historic safes:

Safes

Upon reaching the third floor, you proceed through this stylish entrance (and no, I don't really care that I'm using the second person singular in this manner, since you can indeed, virtually go in, if you're reading this):

Stylish Entrance

This next sign contains a basic overview of the history of banking in (South) Korea, with the Hansong Bank playing an important role in the transition to modern banking during the late 19th century. The Hansong Bank would later become the Chosun Bank.

In 1904, following the Russo-Japanese War, Korea lost control of its monetary policy to the Japanese. The Chosun Bank, as the country's leading bank, played a roll in instituting the Japanese "reform." I note that the Chohung Bank's brochure contains this interesting historical tidbit; the Chosun Bank was founded in 1897, the same year that the predecessor of the Chohung Bank, the Hansong Bank, was established!

Historical Overview Sign

As in any society, the advent of money was preceded by barter. Many things, including grains, and seashells, were used in the bartering system. Here's the grain (I'd like to think it was historical grain!):

Grain

Prior to the "nation-wide" introduction of coinage, coins were either locally made, or were imported from China. This nation-wide coinage, known as 상평통보, ("Sangpyeongtongbo") was introduced in the 17th century, and was made of copper. The next picture shows coins from the Goryo dynasty, while the latter may show the newer 18th century coinage. The actual requirement that taxation be paid in coinage dates only to 1894!

Goryo Coins

Copper Coins

In 1894 a standard silver currency came into being:

Proof Coins from the '88 Olympics

Being a numismatics hobbyist, it was particularly interesting to see examples of the equipment used in the process of minting coins:

In this next picture, you can see a close up of a model showing the manufacturing of Chosun era coins:

Model Close-up

Of course, the crowning glory of the currency hall is not the proof coins, but the glass case showing 1,000,000 Won, about half of an average English teacher's salary. The brochure for the museum says this exhibit shows youngsters the true nature of 1,000,000 Won!

1,000,000 Won!

All those Won

Finally, just before leaving the currency exhibit, I found an exhibit of world coins, including some examples from my own country, Canada:

Canadian Money

Proceeding from coins to bills, this next picture shows a bill I happen to own. It was issued by the Bank of Chosun. It says "1 Yen" on the reverse. Does anyone know who this personage on the obverse is?

Bank of Chosun bill

Bills

Earlier bills

Recent bills

I am unsure of the nature of the next two "bills":

Moving on to historical financial records, I am afraid to say that I don't know anything about the next series of pictures, because there were no English explanations for them. It is fascinating to see the different types of materials used as paper, however.

Inside the museum you can also see various kinds of equipment of the banking industry at various times, including a lot not shown here:

Abacus

Counting Sicks(?)

Stamps

The next picture shows one of many models. Many Korean museums have these models, which I think is very helpful.

Model of Chosun-era Bank

The next picture is an interesting historical photograph, showing architecture surpassing the current building. I don't know if this site is the same or not.

Historic Photographs

Finally, we come to my favorite part of the whole exhibit, an absolutely fascinating document dating to 1919, and bearing the signature of Syngman Rhee, President of the Republic of Korea. It is a certificate of indebtedness, issued by the President of a country not yet in existence! One certainly can be amused by the way in which Syngman Rhee could proclaim himself president in 1919! That bit of information wasn't something I learned on my visit to Eewhajang, the museum that was his house.

Certificate of Indebtedness

The certificate begins as follows: "This certifies that there is due from the Republic of Korea to the Bearer the sum of FIVE DOLLARS of the standard of value, weight, and fineness of gold coin of the United States of America, for the redemption...one year after the recognition of the Republic of Korea by the United States of America." The interest was to be between four and six percent, and would be paid with the principal upon presentation of these certificates to the authorities in Seoul. There was a Korean-language certificate on display, too. The politics behind these certificates must have been very interesting, indeed!

As usual, polite, informed comments, or expressions of interest are more than welcome.

UPDATE: On Monday I visited this museum a third time with the estimable Wyatt, who has now posted about his visit there with me.

2005-06-25T11:41:00.000+09:00

To tantalize you until my next post--Hello is now working ;-)

Problem with Hello

2005-06-22T21:51:00.000+09:00

Hmm, Hello is absolutely refusing to post my pictures of today's event. This is more than annoying, because tonight I have (had) the time to write, and I'm lonely until tomorrow late morning. I can't write until I select my pictures, posting them to my blog. There's an update coming up, but I hope this Hello problem is resolved. Is anyone else having problems with Hello? I'll probably take this post down if/when the Hello problem is solved.

Belittling One's Wife: A Cultural Difference

2005-06-22T21:02:00.000+09:00

Jodi over at the Asia Pages had a fascinating post about Gyongsang men belittling their wives (Gyongsang is the most conservative region of the country):

"Every day, I try to do my best to help out everyone I can--everyone except my wife. I don't care what happens to her."

I'm finally figuring out how one is supposed to respond to such comments. You don't laugh (like I did with the flower statement) and you don't say "Oh, don't say that, that's not true." Instead you continue to pour praise on the man to help him save face. I watch the other women do this all the time and I'm finally figuring it out. Instead of reacting the way I have been, the women down here will say: "Oh I think your wife is a very lucky woman to have such a helpful husband like you. Really, I think you are a wonderful man and she doesn't realize how fortunate she is."

And the more he belittles her, the more praise he seems to get.

(At least this is what seems to happen....

This struck me at the time, and I remember thinking what strange creatures those Gyongsang men were.

While having a class with my elementary teachers yesterday, our newly married, token male was asked by the curious ladies if his twenty-something wife was beautiful. "No," he firmly answered. They then teased him by saying "she's beautiful!"--and he answered forcefully each time, "No, she isn't." He also said he was comfortable now that she was on vacation. I was shocked. And the most shocking thing about it was that the ladies were going completely goo-goo over him. After some hesitancy, I told the class I found this shocking, and said that, ordinarily, a newly-married man would never say his young wife wasn't anything other than beautiful. The man, and several ladies promptly told me that it was cultural custom not to praise one's wife in public like that, because other people would think the man was a self-aggrandizing sort. Frankly, that's one custom I don't care for. It's based on a misogynistic view of women that views them as the property of a man. I was glad when a few of the women said that this custom was held to more particularly by older folks. Anyway, after I said my piece, the man allowed that his wife was a "little" beautiful. This was said with a smile, and I gathered that he thought she was pretty good looking; Korean men in his age bracket love to tease.

Children on Tokyo

2005-06-16T22:22:00.000+09:00

Yesterday there was a picture of Tokyo in my middle schoolers' textbook. I asked them, "Do we like Tokyo?"--and was startled by an enthusiastically shouted "Yes!" It was nearly unanimous. Then I asked, "Do we like Japan?" and less than half of the kids raised their hands. Remembering what my friend Wyatt likes to say about New York, I asked the kids, "Do we like New York?"--and again, the same enthusiastically shouted response! I didn't have the heart to ask about the US, but the thought occurs to me that the hatred (unfortunately, the word is not too strong) of foreign countries like Japan and the US does not apply when focussed on the cities that are the most representative of those countries. Tokyo and New York are cool.

How to Get Your Adult Students Talking

2005-06-15T21:13:00.000+09:00

A blogger named Chelsea recently asked how she might get her Advanced Conversation class of adults talking. Here's my response, crossposted to my site and her blog:

6:30am?! It IS too early for conversation! And I thought I had it rough with a 7:30am class! I'm not an expert, but here's my response based on my (limited) experience over the past six months.

About the adults, this is pretty typical, so don't blame yourself. At some point soon, you'll have to remind them of the purpose of the class: i.e. advanced conversation. You are the boss, but remember that it's their country, and you are a guest in it. I don't think you can expect great conversations to begin immediately. The students need to warm up to each other and to you; you'll find that as the term goes on they'll talk more. That's always the case with my adult classes. It helps to talk about yourself, and encourage them to ask you questions. Some people find these kinds of personal questions annoying, but I like them--in that context.

The main thing is to be persistant in getting them to talk. Start with yes/no questions, to get them to open their mouths. After that, be patient and wait--sooner or later, someone will speak. You'll likely have at least one extroverted type in the room who will pave the way for the others.

Not South Korea

2005-06-15T10:50:00.000+09:00

Jackson himself remained out of sight after being found not guilty on charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at his Neverland ranch. But his Web site triumphantly ranked his acquittal alongside the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., the fall of the Berlin Wall and the release of Nelson Mandela.

Namhan Sangseong Mountain Fortress

2005-06-13T11:17:00.000+09:00

Yesterday Chae Young and I had a lovely day together; we went to 남한산성, "Namhansanseong," a provincial park in Gyeongi-Do. The "Namhansanseong," Historic Site No. 57, is an old fortress, newly restored, dating to the Chosun dynasty. Apparently it is built on the ruins of a Baejke fortress; the land affords a natural protection, since it is on a mountaintop. According to the Moon Handbook, the fortress was finished in 1626 by King Injo some years after being begun by a previous king. The Manchu Dynasty invaded only a few years later, and King Injo surrendered and agreed to pay tribute. According to the Moon Handbook,

Defeat at Namhan Sanseong was undoubtedly one of the lowest points of the Joseon period, a disgrace still seen by some Koreans as a black spot on the national tapestry of Korean history that can't be expunged.

Contrast that, with the sign below for an exercise into official South Korean historiography!

Sign

It's a sad fact that a high percentage of English signs at historical sites in this country contain glaring grammatical errors (ofen unintelligible ones), but that's not what concerns me at the moment. The historiographical omission, on the one hand, of the surrender of the king at this fortress, together with the claim that the fortress has never "fallen"--constitute, in effect, a lie. National dignity requires such deliberate ignorance of the truth, on this and other occasions, as I noted only a few posts ago when statistics putting the country in an apparently unfavorable light were instantly dismissed by my adult students in one of my classes. (For more positive comments on the country, keep reading.) Of course, this is not a unique Korean problem: historiography is often guilty of having the same "disregard for truth that an alleycat has for morals," whether it be biblical, French, American, Chinese, or Japanese.

I hope the government and the society has a whole will lighten up, relax, and just be themselves. South Korea is a wonderful place, and I really don't care whether King Injo--or anyone else--surrendered four hundred years ago. As a footnote, I should mention that

Kim Sang-yong, King Injo's Prime Minister...committed suicide by laying a match to a powder keg in the south gate of Gangwha town when the town was overrun by invading Manhu troops during their attack on the island. Along with himself, he blew the royal ancestral tablets to smithereens in order to keep those precious memorials safe from desecration.

Today there is a memorial to Kim Sang-yong within the Namhansanseong fortress walls.

Back to the account of our special day, you can see from the photograph above that the approach to the "trail" (a steep but wide, stone-paved road, really) is heavily populated. I'd swear that nearly every Seoulite goes hiking on Sundays. In fact, when I ask my students, both aduts and children, on Mondays "What did you do yesterday?" every time several people say "I went to [insert name of mountain]." South Koreans are a very fit people, and you can see everyone from children to folks in their sixties on the trails (my old hiking buddy, a WWII veteran, would have loved to have come here!). So three cheers for the fit Koreans! And of course, on this mountain, like on others, there's an outdoor gym for physical exercise, janggi and baduk tables for mental exercise, and temples for aesthetic and spiritual exercise. In short, the mountain top might be considered a microcosm of Korean culture, and I have a lot of praise for such a wholistic view of life.

On the approach, there were many little fields containing stone "tap" (Korean for "pagoda"), like this one. I asked my girlfriend, who is a nominal Buddhist, what they were all about, and she said with a giggle, "just tap!" Of course, we were both out of breath at the time, so maybe someone who has more breath can help us out here and enlighten us as to the meaning of these little stone towers.

Tap

There are several temples located within the fortress walls, and several located outside, as well. Here is one from the latter category. I wonder what the significance is of the painted circles on the side of the building is in the third photograph; it's not the first time I've seen that.

Temple

I hope you can see the dragons, typical of Korean Buddhist iconography. Here's a close up:

Dragon

Side view of temple

Grandfather Clock

I took the preceding picture because I'm struck by the frequent appearance of grandfather clocks in the temples of this country. On the one hand, a grandfather clock conveys dignity, but on the other hand it seems strange to put a clock in a temple. I don't remember seeing clocks in the great cathedrals and churches of Europe. Then again, I guess this clock is not in the prayer hall, so that place is left in pristine eternity.

Prayer Hall with Buddha Statues

This next picture is a little hard to make out, but you can see Seoul and its environs in the distance. It was actually easier to see with the naked eye. Of course, it's summer, and at this time the smog ofen hangs in the air over the city.

Smog over Seoul

After seeing this view, our trail joined up with a highway, where a toll booth was charging motorists 1,000Won (about $1), to enter the provincial park. Chae Young and I walked along the highway for a while, until we came to a tunnel, at which point we walked along an old road, now closed, until we came to the fortress wall. By the way, I liked the traditional Korean architectural features of the toll booth very much!

Toll booth

Well, now for the fortress itself. There are nine kilometers of continuous wall, I understand. Unfortunately, a certain somebody had foot pains at this point, so having ascended to the fortress wall, we stayed a while, and then returned downward.

Fortress Gate

Top of Gate

Wall

After returning to the base of the mountain, we saw a large crowd gathered for a view of a kind of dance. There are two children inside each of the animals, and they were dancing marvelously to some truly horrendous music. I say that last coment only partially tongue in cheek, as I appreciated the fact that the music, which sounded like a cross between a screaming boy and a Scottish bagpipe--was traditional. Both the music and the scene reminded me of the older "Around the World in Eighty Days," where Fogg's servant has that get up with the "Long Noses." Of course, one should never allow one's judgment, impressions, etc. to be formed too much by movies.

Traditional Dance

Finally, here's a shot at evening. It's the road near the subway station, looking towards the mountain with the fortress. It's interesting because, as you can see, the urban character of the street goes right up--and stops at a dead end. We didn't realize there was a direct bus to the fortress, so on the way up we got on a bus that took a meandering route through the back streets of a hilly residential area. We didn't realize until we were leaving that we could have walked in less time to the main entrance ourselves! However, we both had a blast, laughing, as the little bus we were on had to navigate some extremely narrow streets with many violent stops and starts. At one point we had to wait while pedestrians helped a truck get unstuck from one spot--so it could back up several blocks so we could go through! Whew! What an adventure!

Street

The Pink Line

2005-06-13T11:13:00.000+09:00

Seoul has a number of numerically and color-coded subway lines. Yesterday my girlfriend, Chae Young, and I had an occasion to use the pink line. What a vivid, bright pink! I liked it. And of course I need to remind my readers that many men in this country wear pink shirts and ties, although of course these are a paler hew. Anwyway, it was an interesting ride.

A Dream

2005-06-13T11:01:00.000+09:00

Two nights ago I had the most hilarious dream: I was in a medieval castle. A king had just died, and a knight in the livery of a crusader was leading a small procession out of the room. The corners of his mouth were twisted upwards in a smile. The dead king, whose name, for some reason, was "Jaws," was smiling, too. Actually, he looked like a Pythonesque light-in-the-loafers kind of chap, although he also looked like a thin version of the Ghost of Christmas Present from the old Alastair Sim(s?) movie about Scrooge. Beside the king, who had a brown beard and a purple robe, were the dead bodies of a few of his attendants, including a fellow who looked like Gimli the dwarf, but whose name resembled John of Gaunt. He was all wrapped up in white bandaging. When I saw this, I heard a minstrel begin to sing in a falsetto voice with a tune I can still remember:

There once was a King named Jaws/ who died with his John of Gauze

At that point I cracked up laughing so hard I woke up!

A Little Milestone!

2005-06-09T23:41:00.000+09:00

Well, sometime today I reached 10,000 hits! I just couldn't help that little bit of self-congratulation! And of course, no little commemoration would do without thanking my readers and commenters. It's nice to have a few people who find the blog interesting enough to visit fairly often. It's a pleasure to write for such nice people.

George Lucas in Love

2005-06-09T22:20:00.000+09:00

Via Ghost of a Flea, here's a satiric film poking fun at both Star Wars and Shakespeare in Love. It's a short clip that you've simply got to see! I've never seen the latter, but the Star Wars side of things was hilarious.

Little Cultural Clashes in Teaching and a Rant

2005-06-09T21:49:00.000+09:00

NOTE: Usually I have positive experiences here with Korean people, and I often mention such positive experiences on my blog. I hope that this post, which is really more of a rant than anything else, will be taken in that context.

Today it was hard not to feel both superior to and frustrated with one of my classes of adult students. They're pretty good, of course, at conversing in English, and I'm proud of them. We were discussing politics, technology, and global economics--and "fan death." "Fan death" is known to other expats here already. I was hoping my students, who are elementary teachers, would set me straight, and say that Koreans aren't afraid of fans. Unfortunately, the opposite is true! They are indeed afraid of fans, and think that fans and airconditioners are killers). I'm afraid that, modernized as the society here has, it has yet to absorb basic, fundamental ideas like the Scientific Method and Occam's Razor. Conspiracy theories abound, science is adduced to prove the "fact" of the uneatability of so-called genetically modified foods (I'm living proof of the inaccuracy of that one!), and blood type is equated with personality. Well, these are peculiar quirks to South Koreans, and I love Koreans, so I guess I have to accept the quirks. They just bug me a bit, that's all. And of course, I try to be respectful, which in the context of this country means I can't argue using logic and facts--I just make a suggestion and back off. I doubt it'll do any good. But then, even I know I'm just trying to teach them English.

However, teaching English in this country means more than just teaching a language. And the culture is quite open to certain types of foreign influences, and has been for some time. A teacher at a language institute is introducing, like it or not, issues from the West into the country. For example, the text my middle school class uses requires me to explain how "low cut jeans" will get one of the female characters "noticed" by the boy she likes! All the issues of the texts for middle schoolers that we use are not taylored to this country, but are issues associated with North America and the English speaking countries. The adult textbooks I'm using are of more universal relevance, fortunately. Even they're not immune, however; for example, there's a discussion about the rudeness of using cell phones in public. That's an issue in North America, but it isn't one here. Cell phones are ubiquitous, and outside of a classroom or workplace environment are almost never turned off, except for re-charging. I'd swear that nearly every person I know, from elementary students as young as eight, to adults, has his or her own personal cell phone.

Back to the earlier discussion with my adults again, I was shocked at how unreflective they seemed to be about new technology. Each of them was highly pessimistic of new technology. They all decried new technology like the internet, for example, mostly because of porn. Yet this is a country that has one of the highest sex trade worker-per capita ratios in the world, with a brothel on every corner, more often than not, and a large majority of men who have been to such places. At the same time, someone said it was unfair that the country's President had to fly all the way to America to visit President Bush. It's not like Bush never travels on the job [note my rare use of sarcasm!]. And then there's the idea, widely held here, that western women are loose. Meanwhile, the country's oldest newspaper publishes a reputable study showing that 63% of 1000 sampled married women could see themselves having affairs--and the story is ignored or dismissed because "we don't know people like that." Of course, statistics mean nothing, for the same reason, and several of these teachers openly disputed the (high) divorce statistics, because their circle of friends were (still) married. And then there's the issue of war. They decry war, yet are enjoying the high standard of living that they have because some other countries, with no obligation, sent their men into harm's way during the Korean war to protect these people from the Chinese-Communist North Korean aggression. The way these people want to have their cake and eat it, too, is at times a little aggravating.

By the way, this post wasn't meant to be a systematic unpacking of the ideas mentioned, just an off-the-cuff bit of yacking and ranting. And I suppose many Koreans might have their own rants about English and English teachers--which would be fair enough, and probably very interesting!

Unhyeongung

2005-06-07T12:40:00.000+09:00

After visiting the Kansong Art Museum, Gook Hyeon and his family and I went for a lovely drive in the mountains, and had some delicious food and icecream, too. After the ice cream at an observatory in the mountains (where pictures towards Seoul and the Presidential Mansion were prohibited), we went to Unhyeongung, which I've been chomping at the bit to see for a long time.

I've often wondered why this palace has not been listed with the other main palaces, and the reason appears to be that it was not the residence of an emperor. It was the private residence of "Prince Regent HungSonTaeWonGun," the father of Emperor Gojong. Gojong lived here until he became Emperor at the age of 12. The palace is designated Historic Relic No. 257. An English print-out, in addition to a brochure in Korean, is available to English speaking visitors. From it, I learned that Unhyeongung was returned, after confiscation by the Japanese during the colonial period, to the descendents of HungSonTaeWonGun in 1948, according to official US government documents. In 1993, these descendents sold it to the government of Seoul. After 3 years of historical renovations, the palace was opened to the public. This interesting history may explain why some of the signage is different than at the other palaces.

Sign

This palace is smaller and less grand than Deoksugung, the smallest of the main palaces here in Seoul. It is still interesting, however, not least because of the life-sized manikins in period costumes, with accompanying English explanations. Here we see many of those figures:

Soldier

High Ranking Official

Noble

The Master

Court Lady

Court lady

Court ladies

Courtyard

The next three pictures involve the underground portions of the building:

Cellar

Chimney with European-style building in background

Base of chimney connecting to the underground floor heating system

In the above picture, I think the reconstruction was possibly done slightly inaccurately. Other chimneys I've seen have a higher connecting block of stonework to the floor area. Readers new to this blog should note that Chosun era palaces had an ingenious method of heating located under the floors.

Puzzle for Wyatt

In the area at the back of the palace, you can see an agricultural bowl used for grinding, and a well. I was glad to get a picture of the well, because I forgot to take a picture of the similar one at the Jongmyo Royal Shrine, whose well has purportedly never run dry.

Does anybody know the proper name for this?

Well

The size of the doorways in these palaces is always interesting to me: one must always step over something to go in or out.

Yours truly coming through a door

Room with women

The women in the picture, above, are doing some kind of traditional threadwork, I think.

Wall

Rear garden walk

Well, that's all I have for you, dear reader and online visitor. Good-bye!

Old and modern buildings together

Kansong Art Museum

2005-06-07T12:04:00.000+09:00

This post (and the next) is long overdue, but the day following this outing was extremely stressful, and so I was delayed in my posting. On May 29th, a former adult student, Gook Hyeon, and his wonderful family took me to the Kansong Art Museum, located in Sungbukdong, Seoul, just up the road from my home. I have a lovely picture of Gook Hyeon and his family, but I forgot to ask their permission to post it on my blog, so for now it isn't up. Anyway, apparently the art gallery here is open only two times a year. The gallery itself houses an impressive collection of Chosun artworks, many of which are hanging on beautiful silk scrolls. No photographs were allowed inside, but Gook Hyeon let me take a picture of a picture from his souvenir book:

Chosun era artwork in artbook

The artworks featured a lot of nature, some people, some animals, and some interesting bearded characters whose name escapes me at the moment (perhaps Sewing, Wyatt, or someone else can remind us in the comments). I refer to Taoist monks thought to have magical powers. I think I remember one walking on water. Another was riding backwards on a donkey (I had to supprss an urge to use a common three letter word in the archaic sense just now!). I would like to read some traditional stories about these characters.

In addition to housing paintings, this museum also houses this 220cm pagoda in the garden. Dating to the Goryeo dynasty, it is designated Seoul Tangible Cultural Property No. 28. Like many officially designated historical features, it is not native to this location, although the English sign did not give its original provenance.

Another small graceful sculpture is kept here, too: a Vairochana Buddha believed to date to the Goryeo era, and designated Seoul Tangible Cultural Property No. 31.

Vairochana Buddha

On the other side of the main building, but still in the garden, one can see a commemorative bust of the patron of the museum, a famous rich person whose name--again--escapes me:

The Patron

After finishing at the Kansong Art Museum, we went back to the parking lot at the adjacent elementary school, and saw some seniors having fun. I like seeing seniors having fun, even if this kind of "fun" isn't much to my liking. There was some old music and some dancing.

Old people having fun

Finally, here is the matted reproduction of a work from the museum given to me by Gook Hyeon:

Thank you, Gook Hyeon, for the wonderful outing and gift!

A Shocking Statistic

2005-05-31T21:47:00.000+09:00

The country's oldest newspaper just published a reputable study showing that literally two thirds of married Korean women could see themselves having affairs.

Update

2005-05-31T21:21:00.000+09:00

I have some pictures of Unhyeonggung I'll be posting in the near future. I went there with Gook Hyeon and his family, and had a delightful time with them there, as well as in a wonderful art gallery.

Yesterday was a stressful and sad day. I don't feel like posting so much at the moment. Sometimes I feel good, and other times I feel down.

In Memoriam

2005-05-30T21:19:00.000+09:00

God took him, because in him there was found something good.

You are loved, and missed, and grieved.

The Circle Is Now Complete: Review of Revenge of the Sith

2005-05-28T12:00:00.000+09:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of going with Ian, and my favorite two bloggers here in this country, Wyatt and Shaun, to see the new Star Wars movie Revenge of the Sith in Sinchon. (The COEX had sold out days before!) Anyway, it was fascinating to meet them in person. After the movie Ian had to meet a friend, and then the three intrepid bloggers went to a pub named after a computer game for the Commodore 64! (I'll leave Wyatt to discuss the place in question!)
***
Revenge of the Sith is a stunning movie with a storytelling power not seen since Empire Strikes Back, which remains the best of the lot. The visuals--the panoramas, particularly, and the opening battle scene--are breathtaking and beautiful. The pacing was far superior to that in The Phantom Menace. The film featured not one, but two climaxes, as well as a denouement which could act as a reflection on the nature of life itself.

What gave Revenge so much power was clearly its dependence on the rest of the Star Wars series, and in particular its connections to the original three films. Structural connections occurred at many points in the film, and deserve some remarks.

Structural Connections between the Films
First, there is the opening battle scene, which reminds the viewer of the opening scene in A New Hope, which was, in its day, perhaps even more powerful and strange than the opening in Revenge.

Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, in the midst of the battle raging around them, manage to "rescue" Chancellor Palpatine, who has been "kidnapped" by General Grevious, a droid general taught the Jedi arts by Count Dooku. Palpatine is sitting restrained by handcuffs in a chair highly reminiscent of the final climactic scene in the Death Star in Return of the Jedi. Just like in Return, there is an apprentice (Dooku), finally overcome by the new chosen one of Palpatine/the Emperor (Anakin). The stairs in front of the throne-like chair are reminiscent of the stairs in that final climax of episode six, and serve to reinforce the allusion. But of course, unlike Luke, who conquers in his own "inner Jihad" (the term for a spiritual crusade in Islam, is, of course, paralleled in the mystic literature of the Christian religion), his own personal dark side, Vader gives in, obeying the voice of Palpatine, who is urging him on to kill Dooku. What makes the scene particularly poignant is the expression on the Count's face just before he is killed by Anakin: a mixture of betrayal, confusion, surprise, and sheer terror.

The emergence of Palpatine/the Emperor is paralleled, broadly speaking, in the two trilogies, another structural note of significance.

A (episode 1) Palpatine a minor character
B (episode 2) Palpatine an important character
C (episode 3) Palpatine at the center of the action

A1 (episode 4) The Emperor spoken of only
B1 (episode 5) The Emperor an important character
C1 (episode 6) The Emperor at the center of the action

The thought occurred to me that General Grevious in that opening scene may be a character foil for Anakin: a machine, a tool of Palpatine (indirectly, through Dooku). Presently, Anakin is still a fully normal human (midichlorine counts excepted). I would argue this, because, as a viewer who has seen the originals, there is already an expectation and knowledge of Anakin's fate as such a machine.

Also present in the opening battle is R2D2, again, connecting the new movie to the rest of the series. After the first two movies, I initially disapproved of the close connections of some of the characters (R2D2, C3PO). However, it seems Star Wars just couldn't be Star Wars without them. One thing I will say about 3PO, however: despite being more shiny, he got very little airtime, and so the comic relief in the movie was nearly non-existent.

Closer to the end of the movie, more structural connections came in the battle of the Wookies and the battle on that system whose name escapes me. In the former, of course, we have Chewbacca, and the big hairy brutes correspond, on the one hand, to the Gungans in Phantom, and to the Ewoks, on the other, in Return. Specifically, when the Wookies swing on ropes and sabotage the droid machines, we have an allusion which prepares us to view the silly battle on En Dor a little more believably. The other battle, of course, features Obi Wan on a monster reminiscent of Harry Potter III. The ambush by the infiltrating Jedi and the sudden arrival of the Storm Troopers parallels the climax in The Attack of the Clones (one thing that continues to bother me about both is how such a large military force could go anywhere so undetected.)

Speaking of Attack, I remember telling my brother that the character who would become known as Bail Organa looked truly sad at the finale, when viewing the new grand army of the republic. I was very curious about that character, as he seemed so noble and so conscientious, so it was a pleasure to see much more of him in the new movie.

Another connection to Attack comes in Anakin's killing of the Jedi children, a truly horrible event which corresponds to his killing, in the style of the Old Testament, the women and children of the disgusting and vile Sandpeople (for which I was in full sympathy with the troubled protagonist, although not with the ancient Near Eastern practice in question). Lucas appears to be urging a respect for life in all its forms. He's probably against the death penalty.

Finally, an interesting parallel to Vader's temptation of Luke (itself an allusion to a famous Bible story from the Gospels), occurs when Anakin offers to overthrow the Emperor and rule the galaxy with Padme.

External Borrowings/Allusions

Just like episode 2, there were borrowings of Lord of the Rings (book and movie) material. The final scene with Bail Organa's new family looks like Gondolin straight out of a Tolkien calendar. Darth Vader in the droid army headquarters in the volcanic planet corresponds quite well to Tolkien's explicitly hellish language used of the Captain of the Nazgul.

There were a number of biblical allusions in the movie, like in the others. Most conspicuous was Palpatine's line, spoken of what we infer was his former Sith master, who had conquered death: "He could stop people from dying, but he couldn't save himself!" At another point, Anakin, walking on (an object in) the lake of lava in the volcano, presents an ironic picture which reminds the viewer of Jesus walking on the water.

As mentioned above, Obi Wan's steed in the distant battle reminds me of Harry Potter III, particularly the depiction of respectful affection between beast and man.

Politics

Some people have exaggerated the politics involved in the movie, while others have unjustifiably minimized it. Like the anti-capitalist (and hypocritical!) ramblings of Lucas in episodes 1 and 2, Lucas's moralistic sermonizing is prevalent here, too, although targeted in a new direction. Quite apart from Anakin's now famous line "you're either with me, or your my enemy," an obvious allusion to a famous utterance by US President George Bush, there is also the line of Padme's: "this is how democracy dies, to thunderous applause," spoken when the Senate voted to give more powers to the Supreme Chancellor, a clear allusion to the US Senate's vote to give President Bush the go ahead for the war in Iraq. Then, too, there is Palpatine's promise to "hunt down and defeat" the dangerous Jedi, another allusion to President Bush's rhetoric about the pursuit and bringing to justice of Islamic terrorists.

One particularly fascinating personification of Palpatine's manipulating of the Senators was the scene from his fight with Yoda when he was literally throwing the Senate seats at Yoda, a clever metaphoric indication on the part of Lucas as to just how complete the Chancellor's control over the Senators was.

Finally, there is Padme's line, spoken to Anakin, in which she wonders if the Republic is no longer the force for good that they had believed in, an echo of the American Left's disenchantment with the idea of America.

Having said all that, Revenge is not an allegory of the Iraq war, I must emphasize, but Lucas is clearly taking his swings at some real people and political bodies. And of course, Lucas, like most people in the world, doesn't get Iraq. This article on the subject of Lucas presence at the Cannes film festival mentions an indigenous Iraqi film produced by a Kurd:

In competition for the first time is an Iraqi film, ''Kilometer Zero,'' a tragi-comedy on Iraqi-Kurd relations during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war. It's told from the perspective of a Kurdish man drafted to fight for Saddam Hussein's brutal regime.

It ends with what can be perceived as a slap at France and others who sat out the 2003 Iraq war -- after Saddam fell to the U.S.-led coalition, the main character and his wife, then in exile in Paris, scream out their apartment window, ''We're free! We're free!''

Of course, most Iraqis are either ethnically Kurdish or religiously Shiite--and both groups were brutally oppressed by the Sunni Arab Hussein regime on a scale unknown to the experience of the West.

Imagery & Music
Setting sun vistas predominate, as the failing light shines on the Jedi temple and intergalactic parliament, institutions both doomed by the machinations of Palpatine. This is the kind of deliberate, careful film-making that characterized the best movie of the series, Empire.

I thought it remarkable that of all the reviews I had read, only one mentioned the music in the movie. And then I saw the movie. The music did not grab me like it did in any of the original movies, nor did it interest me so much like the Russian Orthodox-style chant in Phantom. However, the music was put to very good use. The final scene with Aunt Beru holding baby Luke, as she and her husband looked to the Tattooine horizon with its two suns featured the same vignette that was the Luke Skywalker scene first heard in the corresponding scenes on the farm in ANH. I also felt that the bass notes continued to be put to good dramatic effect, heightening the suspense in a movie where everybody knows the outcome already. There was also a time when violins were used very effectively and evocatively.

Main Theme
The theme, of course concerns Anakin's journey to the Dark Side (and back again). In one sense, Anakin is Everyman, only with each experienced heightened, sharpened, and raised to the nth degree. This is a crucial point, and I want to talk about it a bit more, because so many of the negative critics had said they were disappointed with Darth Schmuck (they liked the apparently purely evil Vader of ANH more). However Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, the path was obviously one of great pain, if he was to have been good, originally. (By making Anakin good at the beginning, Lucas invites us to consider the moral condition of not only ourselves, but of even our worst enemies--the perennial exception being, of course, Palpatine, perhaps the only 100% evil being in the Star Wars universe.)

The film is a kind of classic tragedy, showing the tragic hero's inability to deny his unfortunate fate, and the terrible portends (dreams), that he seeks to actively avoid, thus bringing about their occurrence (hat tip for this idea to one of the many reviewers I read before watching the movie.) Anakin Skywalker has been a relatively ordinary, if highly gifted, adolescent. Through his manipulation by Palpatine, and through his inability to refrain from inordinate attachments to his mother and wife (does Lucas like women?), his passions get the better of him. By the time he and Obi Wan have their showdown in the volcano, he is consumed by passionate hatred and jealousy. As he burns, after his defeat and dismemberment by Obi Wan, he crawls upward with his surviving prosthetic hand, up the slope, motivated purely by hatred for Obi Wan and the Jedi. It is an unforgettable scene.

Frankly, I had to ask if this movie was needlessly dark. I felt black watching it, as the end neared. At one point, in the flames of the hell Vader finds himself in (the same flames within his own soul), the movie seemed a world away from even the darkness of Empire in the Cloud City, to say nothing of Hammil's poorly acted grinning threat to Jabba in Return.

However, even there on the volcano Darth Vader's journey to the dark side is not complete. After being healed, or rather, preserved, by the Emperor's new body suit, his first thoughts are of Padme, and he is genuinely concerned for her: "Where is Padme? Is she alright?" The Emperor, cruel being that he is, tells his new Frankenstein that Vader had killed her in his wrath, prompting an angry outburst from the newly clad Vader, still true to the impetuous anger of Anakin Skywalker.

So this is the journey to the Dark Side, the journey to the Vader mask. Revenge in this way thus provides a much needed context for the statements about the role of passion and hatred in the classic trilogy. Frankly, as good as the moral element of the climactic scene on the death star was, I could never really feel Vader's hatred, as he seemed always so cold and calm. Now we know that this was an external projection devised by the Emperor. Upon dawning his mask, Anakin is horrified at the hellish red view provided by his new eyes. "There is good in him," Padme said before she died.

***
Postscript

One may debate the actual usefulness of Lucas's view of morality, and criticisms could be leveled. For exmaple, Lucas has both Jedi and Sith operating quite creatively with the truth in the name of "point of view." Both Jedi and Sith think in absolutes, something Obi Wan does not recognize when he utters his comment bout the Sith (it's curious in this regard that even after death, Obi Wan in the original trilogy still doesn't sense good in Anakin.)

As for other criticisms: A tongue in cheek review some time ago appeared to argue that the new movie was a statement in defense of prestly celibacy in the Catholic church. Despite the humour of the article, why Lucas chose to make his Jedi celibate is beyond me. One might also view a theme of the movie as a caution in human relationships, or rather, in male-female relationships. A mother and a wife are in some sense the cause of Anakin's downfall, even as Luke is finally conquered by a selfless desire to save Leia from the Dark Side in episode 6. The only thing that redeems Anakin Skywalker is the love for his own son at the end of it all. The entire Star Wars series now functions as an ironic take on the search for the Father described so well by Lucas's mentor Joseph Campbell. This seems clearly informed by Lucas's personal experience as a divorced man contemplating the nature of his own fatherhood and his relationship to his children. One thing's for sure, Anakin has been a terrible father, until the end. He's a good example of a bad example, but leaves us with some final hope for our own imperfections. In that sense, I would continue to recommend watching episodes 4, 5, and 6 before 1, 2, and 3, leaving us with the more realistic small hope of new life, rather than the exultant party at the end of Return.

As an additional addendum, I'd like to say that the part of the story that touched me the most was Obi Wan Kenobi's anguished crying to the burning, dying Vader in the dramatic, final climax: "I loved you! You were the chosen one! You've turned to the the Dark Side." Like Yoda, Obi Wan essentially said then "Failed I have." As a former believing evangelical (and later Catholic) Christian whose faith collapsed under the pile of historical-critical evidence at the same time as a relational breakup occurred, this intense pain, this disillusionment in that which had previously given hope, was very familiar to me.
---
ADDENDUM

I saw the movie a second time with Ian on Sunday, this time at the COEX on a giant screen. I actually felt slightly dizzy in that opening battle sequence, but I really enjoyed it!

I forgot to mention that John Williams borrowed some music directly from Henry Purcell's funeral march for the death of Queen Mary. It also struck me that there could have been a homerotic attraction between Palpatine and Anakin--if the movie wasn't Star Wars. I'm definitely not saying it's there; I'm just saying that some other director might have gone that direction. There was something much more important that I was going to add, but I forgot it. I will post it later.

ADDENDUM II

I saw the movie a third time with my lovely language partner, Hee Jung, last week. While watching, I was reminded of two things I forgot to mention before. First, there was an allusion to the temptation scene in Eden when Palpatine argues to Anakin that he should understand the dark side in order to be "wise." The other thing that I wanted to note was the shape of Yoda's ship in the Wookie scene. Like his chair, it's small. But what's significant is the shape: it's an egg. I think that there's a lesson for us there: Yoda, in the time of gravest trouble, retreats into his mystical center, his personal version of the great Cosmic Egg from which the entire universe, according to many mythologies, has sprung.

Caught in the Middle between China and Japan

2005-05-25T12:02:00.000+09:00

I'm often asked by Koreans why Korea gets so little attention on the world stage. The first thing I usually think of is a Korean newspaper caption, cited amusingly in a Canadian newspaper, from a few years ago that read as follows (quoting from memory): "US President Bill Clinton stands next to unidentified man at conference." The unidentified man was the Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Most Canadians take a kind of strange pride in not being a power on the world stage ("soft power" "sophisticates," and many conservatives would, of course, have their own takes on this). But frankly, we like being known as polite, nice visitors (which is, unfortunately, much less true nowadays then it used to be), and we don't care about much else.

Koreans, on the other hand, crave international attention. I bet that there would have been small protests at City Hall if that newspaper caption had been written by a Canadian about, say, the Chinese Premier and the South Korean President. I think, honestly, they don't need to worry. The country is quite nice, crime rates are low, and the people are among the most friendly I've come across. They are also honest with their emotions, and are generally a breath of fresh air.

But on to the historical and geographical reasons for the neglect of Korean studies in the West. First, China has been known to the west, in some form, since the days of the Old Silk Road and the Roman Empire. In fact, according to Gibbon (if I remember correctly), a Byzantine emperor, concerned at the amount of money leaving the Empire for Chinese silk, commissioned some enterprising individuals to steal Chinese silkworms. While under Mongolian domination, China would have been known, in some form, to Marco Polo and other travelers to the court of the Khans. Additionally, China has always been a world power, until recent times. It has been impossible to ignore for anyone in close proximity to it. And of course there is the sheer size of the physical area and the population.

Just when the Choson dynasty was trying to keep out the foreigners, Japanese Buddhist monks like Daisetz Suzuki were touring the West, piquing curiosity in Zen Buddhism and Japanese culture.

And Japanese culture is different. I remember reading in "The Global Guide to Etiquette in Asia" that Japanese culture was the most difficult for foreigners to grasp. The author said that if a foreigner could "get" Japanese culture, he could understand how to relate to any of the other cultures in the book. And then there is the fact that Japanese culture has traditionally been very face-saving, and oriented towards beauty and brutality (in entertainment). Miniatures and Nature are also associated by the western mind with all things Japanese. I've never read any traditional Japanese literature, but I would expect it to be narratively tight, with each word in its place for a purpose.

So realistically, the overlooking of Korean culture, which has not had even close to the impact of either China or Japan on the world, should be entirely expected.

Situated between the distinctive cultures of China and Japan, (and the later Czarist Empire), the Korean peninsula has been, like the Levant (Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan) in the Middle East, a gateway for the flow of ideas and culture, mostly going from China to Japan. Again, like the Levant, Korea has also been invaded countless times by the neighboring larger powers. In the ancient Near East's Levantine region, Egypt, to the South, and Assyria and Babylonia, to the Northeast and Southeast, the Sea Peoples from the Northwest, all established a military, economic, and cultural presence. There was a flow of economic activity progressing through the region, though it remained poor compared to its larger neighbours. But it is the intersection of these economies and cultures that makes the region so interesting, quite apart from its being the birthplace of two of the world's great religions. Similarly, I think South Korean history and culture are interesting in their own right, especially since they reflect more than one cultural influence. That being said, it'll always be easy to overlook the little one between the two giants.

The List (of all those National Treasures, etc.)

2005-05-25T11:22:00.000+09:00

I have often wished that I could find a list of all the "National Treasures," "Human Cultural Assets," and the like in South Korea. I did find THE site a few weeks ago, and now it's time to introduce it.

Go to this site, the site of the Cultural Properties Administration. If you click on "Cultural Properties Tour Map" on the left, a screen comes up where you must first pick which classification you are looking for (e.g. "National Treasures," "Historic Sites," etc.), and then specify which numbers you want to find. I selected "National Treasures," and then input 1 and 1000, respectively, into the two boxes. A popup came up, with 131 results. The site is quite nice, and the search results in the popup window are linked, individually, to more information. One can also browse the the lists by region instead of by number. I'm linking to this site on my links bar.

Finally, for pictures of the historic and famous places I've visited, click on "Best of HifromSeoul" on my sidebar, and go to section 2, where almost every post has pictures as well as commentary.

(Still) Waiting for Star Wars

2005-05-23T21:29:00.000+09:00

In a way, I envy Jeff Tweiten, the Seattle man who's been literally sleeping on the street for the last year or so in order to be the first person in line for Revenge of the Sith. His wait's over now. Those of us in South Korea (and Japan), have had to wait longer for the release of Star Wars than those of you in the rest of the developed world.

But unlike another blogger here whom I could mention, I haven't been avoiding the reviews.

Meanwhile, the Starwars.com website had given a release date of May 20th for South Korea; it is now the 23rd (Happy Victoria Day tomorrow/today to my Canadian family and friends), and still no Star Wars. After googling the release date, and finding no information from the most likely sources, I found in an online article at the Dong-a Ilbo that the movie was coming out on the 27th. Meanwhile, a friend says at the COEX mall the movie has release dates of the 23rd and the 26th on its website and posters.

So to satisfy my craving for Star Wars, I've been reduced to reading reviews. Here's a roundup of my favorite ones. Readers beware, possible spoilers ahead, and wildly diverging commentary on the film!

And I would like to dedicate this post to my friend and fellow-(original) Star Wars fan, Lyle.

First things first, the absolute best commentaries on Star Wars that I have seen are written by Kelly Ross, a shrewd and witty writer who also happens to be a Libertarian from California. He delivers a remarkable political fisking to the SW films while still coming down, overall, with (mostly) positive things to say. Read his review here.

There is no gravity in space ... things don't slide off space ships and "fall."

Darth Schmuck

THE FINAL Star Wars is, as writer-director George Lucas promised, a tragedy--but it's not the tragedy Lucas thinks it is.

Ever since he began making his second set of Star Wars movies a decade ago, Lucas said that Episode III: Revenge of the Sith would be the unvarnished story of the young knight Anakin Skywalker's degeneration and conversion into the black-helmeted, black-outfitted Darth Vader, the villain of the first three films. The tale of woe it really tells is that of George Lucas himself, the final chapter in the sad degeneration of a vital, vivid, and highly amusing moviemaker into a dull, solipsistic, and humorless incompetent....

Back in 1977, we were told in the original Star Wars that Darth Vader "was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force"--that Vader had become a villain because he had been consumed by a lust for power, so that he could boss people around, blow up planets, and, generally speaking, control the universe. Like all great villains, the Darth Vader we saw in the first Star Wars actually loved being a bad guy. He enjoyed being able to choke annoying underlings by pinching his thumb and forefinger together. He relished his swordfight with his old mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi. He didn't even mind slicing his own son's hand off (in the second film) just to prove a point.

But the Darth Vader we see at the end of Revenge of the Sith hasn't been seduced. He's been tricked. He's not a villain. He's a schmuck....

The tragedy of George Lucas is that he made billions of dollars, and all it did was turn him into a drag.

Tongue in Cheeks

I did discover a different message played out in the movie. In fact, the message is more like a warning. A warning to the Catholic Church....

The warning from Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith is simple. Priests in the Catholic church must remain celibate, or the church will sucomb [sic] to evil and face destruction.

Instapundit.com

My dean's comment was that it would have played better as a silent movie, and he's right -- you might as well be reading the dialogue off of cards, because the actors sure sound like they're reading the dialogue off of cards. Exacerbating this problem, the audio stunk. Actors' words didn't always sync perfectly with their lips, nobody even tried to capture room ambience to match the settings, and the lines often sounded dubbed -- delivered as if into a microphone while reading hurriedly from a script, as they probably were. 90210 had more convincing acting.

On the Audience

[It]was filled with at least two geeks in full Darth Vader regalia, a pony-tailed fellow in his mid-30s wearing Obi-Wan's khaki and brown robes, and someone in an orange X-Wing pilot's uniform, and helmet. In addition, several who weren't otherwise in costume brought their own plastic D-cell powered light sabers.

They were let into the theater at 9:30 PM--they waited a full two and a half hours for the film to begin. When the lights went down, and the trailers were over (quick prediction: based on the audience's reaction, this film will print money for Disney at Christmastime), they roared at not just the LucasFilm logo, but the 20th Century Fox logo, and even the THX Sound logo. And then they really went crazy when the screen went black and the magic "A Long Time Ago" words and the Star Wars logo appeared.

When the last shot faded out and "Written And Directed By George Lucas" appeared in that familiar blue typeface, they clapped, somewhat perfunctorily and politely.

Politics Overblown, Loved It!

Oh, wait, one more thing: the alleged Bush-bashing stuff has been completely overblown. Trust me on this one. If you get offended by this movie on political grounds, you probably also go into a frothing rage when the car in front of you turns on its left-turn signal.

Mr. Obnoxious Movie-Goer

No, Darth Obnoxious was displaying some genuine hatred here, particularly towards Anakin and Darth Sidious. Whenever they did anything wicked, he would say something like "You lying bastard," or "That as[-----]" or the ever colorful "Son of a bitch."

That's pretty creepy. I wouldn't want to mess with someone who can get that pissed at some character in a movie, would you? (He wasn't some scrawny SW geek either.) Who knows what kind of crazy shit someone like that can do? So I just tried my best to ignore Lord Obnoxious and pay attention to the movie.

I can't watch anymore

What can you say about a civilization where people zip from one solar system to the next as if they were changing their socks but where a woman fails to register for an ultrasound, and thus to realize that she is carrying twins until she is about to give birth?

Manichean Tropes

[Episode]III is nothing more than a sigh—the sigh uttered by a terminally ill patient when, finally, the euthanasia is administered. Part punishment, part release (in the most scatological sense of the term), it’s no mistake that an L-III is known simply as "the Shit." ....
It’s hard to imagine any other inscription will appear on George Lucas’ tombstone other than "May the Force be with you," yet I would suggest a more telling line, one that Queen Padme says to Anakin Skywalker after his inevitable but still incomprehensible turn to evil: "I can’t believe what I’m hearing." Beneath which, perhaps, some dissenter can one day scrawl the only appropriate answer....

Making up to the Fans

...supposedly the final film in the series, [it] is clearly designed to appeal to hard-core Star Wars fans who were disillusioned with the last two entries in the series. It's full of familiar faces doing expected things, setting events in motion for what nearly every viewer knows will happen in Star Wars (now known by its own expanded title, Episode IV – A New Hope), the first film in the original series.

That's It?

Anakin: "I shouldn't do it. It doesn't feel right.
Palpatine: "Do it."
Anakin: "Ok." [He does it.] "Oh I shouldn't have done that."
Palpatine: "You did it. Now I can teach you... blah blah"
Anakin: "Ok."
Palpatine: "I now name you Darth Vader."

The British Museum comes to South Korea!

2005-05-23T12:50:00.000+09:00

Sunday was rainy, so Chea Young and I took the opportunity to go to the Seoul Arts Center (the same place where I saw The Death of Marat, which I also blogged about), where the British Museum has an excellent smattering of global artefacts from its collection on temporary loan. I felt like I was among old friends in the Near Eastern history section, especially upon coming face to face with a nearly life sized statue of Assurnasirpal II. There were also two Indian pieces from my part of the world, which was kind of interesting. Every time I see West Coast Indian artefacts, whether in the BM in London, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, or here in Seoul, I feel kind of amused: "I came all this way, and it's the same stuff from where I grew up"; on the other hand, I feel a kind of pride, too, although the artistry and skill of the past generations of Indians was, of course, in no way effected by my existence today.

We also saw a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci, two works by Dürer, a few other works by famous artists, in addition to the other many wonderful artefacts.

The real highlight, however, of the afternoon, was seeing three genuine Isle of Lewis (pronounced "Lews") Chessmen! I managed to take this non-flash photograph before I was politely but firmly told in English to desist. While I do feel just a tad guilty for taking this picture, seeing this exhibit, and photographing it, was a real highlight for me, something I'll remember for the rest of my life. When I was in the British Museum in London some years ago with a professor of mine, we just didn't have time to see the European exhibits, concentrating, as we did, on the Near Eastern, Greco-Roman, and Egyptian exhibits. A few years after that visit I found pictures of these famous chessmen in several places, and fell in love with their facial expressions. I've often wanted to own a replica set, and I intend to visit them in person in London someday. As for the replica sets, they are available here in Seoul, but are expensive: 70,000W for a small set, 300,000W for a "big" one. I do wonder, though, if they are even more money in London.

An interesting moment in culture shock came when, at the entrance to the exhibits, Chea Young was told to spit out her gum prior to entering, which she thought was perfectly normal, but which I thought kind of odd.

Anyway, here's my picture, which is just a tad blurry, but still workable.

Chessmen from the Isle of Lewis

Good-bye, Red Ensign

2005-05-19T12:05:00.000+09:00

Well, those readers who saw the comments in the last post only saw half the discussion! A large volume of emails, some positive, some negative, came to my box from the members of the Red Ensign bloggers. I think I've done some good things there. I produced an Ensign Standard, and I wrote at length about issues I've cared a lot about. Now I'm moving on. I've dropped the Red Ensign from my sidebar, as I do not feel that enough members of the group have sufficiently considered the values of that flag, civility being one of them. Like the founder, Nicholas Packwood of Ghost of a Flea, I've left the group. In the near future, I think I'll be assembling a collection of Canadian links in the near future.

And thanks to John of Arrrgh, Curt, Alan of GenX40, and especially VW for their discussions and links.

And continued thanks to fellow bloggers Sewing and Shaun for their comments and discussion!

Have the Red Ensigners Become Totally Unhinged?

2005-05-18T09:54:00.000+09:00

"Bitch, Treacherous snake woman,," "blond betrayal," "Judas, You power-mad, utter whore."

Meanwhile, one blogger (whom I won't name) published MP Belinda Stronach's cell phone number on the internet. UPDATE: Several people have corrected me on this point. I had thought that SDA was a Red Ensign blogger, but she's not.

These are the comments and deeds of some of the Red Ensign bloggers, including the current captain of our merry little band. These are the same bloggers who attack Paul Martin for incivility, who drooled, mouths open, at the sexiness factor Belinda brought to the CPC. They held her up as what she was: a bright, young shining star in the party, a person with moderate views who could attract voters in Ontario and eastern Canada. The same people who call her a "traitor" are those who congratulated Peter MacKay for swiftly breaking his election promise, solemnly sworn to David Orchard, not to merge the Tories with the Alliance. Now this. Frankly, it's disgusting and shameful, and definitely beneath the standard one should expect of those flying the Red Engsign.

There have been several voices (examples here, and here), from the group speaking out against this kind of language, which is good. However, the group as a whole needs to clean up its act and calm down. We've got half the folks thinking the country's in a constitutional crisis because the government lost a vote inserting an unrelated instruction into an old document asking a committee to ask the government to step down. A true confidence motion will come, but that surely wasn't it.

A quick glance at the names of some of the Right of Center blogs shows just how much anger there is on the Right at this time. "Angry in __", "Raging __" etc. Folks, anger'll get you nowhere. Look at the Angry Left in the US right now. Look at the success of Bill Clinton after the anger of the Right back in the 90's (he won a second term despite the impeachment proceedings).

In all honesty, Belinda left the party because it is completely inept, and because it does not represent the values of the majority of Canadians. I would remind those Conservatives who are upset with her defection that she is not the first such high profile case in this regard. Dr. Keith Martin (BC) and Scott Brison (NB, if I remember correctly), both defected to the Liberals in the last election, and won their ridings handsomely--despite public anger over the Liberal scandals--as Belinda will do in hers in the next election. Martin, Brison, Stronach. The Tories can't keep their shining stars. They do keep folks like Randy White. Well, you make your bed...

And of course, Belinda's probably right about toppling the government. The Tories are jumping in that proverbial bed with the BQ, and will be punished when the election does happen. It is too soon. They should have waited, built their machine, disciplined their troops, and carefully planned. They will not be rewarded with a majority government for their recent efforts.

The Tories just don't get it: they need to move to the center on social issues, and keep the focus on corruption. Their failure to do the first results in the defection of their young stars, leaving the party tacking too far to the right for the average Canadian voter. Meanwhile, they expect their MP's to (a) follow their consciences, (b) follow the wishes of their constituents, and (c) follow the wishes of the party. It takes a class act juggler to accomplish all three. The party needs to decide, if it is to survive in the hopes of governing, that party discipline trumps grassroots shooting from the hip. The army with the most discipline wins. Failure to understand these points will send the next crop of young stars packing.

Finally, before I'm accused of being some NDP-er or Liberal, let me just mention that I donated my valuable time--despite my preparations for the move here--in the last election to my local Conservative MP in BC. I hope my efforts won't be wasted on a party going nowhere.

Buddha's Birthday at Doseonsa!

2005-05-16T21:18:00.001+09:00

Doseonsa at night on the Buddha's Birthday!

I want to dedicate this post to Jennifer, my friend and cousin.

Yesterday was the Buddha's Birthday, a nationally-recognized holiday! In Korean this is known as 석가탄신일. This was the day I have been eagerly waiting for since I first saw paper lanterns lit at a temple last fall! As it happened, this holiday fell on a Sunday, so it didn't result in an extra holiday (unlike in Canada, where it would have been "pushed forward" onto Monday). Because the Buddha's Birthday is calculated according to a lunar calendar, an interesting coincidence happened yesterday, as it was also Teacher's Day. Teacher's Day is nationally-recognized, and calculated according to the solar calendar. However, it is not a holiday. Of course, the Buddha is one of the preeminent "teachers" of the human race, so this might be thought a serendipitous overlapping of special days.

Yesterday my girlfriend, who is a somewhat nominal Buddhist, accompanied me, at my request, to Doseonsa, which readers may remember I blogged about before, when I was there last Fall. Doseonsa, patronized by the deceased President Park Chung Hee, is one of the great temples of Seoul, located on the eastern slopes of Bukhansan. I felt very fortunate to be able to take in the experience. Chae Young thanked me for talking her into going, and she enjoyed it as much as I did. She had never been to Doseonsa before. Between my memory and her language, we managed to find the place all right.

I would remind readers that the temple complex includes not only the main building and smaller buildings, but also the grounds. Here is the gate to the grounds. At the gate it is customary to bow to the guardians of the gate, who are drawn as ferocious demon-warriors (note to mom: don't take this too seriously, please; demons in world mythology are not always evil--but maybe just look at the pictures and skip the words ;-) ). Of course, I reverenced the guardians, as everyone else did. Such reverencing is done both upon entering, and leaving, the temple.

Gate at Night

On the road, both before and after the gate, the approach was lit with lanterns:

Paper lanterns on the approach to the temple

Before the main set of lights, I found this area somewhat pleasing:

Yours truly

It is my sincere hope that you will enjoy the next pictures particularly!

Let there be light!

Temple ablaze with light!

More lotus lanterns

The next picture shows a corridor between the balcony and the wall of the main prayer hall. My regret is that my camera, here, as elsewhere, failed to capture the vividness of the colors (here, dark red).

Snake

I was born in 1978, the year of the Horse. However, since my birthday falls before the Lunar New Year, apparently I am considered to have been born in the year of the Snake. (I suppose if one were to get technical, things could get really complicated!) Of course, in Christian theology, the snake is the symbol of evil. Not so in Buddhism. As Joseph Campbell pointed out, in many religions, the Snake represents lunar consciousness, the power of life in the field of time renewing itself. The snake sheds its skin as the moon does, continually renewing itself. Large stone depictions of the twelve constellations are not uncommon in this country (a three dimensional one is not far from my hogwan).

If you click on the above picture, you can see coins placed at various points on the statue. These are the coins of people who come to wish, under the gaze of their astrological symbol, for something special. They then write on the right cloth under the carving. Chae Young and I both placed coins in this manner, and wrote our wishes on the cloth. Of course, I have absolutely no belief in astrology, regarding it as amusing at best and ridiculous at worst, but I saw no reason not to enter into the spirit of the moment. And who knows--it can't hurt! I did experience an unusual thrill at taking refuge underneath a creature that in Christianity is misunderstood so badly.

In this next picture, you can see me rubbing the Laughing Buddha's belly! I understand that this Buddha is not related to Siddartha Gautama, the historical founder of Buddhism. I had a delightful time waiting in the line to rub his belly, as two adorable little Korean girls were happy to practice their English with me, to the approval of their smiling mothers. The mothers instructed the girls, to say "ha, ha, ha," after they rubbed the Buddha's belly, and they told me to do the same thing, so I did, ha, ha! I feel happy just thinking about it! And to think that my initial squeamishness would have stopped me from making this wonderful memory, because, as you can see, so many people have rubbed the Buddha's belly that it is now quite black.

Rubbing the Laughing Buddha's belly!

In this next picture, I am bathing one of several small Buddhas in water, which I was instructed by a lady in hanbok to do three times. I also placed a rose in front of the statue. Chae Young did the same. And of course, water, known to Christians from the rite of baptism, is used in many world religions as a symbol of divine life. Perhaps I should mention here that I drank a very small mouthful from the sacred spring I mentioned in my first post on this temple.

Yours truly bathing a little Buddha

Although I forgot to ask Chae Young to take a picture, I also turned a very large multisided thing shaped like the grain grinder Sampson worked at in the Bible story. Chae Young was going to explain it to me, but was surprised that I knew instinctively what it was: a symbol of the life of the universe. My turning of the Wheel of Life, again, three times, was an acceptance, for the moment, at least, of life's pain and joy, of everything that life means or can mean. For a person prone to melancholia, this was an extraordinarily profound adventure.

In the next several pictures, you can see photographs of the interior of the main prayer hall. It is not common for me to take pictures in the prayer halls, because I don't want to offend the worshipers. However, people seemed so friendly and/or busy that I thought they wouldn't mind if I took some non-flash photographs; others did the same, and there were no problems. In the second picture, you can see the traditional three Buddha statues. As is my custom, I prostrated myself three times before them in the proper manner.

Little Buddhas line the walls of the prayer hall

The three main Buddhas in the prayer hall

I also bowed to the Founding Teacher. In each temple there is a photograph of the Temple's Teacher, who is always reverenced, in addition to the Buddhas. Usually there is also a place to reverence one's ancestors.

Teacher

In a smaller prayer hall, the memory of the deceased President, who was a patron of this temple, is preserved.

Park Chung Hee and his wife

Late owner of Hyundai Corp.

You read that right--here is remembered the former owner of Hyundai, temple patron. As a capitalist, I have no problem with this; it's not as though the rich donors to European churches didn't get reserved seating for their efforts.

More beautiful lanterns

Pagoda in the heavens of light

Tree

I've written previously about this tree, which is in the high sanctuary above the main prayer hall. I also wrote about the adjacent pagoda, which readers remember is a symbol of Buddha-consciousness. In this complex, surrounded by its own wall and gates (with painted guardians one doesn't reverence), is a massive statue of a Boddhisattva carved in rock. The carving apparently dates to the 9th or 10th centuries AD/CE.

Adjusted image of a Bodhisattva

Worshipers prostrating themselves

Finished!

"Please, Buddha, come today."

I found this message on the Lantern a bit odd for a religion that insists the Kingdom of God is within you (yes, I know that's not an accurate translation from the Greek). It's a metaphor, I suppose. (Update: see comments.)

Eehwajang: The Home of President Syngman Rhee

2005-05-11T21:17:00.002+09:00

Gate at the Residence of Syngman Rhee

Last Friday my lovely language partner and I went to the home of 이승만, known to the West as "Syngman Rhee," the first President of South Korea. It is now a small museum, known, in Korean, as 이화장. I first was made aware of the existence of this place from Shaun's blog post on the subject. Since Shaun has already given directions to this fascinating museum, I won't do so, and in any case my language partner (who lives sixty seconds from my home), and I went up through Naksan park behind our homes and down to the museum, thus approaching from the opposite direction. My language partner stumbled across the site by accident some weeks ago, so she was my guide. To get there, we had to go down from Naksan Park along a narrow alley:

En route to the house of Syngman Rhee

Before proceding further, you can read the sign, like I did:

Sign at the Gate

As you can see from the sign, this home was the residence of a famous scholar long before it became the residence of the first President of South Korea. To get in, you have to push open the gate yourself, and close it behind you.

President Rhee's House

So this is the surprisingly modest home of the first President of South Korea. Although for a house in Seoul it is quite nicely laid out and spacious, even now, it certainly is not something one would expect a President of a country to live in. When the leaders of many smaller, poor countries live in squalor, President Rhee lived in a modest dwelling of some historical significance, until his move to The Blue House, which remains the Presidential mansion.

The occupant of the house did have some nice things, like a pocket watch, for example, but the lifestyle he lived seemed to have been merely what one might think of as "upper middle class." Now perhaps someone will say, "but South Korea was poor at that time, and couldn't afford much." However, a simple online tour of the country's Chosun dynasty's Gyeongbokgung Palace--or any of the other Chosun dynastic dwellings--quickly rebuts this. I suppose his standard of living went up when he lived in the Blue House, but I'm sure he was no Saddam Hussein.

The artefactual qualities of the site are heightened by the interesting collection of historic black and white photographs:

In the next two pictures, you can see the Presidential study, quite a modest affair. There is on the desk a picture of the late President pecking, with two fingers, at his typewriter.

Dr. Rhee's Study

The Presidential Typewriter

President Rhee lived for some years in the United States, earning an M.A. from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Princeton. He was a reader and author.

Books in the Atrium

Some of the books, pictured above, were authored by Dr. Rhee. In one book, published in 1941, he warned of the coming aggression of the Japanese against the USA. He has a discussion of Hawaii in that context in the book, which I browsed briefly.

The President was also a devout Christian:

"Christian Endeavor Prayer Meeting Topics, 1907"

Dr. Rhee was also a man of culture who liked to write Chinese poems, many of which he wrote while in prison. His personal screen contains (one [or more?]) such poems in his own calligraphy:

In South Korea, personal seals have been a traditional way to affix one's signature to documents. Here are the first President's seals:

Seals

Some Personal Effects

Syngman Rhee lived the life of an exile for a great part of his life. During the Japanese occupation, he lived in Japan-occupied China, from where he continued his activist activities. To avoid being arrested by the Japanese, he wore this disguise of Chinese clothing:

This outfit stands in sharp contrast to the comment of one of my adult student that Rhee supported Japan after Korean independence. In fact, President Rhee was roundly condemned by many of my adult students, and is not popular in his own nation. I regret this, and think this complaint inapppropriate, in light of the man's personal sacrifices caused by his love for his country. He suffered exile and fear and lived daily with these realities--something most of today's Koreans cannot identify with.

The next picture shows part of a beautiful painting given to Rhee by Mrs. Chiang Kai-Shek. Rhee met Chiang Kai Shek twice--once in China (before the Maoist revolution), and once in Taiwan.

Detail of Painting

Syngman Rhee also freed anti-communist prisoners, and was involved in the fight against Communism in Vietnam. An anti-communist Ukrainian group gave him these gavels:

Gavels presented by a Ukrainian democratic movement

As President, he visited Japan twice, the first time as the guest of General MacArthur, the second time at the invitation of the Japanese Prime Minister. I think the President realized the importance of forgiveness and starting anew. Meanwhile, it is clear that South Korea has abandoned the alliances which were so important to Mr. Rhee. While many Koreans consider the United States and Japan to be enemies, the country is cozening up to both North Korea and China while ignoring Taiwan, a country which is resisting, with the aid of the US and Japan, China's moves at aggression on that democratic country. "You've come a long, way, baby." This saddened me, and I wonder why the country has changed.

While I know very little of Korean history, certainly, the administration personnel of the Rhee government is widely viewed as being corrupt. That being said, a few of my adult students felt that the man himself had a good heart, and it was the people around him who were not serving him and the country to the best of their ability.

The complaint has been voiced that when the Japanese took over Korea, many of the Chosun dynasty's aristocracy supported Japan--and these people were allowed to remain in position by President Rhee after independence. The comparison was drawn by one adult student of mine with Germany, which she said purged the Nazis after WWII. However, I think this complaint is invalid. In the first place, the German post-war purge was not complete, and in the second place, Germany had been a developed country for decades. The country could thus afford to replace many civil servants who were Nazis with others who had similar expertise in civil affairs. I don't think South Korea had this luxury, as it was a relatively poor country even under the Chosun dynasty. For a President of a poor country which has made so quick a leap to first world status in quality of living to be so dishonored by his own people is both tragic and fascinating. Today, all that remains of his earlier honors may be these medals:

Medals from South Korea

On the other hand, the widespread condemnation of Rhee must have some basis in reality. Many Koreans feel that he was too pro-US (he once organized a national campaign urging the US to keep its troops on the penninsula). A potential rival died under mysterious circumstances. Perhaps there are other issues of which I am unaware. I wonder if the memory of Rhee is tarnished by today's anti-Americanism, or if today's anti-Americanism is a function of the alleged Rhee government corruption and insufficient purge of pro-Japanese Chosun administrators.

Syngman Rhee married a foreigner, a lady from Austria. Since I hope to marry a Korean woman one day, this alone gives him a special place in my heart. The lady he married was an Austrian, Francesca Donner.

You can see Mrs. Donner's clothes and native language in the next photograph:

Mrs. Donner's clothing in box with German writing

Mrs. Donner, like her husband, was a frugal lady. She had her children conserve their things by not giving them fresh pencils very often.

Stubby Pencils saved by a frugal Mrs. Donner

Mrs. Donner and her husband eventually left the country again, at the sudden end of the long presidency of Dr. Rhee. They settled in a home in Hawaii. I saw a picture of this home in the museum, and was astonished at how small it was. The next picture shows the very ordinary table--similar to ones I've seen in old people's houses--from that house.

Outside the house, there is on the grounds a small building containing a wood-storage room, and two other thinking rooms, both spartan and bare.

The garden at the site is not huge, but it is beautiful and peaceful.

A commemorative statue stands in the garden, which yours truly liked enough to be photographed with.

The subject of the next picture, a small damaged Buddhist statue, was fascinating to me because the President was a devout Christian. Perhaps it is a metaphor for the memory of Syngman Rhee.

Buddhist Statue (shown larger than real size), in the garden

Syngman Rhee's last days were lived in exile in the company of his wife in his tiny house in Hawaii. Judging from this photograph, I think, thanks to her companionship, he enjoyed his days to the end.

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Postscript:
Out of all the places I've been in Korea, including its temples and palaces, this place remains for me the most interesting. It is also special because of the company of my friend. I hope that through this little post the memory of Mr. Syngman will be rehabilitated, at least for some of his countrymen; I must say, however, that this was not the purpose of my visit, as prior to the visit I knew only that Syngman Rhee was the country's first President. Seeing the modest means and the cultured interests and sincerity of this man through the museum made a great impression on me. Finally, I solicit the corrections and comments of anyone more knowledgable than I in the Comments. Also, I signed the guestbook at the museum; if you simply feel like leaving a guestbook type comment here, please feel free to do so. Thank you for visiting, online, Eewhajang. Goodbye.

Another Update Soon!

2005-05-08T12:32:00.000+09:00

I went with Hee Jung, my very likable language partner and friend to the home of Syngman Rhee, on Friday. The place was so interesting, and I took so many photographs! I'll be posting a full report later. Now, I have to find and buy a new alarm clock, and grab a bite to eat.

Hea Suk and Yungsug

2005-05-08T12:14:00.000+09:00

I met with two of my former adult students from the first adult class yesterday, and had a wonderful time! They gave me some reference letters I had requested, (there's one more on the way, too). Both of them wrote quickly, and were able to see me quickly, despite being very busy. It was such a good time, and I continue to miss that class of students--but I'm happy to know that we can be friends for life! And really, I'm honoured (Canadian spelling this time), and humbled to have such loyal friends.