Rainy season
Seoul.
Sidewalks,
Submitted to the seasonal rain,
Are flooded,
And couples,
Cheating rain,
Take refuge in European faux cafes with stupid forks.
The windows are thrown open to make a restaurant into an open-air cafe.
The seat-mate's back is to the rain
Her face being framed by cherry blossoms
Who are washed in the rain.
Passerbys cradle their umbrellas
In hues of pink, grey, gray, and rainbow
And he comments how his is broken.
Which is good, because later,
He will walk into the rain, sans umbrella
To hide his tears in the rain.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
That's very hot
Title is a reference to a Korean sketch comedy show, you can view it here: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otrl8bGejvU> . Remember, Asian men and Asian women will hold hands to show friendship, not necessarily homosexuality (but the two on the right are pretty clearly playing gay people). If anyone says anything contain the words "that's," "very," or "hot," they tend to break out into this for a few seconds. The song they sing, "Sorry," is a really popular K-pop song right now. The two guys in white are in the group that sings that song. Oh, and you guys in America might want to start getting used to this kind of stuff: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eodFU4b237s>. Apparently this group is about to release some stuff in America, most likely this song. I'm hoping something is lost in the translation b/c those English lyrics SUCK. I mean, it's K-pop so I don't know what I'm expecting, but I would be nice for some pop song somewhere to not suck (besides, of course, Aqua, whose entire CD which includes Barbie Girl is a definite winner and the only pop album I own, and proudly).
The title is also referencing the weather. Today is the first day of the year it'll break 30C (86F). Summer is definitely coming, only a few days away. I always love the summer solstice because it's the longest day of the year, and I always tell myself I'm going to get up with the sun and try to stay up 24hrs. I could've done that while in college since my schedule was whatever, but I definitely can't do that now. Oh well, maybe some day. However, since Korea doesn't do daylight savings time, the sun sets sometime after 8pm, not almost 10pm like in Charleston. It kinda kills some of the effects.
I've been working like crazy these past couple weeks. My mastery classes are a joy to teach, but they drain me with all the extra homework, grading, tests, handouts, etc. I spend 1 hour of prep time for every 1 hour of class time with them. That's pretty high, just ask any teacher. Then, I spend at least 1 hour of grading for every 1 hour of class time, so if you want to include grading as prep, the ratio is actually 2:1. In addition, I have 3 other classes that write essays or whatnot on a regular basis, and I have to correct it and give it back to them to rewrite. Unit Tests started yesterday, so I have to grade them, as well. I'm still doing online overtime, so everything considered I'd say I'm working about 60hrs/wk. My days have been going like this: wake up at 11.30, get to work by 1. Begin prepping, or grading, or do EBCs (online overtime), whichever is most pressing. Teach classes from 3.30-10, put grades and homework online, go to Cheers, a bar across the street (not named after the show, just named after the saying), and grade papers for an hour or two, go home, do EBCs or just veg out in front of my computer for an hour or two or three, go to sleep, repeat. Needless to say I'm getting tired.
Having made new friends with Grace's cousin and the bus stop girl (her name is Jade) really helps things, and I'm meeting Jade at 2pm Saturday to go to Mokdong. I've been there a couple of times but don't really remember the circumstances, so I can't say what there is to do there. Basically, I have no idea what we're doing. Doing that on Saturday takes away the time I would spend with the family doing language exchange, and I really love hanging out with them. I may see if I could start seeing them on Saturday or Sunday, depending on the week, but idk if that'll work with them. I haven't called Grace's cousin, but I'm considering calling her up and seeing if she wants to do something Sunday evening. Of course we'd meet in Seoul somewhere b/c there's nothing to do in Jukjeon (where I live), but even still she's almost 2 hours away, so even meeting in the middle means an hour of travel for each of us. I may just relax Sunday, idk.
The title is also referencing the weather. Today is the first day of the year it'll break 30C (86F). Summer is definitely coming, only a few days away. I always love the summer solstice because it's the longest day of the year, and I always tell myself I'm going to get up with the sun and try to stay up 24hrs. I could've done that while in college since my schedule was whatever, but I definitely can't do that now. Oh well, maybe some day. However, since Korea doesn't do daylight savings time, the sun sets sometime after 8pm, not almost 10pm like in Charleston. It kinda kills some of the effects.
I've been working like crazy these past couple weeks. My mastery classes are a joy to teach, but they drain me with all the extra homework, grading, tests, handouts, etc. I spend 1 hour of prep time for every 1 hour of class time with them. That's pretty high, just ask any teacher. Then, I spend at least 1 hour of grading for every 1 hour of class time, so if you want to include grading as prep, the ratio is actually 2:1. In addition, I have 3 other classes that write essays or whatnot on a regular basis, and I have to correct it and give it back to them to rewrite. Unit Tests started yesterday, so I have to grade them, as well. I'm still doing online overtime, so everything considered I'd say I'm working about 60hrs/wk. My days have been going like this: wake up at 11.30, get to work by 1. Begin prepping, or grading, or do EBCs (online overtime), whichever is most pressing. Teach classes from 3.30-10, put grades and homework online, go to Cheers, a bar across the street (not named after the show, just named after the saying), and grade papers for an hour or two, go home, do EBCs or just veg out in front of my computer for an hour or two or three, go to sleep, repeat. Needless to say I'm getting tired.
Having made new friends with Grace's cousin and the bus stop girl (her name is Jade) really helps things, and I'm meeting Jade at 2pm Saturday to go to Mokdong. I've been there a couple of times but don't really remember the circumstances, so I can't say what there is to do there. Basically, I have no idea what we're doing. Doing that on Saturday takes away the time I would spend with the family doing language exchange, and I really love hanging out with them. I may see if I could start seeing them on Saturday or Sunday, depending on the week, but idk if that'll work with them. I haven't called Grace's cousin, but I'm considering calling her up and seeing if she wants to do something Sunday evening. Of course we'd meet in Seoul somewhere b/c there's nothing to do in Jukjeon (where I live), but even still she's almost 2 hours away, so even meeting in the middle means an hour of travel for each of us. I may just relax Sunday, idk.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
An almost all-nighter
Grace had free time yesterday (quite a rarity) so I spent the afternoon with her in southern Seoul, a place called Gangnam. It's a really, really nice part of Seoul, I've been there about 5 times. Dr. Fish is there, the place where you stick your feet into the fish tank and they eat dead skin from your feet. Grace's cousin also came along, and the three of us had fun.
Grace had to be at church around 7pm so she left early, but her cousin and I had nothing to do so we walked around for a long time, then ate dinner at a sushi place. It was really good sushi, and then names were cool, too. I got Charlie Brown sushi, she got Treasure Island sushi. Good stuff. After dinner I suggested a movie, so we went and bought tickets to The Taking of Pelham 123 (the worst acting I've ever seen from John Travolta and Denzel Washington, btw, don't waste your time unless you just want to see action). The movie didn't get out until midnight, and the subways close at 11pm on weekends. I was under the impression that the buses had stopped running as well, so I thought I was stuck. Grace's cousin, meanwhile, was closer to home and took a taxi.
I hung out at the bus stop with a hundred other people trying to catch the last bus home, but I didn't know if mine would come. I finally asked a cute Korean girl to make sure I was even headed in the right direction, and her English was surprisingly good. Another problem was I had no money on my travel card, and I didn't have exact change (buses require exact change to ride). She offered to pay for my ticket since she was headed in the same direction, and of course we struck up a conversation on the bus. Turns out she lives about 10 minutes from me, and works two days on, two days off at a hotel. I'm actually about to leave right now to have dinner with her (still not 100% positive if it's a date or not, it may just be a language thing) before she heads to work.
So, instead of pulling an accidental all-nighter in Gangnam, I met a friend, got the last bus home, slept in my own bed, got up for church, and might have a date right now.
Grace had to be at church around 7pm so she left early, but her cousin and I had nothing to do so we walked around for a long time, then ate dinner at a sushi place. It was really good sushi, and then names were cool, too. I got Charlie Brown sushi, she got Treasure Island sushi. Good stuff. After dinner I suggested a movie, so we went and bought tickets to The Taking of Pelham 123 (the worst acting I've ever seen from John Travolta and Denzel Washington, btw, don't waste your time unless you just want to see action). The movie didn't get out until midnight, and the subways close at 11pm on weekends. I was under the impression that the buses had stopped running as well, so I thought I was stuck. Grace's cousin, meanwhile, was closer to home and took a taxi.
I hung out at the bus stop with a hundred other people trying to catch the last bus home, but I didn't know if mine would come. I finally asked a cute Korean girl to make sure I was even headed in the right direction, and her English was surprisingly good. Another problem was I had no money on my travel card, and I didn't have exact change (buses require exact change to ride). She offered to pay for my ticket since she was headed in the same direction, and of course we struck up a conversation on the bus. Turns out she lives about 10 minutes from me, and works two days on, two days off at a hotel. I'm actually about to leave right now to have dinner with her (still not 100% positive if it's a date or not, it may just be a language thing) before she heads to work.
So, instead of pulling an accidental all-nighter in Gangnam, I met a friend, got the last bus home, slept in my own bed, got up for church, and might have a date right now.
Friday, June 5, 2009
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful
The weather here is AMAZING! Everyone kept telling me how hot the summer is, and I kept laughing in their face. Well, it's June and I still haven't turned on the a/c (unless you count my 5-day roommate insisting upon it being turned on...women). I've also had the windows open for almost a week now. It does get warm and sticky in the day, but I work until 10pm so by the time I get home the weather is beautiful. I sleep with a thick sheet on me, and I actually woke up around 10am this morning, a little chilly. It was wonderful. Eat your heart out you sweating Charlestonians. (side note, the weather thing on my blog is wrong. It's reporting from Argentina, even though I have it pointed at Seoul. I'm going to continue to try to fix it, or just take it off. I'm sure none of you look at it anyway, since you can't read celcius ;)
Saturday is Korean Memorial Day, and Topia is going to a baseball game on Sunday. From what I can tell, the baseball teams here don't have city names and mascots. Instead, the company that sponsors them gives them their name. For instance, there's a Samsung team, an LG team, etc. I don't know how the mascots work, but they probably have them. I have to imagine that in Asia, where everything that can be drawn as a cartoon is drawn as a cartoon, they'd have silly mascots.
My new classes are great. The two mastery classes that I teach are full of brilliant students. They're all fluent in English, and if they were in America they'd be in a gifted and talented class, or whatever you call it. As such, we're already getting into literary analysis with 4th and 5th graders. It's a joy to teach them, but it's also a lot of work. I have to do some serious prep work, and I can't always figure out the answers to their homework while in the class. So, I basically do the same homework they do, except the writing. My other classes are all new to me, with a handful of exceptions. I'm glad they're new, though, because I made a lot of mistakes last semester with discipline, and I can begin to fix that this semester. It sounds kinda weird and mean, but you really do have to train your kids like they're your pet or something. If you train them well, they'll act better and learn better, but if you don't train them then class is a pain and less learning gets done. I nearly threw a student out of class on the first day. That's the class I know I'm going to have problems with; they're in 6th grade and their English isn't very good. They've also been together for a few semesters so they're very familiar and comfortable with each other, and it's almost as if I'm walking in on a conversation, and have to awkwardly stand there until it's finished. I have to train them to look to me and not to each other.
Oh well, challenges ahead, lessons behind, weather all around.
Saturday is Korean Memorial Day, and Topia is going to a baseball game on Sunday. From what I can tell, the baseball teams here don't have city names and mascots. Instead, the company that sponsors them gives them their name. For instance, there's a Samsung team, an LG team, etc. I don't know how the mascots work, but they probably have them. I have to imagine that in Asia, where everything that can be drawn as a cartoon is drawn as a cartoon, they'd have silly mascots.
My new classes are great. The two mastery classes that I teach are full of brilliant students. They're all fluent in English, and if they were in America they'd be in a gifted and talented class, or whatever you call it. As such, we're already getting into literary analysis with 4th and 5th graders. It's a joy to teach them, but it's also a lot of work. I have to do some serious prep work, and I can't always figure out the answers to their homework while in the class. So, I basically do the same homework they do, except the writing. My other classes are all new to me, with a handful of exceptions. I'm glad they're new, though, because I made a lot of mistakes last semester with discipline, and I can begin to fix that this semester. It sounds kinda weird and mean, but you really do have to train your kids like they're your pet or something. If you train them well, they'll act better and learn better, but if you don't train them then class is a pain and less learning gets done. I nearly threw a student out of class on the first day. That's the class I know I'm going to have problems with; they're in 6th grade and their English isn't very good. They've also been together for a few semesters so they're very familiar and comfortable with each other, and it's almost as if I'm walking in on a conversation, and have to awkwardly stand there until it's finished. I have to train them to look to me and not to each other.
Oh well, challenges ahead, lessons behind, weather all around.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
End of Innocence or Education via Music
My youngest school children who are really good at English had a story last week entitled "Who Are You?" I asked them if they had heard of CSI and none of them had. I am constantly surprised at the amount of American pop culture these kids know, so I thought at least one of them would be familiar with the show. I guess they just don't get it over here. Anyway, I played the song, Who Are You, by The Who, and the kids loved it! I was shocked. I thought they would hate it because I've found very few Koreans who like Classic Rock. They loved it, and have asked to listen to it everyday since, and who am I to refuse little children who want to listen to The Who?
While at the beach last Saturday, I let Diane listen to the music I like since all she listens to is Korean pop music (keep in mind she's a 12-year old girl). First I had her listen to System of a Down. She didn't really like it. Then I had her listen to Dream Theater. She didn't really like it. Then I had her listen to Coheed & Cambria. She didn't really like it. Then I had her listen to Underoath. She didn't really understand it. All in all, I believe I've ruined the innocence of a number of children. I hope to ruin some more.
I have a friend whose school closed down and wasn't given any warning. She was going to find another job, but her boyfriend unofficially proposed to her, so she decided to go back to Canada instead. In the meantime, her school didn't fully close down, it just lost a lot of money and only had 10-15 students. She was still trying to teach when and what she could, but her school didn't really pay her. They also kinda kicked her out of her apartment.
This all happened in a matter of 2 weeks. She had no place to go, and a medium-to-large dog, so her friends didn't want to help her. I, who hates keeping animals as inside pets, whose apartment is immaculate, who hates dogs because they always lick everything, offered for her to stay at my place for a few days until her flight. It was an interesting 5 days during which my toilet seat got broken off my toilet, the entire floor of my apartment got licked, the dog peed twice in its kennel and as a result got bathed twice in my bathroom (hence the toilet seat), she nearly chewed up the ink pen I got in Guatemala, and hair and dander got EVERYWHERE, amongst other things too traumatic for me to remember. She left Tuesday morning, and I'm still cleaning.
I did get paid for the experience, in a manner of speaking. She left behind some useful things, such as a full-length mirror, some decent speakers, a fitted sheet, an electric adapter, an outlet extender, some soap, a hammer and nails, a wrench, two small dry-erase boards, and some shoes that I will shortly turn into cash if she doesn't want them.
There's a girl who works at the front desk at work. She's a temp, and kinda cute, and she likes to look at me and smile, so I like to look back at her and smile. It's a nice routine we got going. Today, I was so bold as to ask my boss if inter-office dating were ok. I would never ask such a thing if it were a fellow-teacher, but she works at the front desk, AND she's a temp, so I thought maybe. Well, the short answer is no, and the long answer is no, and she likes to look at all the guys and smile. That kinda took the wind out of my sails, but oh well. My boss did remind me she's a temp, and she might leave soon. Here's hoping.
While at the beach last Saturday, I let Diane listen to the music I like since all she listens to is Korean pop music (keep in mind she's a 12-year old girl). First I had her listen to System of a Down. She didn't really like it. Then I had her listen to Dream Theater. She didn't really like it. Then I had her listen to Coheed & Cambria. She didn't really like it. Then I had her listen to Underoath. She didn't really understand it. All in all, I believe I've ruined the innocence of a number of children. I hope to ruin some more.
I have a friend whose school closed down and wasn't given any warning. She was going to find another job, but her boyfriend unofficially proposed to her, so she decided to go back to Canada instead. In the meantime, her school didn't fully close down, it just lost a lot of money and only had 10-15 students. She was still trying to teach when and what she could, but her school didn't really pay her. They also kinda kicked her out of her apartment.
This all happened in a matter of 2 weeks. She had no place to go, and a medium-to-large dog, so her friends didn't want to help her. I, who hates keeping animals as inside pets, whose apartment is immaculate, who hates dogs because they always lick everything, offered for her to stay at my place for a few days until her flight. It was an interesting 5 days during which my toilet seat got broken off my toilet, the entire floor of my apartment got licked, the dog peed twice in its kennel and as a result got bathed twice in my bathroom (hence the toilet seat), she nearly chewed up the ink pen I got in Guatemala, and hair and dander got EVERYWHERE, amongst other things too traumatic for me to remember. She left Tuesday morning, and I'm still cleaning.
I did get paid for the experience, in a manner of speaking. She left behind some useful things, such as a full-length mirror, some decent speakers, a fitted sheet, an electric adapter, an outlet extender, some soap, a hammer and nails, a wrench, two small dry-erase boards, and some shoes that I will shortly turn into cash if she doesn't want them.
There's a girl who works at the front desk at work. She's a temp, and kinda cute, and she likes to look at me and smile, so I like to look back at her and smile. It's a nice routine we got going. Today, I was so bold as to ask my boss if inter-office dating were ok. I would never ask such a thing if it were a fellow-teacher, but she works at the front desk, AND she's a temp, so I thought maybe. Well, the short answer is no, and the long answer is no, and she likes to look at all the guys and smile. That kinda took the wind out of my sails, but oh well. My boss did remind me she's a temp, and she might leave soon. Here's hoping.
Monday, May 25, 2009
A Real Update
Sorry, it's been very long since I've said anything of substance about my life here. I have a lot to say, but I may not remember it all. I'm also tired so I don't feel like writing it and then putting it in order, so I'm just going to write it as it comes to mind. If it's a little scatterbrained, that's why.
First, another installment of Flatter the Teacher by Writing an Insane Story and Putting Him as the Main Character (same student as Flying Pig, and this one is supposed to be about earthquakes. It's ok, but the ending makes it great, to me.):
Once upon a time, the big forest is state at middle of peaceful country. In the forst, there are small ccloset with dark energy. It's monster closet. Allof monsters are sleep at there. One day magician came and locked there closet's door.
Long time later, big earthquake hit the peaceful country. Country's land is break everywhere. It's terrible accident. The small closet's door is open. Ghosts and monsters are freed. Magician notice it and go t othe big forest again. Road is very difficult to pass, but his magical power is wonderful! When he arrived, monsters are beat with him. Magician locked them in big new closet and throw it to underground. Earthquake crash earth's surface and monster closet is fell to thhere. So we can't see monsters and ghosts today.
This story's reason is earthquake is best way to destroy monster house or bad teachers.
Again, nothing showing that he understood the story or anything.
I went to the beach Saturday with the choir from my church. When we think of going to the beach, we think of swimming, and lying out, and swimming some more. Apparently, when Koreans think of going to the beach, they think of playing dozens of organized games. There wasn't one minute of non-scheduled time. Basically, we played church games. I was on the winning team of one game and got a prize. When I got home I opened it to discover that it was 4 tubes of toothpaste. Oh yeah, Koreans are crazy about their teeth. Recently Korea put out the 3-3-3 campaign. It means brush your teeth 3 times a day, for 3 minutes, and within 3 minutes of eating. 4 tubes is a year's supply, so that's nice, no more buying toothpaste for me.
I also met a really nice, really cute Korean girl who was going to college in Kansas but was home for the summer. She also has a really nice boyfriend. So anyway. The reason I went to the beach with the church choir was that my friend Peter, whose family I do a language exchange with, is in the choir and he invited me. The entire day lots of people were trying to recruit me for their different church activities, which I abviously was having nothing of. Koreans are busy, and I don't know if that's because they like to be busy, or if they're just trained to be busy from childhood, but they tried to make me busy. Also, ah-ja-mahs (older, married Koreans ladies who wear really big sunvisors and/or pollution masks) were sizing me up for their daughters. I got on the bus and within 2 minutes one was already asking if I was married, how old I was, etc.
Peter's oldest daughter came, but his wife and youngest daughter didn't. His wife has sharp pains in her lower neck/upper back, and it sounds like a problem with the discs in her spine. His youngest daughter didn't want to go without mommy, so she stayed home, too. As a result, I got to spend a lot of time with just Peter and his daughter, Diane, who's 13. I don't know if it's just a Korean thing, but it seems she and I feel comfortable sitting right next to each other and not saying anything for a long time, and then talking for a long time. It's kinda weird to call her a good friend, but I do think of her like that, and also a baby sister.
Today I got my list of classes for next semester. I don't teach any of the same classes at all, so it's all new students (with a few possible exceptions due to repeaters and kids changes days, etc). One thing I'm pretty excited about is that I get to teach two mastery classes. These are students whose English is basically fluent. I taught the level just below them, last semester, and now I get to teach them. It could be fun, but I hear that we, as teachers, have a lot of homework because of that class. Also, last semester I had 26 hours but this semester I teach 28. We're getting lots of new students, still, because this will only be the 3rd semester this campus has been in existence. We just hired 2 new Korean teachers and one new foreign teacher, though there are rumors that one of our current Korean teachers will be leaving for health reasons.
I have even more to post, but I'll just send this through and hope to write more later this week.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Yet Another Installment of Flatter my Teacher by Writing About Him
Same class as the Flying Pig story, different student. The topic was "write a story about earthquakes." This student got a little closer, I guess.
Once upon a time, there lived the mighty soldier Jason. Jason loved to kill people, so he killed people as many as he could and ate them. One day God came to him and said I'm going to tell you to stop eating people, but Jason didn't listen. Then the god was angry and tried to make people new, because these people's were full of sin.First he sent an earthquake united states and distroied the buildings. Next, he sent an earth quake to Japan, but this modified were not a 3 or 4 it was more than a 9 whitch is the best dangerous earthquake. The damages were buildings were falling apart, and people dying. However, suddently nice, friendly our here Super man came and flied to heaven and kill the god, so the earth was happy again. Happy ending.
I'm beginning to worry about my class.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Teacher's Day Swag
After lunch at Outback, a foreign teacher mentioned having a competition to see who got the most gifts for Teacher's Day. A Korean teacher said that'd be a good idea, and then we realized that the Korean teachers would get the most because they're homeroom teachers and call the parents all the time. So, we decided that homeroom teachers couldn't compete. There wasn't much interest in having a competition, but it was an interesting idea, and after the first class I think everyone else gave up anyway.
By the end of the first class I already had two handfuls of stuff. My second class gave me so much swag that I had to carry it to my desk in two trips. Needless to say, I won. Here's a picture of all the swank junk I got. You can see two mugs, multiple boxes of cookies and chocolates, a loaf of sweet bread, some shampoo and conditioner, cappuccino (me and Grace got an 8-pack of them, but shared them with the other teachers), soaps, mentos, mints, cards, and carnations. Carnations are the traditional Teacher's Day gift, and I got real ones, fake ones, pens with Carnations on them, carnation candies, etc. Apparently I'm the best teacher in the world.
Also pictured are some police officers jumping rope, and a special drink served only in Seoul.
By the end of the first class I already had two handfuls of stuff. My second class gave me so much swag that I had to carry it to my desk in two trips. Needless to say, I won. Here's a picture of all the swank junk I got. You can see two mugs, multiple boxes of cookies and chocolates, a loaf of sweet bread, some shampoo and conditioner, cappuccino (me and Grace got an 8-pack of them, but shared them with the other teachers), soaps, mentos, mints, cards, and carnations. Carnations are the traditional Teacher's Day gift, and I got real ones, fake ones, pens with Carnations on them, carnation candies, etc. Apparently I'm the best teacher in the world.
Also pictured are some police officers jumping rope, and a special drink served only in Seoul.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Teacher's Day
Today (Friday) is Teacher's Day here in Korea. Topia is taking us out to lunch to Outback Steakhouse (no rules, just right), and our students are probably going to give us presents. I've already gotten a few because I don't see all my students on Friday. One of my students got me and his other two teachers some decorative soaps. I was quite offended at him telling me I stink, so I took a poop in the box he gave me and sent it to his house. As a guy, I'm already using the "decorative" soaps. I've been told by the female teachers that I'm barbaric because of this. So it goes. Another student got me cookies, because I told everyone I wanted cookies. Well, she got an 'A' and everyone else failed. She also wrote me a note, and here it is transcribed:
To. Jason teacher...v
Hello? Jason teacher! I'm a Chelthy...
This week Friday (5/15) is mentor's day. So, I make the teacher's presnt.
I like you...because you is very funny and kind, smart. I like funny boy...because with there is I'm so happy. I like happy smile face. ke,ke ^^
I think you is very told, teacher...and handsome. My present is cookie and letter. Letter is this and cookie is very delicus. I like this cookie. You eat think cookie is good taste. Very thanks teacher.
From. chelthy v
First, I think v is a heart, I'm not sure. Second, her name is Chelsea but she spells it Chelthy because there is no 'th' sound in Korean, so to them it sounds like 'ls.' Third, ke,ke is their way of saying hehe, and ^^ are smiling eyes. Fourth, I think "very told" is supposed to be "very old," though I'm not sure. I tell all my students I'm 84 years old, and some of them believe me. Fifth, the cookies were indeed delicus, and I ate them all last night. Sixth, in Korean there is no such thing as capitalized letters or articles (the, a, an, etc), so some of the students don't use capital letters in names, and they sometimes put articles in front of their names, hence "I'm a Chelthy."
I hope you enjoyed another installment of Laugh-at-the-Korean-Children's-English.
P.S. Check out that forecast for Seoul for the next couple days. For those of you in the undeveloped world, 17C is in the 60s. That's right, it's May and in the 60s. People tell me it's going to be the hottest summer of my life here in Korea, and I just laugh at them. They clearly have no knowledge of the Charlestonian summer. This is a quote from the Mark Twain, and is about India, but I think Charleston can replace India.
To. Jason teacher...v
Hello? Jason teacher! I'm a Chelthy...
This week Friday (5/15) is mentor's day. So, I make the teacher's presnt.
I like you...because you is very funny and kind, smart. I like funny boy...because with there is I'm so happy. I like happy smile face. ke,ke ^^
I think you is very told, teacher...and handsome. My present is cookie and letter. Letter is this and cookie is very delicus. I like this cookie. You eat think cookie is good taste. Very thanks teacher.
From. chelthy v
First, I think v is a heart, I'm not sure. Second, her name is Chelsea but she spells it Chelthy because there is no 'th' sound in Korean, so to them it sounds like 'ls.' Third, ke,ke is their way of saying hehe, and ^^ are smiling eyes. Fourth, I think "very told" is supposed to be "very old," though I'm not sure. I tell all my students I'm 84 years old, and some of them believe me. Fifth, the cookies were indeed delicus, and I ate them all last night. Sixth, in Korean there is no such thing as capitalized letters or articles (the, a, an, etc), so some of the students don't use capital letters in names, and they sometimes put articles in front of their names, hence "I'm a Chelthy."
I hope you enjoyed another installment of Laugh-at-the-Korean-Children's-English.
P.S. Check out that forecast for Seoul for the next couple days. For those of you in the undeveloped world, 17C is in the 60s. That's right, it's May and in the 60s. People tell me it's going to be the hottest summer of my life here in Korea, and I just laugh at them. They clearly have no knowledge of the Charlestonian summer. This is a quote from the Mark Twain, and is about India, but I think Charleston can replace India.
In India, "cold weather" is merely a convenctional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Bukhan Mountain
This post is rather lengthy, sorry. I know not all of you have the time to sit down and read all of this at once, but I hope that doesn't keep you from reading. I began writing as a literati about halfway through, albeit a bad one because my writing is much out of practice, so I apologize if the voice seems very odd. Without too much further ado (do, haha, if you laugh you're weird like me), here's my account of Bukhansan.
Finally, I'm writing about Bukhansan (san means mountain) which I climbed a week ago. Like I said it was amazing. Four of us went, Peter, Karen, Sarah, and myself. Peter went because he's a health nut and wanted to get an exercise or something, and Karen came just for fun, even though she has really bad allergies. Sarah organized the whole thing and I went just so I could wear my Vibram Fivefingers shoes, haha. Nah, I went b/c I love that kind of stuff, and I wanted to get some good pictures. I did get a LOT of stares, and some people tried to tell me in English, "beautiful shoes." I think they loved them. I probably could've sold a pair or two if I had them on me.
Anyway, Sarah was the mastermind behind this, so she chose our destination. She wanted to go to the Bukhan Fortress, but we couldn't figure out where that was. We decided on going to Daedanmoon, or Extreme Gate. We figured that was close enough to a fortress, and of course it was the furthest hike from where we started: 4.7km, or just under 3mi, one way, up the hill, in snow, barefoot.
We started off and realized that we were still in Seoul, and not quite in nature yet. The trail was so crowded that, at times, we had to move off the path to let others go by. A friend told me that Bukhansan is the world's busiest national park, and I can believe it. There was also a small village about 10 minutes into our hike, with a restaurant, street vendor, and a couple of buildings way off the path that I took to be homes or something. I thought that would be a nice life, living on the mountain, right next to the river, and giving food to stupid tourists.
Eventually, the crowd thinned out to just 20-30 people in sight at any given time, rather than over 50. The trail also widened, and we could believe we were in nature...sorta. There were far too many trees and not enough vistas, so pictures were rarely taken. Instead of a nice outing, alone, with beautiful views, it became an oppressive hike with people elbowing past. There were, however, some nice things along the way. We investigated a Buddhist temple off the path, and there were simple statues with Korean script on them. People had piled rocks beside them and said a prayer for luck. A prayer to whom I do not know, but I assume the Buddha. We met one or two people who could speak English fairly well, and walked with them for a time.
Eventually, however, morale began to die as Peter wasn't getting the workout he wanted, and Karen's allergies were bad and she wasn't seeing the sights she wanted. Sarah and I were also disappointed, but were trying to make the best of it. Peter and Karen mentioned going back, and when Sarah and I said we wanted to go on but that they could back, they felt like they would offend us if they did, so they kept going with us.
Someone voiced the opinion that I had been taking too much time at every single place to stop and play in the water, or climbing every rock there was, or venturing off the path to look closer at certain things. So, I tried to hurry ahead when there was nothing to see, and explore when I had the time. I climbed up a rock and found a small Buddhist temple at the top that had some construction going on. A man was sitting under the roof, snacking on some gimbap. I wish I had a picture because it was so simple and pure, but pictures are not always worth a thousand words, while a memory is often worth a million. With my Vibrams I took every opportunity to splash in the mountain-cold water.
The kilometers crawled past, but the people became more scarce. We were no longer bothered by crowds coming down the mountain, we no longer had to move out of the way for others, and it was becoming more like nature. For a time, the four of us spread out and were walking generally alone.
It was in such a state, and with no other Korean in site, that I overtook the bend that afforded me the first view of Daedanmoon. My feet ached, my back ached, I had stubbed a toe on a rock, my shoulders ached from my pack. I nearly fell down with relief, but the trail did not end at the Gate. Off to either side of the gate, a wall ran. I had no idea what it was for, but my first thought was of the Great Wall, and perhaps it had at one time been a boundary against the north, though I doubt it because North and South Korea have only been split for 60 years. I waited for the others to catch me up, and while Karen and Peter absorbed the view of the valley below, Sarah and I explored the path along the wall. Off to the left and beyond the hill we could see down into Seoul, expanding into the mists of pollution, much like seeing Hong Kong from Victoria Peak.
After seeing to the left, Peter and Karen said they were leaving, so Sarah and I decided to go down with them, leaving the wall to the right unexplored. It called to me, however, and within a minute of leaving the Gate I said I'm going back. Sarah immediately followed, and our group split. We said we'd hurry and tried to catch them up on the way down. I'm glad we decided to explore more, because the view from there was among the best I've ever seen, and made the trip worth it and more.
The trail to the right was far more difficult, and at times you had to pull yourself up using a rope. Finally, we crested a large boulder, and the descent on the far side was too steep for Sarah. She decided to stay and enjoy the view from there while I treaded on. Down the boulder and up another hill, I was confronted by a sheer rock face. I had seen others beyond it, so I knew it could be scaled, so I went about climbing. I want to say it was 25 feet high, but more likely it was 15 and my adrenaline made it grow. I was very thankful for my Vibrams at that point, allowing me to catch toe holds that would've been much more difficult in tennis shoes, and especially in hiking boots.
When I got to the top, there was an older Korean couple there to greet me. They were pouring over a map, and as it was after 5pm I assumed they were taking a rest before treading on to a camp site that night. I wanted to go with, but that boulder I sat upon was the end of my trail. The video I took in the web album is from this vantage point. Go here to check out all the photos and the video: <http://picasaweb.google.com/jmphry/bukhansan#>.
On my descent, I was faced again with that rock wall. Climbing down is infinitely harder than up, and I had no idea how I was going to get down. I almost started when I heard a Korean man's voice say, "Let's go this way." It was the man from the boulder, and he might have saved my life. He led me around and down to a rope, where I could repel down the side. So, as it turns out, that's how everyone else got up there! I didn't have to do any rock-climbing or nothing. It was much longer, but much safer, and I was grateful for the help.
At the bottom of the rope the mountain got very steep for a short way, and we had to skip and slide down. I was catching myself on trees using my hands, when one branch stump caught my left middle finger and left a gash over 1cm long. Blood immediately covered my finger, and I had to take the bandana I bought at the bottom of the mountain from off my head and wrap my finger. Blood soaked through the bandana, but there was nothing for it but to trudge on.
I met back up with Sarah, showed her some of the photos, and we started down. It was past 5pm and the sun was setting behind the mountain, so I knew we were racing the horizon as well as the peak. We wanted to catch up to Karen and Peter, but we had spent too much time sightseeing, and we were both very tired. Sarah was so tired she began scooting her feet along the ground, and tripped more than once. I made her slow down, fearing a twist or sprang and me schlepping her 3km down the hill. Nearly halfway down it started to sprinkle, which I welcomed, but Sarah broke out an umbrella. Silly girl! Oh well, to each his own.
Of course it took less time to go down than up, and we beat the sun, but near the bottom things stopped looking familiar. We got to an enormous rock slab that was sitting at quite an angle. To cross it was very difficult, and neither of us remembered it from the ascent. We turned back, and tried to find the path we had treaded up. After 20 minutes of circles and back-tracking, and trying to call Peter and Karen, we ran into some Aussies. We chatted with them and followed them to the trail. They were good guys, brothers actually, and we were thankful for their help as well as their company because by that time nearly everyone was off the mountain and we were entertaining thoughts of being lost on the mountain for the night.
We were off the mountain and at the bus stop just after sundown. Now we had nearly 2 hours of buses and subways back home before we could shower and nurse our wounds. My pack was merely the same backpack I've had since 8th grade, no hiking pack in the least, and when I removed it I discovered that tennis-ball-sized knots had developed in my shoulders and they were barely mobile if left unmoved for more than a minute or two. The shower I took that night was one of the best of my life. It took nearly 5 days for the aches and pains to disappear, but now I'm recoved and I want to tackle another trail. Perhaps the highest peak is in order now, hopefully it will afford more photos.
Finally, I'm writing about Bukhansan (san means mountain) which I climbed a week ago. Like I said it was amazing. Four of us went, Peter, Karen, Sarah, and myself. Peter went because he's a health nut and wanted to get an exercise or something, and Karen came just for fun, even though she has really bad allergies. Sarah organized the whole thing and I went just so I could wear my Vibram Fivefingers shoes, haha. Nah, I went b/c I love that kind of stuff, and I wanted to get some good pictures. I did get a LOT of stares, and some people tried to tell me in English, "beautiful shoes." I think they loved them. I probably could've sold a pair or two if I had them on me.
Anyway, Sarah was the mastermind behind this, so she chose our destination. She wanted to go to the Bukhan Fortress, but we couldn't figure out where that was. We decided on going to Daedanmoon, or Extreme Gate. We figured that was close enough to a fortress, and of course it was the furthest hike from where we started: 4.7km, or just under 3mi, one way, up the hill, in snow, barefoot.
We started off and realized that we were still in Seoul, and not quite in nature yet. The trail was so crowded that, at times, we had to move off the path to let others go by. A friend told me that Bukhansan is the world's busiest national park, and I can believe it. There was also a small village about 10 minutes into our hike, with a restaurant, street vendor, and a couple of buildings way off the path that I took to be homes or something. I thought that would be a nice life, living on the mountain, right next to the river, and giving food to stupid tourists.
Eventually, the crowd thinned out to just 20-30 people in sight at any given time, rather than over 50. The trail also widened, and we could believe we were in nature...sorta. There were far too many trees and not enough vistas, so pictures were rarely taken. Instead of a nice outing, alone, with beautiful views, it became an oppressive hike with people elbowing past. There were, however, some nice things along the way. We investigated a Buddhist temple off the path, and there were simple statues with Korean script on them. People had piled rocks beside them and said a prayer for luck. A prayer to whom I do not know, but I assume the Buddha. We met one or two people who could speak English fairly well, and walked with them for a time.
Eventually, however, morale began to die as Peter wasn't getting the workout he wanted, and Karen's allergies were bad and she wasn't seeing the sights she wanted. Sarah and I were also disappointed, but were trying to make the best of it. Peter and Karen mentioned going back, and when Sarah and I said we wanted to go on but that they could back, they felt like they would offend us if they did, so they kept going with us.
Someone voiced the opinion that I had been taking too much time at every single place to stop and play in the water, or climbing every rock there was, or venturing off the path to look closer at certain things. So, I tried to hurry ahead when there was nothing to see, and explore when I had the time. I climbed up a rock and found a small Buddhist temple at the top that had some construction going on. A man was sitting under the roof, snacking on some gimbap. I wish I had a picture because it was so simple and pure, but pictures are not always worth a thousand words, while a memory is often worth a million. With my Vibrams I took every opportunity to splash in the mountain-cold water.
The kilometers crawled past, but the people became more scarce. We were no longer bothered by crowds coming down the mountain, we no longer had to move out of the way for others, and it was becoming more like nature. For a time, the four of us spread out and were walking generally alone.
It was in such a state, and with no other Korean in site, that I overtook the bend that afforded me the first view of Daedanmoon. My feet ached, my back ached, I had stubbed a toe on a rock, my shoulders ached from my pack. I nearly fell down with relief, but the trail did not end at the Gate. Off to either side of the gate, a wall ran. I had no idea what it was for, but my first thought was of the Great Wall, and perhaps it had at one time been a boundary against the north, though I doubt it because North and South Korea have only been split for 60 years. I waited for the others to catch me up, and while Karen and Peter absorbed the view of the valley below, Sarah and I explored the path along the wall. Off to the left and beyond the hill we could see down into Seoul, expanding into the mists of pollution, much like seeing Hong Kong from Victoria Peak.
After seeing to the left, Peter and Karen said they were leaving, so Sarah and I decided to go down with them, leaving the wall to the right unexplored. It called to me, however, and within a minute of leaving the Gate I said I'm going back. Sarah immediately followed, and our group split. We said we'd hurry and tried to catch them up on the way down. I'm glad we decided to explore more, because the view from there was among the best I've ever seen, and made the trip worth it and more.
The trail to the right was far more difficult, and at times you had to pull yourself up using a rope. Finally, we crested a large boulder, and the descent on the far side was too steep for Sarah. She decided to stay and enjoy the view from there while I treaded on. Down the boulder and up another hill, I was confronted by a sheer rock face. I had seen others beyond it, so I knew it could be scaled, so I went about climbing. I want to say it was 25 feet high, but more likely it was 15 and my adrenaline made it grow. I was very thankful for my Vibrams at that point, allowing me to catch toe holds that would've been much more difficult in tennis shoes, and especially in hiking boots.
When I got to the top, there was an older Korean couple there to greet me. They were pouring over a map, and as it was after 5pm I assumed they were taking a rest before treading on to a camp site that night. I wanted to go with, but that boulder I sat upon was the end of my trail. The video I took in the web album is from this vantage point. Go here to check out all the photos and the video: <http://picasaweb.google.com/jmphry/bukhansan#>.
On my descent, I was faced again with that rock wall. Climbing down is infinitely harder than up, and I had no idea how I was going to get down. I almost started when I heard a Korean man's voice say, "Let's go this way." It was the man from the boulder, and he might have saved my life. He led me around and down to a rope, where I could repel down the side. So, as it turns out, that's how everyone else got up there! I didn't have to do any rock-climbing or nothing. It was much longer, but much safer, and I was grateful for the help.
At the bottom of the rope the mountain got very steep for a short way, and we had to skip and slide down. I was catching myself on trees using my hands, when one branch stump caught my left middle finger and left a gash over 1cm long. Blood immediately covered my finger, and I had to take the bandana I bought at the bottom of the mountain from off my head and wrap my finger. Blood soaked through the bandana, but there was nothing for it but to trudge on.
I met back up with Sarah, showed her some of the photos, and we started down. It was past 5pm and the sun was setting behind the mountain, so I knew we were racing the horizon as well as the peak. We wanted to catch up to Karen and Peter, but we had spent too much time sightseeing, and we were both very tired. Sarah was so tired she began scooting her feet along the ground, and tripped more than once. I made her slow down, fearing a twist or sprang and me schlepping her 3km down the hill. Nearly halfway down it started to sprinkle, which I welcomed, but Sarah broke out an umbrella. Silly girl! Oh well, to each his own.
Of course it took less time to go down than up, and we beat the sun, but near the bottom things stopped looking familiar. We got to an enormous rock slab that was sitting at quite an angle. To cross it was very difficult, and neither of us remembered it from the ascent. We turned back, and tried to find the path we had treaded up. After 20 minutes of circles and back-tracking, and trying to call Peter and Karen, we ran into some Aussies. We chatted with them and followed them to the trail. They were good guys, brothers actually, and we were thankful for their help as well as their company because by that time nearly everyone was off the mountain and we were entertaining thoughts of being lost on the mountain for the night.
We were off the mountain and at the bus stop just after sundown. Now we had nearly 2 hours of buses and subways back home before we could shower and nurse our wounds. My pack was merely the same backpack I've had since 8th grade, no hiking pack in the least, and when I removed it I discovered that tennis-ball-sized knots had developed in my shoulders and they were barely mobile if left unmoved for more than a minute or two. The shower I took that night was one of the best of my life. It took nearly 5 days for the aches and pains to disappear, but now I'm recoved and I want to tackle another trail. Perhaps the highest peak is in order now, hopefully it will afford more photos.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Flying Pig
Long long time ago, one tallest boy named Jason was lived. His height is 1310 meters. His so happy because he can stump small villages and people one day, he think, 'I want see what creatures are live at sky'. So, he put mountain upon another. Next, he jumped and arrived sky.
First, he saw pink creatures. It have wings and they are singing like bird. They are singing flying pigs. Their sing is like this, "Flying pig, Flying big, we are the ham, Flying pig, Flying pig, we are the ham."
Second, he saw white creatures. It have furry hair and they are jumping like rabbit. They are singing jumping lambs. Their sang is "Jumping jumping, jumping lamb, crazy, pinky, browny Lolipop...la la lar lar la." Jason think it's great song. When he got lots of years, he become a teacher
Jason teacher is jumping and flying at classroom and singing, "Flying pig, Flying pig. We are the ham." So, students face going to be dark. Next day, we can't find the tallest teacher Jason.
This is a story a student of mine wrote. The assignment was to write a creative essay about tornadoes, and this is what he gave me. I guess he didn't hear what I said, or hoped to flatter me enough that I'd give him an A. Well, the child got an A.
I went mountain climbing on Tuesday, I'll post about that in the next day or so. It was amazing and I've got some amazing pictures.
First, he saw pink creatures. It have wings and they are singing like bird. They are singing flying pigs. Their sing is like this, "Flying pig, Flying big, we are the ham, Flying pig, Flying pig, we are the ham."
Second, he saw white creatures. It have furry hair and they are jumping like rabbit. They are singing jumping lambs. Their sang is "Jumping jumping, jumping lamb, crazy, pinky, browny Lolipop...la la lar lar la." Jason think it's great song. When he got lots of years, he become a teacher
Jason teacher is jumping and flying at classroom and singing, "Flying pig, Flying pig. We are the ham." So, students face going to be dark. Next day, we can't find the tallest teacher Jason.
This is a story a student of mine wrote. The assignment was to write a creative essay about tornadoes, and this is what he gave me. I guess he didn't hear what I said, or hoped to flatter me enough that I'd give him an A. Well, the child got an A.
I went mountain climbing on Tuesday, I'll post about that in the next day or so. It was amazing and I've got some amazing pictures.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Let's get accosted every day!
So that girl who was a discipline problem last week brought me a coffee today! Well, of course her mother bought it, but it was pretty nice. It makes me depressed as hell, though, because it was a cheap coffee (stop laughing and lemme finish). Other parents have brought in 2 dozen Dunkin Donuts, other parents will bring in a few pizzas, some bring in boxes of chocolates, for no reason. And, when a student misbehaves the parents usually buy the teacher something of that caliber, but this child only brought in a coffee. The mom was very worried that I would hate her child, think she was bad, etc etc, so it was clear that the mother was upset, and should've sent something pretty nice, but I get the feeling that they maybe don't have enough money to buy something nicer. And that, my friend, is why it depresses me. I didn't care about the coffee, they could've kept that for all I cared. Oh well, I'm probably looking into this too much and the mother just didn't know what to buy a male teacher. But it still depresses me.
Tomorrow is Children's Day! I may be doing something with some friends, or I may just sleep all day, either one is fine with me. I mentioned last post that lots of students' public schools are closed Fri-Tues, and one class said none of them would be here today. Well, they all showed up, little bastards. I told them not to come, but oh well. I'm even two days ahead in that class somehow, so we could've missed today and it wouldn't have even matter. I love having tomorrow off, but Tuesdays are my easiest days so it would've been even nicer to have a MWF off, but oh well, any day is nice. There are 10 national holidays in the Korean calendar, and we get all of them off. However, this year, 8 of them fall on a weekend, so we only get 2 days off all year! Kinda sucks, but I still get my 10 vaca days. When you come visit me, as I know every single one of you are, give me a long heads up so I can get the days off.
Tomorrow is Children's Day! I may be doing something with some friends, or I may just sleep all day, either one is fine with me. I mentioned last post that lots of students' public schools are closed Fri-Tues, and one class said none of them would be here today. Well, they all showed up, little bastards. I told them not to come, but oh well. I'm even two days ahead in that class somehow, so we could've missed today and it wouldn't have even matter. I love having tomorrow off, but Tuesdays are my easiest days so it would've been even nicer to have a MWF off, but oh well, any day is nice. There are 10 national holidays in the Korean calendar, and we get all of them off. However, this year, 8 of them fall on a weekend, so we only get 2 days off all year! Kinda sucks, but I still get my 10 vaca days. When you come visit me, as I know every single one of you are, give me a long heads up so I can get the days off.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
*Tear
Last night I had my first good beer since I've been here. I went into Seoul with some friends and went to a bar called Freebird, haha. They had Hoegaarden and Guinness, and I nearly wept. I tried a beer I had never heard of, brewed in New York. It was called Honey Brown Ale or something like that. I reminded me of a mixture of Sam Adam's Brown Ale and Honey Ale. It had the sweetness of the Honey, and fullness of the Brown, and not much bitterness. Really good beer, I suggest it if ever you see it. Buses and subways stop running at 11pm, so we had to stay out until 5.30 when they start running again. We could've taken a taxi, but they're crazy expensive.
Tuesday is Children's Day. It's a national holiday and everyone is off work and school. Actually, lots of kids get Friday and Monday off, as well, for a 5-day weekend. Koreans work all the time, so this is a time for parents to spend with their kids. It translates to no work Tuesday! Yay! I always thought I enjoyed days off as a student, but I love them ten times more as a teacher. Some of my friends have Monday off as well so they went to Tokyo for their long weekend. I think I'm just going to sleep, haha.
I'm getting really fast at reading Korean, I'd say I read Korean as fast as my 13-year-olds who are above average read English. I still don't know how to formulate a sentence, but I intend to learn that this week. Korean has subject markers, so word order doesn't necessarily matter, though from what I can tell most things are in "normal" word order anyway. All I need to know is the basic verbs, some nouns, and subject/object/topic markers and I think I'll be able to make basic sentences. I already know some phrases, but I'm really excited about being able to make up my own sentences on the fly.
I got my gas bill and it, too, went up. I think it increased about 25%, or $1, so I need to start conserving more. Everything here is really well-priced, or downright cheap, except housing, and Topia pays that for me. I wish you guys were all over here b/c then I'd probably never leave.
Tuesday is Children's Day. It's a national holiday and everyone is off work and school. Actually, lots of kids get Friday and Monday off, as well, for a 5-day weekend. Koreans work all the time, so this is a time for parents to spend with their kids. It translates to no work Tuesday! Yay! I always thought I enjoyed days off as a student, but I love them ten times more as a teacher. Some of my friends have Monday off as well so they went to Tokyo for their long weekend. I think I'm just going to sleep, haha.
I'm getting really fast at reading Korean, I'd say I read Korean as fast as my 13-year-olds who are above average read English. I still don't know how to formulate a sentence, but I intend to learn that this week. Korean has subject markers, so word order doesn't necessarily matter, though from what I can tell most things are in "normal" word order anyway. All I need to know is the basic verbs, some nouns, and subject/object/topic markers and I think I'll be able to make basic sentences. I already know some phrases, but I'm really excited about being able to make up my own sentences on the fly.
I got my gas bill and it, too, went up. I think it increased about 25%, or $1, so I need to start conserving more. Everything here is really well-priced, or downright cheap, except housing, and Topia pays that for me. I wish you guys were all over here b/c then I'd probably never leave.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Discipline Problem
Had my first discipline problem today. If this happened in America it would be called "Monday," or perhaps "Thursday," but in Korea this is more of a big deal b/c the kids are a little better behaved. Anyway, here's what happened.
The rule in Topia is no cell phones during class, or on the stairs while we're walking them down. Monday a student pulled out their cell phone in class, while I was teaching. I took it from her and then gave it back at the end of class. Then, today, the same student had her phone out while we were walking to the stairs to leave, and I told her to give it to me. She refused. I was shocked. I told her to give it to me again, and again she refused and started to walk away. I grabbed her by her backpack and pulled her back to me and again told her to give it to me. I ended up walking down all 6 flights of stairs with her in tow, and when we got to the front door of the building I let all the class leave except her. I tried to turn her around and take her to a head teacher but she tried to get away. I had to use both hands to turn her around and she ended up scratching my hand somehow.
That is quite unusual, at least at Topia, but I've heard from some other foreigners that their students aren't well-behaved. Perhaps I lucked out. Other than that, though, my students are good. She is usually a good student, but for some reason she wanted to be a problem this week.
Another fun thing happened today. I had to take a student's book away from them b/c he had drawn on his book. In the book was a picture of a girl looking up at her mom, and he drew arms on the girl giving the mom the middle finger. I mean, it was the funniest thing I'd seen all week, but of course I couldn't laugh at it. It's tough working with kids b/c I just wanna hang out with them and play, haha.
The rule in Topia is no cell phones during class, or on the stairs while we're walking them down. Monday a student pulled out their cell phone in class, while I was teaching. I took it from her and then gave it back at the end of class. Then, today, the same student had her phone out while we were walking to the stairs to leave, and I told her to give it to me. She refused. I was shocked. I told her to give it to me again, and again she refused and started to walk away. I grabbed her by her backpack and pulled her back to me and again told her to give it to me. I ended up walking down all 6 flights of stairs with her in tow, and when we got to the front door of the building I let all the class leave except her. I tried to turn her around and take her to a head teacher but she tried to get away. I had to use both hands to turn her around and she ended up scratching my hand somehow.
That is quite unusual, at least at Topia, but I've heard from some other foreigners that their students aren't well-behaved. Perhaps I lucked out. Other than that, though, my students are good. She is usually a good student, but for some reason she wanted to be a problem this week.
Another fun thing happened today. I had to take a student's book away from them b/c he had drawn on his book. In the book was a picture of a girl looking up at her mom, and he drew arms on the girl giving the mom the middle finger. I mean, it was the funniest thing I'd seen all week, but of course I couldn't laugh at it. It's tough working with kids b/c I just wanna hang out with them and play, haha.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Electricity Bill Nearly Tripled!
My electricity bill nearly tripled this past month! I don't know if I can continue to afford living here. It's going to cost me almost $5 to keep my lights on...I just don't know anymore. And I still haven't received a water bill. I'm anticipating an astronomical amount, perhaps $10 or even $15. If anyone wants to help me, I'd really appreciate it. I can't sleep at night for thinking about how I'm going to pay my bills, it's getting bad. I'm considering prostitution...
Oh, and check out the American Stonehenge, intended to survive an apocalypse and help rebuild society: <http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/ff_guidestones?currentPage=2>. Sorry, the link didn't come through on the original post.
Oh, and check out the American Stonehenge, intended to survive an apocalypse and help rebuild society: <http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/ff_guidestones?currentPage=2>. Sorry, the link didn't come through on the original post.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sci-Fi posting
Here's Nick Lomma's response to my ideas about cell phone technology. It's really long, but I think it's hilarious. If you like Nick's humor, you'll like this.
First off, I’m proud to have such friends with imagination, intellect, creativity, diction and syntax. Secondly, I think Jason should send an application and portfolio to Popular Science magazine as a writer, editor, contributor, or even researcher. You know, he could be the guy who gets his jewels hooked up to several joules in the name of science.
Jason -“So this is painless right?”
Taser Development Representative – “Uh...Yeah…, ok now everyone else put on your protective goggles!”
Having the type of technology that does one’s work for him is nothing new. Why do you think Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin? Well, ok, the cotton gin did someone else’s work for him, so that those other people could get back out into the fields to break their backs while Mr. Whitney sat inside and read. But hey, if you’re the only one on the farm who can read, why break your back?
But technology taking away our burdens… yeah, I think I see where you’re going with this. Imagine the world of Bob;
Bob wakes up at 6:54am every morning. He walks into his bathroom and sits down on the throne. No, not the porcelain throne, but the new electromagnetic pulse, inverse gravity formation throne, the bathroom of the future. You see when Bob walks into his bathroom, the room is completely empty. Bob yawns, stretches his arms above his head, turns and sits down. Into thin air. The Gravithrone activates and forms an invisible chair before his rump strikes the tile, seating him comfortably on electric magnet pulsations. Several tiles open in the wall, and out comes mechanical arms to do the bidding of human hygiene in the 21st century. You see the year is 2030 and ever since Emperor Obama quadrupled the taxation of white people in his 3rd term, advances in what’s known as “Lazy Science” traveled fathoms beyond the Welfare and Abortion initiatives of his 2nd term. You see there was more money to be shared among the populace, and what better way to spend it than on the Dr. Fry inventions?
But back to Bob’s morning; Bob’s shave and shower are completed seamlessly, so he walks into his closet to choose an outfit. He pauses briefly at the closet door for the biometric lock to allow him access. His fingerprint, retinal scan, voice recognition, microchip scan, signature sample and blood sample analysis sometimes get repetitive, as this same lock is on every door in his house, including the refrigerator, but the way Bob figures, he’s got plenty of blood and you can’t be too safe.
Bob’s wardrobe choices are somewhat limited this morning. You see his neighbor’s lawn sprinkler is on, and Bob’s perimeter weather scanner thinks it is raining outside, so his closet automatically limits his choices to shorts, a tank top, a rain jacket and rain boots. If Bob tries to open the clothes vault he could get impaled and electrocuted by one of many booby-traps, so he lets the closet do its thing. Bob wears a suit everyday to work, except when his neighbor’s sprinklers are on, then he usually has to buy a suit on his way to work. This isn’t too hard though, because the Gravithrone keeps good measurements of Bob’s dimensions and uploads them to his iphone daily. If the iphone is placed into his plastic raincoat pocket, it automatically senses the closet’s error and sends an order to Brooks Brothers for a new suit, which should be tailored and ready in 20 minutes. Bob makes a mental note to sue his neighbor for impairing his lifestyle but then realizes why he gets so many new suits every spring. This is his fourth this month.
Bob grabs some breakfast on the way to the garage, pausing for a few more needle pricks from the biometric locks on the fridge and garage door. He savors his breakfast tablet and the flavor of eggs, sausage and pancakes reminds him of cafeteria food from college, but without all the grease and carcinogenic compounds that later put Aramark out of business. Yes, I said breakfast tablet, Willy Wonka IV is the Director of the FDA in 2030.
Despite the fact that Bob is wearing a raincoat and shorts to work, his day is about to get a little interesting. And it all started with a little harmless flirting at a bar the night before.
“You think I could get your number?” Bob asked, extending his phone with an inviting grin.
“Sure,”she replied. He looked healthy enough, and she really liked the suit he was wearing, it looked brand new. The conversation was entertaining and he seemed nice. Bob set his iPhone down on the bar in front of her and leaned back, his heart racing. The young brunette reached into her purse and pulled out her new iPhone, throwing him a sultry look. She gently set her phone on top of his, letting her hand linger for an extra moment, until finally letting go. For a brief second the two just stared into each others eyes, until the silence was broken by the sound of both phones buzzing.
“Oh!”, she gasped after being startled. Her phone buzzed so abruptly that it slid right off the other phone and fell to the floor.
Bob was a little embarrassed. “Wow, I’m..terribly sorry!”, he stuttered as he scrambled to pick her phone
“No, no, it was my fault!”
She quickly gathered her things and stood.
“I’m sorry, I have to go, but it was great meeting you”, she said as she slipped away into the crowded bar.
Bob looked down at his iPhone. The buzzing had stopped. He picked it up and began scrolling through the menu to the contacts. There she was, listed as her screen name. ‘Foxyldy10’. He clicked on view and began to scroll through the statistics. 34 years old, c-cup, hates cats, likes sushi.
Wow, he thought to himself, my kinda woman..
Ever since Gapple (the Google-Apple conglomerate) released wireless charging and peer to peer contact sharing in 2015, the bar scene developed a new type of social interaction. Some call it ‘cell-swap’, others call it ‘iSex’, but regardless of its name, a new form of intimacy emerged among strangers. Bob hadn’t gotten quite used to the rules of etiquette regarding iSex, but at least he wasn’t throwing his iPhone into a large bowl at parties like his old frat brothers were doing. Some of them would even walk past co-workers’ desks and place their phones on top of those of attractive females with a little slight of hand, a modern phone rape, one might say.
It wasn’t just a phone number and personal description being exchanged. A cell-swap included facebook profile, blogspot links, credit rating and medical records. Potential mates could check one another’s propensity for genetic disorders like sickle cell anemia, or down syndrome, even color-blindness! (However there are huge tax breaks if you child is color blind, and he’s guaranteed a college scholarship and a government job of his or her choice. It has to do with ending racial disparity, but I say it leads to more car accidents at stoplights). Gapple is even working with Gravithrone to make the drag and drop option that you see on Googlemaps available for the human body. Just imagine, you want to show someone how you look naked, give them a cell-swap and tell them to drop the little blue guy on your penis. Zoom in if you want to.
The only thing about cell-swap is it still hasn’t been perfected and you can very easily transmit viruses to one another. Its like an iSTD. In fact, the main thing that Gapple is having problems with is interfacing the Gravithrone without the viruses. In the early testing phase, participants who contracted an iSTD through their phones actually got a real STD the next time they sat on the Gravithrone in the bathroom. Trojan is working with Norton anti-virus to make an Iphone condom.
Well, back to Bob’s morning. Bob was on his way to work in his Honda Utero, which runs on fetuses of aborted babies. Newsweek called it the greenest car ever built. The vehicle drives itself so Bob can catch up on the Times, printed in e-ink. The 20 minute commute to the Brooks Brothers store was over in no time, and Bob only had to reach out the window to pick up the suit, it had already been charged to his credit card, thanks again to his phone. He decided he’ll get dressed in the office, since there’s no time to spare. A strange electric-chemical reaction from the latex-free raincoat and the e-ink newspaper causes a small explosion in the vehicle, and Bob is very mildly burned. This morning seems to be taking a strange turn, Bob thinks to himself. Oh well, at least I have free global healthcare…
Since there are no vehicles allowed in the city, Bob’s car parks itself at the subway stop. Bob walks away from his car and it locks itself. However when Bob’s train passes by below, his proximity key unlocks the vehicle and thieves take all of his Honda’s possessions. Bob’s phone seems to be acting funny. He usually gets advertisements for coffee and sports tailored to his exact preferences, but as he walks out of the subway stop he keeps getting pop-ups for gay porn and penis enhancing pills. He walks past a newsstand and the phone automatically scans every e-book and e-print, causing a virtual memory overload in the phone. Bob will spend an extra hour cleaning up the 500GB of unwanted junk files that his phone just accumulated on its own.
Work was uneventful until Bob found out that his 5 credit cards had been maxed out and his social security number now belonged to someone named Pedro Gonzales. Mr. Gonzales was now filing a lawsuit against Bob for identity theft, and Bob’s boss asked him to take the rest of the day off so he could think about how to clean up his act.
Bob couldn’t understand why this was happening. As he closed the door to his Honda he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. More pop-ups. Suddenly the car seat slammed Bob into the steering wheel, and the heat turned on full blast. The car lurched forward and peeled out of the parking garage, racing home at nearly 200 mph while blaring rap music through the 3,000 watt stereo. These aren’t my user settings, Bob was thinking, and where’s all my stuff?
Bob arrived home frazzled, dazed and sweaty and decided he needed a shower. He sat down in the Gravithrone for a nice rinse, when suddenly the tiles opened on the walls and mechanical arms shot out, grabbing all four appendages. Apparently the same virus that attacked his phone and car now had control of the Gravithrone. The door slammed shut, all the lights went dark and the silence caught Bob off-guard. Suddenly a blinding spotlight appeared from above, shining directly into Bob’s color-blind eyes. A deep voice boomed from the Dolby digital surround sound speakers that Bob had installed for movies and said, “BOB. WELCOME TO GUANTANAMO BATHROOM!”
Bob spent the next few days enduring waterboarding and light depravation amongst other psychological torture that his bathroom implemented with sadistic pleasure until Gapple security updates were downloaded by his phone, and the virus was quarantined. Will Bob ever get his credit rating repaired, or retrieve his SSN? Tune in next week to find out.
Jason -“So this is painless right?”
Taser Development Representative – “Uh...Yeah…, ok now everyone else put on your protective goggles!”
Having the type of technology that does one’s work for him is nothing new. Why do you think Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin? Well, ok, the cotton gin did someone else’s work for him, so that those other people could get back out into the fields to break their backs while Mr. Whitney sat inside and read. But hey, if you’re the only one on the farm who can read, why break your back?
But technology taking away our burdens… yeah, I think I see where you’re going with this. Imagine the world of Bob;
Bob wakes up at 6:54am every morning. He walks into his bathroom and sits down on the throne. No, not the porcelain throne, but the new electromagnetic pulse, inverse gravity formation throne, the bathroom of the future. You see when Bob walks into his bathroom, the room is completely empty. Bob yawns, stretches his arms above his head, turns and sits down. Into thin air. The Gravithrone activates and forms an invisible chair before his rump strikes the tile, seating him comfortably on electric magnet pulsations. Several tiles open in the wall, and out comes mechanical arms to do the bidding of human hygiene in the 21st century. You see the year is 2030 and ever since Emperor Obama quadrupled the taxation of white people in his 3rd term, advances in what’s known as “Lazy Science” traveled fathoms beyond the Welfare and Abortion initiatives of his 2nd term. You see there was more money to be shared among the populace, and what better way to spend it than on the Dr. Fry inventions?
But back to Bob’s morning; Bob’s shave and shower are completed seamlessly, so he walks into his closet to choose an outfit. He pauses briefly at the closet door for the biometric lock to allow him access. His fingerprint, retinal scan, voice recognition, microchip scan, signature sample and blood sample analysis sometimes get repetitive, as this same lock is on every door in his house, including the refrigerator, but the way Bob figures, he’s got plenty of blood and you can’t be too safe.
Bob’s wardrobe choices are somewhat limited this morning. You see his neighbor’s lawn sprinkler is on, and Bob’s perimeter weather scanner thinks it is raining outside, so his closet automatically limits his choices to shorts, a tank top, a rain jacket and rain boots. If Bob tries to open the clothes vault he could get impaled and electrocuted by one of many booby-traps, so he lets the closet do its thing. Bob wears a suit everyday to work, except when his neighbor’s sprinklers are on, then he usually has to buy a suit on his way to work. This isn’t too hard though, because the Gravithrone keeps good measurements of Bob’s dimensions and uploads them to his iphone daily. If the iphone is placed into his plastic raincoat pocket, it automatically senses the closet’s error and sends an order to Brooks Brothers for a new suit, which should be tailored and ready in 20 minutes. Bob makes a mental note to sue his neighbor for impairing his lifestyle but then realizes why he gets so many new suits every spring. This is his fourth this month.
Bob grabs some breakfast on the way to the garage, pausing for a few more needle pricks from the biometric locks on the fridge and garage door. He savors his breakfast tablet and the flavor of eggs, sausage and pancakes reminds him of cafeteria food from college, but without all the grease and carcinogenic compounds that later put Aramark out of business. Yes, I said breakfast tablet, Willy Wonka IV is the Director of the FDA in 2030.
Despite the fact that Bob is wearing a raincoat and shorts to work, his day is about to get a little interesting. And it all started with a little harmless flirting at a bar the night before.
“You think I could get your number?” Bob asked, extending his phone with an inviting grin.
“Sure,”she replied. He looked healthy enough, and she really liked the suit he was wearing, it looked brand new. The conversation was entertaining and he seemed nice. Bob set his iPhone down on the bar in front of her and leaned back, his heart racing. The young brunette reached into her purse and pulled out her new iPhone, throwing him a sultry look. She gently set her phone on top of his, letting her hand linger for an extra moment, until finally letting go. For a brief second the two just stared into each others eyes, until the silence was broken by the sound of both phones buzzing.
“Oh!”, she gasped after being startled. Her phone buzzed so abruptly that it slid right off the other phone and fell to the floor.
Bob was a little embarrassed. “Wow, I’m..terribly sorry!”, he stuttered as he scrambled to pick her phone
“No, no, it was my fault!”
She quickly gathered her things and stood.
“I’m sorry, I have to go, but it was great meeting you”, she said as she slipped away into the crowded bar.
Bob looked down at his iPhone. The buzzing had stopped. He picked it up and began scrolling through the menu to the contacts. There she was, listed as her screen name. ‘Foxyldy10’. He clicked on view and began to scroll through the statistics. 34 years old, c-cup, hates cats, likes sushi.
Wow, he thought to himself, my kinda woman..
Ever since Gapple (the Google-Apple conglomerate) released wireless charging and peer to peer contact sharing in 2015, the bar scene developed a new type of social interaction. Some call it ‘cell-swap’, others call it ‘iSex’, but regardless of its name, a new form of intimacy emerged among strangers. Bob hadn’t gotten quite used to the rules of etiquette regarding iSex, but at least he wasn’t throwing his iPhone into a large bowl at parties like his old frat brothers were doing. Some of them would even walk past co-workers’ desks and place their phones on top of those of attractive females with a little slight of hand, a modern phone rape, one might say.
It wasn’t just a phone number and personal description being exchanged. A cell-swap included facebook profile, blogspot links, credit rating and medical records. Potential mates could check one another’s propensity for genetic disorders like sickle cell anemia, or down syndrome, even color-blindness! (However there are huge tax breaks if you child is color blind, and he’s guaranteed a college scholarship and a government job of his or her choice. It has to do with ending racial disparity, but I say it leads to more car accidents at stoplights). Gapple is even working with Gravithrone to make the drag and drop option that you see on Googlemaps available for the human body. Just imagine, you want to show someone how you look naked, give them a cell-swap and tell them to drop the little blue guy on your penis. Zoom in if you want to.
The only thing about cell-swap is it still hasn’t been perfected and you can very easily transmit viruses to one another. Its like an iSTD. In fact, the main thing that Gapple is having problems with is interfacing the Gravithrone without the viruses. In the early testing phase, participants who contracted an iSTD through their phones actually got a real STD the next time they sat on the Gravithrone in the bathroom. Trojan is working with Norton anti-virus to make an Iphone condom.
Well, back to Bob’s morning. Bob was on his way to work in his Honda Utero, which runs on fetuses of aborted babies. Newsweek called it the greenest car ever built. The vehicle drives itself so Bob can catch up on the Times, printed in e-ink. The 20 minute commute to the Brooks Brothers store was over in no time, and Bob only had to reach out the window to pick up the suit, it had already been charged to his credit card, thanks again to his phone. He decided he’ll get dressed in the office, since there’s no time to spare. A strange electric-chemical reaction from the latex-free raincoat and the e-ink newspaper causes a small explosion in the vehicle, and Bob is very mildly burned. This morning seems to be taking a strange turn, Bob thinks to himself. Oh well, at least I have free global healthcare…
Since there are no vehicles allowed in the city, Bob’s car parks itself at the subway stop. Bob walks away from his car and it locks itself. However when Bob’s train passes by below, his proximity key unlocks the vehicle and thieves take all of his Honda’s possessions. Bob’s phone seems to be acting funny. He usually gets advertisements for coffee and sports tailored to his exact preferences, but as he walks out of the subway stop he keeps getting pop-ups for gay porn and penis enhancing pills. He walks past a newsstand and the phone automatically scans every e-book and e-print, causing a virtual memory overload in the phone. Bob will spend an extra hour cleaning up the 500GB of unwanted junk files that his phone just accumulated on its own.
Work was uneventful until Bob found out that his 5 credit cards had been maxed out and his social security number now belonged to someone named Pedro Gonzales. Mr. Gonzales was now filing a lawsuit against Bob for identity theft, and Bob’s boss asked him to take the rest of the day off so he could think about how to clean up his act.
Bob couldn’t understand why this was happening. As he closed the door to his Honda he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. More pop-ups. Suddenly the car seat slammed Bob into the steering wheel, and the heat turned on full blast. The car lurched forward and peeled out of the parking garage, racing home at nearly 200 mph while blaring rap music through the 3,000 watt stereo. These aren’t my user settings, Bob was thinking, and where’s all my stuff?
Bob arrived home frazzled, dazed and sweaty and decided he needed a shower. He sat down in the Gravithrone for a nice rinse, when suddenly the tiles opened on the walls and mechanical arms shot out, grabbing all four appendages. Apparently the same virus that attacked his phone and car now had control of the Gravithrone. The door slammed shut, all the lights went dark and the silence caught Bob off-guard. Suddenly a blinding spotlight appeared from above, shining directly into Bob’s color-blind eyes. A deep voice boomed from the Dolby digital surround sound speakers that Bob had installed for movies and said, “BOB. WELCOME TO GUANTANAMO BATHROOM!”
Bob spent the next few days enduring waterboarding and light depravation amongst other psychological torture that his bathroom implemented with sadistic pleasure until Gapple security updates were downloaded by his phone, and the virus was quarantined. Will Bob ever get his credit rating repaired, or retrieve his SSN? Tune in next week to find out.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Lantern Festival
I went to the Lantern Festival, which is a celebration of the Buddha's birthday, today. It was pretty neat, but nothing amazing. I got out of the subway station and there were a bunch of tents that lined the street for about a mile. There were tables under all the tents and different activities and information at each one. For instance, at one I made my own incense, at another there was information on staying in a Buddhist temple for a time, at another there was traditional food, at another was a tea-making ceremony. Many different branches of Buddhism (perhaps all, but since I'm no scholar I can't say for sure) were represented. The biggest attraction was making your own lantern to display in the parade at night. We got to go into the main Buddhist temple in Seoul. It wasn't all that big, but Buddhism only accounts for about 1/4 of the population, with another 1/4 being Christian and nearly 1/2 claiming no religion.
I should say who I went with, but I couldn't figure out where to write it in the previous paragraph, so I'm just sticking it here. When I had to go to Atlanta for my visa interview I met a few others who were there for the same thing. We exchanged emails, and as it turns out I live about 2km from one of them, Holly. Once we figured out we were really close we had been trying to meet up at some point, and we finally did for this Lantern Festival. She brought her co-worker Nicole. The whole reason I knew anything about the Lantern Festival was a MeetUp group I joined from meetup.com. We joined the group there which consisted of only a couple people, Sarah, Rob, and Dave. I didn't get to talk much to Dave, but Rob was in the military. He had been stationed in Japan previously for a few years, but has been in Seoul for a year or two. Sarah was born in Seoul, but her parents immigrated to Sydney, Australia when she was young. She decided to go back to Seoul about 7 years ago and teach, and has just stayed ever since.
Here're some picture of the event: <http://picasaweb.google.com/jmphry/LanternFestival#>.
I should say who I went with, but I couldn't figure out where to write it in the previous paragraph, so I'm just sticking it here. When I had to go to Atlanta for my visa interview I met a few others who were there for the same thing. We exchanged emails, and as it turns out I live about 2km from one of them, Holly. Once we figured out we were really close we had been trying to meet up at some point, and we finally did for this Lantern Festival. She brought her co-worker Nicole. The whole reason I knew anything about the Lantern Festival was a MeetUp group I joined from meetup.com. We joined the group there which consisted of only a couple people, Sarah, Rob, and Dave. I didn't get to talk much to Dave, but Rob was in the military. He had been stationed in Japan previously for a few years, but has been in Seoul for a year or two. Sarah was born in Seoul, but her parents immigrated to Sydney, Australia when she was young. She decided to go back to Seoul about 7 years ago and teach, and has just stayed ever since.
Here're some picture of the event: <http://picasaweb.google.com/jmphry/LanternFestival#>.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
My Ideas
I've been thinking a lot about cell phone technology recently, I'm not sure why, but here're some of my ideas.
Everything you ever carry in your pockets/wallet will be added to your cell phone. Japan and Korea are already experimenting with using your phone to replace your credit card, mainly on public transportation right now. Your ID will be encoded to your cell phone so all you have to do is swipe it in front of an ID reader and it'll spit out your info. My first two ideas for this application would be police and hospitals. Certain info would be encoded with certain tags, so a hospital ID reader would only pull out info relevant to hospital needs, etc.
Car keys? No thanks, just use your cell phone. Jeff Wass has a "key" that he keeps in his pocket, and when he gets close to his car it unlocks it. This will be added to your cell phone. Same thing with your house, no more reaching for keys when your arms are full of groceries. You'll also be able to encode it to any door you have access to, like at work.
Phones are already accessing the internet, and playing music and videos, but the screens are small. This past year, bendable displays hit the public sector and over the next few years will become ubiquitous. Add a bendable and foldable display to your phone and suddenly your hand-held device has a 10" screen on it.
For those of you who don't know what Electronic Ink is, it's a screen that isn't backlight like your normal monitor. Backlit screens are bad for your eyes. Instead, e-ink is used for reading, primarily, or displaying a single image for extended periods of time. The technology doesn't need to maintain the display or image, it just flips the pixels from white to black and they'll stay. Therefore, it consumes very little battery (look up e-ink if my description isn't good, or isn't enough for you).
Touchscreen devices are all the rage now. Electronic ink is becoming more and more popular, thanks largely to amazon.com's Kindle. They have yet to figure out how to make one screen do both, but they will soon enough. The screen will be bendable/foldable, multitouch, and e-ink capable. You will also be able to write/draw on the screen, just like some computers and PDAs today. A simple swipe of your phone will scan a document into it and allow you to edit it as you wish (very convenient for school teachers, hint hint). You'll also store all your books in it and read it with e-ink, with highlighting and note-taking capabilities. Need to exchange phone numbers? No more bothering with typing in the wrong number, just place the phones on top of each other for a second or two and the data will be transferred. Want information on an item with a barcode on it? Scan the barcode and it's info will be found online and put on your screen.
These are a couple of kinda silly applications for phones, but they might happen, who knows? Some cars have presets in case of different drivers. For instance, the man is taller and bigger, he wants his seat in a different position so there's a button to push to get it back to that perfect position. When the woman drives it, she has her button, too. What if phones did this automatically? Everytime you did something, drive a car, take a shower, enter a barber shop, use a toaster, etc, it would load your previous preference. Phones may be linked to your closet so that only clothes that are appropriate for the weather will be displayed. They could be linked to your house and know when you're approaching in order to turn on the a/c or heat and get it comfortable before you enter. Using GPS, your phone could show you coffee shops close to you, you could choose one and its menu would pop up. Choose your cup of mud and the phone will trasmit your order and payment to the shop, along with your ETA. If you change your mind, you'll have until the store begins making your cup (which will be based upon your ETA) to cancel order and payment. This sounds like calling in an order, but it will be done through one giant, aggregate web-based mapping program (hint hing, Google) and you don't have to do anything other than touch the screen a couple of times.
With all these functions, the devices battery life will be about 20 seconds, right? Wrong. Batteries are always getting smaller, lasting longer, and charging quicker. But, put these technologies together and see what you can come up with: wireless battery charger, charging batteries in seconds. What if there were battery-charging towers placed throughout a city that transmitted wireless power to all your devices? You could set them up to charge only when they hit a certain battery level, so they wouldn't all be charging all the time, taxing the system. And, it would charge very quickly, perhaps in minutes. (This could also apply to electronic cars, read this if that idea is interesting to you: <http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/a-wireless-battery-charging-technology-or-much-more-20061116/>).
So what about security? What happens if you lose your cell phone? You'd basically lose your life, but Apple is supposedly expirementing with adding an eye scanner to iPhones to increase security. I think a good combination of ocular scanner, finger scanner, and voice recognition would get the job done, as these become more common, smaller, and cheaper.
Everything in this article, besides using your phone to replace your credit card, and the security, are my own ideas. Sure, I've mentioned some existing technologies, but I've applied them in ways I haven't seen anyone else do. Some of these ideas are far-fetched, but in 100 years or sooner, people will look back and ponder how we ever lived with our ancient, caveman devices we call cell phones. Some of my ideas aren't going nearly far enough, I'm sure, but time will tell. I think about things like this a lot, and I always complain when an idea I had 3 years ago finally hits market, but few believe I had that idea. Well, now I have some sort of documented proof for the next 10-20 years of complaining.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Plantar fasciitis
Pronounced "Fa-she-eye-tis," is a painful inflammatory condition of the foot caused by excessive wear to the plantar fascia or plantar aponeurosis that supports the arches of the foot or by biomechanical faults that cause abnormal pronation. Basically, the tendon which runs from your heal to your toes gets messed up. This is commonly caused by long periods of weight bearing or sudden changes in weight bearing or activity. Jobs that require a lot of walking on hard surfaces, shoes with little or no arch support, a sudden increase in weight and over activity are also associated with the condition.
All this copied from wikipedia. So why am I telling you about this? Because I have developed it. It's a wonderful condition wherein your first steps in the morning cause sharp pain in your heel or arch. The first thing I have to do when I wake up is flex and stretch my foot, or I run the risk of falling over due to pain. Some people sleep with a brace that keeps their foot flexed so the plantar fascia doesn't get tight overnight (I rhymed).
How did I develop it? Good question. I haven't had "long periods of weight bearing, a sudden increase in weight, or over activity." I have had jobs in the past that required a lot of walking on hard surfaces, namely the hospital, but I was wearing my $250 MBTs so they probably prevented it (though they could've caused my feet to become dependent upon them since they do a lot of the walking for you). Funny thing is, I frequently went without shoes or was wearing my Vibrams back in the States, and never did I develop PF. Therefore, I don't believe "lack of arch support" caused it; I think evil shoes cause it. I'm wearing my $140 Clark's everyday and they're darn comfy, but I'm on them about 10 hours a day, and in that day I walk about a half mile or more, and down 6 flights of stairs, twice, taking the kids to the buses. I wish I had my MBTs so I could wear those for a week or two and see what happens.
I had an idea to go running tomorrow and start stretching regularly to increase my flexibility, but I read this: people with plantar fasciitis should be careful to wear supportive and stable shoes. They should avoid open-back shoes, sandals, and flip-flops. They should also try keeping off the foot as much as possible and lessen activities which place more pressure on the balls of the feet because these increase tension in the plantar fascia.
The only shoes I brought that I can run in are my Vibrams, which aren't "supportive," and I would be running on the balls of my feet. I wouldn't be lessening activity, but rather increasing it. But, since what they think cause PF doesn't actually cause it (more anti-barefeet proganda bullcrap), I don't believe their "cure" will cure it. If anything, it will only lessen the symptoms but never heal the problem. However, since I am lazy, I've decided I'm going to just do Yoga to see if a simple increase in flexibility will help. If after a couple of weeks nothing has gotten better, I'll start running...maybe.
All this copied from wikipedia. So why am I telling you about this? Because I have developed it. It's a wonderful condition wherein your first steps in the morning cause sharp pain in your heel or arch. The first thing I have to do when I wake up is flex and stretch my foot, or I run the risk of falling over due to pain. Some people sleep with a brace that keeps their foot flexed so the plantar fascia doesn't get tight overnight (I rhymed).
How did I develop it? Good question. I haven't had "long periods of weight bearing, a sudden increase in weight, or over activity." I have had jobs in the past that required a lot of walking on hard surfaces, namely the hospital, but I was wearing my $250 MBTs so they probably prevented it (though they could've caused my feet to become dependent upon them since they do a lot of the walking for you). Funny thing is, I frequently went without shoes or was wearing my Vibrams back in the States, and never did I develop PF. Therefore, I don't believe "lack of arch support" caused it; I think evil shoes cause it. I'm wearing my $140 Clark's everyday and they're darn comfy, but I'm on them about 10 hours a day, and in that day I walk about a half mile or more, and down 6 flights of stairs, twice, taking the kids to the buses. I wish I had my MBTs so I could wear those for a week or two and see what happens.
I had an idea to go running tomorrow and start stretching regularly to increase my flexibility, but I read this: people with plantar fasciitis should be careful to wear supportive and stable shoes. They should avoid open-back shoes, sandals, and flip-flops. They should also try keeping off the foot as much as possible and lessen activities which place more pressure on the balls of the feet because these increase tension in the plantar fascia.
The only shoes I brought that I can run in are my Vibrams, which aren't "supportive," and I would be running on the balls of my feet. I wouldn't be lessening activity, but rather increasing it. But, since what they think cause PF doesn't actually cause it (more anti-barefeet proganda bullcrap), I don't believe their "cure" will cure it. If anything, it will only lessen the symptoms but never heal the problem. However, since I am lazy, I've decided I'm going to just do Yoga to see if a simple increase in flexibility will help. If after a couple of weeks nothing has gotten better, I'll start running...maybe.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
2 Things
Two quick things. I went to E-Mart to buy a few things today, including a MicroSD for my cell phone. It can play mp3s so I hoped to put some music on it and wake up to it instead of continuing the haslte that is my ipod as an alarm. I've now been messing with it for about 10 minutes trying to get it to work, and I've almost lost the MicroSD under the keys on my keyboard, and I think I almost swallowed it once; the thing is really small. I imagine that these are going to become really prevalent, and by the time I'm old my grandkids will think I don't like them b/c I'm old and have bad vision and dexterity. Let me go on the record today and say I don't like them now when my vision is ok and my dexterity is good.
Secondly, I finally photographed the elusive Heineken Girl. Now I need to find the Guinness Girl and photograph her, and my safari will be complete. At first she seemed reluctant for me to photograph her, she even asked why I would want to. I told her I loved Heineken. It is unfortunate, however, that she isn't all that attractive since most of the others have been. Oh well. Just around the corner from where she was displaying her Heineken goodness, there was an Absolut Vodka girl giving samples (aka shots), and a Cass girl (domestic beer) giving out tiny glasses. Ain't Korea great?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
