What is 'quality' anyway?

If you have had or are ever considering having remodeling work done in your home or apartment, you should read this. It might leave you wondering if there is a word in Korean for "quality."
My in-laws live in an older apartment building and it is in dire need of a facelift. Particularly the bathroom is in need of a paint job. So, being a good son-in-law and also having a hankering for a little D.I.Y. time, I volunteered to take on the job. So, I went to a local paint store and picked out a color that I thought would look good I asked about spackle (called 'puddy' here) for fixing the imperfections and cracks in the wall and I started talking to the guy about paint remover. His response was a bit strange. Instead of telling me how much the remover was, he asked me why I need remover. To remove the old paint from the wall, of course, I replied. He told me that I didn't need to do that and that I could just fill in the places where the wall was cracked and the paint had chipped away with the spackle, smooth it out and paint over it!! I cringed a bit but tried to smile and rather than annoying the guy, I decided that I would buy remover elsewhere.
Having spent a few summers with a part time job painting houses, I have always been taught that a good paint job is 90% preperation of the surface and 10% painting; the paint job is only as good as the surface that it is painted on and not removing the old paint (particularly paint that is already chipping off in areas) means that the new paint will eventually peel and chip off as well. The best way is, without a doubt, to remove the old paint, spackle the cracks and pits, then paint. But this idea seemed to be lost on this gentleman. I guess he just thought a do-it-yourselfer would not need to do a 'quality' job.
This brings me to another story: Last year, I purchaced a used apartment. It was a 12 year old apartment that had never had any remodelling done. We decided that it needed a lot of work. After about 9 million won of work and about a week it was done and ready for inspection. Prior to the work being done, i mentioned to the contractor that the last time I had wallpaper done in my apartment, the 'paperer' did not completely remove the old paper and it therefore left indentations that could easily be seen in the right light and I didn't like that. I wanted all the paper removed this time. He assured me that the problem before was "cheap and thin wallpaper" this time I had chosen an expensive and hopefully longlasting silk wallpaper. He assured me that once the paper was done, it would be smooth as a baby's proverbial behind. WRONG!! The work was done and I inspected before the wallpaper was hung. The old wallpaper was not completely removed and the surface of the wall was not appropriately prepped (corners were also cracked or pitted and in need of some spackling.). The resulting job was less than the perfect job I expected (or at least that I would have expected if I had it done it myself). I was not happy but once it is done, showing them the imperfections recieved only mild amusement and a request for something to be done about it was an exercise in futility.
Along with the wallpaper, the pvc flooring (called "jangpan") was the most expensive brand but because the floor was not properly spackled and repaired before laying the flooring, the same problem with the wallpaper was evident in the flooring and the cracks in the floor were now bumps in my expensive imitation wood flooring (we opted not to do the wood type flooring because of the kids, spills, toilet accidents and other watery accidents wreak havoc on the particle board flooring and the real wood stuff is prohibitively expensive)
One of the comments the contractor made to me (and in Korean to several other people along the way) was that foreigners were much more difficult than Koreans. We are more demanding and expect the details to be perfect. He seemed politely annoyed by my constant questioning and inspecting and dissatisfaction. He also commented that "Koreans build home interiors and fixtures to last about 6 to 10 years, and Americans build them to last 100 years." His words not mine. Obviously trying to blow smoke somewhere down there.
WARNING TO THE WISE: If you are having any remodeling work done, be prepared to go to the TOP contractors (avoid the neighborhood guys in the small shops) and make sure they know up front the work you expect and are willing to pay for. Inspect everything at every step of the process and be FIRM about your demands letting them know that you are willing to pay for the extra work (I was not, this was my problem; financially overextended). I suggest having your whole home done by someone like the local "Hanssem" dealer or one of the other big kitchen fixture people. They did a wonderful job on MY kitchen (except the guy that did the tiles but seemed to have left his level at home, DUH!) and I think they would have done a much better (but much more expensive) job on the house.
Anyway...be forewarned.

Also, a big welcome to anyone who is visiting from Marmot's aggregator or blog list. Thanks Marmot!!

Send in the Nannys

Anyone who has children knows what a stress and burden they can be sometimes. "No!!", you say...you love your kids and want to spend every moment with the....c'mon...who are you kidding? For all the love and joy we get from our kids, the fact is that taking care of them means that you can't do some of the other things you want to do. These days though, with 2 income families and more hectic lifestyles, the need for alternative childcare is growing and it is a potentially burdgeoning market .

Today, the Chosun Ilbo features not 1 but 2 articles with mention of nannies. One talks about the headaches that working mothers are having with the current supply and quality of nannies in Korea. The other one discusses the "nanny" business as a booming niche market that is ripe for those ready to take entrepeneurial action.

I have been thinking this for years! I have wondered why it is almost impossible to find a good nanny or even a short time babysitter so my wife and I can enjoy a night out without the kids. Since we don't have family closeby, there are not many options available. And since we don't live in Seoul, there are few options.
Sure, there are services that charge reasonable fees for babysitting, but there is a problem of a different kind; Cultural taboos! Most Korean moms, my wife included, can't imagine allowing some stranger to come into your home and take care of your child while you go out and work or have a good time. If it's not family....NO WAY!! What qualifications do they have to take care of my baby? I hear excuses and questions like: "they might do something bad," "What if there is a problem, how will they know what to do?," "Someone who is not family cannot possibly really CARE for my child." "How do you know if they are REALLY qualified to watch and take care of children?" The list of reasons is seemingly endless so, alas, no nights out for a while; at least not until the mother-in-law can come and visit.
So, in my quandry, I have come across some ideas. Maybe someone with some money and a gumption (that's what I said...gumption) might read this and make a million. If you do, please give credit where credit is due (money is good too). At least give me free lifetime service. Here goes:

Most junior colleges have an "Early Childhood Education" major. Some of these colleges could have a few classes like "In-home childcare" and "Introduction to the Au pair" as elective (or required courses). These courses would be specifically designed to give these young women the basic knowledge of what they should and should not do in the business.
Colleges often have on-campus business that operate either as a school entity or separate within the campus. Either way, the colleges could have an "In-Home Childcare Center" that would be staffed initially by experienced child care providers (divorced or widowed mothers, grandmothers in good health, sheep stolen from other services, etc.) who are hired and screened by the college faculty in charge of the ECE programs. These child care "mentors" would take second year students (only those who have taken both of the courses mentioned and passed them with the highest grades) for some practicum work. Basically, they go out with the pros and learn the ropes. Paid (minimally) or not, the students get good and REAL experience in taking care of children. As the business grows, the students who do well in their classes and their practicum and demonstrate a genuine ability and desire to take care of children would be able to get a well-paying job right out of college.
This affords the college an opportunity to do what Colleges around Korea are supposed to do...help students get a job, provide social benefit to the local community, as well as potentially make a profit.
Some students may even decide to go to their own home areas and start a nanny business of their own: another bonus; successful students.

I guess there are some naysayers out there who will shoot down or otherwise pick apart this idea and that is exactly what I would like to have happen. So, fire away!!

Well, Kiss My Grits!!

Those of you who remember the 1970's TV sitcom "Alice" these words will bring back polyester memories that you may or may not wish you had. Our friend Flo brought the word "Grits" into our vocabulary and made them a pop cultural icon; at least the word itself. Unfortunately, most people have probably not had the pleasure of tasting the food of which she speaks so distastefully.
Grits, also called "hominy" could best be classified as a traditional southern breakfast food. It is similar to several other grain-based porridges found around the world. It also holds the distinction of being the 'official state food' of the state of South Carolina. If you have ever traveled the highways and biways south of the Mason-Dixon line you may have stopped in a "Waffle House" or a "Cracker Barrel" and seen them on the menu. You may have even had them as a side dish and wondered what they are. If you were brave enough to try you may have even liked them. If you did not, perhaps it's time you did.
Of all of the foods that I miss from back home, grits is probably NOT one I would have expected to miss. It's simple and if not prepared right, almost tasteless. However, a fellow southerner who returned to the southland after 10 years in Korea bequeathed me a large cardboard container of Quaker Instant Grits. It sat in my cupboard for almost 6 months now. This morning, I was searching the cabinets for something healthy and of reasonably low calories for my breakfast. I found the grits and decided that they would be sufficiently quick and filling. But I really didn't want to eat them plain so I thought, 'what if I make the grits like I would make a typical Korean rice porridge (죽)?' Low and Behold! Fusion Grits!! YUM!!
I think I am going to start a section on Food for this blog and more specifically a "fusion grits" category. For those of you who like to cook or those just looking for some simple recipes for Korean food; check back often. I'll make it a point to try and add something each week.

This week: Grits a la Kim (Korean Laver Grits)
3/4 Cup of instant grits
3 cups of water
1 teaspoon of sesame oil (참기름)
1 teaspoon of soy sauce (간장)
1 teaspoon of black sesame salt (검으깨소금)
1/2 package of seasoned dried Korean laver/seaweed sheets (구이김)

First, Chop or crush the Laver into crumblike pieces as small as possible and set that aside for later.


Then, make the grits as per the instructions on the package.

During the thickening stage of cooking the grits, stir in 1 teaspoon
of sesame oil.


After the grits have cooked completely (you can adjust consistency to your preference by adding or subtracting the amount of water) garnish the grits with the laver crumbs, the black sesame salt and soysauce to taste.

Mix well and enjoy these Korean redneck grits. Go Reds!

Glimpse into the mind of a 4-year-old

My 4-year-old daughter is very happy that I have been losing weight. Usually when I go to school, her friends all call me fat (doong-doong hada) and giggle and try to play with my belly [Later I'll get into the social implication of why the teachers don't teach the children against these behaviors or scold them for it]. Now that I have lost a lot of weight (about 25 kilos so far), my belly is a lot smaller and she admonishes her friends and says that I am not fat and that my belly used to "be like this and now it is like this." Big daddy smile here.
Of course this communication is all in Korean. My daughter doesn't really speak much English because she uses it at school and with mommy and grandparents and everyone else. Though we speak mostly English at home between my wife and I, my daughter is aware that I can speak a pretty good amount of Korean. But there is another aspect to her understanding about daddy losing weight that is a bit perplexing and a little humerous. She seems to be under the impression that if "daddy becomes skinny, he won't speak English anymore." Anyone care to comment on the social or psychological implications of this bit of wierdness?

It's a small, wierd world after all

Jodi over at AsiaPages had a wierd story post and invited others to offer their own weird stories. I offered a story there about an encounter with a high ranking monk who showed some very un-monklike behavior. I also invited others to come here and check out some other stories of wierdness in my almost 11 years in Korea.
Here's yet another one not in the realm of Korean wierdness persay, well just call it "Small world story #20"
I was looking for a job in the Daegu area and noticed a job listing on the webpage of a local college. I wanted to know what the conditions were for the job so I decided to peruse the webpage and see if i could contact a foreigner on the faculty. I found one such gentleman and his office phone number. I called him and spoke to him at length about the conditions of the job and decided that it was a good place to work. All during the conversation I had a strange sense of familiarity in the man's voice and I finally figured out what it was. It was his accent. I was sure I knew this guy was from. So, I asked him, "You have an accent that sounds like its from the south, I'm guessing Kentucky or Tennessee."
"Wow! you hit it right on the head. I'm from the Tennessee/Kentucky border area." He said kind of shocked.
"What part?" I inquired.
"Well, I'm from Hopkinsville originally but I lived just across the border in Clarksville for a long time." He replied.
I was not yet suprised by this revelation since there are quite a few soldiers fromt he 101st Airborne which is based on the border between these two towns. "I lived in Hoptown from 2nd to 7th grade."
"really!" he sounded genuinely suprised and the conversation turned to details about wheres and whens and I realized that his family name also sounded familliar. I didn't think anything of it at first because it is fairly common in the South to have one area permeated with local names of people who are anywhere from sisters and cousins to distant relatives. So I had to comment, "(family name) sounds familliar, is it a common name in that area."
"Not really", he replied and we got to talking bit more "my father was a teacher at Hoptown middle school."
Then it hit me. This guy's father was my middle school industrial arts teacher!
We talked some more and realized that since he is much older than me he and I probably don't have any further connections but we had a lot to talk about and hit it off instantly. I got the job and we worked together for 3 years. Last summer, he went back home to care for his father who is in his 80's now. It really is a small world isn't it.

Update on Weightloss and Light Blogging

Christmas was woefully uneventful and I managed to avoid any overfeeding and only gained about a kilo on that weekend but quickly lost it and more. Currently sitting at 129KG (that's 284 pounds!!)It seems to be coming off at about a half to 3/4 KG per day and all I am really doing is reducing the intake and not eating after dark. My wife insists that I eat two big spoons of 천국장 (Kind of soybean beads) in the morning and evening and she insists that that is why it is working. Who knows maybe she is right I just know I'm gonna go with what is working.
I am done with school and grading for now so I will be out of the office and therefore blogging will be difficult. I really don't know how the married major bloggers like Nomad and Marmot (though I'm not sure if Robert has kids) manage to keep posting regularly. I can't even get to the computer at home these days because either my 4-year-old daughter wants to watch "The Little Mermaid" or "Beauty and the Beast" for the umpteenth time or my wife needs to do some kind of financial housekeeping. So the only time I could practically blog from home is about 2 am. I like blogging and I love my readers (the few that are out there) but not that much thanks. Not to mention that my year old son wakes at about 7am every morning and I spend most of the day chasing him around. So, i'll sees ya when I sees ya.

Losing Weight

I started at the beginning of November at 150KG! That is a whopping 330.6lbs. I have made some tremendous progress and I am actually surprised that I havn't put anything on here about it. I've been losing quickly and now I am at 133.8 (295lbs)I expected the initial 10KG would come off quickly just by reducing my intake. I would lose a lot quicker if I had the time to do some cardio workout but I just don't have the time to go to the swimming pool and with my back injury and my feet problems (chronic ankle pain likely caused by bone fragments and repeated injury and aggrevated by morbid obesity) I figure after I get down to about 120KG I should be able to do some walking. I have started to take the subway to private lessons once a week for some exercise. My goal is to get down to 85KG by the end of 2007. More later on the motivations for losing weight.

The Academy Killer: The movie

Over at Lost Nomad, there is a discussion about a new movie called “The English Teacher” that is supposed to be out soon. I will have to go and see it just because of the novelty and to see how teachers are portrayed. It should be interesting. As one of the comments queried, I wonder if it is a Korean production or an Indie film or what. Some other comments offered their own ideas for movies involving English teachers in Korea, so, I will offer up my own rough idea for a screenplay or a book or something. Comments welcome

The Academy Killer
It’s a crime drama/murder mystery…kind of like “Seven” but the people who are dying are hagwon directors and English job recruiters and such (am I getting some “hell yeses” from the hagwon crowd out there?) They are winding up dead in some strange and gruesome ways. At first, the police have no leads; it just appears to be a random killing, though they suspect a serial killer because the killer leaves messages and promises more carnage. But it is not until the third killing that that the police see the possible connection to the English teaching industry. So far, all of the messages have been in Korean. Now, the police have what they think is a suspect. A Foreigner English teacher that speaks near perfect Korean is detained and brought in as a suspect. It turns out he was a criminalist in the U.S. before losing his job and making the decision to come to Korea. When his alibi turns out to be airtight, he is asked to assist the police in the investigation. Due to the lack of English speaking detectives they enlist his help to investigate the expat community for possible suspects and to give a fresh pair of eyes to the investigation. A local detective is reluctantly assigned to be the teacher’s ‘handler’ and the relationship that ensues creates both tension and comic relief throughout the investigation. The American’s wife also refuses to understand why he needs to be involved in this matter and this creates additional conflict in him. This investigation goes on with the two ‘investigators’ examining evidence and chasing down leads until they reach the point one of them becomes personally involved and the killer is finally revealed. Ultimately one of them is in a race against time to stop the killer and save his partner.

PAIN!!!

I was rear-ended at a stoplight on a rainy evening; August 24, 2005 The impact was severe enough to cave in the "battle bumper" on my car and drive it into the bumper of the car. It felt something like this looks (but not as funny).


The next day, I had some pain I attributed to the same kind of pain I used to feel back in my high school football days after a good hard hit. A few days later when the pain did not go away as I thought it would, my wife insisted I go to the doctor. I was x-rayed and MRI'd. It was discovered that i had some cervical straightening and the MRI showed what looked like some slightly herniated discs. I was advised to check into the hospital. BAD IDEA! I actually felt WORSE after 5 days in the hospital than when i checked in. So for 6 months, I was barbecued, electrocuted, injected into my shoulder and back muscles (probably the most painful thing I ever felt), massaged by a vibrating table (reminded me of a few cheap motels in the states), poked with accupuncture needles, laid out on a table and neck-stretched and more...you name it...i have probably done it.
Now, more than 1 year later, I still have almost daily pain. It feels about like someone has the short end of a baseballbat pressed against my shoulderblade and spine. I get headaches about once a week and about once a month I get a doosey of a headache that usually forces me to bed for a few hours. I have been taking pain medication now since the beginning of the year. The pain is not debilitating it is just annoying (How would you feel if somone were walking around behind you with a bad stuck in your back) but the worst thing is the numbness in my left arm and fingers. It comes and goes and it is worst at night when I lie down or when I am working at the computer (something do often for my job as well as for this blog) Sometimes it is a tingling or slight numbness and sometimes it feels like someone is sticking needles in my hands.
So the doctor says that I have an "Internal Disc Disruption" which is sort of like a cracked head gasket. The stuff inside the disc leaks out during certain movements and apparently, that fluid somehow causes the pain (More on IDD here). This condition is not visible on either X-Ray or MRI (not yet) and is apparently not as bad as it could be so I guess I should be thankful since some people have this problem and can't even move. On the Oswestry Scale I hit about a 23-25 most of the time which is a "moderate disability." I can't even imagine what it must be like to have a score above 40. So, when the pain is worse than usual, I take pain medications for pain; right now Zydone, which is really too mild to be much help so I take them with a couple of Tylenol ER and together that seems to help on the bad days.
The doctor told me that with this type of IDD case, 33% of people get better, 33% get worse and 33% stay the same...this doesn't seem too good to me because that means a 66% chance that I could have this pain or worse for the rest of my life and surgery is not recommended in this situation unless it gets worse (Oswestry close to 50)...So basically, I just have to bear it and hope it goes away.
There is one thing that really seems to relieve the pain long enough to make sleeping easier. At the recommendation of my doctor to apply "moist heat" to the effected area. A nighttime trip to the local public bath and a nice long turn in the jacuzzi bath does the trick. I am a regular at the local 'sauna' (which is how Koreans refer to certain kinds of public baths)and use every opportunity I can get to visit area Hot Springs for a bit of relief. Hooray for Balneotherapy! Unfortunately, I can't sit in a bath all day at work so it is only temporary relief.

K-pop onstage seizure

Check out this I-Film link for a vid of a k-pop performance where one of the 'backdancers' collapses and has some sort of seizure and the other dancers and singers just keep on going....gives new meaning to the expression "the show must go on"
Fortunately, someone does remove the afflicted dancer from the stage while the others are performing.
If anyone knows anything about when this happened...please let me know.

Free Speech vs. Dokdo (A blogger is censored)

hattip to Marmot

A teacher writing in his blog called Occidentalism has been asked by the president of his university to cease writing about the Dokdo issue.

I had planned to write two more pieces for my series on Dokdo/Takeshima, but the president of the university I work for in Incheon has asked me not to post anymore about “Dokdo” on the Internet. He told me that it was a sensitive issue in Korea and that he had been contacted by individuals complaining of my postings on the subject. He said that he was worried about the school’s reputation.

The president suggested that if I have strong opinions on the subject, I should write about it in an academic paper or hold a seminar rather than broadcasting it over the Internet. I agreed to do that even though I do not think anyone would take a non-historian seriously. Therefore, I will not be posting anymore about “Dokdo” on this site. People who would like to continue to exchange information on the subject can still contact me through my email address.

I am dissappointed that he agreed not to post on the subject though I understand that he may fear the possibility of losing his job if he does not do what the president asks. A couple of good suggestions have been made and one has not. One poster over at Marmot's Hole suggested that he start a sock puppet blog under a different name and continue blogging under an alias. One suggestion that could stir up much needed debate and international attention to the issue would be for him to continue blooging about the issue as he pleases. Let the crazy netizens go after him again and see if the president has the balls to fire him. I think there are enough people on the K-blogs who support free speech enough whether we agree with him or not. If he continued blogging and they fired him then the K-blog community would do as they are doing now, showing outrage at the censorship. Eventually, one of the wire services might pick up the story and before you know it, the issue would be on CNN. Of course, he could then hire a lawyer to sue the university for wrongful termination and make a bundle of money and then he could go on blogging about Dokdo from a beach in Thailand where the netizens couldn't do squat to him.
One more idea, what if in protest, the K-blog community (and anyone else that wants to join in) cut and pasted the articles from his site onto our blogs for everyone to see en masse. Now THAT would get some attention!

English classes in English by 2015, and I'll be a monkey's uncle.

From the Korea Times

Many Korean English-language teachers are nervous about Seoul’s plan to change the nation’s English education system as many of them would face forcible premature retirement unless they can conduct classes in English by 2015.

As well they should be nervous since too many will be out of a job.

The reaction came after Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Kim Shin-il unveiled plans to upgrade the English skills of students through the intensive training of teachers. The minister is ambitious enough to mandate all English teachers to conduct classes in English by 2015.

Does anyone besides me wonder if Minister Kim can speak a lick of English?

The plan is a tall order for Korean English teachers and many CEOs say the direction is right but question whether the plan can stick to its schedule without causing resistance from teachers.

"tall order" I hate to be the pessimist here but that doesn't even begin to describe the cluster@#@#$ this is going to be if it even gets off the ground. And can anything be done without resistance from the teachers? More specifically the Teacher's Union? Experience says flatly "NO"

``If the government wants to change English teachers, the change should come from English teachers themselves. We teachers will never accept these oppressive changes,’’

said Song Jae-hyeok, an English teacher at MunChang Middle School in downtown Seoul.

See what I mean? I can see the English teachers out on the street now with signs like this that say "No English Do Korean"

Some policy makers criticize the plan for being lacking in detail.

And anyone is suprised by this?

``In this age of globalization, it sounds plausible, but the unrealistic plan gives me a bitter smile,’’ said Rep. Chung Moon-hun of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP)

What the heck does that mean? Did he say that in English or did someone just show us how well they learned English in school.

The minister calls for increasing by 10 times the budget for upgrading English-language education between now and 2008.

Somebody was going to mention money sooner or later. Is anyone besides me feeling any similarity between this and Former Seoul Mayor Lee's plan to build a canal through Korea?

Kim Chon-hong, director of the team for in charge of the minister’s program, said the government is responding to public calls for improvements in English language education. In addition, Korean companies, he said, demand a high level of English language skills.

Translation: We have to tell them something and make it look good, so we are going to make this overblown proposal that has absolutely no chance of being accepted by the teachers or the budget makers and then we can at least say that we tried and blame it on them.

He said right now Korea is in the middle level in English education skills of the 227 countries evaluated by the U.S. Education Testing Service, but aims to improve its ranking through the new plan.

This actually IS worse than it looks....Did somebody forget that Koreans spend MORE on English education than any other nation in the world? (couldn't find the link but I think it was in the Korea Herald some time ago, help anyone) So that middle level ranking is right alongside of countries that have almost NO access to English education.

He said to date, Korea’s English-language education has been out of balance, focusing too much on reading comprehension and grammar and not enough on listening and speaking skills.

That's the first thing he said that makes sense.

The plan seeks to upgrade the skills of English teachers through improved training, with the government running immersion-training courses for teachers. One thousand English teachers will participate in a 6-month course every year, including a one-month stay overseas.

Sounds great! that's 1000 out of how many? Will they be crammed into a dorm on some college campus in BFAmerica where they will speak Korean to each other when they are not being forced to speak English? And which 1000 will they send? The ones who can already speak English the best? or will they take the ones who need it the most...the low scorers?

`` The year 2015 would be the last year for English teachers who cannot conduct classes in English. We expect social pressure to force out `incompetent’ teachers,’’ said Kim.

Something that should have happened years ago...let's just hope its not too little too late.

Many teachers are skeptical over whether a 6-month immersion course would work. They say that the current English teachers training program doesn’t function well.

Again...look for the teachers to complain about the program and kill it before it even gets off the ground.

``Many senior teachers are reluctant to attend the training programs.

I've taught some of these teacher training programs. The 'senior' teachers have been using Korean to teach English for so long that they just can't imagine any other way. That coupled with the fact that many of them can't make a single error free utterence in the target language makes it unlikely that they would be interested in embarrasing themselves in front of their juniors at a teacher training program.

Most trainees of the courses are young teachers and they regard the courses as wiling away time. Do you think this is useful?’’ said an English teacher who requested anonymity.

This is, of course, one person's opinion but I would venture to say that most of the teachers who feel they are 'wiling' are the one's who can't and don't really want to speak English.

The plan also calls for changes in educating English-language teachers, requiring colleges to teach English teachers in English. It also calls for every middle school to have a native English-speaking teacher by 2010.

If all of the Korean teacher are going to conduct classes totally in English, I don't see exactly why you would even need to hire more barbarian, unqualified, miscreant foreigner teachers (smell that....sarcasm...yum) to cover your proverbial ass. OH...maybe they just want to hire them until 2015 and then let them go?

The government also wants to change the curriculum to include new textbooks, teaching English only in English and changing testing techniques to give more weight to listening and speaking skills.

Good idea...the current texts are crap!!in dire need of revision.

It also wants to reduce the gap in English proficiency between children of the rich and the poor. Under the plan, English-only zones _ similar to English villages _ will be established in rural schools to offer poorer children more opportunities, including courses and materials using satellite TV and the Internet.

A noble plan worthy of exploring...of course by the time they implement all of this country schools will need to start teaching courses in Vietnamese, Tagalog and Chinese.

The plan also calls for gradually increasing the recruitment of native English-speaking teachers. Starting next year with 1,300, it will increase the number of foreign teachers by 500 every year up to a maximum of 2,900 by 2010.

Again...why?

However some question how well the Korean teachers and foreign teachers will cooperate. ``Native English-speaking teachers are not only for the benefit of students but also Korean teachers. But the reality is different when the foreign teachers attend the classes, many Korean teachers stay out of class and take a rest,’’ said Park Won-young, president of Korea Secondary English Teacher’s Association

Translation: Many Korean teachers feel embarassed by their lack of English skills and anyway don't want to deal with the strange behavior of the barbarian in their class so they just prefer to let the foreigner teach the class alone and take a much needed rest.

Rep. Chung pointed out that the English Program In Korea (EPIK) for native English-speaking teachers is unrealistic.
``I question how many foreign teachers who can satisfy EPIK requirements, would come to Korea,’’ he said.

That depends on a lot of factors like how well they are treated, paid, housed and respected as well as how well their 'handlers' keep their promises (e.g. contract).
Overall, I think this program is just a lot of smokescreen to make some politician look good and it has little chance of coming to fruition under the current Teacher's Union Educational environment where it will be met with chest beating, air sucking and weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Transportation in Korea, Competitive but Still Dangerous

According to this article in the Korea Times, Korea is near the top of the list of OECD countries for affordable transportation.

South Korea’s transportation costs are the sixth cheapest in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to a report.

Congratulations to Korea in maintaining affordable buses and subways and making it so affordable for people to own and maintain a car. And although the cost of taxis is not near the top of the cheapest list, it is still darned cheap to take a taxi in Korea (even cheaper if you live in the provinces like I do).

One expert even quipped the following:

Korea’s overall transportation cost is relatively low, the sixth cheapest. If we lower fuel prices and keep the low public transportation fares and car maintenance costs, Korea will become the most competitive country in terms of transportation expenses,’’ a researcher of the institute said.

Someone should remind this researcher where Korea stands on the OECD list of traffic accidents. Now, lets factor in the financial costs of the accident rate. THEN it doesn't look so pretty, does it?

As the victim of 5 motor vehicle accidents during my time in Korea; all of which were someone else's fault (REALLY!! and legally) I can tell you that although it may seem like a good thing that Korea's public transportation is cheap and it is easy to own and maintain a car these two concepts are at odds with each other. Why offer cheap public transportation AND cheap driving? Maybe if Korea took a hint from Japan and other small countries and made driving financially burdensome for most of the population, then MORE people would have to take public transportation and there would be a few less idiots on the road making the accidents. Of course, one would then have to address the problem of aggressive and outright dangerous taxi and bus drivers; but I digress.

It's great that the cost of transportation is low here. I definately benefit from the low costs as a driver. My wife often takes taxi's and public transportation so I am happy for those low costs. But if we are going to be a hornblower about our transportation system then we should also factor in the loss of life and limb and the financial, emotional and personal costs associated with that; for example, the loss of man hours at work due to accidents and traffic gridlock. Perhaps it would be better for the government to focus on reducing the number of drivers and improving the overall public transportation infrastructure. Now, THAT would be something to brag about!

On Jesus and Driving

I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog. I would like to have some regular readers but if I don't I'll probably do it anyway just to get a few things off my chest...call it Blog therapy if you like. If anyone out there is reading, be forewarned that although I am Christian (Missouri-Synod Lutheran) I don't consider myself to be overtly evangelistic and this site is not necessarily for that purpose. So the following falls into the category I'm going to call "Moments of Epiphany" to which I am going to devote the occaisional blog entry whenever the spirit moves me.

Recently, I have been experiencing what I can only call a 'redneck crisis' I was raised in the South and accept that I have a redneck side and even though I rebelled against country music in my youth, I find that in mid-life I'm getting moments when I just want to listen to that Nashville sound. It just feels good to listen to and belt out a country song from time to time. But I have come across couple of songs that I just can't seem to sing.
Those who know me well know that there are few songs that I can't sing. God gave me a fine instrument to work with. My father has frequently admonished me for not using that gift to the glory of God and benefit of myself. Well, American Idol winner Carrie Underwood released a song that I can't sing. A song that has won critical acclaim and become a number one hit from a woman who recently won big at the Country Music Association Awards. The song is called "Jesus Take the Wheel" (click link for the lyrics, Click below to watch the video)





Why can't I sing this song? It's not musically difficult for me, I have the range to take it. But every time, I sing it or even hear it I get choked up, tears well up and then I just laugh at myself because I can't understand the reason that this song moves me so much.
Is it Carrie's voice? No, the emotion she puts it might to tug at the heart strings a little and she has a beautiful voice that is perfect for singing this kind of music, she will go far in Nashville.
Is it the music? I don't think so, it starts off in C...a lot of C...G/B...Am7...etc...nothing spectacularly moving or different from any other country song.
Is it the words? Yes! The words. The words of a woman who thinks she is about to die on an icy road asking the Lord to take over and save her and her baby and ultimately lamenting the fact that she has not been as faithful as she should have been in her increasingly difficult life. I hear her singing about looking at her sleeping baby after the car comes to a stop and I see my own son sleeping in the back seat. That is a moment of raw emotion. But I suppose the real reason that the song moves me so is that I lament my own lack of faith and the song reminds me of that. I realize daily that I have struggles and things in my life that I sometimes feel are overwhelming and I frequently feel that am spinning out of control and on a collision course with destiny. The song reminds me that I don't pray enough. It calls me out on my complacency and lack of devotion to the Lord. It makes me remember that I too haven’t stopped and 'bowed my head to pray' in a long time and as a result...it makes me do just that.
Today, I started talking to my daughter about Jesus for the first time and I'm going to talk to my wife about getting our son baptized (something LONG overdue). Maybe I'm a little nuts for letting a song get me all worked up like that or maybe Jesus is trying to tell me something. What's he saying to you?

The land of delayed Idol

Living in Korea usually means that I either miss completely most of the stateside TV programming or I get it greatly delayed while whatever episode of whatever show gets purchaced and translated. Some shows get on fairly quickly but others are take forever. One of the shows that I wish I could see in real time is Amercian Idol. I am not much for the commercialism of it all and most of the singers don't really impress me that much (just call me Simon) but occaisionally, something comes from that show that I really like. I havn't seen the fifth season of Idol yet but I just heard some clips of some songs by Chris Daughtry and I have to say...If he didn't win, the others must have been awesome...of course, they passed up on Bo Bice in season 4 so I'm thinking that a real rocker can't win. Maybe because many of the people who would appreciate his and Daughtry's style of singing and music are not the kind of people who would watch Idol and even less likely the kind who would actually pick up the phone and vote for him. But he made it and his new album comes out November 21. If you are interested in hearing a real rocker in the making listen to this.

New Template

Thought i'd try out the new beta version of blogger. Seems like it has some cool features but it's kind of a pain to have to redo my links and such with the new blog.

The worlds funniest commercial

This might not be work safe. It depends on how far your boss (and coworkers) sat down on the stick.




I can't wait for the Korean Version advertising for Dagoda or Horrald English Hagwon.
This reminds me of the time I was walking through the local Emart and heard the 20 Fingers song "You Got To Lick It." As I was walking through the store with my 3 year old and my wife I couldn't help but wonder if anyone else but me had any idea how inappropriate this song was for a family supermarket. Other songs I have heard in stores include "Baby Got Back.", and Limp Bizkit "N 2 Gether Now" Definately NOT family fair! If anybody else has some stories like this I would sure like to hear them.

High-Rise Death Trap

The Stars and Stripes reports about the death of a Korean family who was trapped in their home during a high-rise apartment fire in Yangju and decided to jump to their death. A tragic story that raises some serious questions about fire safety in large apartment buildings and reminds me of a fire in my apartment building just a couple of months ago.
I was awakened at about 6am by someone ringing the front door of our 12th floor apartment. I was sleeping so it took me a few seconds to realize that it was the front door. Before I got to the door, someone was outside the door and I could hear them yelling that the apartment was on fire. It was the apartment across the hallway from mine. I grabbed my daughter and my wife grabbed our son. We were in a bit of a panic and did not know how bad the fire was. At home were an ill elderly woman and her college age daughter. When we went outside, the daughter asked me if she could use my cellphone to call her father (who is a local police officer). At that time, the fire didn't look that bad, there was some acrid smelling smoke and I was worried about poison gas so I handed her my phone and put my daughters face into my shirt and started down the stairs, once we got a little down the stairs, I noticed that no one else seemed to be evacuating and it didn't seem to be effecting any other part of the building, so I took the elevator from about the 7th floor, my wife opted to go all the way down on the stairs. To my relief, the firefighters arrived at about the same time we arrived on the first floor. We watched the smoke pour out of the apartment and wondered if the fire or smoke would damage anything in our apartment. As it turns out, the fire was pretty bad but was contained mostly in the one apartment. The fire was started by a rice pressure cooker that literally exploded (according to the daughter) and caught fire. The kitchen burned quickly and nearly completely (see pix below) and smoke damaged the living room ceiling and walls. The quick response of the firefighters surely saved the day and possibly a lot more damage to our apartment. The worst we got was a smelly house for a day or so and the hallway smelled of smoke for about a week. But the neighbors wound up completely redoing their apartment.

The thing about the way the apartments are constructed here out of concrete, it would take a pretty hot fire to start burning the concrete so it is difficult for a fire to spread from one apartment to another but the smoke damage can be dangerous even in a small fire. One thing you want to make sure about in your apartment is that the door has the proper gaskets to keep out the smoke and that you can close your windows completely if necessary.




Hat tip to Lost Nomad

Potential Teachers Boycott Teachers' Exam

This just doesn't make any sense from either side of the fence:

University students studying education said Friday that they would boycott the employment test on Nov. 19 to protest the government’s decision to reduce the number of new teachers hired for elementary schools.

It seems to me that these teachers are doing nothing except helping out the education department by making the numbers of potential teachers smaller and therefore and easier choice. These potential teachers need to get out there and ace the tests and show the education authorities that they are making a big mistake.

Why are they making a big mistake you ask? Because the way I see it (and I do see it every other week) 30 to 40 students in a classroom is less like education and more like cattle rustling. The education authorities need to find ways to create more schools and hire more teachers in order to reduce the teacher:student ratio. The creation of more schools and teachers is good for everyone...period. More schools and more teachers means the students get more attention and more chance to learn and succeed. How is it that the education authorities don't seem to seek that as well?

But on the other hand, what do I know? I'm just a foreigner, I couldn't possibly understand the Korean education system and situation, right?

Indecent exposure now legal?

According to this article, some interesting laws have been changed including the laws on indecent exposure.

I remember when I came here in 1996, women showing their navels were subject to receiving a ticket. Even short skirts were considered socially deviant. My! How times have changed (He says with a big smile). I didn't realize these laws were still technically in effect but evidently they are soon to be abolished along with some other interesting laws. Check it out for your self and if you can, please explain to me what "abandoning night soils" means.