Lovely Lost Korean Lady
The argument running around seems to be about the new show Lost portraying Korean men in a bad way. Just to put a different twist on it, I checked out the Official ABC website, and the first thread about the show I found was titled "THE KOREAN GIRL IS AWESOME!".

Congrats to Korea for getting a really loved, positive character onto a hit American TV show~!! ^__^
- posted by Philip @ 4:45 PM (0) comments

 
ART - Friendships fall apart over a "white painting on a white background, with slightly off-white diagonal lines."
Still showing until Saturday the 11th at Hongdae's Choo Theatre, BH Productions' performance of the French play ART is well worth the 15,000 won I paid to get in. It begins with a spot-light on one of the three characters, Marc (Bernard Hughes - I met him a while back...if I remember correctly, he's a theatre professor at Hongik University). Marc explains that his best friend, for 200,000 francs, has purchased a "white painting on a white background with diagonal lines and maybe a white horizontal line near the bottom."
The play deals with the issue of friendship in depth; however, the conversation topic throughout the play is the painting and art in general, Marc favoring the classics and Serge (the one with the painting) being a fan of contemporary art, using "modern" as the highest compliment one can give a painting. As the story progresses, the argument between Marc and Serge gets hotter and hotter, Marc thinking that if he doesn't condemn his friends purchase as a complete waste of money, he's not a true friend afterall. Through it all Yvan, the third friend of the group, finds himself caught in the middle - battling his own domestic troubles with an approaching wedding.
Though I hesitate to say it as most "theatre people" (said in the haughtiest bourgeouis accent I can muster) would cringe at such a comparison, to me the play is quite reminiscent of the sitcom Friends: take away all the pop-culture frills, put it in a French setting, add an English, Australian and Irish accent (I think those are the actors origins...), and take away all females (aside from my date ^^), and you can get the basic idea~
A few times it was obvious that the actors had not worked together extensively, not playing off each other with complete ease, but overall it was very well performed. I had seen the actor who plays Yvan once before playing a much different character in a very similar way, so that was a bit disappointing, but he redeemed himself later. There's one monologue in which Yvan recounts a telephone argument involving his mother and fiancee which he performed brilliantly~!!
I recommend it, though for non-native speakers the accents are a bit difficult mixed with a bit of art jargon. None-the-less, my Korean friend loved it. It plays well to its target audience, so if you fit the bill - go check it out~!! If you want more info, send me an email~ ^^
- posted by Philip @ 2:09 PM (0) comments

 
Touching Look Into the Mind of a Korean Teenager~
Teaching high-school Koreans, I see quite a bit of Korean "youth culture". This very touching, well-written story (by a Korean) shows the endurance of the older generation despite disrespect. The Korea of today is not at all the land of perfect teenagers that show perfect respect for all authority figures. I'm barely considered an authority figure, so I don't speak for myself, but I do see the way they react to their own teachers. They have a "habit of respect", but the feeling behind it is not so real anymore. It calls to mind the "habit of religion" that so many people have...let me pause to cross myself before I beat you to a pulp.

In any case - this is a great story~! Take a second and read it...

Thanks to the Marmot for the link to this one~
- posted by Philip @ 1:54 PM (0) comments

 
The Notebook~!!!!!!!!!!!
Check it out~!!! Who's the handsome guy on the side? What's that ugly guy doing in the middle of the shot~??? Anyone seen the movie, The Notebook?



If you can't see it, go here: http://www.joycine.com/pics/mov/7573/11_l.jpg

Or here: http://philip.cotsford.org/Notebook!!!!.jpg

(This section is for all those web browsers who love James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Ryan Gosling or Rachel McAdams, or whoever else was in that movie -- the imporant one is ME~!! Let's see if I can make the top pic for notebook movie images on the NET~ :P)

Notebook Movie Image Picture Images Pictures Ryan Gosling Rachel McAdams Philip Cotsford Film Gena Rowlands, James Garner
the notebook movie image picture images pictures ryan gosling rachel mcadams philip cotsford film dvd video nicholas sparks noah calhoun james garner gena rowlands nick cassavetes south carolina
- posted by Philip @ 1:04 PM (1) comments

 
Small World? This place is kiddie-sized~!!
I'm now in Korea watching a French movie set in Japan, dubbed in English and subtitled in Korean. To top that, the main actress is a Japanese girl who speaks English with a French accent~!! Now the French man is teaching the Japanese girl using stupid faces how to pronounce "hole" in English, which they both pronounce with an "outrageous French accent". The girl's bright orange tutu and matching stockings doesn't help the oddity of it... What a crazy world~~


On a personal note, I had emailed a job that I had almost taken last year about 3 weeks ago, but hadn't gotten any reply. Then I applied formally on their website and still no reply. I was getting a little concerned that they weren't interested anymore, but tonight I decided to call them. The man who hires people recognized me immediately and was happy to hear from me. They can't possibly plan so far in advance, but he asked me to stop by for another interview sometime. I think it would be a great job for me, and I remember having a good feeling about the company. Could be a plan for next year?
- posted by Philip @ 6:35 PM (0) comments

 
Kumdo
The other day, my student invited me out to play ping-pong with him, and since I saw the most likely schedule for that night to be lazily sitting around home, and especially like that student, I decided to take him up on it. After a few games, it was time for him to study Kumdo. He is working to become a PE teacher in Korea, and there will be an intense physical exam in January, so he exercises for about 10 hours a day, 1 or 2 of which are with a personal Kumdo teacher.

We entered the building, which seemed like a typical sports room with slightly spongy mats for flooring. We passed through that room and into a bedroom extrodinare (kitchen, living room, bed room...all in one). Behind a long low wooden table covered with all kinds of herbal teas and handmade dishes, there was a thin mat for a bed (I have at my home too), and a short chubby Buddhist monk sitting crosslegged on the mat welcomed us in. He reached to a water-heater next to him, and then poured us each a cup of tea, using all sorts of unique handmade mini-tea kettles and cups.

After about 30 minutes of chatting (my student must come at 8, but never starts the workout until 8:30), we went back into the main room and then through another door on the far end. It was a large, open, quiet room with a small altar of sorts front/center. We walked to the middle of the room, and my student taught me how to "insa", which basically means greeting. In this case, it involves bowing three times with your head to the floor and hands raised palm-up (I think to represent giving/compassion). Then we went in the main room again and got our swords.

Kumdo, as was explained to me by a co-teacher today, comes from chinese characters, Kum and Do. Kum basically means sword, and Do is a little more complicated. Do is a mixture of technique and spirituality (or simply mental focus and balancing mind and body). Basically, it's a way to focus your mind and align your body with it so that you can effectively use a sword. In practice, it's mostly just how to stand up straight or bend enough to make lines and 90ºangles with your body while quickly swinging a sword from pose to pose. It's pretty interesting actually.

I was doing pretty well for the first 40 minutes or so, but then the short chubby Buddhist guy left and the #2 teacher came in. He was a lot more intense - we changed from solid wood swords to more forgiving bamboo swords and soon were swinging quickly and constantly at each other.
The sound/Raytheon of the swords and our voices yelling "huk" at each swing sounded really cool, but after about 10 minutes of it, I had a blister on the bottom of my foot and my arm was killing me from holding the sword, attacking and blocking constantly. The teacher didn't seem to care and kept swinging at me...I did my best to block, but he knicked my hand a few times, chuckling a bit when he did. My student got much harsher treatment and was being swung at with full force. He fought admirably through it, but later when I saw the big purple bruise on his face, I realized he hadn't blocked as well as I had thought.

I soon got that feeling that you can see in fighters in the movies when they know they must continue fighting, but it takes all their strength to just lift the sword and swing at their opponent; I was even surprised at myself when I successfully blocked the always-resulting counter-attack from the teacher. After the class ended, the teacher then decided to teach my student jumping kicks from a completely crouched position - kick the teachers hand over head-height, and return to a crouching position over and over. After about 20 kicks like that, he was reduced to screaming in agony with all his might as he forced his body into the air, each time coming down with a thud against the mats with a look that said "I can't even stand up now, but I'm about to jump right back up and kick your hand again, gorsh darnit~!!", and amazingly, each time he did.

I watched in amazement until the monk returned and took me into his room again for tea and dinner, consisting mostly of fruit and Korean rice-cakes, and A LOT of tea. It was really nice.
- posted by Philip @ 2:10 PM (0) comments

 
Hair Lovers Unite~!! Revolution~!!!
Rage Against the Machine lyrics scream in my head~

Two teachers walk into my class as I'm in the middle of my lesson with a clear plastic ruler and cheap school scissors. They don't address me at all, but the students seem to know what's up. A few students scattered around the class stand up and the two teacher begin walking to them individually and putting the ruler next to their head. The first is a boy with hair that as far as I can tell is short and neat (admittedly not like most boys at the school), but even so, the scissors are raised and a chunk of hair comes out.

By now, I've figured out what's going on, and I glance around the class at my students. I notice one girl with particularly beautiful hair - bangs in the front and just past her shoulders around the sides and back. They're not going her way, so I think hopefully that somehow they'll look past her and not pull a chunk out. Her face interests me...she's staring directly at the front of the class with a look of fear and determination - that of a martyr being lead to the chopping block. Eventually, they come back around to her and her face becomes even more focused at some random point on the blackboard. The ruler is raised...then lowered, and the scissors come up. I watch her face as tears start to stream down, but her expression remains calm and focused. The other students let out a sigh of sadness, and I think maybe one creeped out of my lips a bit too...

They came around checking only the students standing up - then one boy was asked if he had already been checked. No - he hadn't stood up. Ruler forgotten, the scissors come directly to the boys head, but he's fast, and before they can get a chunk, he pulls away and says basically, "Now wait a minute," - yet always polite even in non-compliance. Revolutionary chants and RATM lyrics pump through my head, but I just sit and watch - knowing full well he won't win. A few seconds of polite yet stern discussion, and he moves back in front of his desk and lowered his head. A chunk comes out, dropping a few stray hairs on his desk for him to brush away in clam anger as he sits down.

Ok ok - so hair's not really all that big a deal, but my revolutionary tendencies had to burst forth a little. It was everything I could do to not try to explain to them the process of petitioning and the true role of student government. Apparently their student government is "how to be a figurehead 101". Oh well - they get really pretty long hair once they're college students...
- posted by Philip @ 1:08 PM (0) comments

 
Counter Added
Curiosity finally won the battle over my laziness, and I've added a counter to my blog. I'm using NedStat for now - if anyone knows a better one, feel free to let me know.
So watch out - now I'm watching you.....

Not really - I just know what country/server people visit my site with. You can see too...just click on the little icon at the bottom left of this page~ Kinda fun, huh?
- posted by Philip @ 10:32 AM (2) comments

 
Censorship Continues...
I was reading through yesterday's Korea Herald, and I found that once again the government is censoring the internet. This time it's targeted at the North Koreans. Apparently those backwards idiots finally figured out what the internet is (note the sarcasm in my voice), and they decided to put up a few websites saying that North Korea has some good ideas. South Korea didn't like that very much... They're the big kid on the block and only want their websites to rule the universe. So...what to do...what to do...? Block 'em~!

One guy in defense of the move said that they were blocking it to think it over and maybe change the block later...there's a teensy bit of logic in that, but not really (especially considering the whole blog fiasco, that I don't think has been rectified yet). Anyone who knows anything about what's going on in Korea now over the National Security Law knows that the government has made a HUGE blatant contradiction against itself in this move... Maybe they're hoping nobody will notice? I think that National Security Law should be thrown to the dogs, or at least "scabbard and sent to the museums," as President Roh put it -- this isn't gonna expedite that process.

(Anyone notice that I have a lot of free time at work this morning?)
- posted by Philip @ 1:30 PM (0) comments

 
2 Reasons Why I LOVE Living in Korea
About a week ago, I stopped by the local motorcycle shop because my bike doesn't seem to be starting well - in fact, it almost never starts unless I kick (start) or push it. I stopped by the shop and the guy immediately took it in and started trouble-shooting. He began with what were obviously the cheapest and easiest to replace parts, one by one throwing a working part he had laying around on it to see if it worked. Nothing changed... Eventually, he started dismantling the bike and getting to the roots of things and changing parts out. Still, no change...it just didn't want to start.
Finally, he concluded that it was the only part left that he hadn't checked, the coil. I asked how much it is, and he seemed a bit flabbarghasted that I'd even ask...then he went on about a 5 minute rant in Korean, the main topic of which I assumed was why it's not so important to have a good coil anyway. I asked him again how much it is, and he responded it's about 45,000 won ($45). The funny thing was that he responded in a way that said, "well, ok...if you keep asking me how much it is, I'll tell you. But don't expect me to do it for you. If you want to throw that much money away on a part you don't even need, go somewhere else."
Korean men have quite a fatherly way about them with any random person who's at all younger than them. Although I despise being told what to do, and often it gets really annoying (especially when they constantly tell me how to eat), I thought it was really neat that a mechanic would not allow me to give him money. He put the bike back together and rolled it out the shop, kick started it, and said goodbye. I asked him how much I owed him (he spent about an hour on it), and he seemed really shocked at the question. Obviously nobody would ever pay a mechanic just for him to do tests on their motorcycle, right? What a great country~!!

Last Tuesday, I went to the gym to work out, and as usual, I started out on the running machine. I got going a bit, but every time I run on that thing, I get a lot of pain in a muscle on the front of my leg, between my knee and shin. I don't really know any stretches to stretch that one out, so I thought I'd ask the guy who works there. He's a young single guy, about 28, and a really friendly guy - always shows me things and tries to help me out. He doesn't speak any English, so in rough Korean I tried to explain that that muscle always hurts when I run and I get the feeling if I don't stretch it out well, it's gonna sprain. He took me over to the mat and told me to lay down on my stomach. In the end, he gave me pretty much a full 10 minute leg massage (sports massage~! I know...it's still awkward to me how touchy men are here, but c'mon...in sports, American guys are like that too a bit). He really went out of his way to help me out. I think a lot of times they're looking for ways to help me, and they're really happy when I ask for something. I love this place~!! ^__^
- posted by Philip @ 9:34 AM (0) comments

 
Decision Making~
I thought about it the other day, an I realized that now at just over 7 months, this is the longest time I've ever lasted at a full-time job in my life~ Aren't you proud of me? Most of my part-timers didn't last this long either (except the SWEET job I had at the Writing Center at Southeastern). So, they're asking me to stay another year. Part of me would love to, but part of me has the mind to quit while I'm ahead. I put out a couple of applications - still waiting for response. Jobs in Korea are a bit funny in that they don't work well if you plan in advance...it's much easier to get a job for tomorrow than it is to get one for 5 months down the road. That's a bit of a pain...

On that note, for those friends and family that read this from the States...a lot rides on what I decide. I had made plans to visit America in January, and then stay in Asia at the end of my job, but now I think I might just spend the January vacation around here (most likely Thailand), and then come home at the end of my contract. I think it would save me A LOT of money. The way I see it, my job now will pay my ticket home and another job will pay my ticket back to Korea, so it's a win-win. The main problem with that plan is that my job here ends at an odd time - April. Public schools start in March, so then it would be quite difficult to find another job in a public school.

For those of you looking for jobs in Korea and smart enough to research enough to come across this blog, well - as you can see, it's a bit of a tough decision process even for those of us that know the system pretty well here. I might just pay the extra to make my ticket home to America a round-tripper -- then I'll end up back in Korea on a tourist visa and jobless (a perfect situation for job-hunting).
- posted by Philip @ 9:18 AM (0) comments

 
Turning Red
Recently I've noticed that my face turns red VERY easily, in almost any situation. I never thought of it as strange, but Koreans are extremely embarrassed by the fact that they turn red when they drink - doesn't everybody? I remember my young hagwon kids would color their fathers with a big red nose and rosy cheeks sometimes~ I always thought it was just a bit funny, but they take major notice of it. The other day in class I made a mistake, and though I found it hilarious, and laughed right along with my students, apparently some part of my subconcious was embarrassed 'cause I could even feel my face turn red. It turns red when I'm a little hot...a little cold...when I laugh really hard...when I drink just a little bit. I don't remember it being so pronounced before I came to Korea. Maybe I'm "becoming Korean" (twilight zone music plays in the backgroud). What an odd bit of culture to take on~
- posted by Philip @ 9:09 AM (0) comments