I sponsored an essay ' contest' in a couple of my classes last week. My instructions were simple- I gave them an illustration from NEW YORKER magazine which showed the Arab-American ambassador to  Iraq (I think his name is Khalizad) astride a white horse in the foreground with a background of some (unmarked ) helicopters swirling thru a vaguely Middle Eastern sky. A few pillars of smoke rise into the sky here and there. The kids took it from there. 

Interestingly , despite the fact that Khalizad resembles Pres. Bush about as much I do Brad Pitt most of the kids took the man on the white horse to be Bush- (full disclosure -I've never introduced the topic of Bush or the war in any of my 'kid' classes ).

A sampling of my students' writings........

" The man in the picture is George Bush. Now is happening USA and Iraq's war. He is commending (sic) his soldiers to attack Iraq.But,he isn't doing anything in Iraq ! He only commends soldiers but he only wants a lot of natural resources (oil) or Iraq's land. The war is not finished yet ........"

(Another) " I think he's George Bush .The President of the US. He's on a white horse. In general, white horse is symbol of Emperor,honor. He has prerogative because he's the President .It means he uses his prerogative badly.But look at his face he looks greedy.I don't feel that he's a good person. ...George Bush causes the war just for his benefit. because of the war many people died and hurted (sic) . I hope George Bush considers the people he will hurt."

And--- 'He is George Bush. He is terrorizing Iraq. He is leading the terror.And finally he wants to overcome the Iraq (sic) for get lots of gas (sic) in Iraq."

Lastly.......(and the one i awarded 1st 'prize')  " One day a baby's cry is ringing in a country. He is young though very unusual and his temper is very bad.. But he has desire to be President.So he worked and got many (sic) money.He buy a lot of soldier and helicopter (sic) and he go to White House.But the White House has a terrific war .Their war is man's desire of President in USA.He has almost ten thousand helicopters and many soldiers.he killed many people and then he opened the White House door.Because many 'opposed people' ...(think the kid means people who oppose the war and Bush)  come to White House ..he (Bush) trapped in their trap. And he dies ."

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey -one question that I haven't seen asked about the whole Cheney shooting incident ...what kind of a cold sonuvabitch shoots his 78 year old friend in the face and then doesn't even go to the fucking hospital with him? Think about it -if YOU accidentally shot a  friend aren't you right there with him (or her) on the way to the hospital- in the emergency room-waiting for as long as it takes to get seen (probably pretty quickly -even in Texas) and then -feeling a TREMENDOUS sense of guilt and personal responsibility sitting with that friend -probably thru most of  the  night at least... but  what does our nation's Vice-President do?  Well- he hunkers down at the fucking ranch -doesn't (so far as we now know)even go to the hospital and just a couple hours later enjoys a leisurely dinner at the ranch while his (I repeat, 78 year old) buddy , lies in what has to be quite a lot of pain ( as many as 200 steel pellets imbedded in his tender skin ) as at least one of those little steel balls makes its' way into  his heart...........Jesus what kind of 'man' is this  ...one (mis) step away from the Presidency ?

My take- in case anybody cares - on the cartoon controversy- the Danes fucked up. Fuck the Danes . This isn't about freedom of the press -not if you ask me (ok you didn't ask-but you're reading so pay attention ).
  The cartoon shouldn't have been published-  astonishingly that is NOT the politically correct thing to say -the 'correct' on this one is - don't cramp my freedom of expression. Well for once in my life I ain't buying the freedom of expression argument. Nor do i believe Islamists need to 'lighten up' or 'learn to take a joke'...not in reference to this anyway. The publication of these cartoons depicting the Prophet is no more acceptable than publishing a cartoon of Elie Wiesel  in a Gestapo uniform. And the re-publication of the cartoon (s) in the face of protest that have left people dead,embassies burned and millions of Muslims outraged (and if possible FURTHER alienated from the West ) WAS irresponsible and IS reprehensible.
  I don't believe Nazis should be able to march ANYWHERE- ACLU be damned. i don't believe a newspaper in Teheran should be allowed to publish stories claiming the Holocaust never happened. I will not support the 'right' of some jackass racist to publish a cartoon defaming the legacy of Martin Luther King- maybe I can't stop it- but I would if I could.
 And in case you wondered I was actually VERY happy to see the Taliban have their asses handed to them in Afghanistan- AND i have about as much sympathy for Al Queda as i do for a cockroach in the shadow of my size 13 ...but ,as someone once (finally) shouted at the late and unlamented Joseph McCarthy (and applicable to the present cartoon debacle and the defenders of the defamers) , "Dammit sir , have you no decency "????

Today marks the traditional Korean holiday known as Daeboreum . It kicks off at 5:30 PM today- at the rising  of the Lunar New Year's first full moon .There are a number of interesting if not downright bizarre practices associated with the occasion. For instance, (traditionally at least ) dogs are not fed today because of an age-old belief that if they are  they'll vomit too much in the summer (you can't make this stuff up!).
   Another popular ritual of Daeboreum is for the younguns' to rise early and bring a special wine to their elders. The wine reputedly improves the hearing-and helps assure too that WHAT the elders hear will augur well for their futures. Or so I hear .
  Then there's the the little ritual which loosely translates as "Selling Heat,Buying Heat". Those dabbling in this ritual rise early and go to the homes of friends. There ,arriving early , they call out their friend's name. If the slumbering friend responds to the call  they've fallen for a little joke which means that they (the sleeper) will 'buy heat' -which is to say, that in the upcoming summer they will be 'twice' as hot as normal and the name-caller will have successfully 'sold heat'- and consequently will experience great relief from the summer's heat. Coool huh ? No-but nutty as Hell . Koreans can expect to feel snubbed today if they pass a friend on the street and say Hi  since it's bad luck to acknowledge the friend's greeting- you don't want to buy the heat  Again I say, you can't make this stuff up !
 Still another  ritual of Daeboreum is meant to insure longevity. This is achieved by crossing a bridge (on foot) once for each year of your age .A 'long' bridge is preferable but apparently any old -or new- bridge will do .The Korean word for bridges and legs  is the same (or so I was told). At the very least,so the legend goes, you will have strong legs for the rigors of the New Year.
 Let's see there was another interesting practice too- oh yeah-it's also traditional to fix up a big pot of a glutinous rice,honey,pine nuts and a couple other ingredients (it's called 'OGOKBAP')  here's a pic...                                                                                                         Then you bring the
stuff over to at least two of your neighbors and share it with them. This is said to help insure prosperity in the New Year. I like it because it seems like such a neighborly thing to do doesn't it ? Come to think of it a lot of these practices and customs are  about prosperity   and longevity.
LIVE LONG AND PROSPER !  Star Trek , Korean New Year,  same thing  !

Last weekend Korea celebrated Lunar New Year.Yes, time passes on the moon too. Probably slowly- which would explain why it's a three or four day affair .
  I hoped there would be some good fireworks here but Korea apparently isn't into fireworks-you have  to go to China (or at least Hong Kong ) for that.
  Koreans -as many other Asians no doubt- observe the New Year by climbing into their cars- families in tow- and clogging the (automotive) arteries -headed for the provinces. There they re-unite with family-and honor their ancestors. From what you hear you'd think all Koreans return to the 'farms' from which they ' originated'  but in fact farms in Korea are  fast becoming a genuine 'thing of the past' and for every Korean spending the Lunar New Year  on a farm there's gotta' be  another hanging out  in Gangnam  (Seoul's heavily populated and pricey river district.)
  Keeping in mind that Korea is a small nation ( about the size of  California from Bay area south to the border-although I've been told it's more like Indiana ) one of my adult student told me he'd once spent 23 hours on the road -one way- getting to the 'farm' and back to the Seoul area one New Year's holiday. On top of the traditionally massive traffic a snow storm had hit the nation .Imagine 23 hours in a small car (as almost all Korean family vehicles are) with 2.2 kids and Uncle Kim. Happy New Year! ('cheh heh say bohk bahdee manoosayo ')
  I did my part in observing tradition . However, I had no farm to return to, and moreover no family to hook up with here. Nor did I have a car to contribute to the annual artery-clogging.Hell, I didn't even have fireworks .
  But I DID  my part.  I  climbed the 429  stone steps leading to the famed Buddha  of Song-Mo. 

Song-Mo Do (Do means island and is pronounced the way Homer Simpson says 'Doh') is a small island in the WestSea of Korea not all that far from my island (called Yeong Jeong Do).
  It's reached by (in my case) driving (I was actually just a passenger) from my island across one of the 2 bridges which access Gangwah Island from here and then taking a short ferry ride across the cold waters of Song Mo Straits.
  Once you roll off the boat it's maybe a 20 minute drive across some fairly pretty rural island scenery to the site of the Buddha which includes a number of souvenir stores and vendor kisks where you can stock up on treats like roasted  chestnuts and your choice of some fine dried squids.
  The actual Buddha carving lies at the head of 429 (or so I was told) stone steps which are of course ancient (wait- ancient is what I felt after arriving)- ready to meet my maker,Buddha,or any other suitable representative of the timeless and  sublime and horizontal.
  It wasn't really that tough- and if you tip the sedan chair bearer well enough they'll wait for you to perform your ablutions and bring you back down too.
  The Song Mo Do Buddha sits under a protective rock overhang which looks like the lower lip-done gigantically in stone -  of that African tribal thing resembling a large saucer surgically implanted.The overhang looks fragile  and   ready to come sliding done at the next heavy rain.
We didn't stay long. Nevertheless i got my first tangible proof that half of Korea is Buddhist as worshipper after worshipper  prostrated themselves on mats before the Higher Mind.For me it was my first experience of being physically present as somebody worshipped something besides rock stars, Jesus, the Almighty Dollar or (my personal God) David Ortiz.
 

THE  most interesting news item of the week here in South Korea had to be the scandalous goings on in Insadong, (Seoul)

As  part of a promotion for a new yogurt a Korean company staged a nude 'yogurt fight'.   .What exactly a yogurt 'fight' is was never explained but probably didn't need to be as dozens of (pretty much all male it appears) press attended as well as a few passersby who apparently wandered in off the street. What probably suprised ME the most about the whole thing was that the very conservative Chosun Ilbo website actually published this newsphoto-i guess their 'conservatism' stops at the line where politics end and salaciousness begins!

I still haven't figured out what the guys with the spray bottles are doing- and I don't see any yoghurt anywhere either...there is some kinda' slick white stuff on the women/models upper backs but..I ain't going there ..................

The company exec who set up the stunt was hit with a $2,000 fine (whopper huh ?) and the girl models paid fines of $200 (equiv.) each.

Actually maybe the strangest aspect of this story is that the yogurt promoter quickly appealed his fine all the way to the Korean Supreme Court-(Chief Justice in pic) which showed stupendous zeal for hearing the case and issued a judgement within days of the great yoghurt fight of '06 upholding the fines . (now THAT'S what I call due process)

FAVORITE COMPOSER :   Antonym Dvorcak

FAVORITE COMEDIAN :   David Letterman

FAVORITE MOVIE        :    Lost In Translation

FAVORITE ARTICLE    :    Indefinite

FAVORITE BEVERAGE:    ESL Milk (pic)

FAVORITE APPENDAGE : The Dangling Participle

FAVORITE SOUP            :  Alphabet

to be continued......

  LOOK HARDER ! AFTER ALL WE DON'T EVEN KNOW

 WHERE 'REAL LIFE' IS LIVED NOWADAYS, OR WHAT IT IS ,

 AND WHAT NAME IT GOES BY.

 LEAVE US TO OURSELVES, WITHOUT OUR BOOKS , AND AT

 ONCE WE GET INTO A MUDDLE AND LOSE OUR WAY-WE

 DON'T EVEN KNOW WHOSE SIDE TO BE ON OR WHERE TO

 GIVE  OUR  ALLEGIANCE ,WHAT TO LOVE AND WHAT TO

 HATE  , WHAT TO RESPECT AND WHAT TO DESPISE . WE

 EVEN FIND IT DIFFICULT TO BE HUMAN BEINGS, MEN

 WITH REAL FLESH AND BLOOD OF OUR OWN  ;WE ARE

 ASHAMED OF IT , WE THINK IT IS A DISGRACE , AND WE

 ARE ALWAYS STRIVING TO BE SOME UNPRECEDENTED

 KIND OF GENERALIZED HUMAN BEING . WE ARE BORN

 DEAD , AND MOREOVER WE HAVE LONG  CEASED TO BE

 THE SONS OF LIVING FATHERS ; WE BECOME MORE AND

 MORE CONTENTED WITH OUR CONDITION. WE  ARE

 ACQUIRING A TASTE FOR IT. SOON WE SHALL  INVENT A

 METHOD OF BEING BORN FROM AN IDEA .



   (Fyodor Dostoyevsky ,Notes From The Underground)

Had a restless night's sleep Friday night despite taking two Clonazepams and drinking most of a quart of OB. Woke up around 7:45 a.m. Saturday with the knowledge in my head that the hagwon 'skating camp' bus was leaving that morning at somewhere around 9 am.

 

The 'skating camp' involves taking 70 noisy kids to the nearest mountain that makes snow and then standing out of the way as they raise hell -kinda like school without the walls and with ice.

 

I was wavering about whether to go. On the one hand no one had mentioned anything to me about it since the staff meeting oh probly 5 weeks ago when it was first discussed. On the other hand I knew it was happening because a couple of my  5th graders had asked me if i was going on Friday. i told them no-because my neck hurt-which they accepted but was a little bit of a lie since at the time my neck didn't particularly hurt.

 

But I knew it would....riding the bus always aggravates it,and then  standing out in the cold for 6 or 8 hours would just  add to the aggravation.

 

So I..at 8:15 a.m. or so, having imbibed some coffee and showered, and not happy about the restless night  decided I damn well wasn't going. I was expecting to get a call from my boss asking' what's up why aren't you here' or something like that but no one called and i spent the morning chatting with one of my sisters online and then with my other sister over the phone. I felt a twinge of guilt since I expect most of if not about all the other teachers probly did go but they're all younger than me, like kids (I've had just about enough 'kid' to last the rest of my lifetime),and they  don't have a chronic neck problem that makes most physical activities a pain in the ass (er-neck).

 

I also have to admit it MIGHT have been fun to go sledding. i wouldn't have tried skating since the very idea of it  sets my teeth on edge nor would I have gone in for skis or snowboards since my balance is shot to hell by my neck spams and staying on my feet would have been a LOT more challenge than this old body needs. But sledding..well i always did like to bolt down a slope like a bat outta hell and then look for something to hit ..the subsequent tumbling,somersaulting kick-ass wipe-out the whole point of the trip .

 

But no i didn't go- deciding to save my neck and that giving up one of my few days off wasn't something i really felt any obligation to do- especially given that most of my students have been slack,dull ,mouthy or all three of late and thus fall WAY short of the earning the privelege of my company on my day off.

 

And so i took the garbage out .Well it was the re-cycling actually- a very large trash bag full of beer and tuna cans, water bottles,milk and cereal cartons/boxes etc. Problem was the recyclying containers that are usually stationed out past the guard shack were not there. So I'm standing there- very large and somewhat heavy bag in hand when this old Korean ajumma appears from somewhere and begins jabbering away in some form of 'badger speak' . I , in MY own language ,'badger' back at her -basically saying where the fuck are the fucking recycling containers i've got 13 pounds of cereal boxes and beer bottles I don't want to cart back up the 64 steps to my 5 th floor (unelevatored) apartment.

 

After we've exchanged unintelligible but vaguely insulting unpleasantries for a minute or so the security guard appears from the shack. He speaks briefly to (or with ) the old lady and then to me. He appears to be trying to use sign language to convey to me that i should cart my trash bag back upstairs to my apartment . I'm not going for that and throw a few pointed gestures and imprecations at him -while maintaining a facade of civility-and having set the bag down next to a mound of other recycled stuff make no move to pick it up...

 

Whereupon the guard turns on his heel and goes off somewhere with the old lady..I decide I've won this little contest o' wills and walk manfully  back to the entrance door of my building -only to find it's LOCKED! My first thought is the guard has locked me out .

 

This just really pisses me off. So I draw back and punch the goddam glass with my left fist (my knuckles hurt last night but right at the moment they're fine thanks).I also yank on the door itself- bending the glass a couple inches but otherwise failing to get it open. Still steamed I turn and walk back over to the guard shack where the guard has re-appeared minus the ajumma.

 

I'm not sure if he's locked the door with some remote mechanism in the shack or if something has just gone temporarily haywire..but with emphatic gestures make clear that I can't get in my building and I'm not happy about it..he looks about as unhappy as i feel but nevertheless goes over to the building door with a pair of pliers and does something which presto opens the door. I'm in..the garbage is out.... and after a bit I'm over the whole thing.

 

 

Today's YONHAP NEWS( a major news bureau here in Korea) reports the startling fact that nearly 32% of men age 20 to 29 in Korea are UNEMPLOYED ). I find this statistic truly amazing......those years are when young men in America (most of whom are in the work force by 21 at the latest college or no) are getting their career bearings well established and have often (by the time 29 rolls around) worked at several jobs (I know I had had a half-dozen jobs easily by the time i hit 29). 

 

That 32 percent jobless rate is all the more staggering given that the overall unemployment rate (as measured and pronounced by the South Korea national gov't) is LOWER than that in the U.S. (something around 4 % in Korea- about 4.5% in the US )...... one possibility is that Korea uses an entirely different (and i think pretty odd) measuring stick to track unemployment. South Korea does require all its able young men to serve 18 months to 2 years in the military -perhaps the stats don't count those ! i dunno- kind of a mystery ).

 

I went into Seoul Sunday. hopped a deluxe coach at the airport that makes stops at the 'luxury' hotels in the city-and -as it happened- I had the bus entirely to myself- seems inefficient as all get out but I wasn't complaining- and there was the added benefit that since the driver knew i was going to the Hyatt he went there first to drop me rather than making the route stops at other hotels -saving me time and tedium. I went in to join my hagwon compatriot Jimmie who stays weekends in Seoul with a friend who lives in a huge apartment 2 minutes from the Hyatt. For a guy who works in military criminal investigation he's pretty sweet and,more importantly, a solid NFL fan. The occasion was the playoff game tween the N.E. Patriots (my home boys) and the Denver Broncos(his home boys) His home boys beat up mine but he didn't gloat or lord it over me -aside from a long and eventually maddening victory dance every time  Denver forced a turnover (it happened FIVE times). And of course in the end my Patriots went down to an inglorious defeat. Aach.

 

Anybody else worried about this nutcase Ahmadjenehad (sp?) in Iran?? The guy is the recently elected President of the country and he's already been quoted making such diplomatic statements as "Israel should be wiped off the map" and (failing that) "moved to Alaska"....he has also been reliably reported to have been directly involved in the notorious abduction and subsequent brutal treatment of Americans (see pic) following the fall of the (OK I agree perhaps equally brutish)  Shah in 1979.

 

He's also declared Iran's nuclear facilities off limits to UN inspectors . The good news is -according to the 'experts' -Iran is a good 5 years away from having a bomb even if it decides to go all out and hell bent for leather to crank one out ASAP.

 

The bad news is that 5 years isn't such a long time .Furthermore there are worrisome signs this guy is a religious fanatic on a par with Pat Robertson. He claims that in his recent address to the UN general assembly he was' bathed in a greenish light' and that the audience in attendance at the UN hung on his every word so much so that 'no one blinked' for approximately 30 minutes while he spoke....scientific impossibility of that aside- some observers have wryly noted that no one was blinking (much) because they were in a state of shock at what they were hearing....

 

But what may be most troubling about Iran's new President is that he sees himself as the man -at the pulse of his nation- whose mission is to usher in the 'Mahdi'-a sort of Islamic messiah- whose re-appearance in the world ( the last Mahdi died in A.D. 491 or something like that) portends the End Of The World.

 

As in the Christian cosmology this End Of The World is,despite the lamentations and worldwide devastation,a GOOD thing for the True Believer.And so now we've got a Messianic American president (Bushwah) and a messianic Iranian President both rather hopefully looking forward to the End Days. The future's so bright you gotta' wear shades -(or just pull down the shades and maybe you won't know what hit you ). Or- maybe it's just Another Roadside Distraction.  

 

I'm heading back to the US in six weeks or so. It's about time. I mostly don't like my job anymore and of my six classes I enjoy 3 and bear up under the others. Teaching English to (mostly) spoiled middle class kids who'd -for the most part- rather be playing games (and understandably ) isn't my thing. As usual I feel the pull towards doing something IMPORTANT- like teaching English in a prison or to struggling immigrants or starting an online newspaper back in my hometown to rival the boring,conservative tripe that the current weekly manufactures.

 

Yeah it's time to move on...' anyongeehaseyo' for today

 

  

South Korea has, reputedly, an extraordinarily high rate of traffic accidents. I can't really read Korean ,but it looks like the national license plate motto is " IF YOU MEET THE BUDDHA ON THE ROAD KILL HIM "...Vanity Plates are also available with alternate mottos..IF YOU MEET CHRIST ON THE ROAD YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD...and the ever popular 'IF YOU MEET ME ON THE ROAD GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY'.

One of the great things about Korea , to my mind, is that , unlike that bastion of freedom known as America, everything hasn't been regulated to hell and gone .Like,for example, one can grab a beer of a steamy summer afternoon from the corner convenience store ,and plop down at an umbrella shaded table and enjoy the suds whilst watching the workaday world pass by in all its glory...America presents itself as the world champion of FREEDOM(s) but in fact 'freedom' has been regulated to within an inch of its life......

Don't get me wrong -I'm not against 'regulation'-it's just that America -thanks largely to it's puritanical heritage- in combination with the rise of the religious right (or religious ' wrong' as I call it )has as a nation taken to heart the notion that 'hey someone is having fun somewhere and I'm not...we got to stop them ".

And of course the powerful corporations and exploitative entities that run the friggin country have succeeded in rolling back what were justifiably beneficial regulations-like the ones that kept them from making obscenely high profits by gouging consumers who had little choice but to pay the $2.63 a gallon for gas -or some weird little surcharge on the cable bill or make a cell phone call from 'out of area' ......America may still be the 'freest' nation but just how much freedom we have to 'pursue happiness' is very much in question if you ask me....

 

Being self- aborbed has such negative connotations....but really- is it better to be absorbed by someone else? Or (worse?) something else ?Who wants to be the POLAND of  awareness? "L'etat c'est moi' beats 'L'etat c'est you '-don't it ?

My apartment has a public addres system (speaker) built into the wall of my kitchen...a 4 tone musical signature alerts you to an announcement -which is followed by disembodied voice which begins by saying 'kamsah needah' (thank you) and then makes some announcement which is presumably important enough that everyone in my five story apartment block needs to hear it...

Today ,as always, i could only guess at what the man was actually saying...there was no tone of urgency or reproach so I assume he's not reminding me again to stop throwing my burnt toast off the balcony ..or advising me yet again that drying my oddly pale,post-shower nude magnificence in the sunny -if exposed- space of my mostly glass living room -is a punishable offense.

And since it's mid January -(almost) he's probably not alerting me to the presence of a blue flatbed outside with especially good deals on fresh squid and tangerines......the winter brought a definite decline in these uninvited ,unintelligible announcements..this was the first of the New Year.

There's no way of turning off the speaker,unfortunately, and in the summer it was irritating,to say the least,to be awoken (sometimes early for this late sleeper) by my Korean Big Brother saying God knows what...

My downstairs neighbors must die !! They woke me again at like 5 AM yelling and blaring a TV or radio and generally behaving like ignorant fools who think they live in a  cave in the mountains where they can make all the noise they want without regard to the possibility of disturbing anyone..well my screaming down at them didn't seem to help (i don't think they could hear me above the din of their own noise) but I got a little satisfaction by exercising some choice American curse terms that expressed in no uncertain terms just what I thought of them and how soon i wished them to die ,slowly,tortuously and with appropriate sound effects.

HELL YES I'm self-absorbed-ain't no body else out there watchin for me...!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Every so often my students

plead imploringly for

"GAMES

TEACHER,GAMES" !! Now

normally I do what I have

to do and ignore them

because this isn't ,after

all,summer camp.

But then there are the

days ,like yesterday,when

the lesson I've planned

looks like about as much

fun as it really is-that is to

say , not . And so

yesterday,as i occasionally

do, i offered an activity

which while  'learning

based'-is also rewarding

(i.e. I award a cash prize).

It's terrible teaching

practice of course, but i

don't often do it and the

award is negligible (say,

$2.00 tops).

 

And so yesterday I

instructed my 2nd graders

to write about a brother or

sister-or failing that- a

friend. Here's the prize

winner...

 

(Let me say in preface that

 while I'm sure sibling

rivalry rages in Korea as it

does in the West there

seems to me to be a much

higher degree of affection

between siblings here-

especially in public-than

you'd ever expect to see in

the States-especially chilly

New England or the

Northeast.

 

I've seen little

brothers leaning on or

hugging their big brothers

in public as well as adorable

little sisters doing the same

and even little sisters

hugging their big brothers-

in public-which you'll see in

America....NOT.

 

Anyway..here's the winning

composition (bear in mind

this is from a nine year old

boy whose native language

is not English)..

 

(QUOTE) "Today I'm going

to write about my sister.

My little sister born in

2003. My sister is pretty

smart and very young.And

my sister love me.If my

Mom hit my sister I take

her to my room and play

with her .If my sister grow

up I will buy

everything.She will my best

little sister.Ever night i read

her some book.And my

sister cry I will take care

her.And I wish she will

sleep in my room. Some

they I give her delicious

food.And the bad man hit

my sister I will hit the bad

man .I will take care of her

forever.My little sister

favorite animal is dog.And

her favorite food is kiwi. 

The end.

 

Maybe I'm sentimental but

excuse me I gotta go dry

some  tears.

 

Today marked what is

known in Korea as

"SOHAN"- 'traditionally' the

coldest day of the year

here in the Land of the

Morning Calm (trust me on

these cold winter mornings

there isn't a lot stirring as

the puny sun struggles to

rise into the frozen sky so

calm it is).

  SOHAN  is the beginning

of a 12 day period which is

again,'traditionally', the

coldest segment of

winter.So, if tradition is

reliable, we should start

enjoying both longer days

AND warmer temperatures

long about Jan. 17.

  From what everbody says

it has been unusually cold

here on the island I live on

in the West Sea an hour or

so from Seoul. I certainly

wouldn't disagree altho i've

just been here a year or so

and don't have "tradition' to

back  me up. I can say with

authority that the 

temperature here has NOT

gone above 40 F for oh at

least a month and maybe

longer.

  I had my early morning

class this morning- a 7:30

which ,at this point in the

winter,is attended by a

single student .Good deal

for him- although I HATE

getting up that early , all

the more so given that it's

freaking really freaking

COLD at 7 AM when the

sun is exuding about as

much warmth as Donald

Trump after a bad day at

the office. I was rewarded

for my devotion to duty by

the sight of a beautiful

skein of ducks winging their

way  southwestward as i

trudged to school this

morning in the chill dawn.

  BUT my days here are

numbered-I couldn't tell

you the exact number right

offhand but it's something

like 56........since in March i

return to America and

initiate my plan to

assassinate the President

(hey could be the President

of  the fuckin' Rotary Club

so don't get any

ideas.).PLUS I could be

talkin' CHARACTER 

assassination too so don't

get all paranoid and shit

you guys at the National

Security Agency and with

Op Echelon who -I would

not be at all suprised to

learn-are checking my blog

even as i type........(BTW a

big FUCK YOU to the orcs

and serfs kowtowing to the

Bush  idiot President).

 I had a pretty good

teaching day today-

meaning I didn't

intentionally abuse any of

my students and even

found time to contemplate

how damn cute some of

them are.....especially my

2nd grade darlins' who are

-thank God- too young to

have become sick of school

and still look forward to

reading a new story with

that  quality of openness

and pure curiousity that

just gets lost somewhere

along the way in most of

them as 'DA SYSTEM' 

grinds that purity and

innocence out of them.

  I continue to struggle with

dark thoughts about my

'future'(  or lack of one

more precisely)...I am quite

sure  my best days here on

the 3rd rock 

are behind me and that the

'future' holds little promise

of any 'improvement' in the

quality  of my life and much

promise  of a slow

degradation of it in

fact...and if my view is

accurate (and God knows

I've been a miserable

predictor of my future

before,) then what the fuck

am i waiting around for

( unless I'm quite wrong-

headed about it all yet

again ..which as i say would

 NOT be unprecedented).

  Hell ,I'm poor , gettin old

fast  ,and not all that

healthy (the neck

thing ,dontcha know?). And

it all pisses me off -America

especially..a country with

so many of it's people with

their  heads up their asses

seeking in many cases for

some way to get their

heads up OTHER people's

asses...(there's probably

some special,secret court

for that too huh ?)

  What the fuck, life is very

much in fact like a Samuel

Beckett play..I can't go

on . I must go

on.........But hey, HAPPY

SOHAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
 
 

So here I am in Daegu-Korea's 3 rd largest city (I thinK)....and maybe it's least pre-possessing.

I have a room in a clean but depressing hotel called -oddly-the Amigo . It is not in fact so very friendly and has decor (aside from newly redone bathrooms ) which was ONCE fashionable -if you can recall 1978 clearly enough.

I headed to Daegu despite news reports I'd read and seen in Daejon about a large,uncontrolled fire burning in what was referred to as a 'conventional market'.(Turns out that,according to the Korea Herald,some 1,000 shops burned in the blaze).    PIC

(IF YOU'VE SEEN HOW TINY MANY KOREAN 'SHOPS' ARE THE 1,000 DESTROYED FIGURE DOESN'T SEEM SO INCREDIBLE..IF A FIRE DESTROYED 1,000 SHOPS IN,SAY,DOWNTOWN BOSTON, THERE'D BE NOTHING LEFT OF IT ..)

When i step out of the elevator at the 17th floor i can see the now smoldering fire not far distant -maybe 8 or 10 blocks away.It seems ' under ' control from there.

I have a cup of 'joe' at the hotel coffee shop ($5 !) and then head out on foot...it's after 5 and thus too late to take in any of the local tourist attractions so i just set to wandering.

What i find isn't so attractive...i appear to be in the small engine,plumbing and bathroom supply core of the city. Shop after shop featuring shiny faucets and fancy tiling and well everything you can imagine needing to keep your kitchen/ lawn mower/ 'throne room' zipping ,ripping and sucking away for the next 30 years or so.

As I continue the shops evolve into streets with tiny food markets and street stalls with various foods on a stick- i buy a kind of pancake and have it handed to me in a disposable cup......it's sotra walnut flavored and not bad but oily as the wake of a Chevron tanker.I can't wait to get back to New Town tomorrow...altho I do plan to hit the Tourist Info center in the morning and then visit the city's primary museum ( natural history I think),

I am sick of being alone right now and just want it to end..anyway anyhow. All these depressing little shops lit by dim flourescence...ugh. Lots of sheet metal and an overall air of dinginess -hard to imagine what this was like before the new century ushered in..what ??