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May 2010
MAY 31: PROOF THAT EVEN THE MOST HOPELESSLY DELUSIONAL PARENTS CAN GET A SECOND CHANCE The parents who were so addicted to raising a virtual child in an online computer game that they let their real-life baby starve to death have been sentenced to two years in prison. There's just one catch. The 41-year-old husband's sentence begins now. The 25-year-old wife's sentence is suspended. She's pregnant. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. I'm going to guess that, based on recent events that threaten to shake up the world just a little bit, that you're wondering how I'm feeling right now, and I can assure you that yes, I am outraged that Nicole Scherzinger won "Dancing With The Stars." Having a show based around forcing celebrities to learn how to dance, only to invite someone who, you know, made a living actually dancing (along with singing the occasional worthless lyric) defeats the purpose of the show, don't you think? Don't cha? I also realize that some of you might also be wondering about our crazy little dictator to the north. And my answer to the obvious question of, "What's going to happen?" is, "I don't know." North Korea has a history of violent attacks against South Korea, but this time things seem a little different. It may not seem like a big deal that South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak has decided to broadcast propaganda across the border, but this is something that stopped six years ago. The South's overall response, which has included cutting off all trade, is clearly a step above, "We're going to very, very strongly ask you not to do that again." Like a lot of other people, I am looking to see how China reacts. If it backs North Korea unequivocally, its standing in the international community will drop. If it allows the United Nations to pass an international resolution, China's relationship with North Korea is done. I won't go further than that -- there's tons of info on the Web you can seek out yourself. Bottom line is, I don't know what's next, but the general consensus around here is that North Korea has bigger fish to fry than Daegu. But I won't lie. I've gone to bed the past couple of nights wondering if an air raid siren will wake me up. But I tend to overreact about things. Here's hoping all the key players keep heads cooler than mine.
Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. I try to be good at understanding Korean etiquette, but sometimes I just space -- like tonight, when I invited my adult beginner class out to eat some makchang. That's pig intestine, by the way. And it's good, albeit a tad chewy. Anyway, my small slip-up occurred when I did not use two hands on the soju bottle when I refilled my student's drink. I should have told her she looked younger than me, but the fact is I just didn't know the rule. I know that when someone pours me a drink, I should hold the glass with two hands. But I was unaware the pourer also used two hands. So, "my bad," as us English teachers like to say incorrectly. There are other times, however, when two rules of Korean culture conflict. Tonight was one of those times. The decision for everyone to go out for dinner and drinks was mine. (It is not uncommon for the students of an adult class to do this with their teacher.) I made this announcement in class last week, and I told them that, as per Korean etiquette, because the idea of going out was mine, I would pay the bill for the whole table. And tonight, I did just that. Upon my return to the table, the women in the group were rather surprised and grateful. The man, a kind-hearted, class-clown type, looked downcast, as if I just kicked his pet cat in the head. He informed me, in basic English that I should not have paid. I explained what I wrote above to the women at the table, who relayed this translation to him. And then one of the women told me that, in a group dinner, the teacher is "like a president or a father." In other words, I had no business paying, even though it was my idea to go out in the first place. So, anyway, next time I don't have to pay. I am, after all, the president. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MAY 26: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, BUDDHA! This story begins with a king walking through the woods. Don't they all? Anyway, one day, back in simpler times when the Silla Dynasty ruled the Korean peninsula without the pesterings of a wacky dictator above the 38th parallel, King Gyeongdoek was walking to Baengnyul Temple when he heard the sounds of a Buddhist invocation coming from below the ground. He dug into the ground and found Wayne Newton. Okay, he found a stone. After some nice handiwork, the four-sided Buddha stone and a temple called Gulbulsa were soon built. The temple no longer exists, but the stone, which Buddha carvings on four sides, still does:
This is where I spent Buddha's birthday, a national holiday in South Korea since 1975. Click here to read about Buddhism's beginnings in Korea, a story that includes some royal trickery, a beheading and milk spouting from the ensuing wound. Friday morning I met two friends in Gyeongju -- Minnesota's own Ian McGowan and the world's first Canadian Korean, Park Ja-son -- with the initial plan of bicycling up to Bulguksa. We instead opted to visit one of South Korea's hidden jewels, in part because we wanted to avoid the insanity of Bulguksa, in part because it was within walking distance of Park's house. We should have known the day would be different when we saw vendors parked in front of this quiet temple. After stopping briefly at the four-sided stone Buddha, we hiked up to Baengnyul Temple near the top of a small mountain. Colorful, circular unlit lanterns lined the path. When we arrived, there were more lanterns -- a group of white ones sponsored by somebody, another group meant to look like roses -- surrounding the temple. A lantern was adorned by a sampling of tiny Buddha dolls:
This is a sacred day, so there were plenty of Koreans who took their shoes off at the temple and kneeled in prayer. Others bowed at other offering sites. Incense burned inside the main prayer hall, and volunteers offered up a free lunch of bibimbap and water kimchi soup:
We then continued to the top of the mountain, stopped at the outdoor gym, did some bench presses and some very ineffective hula hoop twisting (if you're nice to me I'll post video), and headed back down through the bamboo forest.
I will post a more complete photo set on my Flickr page Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MAY 21: HE CAME AND WENT SO FAST, YOU'D THINK HE WAS THE WORLD'S FASTEST HUMAN OR SOMETHING From my window on the seventh floor of Yale Language School, I could see the line of people, mostly children, stretch for a distance of ... well, I don't know. I'm not good at estimating distances. But they were waiting for buses to take them from a makeshift bus stop near the Sinmae subway stop around the corner to Daegu World Cup Stadium, where Usain Bolt would make his season debut in the 100 meters. And when they boarded the bus, the line hardly had a dent in it. So that's how long the line was. Bolt didn't disappoint, posting the fastest time of the year. The atmosphere, however, was a letdown to the author of this article in the JoongAng Daily. The author disputed the announced attendance of 45,000, said the 68,000-seat stadium was less than half full, and that the organizers didn't deliver on what they promised. Update: Fellow teacher and sports nut Ben Armstrong -- the biggest Miami Dolphins fan in Liverpool, by the way -- attended the meet, took umbrage at the JoongAng Daily article enjoyed the event: "Who wrote that article?? What was he expecting? For starters... the West stand is the main stand. And it was full, at least the lower tier. The south stand on the other hand, the one furthest away from the buses, was always gonna be more empty. Obviously they lied about the numbers of tickets sold, and how many people were there. Everyone always does! Everton sell out every week, even though you can see the half empty seats in that shit hole they play in!! [EDITOR'S NOTE: I suppose I should point out Ben is a Liverpool fan.] And to be honest, I really couldn't care less about reaction times!! Plus, it was a Wednesday evening/nighttime thing. Most Koreans don't finish work until 9 at least! I know a lot of people, yourself included, who wanted to go, but were still working. I had a great time. Bought some beers, took some photos of Usain Bolt, and a good laugh at the massive women hammer throwers. What more do you want for 5,000 won??" Daegu hosts the world championships next year. Video of his race is here. His margin of victory is so impressive, especially considering the slow start. I hope to talk to a few people who went and allow them to chime in here. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MAY 20: AND THE DOG ATE KIM JUNG-ILS' HOMEWORK As expected, the South Korean government announced today that North Korea blew up the Cheonan on March 26 and killed the 46 South Koreans aboard the ship. The key piece of evidence, according to the linked article above, was a North Korean marking on the fragment of the torpedo that was recovered. North Korea, naturally, says this is bullshit and the Americans must have painted the North Korean marking on there themselves, or something like that. Thankfully, the North Koreans say they will send a delegation to Seoul to prove that the investigation conducted by South Koreans, Americans, Brits, Australians and Swedes is all wrong. And no, I have no idea what will happen next. Update: To read the official five-page report from the Joint Civilian-Military Investigation Group, click here. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. Tuesday marked the 30th anniversary of one of the most shocking periods in South Korea's history, when pro-democracy citizens in the southwestern city of Gwangju were beaten and killed by members of their country's military.
The military withdrew on May 21, only to return at 4 a.m. on May 27 to retake control of the city from the citizens within 90 minutes. South Korea adopted democratic reform seven years later. The casualties, according to the official website of the May 18 Memorial Foundation: "The victims of the martial law force's brutality numbered 4,369 all told: 154 killed, 74 missing, 4,141 wounded (including those who died from their wounds) and placed under arrest. ... The number of people illegally taken into custody during the period of Martial law was more than 3,000, and nobody knows how many people were unjustly arrested while they were demonstrating against martial law." The number of people killed remains unknown.
If you are interested in further reading, here are some links: The GwangJu Blog has posted videos and photos (in color and black and white). This BBC article from 2005 puts the uprising in more of a big-picture context. It also reminds readers that Koreans were unhappy with the United States, which naturally had a military presence in the country, for doing nothing as the Korean army attacked its own citizens. Gusts of Popular Feeling, a well-informed blog based in Seoul, has links galore. Wikipedia, naturally, has an article about it. And, finally, The Korea Herald wrote an article focusing on the ceremony in Gwangju. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MAY 18: SOME UNBROKEN BOARDS ALMOST BROKE MY HEART I finally received a yellow belt in Hapkido on Monday, although I almost didn't. Believe me, I almost kicked myself, although given the events of the day I don't think kicking myself would have done much damage. I knew the belt test would be unlike any other class when the teacher, Min Jae, dragged a desk from the locker room onto the gym floor and sat behind it, with his clipboard on top and his green pen in hand. But I spent spare time over the weekend prepping for the test, whether I was shadow punching in front of the bathroom mirror or kicking and pivoting while waiting for a subway train to arrive, so at that point I just told myself I prepped as best I could, and if I did what I could, I'd probably pass. Indeed, I tumbled, I fell, I somersaulted, I punched confidently, I kicked and twisted somewhere north of adequately, and I executed five escape moves (all involving removing my hands from a wristlock) well enough to get a nod for Teacher. All that stood between me and good news was the ability to break wooden boards with a kick of my choice. I, of course, felt sufficiently mediocre in all four varieties of kicking, so I just accepted the style of kick Teacher wanted. I went first and told myself I was capable of doing this, because if I wasn't, Teacher wouldn't have asked me to do it. Chuck, a blue belt, was enlisted to hold three boards in front of him, tilted downward with the face of the boards facing the floor at the level just below his chest. I bent my knee, and, in slow motion, extended my kick so the ball of my feet touched the boards twice. And then I unleashed and sent all three boards flying, which in most cases would be good except that none of them were broken. I tried again. The front board broke and the other two didn't. Those of you who know me understand exactly what was going through my head at this point: That the three other students were amused by my ineptitude, Teacher would never pass me, every time I'd walk into a downtown bar everyone would point and say, "There's the octogenarian who will be a white belt the rest of his life," and I could never get another job in South Korea again. It took a good 30 seconds to calm my nerves, and shortly after Teacher grabbed the three boards and held them in front of me, I kicked the holy hell out of them. And that's how, after two months of Hapkido class in the summer, a four-month break and a 10-week second stint, I finally earned a new belt. I can't wait until my next one in 2012. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MAY 17: A WALK IN THE PARK, AND A REALITY CHECK I'll begin with the sky-is-blue, sun-is-shining, birds-are-singing portion of the post. Here I am with two friends I met Saturday:
The cute, well-behaved white girl under my right arm is Nori. The shaggy, playful, unwilling-to-sit-still-long-enough-for-a-photo boy on the right is Dongjae. They live on the top floor of the Korean Animal Protection Society building in Daegu, although for how much longer is apparently up in the air. More on that in a bit. The two were among the 20 or so dogs who joined 20 or so foreigners for a walk in Duryu Park for about 90 minutes on Saturday. The walk was a welcome respite from shelter life, which, although it's better than the alternative, is less than ideal for them.
On the main floor (the third floor of the building), I counted 46 cages. Upstairs, inside a darker room that reeked of piss, there were about 10 larger dogs, including a 130-pound Malamute who let me walk into his cage and promptly pounced on me after I entered. "There has to be 46 people in a city of two and a half million people who would want a dog," I told anyone who'd listen. And one person responded that, during a recent afternoon, one of the dogs was adopted -- and six others were brought in.
So, as you may have gathered by now my Saturday afternoon had two distinct parts: The cool part where I played with dogs and cats who desperately need some love, and the sobering part. While these are not the ideal living conditions for the dogs, they are better than the alternative, which is in the back of the dog catcher's truck or in compact cages on a puppy farm, where they are bred to be eaten. The shelter has been run for 28 years by a woman who gives these dogs a second chance. Not every dog, however, leaves this shelter alive. If a dog is sick, or if the shelter becomes overcrowded, then, well, some dogs just have to go quietly, if you get my drift. The only answer is to find a real home for these dogs. However, based on conversations with established volunteers, almost all Koreans would rather buy a toy dog than adopt one, and most foreigners (myself included) won't adopt a dog if they are going to leave South Korea in less than a year, particularly if that destination is the UK, Australia or New Zealand, island nations with strict quarantine laws. I know I'm not painting the prettiest picture here, but the woman does so much just to keep these dogs alive for as long as she does in the hope that all of them can find a home. So our foreign community does what it can, and that means volunteering to take these dogs out on walks.
It didn't take long to find out how much these dogs crave companionship. When the main door to the shelter opened, the cacophony of high-pitched barks echoed through the hallway. When I opened the door to the top floor, Yongjae raced toward me, jumped on my legs and was more than happy to lick my face. "I'm walking this one," I said, and it soon became a package deal with Nori, Yongjae's friend for several years. For most of the walk I called them "Namja" (boy) and "Yoja" (girl) because I didn't know their names until we were almost back at the shelter. Either way, they hardly listened to me. Doesn't matter -- they loved being outside and often raced to the front of the line. It was hard closing the fourth-floor door after the walk. It's hard enough to say goodbye to Baldy before I head to work, much less a group of dogs who truly need a permanent home. I then spent an hour at the cat shelter. The cats have it better. The rooms are brighter and they have more toys. And they loved to play ...
So the cats, while in need of a home, are in a decent situation. As for the dogs, however, the news just got worse. I learned today through a volunteer that the dog shelter is in danger. According to the volunteer, the previous landlord of the building loved animals and charged a pittance for rent. This landlord has since died, and his heir is now pressuring Sunnan, the woman who has put so much of her effort into the shelter, to leave. Sunnan has found a suitable site in a nearby building, but the rent would be about 800 to 900 British pounds a month, along with a deposit of 28,000 British pounds. (Those are the figures I was given, and I will leave any exchange rate calculations to people smarter than I am, which, if I do my math correctly, is about 6 billion of you.) If any of you want to help, the official website for the Korean Animal Protection Society is here. Any of my Korean-based blog readers who want to join the KAPS Facebook group can do so by clicking here. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MAY 13: THE COLLEGE SELECTION PROCESS, THREE YEARS EARLY This blog has made several references to the pressure on middle school students to perform well on their standardized exams, which occur every four months. But I've never expounded upon why they endure 18-hour study days to do so well. Today I learned why, and the answer is that a student with scores that don't pass muster will not attend the high school of his or her choosing. The following explanation comes with the help of a third-year middle school student (English name James) who laid out the process for me during one of our special conversation classes. James selects his first, second and third choices for the high school he wants to attend. He may choose based on proximity, or reputation, or their specialized courses. The powers that be at his first-choice school will look at James' test scores, as well as the scores of every other student who (a) have listed that school as their first choice or (b) have listed that school as their second and third choice but have been turned down by their first and/or second choices. There are only so many students who can attend said high school -- for this example, we'll say there are 400 spots to be had. If, among the candidates, there are 400 test scores better than James' test scores, he won't attend his first choice of high school. If all three of James' top choices turn him down, then Daegu's education body will place him at a school of their choice. So, basically, these middle school students are facing a similar scenario and similar pressures to the high school students who are trying to enter their university of choice. That's why a student's raw score isn't the only thing they're interested in; they are concerned about what percentile they're in. I never understood why that was before. I do now. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MAY 9: MY LAZY MOTHER'S DAY POST I could tell you what's new, but do you really want to hear about the steak I bought today? Of course you don't. It was four bucks, by the way. I just want to set aside this post to thank the woman who has done everything for me. And if you knew me, you would understand how difficult her job has been. So Happy Mother's Day, and I hope this link reminds you of all the fun we had last August.
Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MAY 7: TRY, TRY AGAIN (AND AGAIN AND AGAIN ...) The first international rugby match I ever attended was decided by 58 points. The home team couldn't kick straight or long, couldn't bring an opponent down with the first tackle or often the second, but God bless 'em, they couldn't dampen our spirits either. Most people who attended the match won't remember the score, but I do, because I'm like that, and for the record, the Japanese rugby team throttled the South Koreans 71-13 last Saturday in nearby Gyeongsan. And then the fun began. As the Japanese players approached the bleachers for their postgame bow, a group of English-speaking fans all but tossed a Japanese boy over the barricade so he could have his photo taken.
Then, after the Koreans took their bow, hundreds of fans, most of them who weren't even Korean, thought it would be a good idea to wander onto the pitch to see if they would get thrown off. We didn't, and the next thing you know, a bunch of Waygookin are on the pitch of the Gyeongsan Sports Complex asking players of a team who just got lambasted to pose for photos.
The winners enjoyed some of the spoils too ...
After some dawdling, an impromptu match of touch rugby broke out. We even had a rather young guest player in a Japan jersey who happily ran around with us, picked up the ball and scored a glorious try before he ran into the arms of his father -- who happens to play for Japan. We played for 45 minutes as a legion of foreign teachers, some of whom traveled from Seoul, sat around and nursed their 2-liter bottles of Hite or Cass they bought from a nearby convenience store.
The match itself, as you may have gathered from the lead paragraph, was crap. I'm no expert, but I sat near some experts who shook their heads at the kickers' inability to produce a spiral. Still, it was good fun, and most foreigners I sat with were just happy to watch an international rugby match. With about 15 minutes ago, with the outcome more than obvious, our section delivered a respectable "DAAAAEEE-han MIN-GUK" chant. (That's "South Korea" in Hangul.) We also booed when South Korea, down 64-10, opted to take a penalty (3 points) rather than continue for a try (5 points, plus a 2-point conversion). Nothing personal guys, just, you know, work on some things and go for a try rather than settling for a stupid kick when you have nothing to lose.
Japan is easily the best team in Asia -- and if the phrase "tallest midget in the circus" is entering your head, that's a good instinct. The Cherry Blossoms are bolstered by numerous imports from Oceania and the South Pacific islands, thanks to Japan's domestic league that pays well enough to attract the players, and relaxed residency rules that allow the imports to play for the national team. So they dominate the likes of South Korea, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan. Japan's record in the IRB World Cup, meanwhile, is one win, one draw and 18 losses. Their average score on rugby's biggest stage is a 49-18 loss. In 2007, they drew with Canada, lost 35-31 to a respectable Fiji team and got killed by Wales and Australia. Only Portugal and Namibia had worse point differentials than Japan's minus-146, and only Namibia allowed more points than Japan's 210. So you can only imagine how much work South Korea has to do. I suggest they start by overcoming Hong Kong.
Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. |
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On May 18, 1980, the first of two deadly standoffs occurred. In the next four days, Korean soldiers killed, clubbed and arrested protesters and bystanders; about 100 taxis had driven in rows of three to the heart of the city in protest; a broadcasting station and an Internal Revenue Service building had been set on fire; and 300,000 citizens who demanded the end of martial law had taken to the streets.
