Now I tend to keep politics out of my blogs. It has nothing to do with a general malaise or disinterest in the subject, but primarily because of the political environment today. For someone who finds himself slightly to the right of center on the political spectrum, I am increasingly targeted and misrepresented by those on both extremes. To the liberals I am just another misinformed moron who wants a case of Natural Ice and my shotgun. To those on the far right I am not truly one of them. I cannot be counted on to provide support at all times.
The curiosity I have is this. When did it become politically unacceptable to make up your own mind? When did it become un-American to vote your conscience? I'm reminded here of Thomas Jefferson:
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but inform their discretion."
Jefferson believed in an educated citizenry. Yet, today, those of us who disagree with liberal politics are seen as uneducated, slovenly scum, who don't deserve the right to vote. We're seen as unfit and therefore the government should make our decisions for us. Well forgive me for rejecting the paternalistic notion of "you don't know whats good for you." I have received a world class education through my years. Even with this it's assumed that I just don't know any better. Yet, the true nature of Democracy is that even if we do not agree, I am entitled to voice my opinion. Look at what Jefferson said, "the remedy is not to take it from them, but inform their decision."
I want to use an example of something that recently occurred between some friends and I. An article was posted that stated President Obama is still very popular with the "over-educated." Most people instantly took this to be a Fox News article and attacked it as Right Wing Propaganda (some of these quotes are from my friends, other just random people, but all of these are actual quotes. I removed their names):
"That's the typical Republican mentality. People who are educated are elitist and dangerous. Look who their absolute darling is right now: Sarah Palin. "
"Cain't truss dem feller's what got alla dere teef."
"I didn't know one could be OVER-educated. Is this some new catchphrase designed by Sarah Palin-ites to diss intellectuals?"
"It baffles me to no end. Just a strange way of creating a most structured class system. I know this is a stab at the "Liberal Elite" but I'm sure there are a lot of over-educated folks on the Right that can't stand Obama."
Here is the thing about this whole exchange. The article was written by a writer who works for the Huffington Post. This is a Progressive news website which decidedly tilts towards the far left of the political spectrum. However, nobody spent anytime to investigate the source of this article before instantly proclaiming it to be a right wing smear job. It took me all of one minute to find out the author and then find out who he writes for. However, people love to show their ignorance by jumping to conclusions.
This also shows just how vile the current political environment is. We have a system in place that vilifies the middle. A majority of America is located in the middle, but both parties are currently being held hostage by the far ends of the spectrum. I think that President Eisenhower said it best:
“People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come into the gray areas. Things are not all black and white. There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters. ”
Today I am saddened by the news that my Grandfather has passed away. My mother's father had been in and out of the hospital for the past few months for various problems. His death is still rather sudden it seems. He passed away today with his wife of over 50 years by his side. Apparently he just stopped breathing and went very peacefully. My mother is headed out to San Diego to help make arrangements for his burial. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
These are some of the best educational videos I've found online to help with the teaching of English. I think it will be an interesting way to help you enter the mind of a ESL teacher in Korea.
Hamsters Alphabet Song: Teaching the alphabet can be a repetitive task here in Korea. The official government line is that they are not supposed to actually learn the English alphabet until they are in the 4th grade. The problem with this fact is that well over half of the students attend Hagwons (private academies). The problem this presents us with is that half of the class already knows the alphabet, and the other half either have no interest in learning it or have never learned it before. What this means is that it is like pulling teeth to get the kids to practice. This video is an essential way to make the kids want to practice. All that is required is to play the video and the students will start signing along. I even repeatedly received requests for this video.
School House Rock: Ohh yes, that. Believe it or not YouTube has become a veritable bonanza for English teachers. You can find almost all of the School House Rock series located on the site. School House Rock still today is an effective tool in teaching language. I mean, how many of remember the immortal line "conjunction junction, what's your function"? Well, it turns out that several of these videos have use here in Korea. Prepositions, Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Pronouns, and even Interjections are something that we teach.
Vocabulary Videos: Teaching vocabulary is unfortunately an essential part of learning any language. As such we tend to spend lots of time going over thematic vocabulary units. These units vary from rooms in a home, to parts of the body. It is essential to reinforce this vocabulary through targeted practice of essential words. To this end the internet is a valuable resource. Take this clip for example, which was at one time aired on Sesame Street. While it is short, it effectively covers parts of the body, and more importantly engages the students in using vocabulary.
Music Videos: Something we do to change the rhythm of a course is use music videos which highlight key phrases and thematic units which we are teaching. Take for example the unit "Will you help me please?" The curriculum comes with a song for this chapter, however it is pure rubbish. A better song to use would be the Beatles song "Help!" This song provides a more colloquial usage of how to ask for help, and more importantly doesn't make me feel like throwing something at the computer.
Change of Pace: Sometimes you just need to have a change of pace with your students. Whether it is general malaise or just a need to refresh your and their spirits. This is best accompanied by a video showing something funny. Anything funny really will work in this situation. I have found that the best results come from funny animal videos and clips that would qualify for America's Funniest Home Videos. Enjoy.
Scary Videos: I know it's mean to do to the students, but nothing will get their attention faster then starting with a video like this. What is best is that none of them have seen it before you show it to them. It's great, and would probably get you fired if you tried something like this in America.
The Noun Song: I recently just finished a grammar session in the English Camp that I am teaching. I stumbled upon this song when I realized that I needed something to help reinforce the definition of a Noun. Little did I know that this little diddy would be so catching that I would be signing it in my head.
Videos are just one of the ways that we as teachers try to utilize technology to enhance our lessons. Sometimes the videos work wonders, and other times they are just an effective way of wasting 5 minutes.
I have taken some time off of writing for the past few weeks. I have two basic reasons for this brief sabbatical from my normal writings. The first is that I have been on vacation, and have spent most of the time bumming around Seosan. This means that a majority of my days have been spent wandering around my town or tooling around online. Some small things have happened during this time, but nothing that was worth noting on my blog.
The second reason is that I have been mourning the loss of my Grandmother. She passed on New Year's Eve surrounded by my parents, her husband, and one of her sisters. It was hard for a while for me to post anything about this. I love my Grandmother very much, and have been saddened by her passing. I am however grateful that she is no longer suffering and I know that she is at peace. It has been a hard time for my family and I am grateful for all the love and support we have received from friends and family. It has made a world of difference and I know that my parents as well as myself have been much buoyed by it.
It comes upon us every year, and most of those that I know stop for a minute to reflect upon what happened to them. We pause to make promises that most of us will not keep for more then a week or so. We say "This year I will lose weight. This year I will stop smoking. This year I will go back to school. This year, this year, this year...." All of this is an attempt to justify what we spent the last year doing, and realizing that as we get older, the chances are we will spend the next year doing the same things. I will talk with my friends, I will miss my friends, but when the dawn comes on the next new year, chances are that the world will still be a different place for us.
I find myself here before the dawn of a new decade, and I realize that I will soon lose two or four people who are very close to me. Some will pass sooner then the others, and others will quietly fade into the long goodbye. I guess it with this looming loss ahead of me that I look towards my next decade on this planet. A decade which promises great joy, great achievements, and immense hardship. In light of these future events, I would like to offer a toast, a prayer, or just some old fashioned hope for all of you.
May the dawning of the next decade find you well. May the memories of those we lose outweigh the memories of the way we lose them. May we all find love, be it love renewed, love obtained, or love forgotten that is found again. May we all endeavor to find those who mean, meant, or will mean everything to us and tell them just how important they are. May you have peace, joy, and happiness and may god smile upon us all. No matter by what name we call him. Happy New Year everyone, may its dawn find you well, and may its course enrich us all.
Anyone who has ever been to another country can tell you about the weird and wonderful things they have experienced there. Even going to Canada and experiencing all the flannel can be a life long achievement. Yet, it seems that whenever we think of weird things, Asia always comes to the front of the line. We think of the Chinese, and after we dismiss the wonderful thoughts of Panda Express, we think of all the weird things they eat. Deep fried grasshoppers, sure. When you think of Japan, most people think of sushi, anime, and.....well this is a PG-13 blog. Needless to say the weird things of a culture tend to stick out and we stereotype based upon those things.
Now, this blog is not just going to be about the weird food products that I've experienced while I'm here. I've already written about that. This blog is going to be just about the funky, funny, and somewhat ridiculous products that can be found here. Some of these will be food based, others will be clothing based, and a few might just be human based. Either way these are some of the funniest products, sings, or things that I have experienced in my time here in Korea. Be they epic, bad, horrid, or just funky, this is the best of the best.
1. Cup O Cake. Yes, you heard me right, Cup O Cake. As in Cup O Noodles. I cannot tell you how many times I walked past these cups and didn't pay them any attention. Why would I, they were in the middle of flour and baking supplies. I didn't have an oven at the time and honestly just never really paid much attention. Well, one day, these things caught my eye. At first I was generally dismissive about what they were. After a second glance though I realized that they were trying to be cake in a cup. All you do is add and Egg and some Water. Then after 1 minute and 30 seconds in the microwave you have a piping hot cake. As you can guess these things taste about as good as Cup of Noodles.
2. Rice Tard. While honestly this is just a mistake in the printing, it doesn't make it any less hilarious. I'm sure somewhere I've just offended someone because I'm laughing at the mistake. Yet, what the person who wrote the English was hoping for was Rice Custard. Unfortunately for them, and quite fortunately for us, they do not understand the non PC nature of the word TARD.
3. Pet Storage. This sign is just awesome. Located inside of the few Costco's scattered throughout this wonderful country, this sign is perched above the storage lockers. It took me a second to read the sign, and then to truly process its meaning. These lockers, which are meant to store backpacks and such apparently just aren't meant for animals. I guess the more important question, is who brings an animal to Costco? We're not in LA.
4. Animal Hoods. I know I've written about these things before, but with the return of winter, they have returned. I swear these things get more ridiculous the more I see them. I can understand children wearing them, but adults, come on. Although it does turn any person no matter how gruff and scary into a more childish figure.
5. Horrible English Shirts. I cannot think of the amount of times that I have walked around my school looking at my students shirts. Sometimes you are rewarded with an absolute gold mine of comedic quality. From shirts that have swear words on them, to shirts that make no sense in English whatsoever. Perhaps the greatest shirt I've ever seen, and unfortunately do not have a picture of states the following (rough paraphrase but the meaning is identical): "Lets pretend were rabbits and do what rabbits do all day." Now this shirt had a really adorable picture of a bunny on it, and in no way was trying to be lewd. However, the context of what they wrote was obscene. I've never been able to get the 5th grade girl that wears this shirt to let me take a picture of it. I promise you, that when I do get it, you'll see it.
6. Funky drinks. Now, I've known some funky drinks in my day, but sometimes this country takes the cake. Well, honestly it takes the cake. I have had the following things here, and I wish that I was joking. Try grape juice from a can, with grapes in it. How, about other fruit juices with juice pieces in them. These aren't even like Orangina or sodas, these are just juice. Hey, you ever had Aloe Juice with pieces of aloe snot in it? I have. What about warm milk based hot chocolate in a can that comes out of a vending machine. Yeah, warm hot chocolate out of a can, from a vending machine. I haven't even gotten onto the health tonics that they sell. YEEEESH! Stay away from these things, well, the ginseng ones that have a lot of sugar in them aren't that bad. However, the pure ginseng juice actually gave me food poisoning.
7. Kimchi Fridge. Yeah, I know it makes sense, but these people sell Kimchi refrigerators. These are not small fridges either. These are the size of your average garage freezer. Yeah, that's a lot of Kimchi.
8. Korean commercials. Ugh. I could rant and rave about these things for a while. In fact I'm only going to give you the tip of the ice berg. Some of these commercials feature Diacon Raddish being credit carded by a ghost. Yeah, that's still on air. How about commercials that just blatantly use sex to sell, yup we got um . In fact here is a taste of what I'm talking about.
Or how about just blatantly racist.
9. One of the last things that I will probably never forget about this country, besides the music which is just horrid, is the serious man on man action. Oye, I understand that it's cultural, but can't they respect my culture and keep their hands off of me. I'm honestly thinking about getting a shirt that says no touching on it. I cannot tell you the amount of times that I've felt like I was being violated by a friendly Korean man. Limp handshakes I can handle. Trying to hold my hand, Ok, I can deal. Stroking my arm, leg, or facial hair, that's starting to creep me out. Leaving your lingering hand on my inner thigh, ok dude, no offense, I'm nowhere near drunk enough, and you're not my type. You have a penis. Not what I'm looking for when I'm out at the bar. I wish I could say that it was just a drunk gay guy hoping a foreigner would be down for some action, but most of the times these guys have girlfriends or wives, and they're there with them. No, I do not want to hold hands with you. No, I do not want to touch you. No I don't want to go to the bathroom with you and compare. I wish I was joking about this, but this is a game that my 6th grade boys play. One will be peeing in a urinal, the others will then all run up behind him and hug each other. They then start swaying and gyrating and well, you get the picture......This is totaly ok, and in no way wrong.
