Trip to Korea - Day 2.
Posted on November 19, 2007 at 9:36 am.
Today I went to a shopping center and visited the school where my sister teaches. Also it snowed heavily today for about an hour. The temperature increased, which is good, I doubt the snow will survive until morning.
If someone tells you that Asians in general and Koreans in particular are effective and disciplined people... laugh that person in the face. This place is a giant clusterfuck. Most things I saw here so far, are shining examples of ineffectiveness. From the way the city is planned, to the way people drive, to how people do their jobs - everything is atrociously chaotic.
For example, the streets are paved in such a way that you are constantly walking on a smooth, often polished surface. Even when it's dry it is slippery. Add just a little water (or snow) and you see people falling left and right.
The way the school is run warrants a separate book. Let's just say that it is a criminal enterprise that operates in a way, which would land everyone involved in prison if it happened in the US. The part that deals with parents is a racket. The part that deals with children is a screaming example of emotional and physical abuse. Altogether it is just as useless to children as if they didn't go there at all. It is built on lies, supported with more lies and some intimidation plus violence. I have never seen such a corrupt and evil organization.
Seriously, I often complain about many of the US organizations and government institutions being corrupt, ineffective and so on. Well, I may never be able to say that again. As long as I remember Korea, I will feel that I am being extremely hypocritical if I as much as hint at the wrongdoings of the US enterprises.
For some reason Americans love to tell each other myths of their own inadequacy. One such myth is that they are not accepting of others, while every one else is kind, generous, worldly, etc. In truth Americans are THE most accepting people in the world. You wouldn't know what nonacceptance is until you visited Korea. My sister's students openly say that they hate some of the nicest people ever because those people are fat, or old, or bald, or have small eyes.
Kevin, one of the teachers who used to work there, was a good person, a good teacher and constantly brought these kids candy, sang songs to them and was overall someone whom I would love to be taught by. The kids tell my sister that they hate him. Why? "Because he is fat like a pig."
One of the books they have has a picture of a black girl. They call her "monkey" and "choco-pie" and say that they hate her. When shown pictures of beautiful black models, they say "pretty body, but monkey face." One girl pasted a white girl's picture over the black model's face and said "now much better." And these are nice kids, not some mean bastards. They just live in such a culture.
Oh an another thing. You know how people hate to admit that they are wrong or that they don't know something? Well, Koreans take it to an extreme. A Korean will completely ignore you even if you are standing right in front of him, just so he wouldn't have to admit that he doesn't know English. To be fair those who do know it, are always friendly and ready to help.
Lying is a fundamental part of this society. For example the woman who runs this school says that she knows English. She in fact does not. She has a fake diploma from an American university and that is her livelihood. She also charges money for preparing kids for entrance exams to colleges. Since she has absolutely no knowledge of English she obviously can't prepare them. Yet, if they fail it is their fault because they didn't study hard enough.
No wonder Korea has the highest suicide rate, for students, in the world.
This was a negative entry... I didn't intend for it to be that way, but I wanted to write down all of my impressions. Just so you know these are not only my own observations, I am also relating the experiences of my sister and some of her colleagues.
Hopefully tomorrow I will learn some good things about Korea as well.
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Trip to Korea - Day 1.
Posted on November 18, 2007 at 5:57 am.
Today was cold. In fact I would say that it has been the defining characteristic of the day. We walked around so much that I nearly froze my nose and ears off. I don't know if I got sick, but surely I will find that out tonight.
In other news, we saw some kind of huge palace complex, which was pretty impressive in addition to just being pretty. Then we walked around two different parts of the city, ate at a restaurant and at a street vendor.
The restaurant was the kind where you take off your shoes and then sit on a cushion next to a really low table, which was neat because it was a first.
One of the districts we visited was one where all the foreigners are. That's where you get to see other non-Koreans. There are all sorts of shops, bars and clubs there. I will try to visit it at night one of these days.
Korean girls are often pretty, but they remind me of Russian and other eastern European girls because of how they are overdone with their make-up and clothing. Surely it is nice when someone takes care of herself, but when you see that she spent 3 hours preparing before walking out of her house, that just makes you pity her. My sister says that it is the insecurity of the countries who recently came into wealth and place too much value in clothing and overall in appearance.
Motels and ads for hookers are everywhere, but it is impolite to notice it. Koreans think of such things as "vice", but deal with it by completely ignoring its existence. =) They outlaw it too, but it looks like nobody ever took any steps to enforce the laws. Ignoring seems to work the best so everyone is happy, the girls, the clients, the cops and the general population. Perhaps the US could learn from this. =)
Our guide at the palace could not make herself say things like "sex" or "pregnant" when she was talking about the Royal Dynasty. It was hilarious how she tried to explain what some of the buildings were for, without actually telling us anything. She then apologized for it a hundred times and said that she hopes we don't think her country is dumb, because she just can't say these words. =)
In particular, when explaining the symbolism behind the lotus flower, she couldn't say "sexual potency" so she said "male virtue" instead. I thought it was pretty clever.
I took many pictures, but I am too tired right now to do anything with them.
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Trip to Korea - Arrival.
Posted on November 17, 2007 at 6:31 pm.
We traveled for EVER... in fact when we went to sleep last night we were at that point up for 25 hours.
Korea is weird. People drive as if they were criminally insane. The internet in my sister's appartment is password protected (even though it isn't wireless) so I can't use it on my computer. I am osting this from a Mac... brrrr.
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Trip to Korea - Beginning.
Posted on November 16, 2007 at 10:57 am.
I have packed my things and in a few hours will board a plane to Seoul, South Korea. We are flying through Japan, I think either Nagasaki or Tokyo. The whole trip should take 16 - 18 hours, which will be hell of course.
I have a book (Children of Hurin) and my laptop to keep me company. My father is also flying with me, so we'll see who gets sick of the other one first.
I am bringing my camera with me, but I doubt I would want to take pictures of the airport. It's always the same there.
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Hollywood pwned.
Posted on November 9, 2007 at 11:32 am.
A kingdom is truly in peril when a court jester takes upon himself the duties of a king.
So our dear Hollywood decided to cash in on the current war by making a bunch of movies about it. Or maybe they are just "politically conscious" and want to preach to the unenlightened masses.
Either way, they got owned. According to this article, the public had shunned all these movies. The box office reported disastrous levels of disinterest.
Maybe this will remind Hollywood that they are but entertainers and their job is to entertain, not preach... nah, not gonna happen.
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Global warming is a scam.
Posted on November 8, 2007 at 11:08 am.
In this article, John Coleman, the founder of the Weather Channel is denouncing the "Global Warming" hoopla as the biggest scam in history.
Well... yea, who would have thought...
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Movie - The Pink Panther.
Posted on November 7, 2007 at 11:07 am.
Saw it last night (the original one). It's funny. Reminded me of No One Lives Forever games as far as the setting goes.
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Movie - Equilibrium.
Posted on November 7, 2007 at 11:05 am.
Saw it on Monday. Looks pretty good, but is stupid.
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Korea according to my sister - 6.
Posted on November 7, 2007 at 10:39 am.
Here is a letter I got this morning:
So today Kevin [a teacher who left the school] stopped by the school to pick up something. The students saw him and went to say hi and hang on his arms. Kevin got JQ [one of the teenage students] into a headlock and ordered him to speak English.
JQ: I don't speak English! I don't speak English!
Kevin: No, tell me something new that you learned!
JQ: I don't know! I don't know!
Kevin: Come on! Say something that Mariya teacher taught you!
JQ: Ah. I'll make you a new asshole!
Kevin: (Shocked, lets the kid go) I think I heard wrong. I think I heard something different from what he said.
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Don't be a Jew in BFKG.
Posted on November 6, 2007 at 5:33 pm.
A friend sent me this journal article.
Apparently in Britain Formerly Known as Great, a Jew is 4 times more likely to be attacked for being a Jew than a Muslim is for being a Muslim.
Also, the situation seems to be worsening. While this is generally unsurprising, given the overall state of affair in Britain, I am left wondering why do Britons like to pick on Jews instead of Muslims. So far I was able to come up with two plausible answers:
1) It is Muslims who are committing most of the crimes against Jews, while Britons hate everyone equally.
2) Jews are less likely to retaliate by blowing up buses and such.
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Nothing fails like a prayer does.
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