I am willing to admit that I took a certain amount of snobbish joy in writing the essay on the dumbening of America. What is truly a depressing topic somehow brought joy to me as I wrote about it. Of course, that's why you choose to write about whatever you write about. A journalist who writes about the horrors of war in Africa can feel good about their writing because they have related important information to the world. And while I know a good deal of my joy in the "dumbness" piece comes from this, I worry that some of it comes from something deeper and more sinister. There is that lurking overwhelming sense of pride in the fact that I am not a dumb American.
Intellectuals have always celebrated their lives apart from most of humanity. Traditionally, European intellectuals were always from the privileged classes, scorning the silly masses. And though today's American intellectuals (in theory) represent all races and classes, I wonder if this better-than-you mentality is not only present, but also dangerous to American society.
Being an intellectual is always tragic; there is inevitably the sense of having battled against some adversarial force. This adversary is most commonly the society of idiots who just won't let the intellectual be themselves. But despite their complaining about this, I think there is a certain thread in the intellectual tradition that needs this opposition. There is a sense that one's greatness only exists in measure to the relative stupidity of those around you. If America (or the world) stopped being dumb, where would the intellectuals be? They'd be the same as everyone else. This is what they (we) all espouse to support, but could they (we) really stand the scenario of not being the smartest kid in the classroom anymore?
What I'm getting at is that I say I wish everyone read the New York Times every morning, but I secretly take pleasure in the fact that I am one a small number of people who actually do read the New York Times every morning. I wish that Fox News didn't exist, but I feel self-important knowing (and saying) that it is bullshit. The Daily Show is what I consider the pinnacle of television, yet it's entire premise is laughing at (and thus enjoying?) America's descent into dumbness. Is this smart, cynical attitude somehow responsible for the stupidity?
It would be very difficult to draw a direct causal connection. However, intellectuals make no secret of their attempts to cordon themselves off from the world. I am currently in a state of near personal crisis regarding my decision whether or not to attempt to enter the tower of academia. It's a wonderful, enlightened place, but the hoops are so high, and the people are so snobby, I don't know if it's worth it. This is where the partitioning of society begins. Those with PhD's scorn those without them, when in truth, being granted one is based on about 43% skill and 57% popularity contest. Being the brightest is definitely an exclusive club, and I wonder if that attitude among our best educated somehow contributes to America's dumbness.
Certainly the intellectual snobbishness doesn't aid in achieving a truce in the culture war, but does it really contribute to the stupidity of those in the other trenches? Is there something about the way that we say "everyone should listen to NPR" that makes the masses prefer Fox News? Could we be subconsciously doing this on purpose?
I certainly fucking hope not, because I feel that I honestly, sincerely believe it when I say that everyone should listen to NPR and read the New York Times. Sure I take pride in the fact that I do these things, but I don't think I would take any less pride if everyone else did them too. I take pride in doing them simply because it is the right thing to do. Doing the right thing doesn't feel any less good if everyone else is doing it. It's fun to be the smartest kid in the class, but it's also much more fun to be in a class full of smart kids than a class full of idiots.
12/17/06
the dumbening of america
My boss asked us all to write an essay for him. Thought I might as well post it.
When recent polls show that a clear majority of Americans now believe we should not have invaded Iraq, the obvious question is “where were these people four years ago?” How is it possible that most Americans could see the Iraq war as the scam it was/is only after four years of blood, bombs, and billions of dollars in defense spending? I believe we are dealing with an American public that has been and continues to be severely “dumbened” by its government and media. The deterioration of the public school system, focusing on standardized test scores, and not on critical thinking skills is the first cause of this problem. The second is a media that increasingly insists on breaking the world and its complexities into simple, fast thirty-second segments.
The intellectual decline of America is a significant issue not only for myself and my country of origin, but for the entire world. Due to the global dominance of the United States, the stupidity of the American public can have consequences for all nations and peoples. The Iraq war is the most prominent reminder of this fact. Many Americans do not consider issues and events in any detail, or with any analysis, often failing to perceive the connections between actions and circumstances. They have very little knowledge of or interest in the complex factors that create the world we live in. In a democratic system, a country of shallow thinkers is poorly equipped to pick qualified leaders. When that country is a world super-power, the situation has global effects.
A public education system that increasingly ignores the teaching of critical thinking plays a lead role in America’s declining intelligence. Education in the United States has fallen behind worldwide standards, largely due to lack of funding. The solution to this problem has been to implement a system of monitoring schools based on standardized test scores. This leads to a situation where teachers must focus on preparing their students for the barrage of multiple-choice tests taken on a yearly basis. The problem with this approach is that standardized tests by nature cannot gauge critical thinking skills. Thus, teachers do not teach critical thinking skills, because they are not part of the standardized testing regiment. A whole generation of Americans now has memorized facts where their ability to think, question, make inferences, and see connections should be.
While the education system affects only the youth, the U.S. media makes idiots out of Americans of all ages. Most Americans no longer get their news from print (or written) media, opting instead for the speed and sheen of television. While television is not inherently bad as a media, in practice, television news is over simplified, sensationalized, and sped up to a dizzying pace. Television news usually gives multifaceted issues and events a simple treatment in a thirty-second clip, before moving on to the next story. In addition to simplification, television news fails its viewers in terms of content. Important stories that actually affect peoples’ lives are ignored, while inconsequential but sensational stories are headlines. The result is an American public that thinks in simple terms about current events, while often being completely ignorant of an important event’s occurrence or significance.
Thus, Americans are being “dumbened” by their public school system and media. This is troubling not only because of American power in the world at large, but also because of America’s influence on global culture. Will the entire world follow the U.S. down the road to idiocy?
When recent polls show that a clear majority of Americans now believe we should not have invaded Iraq, the obvious question is “where were these people four years ago?” How is it possible that most Americans could see the Iraq war as the scam it was/is only after four years of blood, bombs, and billions of dollars in defense spending? I believe we are dealing with an American public that has been and continues to be severely “dumbened” by its government and media. The deterioration of the public school system, focusing on standardized test scores, and not on critical thinking skills is the first cause of this problem. The second is a media that increasingly insists on breaking the world and its complexities into simple, fast thirty-second segments.
The intellectual decline of America is a significant issue not only for myself and my country of origin, but for the entire world. Due to the global dominance of the United States, the stupidity of the American public can have consequences for all nations and peoples. The Iraq war is the most prominent reminder of this fact. Many Americans do not consider issues and events in any detail, or with any analysis, often failing to perceive the connections between actions and circumstances. They have very little knowledge of or interest in the complex factors that create the world we live in. In a democratic system, a country of shallow thinkers is poorly equipped to pick qualified leaders. When that country is a world super-power, the situation has global effects.
A public education system that increasingly ignores the teaching of critical thinking plays a lead role in America’s declining intelligence. Education in the United States has fallen behind worldwide standards, largely due to lack of funding. The solution to this problem has been to implement a system of monitoring schools based on standardized test scores. This leads to a situation where teachers must focus on preparing their students for the barrage of multiple-choice tests taken on a yearly basis. The problem with this approach is that standardized tests by nature cannot gauge critical thinking skills. Thus, teachers do not teach critical thinking skills, because they are not part of the standardized testing regiment. A whole generation of Americans now has memorized facts where their ability to think, question, make inferences, and see connections should be.
While the education system affects only the youth, the U.S. media makes idiots out of Americans of all ages. Most Americans no longer get their news from print (or written) media, opting instead for the speed and sheen of television. While television is not inherently bad as a media, in practice, television news is over simplified, sensationalized, and sped up to a dizzying pace. Television news usually gives multifaceted issues and events a simple treatment in a thirty-second clip, before moving on to the next story. In addition to simplification, television news fails its viewers in terms of content. Important stories that actually affect peoples’ lives are ignored, while inconsequential but sensational stories are headlines. The result is an American public that thinks in simple terms about current events, while often being completely ignorant of an important event’s occurrence or significance.
Thus, Americans are being “dumbened” by their public school system and media. This is troubling not only because of American power in the world at large, but also because of America’s influence on global culture. Will the entire world follow the U.S. down the road to idiocy?
12/15/06
seoul
It's no secret that teachers expose themselves to an unusually high amount of infection causing bacteria and viruses. Every time one of my students coughs or sneezes, I cringe and try to hide behind my podium. Unfortunately, these high-tech attempts at disease control appeared to have failed miserably, as I was made miserable two weeks ago by some sort of Asian super-cold. Rather than stay home and nurse myself the first weekend I came down with the illness, I was whisked away on a weekend trip to Gyeongju and Daegu by my boss. (A journey so bizarre it could only be related through some sort of Pynchonesque story-within-a-song-within-a-story in some future post.) By last Friday, I was producing green phlegm in silver-dollar-sized dollops. However, once again, it was time to travel, so instead of resting, I hopped a bullet train for Seoul.
Now, everyone is grumpy when they are sick, but I have a very special talent of insisting on doing something (like traveling to Seoul), and then having a bad attitude about it the entire time because I'm sick. As you may have guessed, negative attitudes tainted much of our trip.
There's nothing in principle, or in practice, to dislike about Seoul right off the bat; it's big, exciting, happening, and easy to navigate. That said, stepping off the train from Daejon in Seoul Station is much like arriving in Grand Central Station fresh from Portland. The speed of the city astounds you so much that you feel everyone around you can literally see your eyes bugging out of your face. I felt like a country bumpkin peeling and eating my mandarin oranges (kyul) in the packed and crammed subway line. Of course, the shock and awe wears off as soon as you've completed your first successful multi-line subway trip without incident.
Our first destination was Dongdaemoon, the east gate market district. I love markets, and was hoping for some crazy-exciting wares that cannot be found at the Joongangno market in Daejon. It was a real shame that poor planning brought us to Dongdaemoon right as the final rays of light were disappearing from the sky, the bitter dry chill was setting in, and the marketeers were shutting down for the evening. As an unfortunate side note, what we did see of the market seemed to indicate that it contains exactly the same cheap goods peddled in Joonangno, just more of them. By the time we were getting back on the subway, I was already making snide comments like "I don't even know why we came here."
The next stop was Itaewon, the "Little America" of Seoul. Already, we had been seeing far more westerners than we are used to, and feeling a little off put by it. But Itaewon, whoa, that place is foreigner central. Some things are annoying, like the hordes of silly white people (in no small part due to its proximity to a major US army base), but many others things were very cool and refreshing. Examples include an all black hair saloon, and a rocking English bookstore. We had a delicious (if extremely expensive) Greek dinner before it was about time to leave Itaewon.
Hongdae is the really cool district of Seoul; it is the happening University area, where bars, shops, and art schools all combine for a hip neighborhood. Taylor was ecstatic to finally see stenciling in Korea. (I am slightly suspicious that most of the stencils were Westerner-made, though Taylor disagrees with me on this point. Unsurprisingly, not our only disagreement of the trip.) Luckily, Ben X happened to be in the neighborhood, where he was working on shooting a short movie with a gay Venezuelan filmmaker he had met in a Spanish chat group. He was able to walk us down the main strip of Hongdae, but it was Taylor who spotted "Bar Da", an inauspicious second floor bar with a seemingly secret entrance. It was extremely small but cool inside. I felt like I was back in Portland. One of the bartenders was even wearing what seemed to be a self-modified sweater. My favorite thing about Bar Da was the shoe-box size diorama of the bar built into the bar wall. (Man I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.)
When it was time to sleep, we slipped into a Ben X recommended jim jil bang (previously called a "jil jil bang"). You may know these as the public baths, but there are also sleeping accommodations, which involve one large room with hard floors that you sleep in with a bunch of clothed (or unclothed) dudes (or ladies). Did I mention I was suffering from a cold? This was not my ideal sleeping arrangement. But, in order to fulfill my ongoing desire to make the world (or at least Taylor) as miserable as me, I decided to assent to staying there so I could complain about it later. Not that I was lacking in things to complain about. The dark communal sleeping room had hard floors, and tough leather pillows. There were only three dudes in there when I crawled into bed around two, and I thought "this could work". That soon changed. Soon the room was full of (mostly) drunk, snoring Koreans, about thirty of them. I finally drifted off around four, only to wake up about five to find that the room's population had nearly doubled, and that I was centimeters away from being spooned by a half-naked Korean man. And I had to piss. I knew that as soon as I got up, my space and pillow would be devoured by the wall-to-wall sleeping mass, so I didn't even bother going back upstairs to the sleeping room. Instead, I opted to try passing out on the floor of the well-lit locker room, as roughly 15 other dudes had already done. I don't think I was drunk enough to achieve that task. By the time Taylor and I met at our appointed time of ten a.m., I was really, really salty, and looking to take it out on someone. (As a pleasant side note - my sleepless hours gave me plenty of time to boil away in the tubs, which actually helped clear out my sinuses and bronchial tubes.)
Our morning was expectedly filled with snappy comments and fights on the quarter hour. This was inflamed by the fact that the Western breakfast place we tried to go to (which, incidentally, is run by the US army) was closed. We didn't have the energy (or resolve) to battle our way through Itaewon again so early in the morning, so we had to bail on our coveted Western breakfast. We instead headed to Korea's version of a fake colonial town where you buy "authentic" souvenirs, Insadong. In retrospect, it was actually a pretty cool place, but Christmas shopping was about the only activity I felt could make me more miserable than I already was. Finally, Taylor dumped me in a Starbucks with a copy of the International Herald Tribune, and set out on her own.
It was actually a kind of blessing that our train tickets home were only available in separate seats. This allowed Taylor to make a new Korean friend, who is in the army, and thus needs a place to stay over the weekends, who will be joining us in our home for Christmas Eve. By the time this was relayed to me as we got off the train in Daejon, I was so burned out on being in a bad mood that I couldn't even come up with any nasty comments to make.
12/5/06
moon base
So, we're going to build a base on the moon. Awesome. Now, I'm about as stoked on science and understanding the universe as they come. And I have to admit that it just sounds really fucking cool to say "Yeah, we've got a base on the moon." And of course, the moon is the best place to try out our hand at space colonization. So yeah, there's a part of me that says "Go moon base!"
However, if I think about the moon base for more than 87 seconds, the glitter and coolness starts to wear off, and reality starts to sink in. The moon? I'm pretty sure there's not much going on there. At least not much that humans need to be around for. Like I said, I'm all about research, but I think robots can tell us most of what we need to know about the moon, or Mars for that matter, for about half the cost. But I don't think this action is about research. I think some people think that we can/should set up viable colonies on the moon, and then Mars. Again, of course this appeals to the 8-year-old boy in all us, who would love to run around in moon boots and chase Martians. But well, we're not 8 anymore, and despite how cool it sounds, there is absolutely no reason for people to live on the moon. There isn't even an atmosphere on the moon, much less water*, plants, ecosystems, etc., all of which we need to survive. Also, I don't understand what people think the moon has that we want. Not only is the moon useless to use as real estate, it's a real hassle to live there. It's like Arizona without water, air, or regulated temperature. In other words, hell, but worse.
One argument I've heard for colonizing space is that we're going to have to, because we are destroying our own planet so quickly. I agree that we are making Earth an uninhabitable place for humans, but I really don't think the moon and/or Mars is the answer. As it stands, we will really have to do some serious damage in order to make Earth harder to live on than Mars. My opinion is, since it will cost astronomical amounts of money to move to space, can we instead just not ruin our planet? I really don't think it will be that hard. Certainly easier than building a new civilization on the red planet.
The biggest argument I have with myself on this issue is trying to imagine myself as a 15th century European flat-earther. Am I just lacking in imagination? Is space really a great place for us to live, I just can't seem to conceive of it properly? I've decided no, I am not being closed minded in my assessment of space colonization. In the time of European trans-Atlantic exploration, people didn't know exactly what they were going to find, but they were pretty sure it was something they would be interested in. They knew it would be be land with viable resources and food production potential, and/or convenient transportation passages. In contrast, we aren't sure what the moon has for us, but we know enough to know it's not really anything that we need. You can't grow anything there. Any resources that happen to be there would be way too expensive to ship home. And I'm pretty sure there aren't any moon people for us to enslave.
I think what this is really about is that pesky little inconvenience we know as the military-industrial complex. Lockheed-Martin is already scheduled to make a bundle of money building the new human cargo space-craft. You can bet they will also stand to run away with a sack of money on this whole moon base scheme. What the government thinks we really need, more than a base on the moon, is for their buddies in the defense industry to get big business in government contracts. This isn't about going to the moon, it's about somebody making huge profits building the equipment that will take us to the moon. I recently accidentally ran across this graph of NASA funding, which shows a very substantial jump in 2001. Does it just happen that space exploration is the one area of science Bush is not opposed to? No, NASA is inextricably linked to the military-industrial complex.
Finally, my major concern with the moon base is not that it is bad in and of itself. No, even if useless for colonization, a moon base would still be cool. My concern is the opportunity cost. There are LOTS of people in the United States who do not have health care. There are many people who are much worse off than this. Our social security system is about to crash. Our public schools are rapidly deteriorating due to piss-poor funding. And that's the reason we can't afford another couple hundred billion dollars on pet projects for the defense industry. A moon base would be cool, I guess, but universal health care, a functioning public school system, an end to homelessness, and I don't know, maybe legitimate combat of AIDS in Africa would be pretty cool too.
*Turns out, there might be water there, which we would use for oxygen (for breathing) and hydrogen (for fuel). The feasibility of this is questionable.
12/1/06
political turmoil
While the world is still bitching and moaning about North Korea, by far the most consistent and continuing news story in South Korea is the ongoing FTA negotiations with the United States. I found it particularly of note when I read a news article back in the middle of October about the fact that the National Police force was sending 10,000 "troops" to the fourth round of FTA talks. I mean, I know that Free Trade Agreements are not popular around the world, but seriously, 10,000 policemen? This in a country where laws seem to just be abided by, despite the visible lack of any kind of police presence. I see a police car on the street maybe once every three days. If you would have asked me, I would have been surprised that there even were 10,000 police officers in the country. Yet, all the plant stores leave their merchandise outside all night long, and no one steals it. I couldn't imagine what they thought the FTA protesters would do.
As it turned out, on the second day of talks, the protesters stormed the fortified compound where the talks were taking place, managing to tear down a shipping container and hospitalizing several police officers. I talked about this incident with my students, telling them I was surprised, considering how mild mannered, polite, and law abiding I had found Koreans to be. My students were not surprised. I now realize why they were not surprised. Since then, violent FTA protests have occurred at least twice a week, all across the country. In Seoul, there are major labor protests almost every day. Some of these target the FTA, others are for completely unrelated reasons. It seems universally known that protesters bring sharpened bamboo spears to every protest, and pictures of black masked people lighting buildings on fire seem commonplace in the newspaper. How is it that a society I find to be so respectful of the law can have this continuous violence?
The answer I have gotten is that it is related to Korea's semi-recent political situation. If you have only been alive since the early 1980's (as I have), you weren't alive for the huge political turmoil that characterized this country from the 1960's to the early 1980's. I still know very little about this period of Korean history, save that there were military coups, assassinations, extremely repressive military regimes, etc. So, even though South Korea has had a period of political stability and economic growth for the past twenty-odd years, this legacy of social and political upheaval seems to have survived. And despite a general feeling that everything is business as usual around here, I recently found out that President Roh (pronounced No (I don't have time to explain, or really a good understanding of, the reason the President's name is different in Korean and English)) Mu-Hyun's approval rating is significantly below that of even our beloved Bush (whose name, incidentally, in Korean, is pronounced "Goji Bushi"). This actually has nothing to do with North Korea, and everything to do with what Koreans see as a lack of job opportunities.
I had always assumed that South Korea was a stable, developed country; that political turmoil was limited to Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. My experiences here initially did nothing but reinforce this notion. The atmosphere is calm, people are generally prosperous (at least moderately), and society doesn't seem to be extremely polarized. However, the FTA protests and other events have changed my mind. While I am not worried about serious political instability, or a coup of any sort, I can definitely see the effects of decades of turmoil still rippling around society. My favorite example of this came today, regarding the issue of a conservative group writing new history textbooks that glorify the military regimes of the 1960's. At an academic conference discussing the new book, violence broke out, including desks flying through the air. Not generally the type of behavior you expect from academics at a nation's top university.
11/28/06
korean cuisine
Now, I'm far from knowing all there is to know about the fascinating world of Korean food, but I've learned enough to have my bearings. I at least know a standard group of popular dishes, and can read these from a menu. I also am becoming familiar with the different types of restaurants and the different food they serve. Korea offers something for everyone in the way of food, especially if you are particularly fond of spice or adventurous in your eating habits. Most food is extremely spicy, and involves at least one sea creature. If want to eat something you didn't even know existed as an animal, a seafood restaurant here will delight you. Before we get started on individual dishes, a few notes about the presentation and process of eating. In Korea, a meal consists of anywhere from 4 to 87 dishes. Every restaurant will serve a series of complimentary "side dishes" which come along with your main dish (which probably itself will be at least two dishes). Also, it is very common for everyone at a table to share dishes. This is of course true with the side dishes, but often the main dish will be one huge serving of food that everyone shares. This dish is often cooked by you, right at your table, in a pot of boiling broth, or on a hot kind of grill-dome. Okay, let's get into some examples of the deliciousness.
We'll start with side dishes. You ALWAYS get kimchi with your meal. If you haven't heard about this delightful product, it is fermented cabbage that is literally doused in red chili paste. Tangy and spicy, to say the least. Secondly, you almost always get slices of yellow pickled radish. I'm talking the giant radish, that if you're familiar with it in Japanese food, you will know as daikon. This is salty, sweet and vinegary. Rounding out the list of ever-present side dishes is a weak soybean soup (you get this only if your meal isn't soup). However, there are probably hundreds of other side dishes that you may or may not receive, depending on the restaurant. Quite possibly my favorite is jon. This is a fried egg and/or flour pancake type object that has some sort of vegetable or octopus inside of it. It is always greasy, and usually delicious. Small servings of seaweed or mushroom salad are also quite popular and tasty. Radish kimchi is a regular on the table, taking many different forms and styles. One dish I'm quite fond of is what I think is sauteed spinach with garlic. Speaking of garlic, raw garlic is served on occasion as well. Some places (usually bars, I've found) serve an inexplicably burn-your-fucking-tongue-off spicy clear bean sprout soup. Be careful with this one; it may be the spiciest food product in Korea, and because it's not red, it'll sneak up on you and leave you crying, like the best friend who steals your girlfriend. There are definitely more side dishes to mention, but I think you get the point.
The most accessible food is at lunch/snack/all night restaurants that are kind of the Korean equivalent of fast food. Here, you can get quick, cheap food, but unlike American fast food, it is not greasy, meaty, fried, or cheesy. The main staple of this type of food is kimbap. This is rice rolled up in seaweed with goodies inside. It looks like sushi rolls, but doesn't have raw fish, crab or avocado inside. Inside kimbap, you'll find egg, ham, yellow radish, fish cake, inexplicable brown vegetable (I think I've determined that it is fern sprouts), and occasionally an extra item of your choice. My favorite is tuna (chamchi) kimbap. Another staple at these places is mandu, or dumplings. They are steamed, and filled with salty, meaty, vegi goodness. Bibimbap is quite possibly the food product that has most nourished me here. This is an excellent dish that is a big bowl of rice, topped off with fresh greens, seaweed, a healthy dollop of red pepper paste, and a fried egg. You can also get a number of noodle soups, like udong (Japanese style wide noodles) and spicy lamyeon (ramen). Tappap is a food of your choice (beef, kimchi, tuna, etc.) over a heaping helping of rice. Naengmeon is like cold slimy ramen that is impossible to bite through. It literally comes with scissors to cut the slimy mess hanging out of your mouth after a bite. Finally, you can even get a fried pork cutlet that comes with a fork and knife to eat it with. This is called dongasu.
(At this point, it is worth pointing out the eating utensils you are provided. Of course, you get chopsticks, but these are slippery, stainless steel chopsticks, not the forgiving wood or plastic type you are used to. Luckily, you also get a spoon, which you are encouraged to use for rice and dishes like bibimbap and tappap.)
Outside of these quick bite spots, restaurants usually focus on one or a few dishes. Soups are incredibly popular. Kimchi chigae is just like it sounds; spicy kimchi soup. The best place for kimchi chigae in Daejon (reputedly) is just down the street from my house/work, and their soup is made with kimchi that is aged for 3 years. It is almost indescribably sour, salty, spicy, and mouth wateringly delicious. Tang is another type of soup, usually one which comes with beef or ribs. A soup-type food dish is one that involves a boiling pot of broth at your table, in which you cook thin strips of meat, mushrooms, vegetables, etc. Ja jong myeon is udon-style noodles with a delectable black bean sauce. Bulgogi is very thin strips of marinated beef and vegetables. Kalbi is fatty, greasy barbeque pork. I wish I could remember the name of the bacon-like pork product you fry up at your table. I can't. But, imagine a thicker, fattier, greasier bacon, which fries right in front of you, while dousing the rest of your meal on the grill with delicious hog grease. It's even better than it sounds. Often with the meats, you take the cooked product and wrap it up in a leaf with raw garlic and a droplet of chili paste. One of the leaves you use is sesame leaf. I don't know why we don't have sesame leaves in the west. They are large, almost minty tasty and unbelievably fresh tasting.
The seafood in this country is absolutely out of control. With any luck, you've already seen the photos from the Pohang fish market. Octopus is everywhere, as are small dried fish. However, when our boss took us out for a seafood feast last week, I ate things I had never dreamed of. It's always good when you ask what something is, and the reply is that there is no English word for it. Quite possibly the best dish in terms of shock value was the raw octopus tentacles that had literally just been chopped off of the puss. They were wriggling around on the plate, and the suckers would definitely grip weakly to the inside of your mouth on the way down. Raw eel was served with with a spicy red sauce. There were several raw invertebrates that all taste kind of vaguely salty and chewy. You had some more standard raw sea products, such as oysters and tuna, but they were much fresher than any I've ever had. (These restaurants keep their product alive in tanks until you order it. (Well, not the tuna.)) I'm pretty sure it was conch that was a small shelled creature that you literally had to rip still living out of its shell. These tasted good, but I wasn't fond of ripping a living creature out of its home. I don't really know how to describe the several dishes that don't have English names. All I've mentioned so far are the side dishes, the main dish was a couple of platters of raw sashimi-style fish. At least 7 varieties of fish, mostly meaty white fish. The English names of the fish were unknown. These you would wrap up in the sesame or lettuce leaves, along with raw garlic, chili paste, and shoot it down. The meal was wrapped up with a literally fish-head soup that was not my favorite dish on the table.
I have two more items to tell you about before you're done with this bizarre rant. They are both extremely prevalent and strange. The first is dok. This is a gluttonous rice cake that can take many forms. It has roughly zero flavor, and is mostly characterized by its extremely chewy texture. It comes in a variety of types and styles, from a sweet-like snack, to a grilled hot dog like tube. The most common form is a street food called dok-bokki. This is heated dok in spicy sauce that you can get on just about every street corner. Dok is not bad, though some westerners (especially upon first taste) find it objectionable. The second item is odaeng. Odaeng is fishcake; basically ground fish (I'm under the impression that it's any generic fish) mixed with flour. This stuff is also on every street corner, in the form of long, wide strips on skewers. It also turns up in soups, side dishes, and your kimbap. It tastes just about as you would imagine it to, fishy.
I keep coming up with more to say, but I think I've given you enough examples for you to be impressed with the variety and flavor Korean cuisine.
We'll start with side dishes. You ALWAYS get kimchi with your meal. If you haven't heard about this delightful product, it is fermented cabbage that is literally doused in red chili paste. Tangy and spicy, to say the least. Secondly, you almost always get slices of yellow pickled radish. I'm talking the giant radish, that if you're familiar with it in Japanese food, you will know as daikon. This is salty, sweet and vinegary. Rounding out the list of ever-present side dishes is a weak soybean soup (you get this only if your meal isn't soup). However, there are probably hundreds of other side dishes that you may or may not receive, depending on the restaurant. Quite possibly my favorite is jon. This is a fried egg and/or flour pancake type object that has some sort of vegetable or octopus inside of it. It is always greasy, and usually delicious. Small servings of seaweed or mushroom salad are also quite popular and tasty. Radish kimchi is a regular on the table, taking many different forms and styles. One dish I'm quite fond of is what I think is sauteed spinach with garlic. Speaking of garlic, raw garlic is served on occasion as well. Some places (usually bars, I've found) serve an inexplicably burn-your-fucking-tongue-off spicy clear bean sprout soup. Be careful with this one; it may be the spiciest food product in Korea, and because it's not red, it'll sneak up on you and leave you crying, like the best friend who steals your girlfriend. There are definitely more side dishes to mention, but I think you get the point.
The most accessible food is at lunch/snack/all night restaurants that are kind of the Korean equivalent of fast food. Here, you can get quick, cheap food, but unlike American fast food, it is not greasy, meaty, fried, or cheesy. The main staple of this type of food is kimbap. This is rice rolled up in seaweed with goodies inside. It looks like sushi rolls, but doesn't have raw fish, crab or avocado inside. Inside kimbap, you'll find egg, ham, yellow radish, fish cake, inexplicable brown vegetable (I think I've determined that it is fern sprouts), and occasionally an extra item of your choice. My favorite is tuna (chamchi) kimbap. Another staple at these places is mandu, or dumplings. They are steamed, and filled with salty, meaty, vegi goodness. Bibimbap is quite possibly the food product that has most nourished me here. This is an excellent dish that is a big bowl of rice, topped off with fresh greens, seaweed, a healthy dollop of red pepper paste, and a fried egg. You can also get a number of noodle soups, like udong (Japanese style wide noodles) and spicy lamyeon (ramen). Tappap is a food of your choice (beef, kimchi, tuna, etc.) over a heaping helping of rice. Naengmeon is like cold slimy ramen that is impossible to bite through. It literally comes with scissors to cut the slimy mess hanging out of your mouth after a bite. Finally, you can even get a fried pork cutlet that comes with a fork and knife to eat it with. This is called dongasu.
(At this point, it is worth pointing out the eating utensils you are provided. Of course, you get chopsticks, but these are slippery, stainless steel chopsticks, not the forgiving wood or plastic type you are used to. Luckily, you also get a spoon, which you are encouraged to use for rice and dishes like bibimbap and tappap.)
Outside of these quick bite spots, restaurants usually focus on one or a few dishes. Soups are incredibly popular. Kimchi chigae is just like it sounds; spicy kimchi soup. The best place for kimchi chigae in Daejon (reputedly) is just down the street from my house/work, and their soup is made with kimchi that is aged for 3 years. It is almost indescribably sour, salty, spicy, and mouth wateringly delicious. Tang is another type of soup, usually one which comes with beef or ribs. A soup-type food dish is one that involves a boiling pot of broth at your table, in which you cook thin strips of meat, mushrooms, vegetables, etc. Ja jong myeon is udon-style noodles with a delectable black bean sauce. Bulgogi is very thin strips of marinated beef and vegetables. Kalbi is fatty, greasy barbeque pork. I wish I could remember the name of the bacon-like pork product you fry up at your table. I can't. But, imagine a thicker, fattier, greasier bacon, which fries right in front of you, while dousing the rest of your meal on the grill with delicious hog grease. It's even better than it sounds. Often with the meats, you take the cooked product and wrap it up in a leaf with raw garlic and a droplet of chili paste. One of the leaves you use is sesame leaf. I don't know why we don't have sesame leaves in the west. They are large, almost minty tasty and unbelievably fresh tasting.
The seafood in this country is absolutely out of control. With any luck, you've already seen the photos from the Pohang fish market. Octopus is everywhere, as are small dried fish. However, when our boss took us out for a seafood feast last week, I ate things I had never dreamed of. It's always good when you ask what something is, and the reply is that there is no English word for it. Quite possibly the best dish in terms of shock value was the raw octopus tentacles that had literally just been chopped off of the puss. They were wriggling around on the plate, and the suckers would definitely grip weakly to the inside of your mouth on the way down. Raw eel was served with with a spicy red sauce. There were several raw invertebrates that all taste kind of vaguely salty and chewy. You had some more standard raw sea products, such as oysters and tuna, but they were much fresher than any I've ever had. (These restaurants keep their product alive in tanks until you order it. (Well, not the tuna.)) I'm pretty sure it was conch that was a small shelled creature that you literally had to rip still living out of its shell. These tasted good, but I wasn't fond of ripping a living creature out of its home. I don't really know how to describe the several dishes that don't have English names. All I've mentioned so far are the side dishes, the main dish was a couple of platters of raw sashimi-style fish. At least 7 varieties of fish, mostly meaty white fish. The English names of the fish were unknown. These you would wrap up in the sesame or lettuce leaves, along with raw garlic, chili paste, and shoot it down. The meal was wrapped up with a literally fish-head soup that was not my favorite dish on the table.
I have two more items to tell you about before you're done with this bizarre rant. They are both extremely prevalent and strange. The first is dok. This is a gluttonous rice cake that can take many forms. It has roughly zero flavor, and is mostly characterized by its extremely chewy texture. It comes in a variety of types and styles, from a sweet-like snack, to a grilled hot dog like tube. The most common form is a street food called dok-bokki. This is heated dok in spicy sauce that you can get on just about every street corner. Dok is not bad, though some westerners (especially upon first taste) find it objectionable. The second item is odaeng. Odaeng is fishcake; basically ground fish (I'm under the impression that it's any generic fish) mixed with flour. This stuff is also on every street corner, in the form of long, wide strips on skewers. It also turns up in soups, side dishes, and your kimbap. It tastes just about as you would imagine it to, fishy.
I keep coming up with more to say, but I think I've given you enough examples for you to be impressed with the variety and flavor Korean cuisine.
11/19/06
korean education system
Whoa, Koreans are crazy about education. Remember in elementary school, when your teacher told you that students in Asia go to school all the time, even on Saturdays? Well, that wasn't just a clever lie to get you to stop complaining, it really is true. My students go to go school essentially from 9 am to 11 pm Monday through Friday. They have public school every other Saturday. When they were studying for high school entrance exams, they stayed at our academy until 2:30 several nights in a row. There is extreme competition and pressure to be academically successful. I still haven't figured out when students do their homework. There are several important differences between Korean and American education systems, beyond just the amount of time spent studying.
First of all, there is the phenomenon of hagwons. These are the private academies that students go to when they are through with regular school for the day. Just about every foreigner teaching English in Korea works for a hagwon. An interesting realization I had was that my students learn much more advanced English at our hagwon than they do in public school. This is also true of the math hagwons they attend, the science hagwons, etc. There is so much pressure to advance academically that many students are literally years ahead of their public school curriculum do to attending private academies after hours. They go to public school because they have to, but they don't learn anything there. A lot of times, I think they read the books we assign them during their public school classes (oh, that's when they do their homework). When kids get accepted to their fancy private high schools, I'm pretty sure they just stop going to their public middle school classes.
The more I began to realize this, the more qualms I began to have with the hagwon system. This sounds to me like a recipe for the destruction of public schools. I don't like this at all. Because, when I say that all kids attend hagwons, what I really mean is that all kids whose parents can afford it attend hagwons. But I also have mixed feelings about this. As much as I believe education should not be something you buy, I can certainly think of worse things to buy. On the one hand, it is really cool that people choose to spend money on extra education for their kids. I mean, these are definitely some of the smartest kids I've ever encountered. I read Civil Disobedience with my seventh graders (granted, it was a little too difficult for them, but still). On the other hand, it just doesn't really seem fair that rich people get the opportunity to give their kids a much better education, and thus much more opportunity in life. But Korea is definitely not the only society designed to keep the rich rich. Oddly enough, I'm not the only person with these concerns; it was actually illegal to pay for education in Korea, prior to 1991. It's still illegal to buy or sell private tutoring lessons.
Second in the list of interesting topics concerning Korean education is the use of corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is definitely allowed and used in public schools, though to a lessening degree. Most hagwons, I believe do not generally hit their students, but ours does. Just to get this out in the open, only Korean teachers hit the kids, we are not asked, expected or allowed to. That, at least, makes my life a little easier. What makes it very difficult to teach these kids is the fact that they don't respond to non-physical punishments. I've had to institute a policy of punishing my kids by making them go out in the hall and hold the push up position for five minutes. I feel really bad even doing this. At the beginning of the term, I had all my kids write me about why they were taking my class, and several actually asked me beat them in order to make them learn English better. This is situation is one of many factors that cause teaching in Korea to be K times more difficult than teaching at home. But, just so you know, Korean teachers are not heartless. I have one class that is terribly behaved, and I asked the Korean teacher who also teaches them if they were bad for him too. His response was "Yes, but they are too cute to beat."
All of this focus on education is obviously with the intent of giving your children a better life. Access to the good jobs, wealth and prosperity, all that good stuff. Interestingly enough, Koreans are actually becoming "too educated", with problems similar to the US, where there aren't enough jobs for the pool of highly educated people. Nobody wants to work the manufacturing or labor jobs, so immigrants come in to work in that sector, but there is strikingly high unemployment among the well educated. Many people actually leave the country to find jobs in their field of interest.
Okay, time for just some fun facts about Korean education. Once you get into middle school, girls must have above shoulder-length hair, and dudes have to have short hair (unclear just how short). If you break the rule, the teacher pulls out the scissors and barbers you up right in class. In addition to learning English in public school, you are also required to take either Chinese or Japanese. You have to wear a uniform to public school, but you get to pick your own shoes. Obvious from the girls in skirts, vests and tights rocking bright green and orange Nikes. Every student carries an extremely well-equipped pencil case with them at all times. We're talking at least 4 colors of pen, several pencils, extra pencil lead, at least two giant erasers, a red wax pencil, and an exacto knife. Text messaging is a rampant problem, with many students performing a blind, one hand under the table looking straight at you while texting technique. I don't know how they do it.
First of all, there is the phenomenon of hagwons. These are the private academies that students go to when they are through with regular school for the day. Just about every foreigner teaching English in Korea works for a hagwon. An interesting realization I had was that my students learn much more advanced English at our hagwon than they do in public school. This is also true of the math hagwons they attend, the science hagwons, etc. There is so much pressure to advance academically that many students are literally years ahead of their public school curriculum do to attending private academies after hours. They go to public school because they have to, but they don't learn anything there. A lot of times, I think they read the books we assign them during their public school classes (oh, that's when they do their homework). When kids get accepted to their fancy private high schools, I'm pretty sure they just stop going to their public middle school classes.
The more I began to realize this, the more qualms I began to have with the hagwon system. This sounds to me like a recipe for the destruction of public schools. I don't like this at all. Because, when I say that all kids attend hagwons, what I really mean is that all kids whose parents can afford it attend hagwons. But I also have mixed feelings about this. As much as I believe education should not be something you buy, I can certainly think of worse things to buy. On the one hand, it is really cool that people choose to spend money on extra education for their kids. I mean, these are definitely some of the smartest kids I've ever encountered. I read Civil Disobedience with my seventh graders (granted, it was a little too difficult for them, but still). On the other hand, it just doesn't really seem fair that rich people get the opportunity to give their kids a much better education, and thus much more opportunity in life. But Korea is definitely not the only society designed to keep the rich rich. Oddly enough, I'm not the only person with these concerns; it was actually illegal to pay for education in Korea, prior to 1991. It's still illegal to buy or sell private tutoring lessons.
Second in the list of interesting topics concerning Korean education is the use of corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is definitely allowed and used in public schools, though to a lessening degree. Most hagwons, I believe do not generally hit their students, but ours does. Just to get this out in the open, only Korean teachers hit the kids, we are not asked, expected or allowed to. That, at least, makes my life a little easier. What makes it very difficult to teach these kids is the fact that they don't respond to non-physical punishments. I've had to institute a policy of punishing my kids by making them go out in the hall and hold the push up position for five minutes. I feel really bad even doing this. At the beginning of the term, I had all my kids write me about why they were taking my class, and several actually asked me beat them in order to make them learn English better. This is situation is one of many factors that cause teaching in Korea to be K times more difficult than teaching at home. But, just so you know, Korean teachers are not heartless. I have one class that is terribly behaved, and I asked the Korean teacher who also teaches them if they were bad for him too. His response was "Yes, but they are too cute to beat."
All of this focus on education is obviously with the intent of giving your children a better life. Access to the good jobs, wealth and prosperity, all that good stuff. Interestingly enough, Koreans are actually becoming "too educated", with problems similar to the US, where there aren't enough jobs for the pool of highly educated people. Nobody wants to work the manufacturing or labor jobs, so immigrants come in to work in that sector, but there is strikingly high unemployment among the well educated. Many people actually leave the country to find jobs in their field of interest.
Okay, time for just some fun facts about Korean education. Once you get into middle school, girls must have above shoulder-length hair, and dudes have to have short hair (unclear just how short). If you break the rule, the teacher pulls out the scissors and barbers you up right in class. In addition to learning English in public school, you are also required to take either Chinese or Japanese. You have to wear a uniform to public school, but you get to pick your own shoes. Obvious from the girls in skirts, vests and tights rocking bright green and orange Nikes. Every student carries an extremely well-equipped pencil case with them at all times. We're talking at least 4 colors of pen, several pencils, extra pencil lead, at least two giant erasers, a red wax pencil, and an exacto knife. Text messaging is a rampant problem, with many students performing a blind, one hand under the table looking straight at you while texting technique. I don't know how they do it.
11/12/06
the korean haircut
I have never been a big fan of haircuts, especially professional jobs. For some odd reason, I am never able to clearly articulate how I want my hair cut (the SAME length all around). I always end up with short sides and back and a poofy top. For about the last seven years, I have dealt with this situation first by boycotting haircuts altogether, and then using friends as hairstylists. For some reason, my friends seem to be capable of understanding that my look requires equal length of all the hair. I don't know what they're teaching these people in hair-cutting school that makes them feel they need to always give me the poof top. Despite this beef with the hair cutting industry, I have recently returned from my boycott to allow strangers to cut my hair in exchange for money. I received a couple of cuts in the states that went of alright. But, even if the cut looks okay, there is the other issue you have to deal with. I'm talking here about the awkward conversation with the cutter while they are cutting your hair. What is the reason for this practice? At a restaurant, the cook doesn't expect you to sit around and chat with them while they prepare your meal. Your mechanic doesn't want to hear about your life story while he fixes your car. I will admit that the haircut conversation makes more sense than the dental hygienist conversation (which is by far the worst practice ever), but it still just bothers me. What, is there some bond of friendship that gets passed on when someone cuts your hair? I don't believe so.
Anyway, having ranted for long enough now on my feelings regarding haircuts, my hair was in desperate need of a trim this week. Between my beard and the round curly halo surrounding my face, I look very strange to Koreans always, but the afro was getting out of control. If you take my existing opinion of haircuts, and add to that the "Korean factor"(A universal constant which causes everything done in Korea to be 2.77 times as difficult as it is at home. Let's call it "K".), it is needless to say that I was a little nervous about my haircut. I got a recommendation for a good spot though, and today I sucked it up and took the plunge.
My initial entry into the salon (I guess that is what you call it) did not help my anxiety at all. It was a large, loud room, packed full of cutting stations, people running around, an inexplicable amount of shouting and something being said over a loudspeaker. I think the only thing that kept me there was that one of the ladies at the front desk actually spoke English, and got me set up. I was told no fewer than 5 times that it would be about a twenty minute wait, but that i was welcome to use the internet while I waited. It was only about seven minutes until my stylist, who also spoke English, informed me we were ready to go. The cut started out pretty standard, with the hair wash. I can't remember if there is a separate hair washer in the US, but my hair was definitely washed by a lady who not my stylist. It was a good wash. I was reunited with my stylist at one of about 23 cutting stations. Instead of each stylist having a personal cutting station, they keep all their tools in a super efficient tool belt, and each cutting station consists only of a chair in front of a mirror.
I thought it would be a safe bet to bring a picture of myself with short hair, and just show that to my guy. He was pleased that we could communicate the style this way, but I realized upon showing him my passport sized photo that it was not exactly clear what kind of style my hair was in. I didn't even bother trying to explain the same length thing. My cutter was very precise and dedicated to making each snip properly. After cutting a section, he would use a weird second pair of scissor-like tools that he would us to basically shear the tips of my hair. I didn't really understand what was going on here. I originally thought I would be off the hook as far as the awkward conversation situation goes, not being to speak Korean and all. But, as I mentioned, my guy spoke English. Not enough, mind you to communicate tricky subjects like "ALL THE SAME LENGTH!", but enough to chat. The chatting was good though, not too aggressive or bothersome. He was very nice, and kept checking to make sure I was happy with how things were going.
Now, after the cutting is done is when the Korean haircut really starts to shine. First, I was whisked away from my chair by a third person, and taken back to the sinks for a second washing. This included a very pleasant scalp massage. When they wash your hair, they scrub your ears a bit too. Very nice. After wash two, it was off to a strange looking device on the windowsill. This thing was an open plastic box that kind of resembled a toaster with only one big slot. There was some liquid in the bottom that I was instructed to dunk my hand into. Actually, the wash girl ended up dunking the hand for me a few times due to my general confusion and hesitancy. Turns out the box was full of melted wax. A little shocking at first (not the least hot thing I've ever dunked my hands in), but pleasant once the wax cooled. The girl then took me back to my cutting chair, where she gave me a neck and shoulder rub while the wax dried. After a few minutes, my stylist came back to dry and style my hair. During this process, the wash/wax/rub girl removed the wax coating from my hands. Those hands felt extremely smooth and clean after the wax came off. After I was dried and styled, I was given a slice of cheesecake and a glass of water to enjoy.
Now, you're probably wondering how a lowly English teacher like myself could afford such a glitzy haircut. I was actually nervously wondering that myself as I finished off the cheesecake. My stylist reappeared as I approached the counter to pay, and informed that it would be $11. I can handle that. I had been told previously that it is not appropriate to tip your stylist (you don't tip anyone here). But I really felt like a should, because the guy even walked me to the elevator and hit the button for me.
How did the cut come out? Like I said, I always end up with short sides and a poofy top. This time was no exception.
Anyway, having ranted for long enough now on my feelings regarding haircuts, my hair was in desperate need of a trim this week. Between my beard and the round curly halo surrounding my face, I look very strange to Koreans always, but the afro was getting out of control. If you take my existing opinion of haircuts, and add to that the "Korean factor"(A universal constant which causes everything done in Korea to be 2.77 times as difficult as it is at home. Let's call it "K".), it is needless to say that I was a little nervous about my haircut. I got a recommendation for a good spot though, and today I sucked it up and took the plunge.
My initial entry into the salon (I guess that is what you call it) did not help my anxiety at all. It was a large, loud room, packed full of cutting stations, people running around, an inexplicable amount of shouting and something being said over a loudspeaker. I think the only thing that kept me there was that one of the ladies at the front desk actually spoke English, and got me set up. I was told no fewer than 5 times that it would be about a twenty minute wait, but that i was welcome to use the internet while I waited. It was only about seven minutes until my stylist, who also spoke English, informed me we were ready to go. The cut started out pretty standard, with the hair wash. I can't remember if there is a separate hair washer in the US, but my hair was definitely washed by a lady who not my stylist. It was a good wash. I was reunited with my stylist at one of about 23 cutting stations. Instead of each stylist having a personal cutting station, they keep all their tools in a super efficient tool belt, and each cutting station consists only of a chair in front of a mirror.
I thought it would be a safe bet to bring a picture of myself with short hair, and just show that to my guy. He was pleased that we could communicate the style this way, but I realized upon showing him my passport sized photo that it was not exactly clear what kind of style my hair was in. I didn't even bother trying to explain the same length thing. My cutter was very precise and dedicated to making each snip properly. After cutting a section, he would use a weird second pair of scissor-like tools that he would us to basically shear the tips of my hair. I didn't really understand what was going on here. I originally thought I would be off the hook as far as the awkward conversation situation goes, not being to speak Korean and all. But, as I mentioned, my guy spoke English. Not enough, mind you to communicate tricky subjects like "ALL THE SAME LENGTH!", but enough to chat. The chatting was good though, not too aggressive or bothersome. He was very nice, and kept checking to make sure I was happy with how things were going.
Now, after the cutting is done is when the Korean haircut really starts to shine. First, I was whisked away from my chair by a third person, and taken back to the sinks for a second washing. This included a very pleasant scalp massage. When they wash your hair, they scrub your ears a bit too. Very nice. After wash two, it was off to a strange looking device on the windowsill. This thing was an open plastic box that kind of resembled a toaster with only one big slot. There was some liquid in the bottom that I was instructed to dunk my hand into. Actually, the wash girl ended up dunking the hand for me a few times due to my general confusion and hesitancy. Turns out the box was full of melted wax. A little shocking at first (not the least hot thing I've ever dunked my hands in), but pleasant once the wax cooled. The girl then took me back to my cutting chair, where she gave me a neck and shoulder rub while the wax dried. After a few minutes, my stylist came back to dry and style my hair. During this process, the wash/wax/rub girl removed the wax coating from my hands. Those hands felt extremely smooth and clean after the wax came off. After I was dried and styled, I was given a slice of cheesecake and a glass of water to enjoy.
Now, you're probably wondering how a lowly English teacher like myself could afford such a glitzy haircut. I was actually nervously wondering that myself as I finished off the cheesecake. My stylist reappeared as I approached the counter to pay, and informed that it would be $11. I can handle that. I had been told previously that it is not appropriate to tip your stylist (you don't tip anyone here). But I really felt like a should, because the guy even walked me to the elevator and hit the button for me.
How did the cut come out? Like I said, I always end up with short sides and a poofy top. This time was no exception.
11/7/06
vote, dude
Okay, so I've never been one to be too preachy, and I know everyone of you (US citizens) already know that you need to vote. This is more just a friendly reminder that all of you had better get your asses to the polls tomorrow. Or, if you're out of the country, you had better have already put your absentee ballots in the mail. Especially those of you in Colorado. Even if you don't smoke pot anymore, you have to realize the opportunity and potential implications of being the first state to legalize dope. Also, Tancredo needs to know that he doesn't have his talons around all of us, Beauprez cannot be allowed to follow in the shameful footsteps of Bill Owens, the 7th district is hot, and for god's sake, bush was campaigning in Greeley! Fucking bush in fucking Greeley! This is the chance to take a red state and make it blue. True blue. It's time to show the country that Coloradans cannot be trampled on by right wing religious representatives of National Socialism. If you're not in Colorado, you're not off the hook. Even if you're in a blood red district, take the opportunity to fight back! Do it. Okay, I'm done, because this is getting close to preachy.
10/25/06
letter to tom tancredo
Representative Tom Tancredo
6099 S. Quebec Street
Suite 200
Centennial, CO 80111
USA
October 20, 2006
Daejon, South Korea
Congressman Tancredo,
I haven’t been registered in Colorado’s sixth district since the summer of 2000, and it is for this reason that you haven’t yet heard from me in regards to your participation in the public revival of fascism. First of all, I guess I must congratulate you on your successful campaign to bring illegal immigration to the forefront of national political “debate”. Well, congrats Tommy, you’ve managed to stoke the fires of racism in a way that hasn’t been seen in this country in a long time. I see two possible explanations for your irrational assault on illegal immigrants: 1) you actually believe all of the hateful nonsense you spew about the damage illegal immigrants are doing to our country; or 2) you recognize this nonsense as such, but find it politically advantageous to shout this type of Third Reich rhetoric at the top of your lungs. I don’t know whether you’re (1) an idiot, (2) an asshole, or both, so I will address each of these two possibilities separately.
Who do you think built Highlands Ranch, anyway?
I’m going to tell you a little story. I grew up in Castle Rock, and in high school, I bussed tables at a little Italian restaurant about two blocks from your office on Wilcox Street. Some of my best friends at that job were the Latino guys. They worked hard, they were pretty much always in a good mood, and they were happy to help me practice my Spanish. These guys got up and worked landscaping jobs from 6:00 until 3:00, then worked at the restaurant from 4:00 until 10:00 every day of the week, except Sundays. And if you’ve ever seen a landscaping crew working, or been in the kitchen of a restaurant, you know that these guys were not the only Latinos doing this. Contrast these people to any of the restaurant’s patrons, who were 90% fat, lazy, and for some inexplicable reason thought they needed to watch television while in their cars, and it’s not difficult to guess who built the district you are now king of.
This is why your position on illegal immigration is utterly nonsensical. The lifestyle that you and your constituents enjoy is entirely reliant upon the labor source of illegal immigrants. These are the people who build the houses, strip-malls, and sprawling parkways that you tout as Colorado’s “economic development”. I can guarantee that your constituents, on average, consume at least one fast food meal a day. Have you been to a fast food restaurant in Douglas County lately? Not even high school kids will work there anymore. You and your idiotic white upper-middle class constituents can rattle off all the hateful babble you like about Latino immigrants, but without those people, you wouldn’t have a house, you wouldn’t have a three lane parkway to cruise your Tahoe down, and you would probably starve to death, because you wouldn’t have any restaurants to eat at.
Furthermore, aside from the fact that immigrant labor built your district, the immigrants you target have no intention of being permanent residents of the United States, where they may or may not be a drain on our societal resources. They don’t want to be Americans any more than you want them to. For the most part, these people love the country they’re from, they only want to come to the U.S. to make a bundle of money that they can take home and retire on. I spent the past spring in Central America, and just about everyone I met (north of Nicaragua) had lived and worked for some time in the United States. But you know what, they all went back to their homes and families.
Do you put “Professional Hatemonger” on your resume?
Okay, at this point, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume that you (as any reasonable person would) already understand the points made above. Of course, a good deal of the blame belongs to the mindless multitudes of Centennial and surroundings, but you should not be swindling your constituents like this. This is the oldest trick in the book, playing on people’s fears and inciting racial hatred in order to gain a political advantage. While you may be winning so far, you’re not clever, and I hope that your inner shame will drive you to dementia and ruin. I apparently have no understanding of how low moral standards can sink, but I hope that one day you will realize how evil it is to: 1) make people believe false things for your own gain, and 2) insult and injure an entire group of people who have done nothing to you, save build and landscape your house, harvest and cook your food, and give you an excuse to get drunk in early May.
Toward a sensible policy
Despite my (at times) belligerent tone towards you, I do agree with you on one point: in a perfect world, we would not require cheap immigrant labor to build our homes and provide our food, nor would people in other countries need to leave their families and work demeaning jobs in order to make a decent living. The only question left is: how do we achieve that? Well, you and I both know that we can’t achieve this goal by building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. That’s not going to work any better than the “War on Drugs” has worked. We all know that.
If we really want to solve this problem, we need to do two things: 1) improve economic conditions in Central America, so that people do not need to migrate to the U.S. to earn a living wage, and 2) force Americans to pay a little more for their houses, roads, food, etc. To accomplish 1), we need to find a way to encourage economic growth in Central America. Not the kind of growth that free trade agreements bring, but true growth. We need Central American companies to create economic growth there, not U.S. companies exploiting cheap labor. My girlfriend and I developed a plan that will do just this: institute a guest worker program (5-7 years in the U.S., then you go home), add an extra tax on guest worker wages (about 3-5%), put this money in a special business grant fund, and then distribute this money as business grants to people who have returned to their home countries from the guest worker program. This plan allows us to force immigrants to invest in economic development in their home countries. This investment will eventually solve the immigration problem better than a wall ever could, because if people can make a decent living in their own country, they won’t leave. Solving issue 2) is a little more difficult, but I imagine once the source of cheap labor has dried up (through the abovementioned plan), market forces will force Americans to readjust their lifestyles. See, this problem can be solved without invoking racism, or spending billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars on nonsense like fences and a “War on Immigrants”.
Why I’ll be voting all the way from South Korea this November
Obviously, thinking there’s a chance that the 6th district would vote you out of office is slightly less realistic than expecting Isaac Newton to come prancing up on a unicorn to my 26th birthday party. I’ve lived in that suburban wasteland for long enough to know full well that you’ve got that district by the balls. So why did I even bother registering and requesting my absentee ballot? Well, aside from a very important governor’s race, the opportunity to make Colorado the state with the most progressive drug laws in the country, a horde of measures targeting gay people, and the all important local offices, this is my chance to offer my own personal fuck you to Tom Tancredo. I can write as many letters to you as I want; and your interns may or may not read more than two sentences of them. But the electoral system is my one constitutionally guaranteed right with which I can tell you to fuck off, and (whether or not my view wins) it gets officially counted somewhere. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to give up that right, as futile as it may seem. Not when people like you are running my country. You may represent the evangelical, dimwitted bunch that has invaded my state, but you’ll never represent me.
Regards,
travis h. eddy
6099 S. Quebec Street
Suite 200
Centennial, CO 80111
USA
October 20, 2006
Daejon, South Korea
Congressman Tancredo,
I haven’t been registered in Colorado’s sixth district since the summer of 2000, and it is for this reason that you haven’t yet heard from me in regards to your participation in the public revival of fascism. First of all, I guess I must congratulate you on your successful campaign to bring illegal immigration to the forefront of national political “debate”. Well, congrats Tommy, you’ve managed to stoke the fires of racism in a way that hasn’t been seen in this country in a long time. I see two possible explanations for your irrational assault on illegal immigrants: 1) you actually believe all of the hateful nonsense you spew about the damage illegal immigrants are doing to our country; or 2) you recognize this nonsense as such, but find it politically advantageous to shout this type of Third Reich rhetoric at the top of your lungs. I don’t know whether you’re (1) an idiot, (2) an asshole, or both, so I will address each of these two possibilities separately.
Who do you think built Highlands Ranch, anyway?
I’m going to tell you a little story. I grew up in Castle Rock, and in high school, I bussed tables at a little Italian restaurant about two blocks from your office on Wilcox Street. Some of my best friends at that job were the Latino guys. They worked hard, they were pretty much always in a good mood, and they were happy to help me practice my Spanish. These guys got up and worked landscaping jobs from 6:00 until 3:00, then worked at the restaurant from 4:00 until 10:00 every day of the week, except Sundays. And if you’ve ever seen a landscaping crew working, or been in the kitchen of a restaurant, you know that these guys were not the only Latinos doing this. Contrast these people to any of the restaurant’s patrons, who were 90% fat, lazy, and for some inexplicable reason thought they needed to watch television while in their cars, and it’s not difficult to guess who built the district you are now king of.
This is why your position on illegal immigration is utterly nonsensical. The lifestyle that you and your constituents enjoy is entirely reliant upon the labor source of illegal immigrants. These are the people who build the houses, strip-malls, and sprawling parkways that you tout as Colorado’s “economic development”. I can guarantee that your constituents, on average, consume at least one fast food meal a day. Have you been to a fast food restaurant in Douglas County lately? Not even high school kids will work there anymore. You and your idiotic white upper-middle class constituents can rattle off all the hateful babble you like about Latino immigrants, but without those people, you wouldn’t have a house, you wouldn’t have a three lane parkway to cruise your Tahoe down, and you would probably starve to death, because you wouldn’t have any restaurants to eat at.
Furthermore, aside from the fact that immigrant labor built your district, the immigrants you target have no intention of being permanent residents of the United States, where they may or may not be a drain on our societal resources. They don’t want to be Americans any more than you want them to. For the most part, these people love the country they’re from, they only want to come to the U.S. to make a bundle of money that they can take home and retire on. I spent the past spring in Central America, and just about everyone I met (north of Nicaragua) had lived and worked for some time in the United States. But you know what, they all went back to their homes and families.
Do you put “Professional Hatemonger” on your resume?
Okay, at this point, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume that you (as any reasonable person would) already understand the points made above. Of course, a good deal of the blame belongs to the mindless multitudes of Centennial and surroundings, but you should not be swindling your constituents like this. This is the oldest trick in the book, playing on people’s fears and inciting racial hatred in order to gain a political advantage. While you may be winning so far, you’re not clever, and I hope that your inner shame will drive you to dementia and ruin. I apparently have no understanding of how low moral standards can sink, but I hope that one day you will realize how evil it is to: 1) make people believe false things for your own gain, and 2) insult and injure an entire group of people who have done nothing to you, save build and landscape your house, harvest and cook your food, and give you an excuse to get drunk in early May.
Toward a sensible policy
Despite my (at times) belligerent tone towards you, I do agree with you on one point: in a perfect world, we would not require cheap immigrant labor to build our homes and provide our food, nor would people in other countries need to leave their families and work demeaning jobs in order to make a decent living. The only question left is: how do we achieve that? Well, you and I both know that we can’t achieve this goal by building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. That’s not going to work any better than the “War on Drugs” has worked. We all know that.
If we really want to solve this problem, we need to do two things: 1) improve economic conditions in Central America, so that people do not need to migrate to the U.S. to earn a living wage, and 2) force Americans to pay a little more for their houses, roads, food, etc. To accomplish 1), we need to find a way to encourage economic growth in Central America. Not the kind of growth that free trade agreements bring, but true growth. We need Central American companies to create economic growth there, not U.S. companies exploiting cheap labor. My girlfriend and I developed a plan that will do just this: institute a guest worker program (5-7 years in the U.S., then you go home), add an extra tax on guest worker wages (about 3-5%), put this money in a special business grant fund, and then distribute this money as business grants to people who have returned to their home countries from the guest worker program. This plan allows us to force immigrants to invest in economic development in their home countries. This investment will eventually solve the immigration problem better than a wall ever could, because if people can make a decent living in their own country, they won’t leave. Solving issue 2) is a little more difficult, but I imagine once the source of cheap labor has dried up (through the abovementioned plan), market forces will force Americans to readjust their lifestyles. See, this problem can be solved without invoking racism, or spending billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars on nonsense like fences and a “War on Immigrants”.
Why I’ll be voting all the way from South Korea this November
Obviously, thinking there’s a chance that the 6th district would vote you out of office is slightly less realistic than expecting Isaac Newton to come prancing up on a unicorn to my 26th birthday party. I’ve lived in that suburban wasteland for long enough to know full well that you’ve got that district by the balls. So why did I even bother registering and requesting my absentee ballot? Well, aside from a very important governor’s race, the opportunity to make Colorado the state with the most progressive drug laws in the country, a horde of measures targeting gay people, and the all important local offices, this is my chance to offer my own personal fuck you to Tom Tancredo. I can write as many letters to you as I want; and your interns may or may not read more than two sentences of them. But the electoral system is my one constitutionally guaranteed right with which I can tell you to fuck off, and (whether or not my view wins) it gets officially counted somewhere. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to give up that right, as futile as it may seem. Not when people like you are running my country. You may represent the evangelical, dimwitted bunch that has invaded my state, but you’ll never represent me.
Regards,
travis h. eddy
10/22/06
drunk in the jil jul bang
When we go out with the foreigner crew, we almost always go downtown to Unangdong, where most of the westerner bars are. It’s a cool area, right near the train station, and the buildings were actually built more than fifteen years ago. There are wide blocks of pedestrian walkways, with tons of stores, restaurants and bars. Last night, however, we decided to drink locally. The new teacher at our hagwan, Brian, and I met our crew at Sole, a bar less than half a block from our school with a picture of Keanu Reeves on the door. Meanwhile, Taylor went off to rummage around in the garbage and try to find good stuff to stencil on (she finally found spray paint at a supermarket, and was very anxious to get spraying). Brian and I enjoyed a pitcher of Cass while we waited for the other guys to show up. Drinking in Korean bars is kind of awkward sometimes, because Korean people always, always, always order food when they drink. Having already had dinner, neither Brian nor I were interested in any side dishes, making us the only people with no food on our table (save the edamame/cracker/vegetable platter and sprout soup that come complimentary). For some reason, it was free cigs night at Sole, and some ladies brought around plastic beer mugs with colored lights in the bottom, a pack of cigs and some rosemary sprigs in them. Every table got one, and when they set it on your table, they would then pour hot water in it, which would cause a dry-ice steam to pour out around your new cigs. It also created quite a pleasant smell.
It’s worth mentioning at this point that most of the friends we have made so far work at the hagwan directly below ours, and there is definitely some serious competition and rivalry going on between the two schools. Our friends brought their bosses, and I was sitting next to one of the directors, who insisted that our bosses had “stolen all their ideas” from his hagwan, and was constantly trying to impress me with how well they treat there teachers. Also, these guys were Korean, so of course they ordered a huge platter of spicy chicken, boiled egg and vegetables. Everything was going good, the pitchers of beer kept flowing around the table, a couple rounds of pineapple soju came around, and I even became hungry enough to sample some side dishes. Luckily, at this point (while moderately sober) I informed the group of my odd habit of only speaking in shouted Spanish after I’ve had too much to drink. I shouldn’t have said anything about this, because they would discover this fact soon enough for themselves. Our ringleader, Ben (known to Taylor and I as Ben X), was pushing to go downtown, but we decided instead to travel to the convenience store down the street. Interesting Korean cultural fact: every convenience store has outside seating, and drinking at the seven eleven is actually a very popular past time. So, we sat down outside the mini mart with several “pitchers” (1.6L bottles) of beer, and I proceeded to have a very heartfelt discussion Ben X about disciplining my students. The Spanish was already starting to come out.
By the time we left the convenience store, I was definitely taking a few tumbles here and there on the perfectly flat and smooth walking surfaces. Taylor got everybody fired up to go to her rubbish rummaging spot behind “Shark Zone” (a mall). We went ahead a picked up three mannequins between us, some odds and ends, and I’m pretty sure that this was where I picked a large tree branch that I decided I needed to carry around with me. After an interactive photo shoot in the street with the mannequins, somebody brought up the do re bang. Bang in Korean means “room”, and do re means “sing”. So the do re bang is where you go to do karaoke, and true to the name, you get your own private room and karaoke system. This one even had a private bathroom. A fact I promptly forgot when I started to get salty mouth syndrome, and left the room to try to find a toilet. The guys outside were like “dude, you have your own bathroom in that little room where all your friends are.” Oh yeah. By the time I got back to our room, my mouth was no longer salty. There was even a shower, in case you got a little sweaty while singing. I was intently trying to peruse the song book while everyone else sang, and never did find a good song.
After we left the do re bang, we ran into Ben #3, who we had been with earlier in the evening, alone outside a seven eleven with a bottle of soju. I’m still a little hazy on the details of where he had gone, and why he was drinking solo at 6:00 in the morning. Well, of course we had to sit down with him and finish off the soju. Again, somebody came up with a wonderful bang idea, and soon we were all off the jil jul bang. I’m pretty sure jil jul bang translates as “hot room”, but it is the public bath house. This one is 24 hours, and also located in a mall. I wasn’t sure anyone would be bathing at 6:30 on Saturday morning, but there were definitely some folks there. The tubs weren’t quite as hot as I like them, but it was still relaxing. It did not sober me up. We (the dudes) were supposed to meet Taylor after twenty minutes, and all of a sudden I looked up and everybody was gone. It took me a while to drunkenly slither back into my clothes, and by the time I got out into the lobby, none of my crew was there. I don’t know why I thought this meant that Taylor had gone home without me, but I did, so I left immediately and went home. Taylor was not at home; she was at the jil jul bang waiting for me for one hour. Sorry Tay Tay. Today I have been absolutely useless.
It’s worth mentioning at this point that most of the friends we have made so far work at the hagwan directly below ours, and there is definitely some serious competition and rivalry going on between the two schools. Our friends brought their bosses, and I was sitting next to one of the directors, who insisted that our bosses had “stolen all their ideas” from his hagwan, and was constantly trying to impress me with how well they treat there teachers. Also, these guys were Korean, so of course they ordered a huge platter of spicy chicken, boiled egg and vegetables. Everything was going good, the pitchers of beer kept flowing around the table, a couple rounds of pineapple soju came around, and I even became hungry enough to sample some side dishes. Luckily, at this point (while moderately sober) I informed the group of my odd habit of only speaking in shouted Spanish after I’ve had too much to drink. I shouldn’t have said anything about this, because they would discover this fact soon enough for themselves. Our ringleader, Ben (known to Taylor and I as Ben X), was pushing to go downtown, but we decided instead to travel to the convenience store down the street. Interesting Korean cultural fact: every convenience store has outside seating, and drinking at the seven eleven is actually a very popular past time. So, we sat down outside the mini mart with several “pitchers” (1.6L bottles) of beer, and I proceeded to have a very heartfelt discussion Ben X about disciplining my students. The Spanish was already starting to come out.
By the time we left the convenience store, I was definitely taking a few tumbles here and there on the perfectly flat and smooth walking surfaces. Taylor got everybody fired up to go to her rubbish rummaging spot behind “Shark Zone” (a mall). We went ahead a picked up three mannequins between us, some odds and ends, and I’m pretty sure that this was where I picked a large tree branch that I decided I needed to carry around with me. After an interactive photo shoot in the street with the mannequins, somebody brought up the do re bang. Bang in Korean means “room”, and do re means “sing”. So the do re bang is where you go to do karaoke, and true to the name, you get your own private room and karaoke system. This one even had a private bathroom. A fact I promptly forgot when I started to get salty mouth syndrome, and left the room to try to find a toilet. The guys outside were like “dude, you have your own bathroom in that little room where all your friends are.” Oh yeah. By the time I got back to our room, my mouth was no longer salty. There was even a shower, in case you got a little sweaty while singing. I was intently trying to peruse the song book while everyone else sang, and never did find a good song.
After we left the do re bang, we ran into Ben #3, who we had been with earlier in the evening, alone outside a seven eleven with a bottle of soju. I’m still a little hazy on the details of where he had gone, and why he was drinking solo at 6:00 in the morning. Well, of course we had to sit down with him and finish off the soju. Again, somebody came up with a wonderful bang idea, and soon we were all off the jil jul bang. I’m pretty sure jil jul bang translates as “hot room”, but it is the public bath house. This one is 24 hours, and also located in a mall. I wasn’t sure anyone would be bathing at 6:30 on Saturday morning, but there were definitely some folks there. The tubs weren’t quite as hot as I like them, but it was still relaxing. It did not sober me up. We (the dudes) were supposed to meet Taylor after twenty minutes, and all of a sudden I looked up and everybody was gone. It took me a while to drunkenly slither back into my clothes, and by the time I got out into the lobby, none of my crew was there. I don’t know why I thought this meant that Taylor had gone home without me, but I did, so I left immediately and went home. Taylor was not at home; she was at the jil jul bang waiting for me for one hour. Sorry Tay Tay. Today I have been absolutely useless.
10/13/06
nuclear crisis II: update
Okay, so further research indicates that there are, in fact, some hardliners here in the Republic of Korea. Recent editorials have taken a more aggressive stance against the northern brothers, and you even hear denouncement of former president Kim Dae-jung and the sunshine policy. In the legislature, there was heavy bickering between the ruling Uri party and the opposition conservative Grand National Party over how to word the resolution condemning North Korea. Even the polls are showing broad popular support for a move away from the engagement policy, and even moderate support for a South Korean nuclear weapons program. So it looks like I may have to retract my statement about South Koreans being more sensible than Americans on this developing situation. It seems like hard-line crazies really do just encourage that behavior to come out in others. At least the heavy legislative debate shows that there are multiple opinions, and not everyone in the government wants to go off the deep end on this one. (unfortunately, safari does not support the link adding feature of blogger (or if it does, I can't figure out how to do it), so the links I wanted to add here are not working. People interested in what the South Korea news media has to say should go to http://joongangdaily.joins.com/, the definitive South Korean english language news site.)
Opinions among my students are reading in a similar fashion. A lot of my kids place at least partial blame for this situation on the United States, but there are some super-nationalist opinions out there too. One kid told me yesterday that the US should instigate a nuclear attack on Pyongyang. When I pushed him on this, he softened his position to say that the US should just assassinate Kim Jong-il. Again, though, almost all my kids assume that it is only a matter of time before there will be reunification on the peninsula. Even among the kids who think there should be punishments against the north, there is almost unanimous agreement that further isolation of the country would be a bad thing.
One particularly interesting aspect of my students’ opinions is the surprising clarity with which they understand the issue of nuclear proliferation. Thinking back to when I was in middle school, I don’t think I really paid attention to nuclear proliferation, much less understood the ins and outs of it. The most consistent (by far) answer I get when I ask what should be done to stop proliferation is that the US and other nuclear armed countries need to start depleting their nuclear arsenals before they can legitimately tell other countries not to develop nuclear weapons. Almost every single one of my students understands this. I don’t think that idea would even cross the minds of thirteen-year-old American kids. Of course, serious politicians cannot publicly subscribe to this idea, fearing the ever-powerful scorn of the mighty Washington, but it’s comforting to know that the new generation has some sense when it comes to this issue. Still, I will never understand why popular debate never mentions the 12,000 (or whatever the number of nuclear weapons the US has squirreled is) reasons other countries have for desiring a nuclear arsenal.
Opinions among my students are reading in a similar fashion. A lot of my kids place at least partial blame for this situation on the United States, but there are some super-nationalist opinions out there too. One kid told me yesterday that the US should instigate a nuclear attack on Pyongyang. When I pushed him on this, he softened his position to say that the US should just assassinate Kim Jong-il. Again, though, almost all my kids assume that it is only a matter of time before there will be reunification on the peninsula. Even among the kids who think there should be punishments against the north, there is almost unanimous agreement that further isolation of the country would be a bad thing.
One particularly interesting aspect of my students’ opinions is the surprising clarity with which they understand the issue of nuclear proliferation. Thinking back to when I was in middle school, I don’t think I really paid attention to nuclear proliferation, much less understood the ins and outs of it. The most consistent (by far) answer I get when I ask what should be done to stop proliferation is that the US and other nuclear armed countries need to start depleting their nuclear arsenals before they can legitimately tell other countries not to develop nuclear weapons. Almost every single one of my students understands this. I don’t think that idea would even cross the minds of thirteen-year-old American kids. Of course, serious politicians cannot publicly subscribe to this idea, fearing the ever-powerful scorn of the mighty Washington, but it’s comforting to know that the new generation has some sense when it comes to this issue. Still, I will never understand why popular debate never mentions the 12,000 (or whatever the number of nuclear weapons the US has squirreled is) reasons other countries have for desiring a nuclear arsenal.
10/10/06
nuclear crisis
All weekend long, I was trying to make sure my senses were acutely tuned, hoping that if I tried hard enough, I could feel the tremor of North Korea stomping its nuclear foot. It was with great disappointment then, that I failed to notice even the slightest shake in the ground at 10:36 am local time. Now, one might imagine at least a social tremor radiating throughout the country that shares a heavily fortified border with the world’s newest nuclear power. I had thought when the word came down there might be panic, or a tangible sense of dread in the air. But there was no such feeling. I don’t think any of my Korean co-workers even mentioned it to me today. The whole reaction all weekend has been, well, subdued. CNN Asia is pumping us full of hype and fear though, so don’t worry, we’re getting our fair share of crazed blabbering.
This is not to say that no one here is talking or thinking about North Korea, but the discussion is surprisingly calm and rational. Of course South Koreans don’t like the idea of North Korea demonstrating its nuclear might, but they’re not frantic about it. People here are much more likely to point to broad and ultimate causes of the current situation, rather than spouting off some kind of rant about a crazy dictator and calling for punishment.
Now, I’m certainly no expert in international affairs, let alone specifically the Northeast Asian region, but I’ve learned a thing or two about people’s attitudes since I’ve been here. Let’s start at the beginning. South Koreans I’ve talked to have absolutely no beef with North Koreans; they don’t even call themselves “South” Korea. People here seem to just assume that they will reunify with the North at some time. They very much consider themselves and North Koreans as one group of people: Koreans. There is certainly not hatred of North Korea, and more then anything, I think there is a sense of sympathy for the North. The commentaries in the English language newspaper lately have portrayed a North Korea that has been kind of pushed into a corner by the international community. This is the same sentiment I’ve gotten from many of my students when we talk about these issues. You hear a lot of talk about how what North Korea really wanted was a direct dialogue with the United States. (As an unfortunate side note here, you may remember (I believe it was) the second 2004 US Presidential Campaign debate, when Kerry pledged to open bilateral talks with North Korea to diffuse the crisis, while Bush insisted that the only way to make any progress was to continue exclusively with the six party talks.) The overwhelming opinion I’ve heard is that the worst road to take is further isolation of North Korea. But now, South Korea feels they’ve been pushed into a corner of their own by this nuclear test. They feel they will now be pressured into joining the hardliners in the US and Japan. While South Koreans are uncomfortable with the current situation, even my 13-year-old students have the sense to know that nobody’s going to be aiming nuclear missiles at Seoul any time soon. The talk in the papers is the more reasonable fear of a nuclear arms race in the region.
For what it’s worth, I find much more legitimacy in the South Korean position than I do in the US position. I wholeheartedly agree that further isolation of North Korea is going to do no work towards achieving the ultimate goal of stability in the region. I heard this same argument about China about ten years ago: if you want to change a country, the way to do it is to trade with them, expose them to democratic and Western values. It made sense to me then, and it’s essentially what happened. Granted, they’ll still go out and beat 55,000 dogs to death in China, but they haven’t run anybody over with tanks lately. China has become much more open and liberalized in the past ten years, due mostly to increased trade with the rest of the world. North Korea wants a dialogue and a relationship with the west, that’s what this whole issue is about. And if we can achieve our goals by having a dialogue and opening up to them, I see no reason not to do it. Of course, I understand the reasons not to reward their bad behavior, but come on here. How many drunken fistfights occur needlessly because nobody is willing to step down and talk things over? It’s time for Washington (and Tokyo) to step down and say: “hey, let’s talk about this, we’re acting like children here.”
This is not to say that no one here is talking or thinking about North Korea, but the discussion is surprisingly calm and rational. Of course South Koreans don’t like the idea of North Korea demonstrating its nuclear might, but they’re not frantic about it. People here are much more likely to point to broad and ultimate causes of the current situation, rather than spouting off some kind of rant about a crazy dictator and calling for punishment.
Now, I’m certainly no expert in international affairs, let alone specifically the Northeast Asian region, but I’ve learned a thing or two about people’s attitudes since I’ve been here. Let’s start at the beginning. South Koreans I’ve talked to have absolutely no beef with North Koreans; they don’t even call themselves “South” Korea. People here seem to just assume that they will reunify with the North at some time. They very much consider themselves and North Koreans as one group of people: Koreans. There is certainly not hatred of North Korea, and more then anything, I think there is a sense of sympathy for the North. The commentaries in the English language newspaper lately have portrayed a North Korea that has been kind of pushed into a corner by the international community. This is the same sentiment I’ve gotten from many of my students when we talk about these issues. You hear a lot of talk about how what North Korea really wanted was a direct dialogue with the United States. (As an unfortunate side note here, you may remember (I believe it was) the second 2004 US Presidential Campaign debate, when Kerry pledged to open bilateral talks with North Korea to diffuse the crisis, while Bush insisted that the only way to make any progress was to continue exclusively with the six party talks.) The overwhelming opinion I’ve heard is that the worst road to take is further isolation of North Korea. But now, South Korea feels they’ve been pushed into a corner of their own by this nuclear test. They feel they will now be pressured into joining the hardliners in the US and Japan. While South Koreans are uncomfortable with the current situation, even my 13-year-old students have the sense to know that nobody’s going to be aiming nuclear missiles at Seoul any time soon. The talk in the papers is the more reasonable fear of a nuclear arms race in the region.
For what it’s worth, I find much more legitimacy in the South Korean position than I do in the US position. I wholeheartedly agree that further isolation of North Korea is going to do no work towards achieving the ultimate goal of stability in the region. I heard this same argument about China about ten years ago: if you want to change a country, the way to do it is to trade with them, expose them to democratic and Western values. It made sense to me then, and it’s essentially what happened. Granted, they’ll still go out and beat 55,000 dogs to death in China, but they haven’t run anybody over with tanks lately. China has become much more open and liberalized in the past ten years, due mostly to increased trade with the rest of the world. North Korea wants a dialogue and a relationship with the west, that’s what this whole issue is about. And if we can achieve our goals by having a dialogue and opening up to them, I see no reason not to do it. Of course, I understand the reasons not to reward their bad behavior, but come on here. How many drunken fistfights occur needlessly because nobody is willing to step down and talk things over? It’s time for Washington (and Tokyo) to step down and say: “hey, let’s talk about this, we’re acting like children here.”
10/9/06
korean efficiency
I get really frustrated sometimes when I consider all of the ways in which our world could be more efficiently organized. There are so many seemingly simple ways that our lives, homes, cities, world could be slightly altered in order to save energy and just make more sense. As the growing energy crisis looms above my generation, there are literally thousands of things that could be done to stop the unnecessary waste of energy. This is not the sole solution to our energy problems, but serious conservation must necessarily play a role in our future of energy use. More than anything, though, it really just bothers me to see things done poorly. It doesn’t make any sense to waste energy because lifestyles and cities are not properly designed or organized. Nor does it make sense to waste energy because people feel they have some sort of right to be lazy or unnecessarily demanding about their lifestyle.
The common reaction to this kind of thinking in the US is that it’s well and fine to dream of a society where everything makes sense, but that people will never change their habits to achieve this. I guess I have always responded to this attitude with a kind of disgruntled acceptance and cynical attitude about the general useless of humans. I mean, it is difficult to imagine your average American riding their bike to work, or drying their clothes on a line. It’s hard enough just getting people to separate their recycling from their garbage. I am ashamed to admit that I often fall into the trap of thinking it is for some reason impossible to get people to do what makes sense.
Now I’m going to tell you about how things are done in Korea. I’ve never thought of Korea as being a particularly environmental place. And I still don’t know if it necessarily is. But the way things are done here just makes sense. It’s like they already do all of the little things that I trounce around America saying: “we should do this”, and “we should do that”. To start off with, they do not fuck around with recycling in this country. We separate our household waste into: food waste, clear glass, dark glass, cans, plastic bottles, plastic wrappers, plastic bags, black plastic bags, paper and garbage. We live in a building with 150 apartments, and we have one (smaller than American) dumpster that holds all the trash. Next, there is no centralized air heating in our apartment building, all of the heating is done through the floor (as it is not winter yet, we do not know how warm this keeps your apartment). Every light I’ve seen in Korea so far is fluorescent. There is apparently no such thing a clothes dryer here; every apartment is equipped with a small washer, and a separate glass-enclosed balcony for air-drying clothes. All of the balconies on the apartment buildings face south. The apartment buildings are all designed so that they are tall and skinny, one apartment wide, so you can open your balcony and front door and get excellent airflow. (I should mention at this point that most Koreans live in apartment buildings that are essentially of the same design.) The use of motion sensors is one of the best areas of efficiency. All the lights in the stairwells and corridors of our apartment building have motion sensors, so that they only turn on when someone is actually walking there. All of the escalators have motion sensors, so that they too stop running when no one is using them. The light in the entryway to your apartment is on a timer, so that it’s only on for a short period while you’re entering or leaving the house. The printer in our office at school is filled with paper that has already been printed on one side. The city is designed so that there are pockets of commercial areas surrounded by the aforementioned apartment complexes, so you can always walk to the basic necessities. I’ve already discussed the urban agriculture. Add to all these major practices all of the clever little things I see on a day to day basis (for example, when there is a connection between two electrical cords outside, they use a cut up plastic bottle to protect the connection from rain), and it is amazing how cleverly life is organized here. It’s so nice to see people living in ways that actually make sense.
Seeing the way people live here really turned the cynic in me upside down. All of a sudden, I can say what I wanted to all along, namely that people can and will change their lifestyle to be more efficient. The world really can make sense! It may be a bit early for a victory celebration, though. The fact that Koreans will adapt their lifestyle towards efficiency is very much centered around a cultural heritage that emphasizes the common good over the individual. You separate your recycling, because it is just HOW THINGS ARE DONE, and to suggest that you’re too lazy to do so would really reflect poorly on you. There is nothing like the feeling of entitlement to a certain lifestyle that you find so prevalent in the US. And, aside from thousands of years of collective cultural conditioning, Korea doesn’t offer any real concrete examples of how to deal with that stubborn attitude. Of course, there are both positive and negative effects of this kind of culture. Everything is efficient, there is incredibly little crime (people often don’t even lock their bikes on the street) and everything is clean. But I’ve complained on more than one occasion about the blandness of all the residential buildings looking exactly the same. People have very little to no personal flair or style; everyone looks completely homogenous. There is seemingly no kind of counterculture (though I’m sure there is in Seoul). And there are no drugs! This is good if you’re talking about the absence of junkies and crack-heads on the street, or meth-heads rifling through your personal belongings, but kind of a bummer if you’re a lowly dope-fiend, a little homesick and looking to get stoned.
I’m not totally willing to accept that this is a perfect trade-off though. I’m far from convinced that in order to have a decent recycling program, city and apartment designing that is energy efficient, and lifestyles that make sense, you have to give up architectural aesthetics and rock and roll. This is to say that the Korean cultural identity is not the only way to convince people to live efficiently; it is just a very good example of the fact that it can be done.
The common reaction to this kind of thinking in the US is that it’s well and fine to dream of a society where everything makes sense, but that people will never change their habits to achieve this. I guess I have always responded to this attitude with a kind of disgruntled acceptance and cynical attitude about the general useless of humans. I mean, it is difficult to imagine your average American riding their bike to work, or drying their clothes on a line. It’s hard enough just getting people to separate their recycling from their garbage. I am ashamed to admit that I often fall into the trap of thinking it is for some reason impossible to get people to do what makes sense.
Now I’m going to tell you about how things are done in Korea. I’ve never thought of Korea as being a particularly environmental place. And I still don’t know if it necessarily is. But the way things are done here just makes sense. It’s like they already do all of the little things that I trounce around America saying: “we should do this”, and “we should do that”. To start off with, they do not fuck around with recycling in this country. We separate our household waste into: food waste, clear glass, dark glass, cans, plastic bottles, plastic wrappers, plastic bags, black plastic bags, paper and garbage. We live in a building with 150 apartments, and we have one (smaller than American) dumpster that holds all the trash. Next, there is no centralized air heating in our apartment building, all of the heating is done through the floor (as it is not winter yet, we do not know how warm this keeps your apartment). Every light I’ve seen in Korea so far is fluorescent. There is apparently no such thing a clothes dryer here; every apartment is equipped with a small washer, and a separate glass-enclosed balcony for air-drying clothes. All of the balconies on the apartment buildings face south. The apartment buildings are all designed so that they are tall and skinny, one apartment wide, so you can open your balcony and front door and get excellent airflow. (I should mention at this point that most Koreans live in apartment buildings that are essentially of the same design.) The use of motion sensors is one of the best areas of efficiency. All the lights in the stairwells and corridors of our apartment building have motion sensors, so that they only turn on when someone is actually walking there. All of the escalators have motion sensors, so that they too stop running when no one is using them. The light in the entryway to your apartment is on a timer, so that it’s only on for a short period while you’re entering or leaving the house. The printer in our office at school is filled with paper that has already been printed on one side. The city is designed so that there are pockets of commercial areas surrounded by the aforementioned apartment complexes, so you can always walk to the basic necessities. I’ve already discussed the urban agriculture. Add to all these major practices all of the clever little things I see on a day to day basis (for example, when there is a connection between two electrical cords outside, they use a cut up plastic bottle to protect the connection from rain), and it is amazing how cleverly life is organized here. It’s so nice to see people living in ways that actually make sense.
Seeing the way people live here really turned the cynic in me upside down. All of a sudden, I can say what I wanted to all along, namely that people can and will change their lifestyle to be more efficient. The world really can make sense! It may be a bit early for a victory celebration, though. The fact that Koreans will adapt their lifestyle towards efficiency is very much centered around a cultural heritage that emphasizes the common good over the individual. You separate your recycling, because it is just HOW THINGS ARE DONE, and to suggest that you’re too lazy to do so would really reflect poorly on you. There is nothing like the feeling of entitlement to a certain lifestyle that you find so prevalent in the US. And, aside from thousands of years of collective cultural conditioning, Korea doesn’t offer any real concrete examples of how to deal with that stubborn attitude. Of course, there are both positive and negative effects of this kind of culture. Everything is efficient, there is incredibly little crime (people often don’t even lock their bikes on the street) and everything is clean. But I’ve complained on more than one occasion about the blandness of all the residential buildings looking exactly the same. People have very little to no personal flair or style; everyone looks completely homogenous. There is seemingly no kind of counterculture (though I’m sure there is in Seoul). And there are no drugs! This is good if you’re talking about the absence of junkies and crack-heads on the street, or meth-heads rifling through your personal belongings, but kind of a bummer if you’re a lowly dope-fiend, a little homesick and looking to get stoned.
I’m not totally willing to accept that this is a perfect trade-off though. I’m far from convinced that in order to have a decent recycling program, city and apartment designing that is energy efficient, and lifestyles that make sense, you have to give up architectural aesthetics and rock and roll. This is to say that the Korean cultural identity is not the only way to convince people to live efficiently; it is just a very good example of the fact that it can be done.
10/5/06
urban agriculture
i think i've technically been a proponent of urban agriculture ever since, as a small child, my mother read me a story about a farmer who moves to the city and makes it beautiful by planting all kinds of wonderful things (by the way, if anybody knows the name of this book, please feel free to tell me). in the past seven years or so, i've taken this childhood fascination with a cute story and honed into a more or less coherent set of beliefs. chief among these beliefs is that we need to bring small scale agriculture back into our personal lives and into our cities. there are many reasons why this is an important practice to take up. first, a tremendous amount of energy goes into transporting food from where it is grown to where it is consumed. since the majority of the world's population lives in urban centers, producing food in these urban centers with save considerable amounts of energy in food transportation. second, producing even a small amount of your own food where you live allows you to eat healthier, fresher food, save money, and refrain from participating in the industrialization of farming. third, with a little creativity, there is an amazing amount of space that can be used for food production within urban centers. the more food there is produced in the city, the more land there is that could be returned to natural habitat for native plant and animal species. fourth, the act of gardening is really good for you. it clears your mind, gives you some exercise, and helps you to understand the cycles that allow energy from the sun to become the energy that sustains your life. finally, i just think that urban gardens look and are really cool.
for all this talk, i'm certainly not any kind of full-fledged city farmer, though i've certainly dabbled in urban agriculture. most notably, i had a rooftop garden just off the bustle of SE 39th ave in portland last summer, that was surprisingly productive. i also assisted mr. ian blazina in a highly sucessful garden in sellwood, and observed his wonderful efforts in recent years turning nearly his entire backyard into a lovely grounds of everything from hops to blueberries. overally, portland is an excellent city to observe and take part in urban agriculture. a stroll or bikeride down nearly any street of the city's east side will attest to this. however, for all of this gardening in the residential neighborhoods, seeing any kind of food crop growing downtown is nearly unheard of. truly urban urban agriculture is not really seen, even in portland.
in daejon, on the other hand, urban agriculture is EVERYWHERE. i'm not really sure why or exactly how this phenomenon occurs, but on a short walk around my neighborhood (which is in no way populated by houses with yards and gardens) you will see tons of food being grown. the most common crop you will find has got to be chili peppers. these things are literally growing everywhere in this town; in pots in front of restaurants, adjacent to parking lots, in the little dirt area in front of apatement buildings, everywhere. this could easily be explained by the amount of chili pepper used in korean food; the country probably needs to grow these things wherever possible just to create the alarming amount of spice koreans demand from every dish. the urban farming phenomenon extends far beyond chili peppers, however. there are several other crops that you will find in odd places, most notably strips of land between sidewalks and parking lots. you will most often see squash or pumpkin. a close second would have to be soybeans, followed by greenbeans, which are often grown up the stalks of corn plants. some sections of town have corn planted in with the trees along the sidewalks (depicted above), though this corn will never make it to harvest, and seems to be planted for more decorative than productive purposes. rooftop gardens are also quite popular.
aside from this slipping in of gardens to any available space, there is an interesting practice that i haven't quite gotten to the bottom of yet. there happens to be a lot of building in our neighborhood; it's kind of the "new downtown" of daejon. anywhere there is a lot of construction, there tends to be a lot of empty lots. here in daejon, those empty lots are full scale gardens with large plantings of crops. they don't appear to be community gardens, because they don't appear to be broken up into different plots. for the most part, it seems like just about anyone can wander through these gardens, though (but, a lot of people don't even lock their bikes here, either). occasionally, i'll see someone out working in these gardens when i'm out cruising around. if i spoke korean, i could just go and ask them what the deal is - who owns the garden, where the food goes, etc. but, well, i'm not quite to that level with my korean yet.
i will post updates as i find out more about this korean phenomenon, and discover new gardens. hopefully my korean will be sufficient enough by next spring that i can try to secure a little plot of land on which to do my own planting.
9/26/06
landscape dresses
while living in colorado this summer, i spent my free time working on new collection of dresses that portray different landscapes. after spending several months taking in various and beautiful landscapes, i figured it was time to share some of these with the world. then taylor and i did a photo shoot of all in the dresses in a classic colorado landscape of my youth. here are the results.
san gerardo de dota
the yucatan coast
tikal
isla ometepe
guanacaste
the great plains
the lost coast
the dresses are all available at the fabric lab on east colfax in denver, along with other t-rex items. also, look for them on the runway at assorted upcoming fashion events sponsored by the fabric lab in the next month. we're still trying to locate a sewing machine and/or fabric stores, but as soon as we do, i will post an update on t-rex korea.
san gerardo de dota
the yucatan coast
tikal
isla ometepe
guanacaste
the great plains
the lost coast
the dresses are all available at the fabric lab on east colfax in denver, along with other t-rex items. also, look for them on the runway at assorted upcoming fashion events sponsored by the fabric lab in the next month. we're still trying to locate a sewing machine and/or fabric stores, but as soon as we do, i will post an update on t-rex korea.
pohan fish market
taylor and i had the opportunity to visit the largest fish market on korea's east coast, located in pohan. after having seen a little fish market action in daejon, i was really excited to see the real deal. i was sure that there would be tons of amazingly bizarre things for sale here. and this there certainly was. this part of the east coast is known as a mecca for squid fishing (squiding?), which was made quite apparent by the row upon row of squid hung out to dry on lines along the roadway. also, at night, you could see strange bright lights shining past the horizon at sea. these were squid boats, and they apparently use the incredibly bright lights to attract squid to their boats. so, as you can imagine, there was plenty of squid in this market.
there was also a lot of otcopus, some fresh, some dried, even some that was still alive. also, several varieties of octopus.
aside from squid and octopus, there was a huge amount of, well, fish. many different kinds of fish, long slender fish, wide flat fish, tiny fish, big fish, but no huge fish.
the market was divided into two main sections; the first was what you would expect a fish market to look like, with dead fish on ice, while the second section had live fish swimming around in little tubs.
there were several things for sale that are of the sea, but not what you would generally think of as being "fish", or even edible. there were rays, several unidentifiable invertebrates, and even whale meat.
one thing that was quite surprising about this market was the smell. while it did smell like fish, it was not nearly as bad as i had been preparing myself for. in fact, taylor thought it wasn't even as bad as the smell in the daejon market. it was, however, loud, crowded and crazy. everybody needed to tell you, it seemed, why their fish was better than the fish in the stall next door. some stalls even had samples of the raw fish for you to try out.
we finished looking around, and got down to what we came for: eating. many of the stalls with the live fish are connected to little restaurants. you pick out which kind of fish you want, and then have a seat in the restaurant. then they slice it up and bring it out to you. we had bibimbap, which is a kind of rice bowl with tons of veggies that you mix in, with sashimi flat fish. i don't know exactly what kind of fish it was, but it was in fact, the flat fish. if you're confused about how we navigated all of this, or even made it to the market in the first place, i neglected to mention that we had a korean tour guide, our lively and colorful boss, don.
9/21/06
disclaimer
i realize that most blogs are devoted to a single topic, or at least a single topic with various offshoots. you may think to yourself: "a blog about everything from fashion to philosophy of science? what the fuck?" and you're right to think that. it is extremely possible that i am getting in way over my head with this thing, and will not be able to address half of the topics i profess to. but, then again, most people pick one or a few things to focus their lives on. i've never been able to really understand this mentality. there's a big world out there, and i want to sink my teeth into just about all of it. this is possibly why i haven't achieved fame and fortune in any of the specific fields i pursue, but i'm willing to accept that. not only do i think just about every area i devote myself to deserves my attention, i feel that each pursuit is informed and enhanced by my dabbling in other pursuits. i agree that it's not immediately clear how my views in the philosophy of science are informed by experiences smoking dope huddled behind a boulder at 12,000 ft., but i just FEEL that they are. and for better or worse, i've got to go with my gut instinct here. and that brings us back to this, here, to this blog, and it's seemingly scatter-brained nature. well, i think all these things, and i do all these things, so why not post all these things in a single cyber-spot? i hope you will find this holistic approach to blogging as satisfying to read as i am imagining it will be to write.
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