From Korea With Love

Reflection on a year in Korea

2011-02-27T08:19:00.000-08:00

I am sitting in my empty apartment, my clothes and belongings packed for my departure, and struggling with what to say about my year in Korea.

While I had hoped that the conclusion of a year in a strange, new country should produce some profound inner knowledge to share, it has so far eluded me. Perhaps I have been too busy with the preparations for going home. Perhaps I have unconsciously assimilated some profound new understanding of the world which I will only be able to express upon distance and more reflection. And perhaps it is enough to say that Korea has become familiar, almost home, and I no longer really think twice about living here.

It may, in fact, take some adjustment to move back home. For example, since I can only express a few simple thoughts in Korean, when I am at a store or kiosk I generally present my goods and assume they will know what I want. When I returned to Canada for Christmas vacation, I had to transfer from international to domestic at YVR to fly to Victoria. I dutifully approached the desk, presented the gentleman with my passport, and silently expected him to present me with a boarding pass. He looked at me quizzically and asked, "What would you like?"

"Oh," I replied, somewhat taken aback. "A flight."

"Which one?" This was clearly going to be more work than interacting with a Korean.

"Ummm... to Victoria." I was still not picking up that he wanted to be told all my details, rather than figuring out from the passport.

"Yes, which one?" he replied patiently.

"Ah. 2pm."

"And your name is?"

While becoming so familiar with Korea, I have certainly had a good year. While to some extent that was thanks to exploring new places, a new culture and a delicious new cuisine, I suspect that it was mainly because I was able to build a life I like here. I quickly found and joined a volleyball team and played more weekends than not throughout the year. I initiated myself into the Korean university debate community, judged and helped organize debates, and made some good debate friends. And of course, I made friends at home and work and had fun going out on the town, playing Scrabble, and everything in between. These things had little to do with Korea, which in this respect was just the backdrop.

Korea did throw some obstacles in my way (what an inconsiderate backdrop!), such as preventing me from biking by producing such short people and therefore such small bikes. The clearest difficulty Korea presented, though, was the inaccessibility of the gay community. In Vancouver, I had many out gay and lesbian friends, played in a gay volleyball league, went to gay film festivals and theatre, socialized at gay bars and clubs, and generally had a gay old time. In Seoul, while the huge population ensures a large number of gay people, the activity is much less open and hard to find outside places like Homo Hill (the concentration of gay bars in the foreign neighbourhood of Seoul, Itaewon), and while I was able to meet gay friends, they were scattered throughout Seoul and I only saw them occasionally.

I wrote at one point that on many weekends, I had to choose between volleyball on Sunday and going out on Saturday nights. I suspect that had I not also developed my involvement in volleyball and debate, I could have invested more time in the gay community and had a very different experience. Ça va, I suppose.

What about my recent life? February has been characteristically busy. I wrote about my Jeju trip over Lunar New Year; since then I volunteered for two weekends at the Asian Debate Institute, training and judging and reconnecting with my debate buddies. As you can imagine, this filled my weekend days with debate and nights with crazy, fun antics. This week I have been wrapping up my finances here, shipping a box of my belongings home, training my replacement, packing my apartment and giving away most of it, and trying to find time to spend with friends I may not see again.

I have also been planning for the next few months, which has made me quite excited to be returning home. In March I will be attending the Canadian National Debate Seminar in Hay River, NWT--a week in the frozen North with good friends and high school debaters! I will also be competing in two volleyball tournaments on back to back weekends in Irvine, CA and Portland, OR. In between, I have scheduled visits to reconnect with two Stateside friends. Though I'm nominally moving back to Vancouver, I feel like I won't really be there until midway through April! I also have two summer jobs: a part-time contract developing a debate program for the International Debate Education Association (IDEA) and a Program Manager gig at Shad Valley Queens in Kingston, both of which I anticipate excitedly.

My long term plans are less certain though no less exciting. I may return to Asia to take on the long-awaited IDEA job, but I may forgo that and accelerate my education, going back to school to get an Education degree. Either way I am sure to have an adventure.

I may not, however, be blogging about the next adventure. I have very much enjoyed this yearlong experiment in sharing my life with the world (read: my family), and I feel like I have something tangible to look back on; however, it is time for a break from blogging, so I will take advantage of the natural end point provided by leaving Korea. I'll be seeing most of my readers much more often, so I hope to be able to share my life through more traditional storytelling means.

In retrospect, I suppose after all that Korea has taught me about myself. I know that I can take on the challenge of living in a new culture with different language, customs, food and values, and make an enjoyable life for myself there. I know that I love teaching and will be pursuing that profession in the medium term. I know that I will take certain things with me--volleyball and debate, for example--no matter where I live.

And with those thoughts, From Korea With Love comes to an end. Thanks to my loyal readers and commenters: I'm happy that you still reach out to me from across the pond, and I'm coming home soon!

Seoul food

2011-02-21T18:49:00.000-08:00

Mmmmm...

2011-02-20T18:53:00.000-08:00

It was Jay's birthday on Saturday, and we went out for ribs... not Korean style ribs, but real Memphis ribs.

Jabob (seen above) munched through a whole platter in 7:46, then finished off two other people's leftovers.

Country challenge

2011-02-17T00:40:00.000-08:00

The challenge: print out a blank map of the world (you can do continent maps too for detail - especially Europe) and without using any resources label as many countries as you can. Report your score.

I got 55, which I'm not especially proud of but I figure is not bad. (For comparison, my coworker Hannah, who apparently enjoys doing quizzes like this often, got about 150.) I'd be interested to know: should I buff up on my world geography?

For added challenge: add the capital cities!

A riddle... from one of my Grade 3 students

2011-02-16T00:03:00.000-08:00

Looking for something? Go to me.
I'm sure that your something inside of me lies.
Of course you can always find hope in me,
Though despair must come first, and later surprise.
What's sought, though, depends on the seeker--
One looks for bobber, another for beaker,
Others for nature, still others for nurture,
The quarry will vary from searcher to searcher.
And yet (I suspect this will strike you as strange)
My contents are set and will never change.
If you still cannot guess what I mean, here's a clue
The answer lies inside of me, too.

Who am I?

Kinect

2011-02-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

I don't usually write product reviews, but I actually got really excited about this last night and thought I'd share: XBox Kinect. The basics: it's a video game system that tracks your body movements instead of using any controllers. My coworker has one, and we gathered at his place to play some games. Before you read, you should really watch this video; we were playing these exact games last night.

My thoughts behind the jump.

As I mentioned, the first experience playing this was a huge rush. I don't imagine it will get me hooked on video games (volleyball is still better!) but I'd easily enjoy a Kinect party. After all, that's what it's made for: non-gamers who want to do it as a healthy, social activity.

Did I say healthy? Yes. All the jumping, ducking, dodging and flailing is quite a workout - I broke out in a sweat during the game! It was fantastic! Now, for this reason I doubt the Kinect will get very popular among marathon gamers, but it certainly takes the couch potato aspect right out of the game.

It's also very social. As you saw in the video, people can jump in and out of the gameplay area and get recognized by the computer. The game handles two players with amazing ease, sometimes doing a split-screen view and sometimes putting both players together on screen, and because you can just walk in and out, the five of us took turns playing in twos with no complicated switching necessary. Had we been regular players, we could have programmed the game to recognize us and use individual avatars when we walked in front of the TV! It's the first game system that I would have no hesitation buying for my (eventual) kids.

The game we were playing (Kinect Adventures) is like Wii Sports: a kind of demo game made to show off the new technology. It will be interesting to see what mainstream games--Halo, perhaps?--will do with the technology, and whether it will start to replace controllers or just ensure they are only used by hardcore gamers.

A final thought: Kinect combined with 3D TV... will be so fantastic. I can't wait.

Who Steve's Reading

2011-02-15T09:13:00.000-08:00

Harvard economist Edward Glaeser! On what other subject than (of course)... cities!

How Skyscrapers Can Save the City. Atlantic, 2011. A defence of upward development with a fascinating history of the skyscraper. I read it on my Kindle!

Start-up City. City Journal, 2010. A history of entrepreneurship in New York.

A talk with economist Edward Glaeser: why America needs to love its cities more. Sarah Goodyear, Grist, 2011.

And if that's not enough Glaeser for you, he was on the Daily Show last night! Video won't work in Canada, but my Canadian readers can watch here.

제주도

2011-02-08T06:18:00.000-08:00

Jeju Island Photos

Last week was Lunar New Year, also known as my last holiday in Korea. I got Wednesday to Friday off, and headed to Jeju Island on Thursday. Located south of the peninsula and taking advantage of a warmer climate, Jeju is known as the "Hawaii of Korea", and is a popular destination for Korean honeymooners. Even though it was February, the island's tourist spots were quite busy with Koreans taking in the scenery.

Thursday

As usual, I had to wake up inordinately early (actually this time, 4:00am!), and stupidly took a taxi to the airport half an hour earlier than the first bus, only to wait half an hour for the check-in counter to open. Apart from that and being squished into a middle seat for the hour-long ride, the trip over was uneventful and I arrived on the lovely island at 8am, hours before I normally start my day.

I had booked into a hostel on the other side of the island, but instead of going directly there, I took a slow bus around the eastern edge of the island to see the volcanic caves and sunrise peak. I wasn't quite sure how long the trip would take but set off gallantly and tiredly to explore.

First stop: 만장굴, or Manjangul volcanic caves. I should first note that Jeju is a volcanic island (this will be useful to keep in mind), and one of its attractions is a system of lava tubes several kilometres long. The cave was... well, cavernous! The lava structures are almost perfectly preserved, so one can see the flows of lava on the floor and ridges on the cave walls. The section open to the public is a kilometre long ending in a magnificent lava structure.

The cave was a bit off of the bus route, so instead of walking back I took a taxi to the next stop, 일출봉 (Ilchulbong, or Sunrise Peak). This is a volcanic prominence on the eastern tip of Jeju famed for its beauty. In true Korean fashion I climbed the stairs to the ledge around the volcanic crater. I imagine the beauty of Sunrise Peak would be amplified at sunrise, but it was quite stunning nonetheless.

After the excitement of sightseeing, is was getting late in the afternoon so I decided to bus to 서귀포 (Seogwipo), the city I was staying in. I arrived in time to walk around the city and take some sunset shots. I was a little concerned though: when I arrived, I was expecting to see at least a few other foreigners around the hostel or the waterfront, but there were no others. After the sun set I ordered a beer and sat, pondering a lonely few days.

This mood was quickly dispelled when I returned to the hostel and met Cormac, an English teacher from Ireland. His friend Kevin quickly joined us, followed by Allie, Colin, and Kim, and all of a sudden I had new friends and plans for the next day.

Friday

The Irish and I woke up early and met in the lobby at 7:30 to start our plans: hiking Mt. Halla. 한라산, as it is known in Korean, is the dormant volcano central to Jeju and the mountain with the highest elevation in Korea! The peak looked rather imposing from Seogwipo, and on our way there our hesitation grew as the bus wound up through an increasing snow pack. I would have been far more comfortable heading on a ski trip than a 10km hike.

Although we had loaded up with food in the city, we still felt unprepared at the base, especially as all the Koreans around us looked like professional mountain-climbers in their crampons, hiking poles and activity-appropriate clothes. (In contrast, I was wearing four layers for warmth, but had only light hiking shoes and no gloves or tuque.) We wisely headed to the gear shop to equip ourselves, and I bought a hat and gloves and a pair of simple crampons to help with traction.

We set off in good spirits, aware only intellectually of the 9.6 km hike and 1200m elevation gain ahead of us. The first 4km were a breeze as we hiked through gorgeous snow and bare trees on a gentle incline, however at some point the hills got more frequent and demanding, and soon we were constantly hiking uphill and making much slower progress.

Though we had thought we'd started quite early enough, we were actually cutting the timing quite close. Since it is unsafe to hike the mountain once the sun starts to set, there is a checkpoint a few kilometres from the summit where the ascent is closed at noon. As we got closer to the shelter, the time crept up past 11, then past 11:30, and when we arrived at the shelter we had only three minutes to spare before they closed the path to the summit! Though planning to rest, we had to forge on ahead, resting only after we were safely past the checkpoint.

We started the hike at about 9:30, so it had taken us around two an a half hours to reach this point; now the really difficult part began. We had only two kilometres to go to the top, but still about 600m to climb. And climb we did, slowly and painfully and with many breaks.

The rest of the group got ahead a bit around this time, leaving Cormac and me to bring up the rear. About a half kilometre from the summit, my legs almost gave out. If I had walked even ten more steps uphill, I told him, I would have collapsed, vomited or probably both. I quickly found a perch on the side of the trail and told him to go ahead to the summit. I gave up, and decided to rest until the Irish picked me up on the way down. I took a self portrait, titled: Steve, conquered by the mountain.

After five minutes, some water and a little kimbap, I realized my legs were not so bad after all, and the adrenaline kicked in again. I tested a few steps uphill and revised my decision: I would go for the top. I was alone now, surrounded by a steady stream of Koreans all with the same goal.

It turns out the remaining ascent to the top, though steep, was less challenging since there were stairs. I climbed out of the last bit of vegetation and onto the bleak side of the mountain, drinking in the incredible views whenever I could spare a glance away from my footing.

As I climbed the last few stairs and the Irish spotted me in the crowd of Koreans, they gave a great cheer: "you made it!" It was a sweet victory, and the volcanic crater view from the summit was worth every drop of sweat and wobble of leg. We celebrated with a shot of soju and lunch.

Quickly enough everyone was told that we had to turn around and descend, so we would make it down in the light. The way down was mercifully much easier, though it took a fair amount of time as well. When we reached beer at the bottom, we had been on the mountain for 8 hours. Not bad for a day's work, I'd say.

Saturday

I went to bed early Friday night and slept in Saturday -- it was wonderful. In the morning, I decided to try a Jeju delicacy: 흑되지, or black pig. The Korean style pork, which I cooked myself on the grill, was so delicious it was worth the two orders I had to buy.

The Irish were heading to the cave I had already seen, so I decided to rent a bike for the day and check out a few of the more local sights. Seogwipo is surrounded by a dramatic coastline with numerous waterfalls so I went exploring. Unfortunately, this coast also contained numerous difficult hills, and my already taxed legs were soon burning as I coaxed the small bike up them.

I soon ditched the bike since I met a new hiking companion, Justin, from Washington State. We were going the same direction, so decided to make our way together for a while along the beautiful coast while having a very interesting discussion on politics.

That evening, after Justin had crossed the island back to his lodging in the other main city, I was alone again, reflecting on the ups and downs of travelling alone. I figured that for the opportunity to meet new people to climb mountains with, for example, you have to take some chances, reach out to people who seem nice, and enjoy being alone sometimes.

Sunday

Most of the tourists left on Sunday, but I was scheduled to stick around until Monday morning, so I had the city even more to myself. I decided to switch into relaxation mode and hung out on the beach watching the waves splash among the rocks, then walked around the city--really a small town, I realized--to get a sense of what Korean life was like outside Seoul.

Sunset found me back on the hostel balcony with my Kindle, and when it got chilly outside I gave up on the Korean experience entirely, ordered pizza and beer and watched Star Wars. Though not as packed with experience as the days preceding, it was still a great day.

Monday

Monday, a work day, found me up again before dawn for the hour-long bus ride to Jeju Airport. However, once at the airport, there was chaos: people everywhere, and the flight board indicating that almost all flights were delayed or cancelled. Uh oh.

With the kind help of an English-speaking airline employee, I found out that my flight had also been cancelled due to fog in Seoul, and I got a standby ticket with the understanding that it would likely be 6pm before they had space to put me on a flight home. I called my boss at work, mostly but not entirely regretfully. Fortunately, the fog lifted around noon and the airline added an extra flight, so I was back in Seoul for the afternoon and only a few hours late for work.

Overall, my Jeju experience was pretty stellar. I combined a day of sightseeing, a day of effort and achievement, a day of exploration and a day of relaxation into a brief but memorable vacation. After an initial worry that I would be lonely, I met some very neat people and reminded myself why I like travelling alone, and I'm now satisfied that I've seen Korea.

Sun setting over Seogwipo harbour, as seen from my hostel balcony.

A teaser from Jeju island

2011-02-04T02:26:00.000-08:00

It turns out there is internet at my hostel, so here's a picture. You will have to wait until Monday to hear the rest of the story, but so far it has been great.

What Steve's Reading

2011-02-02T04:40:00.000-08:00

I'll be heading to Jeju Island early tomorrow so you won't hear from me until Monday when I return. Expect lots of pictures and stories early next week!

Until then, here are some good readings on the recent events in Egypt and the Middle East / North Africa:

Parties of God: The Bush doctrine and the rise of Islamic democracy. Ken Silverstein, Harper's, 2007. A nuanced view of the populist Islamist movements (Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah) in the Middle East. Good background reading.

The Devil We Know. Ross Douthat, NYT, 2011. Opinion piece pointing out the complexity of foreign policy choices in the US.

The Arab world's 1989 revolution? Jacqueline Head, Al Jazeera, 2011. Al Jazeera has consistently had great coverage of the demonstrations: it seems that half the stories in mainstream Western outlets start with "Al Jazeera is reporting that...". As a plus, their news is not US-centric.

All the best to you while I'm on holiday on the island!

A house guest

2011-01-29T07:47:00.000-08:00

My friend Mandi is out of town, so I had a house guest for a while today. Meet Tokki, the adorable (though small) dog. Photo shoot time!

Quote of the day

2011-01-26T23:09:00.000-08:00

A Grade 1 kid ruminates on winter in his writing test:

We can go sledding too. I know that it will be fun because I have been sledding 7 times before I was born.

Tiger Mother, continued

2011-01-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

Amy Chua, who I mentioned in an earlier post, was on the Colbert Report last night, where she explained how her book has been somewhat misconstrued. Take this as a correction to or clarification of my last post.

If you're in Canada, you can see the video at this link. If outside of Canada, the video is just behind the jump.

Gimme the beat boys and free my Seoul

2011-01-26T01:58:00.001-08:00

Wish I was as brave...

2011-01-25T08:40:00.000-08:00

... and as self-aware as this girl is, when I was in high school.

Magnetic ramps?

2011-01-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

No editing tricks, just cardboard and glue. More incredible illusions from Kokichi Sugihara here.

What Steve's Reading

2011-01-23T00:55:00.000-08:00

Clay Shirky on Wikipedia's 10th Anniversary. theAtlantic.com, 2011. On how Wikipedia has forced us to re-examine our conceptions of authority.

Israeli Test on Worm Called Crucial in Iran Nuclear Delay. New York Times, 2011. Think cyber-warfare the domain of science fiction? Think again.

And because I can't resist including an urban-related reading: Burning Man and the Metropolis. Nate Berg, Design Observer, 2011. A creative and fascinating essay that reflects on the annual Burning Man festival as a city; though as it notes:

Black Rock City — let's be honest — is not actually a city. ... But really, that's not the point. People who go to Burning Man aren't trying to recreate an urban experience or play City Hall. They are experimenting with new ways of living, as generations have done before them.

Dinner!

2011-01-22T04:08:00.000-08:00

Stirfry with pork, apple, red pepper, mushrooms and steamed greens in a ginger, chili and Cab Sauv sauté.

Yum!

화성 Fortress Revisited

2011-01-22T01:26:00.000-08:00

Hwaseong Fortress

On my way back from volleyball I stopped by Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, this time before dusk. I climbed the old fortress wall up to the hilltop pavilion (a hard climb with my volleyball gear) and snapped a few more pictures.

Click on the link to left for the full album!

Urban Studies Watch, ctd.

2011-01-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

Main and Broadway, Vancouver

As promised, I have been following the Economist debate on the proposition "This house believes that restricting the growth of cities will improve quality of life" and I have come to a conclusion of sorts. It is this: it depends on the city.

Both sides advocate for careful city management and accountable governance, with the proposition advocating restricting city size as one tool of management in a modern city:

Our contemporary planet, beset by climate change, resource depletion and self-destructive growth, is a different place than it was when a world-without-limits seemed to have common-sense veracity.

I think this argument has excellent merit, and certainly cities in the developing world have the economic and political tools to productively limit their city's growth: green belts and zoning laws, for example. I for one would love to see the environmental impact of suburban sprawl mitigated, and feel that to do so would require limiting the growth of cities and their surrounding areas.

As much as I am tempted to agree with the proposition that "restricting urban growth of a sprawling and bloating city by democratic processes would be a possible tool for a better life for its citizens," I have to cede a point to the opposition:

My view is, and this true to most sprawling cities in developing countries, that this is not feasible.
...
In light of this (weak urban planning systems and lack of strong urban management), one does not jump to an impractical conclusion and charge ahead with the utopian task of restricting urban growth to achieve improved quality of life. Rather, the focus should be on creating better urban planning and management systems to tackle the challenges in a more sustainable way, especially in the small and medium-sized towns/cities that are fast becoming the growth magnets in most countries.

I suspect that rather than siding with either proposition or opposition, we should realize that cities should each have their own municipal government and their respective strategies for dealing with growth; in cities of the developed world this should certainly include curtailing growth in order to develop in a smarter, more environmentally-friendly way. In developing cities, developing in a smart and environmentally-sane manner is also a laudable goal, it just may not yet be compatible with restricting the growth of cities.

I would also like to share a podcast I found: from NPR's Radiolab, subject: Cities. The fantastic hour-long radio show intertwines an interview with the physicists studying the city as a statistical object with incredibly unique stories of cities from around America. If you have an hour near your speakers, it's worth a listen.

What Steve's Reading...

2011-01-18T07:06:00.000-08:00

... parenting edition!

The book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is getting some attention on the internet. In it, Amy Chua recounts her philosophy and experiences of "Chinese" motherhood. I haven't read the book, but it was excerpted in the Wall Street Journal, and here are another few anecdotes. A characteristic quote, from the mother to her daughter Lulu:

I gave the card back to Lulu. “I don’t want this,” I said. “I want a better one — one that you’ve put some thought and effort into. I have a special box, where I keep all my cards from you and Sophia, and this one can’t go in there.”

“What?” said Lulu in disbelief. I grabbed the card again and flipped it over. I pulled out a pen from my purse and scrawled ‘Happy Birthday Lulu Whoopee!’ I added a big sour face. “What if I gave you this for your birthday Lulu- would you like that? But I would never do that, Lulu. No — I get you magicians and giant slides that cost me hundreds of dollars. I get you huge ice cream cakes shaped like penguins, and I spend half my salary on stupid sticker and erase party favors that everyone just throws away. I work so hard to give you good birthdays! I deserve better than this. So I reject this.” I threw the card back.

Julianne Hing, a daughter of another--somewhat different--Chinese mother, adds her thoughts, which are also worth reading.

My thoughts? I have a few. First, I can't speak from experience about parenting, but I don't have any complaints about my childhood (with a dramatically different parenting style). Of course, I always was an academic high achiever and didn't need a dragon mother to get As; so I do wonder whether people who might otherwise be mediocre students would look back on a strict parenting style and credit it for their eventual success. So while I think Chua takes her style to extremes, I also suspect she may have a point, especially when she says "What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it. To get good at anything you have to work." I suspect at this point all of my readers will jump in to comment from their experience--comments I would love to hear.

Second, I see the parenting style Chua describes in the parents of some of my students. While I don't know the parents themselves, I do hear stories of mothers not being satisfied with any grade less than an A, and kids attending five or six extracurricular academies to prepare them for a good life. I certainly have my share of discouraged kids and there are times I just want to stop teaching class and give the kids some rest, but for the most part they are resilient and quite gifted.

Finally, I take issue with Chua's metric for evaluating success, specifically the success of her kids. From Chua's perspective, to be successful is to be a well-educated professional who plays the piano and violin like a virtuoso. Yet so many of the people I admire, who I would call extremely successful, are so far out of this model. Being a local actor, singer-songwriter or designer is success if that's what you love. Working hard at athletics to play on the college sports team can be success. Learning and plying an honest trade for a living can be success. Chua's model has no space for these successes, and it seems somewhat cruel to force your children into your standards for success, when they could be finding their own. (This, of course, comes from Western-style individuality and self-actualization.)

Readers - thoughts?

I'm going to...

2011-01-18T06:43:00.000-08:00

Jeju Island!

Jeju is Korea's largest island and a huge tourist attraction, and I'll be going there for four days at the beginning of February, for Lunar New Year. I did battle with several websites to reserve tickets, gave up in despair, and was saved by my angel supervisor. So excited!

Monday morning afternoon

2011-01-16T19:17:00.000-08:00

My body feels like this spaghetti bridge:

Weekend

2011-01-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

There is a silence about mornings and hangovers which I don't experience very much. I did briefly this Saturday morning, and it seemed like the world and my brain both paused. This was after the three-alarm fire without the fire woke me up at 8am with Friday's soju still somewhere in my system, but before I dragged myself out the door and on the hour-long bus ride to volleyball at 11. The eerie calm of the morning stands in stark contrast to the hustle of my weekend.

The weekend was full of volleyball and partying, really. I mentioned partying Friday night and playing ball on Saturday; on Saturday night and Sunday I repeated the pattern. Saturday night was dancing in Hongdae, which is far enough away that you kind of have to stay out all night. Fortunately I paced myself on the drinking and kept hydrated, so it was only moderately difficult to put myself on the subway for another day of volleyball. This time, I played at the Osan US Air Force base with some military folk I play with in Suwon (see picture).

And, after a fun and busy weekend I'm still surprised I survived, it's back to the silence. Surrounded by my drying clothes and still apartment, my brain has again dimmed its clamor. I suppose that means it's bed time - have to get ready for another week ahead!

Winter Seoulstice

2011-01-12T09:10:00.000-08:00

Urban Studies Watch

2011-01-11T07:57:00.001-08:00

The Economist has biweekly web debates which are often interesting. The current topic? "This house believes that restricting the growth of cities will improve quality of life." It's at the opening statement phase now and is worth following for the next two weeks.

Check it out HERE.

My own view? I'm leaning pro right now, but I'll think about it during the debate and post a more thoughtful view later.

170m.

2011-01-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

DMZ Photo Album

7:15am. ~60km from the Military Demarcation Line. The three alarms that I set for this morning blaze into action. Only one is necessary, as I am still waking up early due to my New Year's time change. I shower and get ready to go.

9:00am. ~45km from the MDL. I arrive with ten minutes to spare and was surprised to be one of the first on the Adventure Korea bus. We would wait twenty minutes there and pick up more people at another stop to the north.

11:00am. 3km from the MDL. We stop at Imjingak, the last place civilians can travel without registering with the military. There is a theme park, which is odd, and a train bridge into the DMZ, but there's not much to see here. I buy some North Korean currency - I think I now have more than the average North Korean. (Pic to left: me with North Korean money and random Canadian.)

11:45am. 2.5km. We pass over the hopefully named "Unification Bridge" into the less-so "Zone of Civilian Control". There is a village here, whose residents continue to live in the land of their ancestors, and each make the equivalent of CAD $100,000 a year from their goods and the government subsidies. We stop to take lunch. Some of the group get a little silly in the snow, especially the group from South Africa for whom this was the first snow they had ever seen.

1:00pm. 820m. We arrive at the "third tunnel": the Southern side of the third known infiltration tunnel under the De-Militarized Zone. The DMZ was established around an armistice line known as the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and generally extends two kilometres in both directions. We are just south of the Southern Limit Line of the DMZ, so either the tourist maps are lying about the distance or the DMZ is narrower than usual here.

Before descending into the tunnel, we are shown a propaganda video about the DMZ. This would happen once again on the trip, and I was put off--it felt like the South Koreans were trying too hard to claim moral justification for their fight against an aggressive North. I know where I stand in this Civil War, thanks, and don't need agitprop that felt like it should come from the North.

1:30pm. 435m. We descended what seemed an interminable tunnel of very steep grade. This was not the original tunnel blasted by the North, but the tourist tunnel. My camera was left hesitantly in a locker upstairs; no photography in the tunnel. I look down the real tunnel and realize I will now have to stoop the whole way through.

1:40pm. 170m. We reach the barrier to civilian passage, which is claimed to be only 170m from the Military Demarcation Line. For now, that's as close as I'll get to North Korea. I don't like the cramped tunnel, or the massive exertion it takes to get back up the steep passage, but it's worth it.

2:30pm. 1200m. Feeling good to be above-ground. We arrive at Dorasan Station, the last station. Since it's in the Zone of Civilian Control, it's not currently used, but it's a real testament to the hopes of the Koreans: a modern, fully equipped and large train station complete with waiting chairs, multiple platforms and customs inspection equipment. It looks like every other modern train station in Korea, minus the hurried commuters.

There were a few Korean soldiers standing guard at the station, and I was reminded of a detail about the South Korean army: it's predominantly made of young, conscripted men serving their two-year term. My mental image of service members is weathered and, well, older, so it's always a little jarring to see the fresh faced recruits under their tan helmets.

3:15pm. 1600m. We were scheduled to go to Dora Observatory, but it was closed to civilians due to the resumption of propaganda broadcasts by

... the South! Instead, we bussed to Unification Observatory (starting to see a theme here?), which overlooks the meeting of the Han River, flowing North from Seoul with the Imjin river, flowing West.

Due to the snowy weather, it wasn't the greatest day to be at a North Korean observatory: the view was limited and the North Koreans were inside whatever shelter they have. It was still cool to be looking at North Korea. I did some spying through the binoculars and some nature photography, but was less interested in the museum-like display of North Korean goods and artifacts on show.

4:45pm. 2km from the MDL and gaining. The Adventure Korea bus was slogging through the snowy streets and heavy traffic back to Seoul. I had visited the DMZ. Overall, I was somewhat underwhelmed, though in retrospect that's not surprising. The DMZ is the most militarized border in the world and has seen many skirmishes in the last 60 years, so obviously they keep the tourists away from the potentially dangerous places. Because of this, it felt more like a museum-piece showing an old, dead war than a living, manned conflict zone: even the points only hundreds of metres away from the zone were well-staffed and gift-shopped tourist attractions.

But I have the bragging rights, so I'm happy.

This is fantastic!

2011-01-08T04:54:00.001-08:00

Possibility

2011-01-06T20:11:00.000-08:00

In two months I may again be jobless, homeless and untethered. The best word I can find to describe this is ... possibility.

To make a fairly long, complicated story shorter, the job I have been waiting to transition into since September lost its sponsorship in Korea. This means a couple things for me:

Short term, it means that I'll be returning to Canada at least for a little while in March. I fly back March 2nd and will be attending the Canadian National Debate Seminar in Hay River, NWT from March 9-14, so I'll have a week home in Vancouver and on the island. This is very exciting for me!

Long term, it's less clear. The organization I was supposed to work for is trying to relocate the job, and I will have the right of first refusal for the new position, so after mid-March I may be back to Asia for another year--perhaps in Korea, perhaps a different part of Asia. I can also choose to decline the job and return to Canada, and I have two months here to set up plans. So, despite my plans being upset, I feel like I have many doors open!

For now, I'm going to make the most of what could be my last few months in Korea. I'm going to the DMZ tomorrow, so you can expect pictures and a story this weekend. I'm also considering a 4-day trip to Jeju Island (the Hawaii of Korea) at the Lunar New Year. 2011 is getting off to a good start!

What Steve's Reading...

2011-01-04T17:32:00.000-08:00

... on his Kindle!

A two part essay on trains:

The Glory of the Rails. Tony Judt, New York Review of Books.

Bring Back the Rails! Tony Judt, New York Review of Books.

Happy New Year! 새해 복 많이 받으세요!

2011-01-01T01:57:00.000-08:00

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?"

I'm just wrapping up a trip in BC, visiting some auld acquaintances, and I'll be heading back to Seoul (and restarting the blog) soon.

May your 2011 be prosperous and happy. Happy new year, everyone!

2010 Christmas Letter

2010-12-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

You can download this 3-page letter for printing HERE.

Dear friends and family,

Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2011 to you and yours! I am writing this letter on what will quite likely be my longest Christmas Day ever; by the time I see December 26th, I will have lived a full 40 hours of the 25th. This deserves some explanation, I realize.

The story really starts at the dawn of 2010, so this letter will be the story of my year as well as my prolonged Christmas day. In January and February, I was living in Vancouver with no idea how my year would unfold. Though there was excitement afoot—mainly the Olympic Games, which I took in avidly from outside the venues—I was fighting the inertia of unemployment and having second thoughts about not signing up for co-op in University.

This changed with an email from a debate friend, inviting me to explore a debate teaching job in Korea. I think it took about five minutes to make up my mind, and it seemed like only ten more before I was in Korea. I said farewell to my family at my grandparents’ 50th anniversary ten months ago, and plunged into a somewhat alien world teaching in Anyang, Korea.

Life in Korea has from the beginning had the feel of a Formula One racer: unceasing momentum. As I noted after a month, “the work days blur into work weeks, which are blurring into a whole work month, leaving only the weekend days to remind me that I'm actually halfway across the world from home.” I suspect this feeling is familiar to many in older generations, but it was fairly new to me.

As I predicted in that one-month reflection, I slowly built up my routine on the weekends. I found a Korean volleyball team to practice and play with and started fulfilling my urge to spike and block. I made friends outside of work and started to explore Seoul. I decorated my apartment with the souvenirs of trips around Korea.

One particular trip stands out for me. I had signed up for a group trip with Adventure Korea to a raspberry wine festival in southern Korea, but overslept and woke up to a confused trip director on the phone wondering where I was. He asked whether I would try to meet with the group or forgo the trip, obviously expecting my lazy foreign self to choose the latter. Instead, I summoned all my wits and took a train, bus and taxi to get to the little town where the trip was, joining them triumphantly (actually, somewhat awkwardly) before dinner.

Dinner was not very substantial, and there was free raspberry wine, which explains why I slept in the next morning too and missed the bus out of our hostel. I sheepishly called the trip director and rejoined the group (even more awkwardly) at lunch, riding on the charter bus for the first time on the way back to Seoul. Ironically, since I now claim the record for the shortest time spent on an Adventure Korea trip, I met a group of friends on that jaunt that I keep in touch with now.

I have a better track record for other trips; with Adventure Korea I have hiked in the southern mountains and partied at the Boryeong Mud Festival with thousands of other foreigners. With two travel companions, I took an epic three-bus trip into the mountain country east of Seoul for a mutual friend’s birthday. Each passing month, I get more comfortable with the Korean culture, language, and custom of not providing toilet paper in washrooms. It is this third adjustment that has probably been the hardest.

Going back for a moment to the initial subject: my protracted Christmas Day. I am writing this in the early hours of Christmas day in Korea; by midday I will be inscribing a great circle over the Pacific Ocean as I head home to see my family for the first time in 10 months. As I mentioned, the pace of life here is hectic, and this is my second week of holiday since arriving. The first I spent in a rather different fashion: in Malaysia.

It was late July, and it seemed a good idea to trade in the stuffy climate of Korea for the scorching sun of Borneo, so I joined several friends for a week in Kota Kinabalu, a small tourist town not far from the Indonesian border. It was a relaxing and enjoyable trip with tons of little adventures—a discover scuba diving course, river rafting down some admittedly gentle rapids, a hike in Kinabalu National Park, and plenty of time at the beach.

Kota Kinabalu is neat since the town’s tourist beaches are on several islands just a quick boat ride from shore. This is of course a money-making racket, as I am convinced the boat rides were the most expensive thing I bought while there. On one of those islands one sunny afternoon, I decided I’d had enough of sun tanning with the girls and decided to hike a little around the island. I walked to the viewpoint about 2km away and was about to turn back when I was shocked by a huge lizard only a metre away. I was too scared to get more than a quick picture, and ran a few hundred metres down the trail before slowing to a quick walk. I will rather sheepishly admit that I found out later that it was a mostly harmless monitor lizard.

The islands were also the site of our scuba lessons, which may have been the highlight of my trip. There is a world just 10 metres underwater full of alien beauty and inexplicable to me before the dive. Unfortunately, my gargantuan frame needs a lot of oxygen, and I was always the first to run out of air. (On one dive, the guide used only a third of the air I did!) I conclude that I would make an enthusiastic but perhaps not talented scuba diver.

Back in Korea, my year was shaken up by another employment opportunity. I was hired to replace the person that hired me, as the North East Asia representative for the International Debate Education Association (IDEA). The Seoul-based position is responsible for promoting debate around China, Korea and the rest of North East Asia, works mainly with nonprofits and universities, and includes a lot of travel.
It was as close to my dream job as I have been offered yet; I couldn’t say no.

While circumstances conspired to delay that job—which I am now quite excited to start in March—it has already taken me back to the world of debate. I have enthusiastically attended and helped at a few Korean debate events and made friends in the university community here, which has helped me expand my social world beyond my neighbourhood into Seoul.

Quite the highlight of my debate involvement here was my trip to Macau. That city is near Hong Kong geographically and historically: it was a protectorate of Portugal, but now is a special administrative region of China with its own set of laws and a reputation as the Vegas of Asia. IDEA sent me to judge at the tournament and meet debaters in the region, and though I was only there for three days, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The Portuguese and Cantonese food was scrumptious and—even better—not Korean, and the feel of the city was a refreshing departure from the texture of life around Seoul.

It would be tedious to list all of the things I have done in Korea—taken in screenings at the Seoul LGBT film festival, worked, been comped at a Lee Moon Sae concert in Anyang and an English play in Itaewon, worked, enjoyed the rain at Olympic Park and worked, to name a few—so I will sum up by saying that I have built myself an enjoyable life here. It’s not nearly the same as local music or gay volleyball in Vancouver and having the family a ferry ride away, but it’s nice.

All the same, I’m giddy with Christmas glee about flying home this long today. I will spend Christmas evening with my family and bring in the new year in Vancouver, though later on January 1st I will be flying back to resume my life in Seoul. What will 2011 bring? A new, more flexible and exciting job with tremendous opportunity for personal growth; travel around Asia and perhaps beyond; and of course the many little adventures that will find me.

May your new year be similarly full of adventure.

With love,

Stephen
Dec 25th, Korea

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

Best of the season from me and my students! Canada in less than 40 hours!

Advent calendar: day 24

2010-12-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

With this post, the blog advent calendar comes to a close. I've sure enjoyed putting it together - theme weeks, carols on weekends, pictures of me and all. In January, you can expect me to return to a more regular blog schedule--i.e. don't expect a post every day!

By the time you read this, it will be Christmas Eve for me. I will have finished work and will be packing for my long flight across the Pacific, then hopefully resting while Santa works his magic on my part of the world. With Christmas Eve in mind, I offer my last advent calendar prize behind door 24.

Your last advent prize documents one of my family's Christmas eve traditions, which I'm sad I won't get to participate in this year.

I hope you all have a fine Christmas eve. So go on and eat tourtiere, play poker, and think of me in between visions of sugar-plums tonight.

Advent calendar: day 23

2010-12-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

The penultimate advent calendar prize! It's an adorable one, right behind the door.

Your Dec 23 advent prize: a nativity play from 1992:

What Steve's Reading

2010-12-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

Last Christmas of the War. excerpt from a book by Primo Levy, NY Review of Books. A moving account of a Jewish prisoner's Christmas in Monowitz.

A Physicist Solves the City. Jonah Lehrer, NYT Magazine. A potential theoretical urban studies breakthrough.

F.C.C. Poised to Pass Net Neutrality Order. Brian Stelter, NYT Media blog. An update on the net neutrality articles posted last week.

Advent calendar: day 22

2010-12-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

Your Christmas memory for day 22, behind the door.

Your prize today is from the other side of the family, but I'm uncertain of the year.

Only two days left!

Advent calendar: day 21

2010-12-21T01:00:00.000-08:00

Another Christmas memory, just behind the door!

Your advent prize for Day 21, from 1983:

And because some traditions just don't change, a bonus memory from 2006:

An advent winner!

2010-12-20T17:15:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to my Mom, who put together the pieces of the advent puzzle first. There will be a prize of some sort when I get home.

The solution is behind the jump, if you want to see it.

Seoular Energy II

2010-12-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

Advent calendar: day 20

2010-12-20T01:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the last week of the From Korea With Love advent calendar! I can't quite believe that in only one week, I'll be hopping on a plane to fly back home for a week.

Your theme for the last week is Christmas memories, and your prize as always is behind the door!

Your Christmas memory for today, from 1968:

Only in Canada Quebec

2010-12-19T06:30:00.000-08:00

A longstanding goal of the Quebecois separatist movement? Having their own hockey team.

Champions!

2010-12-19T05:34:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, the league that I've been dropping into had its first organized tournament. Organized by Russians working at the Samsung Semiconductor facility, the league draws Russians, North Americans, and occasionally some Koreans out to its weekly recreational games. The idea for this tournament was to have each group put together a team to compete in a more formal fashion.

I was on the International Volleyball Gangsters (aka Team North America), comprising of two Canadians, three Americans and a borrowed Ukrainian. We played against three different Russian teams and one Korean team. All in all, there were people from at least 6 different nationalities there.

I did start my morning way too early (6:35) and catching a two-hour bus ride to the court (9:30), but it was well worth it. The games were all hard-fought, and though we only lost one set--against the second-place Russian team--we weren't blowing the other teams away.

As expected, I had some fun hitting and blocking (see picture to left), but I also thought my overall game was pretty good. I was digging and playing defence as well as the rest of my team, so I was proud.

Though I've only played with these players once or twice, and the whole team hadn't played together before Saturday, we played well together, and it was really nice to be playing for keeps again, so to speak.

What Steve's reading...

2010-12-19T03:45:00.001-08:00

.. and watching. First, a TED video on the new ball and chain.

Next, a few articles on Net Neutrality. You have likely heard this phrase thrown about, but like most people have no idea what it means. Well, if you're interested, take a read! It's important.

Network Neutrality FAQ. Tim Wu. A decent primer, if you're willing to wade through some technical language.

Will Comcast destroy net neutrality? Slate, 2010. Put aside the nice theoretical stuff you just learned about, roll up your sleeves and get ready to read about what happens in the real world of internet providers.

Google and Money! New York Review of Books, 2010. Only obliquely related to net neutrality, but a fascinating review of Google's relationship with advertising, privacy and money.

As a side note, I regularly use Google search, GMail, Blogger, Google Maps, Chrome, Picasa, Picasa Web Albums, Google Documents, Google Chat, YouTube, Google Translate and Google Groups, all of which are Google products. I'm as hooked on Google as anyone is.

Advent calendar: day 19

2010-12-19T01:00:00.000-08:00

Your Sunday prize: a simply amazing Christmas-y song, Schubert's Ellens dritter Gesang, better known simply as Ave Maria.

The issue: there are so many versions of this song to share! So, here are two. The first is probably not Maria Callas (there is much dispute in Spanish/English as to whether she sang this at all), but it is beautiful and highly recommended for Jampa Grim's listening pleasure.

The second version I've chosen is a personal favourite, but by no means should J.G. be allowed to watch this. (I would like to eat Christmas dinner when I arrive in East Sooke, after all.) This is Chris Cornell with an unorthodox rendition of Ave Maria.

Advent calendar: day 18

2010-12-18T01:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's December 18th already! Only one week left until Christmas. Your Saturday prize behind the door. (Also: there are three digits on this door! Who can spot the third?)

Your weekend special prize: one of my favourite Christmas songs! Enjoy, and apologies for the language.

Too good to pass up...

2010-12-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

It's a math joke.

범계 in white

2010-12-17T13:54:00.000-08:00

After the heavy snowfall from the evening, my world (well, the part between home and work) was blanketed with white! While it didn't even last until that evening, I took the scenic route to work and took a few photos.

It's funny how the world is so changed by a coat of white: the dirtiest, ugliest places can become picturesque, while beautiful places can become boring expanses of white. I hope I've captured a bit of that in these photos.

It's also very interesting what different people see in wintertime photos. I was all exited at the snow in the picture out my window; my Grandma--

Beomgye

being from Saskatchewan--was completely unfazed by the snow but was astounded at the monolithic apartment buildings rising dramatically from the white ground.

You can see all of my snow photos at the end of the photo album linked to the right.

Advent calendar: day 17

2010-12-17T01:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! Enjoy your last advent calendar prize of the week. (After this, no me in your advent calendar. Promise.)

Your Friday prize is another student portrait, this time skipping with a student under a shining sun!

Exercice de tir militaire d'une journée

2010-12-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

Subject: Announcement of One-Day Military Firing Exercise in Northwest Islands off the Coast of Korea Between December 18-21, 2010

The Canadian Embassy in Seoul is transmitting the following information through the Embassy's Warden System as a public service to all Canadian citizens in the Republic of Korea. Please disseminate this message broadly to Canadian citizens.

This warden message is being issued in response to the announcement on December 16, 2010, by the Government of the Republic of Korea that it will "hold a one-day live-fire drill on Yeonpyeong Island between Dec. 18 and 21. The Embassy does not assess that there has been an increase in the threat environment in South Korea.

Given the increased tensions since the North Korean shelling of Yeonpyeong Island on November 23, 2010, it is understandable that Canadian citizens would be concerned regarding the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. However, the Embassy reminds Canadian citizens in the Republic of Korea that military training exercises are routinely conducted throughout South Korea throughout the year, to include civil defense drills normally held eight (8) times a year. Canadian citizens should stay informed through local media about upcoming military exercises and civil defense drills that sometimes occur at short notice and for which the Embassy will not routinely provide advance notification. The Embassy continues to closely monitor the current situation. Should the security situation change, the Embassy will update this warden message.

Today... ctd.

2010-12-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

The view from my window this morning. There's snow on the ground and it's still snowing! I woke up early, so I'll go out and take some winter wonderland shots before work. Yippee!

Advent calendar: day 16

2010-12-16T01:00:00.000-08:00

Your advent prize! Funny how I keep appearing in these prizes. This one's a sticker picture taken when I came to Korea. Sticker picture machines are all the rage here... though mainly with the teenage girls.

School

2010-12-15T23:00:00.000-08:00

school
dreary, difficult
punishing, silencing, working
prison, factory, laboratory, creative space
thinking, encouraging, rewarding
engaging, exciting
school

A diamante poem I wrote as an example for my kids. Thought I'd share.

Advent calendar: day 15

2010-12-15T01:00:00.000-08:00

Your prize for this week: a volleyball video. I'm the one playing middle in the front row... don't want to give away the plot's ending!

Advent calendar: day 14

2010-12-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

As always, your prize is behind the door.

Your second prize of the week:

This is a picture of me drawn by one of my Grade 1 students earlier this year. I love that although the picture is a quick sketch, the student coloured me in.

Decking the halls

2010-12-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

As you saw earlier, I did my Christmas shopping over the weekend. Although I was glad to have my shopping done, there was something missing from my apartment, namely Christmas decorations!

So after work yesterday, my coworkers and I headed to Home Plus to liven up our Christmas spirit, and--because we're practical--to grab some groceries.

One of the spirit-warming items I was looking for at Home Plus was a literally warming one: a space heater. My apartment had been inexplicably cold for the last few weeks, and though I had cranked my floorboard heating, it didn't seem to do much. My friend Jay suggested that I check a light under my sink to see if my heater was working, so I put off buying the electric heat fan.

Instead, I got cereal, decorations, cereal, lights, cereal and a TREE! My tree is of the kind that Glee was referring to in their cover of O Christmas Tree: "Thy leaves are so unchanging". While I would prefer the smell and feel of a real tree, I look forward to returning to my apartment after Christmas and finding its leaves still unchanged, and packing it back in a box for another year.

Back home, I started to string up my lights and hang up my decorations. I also found a delightful stocking-stuffer package in my mailbox! Unfortunately, Santa ruined the surprise by listing the items on the customs declaration, so I opened it up and enjoyed some chocolate and deodorant. (Luckily I figured out which one was edible!)

I also remembered to check the light under my sink, which made my problem suddenly explicable by not being lit. Aha! My heat wasn't working! I called Jay back to take a look, and we headed down to the front desk for help. Luckily, we ran into the maintenance man in the elevator and he agreed to drop by.

I didn't quite believe this when it happened, but it's true: he fixed my heat by banging his hand several times on the gizmo under the sink. A few good hits and the indicator light popped on, and my frosty apartment started to thaw. Good old Korean maintenance techniques, I suppose.

Now that I had heat, chocolate and the Christmas album from Glee, I was ready to decorate in earnest. The lights went up around the tree and across the overhang in my apartment, the shiny impersonal baubles were arranged in slightly aesthetic arrangements, and the room was rearranged so the tree could move into the corner. It turns out that a phoney tree is a lot lighter and easier to move than a real tree.

When it was time to put presents under the tree, I Skyped my grandparents in East Sooke, who had emailed a few minutes prior, so I could share this with some family. And although it wasn't nearly the same as trimming the tree back home, I was quite content with my evening of decking the halls.

Advent calendar: day 13

2010-12-13T01:00:00.000-08:00

A new week, a new theme! Click the door to get your prize.

Your theme for this week is me! Aren't you all excited - such a departure from the traditional blog fare.

Here's your first prize: me! A shorter, younger version of me.

Whose presents...

2010-12-12T03:51:00.000-08:00

... will be left behind in Seoul?

Advent calendar: day 12

2010-12-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

Another very special advent gift for day 12, behind the door!

I just couldn't resist another Glee advent gift. Here's kd lang with "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch".

UPDATE: fixed video.

Monday: a new theme, and five whole new (non-Glee) advent gifts!

A toast to 200 posts!

2010-12-11T19:11:00.000-08:00

When I started this blog, I didn't really have a good conception of what it would turn into. Based on my patchy history of sending email updates back to my family from University, I half figured that the blog would run for a while and then fizzle, or perhaps have only a few updates a month.

It did look like this would happen for a while in the summer, but then a few things happened. First, I got my new camera. Suddenly everything became an object of photographic interest, and the blog sprung to life in living colour. A good hardware investment, I think.

Second, I've let From Korea With Love develop naturally by posting things that aren't strictly about my life. Judging by comments posted my readers are most interested in my own adventures; however, I can't resist posting links to the things I'm reading, little tidbits from class, cool photos I've taken of Seoul, and sometimes even longer writing on issues I'm thinking about. I hope these are entertaining and informative, but am not too concerned since the blog is not only a way to communicate my life back home, but a snapshot of my life in Korea that I will be able to look back on later.

Overall, the blogging process itself has been quite pleasant. It's a combination of writing, photography, art direction and information curation that I quite enjoy.

So - here's to you on your 200th post, From Korea With Love. May your three readers continue to enjoy you as much as your writer has!

화성 Fortress

2010-12-11T04:07:00.000-08:00

Hwaseong Fortress

Today after volleyball I stopped by Hwaseong Fortress, which is a World Heritage Site in Suwon. Although it was closed, I got some pictures of the gate, which looked pretty impressive in the fading light.

Check out the photos with the link to the right.

Advent calendar: day 11

2010-12-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

It's a very special advent gift for Saturday, day 11! Enjoy it behind the jump!

Your gift today is from Glee's Christmas Special, so you may have seen it already on Tuesday night. In probably my favorite Glee scene yet, Kurt and love interest Blaine sing "Baby, It's Cold Outside".

Stay tuned for another very special weekend advent gift tomorrow.

Advent calendar: day 10

2010-12-10T01:00:00.000-08:00

10 days into the Christmas season! I am getting even more excited than last time I said this about the upcoming holiday. We're also at the end of our Korea-themed week here on the calendar. Hope you enjoyed it! Your prize behind the door.

Your prize is a photo gallery from a Korean lantern festival by my friend Erin. I highly recommend checking out all the photos here. Since I know many of you won't, here are a few previews to encourage my lazy readers.

Where Steve finds What Steve's reading

2010-12-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

Well, it's the end of the year, so here's a little retrospective on where I get my inspiration:

The Daily Dish. Written by Andrew Sullivan (a conservative gay Catholic Brit living in Washington DC) and hosted at The Atlantic. At ten years old, this is one of the Web's longest-lived blogs, and its reputation is well-earned. I don't always agree with Sullivan nor do I find everything interesting, but there's always something new and intellectually stimulating.

Longform.org. A site dedicated to collecting and linking to the best long-form journalism on the web. If you've read the articles from previous "What Steve's Reading" posts, chances are I found them on longform.org. They've also put together a best of 2010 list.

SLOG: Savage Love Blog. Dan Savage, writing for The Stranger in Seattle. For years I have enjoyed his weekly sex-advice column, now I read his blog to stay in touch with the West Coast gay scene.

This list doesn't count newspapers (NYT, CBC, BBC, and I'm trying to read Le Monde to brush up my French). My book pile to left.

Advent calendar: day 9

2010-12-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

Your day 9 advent calendar prize, continuing on the Korea theme, is part of a Christmas special from Korean bands Big Bang and Super Junior. They're very popular with the kids.

Window to the Seoul

2010-12-08T15:00:00.000-08:00

Today...

2010-12-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

...SNOW!

Unfortunately, it was just a flurry and didn't stick. Don't worry, I won't post photos of every snowfall - but you can expect photos when we get a blanket of white!

Advent calendar: day 8

2010-12-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

Your prize this week is a couple pages from the book "Korea: Unmasked" which try to explain in comic form the Korean obsession with supplementary private education.

Click on the two images below for full size photos.

Some thoughts on education

2010-12-07T04:15:00.000-08:00

I've read a couple of fascinating stories in the New York Times recently about testing in education and international education rankings which raise some interesting points and questions about Asian and Western approaches to education. I thought I'd put some of my thoughts down on ~~paper~~ a universally-accessible, practically permanent media where they can come back to bite me at any time. I should note now that this essay is much longer than I intended it to be.

My thinking is of course informed by my background as a product of the Canadian education system, which is to the best of my recollection fairly relaxed. I acknowledge that I likely had a much less stressful experience throughout my whole education than the vast majority of students, but one can compare somewhat objectively: I took less tests in high school than my Grade 1s take at our English academy, and had as much homework in high school as my middle school students have for the academy.

Working in the Korean education system, where educators and parents take a very different approach to homework and testing, I always cringe when my students write something like this (from a Grade 1 today):

Doing homework is my job. Because when I do my homework I always wanted to play, but when I play always I can't make my dreams in future. So I need to do it.

To be fair, it is hard to know what "play always" means - is she indicating that if she only played and didn't go to school, she would lose the ability to follow her dreams? That's a fairly astute assessment for a six-year-old. Or is she parroting something her mother has told her when demanding she do homework instead of playing with friends?

Certainly, the education system here leans heavily on homework and testing, as the first NYT article relays. Having worked here for nine months, I can see both the upsides and downsides to this. As much as I grouch about it, the kids do get used to the homework, and can produce some pretty amazing results. At my academy, my Grade 6 students--who, remember, are ESL students--have written 5-paragraph essays on Nelson Mandela's views of freedom, debated treating violent youth as adults in the criminal justice system, and created an Asian Games video news broadcast.

On a societal level, the emphasis on academic work and results has paid off, at least statistically. The chart to the left (click to enlarge) shows country rankings in an international standard test. At the top of each category? Asian countries: Singapore, Korea, parts of China. Canada does relatively well, but the U.S. is falling behind, concerning politicians there who may be nervously watching their theories of American exceptionalism slide away.

Asian-style education is not only focused on homework but also on testing. This, too, has its benefits. The constant stream of testing gives myself, the parent and the student a measurement of their progress in class. Also, doing well on a test will boost self-esteem in a way that's hard for a teacher to replicate with simple praise. Most of our students adapt to the testing, do well each week or month, and fold their test results into their positive self-image.

***

Having laid out the pros -- like any good debater -- I'll spend some time talking about the cons.

First, it's hard for me to escape the conclusion that Asian-style work-and-test education starts too early. As Alfie Kohn notes via the NYT,

... genuine learning in young children was a global process, while tests look at narrow and specific skills, and good teachers don’t need tests to know if a child is learning. He added that for young children, good test results were more a function of whether children can sit still or hold a pencil.

I can speak to this from experience. I have one Grade 1 student who is quite frustrating to teach. Though he is fantastically smart and does test well (our classes are ranked and I have the top class) he has trouble paying attention and sitting still in class. Today, he handed in a homework drawing project which was absolutely beautiful (see photo to left). There is no way this aptitude could be measured on a test, nor can they measure teamwork, social skills, conversational fluency, and so on. If my student were just a bit less able to pay attention--to the point where it impacted his test scores significantly--his potential would be overlooked.

Also, testing is often done in a manner that doesn't take age into account. Our academy gives monthly tests to all students, from Grade 1 up, which are multi-page multiple choice exams that take upward of an hour to complete. These are standard and expected by parents. I remember well the numerous times I've heard Jampa Grim railing against multiple choice, and I tend to agree.

Second, my experience talking to students suggests that the intensive educational atmosphere in countries like Korea and China doesn't make for happy or self-actualized students. Most of my students studied abroad, and most of these would prefer to still be abroad. Reading students' sentiments such as the one quoted at the beginning of this essay, and talking with them about their daily schedules makes me wonder how some of them have time for friends or fun. And however positive the effect of a good test score may be on a child's self-image, a bad score has just the opposite potential effect. I teach some students who, despite having a myriad of skills and interests, come to school turned off of learning. One of my Grade 3 students, for example, is fascinated with biology and loves reading, but regularly fails her vocabulary quiz due to disinterest, and doesn't pay much attention in class.

Finally, to rip off Samuel Clemens, Korean schooling sometimes seems to get in the way of the kids' education. One's education extends well beyond the classroom and a formal education plays only one part in a child's development, so it should be important to allow and encourage playing, socializing, exercising, exploring, and pleasure reading that don't happen naturally in the classroom.

I should also make a few observations. In some ways, the teacher is more important than the system of education. I try to engage the students and get them talking, make them work in groups as much as possible, encourage fun competition but discourage rivalries, and generally teach to the best of my present abilities. I think this would make a large difference over a hypothetical teacher who just lectured and assigned workbook pages.

Also, in any educational system the kids will vary. Just as in North America, we have our brilliant and dedicated students, our hardworking but dull students, our lazy geniuses, and our troublemakers. Perhaps student complaints about the system here can at least partially be attributed to the general tendency of kids to complain about school.

***

In all my debate and writing classes, I urge students to make a proper conclusion. So, what conclusions can I come to?

Not many firm ones. Although I started quite shocked by the educational norms here, I will admit that my views are shifting somewhat. Of course, I still have serious reservations about the academic load and emphasis on testing I see in Korea; I have outlined many of my objections here. However, it seems like the benefits--fluency in a second language, for example--may be worth a little more sacrifice as a child, and as I noted, most of my students are quite happy and well-adjusted. I suppose the question is, as it always is, about balance: balance between scholastic achievement, homework and testing, and fun and freedom in childhood.

One thing I do know is that this post, rather than a rigid treatise on education, is a continuation of my thoughts in a life-long conversation I will have with myself and other educators. I sure hope it will be the start of some conversations over the Christmas break.

With that thought, goodbye from Steve teacher!

Advent calendar: day 7

2010-12-07T01:00:00.000-08:00

Continuing on the Korea theme for the week, your advent prize is behind the door!

Your prize!

This is from one of my kids a while back, explaining Korean clothes and food. Click on the picture to see a bigger version.

Seoulja boy

2010-12-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

Advent calendar: day 6

2010-12-06T01:00:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try a theme this week for the advent calendar. Behind the jump: today's prize and this week's theme!

Your advent prize for Dec 6th: a picture of me in Korea! I know how you all love the ever-so-rare photos of me on the blog.

The theme for this week will be KOREA!

Wintertime, dancing and volleyball

2010-12-05T05:14:00.000-08:00

I went to a play and a rock concert Saturday night! Saturday afternoon I headed up to Itaewon, had a hamburger, and sat down for an evening of theatre. The play was called Wintertime, and it was alternately funny, groan-worthy, and insightful.

The script itself had its holes, and the acting was uneven, as you'd expect in the small expat theatre community, but the experience was fantastic. After being deprived of English theatre for a year, just sitting in a chair as the lights dimmed was exciting.

The play was held at a bar (Roofers) in Itaewon, so afterward they had a rock concert! Some of the actors and a bunch of others were in a band which absolutely rocked the house. They had a keyboards, a guitar, and THREE saxophones! We were on the dance floor by the second song, and we danced until they stopped playing a few hours later.

Overall, it was one heck of an evening - dinner, theatre, drinks and dancing, all wrapped up in one cozy bar in a corner of Seoul.

Saturday night wasn't the only time I'd be in Itaewon this weekend - I had a meeting and dinner there today as well, and am starting to feel like I live there even though it's almost an hour away.

Before I went into Seoul (an hour north) today, I played volleyball again in Suwon (an hour south). I like this new group I'm playing with -- most are Russians working in Korea, but they manage in English and there's a team of Americans that I have been playing with. As I've mentioned before, I've played a higher level of ball, but it's decent, and as long as I get some sets to crush I'm happy.

Also, we're having a tournament in a couple weeks! It will be the same teams we have been playing with, but for longer and in a more organized and competitive fashion. It's something to be excited about on the weekend before Christmas, for sure.

Well, those are my weekend updates. Three weeks until Christmas!

Advent calendar: day 5

2010-12-05T01:00:00.000-08:00

Your Dec 5th advent prize:

These are photos from a year or two ago and you may have seen them already - but they're worth seeing again! Enjoy the short slideshow and click it for larger images.

Advent calendar: day 4

2010-12-04T01:00:00.000-08:00

Your day four advent prize, inspired by a video Grandma Del sent me:

Apparently flash opera performances are becoming more popular: one was even held at Granville Island.
Wish I was there!

In other news, ctd.

2010-12-03T20:17:00.000-08:00

From XKCD:

"Ghost Town Where the Koreas Clashed"

2010-12-03T02:58:00.001-08:00

A thrilling NYT photo collection of Yeonpyeong Island.

Advent calendar: day 3

2010-12-03T01:00:00.000-08:00

Enjoy the third day of your advent calendar... behind the door!

You'll also notice that I've added a real door. You can click on it to see the rest of the post, and my more adventuresome readers can try to put the advent calendar together as a puzzle!

Your prize:

This is a drawing one of my boys did a few months ago, showing me and him in what I can only presume is how he sees our classroom!

In other news, ctd.

2010-12-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

Turns out the NASA news conference was more exciting than previously imagined. It's the top science news on the BBC and NYT:

The first organism able to substitute one of the six chemical elements crucial to life has been found.

The Coles notes: there are six elements (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus) that all life forms we know use to build DNA and other components of cells. Until now, that is. If supported by future research, this result shows us that life may be able to substitute arsenic for phosphorus as a building block in certain environments.

Why could this be important? Well, it's evidence that life can exist in more than one form, and can possibly reside in a wider range of environments than we thought possible -- and while this is a far jump from evidence that life has had more than one genesis, it's going in that direction. And that is cool, because if life has been sparked more than once, chances are it has been sparked many times all over the universe. This result is a little glimmer to say "we're [one step closer to saying that we're probably] not alone."

The tone at the scientific press conference is pretty excited.

In other news

2010-12-02T09:05:00.000-08:00

From NASA:

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.

Interesting! An announcement that will "impact the search for evidence" of aliens? A most likely disappointing update to come. (I'm predicting evidence of water found on an exoplanet, which is actually quite exciting if you think about it.)

Advent calendar: day 2

2010-12-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

Open the door to get your advent prize!

This is one of my favourite Christmas songs. I will always remember my Mom and I blasting this in the house and singing along. I particularly enjoy the "Oh my lord" refrain near the end. Play it loud, dance around and enjoy!

Wikileaks and North Korea

2010-12-01T19:08:00.001-08:00

If you've been following the news, you'll know that Wikileaks has been releasing a trove of around 250,000 U.S. State Department documents -- more a flood than a leak, really -- pertaining to all sorts of diplomatic issues. There's an interesting but not surprising story on Canadian relations with the U.S. (NYT), and a fascinating cover story on Wikileaks' philosophy and next targets (Forbes).

I wanted to comment, however, on the revelations about North Korea. The main message of the cables seems to be that the world is still mainly in the dark on North Korea's motivations and actions. None of the cables predicted the sinking of the Cheonan in March or the recent shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

However, there's some new information on what may happen in the next few years. For example, an account of a meeting between the U.S. Ambassador and Korea's Vice Foreign Minister:

ROK Vice Foreign Minister and former ROK Six-Party Talks (6PT) Head of Delegation Chun Yung-woo predicted that China would not be able to stop North Korea's collapse following the death of Kim Jong-il (KJI). The DPRK, Chun said, had already collapsed economically; following the death of KJI, North Korea would collapse politically in "two to three years."

The Korean official continues to speculate on China's response, which I have noted may be the key piece of the puzzle. Although he notes that China is content with the status quo in North Korea and is unwilling to use whatever leverage it has to force change in that country, he also reads the tea leaves on a Chinese position in the event of a collapse:

Chun argued that, in the event of a North Korean collapse, China would clearly "not welcome" any U.S. military presence north of the DMZ. Again citing his conversations with Cui Tiankai and Liu Jieyi, Chun said the PRC would be comfortable with a reunified Korea controlled by Seoul and anchored to the United States in a "benign alliance" -- as long as Korea was not hostile towards China.

And despite the long-held view in China that North Korea was needed as a buffer state to the U.S. ally of the South, he sees hope:

[Some younger Chinese] officials, Chun said, were ready to "face the new reality" that the DPRK now had little value to China as a buffer state -- a view that since North Korea's 2006 nuclear test had reportedly gained traction among senior PRC leaders.

Clearly, this is the view of one leader, albeit senior, in the Korean government. As the NY Times story reminds us of the cables:

They also show that talk of the North’s collapse may be rooted more in hope than in any real strategy: similar predictions were made in 1994 when the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung, suddenly died, leaving his son to run the most isolated country in Asia. And a Chinese expert warned, according to an American diplomat, that Washington was deceiving itself once again if it believed that “North Korea would implode after Kim Jong-il’s death.”

I suppose I would be a bit more relieved if the Wikileaks flood showed that American and South Korean officials had a bit more information about the North Korean regime. But, as the NYT notes, the cables are "long on educated guesses and short on facts" - a situation in which we all find ourselves in regarding the volatile and unpredictable North. As always, I'll keep you posted on more developments.

The world is a big, beautiful place

2010-12-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

Photos from the National Geographic 2010 photo contest. Check them out.

Advent calendar: day 1

2010-12-01T06:44:00.000-08:00

I've decided to start a blog advent calendar. Each day until Christmas I will post a little tidbit: perhaps a Christmas song, maybe something from my kids, or if you're lucky a picture of myself!

But you have to open the door to get the treat!

Today's advent prize:

I'M COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

I booked my ticket, arriving Christmas morning at YVR. I'll be taking a floatplane from Vancouver to wherever my parents are spending Christmas day, relaxing with my family for a few days, then returning to Vancouver to see friends before returning to Korea on New Year's Day.

Excitement this morning

2010-11-29T07:42:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to a somewhat panicked Korean voice on my intercom -- which of course made disaster scenarios race through my mind -- and after a call from my friend Jay, found out that the butcher's shop on the first floor was on fire! We were being advised to stay in place, open windows and put damp towels under our doors.

Outside my window, there were three full-size fire trucks, two smaller fire vehicles, two ambulances and a police van. It was exciting in the dull, stuck-in-my-apartment kind of way.

Fortunately, the smoke cleared out of the hallways before I had to go to work, so on my way to work I took my camera and snapped a few pictures. The butcher's shop was, well... gutted.

Of course, the Korean restaurant right next to the butcher was open and ready for business.

In memory of JS

2010-11-29T01:20:00.000-08:00

I started crying at work while watching it.

Weekend updates - new coat!

2010-11-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I bought a custom made overcoat for the winter here. I picked it up today - and I love it so much I have to show it off here.

It's a long coat--down to the knee--of black cashmere. It fits perfectly and even has my name sewn into the inside! I feel like I've arrived. (Arrived at what, I'm still not sure.)

More weekend updates plus a bonus picture for Tom after the jump.

As mentioned, this weekend I played volleyball. After volleyball I went to lunch with two new friends from the games, Zack and Stephen. They live a little far away, but I'll probably see them again on weekends. After lunch and a rest, I headed up to Seoul for my friend James' going-away party. (The picture below is James and myself.)

The evening was tons of fun! We started in Gangnam at a bar called Oktoberfest. Any guesses what the theme of the bar was? (Hint: their food options started with "assorted sausage and kimchi".) It was a microbrewery, so we actually had some decent beer. After this, we headed to Itaewon to hit up the gay bars. After a night of drinking, the bulgogi I had at 5am was such a good end to the evening!

Today I enjoyed my hangover in the best way: staying in bed and watching West Wing episodes while letting my laundry machine slowly clean my clothes for the new week. In the later afternoon I headed up to Itaewon again to pick up my coat and have dinner with my friend Kate, who writes the debate curriculum I teach. We had a scrumptious Indian dinner at a beautifully decorated restaurant called Agra. My mouth is still watering remembering the tandoori chicken, lamb curry, mutter paneer, and of course garlic naan. Mmmmmm.

And a bonus picture for Tom (he'll understand):

Quick life updates

2010-11-27T02:09:00.000-08:00

The bad news: I still haven't heard from my replacement yet, so I'm still waiting in limbo and working my old/current job. It is now almost sure that I'll be transitioning in the new year.

The good news: I'm playing volleyball again! A group of Russians who play in Suwon (about an hour south) contacted me through the blog and asked if I wanted to join their weekly recreational games. I checked it out last weekend and went back today. The level isn't as high as I can play, but it's good enough to be fun, and there are other North Americans there! Although playing with the Korean teams was fun, it's really nice to be able to play and speak English at the same time.

Tonight, I'm off to a goodbye party (these are fairly frequent occurrences here) for a friend in Seoul. See the picture above for a preview of my night.

What Steve's Reading

2010-11-26T10:23:00.000-08:00

Gandhi's Invisible Hands, Ian Desai, Wilson Quarterly, 2010. A fascinating background on the team Mohandas Gandhi put together to further his political goals, that has largely faded into the background in the popular view of Gandhi.

Preexposure Chemoprophylaxis for HIV Prevention in Men Who Have Sex with Men, Grant et. al, New England Journal of Medicine, 2010. Alright, I didn't read the original study, but I have been following a debate as to whether this is a major breakthrough in HIV prevention at my favourite blog, The Daily Dish. Original post here, follow-ups here and here.

The Magical Number Seven, George Miller, The Psychological Review, 1956. A trip through the results of several psychological experiments on human information processing. I'm sure there are updated studies, but this is definitely worth a read.

It gets better, family edition

2010-11-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

A video after my own heart.

The incident winds down

2010-11-24T18:40:00.000-08:00

From al-Jazeera, as well as NYT, CBC, and about every other news organization on the planet:

The United States says it believes North Korea's artillery attack on an island close to its disputed maritime border with South Korea was an isolated incident.

"This was, in our view, a one-off, premeditated act," PJ Crowley, the US state department spokesman, said on Wednesday. "Without getting into intelligence matters, we don't see that North Korea is ... preparing for an extended military confrontation."

Evan Osnos at the New Yorker sums up the problem moving forward:

By the morning after North Korea’s most serious artillery attack on the South in decades, the unofficial American consensus had coalesced around a clear, unsurprising, and ostensibly comforting position: "The United States and its allies should hold Beijing responsible for putting a stop to Mr. Kim’s dangerous behavior," as the Washington Post editorial page put it. The Times agreed: "China … has the best chance of walking the North back from the brink. It must take the lead."

Now that this is settled, there’s only one problem: China doesn’t want to take the lead, and chances are that it won’t anytime soon.

Seoulscape

2010-11-24T06:51:00.000-08:00

Reactions from Korea

2010-11-24T02:34:00.001-08:00

A national paper is getting hawkish:

Our military should be ready to counterattack without hesitation so as not to allow the North to commit this action again, even to the point of destroying the artillery squad that it has positioned along the tense western seacoast.

This provocation justifies any retaliation by us. Considering the possibility of additional provocations down the road, our military should be prepared to the utmost level to launch counterattacks strong enough to prevent any more provocations, and if necessary, it should put the preparation into action immediately.

Another, the Korea Herald, is slightly more cautious:

Yet while it is necessary to respond sternly to the North’s provocation, Seoul officials should always keep a level head. They should make sure that they do not play into the hands of the evil regime in the North. For their part, the public needs to brace for the North’s continued belligerent action down the road. They need to be prepared to cope with emergencies resolutely and with composure. Politicians should stop partisan bickering and help the nation overcome a national crisis in unity.

The mood in Seoul, Ctd

2010-11-23T21:34:00.000-08:00

From the NY Times:

"I was talking with a friend this morning and we wondered why we weren’t more concerned," a Seoul restaurant owner, Pyun Sung-ja, said on Wednesday. "I guess it’s because the area of the shelling is so far from here. It feels like it happened in another country."

This better reflects the mood I feel. Life goes on: kids still go to school, businesses still run, people still celebrate, mourn, work, learn and go about their daily lives.

Analysis... and China

2010-11-23T18:30:00.001-08:00

From the NY Times "Room for Debate":

The most compelling explanation for Tuesday’s shelling is that it is part of an ongoing series of provocations that are uniquely intra-Korean in nature. Tensions on the peninsula have risen in recent months with clashes on the D.M.Z., and ongoing disputes surrounding the Northern Limit Line which demarcates the West Sea boundary, which North Korea does not recognize.

Moreover, after a decade in which the South Korean government sent food and cash support to the North, President Lee Myung Bok has instead severely curtailed South Korean aid. Accordingly, North Korea’s approach to Seoul over the past year has vacillated between threats, inducements and outright provocations, of which the attack on Yeonjeong Island is just the latest and perhaps most dangerous manifestation.

Can this situation be handled diplomatically? The focus of our diplomatic efforts should be on China.

In recent months, China made a clear decision to double down on its bet that it could moderate North Korean behavior through more overt support of the regime in Pyongyang. While this approach appeared to bear fruit since North Korea has not recently tested long-range missiles, and did not disrupt the G-20 meetings in Seoul, the series of actions taken by North Korea over the last week have exposed China’s impotence in influencing North Korean behavior.

The U.S. and South Korea will need to make a strong case to China that its support for Pyongyang has enabled North Korea behavior. For its part, China will need to shape North Korean expectations about its obtaining recognition as a nuclear power, and the consequences of future provocations.

The mood in Seoul

2010-11-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

Defiant:

이외수: 나는 비록 늙었으나 아직도 총을 들고 방아쇠를 당길 힘은 남아 있다. 위기상황이 오면 나라를 지키기 위해 기꺼이 전장으로 달려 가겠다.
"I may be old, but I still have the strength to hold the rifle and pull the trigger. If any emergency occurrs, I will run to the arena to fight the country."

Patriotic:

함께살자:저도 동참하지요^^RT @koreain: 라면 생필품 사재기 피난~ 나는 이딴거 안할란다! 죽어도 같이 죽고!! 살아도 같이 살고!!^^
"I will join you. :) Hoarding ramen and essential goods, and fleeing away; these things I will never do. We die together and live together."

Cautious:

레인맨(사고뭉치): 전쟁터지면 서울경기지역 1시간 이내 100만명 이상 사장자 발생 승패 의미 아무런 의미가 없다! 전쟁을 부추기는 친구들 자중했으면 한다! 귀하들과 귀하 가족들이 100만명에 포함 될수 있으니까!!
"If the war ever broke out in Seoul or adjacent Gyeonggi Province, more than 1 million people will be killed or injured. Winning or losing the war would be meaningless. Those people stirring up the war, please be careful! Your and your family could become one of the 1 million war victims."

Well disciplined:

(모히또):RT @lifedefrager: 연평도 관련 소식은 항상 보도 출처를 밝혀주시고, RT는 가급적 공식 RT를, 그리고 지금/현재라는 말 대신 현재 시각을 적어주세요. SNS를 활용해서 혼란을 오히려 최소화할 수 있습니다. RT 부탁드립니다.
"Please cite the source on any news on YeonPyeong Island. And retweet the news properly. And instead of mentioning the time as ‘now or currently', please cite the exact hours and minutes. By utilizing SNS (Social Networking Service), we can minimize the chaos. Please retweet this message."

Quotes from Korean twitter users via Global Voices.

Dear Canadian Citizen

2010-11-23T08:28:00.001-08:00

From the Canadian Embassy in Seoul, via email:

The Embassy of Canada in Seoul is aware of the current situation on Yeonpyeong Island. For the moment, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada has not changed the risk level for the two countries nor released any official warning. The Canadian Embassy to Korea is closely monitoring the situation and will advise the Canadian community in Korea of developments as required.

"North and South Korea Exchange Fire, Killing Two"

2010-11-23T05:19:00.000-08:00

From the NY Times:

SEOUL, South Korea — North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire on Tuesday after dozens of shells fired from the North struck a South Korean island near the countries’ disputed maritime border, South Korean military officials said. Two South Korean soldiers were killed, 15 were wounded and three civilians were injured, said Kiyheon Kwon, an official at the Defense Ministry.

More information from the Korean newspaper Joong Ang Daily, the Economist. Also useful: a timeline from the NYT.

My thoughts? Too early to say for sure, but as some of the newspapers have noted, North Korea has historically acted aggressively when it wants to come back to the bargaining table and extract concessions from the international community. Seoul is of course posturing angrily, but has a lot to lose if the conflict escalates.

This also may relate to the transfer of power in progress in Pyeongyang, from Kim Jong Il to his youngest son, Kim Jong Un. Some observers have noted that a show of military strength from the North may be intended to shore up Jong Un's power in North Korea, though I'm unsure how this would work.

Also worth noting: (1) The island affected was Yeonpyeong, which is numbered 3 on the map below. As you can see, the island is fairly close to Incheon Airport, Seoul's major international transportation hub.

(2) Due to South Korea's conscription policy, military fatalities are likely to be conscripted young men rather than volunteer soldiers.

I'll keep you updated if there is more news.

Autumn in Beomgye

2010-11-20T22:37:00.001-08:00

I took a couple walks around the neighbourhood in the last week - here's a short photo-essay on autumn in Beomgye.

The leaves change colour...

... and the air is brisk and clear.

Kids enjoy the weather.

Kids of all ages!

Random artwork abounds.

The leaves fall from the trees.

Soon it will be winter.

Snow in Vancity

2010-11-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

Most of my readers know this by looking outside... it's snowing back home! Nippy but no snow in Korea. Thanks to my friend Anthea for the pic.