Okay, so I've been asked many times to keep my blog current and many people have just stopped reading it. I must confess that I've been in a relatively negative frame of mind this past while, for a variety of reasons that I'll divulge in later posts, and I didn't really want to turn this into a wall of whining.
So, for now I'll continue writing and hopefully post a little more often.
18 January 2009
15 October 2008
Home and away
Today I had a class with a middle school student, her English nickname is Amy. She was my only student in the class so I decided we'd just do some free talking. Conversation tends to work better with her than structured lessons, she enjoys it more and talks a lot more.
We started talking about food (an ever popular topic) and I asked her what her favourite foreign food was. I expected the usual, Italian or Chinese.
She kind of surprised me when she responded, "Canadian food".
"But Canadian food is pretty much the same as what Americans eat", I said, "it's not really unique to Canada."
She smiled a funny, proud little smile, "I like moose meat."
I nearly fell off my chair. She made me instantly homesick for a moment.
Apparently, she has another Canadian teacher at her middle school and he gave the students moose.
Carry on, brother. Spread the love.
We started talking about food (an ever popular topic) and I asked her what her favourite foreign food was. I expected the usual, Italian or Chinese.
She kind of surprised me when she responded, "Canadian food".
"But Canadian food is pretty much the same as what Americans eat", I said, "it's not really unique to Canada."
She smiled a funny, proud little smile, "I like moose meat."
I nearly fell off my chair. She made me instantly homesick for a moment.
Apparently, she has another Canadian teacher at her middle school and he gave the students moose.
Carry on, brother. Spread the love.
October's here
This week past my Uncle Doug passed away. He had been in the hospital for a while due to complications of surgery.
He was a straightforward man, a bit rough in character but honest. I liked him and respected him though I can't really say we were terribly close. I admired his ability to say things that he thought, without any velvet gloves. He didn't seem to care if anybody else agreed. One tough character and a great man. I find that his death has hit me much harder than I might expect. Sometimes you don't really know how you feel about people until they're no longer there.
Godspeed, Doug. I'll see you later on.
He was a straightforward man, a bit rough in character but honest. I liked him and respected him though I can't really say we were terribly close. I admired his ability to say things that he thought, without any velvet gloves. He didn't seem to care if anybody else agreed. One tough character and a great man. I find that his death has hit me much harder than I might expect. Sometimes you don't really know how you feel about people until they're no longer there.
Godspeed, Doug. I'll see you later on.
27 August 2008
August wrap-up
Wow, it's so hard to believe I've been back in Korea for almost two months!!
It's been a strange month for me (aren't they all with me, though?)
My grandfather, Allan White passed away this month. He was 96 years old and he had a good life and his last years were pretty good. Aside from crippling arthritis that limited his mobility he was pretty damned healthy for his years. If I live to be anywhere near that age I'd be lucky to be as healthy as he was.
He wasn't an educated man but he kept learning things and reading throughout his life. He went to bed early, rose early, worked hard, went to church and had simple pleasures. He was kind and he lived simply. Many of the things that I hold as ideals of a good life, or a well-spent life, are based on how he lived. I try to measure my own life and ways of living against his yardstick.
Other things this month have been mainly the usual routine of getting settled. I moved my furniture back from a friend's apartment, so I have my kitchen gear and spices again. I bought some furniture, a sofa, a table and a funky Korean traditional painting of some crazy horses.
I didn't bother with a bed this time, I'm sleeping on a traditional Korean floor pad (called a 'yo') and I find it pretty comfortable. Last year I had a tiny apartment, about the size of a very small bedroom with an attached bathroom, so the bed took up most of my floor space.
This year my apartment is still small by Western standards, but it's probably twice the size of last year's digs. I have a decent size kitchen nook and with a table and a sofa I feel like I'm at home. Last year I felt like I was in jail because I only had a bed.
My buddy Keith and his girlfriend, Jill, came back to Busan this month. It looks like we might try to get out camping in September. There's a big Harvest Moon holiday coming up, but since everybody tries to go home for the holiday it'll probably be massively crazy trying to travel. We'll see what happens. I predict a drunken barbecue and maybe camping later in the fall, but who knows?
Keith floated a tentative plan to rent a space for a woodworking shop. We both enjoy woodworking but it's a bit messy and space-consuming to pursue in a small apartment. We've got a few tools between us. I've managed to assemble a relatively complete kit of basic woodworking handtools but haven't gotten a lot of use out of them yet. I started projects for a table and a bedframe and have them partially completed but my woodworking was curtailed by complaints from my downstairs neighbour about sawing noises, hehehe.
I'm really just getting settled away and I'm already two months in, it looks like I'll be here for a nice long while. I'm enjoying being a foreigner and everything that goes along with that. They say you can always go home but since I have no idea where that is and no place of my own anywhere I suppose that I'm happier living out here in the world.
It's been a strange month for me (aren't they all with me, though?)
My grandfather, Allan White passed away this month. He was 96 years old and he had a good life and his last years were pretty good. Aside from crippling arthritis that limited his mobility he was pretty damned healthy for his years. If I live to be anywhere near that age I'd be lucky to be as healthy as he was.
He wasn't an educated man but he kept learning things and reading throughout his life. He went to bed early, rose early, worked hard, went to church and had simple pleasures. He was kind and he lived simply. Many of the things that I hold as ideals of a good life, or a well-spent life, are based on how he lived. I try to measure my own life and ways of living against his yardstick.
Other things this month have been mainly the usual routine of getting settled. I moved my furniture back from a friend's apartment, so I have my kitchen gear and spices again. I bought some furniture, a sofa, a table and a funky Korean traditional painting of some crazy horses. I didn't bother with a bed this time, I'm sleeping on a traditional Korean floor pad (called a 'yo') and I find it pretty comfortable. Last year I had a tiny apartment, about the size of a very small bedroom with an attached bathroom, so the bed took up most of my floor space.
This year my apartment is still small by Western standards, but it's probably twice the size of last year's digs. I have a decent size kitchen nook and with a table and a sofa I feel like I'm at home. Last year I felt like I was in jail because I only had a bed.
My buddy Keith and his girlfriend, Jill, came back to Busan this month. It looks like we might try to get out camping in September. There's a big Harvest Moon holiday coming up, but since everybody tries to go home for the holiday it'll probably be massively crazy trying to travel. We'll see what happens. I predict a drunken barbecue and maybe camping later in the fall, but who knows?
Keith floated a tentative plan to rent a space for a woodworking shop. We both enjoy woodworking but it's a bit messy and space-consuming to pursue in a small apartment. We've got a few tools between us. I've managed to assemble a relatively complete kit of basic woodworking handtools but haven't gotten a lot of use out of them yet. I started projects for a table and a bedframe and have them partially completed but my woodworking was curtailed by complaints from my downstairs neighbour about sawing noises, hehehe.
I'm really just getting settled away and I'm already two months in, it looks like I'll be here for a nice long while. I'm enjoying being a foreigner and everything that goes along with that. They say you can always go home but since I have no idea where that is and no place of my own anywhere I suppose that I'm happier living out here in the world.
27 July 2008
Movie Meme: Dystopia Edition
I found this on the blog of another foreign teacher, ::A Geek in Korea:::
Copy the list and BOLD the movies you have seen. Post yours in the comments, or on your own blog.
Original list is from Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time at Snarkerati, an interesting looking movie new site that I have yet to investigate.
Geek adds: "This is my favorite type of genre film. I can’t wait till I finish reading The Road and it is released as a movie."
It's my favourite type of movie, too. I think most geeks enjoy watching dystopian films because they're usually about how technology and the future are going to be awful. Many geeks have suffered at the hands of the technology they love and seeing get beaten on and maligned this way appeals to some sense of schadenfreude. Another theme that appeals to geeks is the abuse of technology (and associated freedoms) by authorities that don't understand it.
I have seen almost everything on this list but it's far from a complete listing of dystopian themes in film. Bunker Palace Hotel is one I've watched recently, hard to find but a good film. Another great one is Richard III. Or Kafka, a simply awesome film. There are lots of these films, maybe it's a sign of our impotent frustrations in dealing with modern bureaucracy.
Copy the list and BOLD the movies you have seen. Post yours in the comments, or on your own blog.
- Metropolis (1927)
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- Brazil (1985)
- Wings of Desire (1987)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Children of Men (2006)
- The Matrix (1999)
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
- Minority Report (2002)
- Delicatessen (1991)
- Sleeper (1973)
- The Trial (1962)
- Alphaville (1965)
- Twelve Monkeys (1995)
- Serenity (2005)
- Pleasantville (1998)
- Ghost in the Shell (1995)
- Battle Royale (2000)
- RoboCop (1987)
- Akira (1988)
- The City of Lost Children (1995)
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- V for Vendetta (2005)
- Metropolis (2001)
- Gattaca (1997)
- Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
- On The Beach (1959)
- Mad Max (1979)
- Total Recall (1990)
- Dark City (1998)
- War Of the Worlds (1953)
- District 13 (2004)
- They Live (1988)
- THX 1138 (1971)
- Escape from New York (1981)
- A Scanner Darkly (2006)
- Silent Running (1972)
- Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
- Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
- A Boy and His Dog (1975)(www.archive.org)
- Soylent Green (1973)
- I, Robot (2004)
- Logan’s Run (1976)
- Strange Days (1995)
- Idiocracy (2006)
- Death Race 2000 (1975)
- Rollerball (1975)
- Starship Troopers (1997)
- One Point O (2004)
- Equilibrium (2002)
Original list is from Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time at Snarkerati, an interesting looking movie new site that I have yet to investigate.
Geek adds: "This is my favorite type of genre film. I can’t wait till I finish reading The Road and it is released as a movie."
It's my favourite type of movie, too. I think most geeks enjoy watching dystopian films because they're usually about how technology and the future are going to be awful. Many geeks have suffered at the hands of the technology they love and seeing get beaten on and maligned this way appeals to some sense of schadenfreude. Another theme that appeals to geeks is the abuse of technology (and associated freedoms) by authorities that don't understand it.
I have seen almost everything on this list but it's far from a complete listing of dystopian themes in film. Bunker Palace Hotel is one I've watched recently, hard to find but a good film. Another great one is Richard III. Or Kafka, a simply awesome film. There are lots of these films, maybe it's a sign of our impotent frustrations in dealing with modern bureaucracy.
Hmmm, cobwebs...
Wow, I hadn't realized that I hadn't posted anything here for so long!
I've been back in Korea for about three weeks now. The weather's hot and humid but I don't find it as bad as last year. I rarely use the air conditioning even though it's 30c and 90% humidity.
Work is about the same as before. It takes a little getting used to teaching at 6:30am but it's part of my routine.
I've been just getting settled and so on and haven't had time to do much really. I did go to a bar on Texas Street this Wednesday past with my friend Lynn. We went to the place I usually only go for breakfast and coffee, Amby's. The lady who owns it os married to a Norwegian guy named Alfred, they were really nice and they can get sour cream (it's a big deal to find stuff like that around here!)
Anyway, I'll start posting more regularly when I'm more settled next month and have a desk and a chair. Right now my furniture and all my living stuff is locked in the apartment of a couple of friends who are on holiday until August. I packed a "crash box" for my return and left it at the school, it had a couple of pots and a few odds and ends and a generous helping of shorts and Hawaiian shirts. I'm sleepins on a 'yo', a traditional Korean floor sleeping mat. It's kinda rough at first, it's basically just a thin cushion, but after a day or two I feel comfortable on it. It's pretty good for your back, sleeping on the floor.
That's it for now. More later.
I've been back in Korea for about three weeks now. The weather's hot and humid but I don't find it as bad as last year. I rarely use the air conditioning even though it's 30c and 90% humidity.
Work is about the same as before. It takes a little getting used to teaching at 6:30am but it's part of my routine.
I've been just getting settled and so on and haven't had time to do much really. I did go to a bar on Texas Street this Wednesday past with my friend Lynn. We went to the place I usually only go for breakfast and coffee, Amby's. The lady who owns it os married to a Norwegian guy named Alfred, they were really nice and they can get sour cream (it's a big deal to find stuff like that around here!)
Anyway, I'll start posting more regularly when I'm more settled next month and have a desk and a chair. Right now my furniture and all my living stuff is locked in the apartment of a couple of friends who are on holiday until August. I packed a "crash box" for my return and left it at the school, it had a couple of pots and a few odds and ends and a generous helping of shorts and Hawaiian shirts. I'm sleepins on a 'yo', a traditional Korean floor sleeping mat. It's kinda rough at first, it's basically just a thin cushion, but after a day or two I feel comfortable on it. It's pretty good for your back, sleeping on the floor.
That's it for now. More later.
11 May 2008
Home for a rest
I've been home for about ten days now and I'm getting a good bit of rest. I've quit smoking and given up drinking altogether (except for the odd glass of wine) and I've been getting lots of sleep and eating better. Now if the weather would cooperate just a little I'd be out doing some fishing and hiking.
Looks like I'll have to suck it up and go out in the 5c wind and rain though if I'm going to get my requisite fresh air and exercise. Ah well, I've still got 40 days or so to go.
The flight over wasn't too bad, I dosed myself with Gravol and slept through most of it. The worst part of the trip was my 8 hour layover in Pearson Airport. Don't ask me why, 'cause I can't really put my finger on it, but I think Pearson is the most sterile and inhuman feeling airport I've ever been in. Plus Ialways seem to have the longest layovers there. I think that Air Canada and Pearson Airport are likely owned by the devil to give living Canadians a tate of what Hell must be like: unannounced delays and cancellations and long dull periods of waiting, at least fire and brimstone would be a bit festive and interesting.
I stayed at 'Juergen's' for a few days before taking the bus out here to Comfort Cove. The bus ride out was like 6 hours of unintentional massage, I don't think that wheel-balancing is on the menu at the bus service depot for DRL coachlines.
My plans were momentarily disrupted by a planned two weeks of housesitting for Juergen suddenly being cancelled without warning. Fortunately it wasn't too late to take Will and Julie up on a week of housesitting I had turned down earlier. I'll head back to St. John's on Tuesday to pick up my gear and move it over to Will's place for a week or two with some hiking and fishing on the agenda. So, I have a place to stay in town for a week or so, a couple of fishing trips to look forward to and hopefully a couple of overnights when the weather turns warmer. My cousin Byron and I have planned some boating and fishing here around Comfort Cove in June when I come back up.
Last night Byron and I toasted some of his dried capelin over a fire in the yard. I'll have to take a bag or two back to Korea when I go, along with some other Newfoundland produce like blueberry wine and such rarities.
That's enough blather for now. That's pretty much all the news I've got. Stuff is status quo, I'm getting a bunch of rest, acting and feeling healthier and planning some much needed roaming and fishing.
Looks like I'll have to suck it up and go out in the 5c wind and rain though if I'm going to get my requisite fresh air and exercise. Ah well, I've still got 40 days or so to go.
The flight over wasn't too bad, I dosed myself with Gravol and slept through most of it. The worst part of the trip was my 8 hour layover in Pearson Airport. Don't ask me why, 'cause I can't really put my finger on it, but I think Pearson is the most sterile and inhuman feeling airport I've ever been in. Plus Ialways seem to have the longest layovers there. I think that Air Canada and Pearson Airport are likely owned by the devil to give living Canadians a tate of what Hell must be like: unannounced delays and cancellations and long dull periods of waiting, at least fire and brimstone would be a bit festive and interesting.
I stayed at 'Juergen's' for a few days before taking the bus out here to Comfort Cove. The bus ride out was like 6 hours of unintentional massage, I don't think that wheel-balancing is on the menu at the bus service depot for DRL coachlines.
My plans were momentarily disrupted by a planned two weeks of housesitting for Juergen suddenly being cancelled without warning. Fortunately it wasn't too late to take Will and Julie up on a week of housesitting I had turned down earlier. I'll head back to St. John's on Tuesday to pick up my gear and move it over to Will's place for a week or two with some hiking and fishing on the agenda. So, I have a place to stay in town for a week or so, a couple of fishing trips to look forward to and hopefully a couple of overnights when the weather turns warmer. My cousin Byron and I have planned some boating and fishing here around Comfort Cove in June when I come back up.
Last night Byron and I toasted some of his dried capelin over a fire in the yard. I'll have to take a bag or two back to Korea when I go, along with some other Newfoundland produce like blueberry wine and such rarities.
That's enough blather for now. That's pretty much all the news I've got. Stuff is status quo, I'm getting a bunch of rest, acting and feeling healthier and planning some much needed roaming and fishing.
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