Me likey this song.

Not a bliss-out, but I'm happy with Bill Callahan right now. His song "Eid Ma Clack Shaw" (he dreams the answer to his questions about life, and they are "Eid Ma Clack Shaw" haw haw haw). The rest of his album is soothing and spare, with just enough wit and pop to keep me happy. Imagine Nick Drake with a sense of humor and a baritone voice.

Go listen here.

I'm also happy because one of my favorite students from my last job just contacted me and wants to hang out, and I made another restaurant map for a pal, of places she should visit while in Korea, and she liked it, too. Also, I've been working out lately, and am starting to see the results, and I've recently developed the power of flight.* Yay me!

(* one of the sources of my current happiness may or may not be fallacious)

Corporal Punishment in Korea's Schools

Brian in Jeollanamdo's latest post calls bull on the education officials who claim foreign native teachers are not "ethically qualified" to teach Korea's children, when Korean teachers hit students with sticks, or humiliate them by forcing them to take off their skirts. Brian's article is rich with links to recent news stories and articles about the issue of corporal punishment, and a good place to get a quick primer on the topic.

see, sometimes stuff like this happens in Korea. (caught on cellphone camera) (warning: shocking videos of violence against children)


And this...



In response to public embarrassment over videos like this, rather than, say, re-training and firing teachers who hit their kids, teachers banned cellphone use in classrooms. ARGH!

yet the moral fiber of the native English teachers is called into question more often than the Korean teachers who do stuff like that. (read more about it at Brian) fact is, the foreigners working in Korea's schools are on a super-short choke chain leash, while the Korean teachers know that it's pretty much impossible for them to get fired, once they land that vaunted public school job.

I had a student once tell me that in Korea, the stick a parent uses to beat their child is called the "love stick," and the old trope that abusive teachers are the only ones who care enough to hit the kids still circulates from time to time.

Here's the Metropolitician's old post about his own problems with the Korean Teachers' Union.

And here's a picture of a white guy photoshopped into a picture of Anapji pond

And here's a picture of a white guy photoshopped into a picture of Anapji pond.
(to get the inside joke)

Help a mother out.

On Ireport, where people can submit their own articles on CNN's webpage, Stephannie White, the mother of Mike White, the teen-aged boy mysteriously killed in a Daegu sauna last year, has written an article about her struggle to plow through all the obstructions and foot-dragging, and get justice for her son. Link it, send it to your friends, blog it, digg it, tell people about it. If it stays at the top of the "most read" articles, it might be featured on CNN's Mother's Day program. Raising awareness and putting the story into the international press might be the thing that lights the fire under the judges and lawmakers involved in the case (given how sensitive Korea is to negative international press coverage) to get this thing resolved, and get some desperately-needed answers.

Hang in there, Stephannie.

Learn more about Mike White's death, other foreigner's deaths, and how you can help Stephannie White in her search for justice, at her website, Mightie Mike. Brian in Jeollanamdo's done a really good job of keeping on top of developments in that case.

A bit more about the weekend...

May day and the kickoff to the Hi Seoul Festival hit a snag when protestors stormed the stage. Yes, the lunatic fringe is at it again, but as far as I can tell, mostly they're just damaging their own credibility now. A year ago, they had the majority of public opinion of the beef thing, but by over-playing their hand, turning violent(er) and not knowing when to walk away, they've gone from seeming like democracy freedom fighters to public nuisances. Memo to the protestors: blocking traffic is not a good way to gain public sympathy; nor is attacking police in a place where there might be international reporters, and where there ARE lots of foreigners. If there's one thing Koreans can all agree on, it's that the country must not be made to look bad in the world's eyes. Thanks to Korea Beat, I found these videos of the protest, at JetSetZero.

Next: Tuesday's Cinquo de Mayo party in Jonggak was great, I met a bunch of cool people, and saw some old pals. Girlfriendoseyo even came out and had a nice time chatting with some of my blog pals. That makes me happy. In other news, that evening, a food blogger from New York named Robyn (site she writes for, her own blog) showed up in Seoul, and was greeted by a few of Seoul's foodies. I managed to capture this wonderful picture of what happens when you eat out with food bloggers/writers.

I met some really cool people... I hope my jokes were as funny as they sounded in my head. I suffer from the "will say anything to get a laugh" illness, which people who know me take in stride, but which is sometimes surprising to new people, when I start a sentence with "So a funny thought occured to me while watching walrus porn the other day..." or somesuch.

I'm working through my Gyeongju pictures now. Some good stuff there. Soon, readers. Soon.