Caveat: Egotistical Hogwash

I thought I was over my jetlag, but I awoke this morning at 5 am, wide awake – yesterday, I'd slept an entirely normal night. It's always weird how the jetlag sleep patterns resemble neither the origin nor the destination. I was dreaming that I was lost in a forest. Not particularly scary, but devoid of reason. Just… drifting. I felt like a ghost, almost.

Sometimes I'm a ghost. It's a good metaphor for me – it emphasizes those feelings of alienation and powerlessness that haunt me. My visit with my relatives back in the states gave me too much to worry about; too much to cogitate on. I want to just forget it, and drift away. This Ilsan bubble is safe. Comfortable.

OK. That's all egotistical hogwash. Sorry.

Caveat: Balloon Debate

Today in my debate class we were doing an activity called the Balloon Debate. I had the students each choose a list of 7 famous people to ride in our fictive hot air balloon. Then we had to discuss who gets thrown out. There were some humorous suggestions. In one case, Einstein was a passenger in the balloon, and he was thrown out. The student said: "He's a scientist. I don't like science."

In another case, Jisung Park (a famous Korean soccer player) was thrown out. The student responsible said, "He's healthy. He might survive." That's optimistic thinking.

Anyway, it makes for a great conversation class activity. I was very impressed with how the students got into it.

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