Every Sunday is similar. I will start the day having some ambition to get some project done. I will fail in that ambition, because Sundays feel like "everything is optional."
Today, I opted to opt out. Suboptimal.
What I'm listening to right now.
Zeromancer, "Philharmonic."
Lyrics.
Sit down and watch me I want you to see me As your TV, as your TV As your TV, as your TV
Touched by your static You see right, right through me As your TV, as your TV As your TV, as your TV
What you hide is what you are What it takes to be a star, come on You say there's beauty in a scar Now what a stupid thing you are, sometimes
After you get what you want You don't want it anymore (Is that what you want?) After you get what you want You don't want it anymore (Is that what you want?)
After you get what you want You don't want it anymore (Is that what you want?) After you get what you want You don't want it anymore
Slow down, zoom in Rewind, do you get the picture? Philharmonic Philharmonic
As your TV As your TV
What you hide is what you are What it takes to be a star, come on You say there's beauty in a scar Now what a stupid thing you are, sometimes
Philharmonic (After you get what you want) (You don't want it anymore) Philharmonic (After you get what you want) (You don't want it anymore)
Philharmonic (After you get what you want) (You don't want it anymore) Philharmonic (After you get what you want) (You don't want it anymore) Philharmonic, philharmonic
What you hide is what you are What it takes to be a star, come on You say there's beauty in a scar Now what a stupid thing you are, sometimes
What you hide is what you are What it takes to be a star, come on You say there's beauty in a scar Now what a stupid thing you are, sometimes Philharmonic
Llega el invierno. Espléndido dictado me dan las lentas hojas vestidas de silencio y amarillo.
Soy un libro de nieve, una espaciosa mano, una pradera, un círculo que espera, pertenezco a la tierra y a su invierno.
Creció el rumor del mundo en el follaje, ardió después el trigo constelado por flores rojas como quemaduras, luego llegó el otoño a establecer la escritura del vino: todo pasó, fue cielo pasajero la copa del estío, y se apagó la nube navegante.
Yo esperé en el balcón tan enlutado, como ayer con las yedras de mi infancia, que la tierra extendiera sus alas en mi amor deshabitado.
Yo supe que la rosa caería y el hueso del durazno transitorio volvería a dormir y a germinar: y me embriagué con la copa del aire hasta que todo el mar se hizo nocturno y el arrebol se convirtió en ceniza.
La tierra vive ahora tranquilizando su interrogatorio, extendida la piel de su silencio.
Yo vuelvo a ser ahora el taciturno que llegó de lejos envuelto en lluvia fría y en campanas: debo a la muerte pura de la tierra la voluntad de mis germinaciones. – Pablo Neruda (poeta chileno, 1904-1973)
I had one of those moments that hammers home just how long I’ve been teaching now, in Korea – and most of that time, in this same Ilsan neighborhood called Hugok. A 3rd grader in my Sirius반, who goes by Gina, mentioned that she had an older sister who goes by Sunny, and she and I talked about Sunny for a few moments – Sunny is in middle school now but doesn’t attend Karma for her English. I remember Sunny very well, as her personality matched her English nickname. She was a bright and always optimistic student. But then Gina mentioned mention that I had taught her “other old sister” too: Irene. I drew a blank for a short moment, and the realized who she was talking about. “Irene” is now a university student. She was literally one of the first students I taught in Korea, as a member of my first group of 7th graders when I started at Tomorrow School. Later, with Ella and some others, she became a member of the original “princess mafia” – a group of middle school girls that was, perhaps, one of the first groups of students to give me the impression I was actually learning how to be a decent teacher.
“Oh… that’s right. Irene is your sister.” I said to Gina. She nodded. “Does she remember me much?”
Gina shook her head. “No. Sunny does, but not Irene.”
Well, figures.
Actually, I had a really excellent class today, with the way-too-big combined HS반. 16 kids. Debate class. It went well. They actually formed teams and put in effort. [daily log: walking, 5 km]
희기는 까치 배 바닥 같다
hui.gi.neun kka.chi bae ba.dak gat.da
white-MYSTERYENDING magpie belly bottom be-like
To be like the belly of a magpie – white.
I wasn’t able to figure out any parse of -기는 that really made sense. “White” is verb-like (what is called descriptive verb, which stands in for adjectives in Korean). If I parse the ending as “summative” (기 – a bit like a gerund) + 는 (topic) I guess that gets close to a valid parse. It would make the whiteness the “topic” of the sentence, while the magpie’s belly is a kind of complement, with nothing tying them together except the comparison for some unmentioned subject. Anyway, even without clarity on the grammatical issue, I think the translation is more-or-less passable.
The meaning, according to the book, is that it applies to someone good at lying, especially white lies or bluffing.
I painted this picture a long time ago and [broken link! FIXME]posted it on the blog, but I think this aphorism merits a reposting of the picture.
“가을의 까치” (ink and watercolor). [daily log: walking, 5 km]
As I was leaving for work today, I happened to walk past an open closet area near the lobby of my apartment building, and my eyes were drawn by a bunch of blinking lights – like Christmas tree lights. I thought, "why are they keeping a Christmas tree lit up in that storage room, but then I realized it was a bunch of blinking ethernet connectors. This, apparently, was my building's "switch room." I had a momentary thought, as I realized the vast majority of apartment buildings in Korea must have something like this, and the vast majority of Koreans live in apartment buildings. That's a lot of internet infrastructure. Staggering, even.
Meanwhile, a woman got attacked by a robotic vacuum cleaner. Actually, I suspect there may be some missing information, and, this being South Korea, I suspect that missing information involves alcohol.
We had a meeting today before work started, which I would describe as a kind of "State of the Union"-style presentation by our boss/owner, Curt. Of course, these kinds of things are in Korean… I can kind of follow the gist of it, much of the time, but details are lost on me.
He seemed very optimistic and professional, and to be honest, I was cheered by it – although he often doesn't seem to have a clue about curriculum or marketing or any of the things that seem so important to running a hagwon, he really does at least a bit of a clue – it's just that he's just up against a lot of inertia – both institutional (i.e. "the way things are done" in the hagwon biz) and personal (he and I share traits of procrastination).
One thing he did was show us a little video before starting his powerpoint. This is the kind of thing that Koreans working in education often pay a lot of lip service to but aren't very good at implementing, but which on the other hand Western educators take as given… as a kind of starting point.
The video is in Korean but it's about education in the US, with some observations about the quality and style of education – and attitudes toward education – in the Jewish community in particular. I'll leave it as an exercise for the viewer to figure out the gist of it – it can help you relate to how I feel every day at my job.
[UPDATE 20180330: Video embed removed due to link-rot, no replacement found. Sorry.]
This means an ill-fitted agglomeration or patchwork of things, and extended metaphorically, I guess it’s used to refer to a badly constructed argument. To me, it sounds a bit like the old idea of how golems are supposed to be constructed. Anyway, that seems like something useful to know how to say, though if my Korean was good enough to recognize a badly constructed argument (or any kind of argument), I’d be too pleased to complain. [daily log: walking, 1.5 km]
I know I'm not posting very much these days – a lot of posts are kind of place-holders, I admit. I've been really busy with work, and kind of down, too. The combination means outside of work I do very little that's productive. I dug out my old, barely functional, prehistoric television set (it's still CRT, not flat-screen), and plugged it into the antenna. It's not cable. I get the 5 local Korean broadcast channels. I think it's good for me to watch Korean television.
My students are still submitting funny and interesting writing about Santa's criminality (see also [broken link! FIXME]my post of a few days ago). Here's Sae Young on labor-law violations:
Hi, my name is Sae Young. The reason about that why I think Santa Claus is a criminal, because Santa Claus didn't follow the labor law by exploiting kids. In Santa town, many kids fairies work for more than 18 hours a day. But, Santa Claus pay just minimum wages to kids fairies. Moreover, their labor level is harder and harder in Christmas week. Actually, Santa Claus's company's employees do all operations to manually. There are some report that reported a teen fairy who is fired at Santa town, because she ate foods more than average. She did works for 20 hours a day with no food and no rest, so she was so hungry and just ate many foods, than she was expelled. Like this situation, in Santa town there are so many employees are exploited hardly and they feel so much exhausted. This is the evidence that can prove Santa Claus's crime.
First coworker: "Why is getting a good massage so expensive in Korea!?"
Second coworker (in all seriousness): "There's an app for that."
I was only overhearing the conversation. But I broke out laughing. I think she was referring the fact there are ways to shop for deals on massage using a app.
Soy este que va a mi lado sin yo verlo; que, a veces, voy a ver, y que, a veces, olvido. El que calla, sereno, cuando hablo, el que perdona, dulce, cuando odio, el que pasea por donde no estoy, el que quedará en pié cuando yo muera. – Juan Ramón Jiménez (poeta español, 1881-1958)
I revisted my old standby "absurd debate topic" last week, and discussed with my HSM반 whether or not Santa was a criminal. Without too much guidance, my student Jihun produced this excellent debate essay (as always, student writing is presented "raw" and uncorrected).
The man called ‘Santa’ is a fairy of presents to children. However there is some secrets that children don’t know. I think santa is a criminal. Because I think santa can be a thief, a devil, and a cheat. So I’m going to discuss about why santa is BAD GUY.
First Reason is ‘theft method.’ As you heard from stories, santa always get into house with chimney. And after get into the house, almost every children with pure mind think santa only gives presents. But If santa is not a magician, how could he give them a present? That’s impossible. If they have to give children presents, they need to steal some expensive stuff. And they could afford children presents.
Second Reason is ‘name trick method.’ Surprisingly, as I told you, santa is a kind looking thief. I think that’s a part of wicked act. To cover their image, santa came out with changing their name. You can see when you move ‘n’ to the end of the word ‘santa,’ you might can see the word ‘SATAN,’ means ‘devil.’
Last reason is ‘fraud skill.’ Santa told children should not cry before christmas. Do you think it’s possible? I think only robot can achieve it. Also they lie to all children that they ride flying reindeer. But in my life experience at age 7, I saw that reindeer is a parcel service worker, and my mom is a santa.
Santa is a BAD GUY, because they theft the stuff, change their name calmly, and fraud to children very well. I think if santa wants children ‘good children,’ they should be ‘good santa’ first.
I think he did very well, striking a good balance between humor and actual debate.
매드클라운, "화." I found the lyrics, accompanied by a translation into Portuguese. Just in case you needed that.
가사
Trouble Trouble Our destiny Nosso destino é um problema 누가 더 아파? nuga deo apa? Quem está sofrendo mais? 누가 더 사랑해? nuga deo saran'hae? Quem está amando mais? 내게 미친 널 보고 있으면, naege michin neol bogo isseumyeon, Quando vejo você louco por mim, 난 웃지, 이렇게 웃지 nan utji, ireoke utji eu sorrio, sorrio assim.
Rap) 들어봐 uh deureobwa uh Ouça 바로 어제 3년약정한 핸드폰 정신차리니 박살 나있고 baro eoje sanyeonyajeongan haendeupon jeonshincharini bagsal na'itgo Ontem mesmo fez 3 anos que comprei o celular, após voltar aos meus sentidos, vejo que ele está em pedaços. 바닥엔 할부 안 끝난 모니터 눈앞에 넌 계속 악쓰고 있고 uh badagen halbu an keunnan moniteo nunape neon gyesog asseugo itgo uh No chão estão as prestações do monitor e na minha frente está você gritando.
젠장 뭐 답도 없지. 내가 널 밀치면 니가 날 밀쳐 jenjang mwo dapdo eopji. naega neol milchimyeon, niga nal milchyeo Droga, estou sem resposta. Se eu te empurro, você me empurra. 서로 씩씩거리면서 더럽게 질척이는데 나 완전 미쳐 seoro shishigeorimyeon deoreopge jilcheogineunde na wanjeon michyeo Ambos com raiva e você vem até mim, isso me tira do sério.
헤어지고 싶은 눈친데 날 시키지 말고 니가 직접 말하시던가 he'eojigo shipeun ninchinde nal shikiji malgo niga jigjeop marashideonga Vejo que você quer terminar, mas não faça você mesma isso. 어찌됐든 나쁜 쪽 되기 싫다 이건데 알아서 그럼 꺼지시던가 eojidoetteun nappeun jog doegi shilda ireonde araseo geureom keojishindeonga Enfim, sei que você não quer ser uma pessoa ruim, então suma.
어 그래, 잘가, 잘 지내. 니가 어디 어떻게 잘사나 두고볼건데 나 o geurae, jalga, jal jinae. niga eodi eotteoke jalsana dugobolgeonde na Ok, tchau, se cuida. Vou esperar pra ver se você vai ficar bem 널 너무 사랑해서, 딱 한마디만 할게 너랑 꼭 똑같은 사람 만나 쓰레기 새꺄 neol neomu saran'haeseo, tak hanmadiman halge neorang kok tok gateun saram manna, seuregi saekya. Como eu amo muito você, vou te dizer uma coisa… eu espero que você encontre uma pessoa igualzinha a você.
Trouble Trouble Our destiny Nosso destino é um problema 누가 더 아파? nuga deo apa? Quem está sofrendo mais? 누가 더 사랑해? nuga deo saran'hae? Quem está amando mais? 내게 미친 널 보고 있으면 naege michin neol bogo isseumyeon Quando vejo você louco por mim, 난 웃지 이렇게 웃지 nan utji, iroke utji eu sorrio, sorrio assim 라리라라라 라리라라라 larilalala larilala 내가 미친 건지? 니가 미친 건지? naega michin geonji? niga michin geonji? Eu sou o louco? Você é a louca? 미친 너를 못 떠난 내가 미친 거지? michin neoreul mot tteonan naega michin geoji? Sou o louco por não conseguir deixar a louca que é você? 라리라라라 라리라라라 larilalala larilala 날 놓지마, 날 갖지마 nal nojima, nal gatjima Deixa-me. Você não me tem.
사랑했던 건 진심 넌 내 맘에 별 saran'haetteon geon jimshim neon nae mame byeol Eu te amei de verdade, você era a estrela do meu coração. 근데 별은 별인데 서울에 별 geunde byeoreun byeorinde Seure byeol Uma estrela, mas como uma estrela em Seul 밤만 되면 아주 그냥 보이질 않어. bamman doemyeon aju geunyang boijil ana. Sempre que a noite vem, eu fico sem te ver. 내 속타서 그냥 보이질 않어 Nae sogtaseo geunyang boijil ana. Eu fico frustrado por não te ver.
반짝 별님 어딜 가셨나? 땅 속에 꺼졌나 했더니 진짜 땅 속이데 banjag byeolnim gashyeonna? tang soge keojyeonna? haetteoni jinja tang sogide Estrela cintilante, para onde você foi? Afundou no solo? Você está, realmente, no subsolo. 참 신명나보여 클럽에서 아주 그냥 흥에 겨워 번쩍번쩍 빛나데 cham shinmyeona boyeo keulleobeseo aju geunyang heunge gyeowo beonjeog beonjeog binnade Parece que está passando um tempo da sua vida em clube, se divertindo.
니가 뭐 그리 잘났어 날 감정이 없는 사람 취급하고? O que você pensa que é, me tratando como se eu não tivesse sentimento? 또 그게 당연하다는 듯 굴어 huh 넌 알긴 할까 나도 사람이란걸 Agindo como se isso fosse natural…você percebe isso? Eu sou humano também. 찌르면 아파 간지럽히면 웃어. Se me belisca, dói. Se faz cócegas, eu sorrio. 화를 낼 줄도 알고 슬프면 울어 Eu sei ficar com raiva, e choro quando estou triste. 엮였어 진심 더럽게 엮였어. 답이 있을 리 있나 없지 Eu fui jogado de verdade. E pra isso não tem resposta.
Trouble Trouble Our destiny Nosso destino é um problema 누가 더 아파? Quem está sofrendo mais? 누가 더 사랑해? Quem está amando mais? 내게 미친 널 보고 있으면 Quando vejo você louco por mim, 난 웃지 이렇게 웃지 eu fico sorrindo assim
넌 망가질수록, 더 내가 필요해. Quanto mais você se arruína, mais você precisa de mim. 니 속을 헤고 또 헤고 또 해도 널 진짜 모르겠어 못해먹겠다고 Eu procuro entender o seu interior, mas não consigo. 넌 나의 곁에서 가장 행복해, 외로움보단 괴로움을 택해 Você é mais feliz ao meu lado, mas opta pela solidão e a amargura.
겪을 만큼 겪었어 난 더는 볼 일없어 너와 나 사이? 일없어 Já vivenciei o bastante e não tenho interesse de ver mais coisas. Entre você e eu? Nunca mais. 마지막 그 말 후회할 텐데 Você vai se arrepender destas últimas palavras 야 됐고 볼장 다 봤고, 넌 그냥 머리꼭지부터 발끝까지 최악 Eu já vi tudo o que tinha de ver, você é a pior dos pés a cabeça. 별 같은 소리하고 앉았네 불꺼 Estrela, apague as luzes. 그만 난 자러 갈래 수고 Parei. Vou pra cama.
Hurt me Love me Our destiny Me machuca, me ama. Esse é o nosso destino. 마음껏 욕해 하지만 가지마 Pode me xingar do que quiser, mas não vá. Hurt me Love me But don't you say goodbye Me fere, me ama. Mas não sei dizer adeus. 이렇게 비틀대지만 Eu estou balançado
라리라라라 라리라라라 larilalala larilala 내 말끝엔 또 칼끝이 O final das minhas palavras é uma faca afiada 라리라라라 라리라라라 larilalala larilala 니 손끝엔 또 눈물이 Em suas mãos há lágrimas de novo. 내가 미친 건지? 니가 미친 건지? Eu sou o louco? Você é a louca? 미친 너를 못 떠난 내가 미친 거지? Sou o louco por não conseguir deixar a louca que é você?
Lately I've been feeling pretty negative about my teaching ability. I suppose that doesn't help in terms of my overall affect, either. It's hard to say what is cause and what is effect, though. It becomes a vicious cycle because my self-doubt about teaching seems to lead to lower-quality teaching – I make more mistakes or mis-judgments; I get more "lazy" about tasks that I perceive as needing to be done; etc. Which of course later reinforces my frustration, too.
Earlier this week I made a terrible mistake. I told my HSM반 that I was mad at them that they hadn't done what I'd asked them to do for homework. In fact, I lectured them and harangued them for about 10 minutes.
It turns out, however… that I'd mis-remembered what their HW assignment was – mixing it up with my HST반. Further, the students… they just sat there, looking sheep faced and repentant. Not a single student made any effort to correct me or expressed any confusion over their "failure" to do the right homework. It's kind of a mess of a teaching screw up, because I only realized long after the class was over, that I'd made the mistake. They've already begun doing the "new, revised" homework assignment. It leaves them questioning their reality, and I'm not in any position to be able to "recover from it" with any grace whatsoever. I'm not even sure, if I tried to explain my screw up, that the students would understand – after all, I doubt they're really accustomed to authority figures admitting error, nor would they have a clue what to make of such information.
I get paranoid that this is some early indication of the onset of some kind of dementia or mental breakdown. The hypochondria kicks in.
Berkeley did not foresee such misty weather, Nor centuries of light Intend so dim a day. Swaddled together In separateness, the trees Persist or not beyond the gray-white Palings of the air. Gone Are whatever wings bothered the lighted leaves When leaves there were. Are all The sparrows fallen? I can hardly hear My memory of those bees Who only lately mesmerized the lawn. Now, something, blaze! A fear Swaddles me now that Hylas' tree will fall Where no eye lights and grieves, Will fall to nothing and without a sound. I sway and lean above the vanished ground. – Richard Wilbur (American poet, b 1921)
Incidentally, "Hylas' tree" in this poem is a reference to Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, a book written by the philosopher George Berkeley in 1713. I wonder if the "chronic condition" of the title is in fact existence, itself. It does seem be a bit chronic.
What does it mean, in the vast scheme of dream symbology, to dream about Andy Warhol? Twice, in one night?
Really, they were more like dream-fragments. And Warhol was perhaps standing in more as a symbol than as a character – but that's how he'd have preferred to appear in a dream, I suspect.
In the first dream fragment, I was with my father. He was trying to explain to me that, unfortunately, he would not be able to repay to me the 9 cents he owed me, this month. I wasn't sure why he was even worried about it, but he was very intent on justifying, via an explanation of his financial situation, why it simply wasn't going to be possible to come up with the 9 cents. He opened his wallet, and pulled out this repeatedly folded, enormous sheet of paper, upon which he was maintaining a gigantic spreadsheet, in multiple colors of ball-point ink, showing all the different people he owed money. It was all quite pathetic, especially when I realized all the amounts were in cents. Then I noticed, in the far upper left corner (and thus an early, if not first, entry in his spreadsheet), the name and amount "Andy Warhol -15."
"You owe Andy Warhol 15 cents?" I asked my father, starting to laugh. I was incredulous, and found it funny.
He shook his head gravely. "Noo. Fifteen dollars." He shrugged his shoulders in embarrassment.
"But… he's dead." I said. My dad looked at me in alarm.
That was the end of the first dream fragment.
In the second dream fragment, I was on a commuter bus, trying to get across the 김포대교 (Kimpo Bridge across the Han River – the one that you cross from Ilsan if you're going to Bucheon or Incheon or the airport). There was a horrible traffic jam. It turned out someone had noticed that Andy Warhol was in a car – it looked like a late-model Lincoln towncar, of a sort I've never seen in Korea – and insisted that it was a great place to do an interview of the reclusive (reclusive? – this is some kind of dream-construct) star. In the slowly-moving traffic, my bus finally pulled along side the car where Warhol was being interviewed. The person doing the interview was my student Jinwon (of recent mention). I was more amazed. Jinwon apparently worked for a large Korean media company, and had arrived by helicopter. The questions he was asking Warhol were incoherent. Warhol's answers were incoherent. I was skeptical whether it was really Warhol in the car.
That's the end of the second dream fragment.
What do they mean?
What I'm listening to right now.
David Bowie, "Andy Warhol." No, I did not listen to this last night, so therefore no, it is not an explanation for the dreams. I found it this morning, after waking up with Andy Warhol on my mind. Normally I try to avoid posting a song on my blog that I've posted before, as I have with this one, but it seemed too apropos to resist.
Lyrics.
Like to take a cement fix Be a standing cinema Dress my friends up just for show See them as they really are Put a peephole in my brain Two New Pence to have a go I'd like to be a gallery Put you all inside my show
[CHORUS] Andy Warhol looks a scream Hang him on my wall Andy Warhol, Silver Screen Can't tell them apart at all
Andy walking, Andy tired Andy take a little snooze Tie him up when he's fast asleep Send him on a pleasant cruise When he wakes up on the sea Be sure to think of me and you He'll think about paint and he'll think about glue What a jolly boring thing to do
I just got home from a dinner with coworkers – that Koreanest of Korean work-things, which is called 회식 (hoesik [not very phonetically pronounced hwehshik more or less]). I became very depressed.
It is a total convergence of all my shortcomings, in one compact experiential setting:
It is my failure to eat normally. I can't enjoy the food. It is my failure to have mastered the Korean language – I'm barely at 50% in listening, I estimate, and in speaking I'm still stranded in the single digits. It my failure to be the kind of outstanding teacher or coworker I wish I could be. It is my failure to be "normally" sociable. It's so many things that matter to me. All wrapped up in one big failure.
I have a student named Jinwon. Jinwon has never done homework, that I can recall. When he was new to me, he would give excuses, but eventually he ran out of excuses. He just would shrug and say, “Sorry, Teacher,” now.
I have even made him stay extra time, sometimes – which is something I rarely do, because I feel it’s a fundamentally unfair practice, since some parents have “Do Not Make Stay” instructions attached to their kids. I don’t think it’s good for the kids to see their peers getting differential treatment. I know, right… I’m a communist or something.
Anyway, Jinwon will only write the most desultory things, even when I’ve made him stay. He just doesn’t like to do stuff.
Then, the other day, he seemed quite proud. He claimed to have done his homework. Now… I make the students email their essays to me. I like having an electronic copy. I had not received any email from Jinwon, so I told him. He showed me on his phone, where he’d recorded my email address. He’d gotten it wrong – proof, I suppose, that after a year of knowing him, this was, indeed, the first time he’d attempted to send me his homework.
He asked if he could call his dad, to re-send the essay (I guess it was on the computer at home). I was pleased immensely that he was showing such initiative, and I also began to finally believe he really had done his homework, and wasn’t just inventing an elaborate excuse.
He got on his phone and called his dad. He talked for a moment, stepping out of the classroom. He came back, looking crestfallen. “My dad said to call later.”
“Why?” I asked, wondering if this was, in fact, just an excuse after all.
“He’s at the police station,” he said, showing what seemed quite believable concern and doubt.
“Really!? Why is he there?” I asked. “Is he OK?”
“I don’t know,” the 8th grader replied, with a distracted look. I think he was genuinely surprised.
“Maybe he didn’t do his homework,” I joked, inappropriately. Jinwon laughed, but it was a bit forced. I wasn’t sure I should have made that joke. I don’t know his family’s circumstances.
If this was a “dog-ate-my-homework” ruse, I was beyond annoyed – I was impressed. But actually, I don’t think it was.
Today, two days later, Jinwon sent his essay via email. First time, after 1 year. I felt glad. I praised him profusely, which confused his peers, I think, since they all do their homework every week, and get far less praise. [daily log: walking, 5.5 km]
Check it out now, come on now let me bust it out,
Oh no too slow flow yo kick it a little faster come on
Just a La little more more faster come on come on
I said faster faster uh cause I like it like that and um uh
Come on yo faster yo go faster
넌 내게 말했지 세상을 떠나버린 후
꿈에서라도 다시는 만나서는 안된다고
하지만 매일 밤 꿈속에서 너를 만났어
아무말없이 날보며 울고만 서 있는 너를…
그토록 원했었지 너의 모든 흔적이 없어지길
우리의 모든기억 하얀 너도 강물 위에 띄어 보냈지만
내 손을 잡아봐 어디든 함께 갈테니
너 없이 혼자선 그 어떤 의미조차 될 순 없어
뭐라고 말좀해 왜 자꾸 울고만 있어
한번만 안아줘 이 꿈속에서 깰 수 있도록
넌 하얀 병실에서 조차 남겨질 내 걱정만 하곤 했어
우리 못다한 사랑은 잠시 접어두자고
오히려 나를 위로했어 이제 아무런 약속도
가난한 선물조차 할 수 없는 나
유일하게 너와 함께 할 수 있는
이 꿈에서 다시는 깨고 싶지 않아
Yesterday, as is more and more the case, I turned on my camera in each of my classes. The video camera has become a kind of reliable pedagogical tool, which I use partly because there is pressure from Curt to provide fodder for his efforts to effectively advertise our hagwon, and which I will happily support, but also because I have found that my students, as much as they groan and complain about the camera, actually respond to it very positively, speaking with more focus, with more effort, and more entertainingly, too.
Below is a sampling of yesterday's video caps. Mostly, these days, I don't post my recordings to youtube – I'm a bit lazy (it took me 2 hours to minimally reformat, edit and upload these) and they weren't being used or viewed much. I will let Curt look through the raw clips if he wants, and a few times he's taken some things or asked me to compile some things. I still think that if I was willing put in the effort, it would be cool to have a daily "video diary" of my classroom work.
So here is a one day's video diary of student work in speaking classes at various levels.
At the start of the day, yesterday, I was coaching two students (siblings) with special prepartion for speeches they want to submit to a contest. I think the older brother's speech was a bit boring (and he was stubborn about applying my advice to make it more interesting). I think the younger sister has a good chance of some kind of prize – she's remarkable for someone who has never lived or studied abroad.
Next, we practiced a little song in my Phonics class – these are near-beginners. Then, we practiced the anachronistically Christmas-themed roleplay (an adaptation of the story of Scrooge) in my slightly more advanced Sirius class (where I had to play several roles myself, including Mr Scrooge, because of absent students) – these kids voices are very hard to hear and the sound quality is terrible, I know.
Then, for two classes, we did TOEFL-style speaking – supposedly one-minute speeches. The middle-school students are a rather unmotivated group, none of whom really got close to a high-quality speech, but these were just practice speeches – their speech tests (on exact same topic) will be on Friday. The elementary students (the two girls in the second), on the other hand, are supposedly the top of the hagwon (certainly academically they are), although I think I have others who are better at speaking, specifically.
Finally, in my awesome new TOEFL1 middle school (really these are transitional kids, 6th-moving-to-7th, just now) we practiced longer, only lightly-prepared (and with zero notes) summaries of the Reading-vs-Listening variety known as TOEFL Speaking "Task 4" questions.
I suppose I decided to post these partly to give some picture of what it is I spend my day doing. I'm not just sitting around complaining.
I went into Seoul and met my friend Nate, who happens to be in-country on winter break from graduate school in the US. We met at the Gyobo Mungo (giant bookstore) and I managed to avoid spending too much money (for a change), then we walked through the un-Januarish drizzle to find something to eat. I wasn't sure what I wanted to eat, but we walked past a location of the Dos Tacos chain and so we went there and I had a burrito: Mexican food through a North American filter through a Korean filter. But not bad.
We talked about literature.
I came back home and had a splitting headache – I'm not sure why, the air seemed stuffy on the subway, but it caused me to abandon my previous intention to write an actual long blog entry. I took a nap instead. Now it's almost midnight and I'm non-sleepy. I hate when I mess up my schedule like that.
미안해 미안해 하지마
내가 초라해지잖아
빨간 예쁜 입술로
어서 나를 죽이고 가
나는 괜찮아
마지막으로 나를 바라봐줘
아무렇지 않은 듯 웃어줘
네가 보고 싶을 때
기억할 수 있게
나의 머릿속에 네 얼굴 그릴 수 있게
널 보낼 수 없는 나의 욕심이
집착이 되어 널 가뒀고
혹시 이런 나 땜에 힘들었니
아무 대답 없는 너
바보처럼 왜
너를 지우지 못해
넌 떠나버렸는데
너의 눈 코 입
날 만지던 네 손길
작은 손톱까지 다
여전히 널 느낄 수 있지만
꺼진 불꽃처럼
타들어가버린
우리 사랑 모두 다
너무 아프지만 이젠 널
추억이라 부를게
사랑해 사랑했지만
내가 부족했었나 봐
혹시 우연이라도
한순간만이라도 널
볼 수 있을까
하루하루가 불안해져
네 모든 게 갈수록 희미해져
사진 속에 너는 왜
해맑게 웃는데
우리에게 다가오는 이별을 모른 채
널 보낼 수 없는 나의 욕심이
집착이 되어 널 가뒀고
혹시 이런 나 땜에 힘들었니
아무 대답 없는 너
바보처럼 왜
너를 지우지 못해
넌 떠나버렸는데
너의 눈 코 입
날 만지던 네 손길
작은 손톱까지 다
여전히 널 느낄 수 있지만
꺼진 불꽃처럼
타들어가버린
우리 사랑 모두 다
너무 아프지만 이젠 널
추억이라 부를게
나만을 바라보던 너의 까만 눈
향기로운 숨을 담은 너의 코
사랑해 사랑해
내게 속삭이던 그 입술을 난…
너의 눈 코 입
날 만지던 네 손길
작은 손톱까지 다
여전히 널 느낄 수 있지만
꺼진 불꽃처럼
타들어가버린
우리 사랑 모두 다
너무 아프지만 이젠 널
추억이라 부를게
Unexpectedly, the lyrics site offered an English translation.
Don’t be sorry,
That makes me more pitiful
With your pretty red lips
please hurry, kill me and go
I’m all right
Look at me one last time
Smile like nothing’s wrong,
So when I miss you
I can remember
So I can draw your face in my mind
My selfishness that couldn’t let you go
Turned into an obsession that imprisoned you
Were you hurt because of me?
You sit silently
Why am I a fool,
Why can’t I forget you
You’re already gone
Your eyes, nose, lips
Your touch that used to touch me,
To the ends of your fingertips
I can still feel you
But like a burnt out flame,
Burnt and destroyed
All of our love
It hurts so much, but now
I’ll call you a memory
Love you, loved you
I must have not been enough
Maybe I could see you
Just once by coincidence
Everyday I grow restless,
Everything about you
Is becoming faint
You smile back in our pictures,
Unknowing of our
Approaching farewell
My selfishness that couldn’t let you go
Turned into an obsession that imprisoned you
Were you hurt because of me?
You sit silently
Why am I a fool,
Why can’t I forget you
You’re already gone
Your eyes, nose, lips
Your touch that used to touch me,
To the ends of your fingertips
I can still feel you
But like a burnt out flame,
Burnt and destroyed
All of our love
It hurts so much, but now
I’ll call you a memory
Your black eyes that only saw me
Your nose that held the sweetest breath
Your lips that whispered
‘I love you, I love you’… I…
Your eyes, nose, lips
Your touch that used to touch me,
To the ends of your fingertips
I can still feel you
But like a burnt out flame,
Burnt and destroyed
All of our love
It hurts so much, but now
I’ll call you a memory.
I was trying to explain to a student the distinction between the /th/ phoneme and the /s/ phoneme – many Koreans have trouble with the distinction, since the /th/ doesn't exist in the language, and the problem isn't helped by some sector of the English education complex teaching them that there is really not any difference in the pronunciation between e.g. "mouse" and "mouth".
So I drew a picture, because he was quite young. It was a spur-of-the-moment illustration, but I was pleased with it.
시작이 반이다
si.jak.i ban.i.da
start-SUBJ half-COPULA
The start is half.
Which is to say, “Starting is half the battle.”
It was not hard to figure out, once I started trying to figure it out.
What I’m listening to right now.
Andy Kim, “Rock Me Gently.” Despite his name, he is not Korean (as is evident from the video, I think, too). Kim is a stage name, I guess. He is Lebanese-Canadian. [daily log: walking, 5.5 km]
I have these “Hello Kitty” index cards, which are pink. I got them for free somehow – I don’t recall when. But I use little index cards quite frequently (almost universally) in my speaking classes, when I allow students to make notes – I find the small format makes them think more about what information to put on their cards in preparation for speaking, and at least sometimes prevents them from writing out their speeches verbatim, because they can’t fit the full speech so well on such a small card.
Some of the students (boys, of course) complained about having pink, Hello Kitty index cards. I said deal with it. On a whim, I tried to create a less “girly” version of the Hello Kitty character. I called him/her “Yo, Cat.” Here is a bad-quality photo of a bad-quality sketch.
I guess I conceptualized this character as a hiphop artist.
내가 지금 듣고있어요.
[UPDATE 20180328: Video embed updated due to link-rot.]
매드 클라운, “콩 (Hide And Seek),” (Feat. Jooyoung 주영)
가사.
하루의 시작 똑같은 생활의 반복
속에 끈질기게 나를 놓지 않길
난 세상이란 바구니 속 작은 콩
행복이란 게 내 청춘의
방구석 어디쯤 숨었다면
난 쓰레기통 탁자 밑 신발장
안까지 싹 다 뒤졌겠지
하지만 나 바랬던 것들
여기 없네 내게 행복은
소문만 무성할 뿐 목격된 적 없네
속쓰린 아침 다시 밥과 마주했고
이걸 벌기 위해 이걸
또 삼키고 난 나가야 돼
삶이란 건 어쩌면
아빠의 구둣발 같은건가 봐
끊임없이 바닥과 부딪혀
닳고 아픈건가 봐
행복이란 게 마치
숨바꼭질과 같은 거라면
난 모든 길 모퉁이 모든 골목
구석까지 미친 듯 뒤졌겠지
모두가 모르겠단 표정으로
날 비웃을 때 답을 찾았다거나
답이 보인 게 아냐 난 그냥 믿었네
2011년 11월 난 보자기에
씌워진 저 작은 콩
까만 비닐봉지에 싸인
저 위가 내 하늘일 리 없다
믿었고 반복된 일상
평범함은 죄 아니니까
난 웅크린 채 숫자를 세
아직은 한참 밤이니까
스물일곱의 그 밤
무작정 걸었던 그날 밤
가로등 아래 우두커니 서
난 어디로 갈지도 모른 채
스물일곱의 그 밤
내 모습이 초라해
눈을 뜨면 꼭 잡힐 것 같아
아득한 그 시절 그날 밤
해 뜨면 어제 같은 오늘을
또 한 번 나 살아가겠지
붐비는 지하철 똑같은
발걸음들 나 따라가겠지
술잔 앞 꿈에 대한 얘기 할 때면
사실 내 목소리 떳떳하지 못해서
누군가 눈치챌까 괜시리
목소릴 높였지 이 곳을
벗어나고 싶어 난 내가
나로서 살고 싶어
더 비겁해지기 전에
겁 먹기 전에 이젠 나 답고 싶어
작은 콩 몸 속에는
서러움과 눈물 몇 방울
그리고 그 빛나는 믿음을
끌어안고 견디는 중
이 수많은 밤을
나를 믿는 것 꿈을 견디는 것
지금의 내 초라함은
잠시 스쳐갈 뿐이라는 것과
언젠가 머릴 들이밀고
솟아날 콩처럼 까만 보자기 속
난 한없이 더 질겨지고 있지
스물일곱의 그 밤
무작정 걸었던 그날 밤
가로등 아래 우두커니 서
난 어디로 갈지도 모른 채
스물일곱의 그 밤
내 모습이 초라해
눈을 뜨면 꼭 잡힐 것 같아
아득한 그 시절 그날 밤
하루 견뎌 또 하루
세상에 바짝 약 오른 채로
용기를 내긴 힘들었고
포기란 말은 참 쉬웠던
난 숫자를 세지
꼭꼭 숨어라 머리카락 보일라
어디로 넌 숨었을까
어디에 있건 상관없다고
자 하나 둘 셋 넷
다시 다섯 넷 셋 둘
세상은 나를 술래라 해
난 그래서 눈 가렸을 뿐
한때는 헷갈린 적도 있지만
난 이제 갈 길 가네
열까지 숫자를 세고
내일이 되면 난 더 빛나네
나는 더 빛나네
스물일곱의 그 밤
무작정 걸었던 그날 밤
가로등 아래 우두커니 서
난 어디로 갈지도 모른 채
스물일곱의 그 밤
내 모습이 초라해
눈을 뜨면 꼭 잡힐 것 같아
아득한 그 시절 그 날 밤
My student gave a very earnest speech explaining why he didn't prepare his speech. I'm wondering what his "business" in Seoul is – what kind of "business" do 8th graders have in Seoul?
It actually snowed for a while today, but it didn't really stick. Maybe it will more, tonight.
This video I ran across, below, is quite amusing. It can be watched many times, I think. There's a lot of weird stuff going on. You must have a very short attention span, however.
This "vine" (a new-ish, looping video format that is gif-like) was circulating on the intertubes this morning.
This is Elon Musk's effort (well, his company's effort) to land the new SpaceX rocket on a column-of-flame+feet, like in old science fiction stories. Some internet wags (i.e. the Register, where I like to go for my tech news) were calling it "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly," which strikes me as a wonderful euphemism.
This is just the first try of a production model (and no one was hurt, and the International Space Station nevertheless received its payload without problem), so as failures go, it was pretty minor, I'd say. They'll get it working, I suspect.
And then, finally, we will be living in the future, because rockets will be taking off and landing the way they are supposed to, finally.
유승준, "사랑해 누나" (1997년!)… 어차피, 내 학생들의 연령이 이 노래의 세 미만이에요.
가사.
나를 미치도록 찐한 사랑에 빠지게 했던 그녀는 나보다 더 나이가 훨씬 많아 아니 쬐끔 하지만나는 네 어깨에다 손을 올리곤 했었지 왜냐하면 내가 키가더 크니까 혹시나 하는 두려움은 모두 떨쳐버려 세상이 만들어 논 기 유승준 사랑해 누나 준들은모두 버려 널 아끼고 너를 믿는 가슴속에 내 소중한 사람이 있다는 걸절대 잊어서는 안돼 아무리 날 노려 보아도 항상 내 이름을 불러대지 어깨에 내손을 올릴땐 새침한 그 미소가 너무나 예뻐 그 누구의 시선도 어떤 말도 겁낼건없어 그 무엇도 어쩔 수 없는 우리 사랑 있잖아 어리다고 나를 놀리는 너의 친구들이 싫지만 걱정하듯 나 를 비웃는 내 친구 두려웠지만 바보처럼 울어선 안돼 언제라도 활짝 웃어줘 내 가슴속의 사랑은 널 안기에 충분하니까
넌 웃는게 예뻐 그러니까 웃어줘 언제까지라도 눈물은 없을 꺼야 늘 담당해줘 우리 사랑앞에서 두려워할 것도 흔들릴 것도 없으니까 그게 잘 안 되면 아예나를 오빠라고 불러버 려 그것이 너에겐 더 편할지도 모르니까 약속해 줄께니가 기대 잠들 내 가슴은 언제까지 너만을 기다린다는 것을 아무도 우리사랑을 어떻게 할 수는 없을꺼야 언제나 네곁에 있을께 너만의 사랑인 날잊어선 안돼 다른 연인들보다 힘이 들고 어렵겠지만 영원히 널 지켜줄거 야 조금만 더 기다려 어리다고 나를 놀리는 너의 친구들이 싫지만 걱정하듯 나 를 비웃는 내 친구 두려웠지만 바보처럼 울어선 안돼 언제라도 활짝 웃어줘 내 가슴속의 사랑은 널 안기에 충분하니까 헤어지기 싫은 너와 나의 아쉬운 작별을 하고 힘이 겹게돌 아온 내 책상속에는 오늘은 또 너의 어떤 얘기가 있을런지 하루종일 궁금해하는 내 일기장 오늘은 그 미장원의 미용사 에게 너를 2시간동안 너를 뺏긴 얘기를썼고 항상 마지막 간 절한 마음을 적었지 영원히사랑해 누나~~
