Caveat: Interview With The Foreign Teacher

Banalities & Journaling / The Wonders of Work

Who is the foreign teacher? That's me.

I had to be "interviewed," this past week, for a "feature" on the a-birthing KarmaPlus website. I guess it will go online sometime next week. I received a list of questions – in Korean. I was able to figure them out, and I composed answers in English. My coworker translated them into Korean. I also gave a video answer to a few of the questions – in English. I don't know how those will be included. 

Here is my interview. Um… It's in Korean. I might add a translation later. For now, I guess it's just a place-holder.

Q1. 선생님 소개 간단히 부탁드립니다.
A1. 저는 미국에서 온 Jared Way입니다. California 에서 태어났지만 Minneapolis, Chicago, Mexico City, Chile, Philadelphia, Alaska, Los Angeles 등 여러 곳에서 살았습니다. 물론 지금은 한국에서 거주하고 있습니다.

Q2. 카르마플러스어학원에서 무엇을 가르치나요. 선생님의 교육 방침도 궁금합니다.
A2. 저는 원어민 영어 강사로서 스피킹 수업을 책임지고 있습니다. 초등학생들에게는 스피킹 수업을, 중학생들에겐 듣기 수업을 집중적으로 하고 있습니다. 위 수업은 TOEFL을 기반으로 한 수업들입니다.

Q3. 카르마플러스어학원의 장점은 무엇인가요. (답변 동영상 촬영)
A3. KarmaPlus 가 특별하다고 생각되는 점은 모든 선생님들과 직원분들이 진정으로 아이들이 영어를 잘 할 수 있도록 도와주는데 최선을 다하기 때문입니다. 학원이 아닌 하나의 community를 만들기 위해 전념을 합니다. 학생들은 그 community 안에서 더 잘 배울 수 있게 됩니다.

Q4. 카르마플러스어학원을 다니는 아이들 자랑 좀 해주세요.
A4. 미국인으로써 미국 학생들과 비교했을 때 한국 학생들의 공손함에 항상 놀라움을 느낍니다. 당연히 그렇지 않은 학생들도 있지만, 기본적으로 대부분의 학생들은 예의 바르답니다. KarmaPlus 의 학생들은 서로에게 친절하고 너그럽답니다. 그 모습이 너무 보기 좋습니다. 정말 열심히 하는 학생들도 있고 훌륭한 능력을 가진 학생들도 많답니다. 그렇지만 그 무엇보다도 저는 학생들이 서로 도와주는 것을 볼 때 가장 흡족합니다.

Q5. 한국에 언제 오셨나요. 한국에 살게 되신 계기가 있으신지요. 원래 전공은 무엇인가요.
A5. 제가 한국을 처음 온 것은 1990년 미군 복무 시절입니다. 그 당시 1년을 한국에서 보냈습니다. 그 때의 긍정적인 인상 때문에 2007년에 아이들을 가르치고 싶어서 다시 돌아온 것입니다. 대학 때 전공은 언어학, 스페인어, 그리고 컴퓨터 공학이며, 스페인 문학 석사학위를 가지고 있습니다. 그리고 컴퓨터 프로그래머로 오랜 시간 일을 했습니다.

Q6. 어린 시절 꿈은 무엇인가요.
A6. 어릴 때 제 꿈은 건축가였습니다. 고등학교 들어가서는 선생님으로 꿈이 바뀌었고요. 선생님이 되어서 몇 년을 가르치다가 컴퓨터관련 회사로 전향하게 되었습니다. 미국에서 선생님들은 저조한 월급을 받거든요.

Q7. 한국에 대한 첫 이상은 어땠나요.
A7. 기억해주세요. 제가 처음 한국에 왔을 때는 1990년이었어요. 그래서인지 제 첫 인상은 참 가난한 나라라는 것이었습니다. 그러나 제가 다시 돌아왔을 때 부유로워지고 성공한 한국의 모습이 너무 좋았습니다.

Q8. 가장 좋아하는 한국은식은 무엇인가요. 이유도 궁금합니다.
A8. 작년에 저는 큰 수술을 받았답니다. 그 결과로, 이제 먹는 것에 흥미를 잃고 힘겨워졌답니다. 맛의 감각을 잃었습니다. 하지만 수술 전에 저는 한국음식을 너무 좋아했고 특히 김치볶음밥과 같은 음식을 좋아했습니다. 요즘에는 국수 같은 간단한 음식을 먹고 있습니다.

Q9. 한국의 역사에 관심이 많다고 들렀습니다. 가장 기억에 남는 여행시나 문화 유적지가 있다면 어디 인가요. 그리고 가보고 싶은 한국의 여행지가 있나요?
A9. 가장 관심 있는 한국역사는 조선시대입니다. 사찰이나 유적지를 둘러보는 것을 좋아합니다. 관광명소로 잘 알려진 사찰들 보다는 오랜 역사가 있고 지금까지도 운영되고 있는 곳들을 선호하는 편입니다. 그리고 옛 한국이 보이는 도시에서 멀리 떨어진 시골을 좋아합니다.

Q10. 영어를 잘 할 수 있는 방법이 궁금합니다.
A10. 영어를 유창하게하기 위해서는 영어를 사용해야합니다. 저는 아이들이 관심 있어 하는 실질적인 주제로 실용적인 대화를 지속적으로 가집니다. 중학생들에게는 토론수업이 훌륭한 방법입니다. 광범위한 주제를 가지고 토론하며 아이들의 견해와 생각을 논의할 수 있습니다. 최근에 중학생수업에서 병역기피에 대한 엄청난 토론을 가졌답니다.

Q11. 아이들과 소통하기 위한 서생님의 방법 무럿인가요.
A11. 아이들에게 가장 중요한 것은 그들의 관심을 끄는 것입니다. 저는 학생들과 많은 이야기를 나눕니다. 저에 대한 이야기나 세상에 대한 이야기. 저는 아이들이 좋아하는 게임을 하는 것도 좋다고 생각합니다. 대신 그 게임은 언어의 연습을 요구하지요.

Q12. 앞으로 꿈이나 계획은 무엇인지요. (답변 동영상 촬영)
A12. 작년에 많이 아팠고 큰 수술을 했습니다. 그렇기에 지금 제 주 목표는 건강을 완전히 회복하는 것입니다. KarmaPlus에서 일하는 것을 좋아하는 이유 중 하나는 저를 위하고 돌봐주는 사람들이 모인 곳이기 때문입니다. 가까운 미래의 꿈은 KarmaPlus에서 계속 아이들을 가르치는 것입니다. 이제 일산은 제 2번째 고향입니다. 선생님으로서도 더욱 성장하고 싶습니다. 또한 TOEFL 커리를 가진 토론수업 교과서와 교재를 만들고 싶습니다.

 [daily log: walking, 5 km]

Caveat: In Ur Ziggurat

Banalities & Journaling / Found Online / Language & Linguistics

I ran across this online on a linguistics-oriented website:

Akkadian Humor: We’re in Ur Ziggurat, Taking Ur Stuff

I thought it was really funny, but the evident imprecision bothered me. See, I really thought Ur was Sumerian, not Akkadian, and for a linguist to make that kind of error struck me as reckless.

I double-checked via the wiki thing, and Ur was definitely Sumerian, although interestingly, the name was later used by the Akkadians (who conqured and took over the Sumerian cultural legacy, much the same way that the Romans took over and adopted the Greek cultural legacy later on). Therefore, I wanted to humbly offer this slight revision of the joke:

Sumerian Humor: We’re in Ur Ziggurat, Taking Ur Stuff

But then I had a second thought: maybe that was part of the joke? Which is to say, the Akkadians conquored the Sumerians, and sacked the city of Ur (I think) several times. Therefore it makes more sense, in a way, if it's  the Akkadians in the Ziggurat, taking stuff. That being the case, my objection to the apparent imprecision is ill-founded. Who knows?

[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

Caveat: …hot in here

Banalities & Journaling / Found Online

Two muffins are in an oven: One says, "It’s getting hot in here!" The other says, "Holy crap, a talking muffin!"

In fact, it's getting cold. Winter is wintering, soon, I think. It will go below zero (celsius) tonight for the first time this season. 

Time flies.

[daily log: walking, 5 km]

Caveat: 너말이짧다

Banalities & Journaling / 한국말을 배움 (Failing to Learn Korean)

니선생님인대… 너말이짧다?
niseonsaengnimindae… neomarijjalpda?
I am your teacher… [why] are your words short?

I guess this expression is a way to reproach an insolent teenager who is answering in monosyllables or in an impolite way. It seems pretty straightforward, but I find the last verb difficult to pronounce, because it has that fortis (doubled = faucalized) consonant (ㅉ=jj).
Anyway, Curt seemed to think I should master this phrase, so I’ve been working on it.
[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

Caveat: The Road to Percussive Driving

Background Noise / Banalities & Journaling / Found Online

What I'm listening to right now.

OK Go, "The Writing's On The Wall." This is one of those cases where I came to the song via the video, rather than vice versa. But the song's not bad.

By the same group, then, there was this…

OK Go, "I Won't Let You Down."

And finally, some percussive driving…

OK Go, "Needing/Getting."

Unrelatedly, 

"There are just three rules for writing… but nobody knows what they are." – Somerset Maugham

 [daily log: walking, 5 km]

Caveat: bin-bin-bin-bin-aistu-aistu-bin-bin-aistu-mipl-mipl-mipl-aistu-bin-aistu-aistu-mipl-mipl-iz-iz-iz-mipl-iz-iz

Banalities & Journaling / Found Online / Language & Linguistics / Philosophy & Cultural Criticism

"Language is magic: it makes things appear and disappear." – Nicole Brossard

I spent part of the day neglecting my commitment to avoid the internet on Sundays, because I became obsessed with surfing random linguistics and political blogs and websites. I'm not sure why I did this, but I did find a number of interesting tidbits which, rather than trying to preserve and convert into multiple blog-posts here, I will just spew out all at once for your untimely elucitainment.

From a linguistics blogger (satirist?) called Speculative Grammarian, I discovered articles about imaginary languages and, more interestingly, imaginary linguistic theoretical constructs. For example:

The first oddness among the Oboioboioboiwikantsitstil is non-distinctive reduplication. Many speakers repeat elements of words without apparent change in meaning. Consider the following example. (Note that Oboioboioboiwikantsitstil is polysynthetic.)

(1) bin-bin-bin-bin-aistu-aistu-bin-bin-aistu- mipl-mipl-mipl- aistu-bin-aistu-aistu- mipl-mipl-iz-iz-iz- mipl-iz-iz
Imperative-Imp-Imp-Imp-1sg-1sg-Imp-Imp-1sg- use-use-use- 1sg-Imp-1sg-1sg- use-use-toilet-toilet-toilet- use-toilet-toilet.
"I need to use the restroom"

The same author subtly satirizes the current state of syntactic theory by comparing it with a non-existant theory based on the belief that the gods make us talk. He also has a manifesto that I would like to sign.

Finally, if you've ever taken a formal semantics (i.e. linguistics-meets-mathematical-logic) course at the graduate level, you might appreciate this:

λP[λQ[∼∃x[P(x)∧Q(x)]]]
<e,t>,<<e,t>,t>
What part of ‘No’ don’t you understand?

Amid the weeds of politics (or is it political theory?), I found this: 

"You’ve been taught to worship democracy. This is because you are ruled by democracy. If you were ruled by the Slime Beast of Vega, you would worship the Slime Beast of Vega." – Mencius Moldbug (evidently a pseudonym of some political blogger)

[daily log: walking across the room]

Caveat: all the unborn chicken voices in my head

Background Noise / Banalities & Journaling / Not My Poetry

Today was a Bob Dylan and Radiohead day. Whatever that means.

What I'm listening to right now.

Radiohead, "Paranoid Android." I was really astounded to realize that this song is 17 years old. Jeez. I'm really old – only a short while ago, I bought this CD (heheh, he said "CD," heheh) when it was relatively new. Anyway, Radiohead remains awesome. And the androids remain… paranoid.

Lyrics.

Please could you stop the noise, I'm trying to get some rest
From all the unborn chicken voices in my head
What's that…? (I may be paranoid, but not an android)
What's that…? (I may be paranoid, but not an android)

When I am king, you will be first against the wall
With your opinion which is of no consequence at all
What's that…? (I may be paranoid, but no android)
What's that…? (I may be paranoid, but no android)

Ambition makes you look pretty ugly
Kicking and squealing gucci little piggy
You don't remember
You don't remember
Why don't you remember my name?
Off with his head, man
Off with his head, man
Why don't you remember my name?
I guess he does….

Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height… height…
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height… height…
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me

That's it, sir
You're leaving
The crackle of pigskin
The dust and the screaming
The yuppies networking
The panic, the vomit
The panic, the vomit
God loves his children, God loves his children, yeah!

[daily log: walking, 1 km]

Caveat: Unteaching

Banalities & Journaling / Teaching & Methodology / The Wonders of Work

Yesterday I had one of the best classes in my entire teaching career.

It was because I was too tired to teach. So when I found Soyeon (a third grader) sitting at my desk, and she announced that she was the teacher, I said, "OK, you're the teacher."

She looked surprised, and actually a little worried, when she saw I was serious. Her smile disappeared. I handed her my basket-o-markers-and-alligators and said, "You need this." She held it gingerly.

We went down to the classroom, and I showed her how to run the computer for the CC class, and then I sat down at the back of the class room and let her "teach" the class. The CC classes play a video and then the students work out what the characters are saying – it's essentially a structured, long-form listening exercise. I follow a very consistent pattern when I teach the class, and Soyeon was able to replicate that pattern quite accurately. She called on students, kept track of points, ran the video through starts and stops and replays as the students figured out what was being said, and in general conducted the class exactly as I might have. When the students argued over points, she said exactly what I sometimes said, "Oh, but that was too easy. So teacher says 'no point'." I had to laugh.

I participated by adopting a "role" – as a sort of recalcitrant student at the back. I deliberately "didn't know" the answers to questions when called on, sometimes. A few times I "broke character" to assist her with the technical aspects of running the video program, but other than that, it was completely Soyeon's class.

What's truly remarkable about this class is that it was the first class in a long time where no one broke into tears over the inevitably competitive nature of the Korean classroom. These are high-ability but quite young kids: second and third graders but in the top 10% in terms of ability in the whole hagwon (including middle school). They all want to be (and are accustomed to being) number one.

Soyeon, especially, has been a very problematic student. She has almost-native ability (I think she lived abroad for some time) but she is a bit naive about the world, immature for her age and is almost a bully as far as wanting to compete with her less-proficient peers. Putting her in a teacher role was a surprisingly and rewardingly brilliant move, because she was forced by the nature of the role "teacher" to be fair and level-headed. Besides, she got to be bossy to her heart's content.

My question is, if I put one of the other students in charge next Wednesday, how will Soyeon handle it? My suspicion – based on the experience yesterday – is that it might go well, because she will have empathy for her peer at the front of the room. I'm going to try it – I'll let you know how it goes.

[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

Caveat: Slowly into Autumn

Background Noise / My Photos / Not My Poetry

Walking to work the other day, the colors on the trees seemed striking. The photo failed to really capture it. 

picture

What I'm listening to right now.

Bob Dylan, "Idiot Wind."

[Update 2018-03-13: video link replaced due to link-rot on previous link]

Fall is Bob Dylan season, since the 1980s.

Lyrics.

Someone’s got it in for me, they’re planting stories in the press
Whoever it is I wish they’d cut it out but when they will I can only guess
They say I shot a man named Gray and took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me
I can’t help it if I’m lucky

People see me all the time and they just can’t remember how to act
Their minds are filled with big ideas, images and distorted facts
Even you, yesterday you had to ask me where it was at
I couldn’t believe after all these years, you didn’t know me better than that
Sweet lady

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth
Blowing down the backroads headin’ south
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth
You’re an idiot, babe
It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe

I ran into the fortune-teller, who said beware of lightning that might strike
I haven’t known peace and quiet for so long I can’t remember what it’s like
There’s a lone soldier on the cross, smoke pourin’ out of a boxcar door
You didn’t know it, you didn’t think it could be done, in the final end he won the wars
After losin’ every battle

I woke up on the roadside, daydreamin’ ’bout the way things sometimes are
Visions of your chestnut mare shoot through my head and are makin’ me see stars
You hurt the ones that I love best and cover up the truth with lies
One day you’ll be in the ditch, flies buzzin’ around your eyes
Blood on your saddle

Idiot wind, blowing through the flowers on your tomb
Blowing through the curtains in your room
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth
You’re an idiot, babe
It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe

It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which broke us apart
You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn’t enough to change my heart
Now everything’s a little upside down, as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped
What’s good is bad, what’s bad is good, you’ll find out when you reach the top
You’re on the bottom

I noticed at the ceremony, your corrupt ways had finally made you blind
I can’t remember your face anymore, your mouth has changed, your eyes
don’t look into mine
The priest wore black on the seventh day and sat stone-faced while the
building burned
I waited for you on the running boards, near the cypress trees, while the
springtime turned
Slowly into Autumn

Idiot wind, blowing like a circle around my skull
From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth
You’re an idiot, babe
It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe

I can’t feel you anymore, I can’t even touch the books you’ve read
Every time I crawl past your door, I been wishin’ I was somebody else instead
Down the highway, down the tracks, down the road to ecstasy
I followed you beneath the stars, hounded by your memory
And all your ragin’ glory

I been double-crossed now for the very last time and now I’m finally free
I kissed goodbye the howling beast on the borderline which separated you from me
You’ll never know the hurt I suffered nor the pain I rise above
And I’ll never know the same about you, your holiness or your kind of love
And it makes me feel so sorry

Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons of our coats
Blowing through the letters that we wrote
Idiot wind, blowing through the dust upon our shelves
We’re idiots, babe
It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves

[daily log: walking, 5 km]

Caveat: Pizza Season

Banalities & Journaling / The Wonders of Work

Naesin (내신 = exam-prep time) is starting again this week, the final of the four naesin periods Korean middle-schoolers undergo annually. I have a tradition (a habit?) of buying a pizza party for well-behaved classes of middle-schoolers during our last class before the prep-time starts, since during the prep-time I don't see them much. 

Curt asked me, "Why do you buy them pizza?"

Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, I explained, "I want them to miss me." 

When I went downstairs to have the front desk clerk orker me a pizza for one of my classes, Helen asked me,  "what is this, pizza season?" 

"Yes," I laughed. "Pizza season." 

[daily log: walking, 5 km]

Caveat: Lucidity on the cheap

Banalities & Journaling / The Wonders of Work

My coworker brought up the topic of lucid dreaming. It turned out to be somewhat humorous.

She said she was dreaming that she was at work at Karma and the boss was giving out praise for work well done. She felt very happy and pleased in the dream. But then the boss handed her a bonus check. She looked down at it and it struck her instantly: this is not real; this is a dream.

The idea of getting a bonus was too unrealistic, and broke the spell of the dream's reality.

[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

Caveat: Moonmoth

Not My Poetry

A Name For All

Moonmoth and grasshopper that flee our page
And still wing on, untarnished of the name
We pinion to your bodies to assuage
Our envy of your freedom—we must maim

Because we are usurpers, and chagrined—
And take the wing and scar it in the hand.
Names we have, even, to clap on the wind;
But we must die, as you, to understand.

I dreamed that all men dropped their names, and sang
As only they can praise, who build their days
With fin and hoof, with wing and sweetened fang
Struck free and holy in one Name always.

– Hart Crane (American poet, 1899-1932)

[daily log: a log is a dead tree]

Caveat: Mine Fewer

Found Online

Nazis vs Grammar Nazis… this funny linguisticky joke was apparently circulating on twitter (although the twitterlink appears dead) – I saw it at sullyblog:

"Sir, we're mining too many useless minerals."
Hitler: "Mine less then"
Grammar Nazi bursts in: "MINE FEWER."
Hitler looks over: "Yes?"

[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

Caveat: Zorro takes up hagwon work

Banalities & Journaling / The Wonders of Work

We had “halloween party bis” today, with many more students than Thursday. Three shifts of children: trick-or-treat (to a classroom where I try to act scary – channelling my uncle), games, snacks, etc.
Here I am with 2 coworkers and kid-as-batman.
picture
[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

Caveat: Scary Teacher

Banalities & Journaling / The Wonders of Work

We were having a halloween party for the elementary kids this evening. The Thursday group is quite small, these days. Two girls came running from the "movie room" back into our "store" – where we sold the kids food and snacks and stationary for their fake money as collected from various teachers. 

Razel, a teacher, asked the girls, "Is it a scary movie?"

Fay, a student, answered, "Nah. Scary teacher."

[daily log: walking, 7 km]

Caveat: if we did our duty

Not My Poetry

THIS WORLD IS FULL OF BEAUTY.
THERE lives a Voice within me, a guest-angel of my
heart,
And its bird-like warbles win me, till the tears
a-tremble start;
Up evermore it springeth, like some magic melody,
And evermore it singeth this sweet song of songs
to me—
“This world is full of beauty, as other worlds
above.
And, if we did our duty, it might be as full of
love.”
Morn’s budding, bright, melodious hour comes
sweetly as of yore;
Night’s starry tendernesses dower with glory
evermore:
But there be million hearts accursed, where no
glad sunbursts shine,
And there be million souls athirst for Life’s
immortal wine.
This world is full of beauty, as other worlds
above;
And, if we did our duty, it might be as full of
love.
If faith, and hope, and kindness passed, as coin,
‘twixt heart and heart,
Up through the eye’s tear-blindness, how the
sudden soul should start!
The dreary, dim, and desolate, would wear a sunny
bloom,
And Love should spring from buried Hate, like
flowers from Winter’s tomb.
This world is full of beauty, as other worlds
above;
And, if we did our duty, it might be as full of
love.
Were truth our uttered language, Spirits might
talk with men,
And God-illumined earth should see the Golden
Age again;
The burthened heart should soar in mirth like
Morn’s young prophet-lark,
And Misery’s last tear wept on earth quench Hell’s
last cunning spark!
This world is full of beauty, as other worlds
above;
And, if we did our duty, it might be as full of
love.
We hear the cry for bread with plenty smiling all
around;
Hill and valley in their bounty blush for Man
with fruitage crowned.
What a merry world it might be, opulent for all,
and aye,
With its lands that ask for labour, and its wealth
that wastes away!
This world is full of beauty, as other worlds
above;
And, if we did our duty, it might be as full of
love.
picture
The leaf-tongues of the forest, and the flower-lips
of the sod—
The happy Birds that hymn their raptures in the
ear of God—
The summer wind that bringeth music over land
and sea,
Have each a voice that singeth this sweet song of
songs to me—
“This world is full of beauty, as other worlds above;
And, if we did our duty, it might be as full of love.”
– Gerald Massey (English poet and political activist, 1828-1907)
picture[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

Caveat: Rock On

Found Online

This was a clever and humorous video I ran across recently.

Each of us is immortal up until the moment of our death.

[daily log: walking, 5 km]

Caveat: Thinking with fingers

Banalities & Journaling / Quotable / The Wonders of Work

Still being sick, I had an exhausting day. I failed to post this in a timely fashion (meaning I failed to stick to my one-post-a-day schedule for the first time in a very long time), so I'm putting it up late, and back-dating it.

Chris, a sixth-grader, was doing a writing test. He was doing something weird with his fingers on his skull. It looked like a cross between a secret handshake and a massage. 

"What are you doing, Chris?" I asked, gesturing at his hands.

"I'm thinking with my fingers," he explained.

Unrelatedly, a quote:

"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." – Gertrude Stein.

[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

 

Caveat: Locked

Banalities & Journaling

I am so sick. I had a difficult, day, too.

I worked for 4 and half hours and came home only to find that the battery had died in my door lock. I have one of those electronic door locks that prevail in Korea. My previous experience with the battery dying in the door lock  is that the gadget gives some warning. They start to beep at you in weird, alarming patterns when they're getting low, prompting you to check their battery. But in this event, there had been no warning. Just a dull half-beep and no response when I keyed in my code – it was clear it was a dead battery, though. 

The problem is that when I took this apartment, I never received a manual, old-style key. There wasn't one, I guess. That's easy enough to believe – misplaced and never replaced. 

So I was locked out of my apartment. I felt rotten, just wanted to crash after work, I had a heavy bag of groceries I'd bought at the store on the way home. The building doorman downstairs made clear this was not something in his control – the building doesn't keep master keys to the apartments. That's not the way it's done. I had to call the landlord (hah… I don't even know who that is – it's anonymous through the real estate management company through my boss Curt – too many layers of middle-men to even contemplate).  Or I could call a locksmith – that's what normal people did. I called Curt, and he reiterated the same.

I got the doorman to call the locksmith – I was feeling my usual telephone-in-Korean anxiety, and while I can communicate in Korean somewhat effectively face-to-face when required to do so, I hate trying to do so on the phone. I don't even like talking on the phone in English, anymore. As an aside, what's with my telephone anxiety, anyway? I like talking in person, well enough, after all. My student Jack recently commented, "Teacher, why do you like to talk so much?" But hand me a telephone, and I suddenly feel like I have some kind of handicap. I hate phones. Does this make me an honorary "millenial"? I read recently that millenials believe important communication should be by text or via social media like facebook or, worse-case-scenario, via email. "They" (millenaials, as a statistical collectivity) apparently believe talking on the phone is a waste of time and is for losers.

I waited about 20 minutes, and the locksmith came, and he tinkered around with it for almost 30 minutes, before declaring that he would have to break the lock. I had wondered if it would come to that. I knew that would make it expensive, since then it would have to be replaced. But I really, really just wanted to get into my apartment and start my weekend of convalescing from this horrible cold I have. I sneezed and coughed and assented to 200,000 won (200 bucks). 

He broke the lock, and while he spent the next hour replaceing the lock he'd broken, I did my dishes and picked up some things, and as soon as I'd paid him and he left, I took some ibuprofin and decongestant and passed out. I just woke up. I hate sleeping in the afternoon on days off, because it messes me up with respect to my normal afternoon work schedule. I just couldn't not sleep.

[daily log: walking, 6 km]

Caveat: Do you know the ghost community?

Background Noise / Banalities & Journaling

I have been struggling with a suddenly really bad cold/flu thing this week, while carrying a rough and intensive inter-naesin teaching schedule. I'm exhausted, and feeling like a zombie-teacher. 

What I'm listening to right now.

Sufjan Stevens, "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!" A truly weird song. About Illinois. And Zombies. Or something.

…Actually, after just a brief googlification, I wonder if it's about that notorious and supposedly excellent TV series, Walking Dead, which I personally don't enjoy, despite finding its themes and approach interesting. Or maybe some other pop-cult zombie-fare.

Lyrics.

I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Can you call the Captain Clitus?
Logan, Grant, and Ronald Reagan
In the grave with Xylophagan
Do you know the ghost community?
Sound the horn, address the city

(Who will save it? Dedicate it?
Who will praise it? Commemorate it for you?)

We are awakened with the axe
Night of the Living Dead at last
They have begun to shake the dirt
Wiping their shoulders from the earth
I know, I know the nations past
I know, I know they rust at last
They tremble with the nervous thought
Of having been, at last, forgot

I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Can you call the Captain Clitus?
B-U-D-A! Caledonia!
S-E-C-O-R! Magnolia!
B-I-R-D-S! And Kankakee!
Evansville and Parker City

Speaking their names, they shake the flag
Waking the earth, it lifts and lags
We see a thousand rooms to rest
Helping us taste the bite of death
I know, I know my time has passed
I'm not so young, I'm not so fast
I tremble with the nervous thought
Of having been, at last, forgot

I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Can you call the Captain Clitus?
Comer and Potato Peelers!
G-R-E-E-N Ridge! Reeders
M-C-V-E-Y! And Horace!
E-N-O-S! Start the chorus

Corn and farms and tombs in Lemmon
Sailor Springs and all things feminine
Centerville and Old Metropolis
Shawneetown, you trade and topple us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Hold your tongue and don't divide us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Land of God, you hold and guide us

[daily log: walking, 5 km]

Caveat: heh. 파이팅

Banalities & Journaling / Kids / The Wonders of Work

My student Giung sent me a text message this morning:

teacher i foughtwith my parent until late yesterday so i couldn't do my homework i'm so sorry i'll do it until tomorrow i'll promise you

Keeping in mind that Giung rarely does his homework for me, it was hard not to want to make some snark. Finally, I just sent back:

heh. 파이팅. . 

In fact, this is a bit of a joke. The Korean I wrote is [paiting] which is, in fact, derived from the English "fighting" (via Japanese). But it is used to mean "work hard" or "keep trying." A student like Giung, however, with his high English comptency and ironic sense of humor, was likely to understand I was punning on the fact that he'd told me that he fought with his parents. In fact, he did – he was explaining what I wrote to the other students in class, today.

[daily log: walking, 5 km]

Caveat: Creyó que el trigo era agua

Español Aleatorio (Random Spanish) / Not My Poetry

METAMORFOSIS DEL CLAVEL

8

Se equivocó la paloma,
se equivocaba.

Por ir al norte, fue al sur.
Creyó que el trigo era agua.
Se equivocaba.

Creyó que el mar era el cielo;
que la noche, la mañana.
Se equivocaba.

Que las estrellas rocío;
que la calor, la nevada.
Se equivocaba.

Que tu falda era tu blusa;
que tu corazón, su casa.
Se equivocaba.

(Ella se durmió en la orilla.
Tú, en la cumbre de una rama.)

– Rafael Alberti (poeta español, 1902-1999)

[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

Caveat: … and the streets were paved in alligator bucks

Banalities & Journaling

QuarterbuckI was walking home, just now, and I just happened to notice a scrap of paper on the sidewalk, a block or so from work. It was a slightly damp, torn fragment of one of my "alligator bucks," that I give to students as a form of reward points. I was surprised. The was not at work – it wasn't in front of work. Somewhere, some student of mine had lost a bit of his or her "money" out in the street. It felt strange – like my private economy that I maintain with my students was infiltrating into the outside, broader world. 

I felt sad, too – because the student's money was torn and this was only a bit of it. I imagined some struggle – two students fighting over it. … Nah, probably not.

[daily log: walking, 5 km]

Caveat: Mysterious Man

Banalities & Journaling / Kids / My Photos / The Wonders of Work

My student Jack did a poor job at homework, once again. I was berating him, mildly, in the typical way expected of teachers in Korea: "Why are you like that, Jack? These other students do well."

He shook his head, as if with world-weary sadness. "I am a mysterious man," he answered, and paused, looking up at me earnestly. Then he added, "… to myself." The joke was impressive for its timing, but more so when keeping in mind he is non-native-speaking 12 year old.

Unrelatedly, the fall is most definitely here. The trees are changing in  the pedestrian plazas on the path to work.

picture

[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

Caveat: I’m Fine On The Shelf

Background Noise

What I'm listening to right now.

Dr Dog, "Broken Heart."

Lyrics.

I never really had a broken heart

I always played it kinda close to my chest
Love for me's just been a walk in the park
It doesn't really matter
It never really mattered
I never really had a broken heart
Such a shock to me
What looks to me like people going through the motions
But when it's over… their hearts are broken

[Chorus:]
I'm fine on the shelf
She really loved him, I couldn't see it though
He really loved her, but I… I don't believe it, oh no

I'm fine on the shelf
She really loved him, I couldn't see it though
He really loved her, but I… I don't believe it, oh no

Freedom from love
Freedom from the heartache
[x4]

I never really had a broken heart
You don't believe me, just look in my chest
The way some people like to run and hide
I never really, really
I never really

I never really had a broken heart
I've never really ever been undone
It's just playing house
Two can do it, you can do it too

[Chorus]

[Chorus x2]

[daily log: walking, what, Sunday?]

Caveat: Wish Nothing

Philosophy & Cultural Criticism / Quotable

200px-Epictetus_Enchiridion_1683_page1If you wish your children and your wife and your friends to live forever, you are foolish, for you wish things to be in your power which are not so, and what belongs to others to be your own. So likewise, if you wish your servant to be without fault, you are foolish, for you wish vice not to be vice but something else. But if you wish not to be disappointed in your desires, that is in your own power. Exercise, therefore, what is in your power. A man’s master is he who is able to confer or remove whatever that man seeks or shuns. Whoever then would be free, let him wish nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others; else he must necessarily be a slave. – Arrian of Nicomedia, ENCHIRIDION of Epictetus, XIV (2nd century)

[daily log: walking, 6 km]

Caveat: Have A Nice Day

Background Noise

What I'm listening to right now.

World Order (Genki Sudo), "Have A Nice Day."

Lyrics (not that I understand them)

日曜日の朝　閃いた
今日は街へ繰りだそう

お気に入りのジャケット羽織り
みんなが待っている交差点へ

everywhere　　グレートな僕は
everywhere　　スマートにcheck it out
everywhere　　シンプルに踊り
ガラス越しの　未来を見て

everywhere　　キュートなキミは
everywhere　　スマートにcheck it out
everywhere　　シンプルに彩り
ガラス越しに　君微笑む

今日はHAVE A NICE DAY

今日はHAVE A NICE DAY

日曜日の　青い空
今日はあの子に会いに行こう

エスカレータ駆け上がり
君の待つステージへ急ぐ

everywhere　グレートな僕は
everywhere　スマートにcheck it out
everywhere　シンプルに踊り
ガラス越しの　未来を見て

everywhere　キュートなキミは
everywhere　スマートにcheck it out
everywhere　シンプルに彩り
ガラス越しに　君微笑む

今日はHAVE A NICE DAY

通りすぎてくこの恋模様
君からの返事　ただ待っている
言葉にすると消えてしまいそう
僕の想い　ほろ苦いチョコレート

通りすぎてく　そう雲のよう
君からの答え　もう知っている
また会おうねって　去ってく空が
僕の恋は　どうにも届かない

[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

Caveat: 중2병

Banalities & Journaling / The Wonders of Work / 한국말을 배움 (Failing to Learn Korean)

My coworker taught me the term 중2병 [jung-i-byeong]. This might be most comfortably translated into colloquial American English as something like "8th-grader-itis" – meaning bad behavior in 8th graders due to their being eighth-graders. Literally, it's something like "2nd-year-middleschool-disease."

Given that this is something I was struggling with, recently, it seemed a useful term to know.

What I'm listening to right now.

The Rural Alberta Advantage, "On The Rocks."

 [daily log: walking, 5 km]

Caveat: Confirmation Bias

Found Online / Philosophy & Cultural Criticism / Quotable

This seems like a kind of extreme case of a sort of confirmation bias:

"If no one comes from the future to stop you from doing it then how bad of a decision can it really be?" - This was circulating online, and as far as I can figure out it originated from Will Farrell (comedian).

[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

 

Caveat: Non-Argument

Banalities & Journaling / Kids / Teaching & Methodology / The Wonders of Work

My student Soyeon, a third-grader, was arguing about how I was allotting points in class. When a student gets a wrong answer, I go to the next, and if that next student gets the right answer, that student gets the point. The exception, however, is if the question is binary choice: true/false, or only two choices a/b. If the first student is wrong, then I just announce, no, it's the other one, and we move to the next question. Soyeon either didn't realize this was my procedure, or felt it was unfair in some way. She was arguing with me. It was one of those passionate kid-arguments over something seemingly trivial – she seemed on the verge of tears.

So I took the time to try to explain the procedure. I went back over the last few questions we'd done in the workbook, showing how for the true/false ones, we'd simply moved on. She seemed to be understanding, but she still was saying "It's not fair." Her English is remarkably good, actually.

Finally, I said, "I think you just like to argue."

She sat back. "No. I don't."

"Really, you like to argue."

"No! It's not true. I don't like to argue."

"You're arguing now."

"No I'm not."

She sat back, though, thinking this through. I knew that she knew and was comfortable with the word "argue" as she'd used it earlier, correctly, talking about the story we were reading.

There was no real resolution. We moved on. But at the end of class, she said very cheerfully, "Bye!" so I guess she got over it.

[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]

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