tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72070521120746200702024-03-19T21:14:23.486+09:00Mike of KoreaMike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-36803581152677817702022-01-21T23:11:00.003+09:002022-01-21T23:11:33.101+09:00Thinking During Winter<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxs1MQezBsg_oWcznXpkzxye-wK2IUWLklRBhAjazpuFopzB7-GNBqdhRvPJr7ykSrFr9LfOQGncnsYP-24Q7ieCAYwsGTQVgoXyehvu2YRYzTtSt9AShkJ_y7htu1S4ehM6U_ul-cevtt/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="402" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxs1MQezBsg_oWcznXpkzxye-wK2IUWLklRBhAjazpuFopzB7-GNBqdhRvPJr7ykSrFr9LfOQGncnsYP-24Q7ieCAYwsGTQVgoXyehvu2YRYzTtSt9AShkJ_y7htu1S4ehM6U_ul-cevtt/w244-h200/SeonHanJa.png" width="244" /></a></div>With winter here, there is a lot of time to reflect. Lately, the temperatures have been bitter, often single digits Fahrenheit and below. <p></p><p>I sometimes go outside and contemplate projects for the spring and summer. One major project will be a vegetable garden. The spot chosen is on a slight downward slant and gets sun all day. They tell me to start out small, just a few vegetables. That sounds like good advice since having a garden would be something new for me.</p><p>One other major project will be a stupa/pagoda in honor of the Buddha and his Dharma. Right now, the area is a wildflower garden, but not really a garden. It's just where I don't mow in the summer, and wildflowers thrive there. If I tend the wildflower area around the pagoda, it should look nice. I have some roof tiles from ancient temple ruins in Korea, and those will go inside the pagoda. Maybe under the pagoda I'll create a hollow to put in a time capsule of sorts. </p><p>Right now, though, it's cold and snow-covered, so I just stand and think while bundled up tight from the wind. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-54805366557485587022020-03-07T23:57:00.001+09:002020-03-07T23:57:29.963+09:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7mLYJ1KS4ks/XmO1DIXOImI/AAAAAAAAMOI/_x3avszG6UAQfDvw_pcxwo9IzqaJ1c8aACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Cottage2020Winter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7mLYJ1KS4ks/XmO1DIXOImI/AAAAAAAAMOI/_x3avszG6UAQfDvw_pcxwo9IzqaJ1c8aACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Cottage2020Winter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I have not kept up this blog at all! I found a couple drafts and I posted them, but three and four years after I wrote them.<br />
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This is the cottage on the Buddha Nature Temple property here in Fairview. We didn't have much snow this year, but it did drift over the driveway a few times. The weather is now starting to warm up, so this will all melt soon.<br />
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This summer, work will begin on the construction of the Buddha Hall and stupa/pagoda. I will try to write a few words about that project as it moves along. With a Buddha Hall it will be more convenient to invite folks who are friendly to Buddhism to come by for meetings and discussions. My cottage is unfinished inside, so I daren't invite people now. Maybe, if the funds appear, I can put some walls in the cottage to cover the insulation.Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-15258266216976282212017-11-15T18:35:00.000+09:002020-03-07T23:50:49.255+09:00<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This past summer, I had the opportunity to get some work done at the temple property in Fairview. I leveled about one acre for the main building area and marked out where the cottage will go.</div>
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I also put money down on the cottage which will be built by the Amish fellows at North Star in Mio. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Milkweed at the temple property</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6laLCPA6J_I/WgwIUNMRY8I/AAAAAAAAJcA/Jk-3xIKoMTwJaT7gg8LFRKSUKd3gw9BOQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1280" height="239" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6laLCPA6J_I/WgwIUNMRY8I/AAAAAAAAJcA/Jk-3xIKoMTwJaT7gg8LFRKSUKd3gw9BOQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_7321.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A storm coming toward the temple property</td></tr>
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Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-51864117728711842072016-01-26T08:51:00.000+09:002020-03-07T23:51:20.499+09:00Australia I have spent the last ten days in Western Australia. Being January, the weather has been the equivalent of July in the northern hemisphere with the climate similar in most ways to mid and southern California. <br />
My hosts have been extremely generous. They bought my plane ticket to come here, though their jobs have kept them away from the house up to twelve and even fourteen hours a day! Therefore, my time is spent mostly alone riding trains and buses around the area and miles upon miles of walking. <br />
Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-69483061037070064372016-01-12T21:51:00.000+09:002016-01-12T21:53:58.380+09:00The one about templestay I was reading an excerpt from Catherine Price at <a href="http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/news/101-places-not-to-see-before-you-die" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Wildmind</span> </a>recently in which she described a templestay experience in Korea. Her experience is precisely what I have thought of the concept of templestay and the supposed value of its practice. Even though I'm a Buddhist and visit temple often, there is a reason I've never succumbed to the lure of templestay. The life of a Buddhist monk is one of strict discipline, ordered regimen, elaborate ceremony, and attention to minute details of form and style. <br />
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The rationale for such a culture is that it is supposed to reflect the karmic results of following the Dharma. It reminds me of the college I attended which believed a devout christian can become completely immune to the temptation to sin through a certain mystical experience. However, a rigid system of behavior enforced members of the college to act as though they had had this experience, whether they actually had or not. Heavenly perfection was simulated through unbending rules and ceremony, very much like life in the temples.<br />
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It's not my place to disparage the practices of the monks and nuns of the temples. They live how they've chosen to live, fed by centuries of tradition. It gives a unique peace of mind to not have to think about how to do something, where to put something, or when to do this and that. It's all laid out in detail and has been for generations. I admire the beauty of it and the stalwart nature of those who choose to live that way.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33oh6dyMS0M/VpTz4DD2KQI/AAAAAAAAIsc/3K40ezhTgfI/s1600/Pradesh%2BIndia%2BBuddha2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33oh6dyMS0M/VpTz4DD2KQI/AAAAAAAAIsc/3K40ezhTgfI/s320/Pradesh%2BIndia%2BBuddha2.jpg" width="221" /></a> However, it's not how I feel the Dharma. The natural chaos of the universe, the lack of design in the nature of the world, that's how I experience the Dharma, a lively conversation among all things everywhere all the time. That doesn't mean I can't focus on the moment or perceive the karmic values of my choices. It just means that I don't see the need to force patterns upon randomness. I don't see the need to square circles or flatten hills. I don't see the need to pass the day sleep deprived because I had to observe a ceremony nor to place my dinnerware with an unyielding exactitude on the placemat and eat the food it in a particularly ordered manner.<br />
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Living out the Dharma is not a matter of discipline; it's a matter of staying pointed in the right direction. It doesn't matter whether you walk the Path in boots, sandals, or barefoot so long as you walk the Path. Mind your behavior. Guard your speech. Watch your step. But for goodness' sake, don't worry about whether your chopsticks are on the correct side of the dish or whether you've performed the right number of prostrations. <br />
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Mindfulness is not punctiliousness. </div>
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<br />Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-75244603671393852532016-01-08T00:54:00.000+09:002016-01-08T00:56:50.765+09:00The one about a letter to a friend A while back, after years of study and, at the time, prayer, I had no choice but to conclude that there never was a person Jesus of Nazareth. The facts were so blatant that to this day I'm embarrassed that I ever did once accept the concept of an historical Jesus. Consequently, in my writings and letters, this sometimes comes across either consciously or unconsciously as a matter of fact, which I think it is, but I don't always intend to make it a focal point. <br />
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However, not everyone does accept the non-existence of Jesus as a matter of fact, and one friend decided to challenge me on the issue. He and I attended christian college years ago, but as I began to move away from faith, he moved even deeper into it. It wasn't unexpected, therefore, when he demanded that I defend my claim that Jesus never existed, but I avoided responding to that for a long time because I knew it would be a futile effort. My friend had no intention of looking objectively at my findings; he wanted merely to hear statements that he could attempt to refute. <br />
People of faith find it exceedingly difficult to let their faith live apart from dogmatism. Their faith is almost always so intimately bound to scripture or systematic theology that it cannot survive without it. My friend is one such man of faith, a faith linked completely to scripture and his sect's system of theology based on that scripture and nothing else.<br />
Having spent years reading history and historical method, my desire to slog through a written debate via snail mail didn't appeal to me, especially when I knew the other person didn't have the resources to do his own argument justice and was not predisposed to listen objectively to my side of the argument. I needed to respond, though, if for no other reason than to demonstrate respect and affection for my friend.<br />
The letter ended up being short, devoid of many details in order to limit my friend's ability to launch some refutation. It's not that I fear argument but rather I know how it feels to face the truth, the facts of reality in full force that place one's faith in question. Though I want my friend to give up his faith and come to accept reality, it's important that each person do this in his own time, in his own way. <br />
When a person feels compelled by reason to abandon one of the most important aspects of his life, it can cause suffering that may lead to greater problems than being a believer causes. However, if my letter can warm him up to the subject and set him on his own adventure to reach the truth, that is enough.<br />
As a Buddhist, I find it painful to deliberately cause suffering. That is karma: the nature of every result is the nature of its cause. If I had written a letter ridiculing my friend's faith and offering chapter after chapter of research which only the most stubborn fool would dispute, the result would be of the same nature, and the relationship with my friend would be damaged.<br />
Since I am not a believer, it is ultimately irrelevant to me whether my friend keeps or loses his faith. However, my friend is important to me, and to cause undue suffering is repugnant. Being right at the cost of love is a hollow victory. That's the most important thing to remember when dealing with family and friends who are believers. When stating your ideas to loved ones, say them in a spirit consistent with that love.<br />
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<br />Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-35738732606124831162015-12-08T09:14:00.001+09:002015-12-08T09:14:17.787+09:00The one about Truth and Reality<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is a quote from the Buddha in Nyanatiloka Thera's book <i>The Buddha's Path to Deliverance</i> that I have not only highlighted, but am making a calligraphy copy to put in my room here in Korea:</span><div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><i>"Undisturbed shall our mind remain, no evil words shall escape our lips; friendly and full of sympathy shall we remain, with heart full of love, free from any hidden malice."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It isn't that I observe this perfectly, but it is guidance from the Buddha to inspire me daily to correct my behavior, to live the right way despite any temptations to do otherwise. There is no guarantee that living rightly will take away all trials and troubles. There is no afterlife salvation to be gained, either. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The only reward for behaving rightly is the behavior itself.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some may say that this isn't enough. They don't want to lose opportunities by having to respect others, by having to be fair and honest in their dealings. They want. They desire. They crave.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We know this stems from ignorance, but ignorance can't be dispelled by force. Ignorance is uprooted not by the force of violence but by steady erosion which little by little undermines it, and grain by grain washes ignorance away. Once we let go of ignorance, we see the truth of reality. We see things as they really are. And we marvel at how long we resisted it! That is what we call salvation, seeing truth as it is, face to face, and letting that truth govern our every word and every deed.</span></div>
Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-1093307804504609972015-11-29T16:10:00.001+09:002015-11-29T16:14:02.658+09:00Why I Am Leaving Facebook<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--UW9HIK1eNs/VlqhPX6l_qI/AAAAAAAAIkU/YE2wZi5P9NI/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-11-29%2Bat%2B3.54.10%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--UW9HIK1eNs/VlqhPX6l_qI/AAAAAAAAIkU/YE2wZi5P9NI/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-11-29%2Bat%2B3.54.10%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a> Facebook is that social wildfire that has caught us all up with the people from our past and keeps us ever aware of the shiny trinkets of civilization that grab the attention of our friends, family, and acquaintances. <br />
What have I learnt from my time on Facebook? First, my Facebook friends and I really don't hold the same views on much of anything. Some unfriended me early on when my liberal values appeared on my timeline, but others just decided to edit what they see and exclude me from <b>their </b>timelines. We don't see each other's postings, and that includes all the neutral things like outings in the park, trips to faraway lands, and even those cute photos of my darling cats. So why stay Facebook friends? <br />
Facebook is just reflecting real life. We grew apart and lost touch for reasons that our Facebook moments just iterate again and again. We have little to nothing in common except that we attended the same college or the same high school or served in the same unit in the army or worked in the same department. The memories are both good and bad. Did I think Facebook would erase the bad ones or make new good ones? I think I did.<br />
Reflecting on why I started doing Facebook, it was probably curiosity mixed with nostalgia. Maybe some part of me thought it was possible to pick up where we left off all those years ago. That's unrealistic, and I should have known it. The past is what it was and can't be frozen and thawed later like a delicious lasagna. Each one of us moved on in the directions we chose. Our paths crossed once for a time, but then we crossed other paths, and the web of our social intercourse grew with a life of its own, mostly out of our control, widening every year the gaps and chasms between us. I need to let the past be on its own terms. It's foolish to impose my current condition upon what was, hoping to relive a happy moment here and there.<br />
There is another reason for me to leave Facebook. I have never been able to make solid social connections. I can't build lasting personal relationships. It's a flaw that a very small percentage of people have, and try as I might, it's just not going to get fixed.<br />
Facebook gives me the illusion of social connection. It is a sort of plaster over my flaw that allowed me to pretend I had personal relationships with these people. The reason I can't build personal relationships isn't clear, but it manifests itself with impatience and impertinence, often with acerbic attempts to make myself look clever or even better than others. The people on my Facebook should not be subjected to my little insults, my partisan banner waving and condescending attitude toward their religious faiths. I love them all, but they would never know it from how I behave.<br />
Leaving Facebook is from disappointment with myself and my lack of discipline. There are many places online where a person can be partisan, join in political debate, be a loud-mouthed asshole and ridicule the ideas of others. Facebook is not that place, but I did it anyway. I was the drunk uncle at Thanksgiving dinner ruining it for everybody else, and it pains me. <br />
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On New Year's Eve, I'll post something on Facebook for the last time, a farewell of sorts, though my online presence isn't disappearing entirely, though. Just Facebook. Withdrawal will be a bitch, but I'll work through it.Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-7830851931570681222015-09-14T10:09:00.001+09:002015-09-14T13:35:19.576+09:00The Really Green Party <div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The
Really Green Party </span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">or</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Why a Green Party
Webpage Banned Me</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">by</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Mike
Raymond</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Several
months ago, when I spoke up and suggested that our party leader, Dr.
Jill Stein, not run on a Green Party ticket for President because
Senator Bernie Sanders holds nearly identical views with Dr. Stein, I
encountered a number of Green Party supporters who castigated me
soundly for that position. My defense was that we should focus our
resources on support for Green candidates at lower levels of
government and not compete with Senator Sanders for the White House
since he has a better chance of winning that race than Dr. Stein has.
My rationale has been that Bernie Sanders can take our Green causes
and ideals to a national stage whereas Dr. Stein more than likely
could not. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> The
Democratic Party race and convention will be front page news next
year, and if a candidate speaks up for Green ideals even though not
being in the Green Party, I thought that would be a better way to
help more people see the value of causes such as the preservation of
our environment, stopping war and teaching peace, ending government
corruption, eliminating the theft of wealth by the one percent,
healing the rift in race relations, and improving the health and
stability of the working class in America. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> The
causes and ideals that the Green Party represents are what I feel is
in the best interests of the future of the United States and of the
world in general. I speak up for these causes; but I am not under
the illusion that these noble ideals must be wrapped only in the
Green Party banner. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> If a Democrat, Libertarian, or even a
Republican were to say, for example, we must stop polluting our water
supplies and dumping oil in our oceans, I would cheer and support
that person in that endeavor. As the old saying goes, “The proof
of the pudding is in the eating.” I don't care if it's served on a
ceramic plate, in a wooden bowl, or wrapped in a newspaper. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> The
causes are greater than any one person; the ideals are more valuable
than any one party. For comments and questions along these lines, I
was thrown out of the Green Party USA Facebook discussions and banned
from contributing to or even reading that page any longer.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Dr.
Stein and the Green Party hold high ideals and harbor a love for our
country and our world that is rarely matched among us. But let's stop
being party shills, break the mould, and start being spokespeople for
ideas. It is ideas that have power and yield consequences, not
political parties. A political party is a messenger for its ideas,
not an end in itself. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> The
Green Party presidential candidate wants to be in the presidential
debates, and that would be a beautiful step in the direction of
democracy in America. I suggest, though, that in the interest of
integrity and honesty, Green Party operatives stop punishing their
own people for expressing their opinions and offering their ideas.
We are not mindless robots meant simply to drone the party mantras.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> We
should allow free discussion without resorting to emotional outbursts
or excessively legalistic wrangling and nitpicking. If we won't
allow free debate among ourselves without censorship or banning each
other, then by what right has the Green Party to ask the nation to
let our candidate debate the other candidates in a national forum?</span></div>
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Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-29071818419556754782014-07-07T23:49:00.000+09:002014-07-07T23:49:06.242+09:00Emptiness When you stop and think about it, there isn't a thing in the universe that can say its existence is independent. Matter-Energy is all that exists, and the distinctions we make among the objects of the universe are merely the convenience of language. I'm now looking at a bamboo flute I keep on my desk. The bamboo itself is dependent on previous generations of bamboo, a seed, soil, rain, and sun, and each of those is dependent on preexisting causes. A person cut the bamboo with a knife whose steel was worked in a factory that someone planned and built. One could go back and back listing all the contingencies that created this little flute by which I amuse myself from time to time.<br /> For convenience, we say the flute is a thing in and of itself, but the reflective mind knows better. Its current form is caused by millions of earlier causes; there would be no flute without all these earlier events and conditions. We could presumably say that behind its form and our perceptions of the form and our knowledge of how to use the form there is no flute per se. This object is a construct of the mind. This is how we arrive at the knowledge of the emptiness of all things.<br /> Of course, you have to be careful where you say such a thing. Someone will smack you over the head with a stick, and while you wince, they'll say, “Looks real to me.” They don't get that the Buddha's teaching isn't that something is unreal but that it's empty of permanence. They are not the same thing. Obviously all the atoms and molecules are here and now joined up into a particular form that we can recognize and take advantage of. Emptiness is that an object is not in and of itself. It cannot exist by itself. There is no Platonic “form” out there somewhere from which each object in the universe is a poor copy.<br /> Emptiness is central to what the Buddha taught us because until we can perceive that objects have no real nature from within themselves, we will not wake up from the dream of the mundane. I remember a playful argument in college one day in which a friend of mine and I were out walking and saw that someone had taken an old wooden door and bolted it to a couple sawhorses. I remarked to my friend what a big table it was, and my friend responded, “It's not a table. It's a door.” You can imagine how this conversation went on and on about the nature of objects: it's table because of its use, and it's a door because of how it was originally made. This is how people become distracted from a true perception of the universe. We look so closely at particulates that we no longer perceive the whole.<br /> Apart from the objects we encounter every day, there is also ourselves to take into account. The eye that sees is not an eye all by itself. Billions of contingent causes present us our current eye. The same is true of all our other sense organs. If any of the contingent causes had not occurred, there would be no sensation of sight, touch, taste, and so forth. We all know about the proverbial tree falling in the woods without a soul to hear it. Did it then make a sound? There is a level of truth in this old philosophical exercise. Without someone to sense sound, there is no sound. Without someone to smell, there is no fragrance. This is the principle of emptiness: everything in the universe is connected and inter-reliant. <br /> Recently I was thinking about my region of northeastern Michigan. That part of the state was inhabited by Potowatomi settlements before the English and American settlers arrived. On my desktop I have an old French map from the 18th century of the local places on the two peninsulas, and I recognized several modern place names but with very different spellings. It occurred to me that these names were the only relics of these settlements. The aboriginal inhabitants left no structures whatsoever as they were displaced. When I was a child, they taught us in school about the loggers and French missionaries, but they never taught us about the aboriginal people. They mentioned them but never taught us about them. I always wondered about that and learned about them on my own.<br /> There was a thriving civilization of people in northern Michigan, yet there is no physical trace of them. Europeans developed a need for permanence and built marvelous edifices of stone to last for centuries and millennia. You can find houses in France that have had inhabitants for hundreds of years uninterrupted. There are churches, abbeys, palaces, and forts that are a thousand years old. But you do not find such things in Michigan despite the many centuries of native habitation. So I asked myself why not.<br /> I believe it is because the local people recognized that permanence is impossible. They didn't entertain the notion in philosophical musing; they understood it as real and incorporated it into their civilization. Homes were for shelter from the elements and little else. They were not meant to stand for ever as a challenge to Nature and Time. What use are monuments when those for whom they are erected are gone and those who erect them will be gone soon themselves? To live simply and allow the natural cycle of birth and death to continue unimpeded is a much greater monument to a civilization than piles of stone to the memory of people we never knew.<br /> Sometimes my mind wanders and wants me to play the game of permanence that my European ancestors passed down to me: A fancy home of granite, my name on a bronze plaque, a monument in the town park. Of course, it's just a game, and it's fun to play, but fortunately the wiser side of my mind always reminds me that even granite and bronze aren't really permanent. Nothing is. And I don't feel deprived because of it. I feel a sense of propriety, that this is the way things are, and I'm plugged into it no different than any other life form. It makes me feel connected, and that's comforting. <br /> If you ask anyone if there is anything in the universe that is permanent, they'll probably say no. It's part of some common sense that we all have inside us, but so many people don't like it and live as though it weren't true. They prefer the dream. <br /> Recently I remember responding to someone on Facebook with this comment: Those who are asleep think the dream is real. I heard that somewhere a long time ago but don't remember the circumstances. However, it has stuck with me for a long time and is kind of my personal motto. In the dream, we can do whatever we like and can guide the consequences to our favor. In the dream, our loved ones are not gone, our mistakes are forgotten, and we always win at checkers. But life in the dream isn't real, and when we wake up, that moment of realization contains different emotions. We can be surprised or disappointed or something else depending on the nature of the dream. Whatever the emotion, we still get up, get dressed and live our lives.<br /> Some people do live in miserable circumstances, and the dream world is so much better than the real world. However, nothing is really ever accomplished in the dream. It's an unproductive existence. What achievements have you earned in the dream? What self-improvement have you attained in the dream? Whose life have you bettered in the dream? When we pretend that there is permanence and independent existence, it's a dream. Our growth becomes stunted. Our path becomes not a way forward but a circuit.<br /> Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-26779161897512461492014-03-16T07:29:00.001+09:002014-03-16T07:29:11.621+09:00Korean Government Thugs On A Rampage in Seoul's Rich District<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Fj4IPtsiuWY" width="480"></iframe>Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-38638569180608527342014-02-12T08:30:00.001+09:002014-02-12T08:30:38.241+09:00The Korean ModelRecently someone posted on Facebook about how standardized testing in America is not creating the brave new world that well-meaning educators had envisioned. <br />
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Children are less and less likely to enjoy unstructured liberty to play and explore what interests them and are more likely to be on strict schedules of pre-designed activities leading toward specified goals. It's a disaster in the making, and let's hope we oldsters are out of the way when these modern children are ready to take over the world. The results will be horrific.<br />
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This phenomenon is not just American and has not escaped the country I live in, South Korea, any more than any other country. The Asian model has always stressed testing, so it isn't a huge cultural shift for them as it is among Western people. However, to put it plainly, it's wrong. Testing is supposed to measure a person's skill, to inform learner and instructor where more attention must be paid. It's gone well beyond this simple definition now.<br />
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In today's South Korea, testing is not just a measure; it's a purgatory. It's a trial by fire where only the hardest will come through in tact. This has extended to my field as well: the English language. When I was trained in San Francisco to teach English to non-native speakers, the foremost goal always was fluency. Learners came to us in order to function better in society. They needed to know how to ask and understand about public transportation, grocery items, weather forecasts, driving instructions, the mundane use of English most of us take for granted. This is how it should be.<br />
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Language is to convey our thoughts to others and to understand in like manner. What happens, though, when you must learn a language for which you see no need to master? You end up learning how it works, like how clock wheels make the hands move. You may be able to answer the question, "What part of a clock allows the pallets to release the escape wheel slowly thereby activating the clock train?" However, can you take these pieces and recreate a working clock? Probably not. Understanding <i>how</i> something works is not the same as being able to use that knowledge practically.<br />
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A clock maker test will involve one thing only: Can this person assemble a clock that works? A language test should do the same: Can this person communicate a clear train of thought with purpose? That's often not what we do in Korea, though. In Korea, we chop up the language into many pieces and ask learners to answer questions <i>about</i> the pieces. We do not put them in practical situations and ask them to put their skills to the real challenge of communication. We are not measuring their real abilities to help them improve; we are defying them to produce theoretical results to theoretical questions. This is a cruel methodology.<br />
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Korea has chosen to require all school children to study how English works. Therefore, student numbers in classrooms are large, too large for language practice, so instructors have no choice but to present theoretical language and measure theoretical responses. Korea has also grown frightened of the presence of so many foreign English instructors in their country. They find new reasons to place onerous restrictions on all English teachers, not just the bad ones. Many of the instructors that do come to Korea are either poorly informed in the field of language acquisition or oblivious to it altogether. The schools encourage English teachers to get Masters degrees in order to teach English, but it is not necessary for the needs at hand. A Masters degree will not magically make you a good language guide.<br />
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The Koreans are floundering in a sea of English teachers, yet their people are not mastering the language. They blame the teachers, and in some ways, they are right to do so. The teachers are not trained in language acquisition skills but once in Korea are given little opportunity for professional development in the field. Koreans see no need to permit short-term visa holders any time for self-improvement in the field of English language education, and an English teacher is given only a one-year visa with a one-year contract. This is one of the most destructive aspects of Korea's attempt to learn English. Their immigration policy for language teachers is nothing short of calamitous.<br />
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Most teachers coming to Korea have no knowledge of a second language beyond the rudiments of textbook French or Spanish. English teachers are not required to learn Korean while here even though knowledge of the local language can do nothing but enhance English language guidance. "English Only" in the classroom is another ruinous policy with few to defend its continued use. The learners are not living in an English-speaking country; 'English only' in the Korean classroom is a cop-out for lazy teachers who do not want to learn the local language, and a language teacher who is not interested in learning language raises more than one red flag.<br />
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So how do we change this dangerous trajectory? We provide daily interaction for English-speaking residents to learn and practice Korean language so that they will better understand their learners. We stop this national fear of foreigners and stop passing laws punishing foreigners for wanting to teach here. We give experienced teachers multiple-year visas to allow them time to settle in and adapt to Korean society. We bring in regular people from English speaking countries, people with and without degrees, families, high school exchange students, FFA boys and girls, scouts, retired people, all sorts of folks who would enjoy the country without the need of lesson plans and syllabuses. We set up a visa for them that isn't academic-based. We establish places where they can interact positively with Koreans in real life situations rather than in over-crowded classrooms and cram schools. We make language learning for everyone a real communicative part of life rather than a grueling chore.<br />
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<br />Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-76020936488104481542013-11-05T15:09:00.000+09:002013-11-05T15:09:41.122+09:00Used NapkinsAs a Youtube content creator, such that it is, I've had the occasion recently to ponder the difference between a stalker and a fan. I've had people show interest in me personally because of my videos, and rather than being wary, I've welcomed it. My video channel is to express myself, the real me, so what you see in the videos is basically me, after I've edited out the nose-picking and butt-scratching parts.<div>
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A stalker can be a fan, but a fan isn't necessarily a stalker. There is a line between an overtly interested fan and an annoying creep, though it probably isn't exactly the same among content creators. A fan may thoroughly enjoy the topic of the channel and feel connected to the channel creator because the two share the same passions. Internet etiquette being what it is, I'm sure a fan oversteps propriety now and again in his or her enthusiasm to connect with the person who makes the videos about things the fan really likes. A fan wants to know about the content maker, wants to see if there are other subjects of interest between them, wants to make a deeper connection than the typical viewer. Youtube is not really comparable to Hollywood, but if you think of a fan who is interested in a movie actor, the fan spends extra time reading about the actor and learning all sorts of things that help the fan feel connected to the actor.</div>
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Most people would consider a stalker to be someone who has crossed a line of some sort. Again, if you look at the Hollywood analogy, a stalker does things like follow the actor around town, intrude upon the actor's private moments with friends, send a continual stream of mail, and even enter the actor's private property. A stalker may not be dangerous, but his or her behavior disrupts the actor's life much more than a normal fan would. Do Youtube content creators have stalkers? Yes, they do, and they are similar to what Hollywood actors deal with. They intrude upon the personal lives of Youtube personalities and their attention-seeking amounts to harassment. </div>
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What is the line then between the two levels of fandom? First, it's a matter of intent. If a content creator feels a fan is crossing the line, he or she should say something to get an idea whether the fan has more on the mind than simply trying to relate with the maker of the videos more deeply. I'm flattered when people who watch my videos send me messages and want to know things about me. Not everyone feels this way, so those people may need to express where their particular fan line is and understand that exuberance isn't necessarily stalking. Give your fans a break and say what you're comfortable with and what you're not.</div>
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I'm a fan myself of several Youtube content creators, but I don't think I've ever crossed the line into stalkerhood despite my special interest in certain video producers who intrigue me with their skill, knowledge, and personalities. So give your viewers a break, give your fans a break, because a fan may just be a socially clumsy individual who likes the stuff you do so much that he or she wants to relate on a deeper level. A stalker wants to steal your used napkins; a fan just wants you to acknowledge their admiration.</div>
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That is all. Return to work everyone!</div>
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Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-35838009095073918952013-06-27T07:35:00.001+09:002013-06-27T13:25:15.073+09:00Turn Off the Television<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This year I'm not visiting the United
States, but for the last several years I have spent my summers in
America. It has given me the opportunity to put real life next to
the news reporting that comes off the Internet. I have seen year
after year how my home country is declining in every way possible.</div>
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Since the Reagan Administration, the
quality of life for most families in the United States has dropped
considerably. The infrastructure has rusted and crumbled at a
constant rate. Megastores and malls have replaced downtown shopping,
requiring a motorized vehicle for almost every daily activity. Home
foreclosures are running amok; and television, ubiquitous television,
that big box in the family room and probably several other rooms in
the house that eat up your power bill and captivate you and your
loved ones every day for hours on end.
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Let's say we have the opportunity for
someone to come and watch American culture for a month or so.
Afterward, we ask this visitor to give a critique of the culture of
the United States, why it has so many problems. I can guarantee you
that the visitor's assessment will not mention people in love, gay or
not, even once. People in love do not destroy the world. They make
it better. They put a smile on our faces. People in love raise
loving children and participate positively in their communities. No,
love will not be in the visitor's assessment. The critique of
American culture's absolute failure will include how television has
kept the American people isolated, uninformed, misinformed, fed a
mental diet equivalent to pig slop, submitted to a stream of
advertisements one after the other whose only purpose is to make people lust for material things, exposed to television programming that runs twenty-four hours a day every single day of the year, tickled to giggle at insults and dirty
jokes, prodded to howl like animals at every young body paraded in
front of the camera, witness to thousands of horrific death scenes
delivered in some of the most bizarre methods Hollywood technicians
can create, and the glorification of money, if not excess, the
lip-licking greed that drives capitalism.</div>
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The next time a respected member of
society gets on television to tell you gay people will ultimately
destroy America, just think about what medium he is using and turn
off your television. Go out and find some gay couples and get to know
them. Find out what's what before you run off to fulfill the
nightmare prophesies you heard on the idiot box. Television is not
your friend. Even though you will argue, sometimes heatedly, that
“there are some good things” on television, you are just grasping
at straws. Watch a one-hour documentary on ducklings, and count how
many minutes the capitalists inserted their advertisements at strange
moments in the program. How can you say you watched an hour long
documentary when you in fact watched a 35 minute documentary? The
program was produced only as a background for the advertising scheme.
If you still watch television, then you are what's wrong with
America. You are destroying America, and you're too cowardly and
misinformed to admit it. It's just easier to find some people in
society that most folks hate and blame them for the ills you are
creating. That is the true fruit of watching television: sheer
laziness.</div>
Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-29335503304327645862013-03-29T22:01:00.002+09:002013-03-29T22:05:04.348+09:00Easter TimeIt's Easter weekend, or as I was taught in seminary to call it, "Pascal Triduum". Though I'm an atheist today, the observation of Easter is still a ritual touchstone of my year. Winter entices from me a depth of loathing that I cannot fairly articulate, so at the first signs of spring, you will easily notice my impatience with winter's residual chill. Every walk in the park encourages me to inspect the progress of leaf buds on low-hanging tree limbs. The earliest blossoms cause rejoicing untold. The death of winter is over, and I'm glad to be free of it.<br />
This is the cycle of Nature. Life leads to death, but what is dead does not return; it reciprocally nourishes life. Life cannot be without death. You don't need special training to see this. If you eat food, you experience this truth graphically. Nature is change culminating in death, and beliefs otherwise are misleading.<br />
The spring festival of Easter is about life, however, that winter has passed and new life is rising out of the coldness of death. The myth of Jesus serves as a metaphor of Nature's seasonal ritual, and I really don't mind that. The hymns of resurrection are not, to me, about a God-Man raised from the grave; they are poetic license, imagery that elicits joy at the arrival of spring's new life.<br />
The believers may revel in their hapless naiveté, but I'll gladly dance with them and sing their hymns of life-affirming joy, because the glory of spring is not the misguided and childish notions of religion but rather the childlike pleasures of grass, warm breezes, the scent of magnolias, and the twitter of birds in the trees.<br />
"Rejoice and sing now, all the round earth,<br />
bright with a glorious splendor,<br />
for darkness has been vanquished...."<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Quote: <i>Exsultet</i> of the Great Vigil of Easter</span><br />
<br />Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-52961807770916334912012-06-11T10:23:00.001+09:002012-06-11T10:23:22.489+09:00Google Has Justified Me<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">After some hesitation, or more, I have come back to the blog and mated it to my Google account.</span></i><br />
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"For one believes with the heart and so is justified."<br />
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That's from the Letter to the Romans in the New Testament. Being justified is a big deal among evangelical and fundamentalist cults of christ, but when I listened to christ cultists talk about it, I experienced a frightening realization. They see their belief as a sort of magic pill that literally justifies whatever behavior they want. I grew up hearing about justification by faith and accepting that so long as I have faith in christ, I am in a continual state of forgiveness for my actions. There is nothing I can do to cause God to condemn me so long as I retain my belief in the philosophical proposition of justification.<br />
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"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in christ Jesus."<br />
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The attraction of the christ religions is this assurance of complete forgiveness and continual justification no matter what the believer does. When I was a believer, I attended a wide range of cult assemblies but heard this one consistent message throughout: A believer's behavior is justified because of the death of christ. I have sat in churches in many places and heard exclamations from the congregants such as, "Justify me, Lord!" "I am justified! Amen!" This is the bedrock of the christ religions, but it is also the most sinister aspect of their cult.<br />
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If a person can do whatever he likes and be assured of God's favor, based on faith, what moral foundation can they claim? Morality is right action. Of course, there is disagreement about what is "right", but the discussion and debate revolve around the accepted concept that some actions are right and some actions are not right. If someone dismisses this entire concept, morality becomes an esoteric notion rather than a realistic means of keeping the peace.<br />
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"All things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial."<br />
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The christians have all manner of public caveats to satisfy general society that the cult of christ is not licentious, but it was obviously an important point in the early history of the church. It was put in the bible, so it must have had value and meaning to them. Christians viewed (and mostly still do view) themselves as above man-made rules. (Let's suspend reality for a moment and pretend that the bible isn't a man-made collection of literature.) If you believe that all your actions are justified because of your faith in christ and that all things are technically permissible, you are, strictly speaking, a sociopath. If you look at the way the church is attempting to intimidate government into adopting cult principles, how the cults of christ are forcing public compliance with their rituals, the murders of doctors and gay people with the universal praise of the cult communities, the insertion of bogus and deceitful messages into school textbooks, the glorification of war in the Middle East as anticipatory of christ's coming, the vitriol spat out hourly against the President, against free thinkers, against anyone who isn't in the cults. By faith they claim justification for all these sociopathic actions.<br />
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To counter this false philosophy and dangerous cultic dogma, I propose Man stop believing that unright actions are justified. They are not. We are called by the uncountable eons of evolution and the goodness within us to live right without caveats and qualifications, without the flippant excuse of faith to justify us. We are called not to ask a mystical spirit in the sky to forgive us, but to seek forgiveness among ourselves for our human failures. We are called not to expect some inert divinity to justify our actions, but rather we are to control, discipline and govern ourselves so that our actions are right. The way of christ is lazy. No sacrifice is asked or expected, simply the idle assent to a philosophy of unremitting justification. In the real world, human beings must always sacrifice for the good of all and peace among us all. There is no sweet, easy deal with the gods, or even one of them, to get us out of that.<br />
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<i>Letter to the Romans</i> 10.10 and 8.1<br />
<i>First Letter to the Corinthians</i> 10.23<br />
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<br />Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-10984308312310244492012-03-16T12:26:00.001+09:002012-03-16T12:26:09.220+09:00The one about springWinter is a hard time for me. It gets cold in Korea, not as cold as my hometown in America, but it is still pretty cold. Riding my motorcycle is one of my favorite activities, but when the temperatures are low, ice often forms on the streets which makes riding dangerous. Walking in the cold is OK if the day is sunny. It is not pleasant, however, when the day is overcast and windy. Though it doesn't snow much where I live, when it does snow, the traffic is a nightmare and everything looks dirty and messy outside. Of course, heating the house is expensive. The utility bills in the winter are very high.<br />
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When spring finally appears, it is the happiest time of the year. This week spring is beginning here in Korea. There is still a tussle between the cold and the warm. One day is cold, the next warm, cold, then warm again. As the seasons wrestle, signs of new life begin to show on trees and bushes all over the city. There are little buds that will become leaves and blossoms in a matter of weeks. Rains caused by the conflict of warm fronts and cold fronts soak the earth to free up grass and flowers. Insects wriggle from their hiding places to search for food and mates as the promise of long, warm days rises with the sun. <br />
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I love spring and summer to the same degree I dislike winter. When winter is past, there is no love lost between us! Am I alone? Hardly! There are a lot of people who also don't like winter, people who rejoice at the longer days of spring and anticipate the coming warmth of summer. Count me among them. Good riddance, old man winter! Welcome, flowering spring! It's time to dust off the motorcycle and time to let the warm breezes buoy my spirits.Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-55632735027731807332012-03-04T18:53:00.001+09:002012-03-04T18:53:50.251+09:00The One About Tumbling Walls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TwOaVHaWCiQ/T1MvnJH9iCI/AAAAAAAABiw/F9dkkNRyFYM/s1600/At+Cypris+Village+IV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TwOaVHaWCiQ/T1MvnJH9iCI/AAAAAAAABiw/F9dkkNRyFYM/s400/At+Cypris+Village+IV.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I teach English to speakers of other languages. It isn't the career I had prepared and studied for, but in many ways it's the career that is best for me. Maybe that's the way life works; your personality, skills, and circumstances eventually guide you to where you ought to be.<br />
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On my own time, when I'm not teaching English at my university, there's a place I go to help other learners with their English language skills. It's online in the open secret of <a href="http://secondlife.com/whatis/?lang=en-US" target="_blank">Second Life</a>, the 3D environment where anyone with an internet connection is loosed from the bonds of location to venture beyond their home, their town, or their nation to a wider and wilder world created from the minds of artists, businesspeople, programmers, and many others, including people like me, teachers.<br />
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This is where learners from China and Korea sit side by side with those from Japan and Russia. A housewife in Estonia and a travel agent in Brasil practice speaking English with each other as though the 11,000 kilometers between them were but across the room. Teachers from America and Australia work together unfettered by the restrictions of place to help learners meet their goals, goals that include self-improvement, competence on the job or job advancement, more enjoyable travel opportunities, and more awareness and familiarity with the people and cultures of the broader world.<br />
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There's no money in doing this, but it isn't about money; it's about people. The world will only prosper and humankind will only advance when there is understanding between and among us. No, learning English is not the true and proper goal in itself. Learning English is only the walking-stick that supports us along the path up the steep grade of our human progress. Generations further up that path will not even realize how much language was a barrier to our common advancement but only because of the hard work we have been doing to build bridges, tunnels, and highways in communication now. Learning English, or any language, does not solve the problems between human beings, but it does help us get started. When the barriers of communication are breached, it will not be long before the walls come tumbling down.<br />
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<br />Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea35.8561719 129.224747735.8046939 129.14578369999998 35.9076499 129.3037117tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-34494306836857153192011-12-17T10:41:00.000+09:002011-12-17T10:41:01.475+09:00The one about leisureWhen Elder Scrolls 3, <i>Morrowind</i>, came out, I remember playing sometimes 15 hours straight. It was the first game like that I had ever experienced, and it was completely blowing me away. Before that, all I had ever played really was <i>Age of Empires</i>.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VuRXOa6K7RU/TuvmYhSl55I/AAAAAAAABhI/FrHpBNd6dac/s1600/Morrowind+Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VuRXOa6K7RU/TuvmYhSl55I/AAAAAAAABhI/FrHpBNd6dac/s320/Morrowind+Map.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
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That wasn't exactly good for me, though, playing long stretches at a time, so when Elder Scrolls 4, <i>Oblivion</i>, came out, I promised myself to play only two hours maximum at a time. </div>
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I ended up playing <i>Oblivion</i> hours on end, too, because it was just so cool and so much better than <i>Morrowind</i>, I honestly couldn't get enough of it. I even bought a new television to make the <i>Oblivion</i> experience all the better.</div>
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So now <i>Skyrim</i> has come out, Elder Scrolls 5. It's compelling just like the others in the series, but for some reason, I have not sat on the XBox hour after hour playing it. I have played for a couple hours then gone off to do other things, all without threatening myself or setting alarm clocks or anything more extraordinary than simply glancing at the clock and saying, "Hey, I want to go outside now." Maybe I'm finally growing up? Unlikely, but maybe.</div>
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The graphics and scripting and character interactions are the best ever in <i>Skyrim</i>. For the first few days of play, I really didn't do much except wander around the game world enjoying how beautiful it was, how the butterflies flew, how the grass waved in the breeze, how people chopped wood and smithed blades, as well as how the occasional sabertooth cat could slice me in two with one swipe. Fascinating.</div>
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But now I'm down to business and getting into the actual meat of gameplay. I got married in the game world so I could have a steady and daily flow of income from my spouse. That was never possible before. There are children in the game, too. Elder Scrolls games never had children characters before. A lot of the grooviest stuff must have come from the game makers' experience with <i>Fallout 3</i>, because there are aspects of <i>Skyrim</i> that remind me of <i>Fallout</i>, and some of the voice actors were also in <i>Fallout</i>. </div>
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Games like this are little escapes from reality, and that's not a bad thing. It's a hell of a lot better than watching television. TV as entertainment is a total waste of time. Everyone needs to have and enjoy meaningful leisure on a regular basis. My job affords me the time and opportunity to engage in several different leisure activities; <i>Skyrim</i> is just one. </div>
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I hope that you, too, have something fulfilling and fun and challenging to do when you are not working to make a living, be it reading great books, building things, fixing things, playing games, hiking, biking, or whatever. Make sure you create leisure for yourself regularly. It's what helps us stay sane in this crazy world.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">All the photos here are swiped from the Internet because I cannot find my Morrowind screen shots, and I never played Oblivion or Skyrim on anything other than the XBox where you can't take screenshots.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0South Korea, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gyeongju-si, Yonggang-dong, 1358-1035.860456911163553 129.2235356569290235.860054911163552 129.222918656929 35.860858911163554 129.22415265692902tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-19407452990011033332011-10-29T11:26:00.000+09:002011-10-29T11:26:37.714+09:00The one about improvement and attitude<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Before I came to Korea I had used chopsticks on and off and could at least get the food to my mouth without dropping it, well, most of the time anyway. Over the years I have lived here, my proficiency with chopsticks has improved off the scale, yet I noticed something a few years ago. I don't hold chopsticks the same way Koreans do, yet I can use chopsticks just as well as they can. In that little observation, a whole philosophy of learning appeared before my eyes. Proficiency lies not in technical imitation, but in the extent of usage. Tell someone to reach a goal, give him a pointer or two, and let him go. Given the opportunity to practice the skill, they will arrive at the goal, though maybe not the same way you had intended nor with the same style you expected. <br />
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Learning English (or any language) works the same way. However, here in Korea, many are obsessed with technical imitation which ultimately defeats most of them long before they gain suitable proficiency in the language. My observation isn't some novel approach to the whole English learning endeavor, because I have heard experienced English teachers say over and over that improvement comes with usage. Speak more, write more, listen more, read more, and your language skills will improve. However, instead of creating an abundance of opportunities for real and genuine use of English, many universities and communities in Korea discourage such things in favor of classroom rote and mimicry. For example, I have online conversation classes in the 3D virtual world of Second Life. Many of my learners appreciate that this environment compels them to use English extensively whether in my class setting or elsewhere in the online environment. The virtual reality allows a much more realistic use of the language than they find in a brick & mortar classroom. They can not only meet native English speakers as well as people from any number of other countries who use the English language within the virtual world, they can also exchange real and personal ideas and opinions in the common language and receive back the same from others. Usage improves skill. It's true with a hedge trimmer, it's true with pastry, it's true with language. However, our school is closing its presence in Second Life and enforcing the rule that language education must take place as though it were no different than a math, science, or history class. English is data to be learned, not a language to be used.<br />
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Another hindrance to learning, at our school anyway, is that the English speaking teaching staff are crowded into mass offices with many teachers per office. My students find it uncomfortable to come to my office, because there are eleven other teachers sitting there listening to them, and I am in the least populated office. It's intimidating, to the low level learner especially, to visit a teacher in this environment. The university thinks it's the teachers who just want private or semi-private offices for our own comfort, but the reality is, it's the students who suffer from this secretarial pool setting where they are too nervous to come see their teacher because it's like stepping on a stage in front of an audience. Nobody likes their problems or academic difficulties on display like that, especially if their language skills are minimal. It's like seeing your priest or rabbi for a personal problem while a dozen strangers are listening in. The university is discouraging student-English teacher interaction by denying the student-teacher privacy all other teachers at the university are favored with. If I were a student, I would not come see my teacher in a room full of strangers unless I absolutely had to, but that's what we see not just here but all across the realm of the Korean English education system. Our students don't come by our offices to talk; they come for incidental reasons. They come to take make-up tests. They come to turn in a late homework. They come to ask a quick question about when their midterm exam is. They come to bring a can of Pocari Sweat as a gift. They do not come to consult with the teacher to help them speak English better, because in a room of many other teachers, you cannot speak freely, you have to lower your voice, you are distracted. The Korean education system once again rallies to assert its time-tested recipe for failure.<br />
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There are thousands and thousands of native English speakers living in Korea, yet the schools and universities ignore us as a resource. We are just foreigners and workers who need to be controlled and constricted. Many of us have degrees in subjects that allow us to teach those subjects either in high schools or universities, yet the Koreans opt to use us only in "conversation" classes which meet once a week, if there isn't one of their innumerable holidays in the way of that. Unless we have fluency in Korean language, we are not allowed to teach our subjects which defeats the whole reason we are supposedly here in Korea in the first place, to provide opportunities for them to use English in real-life situations. The Koreans started this 'learn English' venture and invited the thousands and thousands of us here to help them fulfill it while at the same time tying our hands behind our backs, gagging us, and generally ensuring that we will not get too comfortable in their country. Some teachers stick it out because there are no jobs back home worth taking. Some stick it out because they believe there is no problem, that people like me are simply exaggerating Korean ineptitude. Some, though, just get sick of the hypocrisy and lip service to education and go where their contributions will be appreciated.<br />
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Koreans amaze me in many ways. They are obviously a long-established homogenous people. Their nation is so old that no language has survived that is related to Korean. That's pretty cool. Their general outlook on life and society can be thought-provoking and even admirable. It's their inflexibility that also amazes me, however. Their reticence to create or to innovate is holding them back too much. I love Korea, and I don't say that flippantly. Sure, I get irritated with the nuisances of daily life here, but so do native Koreans; when all is said and done, though, and I'm sitting at home with my cat on my lap and warm cup of tea in my hands, I can reflect and honestly say that I do love Korea. It's not from any malice that I bring up the serious inadequacies of the Korean approach to language education. It's because I know they can do better. It's because I know English is crucial to success in the modern world and I want every Korean to succeed. If Koreans don't come to grips with how language is learned and implement changes necessary to ensure the common language takes root in their country, they will not be nearly as successful as they could be. Korea, we are here for you, but if you don't change your attitude, we might not stay.Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-80185879669493264462011-10-04T11:50:00.001+09:002011-10-04T11:53:24.257+09:00The one about garbage bins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Back in the States, I always just dumped my food waste in with my regular household waste, but here in Korea, they use these little buckets for food waste. The lining is slatted to allow liquid waste to pass through so you can dispose of it in the waste water system and the solid food waste you can... well, I really don't know what to do with the solid food waste. Some apartment houses have special containers out near the trash collection area just for food waste, but our apartment house doesn't have that, so I end up draining my food waste and simply tossing it in with the regular trash much as I have always done my whole life.<br />
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The other day the old lady who, with her elderly husband, kind of acts as the overseer of the building came ringing my doorbell at 8:30 in the morning. I usually don't answer the door at 8:30 since I'm more than likely still in my underwear. Each apartment has a video camera on the doorbell; I looked at the monitor and saw it was the old lady, so I slipped on some pants and answered the door. She stood there telling me about these garbage buckets and something something "go bring you one" something something. I couldn't really understand what she was saying, but I think the gist was "if you need one of these buckets [she was holding one up for me to see] I'll go and get you one." She can hardly get up and down the stairs here, so I might have gotten mixed up on that bit. She might have been telling <i>me</i> to go get one. However, I already have one, but I don't know what more to do with it. There is a special truck that comes by and empties these garbage containers at buildings that have them, but since our building doesn't have one, I'm not sure what to do. Should I just take my little bin out there and hope nobody steals it? Who would steal a garbage bin? You never know, but these 2-dollar bins are small enough to walk off with unnoticed. <br />
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It's a good idea to separate food garbage from regular trash. It keeps down vermin and the collected material can be used for composting. I'm sure the collectors earn money from farmers for most if not all of it. Maybe I'll start investigating this more, though not sure anyone in my building will understand me. I can order food in a restaurant and go shopping, use taxis, and read most posted signs around town, but my Korean language skills are abysmal for getting spoken information. Maybe I need to try anyway, just because it's the right thing to do. Isn't it funny how something as mundane as garbage can compel us to change the way we think?<br />
<br />Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-26394663772158608402011-09-29T09:25:00.003+09:002011-09-29T09:27:40.416+09:00The one about waiting in line<br />
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Every year when I visit America, <i>something</i> rubs me the wrong way so bad that I have to respond with passion. This year it is that stupid way Americans stand in line.<br />
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This past summer I spent a month and a half in America. One day at Wal-Mart in Bay City, Michigan, I approached the self check-out area and saw an empty station. There was a woman and her child standing in the area, well back from the self check-out stations, but the woman made no move toward the empty station, so I walked up to it. A few seconds later I hear this muttering, "He saw me standing here..." I turned and after a few choice words, we argued, and I told her off because<i> IF</i> she actually were waiting in line, she shouldn't have been standing 15 feet away. I'm not happy that I lost my cool, but sometimes these people have to hear how stupid they are or else they'll never know.<br />
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During one of my motorcycle trips around Michigan, I stopped at a Dairy Queen in Grayling, and while I sat on my motorcycle eating a cone, I snapped pictures of patrons coming up to the DQ and standing in line.<br />
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When I was in line earlier, I stood right behind the person in front of me, and when she had received her order, she turned around to walk away and shot me a look that said, "What is wrong with you?" I was 2 feet behind her, which seemed completely normal to me. To her, that was <i>way</i> too close for comfort.<br />
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Americans grow up with distance between them. Our houses are usually not abutting the neighbors (except maybe in older crowded cities). We also grow up scared to death somebody will touch us. At Wal*Mart, on this same trip, a woman brushed by me, literally her shirt brushed my shirt, and at her reaction I instinctively flinched because she turned suddenly on me and raised her arms and said, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" At first I had no idea on earth what was happening and why this woman was frantically trying to appease me. She proceeded to apologize more specifically for "bumping into" me (!)<br />
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All the while she's apologizing, I'm thinking about my last 14 years in Korea where bumping and pushing are just part of daily life. She had no idea that her little brush of my shirt was literally nothing compared to what I'm used to.<br />
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Americans have conditioned themselves to need as much space as possible, both physically and psychologically. The concept of personal space is real, but I think Americans take if way too far. Humans have no real reason so keep such distance from each other. We are all in life together; we are all related.<br />
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Distance does not create community. Closeness creates community. If America is to become a real society, a peaceful, caring society, this notion of huge personal space has to vanish. Get close to your neighbor. Stand near each other in line. Reach out and touch a stranger to show that you're no threat, that distance is not necessary. Use your body to spread the message of peace and love for your fellow human beings by making your personal space as small as possible.<br />
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<br />Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-86448786413875579572011-09-29T08:45:00.000+09:002011-09-29T08:45:08.480+09:00The one about Venus and stuff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Several years ago, in 2004, I started a search for solar filters for my binoculars so that I could watch the transit of Venus. It was not easy! If you live in Korea, you know how nearly impossible it is to get specialized items, so you can imagine that in 2004 it was even harder. However, I eventually found a little astronomy club in Seoul that ran a shop for that sort of thing and I got my lens filters. They worked great! <br />
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Unfortunately, the transit of Venus took place for us in Korea late in the day, so it would be visible only during sunset. It was also on a work day. I told the <i>hagwon</i> owner where I worked what was going on, that the transit was a rare event we would probably only see once more in our lifetimes. I also suggested that since I had the binoculars and the filters, the middle school children might be interested in the phenomenon, too. We could talk about it and then maybe look up information about Venus. <i>Hagwon</i> owners are notoriously anti-education, and lest you think that it is strange for educational institutions to be anti-education, let me remind you that <i>hagwons</i> are for-profit businesses and are run as such. Not only did the <i>hagwon</i> owner say no, emphatically, he forbade me to go outside during work to see the transit of Venus. Of course, I went outside anyway, and some of the students came with me to see this rare event for themselves. I'm a teacher; I'm not a businessman specializing in education for profit. The business of education in Korea gets in the way of education all the time here. This was just one example that I experienced, a rather glaring example of why Koreans don't learn anything. They are some of the most ignorant and ill-informed people on the face of earth. They start out with curiosity just like anyone else, but the business of education, that reach for the almighty <i>won</i>, squashes curiosity in favor of the ruts that lead to company jobs and million-dollar apartments in Gangnam. Don't ever tell me that Koreans are better learners than Americans. The only thing Koreans do better is memorize formulas, equations, and facts. Americans go outside and see the world, experience the universe, learn for the sheer joy of learning whether it makes them rich or not.Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-89239509824133106602011-06-22T17:13:00.000+09:002011-06-22T17:13:10.386+09:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EPRQ-MlsYKI/TgGgVg0EqcI/AAAAAAAABUg/OV_gTS3QgO4/s1600/DSC02869.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EPRQ-MlsYKI/TgGgVg0EqcI/AAAAAAAABUg/OV_gTS3QgO4/s320/DSC02869.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Everything is finished! The students have all had their final one-on-one interviews with me, and all the grades have been posted, the absences entered into the university system, and my semester portfolio turned in. The students have two weeks to contest their grades. Two weeks? Yes, in Korea, a tiny country where almost every house has high speed internet access they still give students two weeks to contest their grades. Usually, if they want to contest what they got, they'll do it right away. So far no one has ... oh wait. One student wrote me this email:<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px;">Hello!</span><br />
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</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Last semester I'm happy to listen your lecture.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">I enjoyed talking with you and many students.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">However, I saw my conversation grade yesterday.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">I thought that my grade is a little low.</div><div id="yui_3_2_0_3_130872917026093" style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">And I heard that in absolute evalutation many students get good grade.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Is everything left to your own discretion?</div><div id="yui_3_2_0_3_1308729170260108" style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Why did I got grade B+? </div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Please tell me~ㅠ_ㅠ</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Would you upgrade my score?</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">I really need your consideration!</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">If I get A0 , I can take classes more. It is school rugulation.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The reason is that I complete a course in teacher education.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It means that I have two major subject.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">I have to take lesson more than other people.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">I need to take three required subjects next semester.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">If I give grades 4.0 , I can do it.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">But I can't do it. I got B+, so I lack point a little.</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Please consider it again~^,^</div><div style="display: block; font-family: 돋움; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="display: block; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">My guiding criterion in that class was how much they talked. It's a conversation course after all, and the more they talked, the higher their grade. This young lady didn't talk even enough for a B+, but I was generous. Now, I can guarantee that if I don't up her grade to A, there will be repercussions that could eventually result in my contract not being renewed, That's how they do it here. Korea is not known for its high academic standards, and every semester we have to decide whether our academic integrity is more important than our jobs. I have learned from several mistakes that the job is more important. It's their country; they set the standards. They threaten us all the time not to renew our contracts unless we do as they say, and happy students mean they will stay at our school and therefore mommy and daddy's money will stay here as well. Follow the money. That's where "education" is these days.</span></div><div style="display: block; line-height: normal; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com1Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea35.864569807517114 129.2266841953124935.835669807517114 129.1948341953125 35.893469807517114 129.25853419531248tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7207052112074620070.post-51239933531196014552011-06-20T11:56:00.001+09:002011-06-21T12:46:19.758+09:00The one that needed to be said<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LZt5DPBFk5Y/Tf6vn4Z3rtI/AAAAAAAABUY/MxqmTfv2VlA/s1600/Michael.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LZt5DPBFk5Y/Tf6vn4Z3rtI/AAAAAAAABUY/MxqmTfv2VlA/s320/Michael.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; ">Nobody in my family will come and get me at the Detroit airport when I fly in from Korea. So, I had to make a car rental reservation to drive to my hometown of West Branch. The closest place to my hometown where I can return the car is a small airport 50 miles away. Even at that short distance, a mere 50 miles, an hour's trip (after my 6,700 miles and 13 hours to get there from Korea), nobody wants to go that far on "the fourth of July weekend" to drive me back after returning the car. They're afraid of the horrible traffic, even though the weekend doesn't start until Friday evening and the car return is Friday morning. Here is what I wrote to my family, then deleted and didn't send. However, I needed to get this off my chest:</span><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The entire state of Michigan has a population that is one third the population of Seoul, South Korea, a single city. You do not have traffic, trust me. If everyone in Michigan decided to go to one place all at the same time, you still wouldn't have traffic. </span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm sick of it. I'm sick of my own family believing that me traveling literally halfway across the planet to see them is easy, cheap and stress-free. It isn't. There is not a one of you I wouldn't go meet at any airport, literally any, or risk life and limb to pick up even if you had only gone a few miles to get there. I could never allow anyone I love to be stranded anywhere for any length of time if I had the means to prevent it. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I know my value to my family, I have known it for years, but I persist in visiting you all anyway because you are dear to my heart even though I am of little account to you. When you're gone, any of you, I will be beside myself with grief. On the other hand, if I were to die tomorrow I can guarantee that not a single one of you would bother to come and collect the things that were special to my life or see where I lived or show any interest in my accomplishments. So enjoy this visit; it is the last I will make. There are places I would like to see, but I haven't, because I thought visiting you was more important. No more. I will see the places I want from now on, and if you want to see me, you'll do the traveling, you'll spend the money, you'll take on the stress.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Love,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mike</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>Mike of Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17700405000641614940noreply@blogger.com2Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea35.848987387013452 129.2156998671874835.820087387013452 129.18384986718749 35.877887387013452 129.24754986718747