TW3

Well, I showed up for my first day of classes for the new semester on Monday, only to learn ... there were no classes. I wasn't exactly disappointed by this revelation, but is it really too much to ask for someone to let me know about these things?

The reason we had no classes was somehow related to the fact there was an assembly at 11:00 for the retirement ceremony of Principal Jun and art teacher Lee Cheonggi. A guy retired last year and they had a ceremony for him too, followed by some really awesome pit-roasted pork (much like you'd find at Sprayberry's, for my Newnan readers). It was awesome, and I was looking forward to a similar celebratory meal ... but there was none. Not even the regular school lunch.

Tuesday and Wednesday are normal school days, and then I am told we will have the ceremony to install the new principal, who was previously the Vice-Principal, on Thursday, so there will be no classes Thursday after lunch.

Regular readers will not be too surprised to learn that we indeed had classes Thursday afternoon, and the ceremony began at 4:00. Afterward, Principal Shim was in his office, with the door slightly open, when I dropped by to give him a little gift. A bottle of 18 Y.O. Chivas Regal, the world's best blended, IMHO. He speaks as little English as I do Korean, but I get a really friendly vibe off him, so we sat and sipped a healthy couple of fingers worth while exchanging a few (very few) words.

Late Friday morning, I got a text message from the supervisor at Nambu District Office, who runs the program overseeing my Public Speaking class, telling me to check my email. In the email, she urgently wants to know if I can come to the district office on Saturday from 4 to 7 PM (that's the next day), to help grade eassays.

I almost said no purely on the principle that these people need to be more considerate of our lives, and our time. However, three hours work at 80,000 W per hour is a pretty strong inducement. All the other graders who gathered had known about this since the beginning of the week, so I'm unclear why I wasn't informed. Indeed, as I am the specialist instructor, and as this was the first step in the vetting process of candidates for the course, I would think my input would be primary.

In unrelated TW3 news (That Was The Week That Was), my trivia team was back at full strength on Thursday, and came in first place. Natch.

Education News: School Begins

Well, tomorrow marks 개학하다, the beginning of school, the second semester at least. And my seventh semester at 영일고. Not a lot of new prep to do, though I have done my best to learn the lessons of previous, um, lessons, and improve my planning accordingly.

More on the new school term as events develop.

Meanwhile, let's inaugurate the back-to-school vibe with some education news:

1) The big story (well, for those of a political bent) is that Seoul mayor Oh See-hoon has gambled his career on a rare referendum concerning the free lunch plan brought in by the new City Council last year when the Dems took control. First, he decided to forego running for the Korean Presidency two years from now when when MB's single five-year term ends. The Seoul mayorship is a natural springboard to that position, as MB himself could tell you.

Then, today, the mayor tearfully announced he would resign--not if the referendum did not go his way (he is opposed to the free lunches) but if the voter turn-out is less than 33.3%. Reports the KT:

The brinkmanship, only three days before the Aug. 24 vote day and without a consensus with his Grand National Party (GNP), underlined the situation that he has no other choice but to take his last option in order to encourage as many citizens as possible to cast their votes, while opposition groups are campaigning to boycott the vote.
“If my decision today can sow the seed for ‘sustainable welfare’ and ‘true democracy’ in the future, I have no regret even though I disappear from the stage of history,” the mayor said.[...]
The mayor called for citizens to go to the polls and support his policy, which aims to provide free school lunches only to students in low-income brackets, over the city council’s idea to provide it to all students regardless of the financial status of their parents.[...]
Finishing the announcement, he abruptly fell down to his knees and bowed his head, an apparent gesture to appeal to Seoul citizens.

2) Korea has a functioning democracy, though it has its odd ideas of what that means from an American perspective. Still, no one who pays attention can doubt that there is a sophisticated political environment beneath the squabbles, lock-outs, fisticuffs and appeals on bended knee. Take the on-going flap over brief descriptions and a few words here or there in history textbooks. Dong-A Ilbo:

Kumsung’s textbook contains biased sentences such as, “Under the Rhee Syngman administration, pro-Japanese collaborators were not eliminated, undoing efforts to start a new country based on national spirit,” and “North Korea`s land reform based on free confiscation and free distribution benefited farmers more than South’s farmland reform did.” The ministry’s order to correct 29 items is based on common sense. A person with a normal historical view would agree to it because of hard-to-understand and unclear expressions and unilateral claims that go against historical truth.

In the US, a textbook publisher can write whatever they want in a textbook, but they must beware that it may not get adopted if it's too "controversial". Indeed, for many years, a single couple, Mel and Norma Gabler of Longview, Texas, actually had the textbook industry by the short-and-curlies, since they had strong influence with the Texas purchasing committee--that state being the largest single buyer in the nation. Alas, the Gablers were anti-science, anti-evoluton nitwits, with the result that when I began teaching in the 1980s, many biology textbooks barely mentioned the term evolution, even though it is a fundamental organizing principle of the field; my earth science books trimmed Big Bang theory to one or two innocuous sentences.

Ultimately, scientists and science teachers fought back; the development of curricula by groups like the NSTA gave us a powerful tool to counteract capricious and benighted policy-makers and textbook adopters. Korea is not yet at that stage; instead, despite its remarkably unlitigious society, textbook arguments go to the courts. As the article explains:

The Seoul High Court has ruled in favor of the Education, Science and Technology Ministry, which ordered Kumsung Publishing to amend its left-leaning high school textbooks on modern and contemporary Korean history. On Sept. 1 last year, the court had nullified the amendment order, saying assessment of the textbooks should come through deliberation by a specific textbook review committee within the ministry, which did not follow this procedure. This time, however, the court said no flaws occurred in the procedure, saying regulations do not require amendment orders to go through the review committee. Textbook authors agreed to make corrections when the ministry makes the order after the publishing contract is made.
The latest ruling said, “The country can screen a book upon request whether the book`s content is suitable for students, whether the book contains a biased view or expressions, and whether it goes against the national system and legitimacy.” The court emphasized that history textbooks should teach future generations historical truths based on Korea’s legitimacy and constitutional value.

This story appeared on 17 August. On 19 August, the Dong-A followed up with this lede graf:

Controversy is mounting over the term “liberal democracy” contained in the 2011 History Education Curriculum. Adopted by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry on Aug. 9, the curriculum provides directions and standards that Korean history textbook authors and publishers must comply with. When the ministry announced the final curriculum, it replaced the term “democracy” with “liberal democracy.” The draft curriculum said, “This explains democracy, economy and mass culture that have developed since the 1960 Revolution.” The final draft says, however, “This is to understand how liberal democracy and economic growth have been achieved since the 1960s and grasp the heightened international profile of the Republic of Korea.” On hearing news of this change, certain scholars are demanding that “liberal democracy” be replaced with “democracy” again.

An on-going irritation with Korean media is the frequent publication of opinion and editorial pieces that are not marked as such. The article has no by-line or Op/Ed designation but it clearly is. Take the xloser, for instance:

People wonder why certain forces show an allergic reaction to liberal democracy. Democracy can be divided into liberal democracy, social democracy, people’s democracy and others. If leftist groups do not pursue democracy that has its roots in liberty, they should make clear what democracy they are seeking.

3) In a completely unrelated story, JoongAng Daily gives us an "intern report" (one of a series written by high school students working with the paper's staff reporters) titled "Gadgets may transform classrooms". True, but then again, maybe they will not.

I consider myself pro-technology in the classroom--I used computers in school as long ago as 1989, I have been school webmaster, taught computer, tried to help my colleagues overcome their techno-phobias, etc, etc. But one thing I know after a quarter century in the teaching trenches is that gizmos and gadgets are tools, they are not teachers.

“Before using my laptop during class, it took me a lot of time, effort and energy to take notes in my notebook,” Sun [A-young, an 18-year-old student at CheongShim International Academy] said. “After the school allowed us to use our laptops, however, I found I could not only save time and effort but I could also easily find the materials taught during class.”

Yep, Sun hits the nail on the head. I don't know when this school started allowing students to bring computers, but it should have been long ago. Indeed, most US colleges require them, and more and more high schools, too.

Ah, but, as the story mentions, that's where it gets sticky:

Despite the rosy expectations, however, there is some concern, as not all households can afford such expensive devices.
“I am very worried about this decision,” said Kim Hye-young, 39, a mother of two elementary school students. “Our family cannot afford such a burden. People like us live every day with financial concerns. We do not have the capacity to pay for such an expensive device.”

Furthermore, some students will not use laptops in an appropriate manner--playing video games in class, or even searching for pr0n, could prove to be a distraction.

So what impact have "gadgets" had in the Korean classroom? The article examines a study called Ssam, in which 16 schools offered classes incorporating IT devices. The story says that within a year, students improved by "55 percent in Korean, 46 percent in mathematics, 47 percent in social studies, 50 percent in science and 34 percent in English. Also, according to the study, students showed improvement in concentration and logical thinking."

That would be pretty impressive if it were not total bullshit. First of all 55%, 46% of what, compared to what? Secondly, logical thinking is difficult as hell to measure, and even harder to measure improvement in, particularly in one year. I don't want to come down hard on the student intern here, so I say shame on you to the professional who failed to point out the meaninglessness of these statistics.

Thirdly, their lowest improvement was in Englsih. Go figure.

What I Read on My Summer Vacation

I read six and a half books during my 12 days in Bali, the half being the sci-fi anthology "Year's Best SF 16" purposely left for the flight home. This meant I had to pick up an extra, in this case from the guest shelf at Puri Nusa Bungalows on Lembongan--the choices, like the guests, were weighted well against English speakers, but I had little trouble deciding between Mario Puzo's "Last Don" and an intriguing Canadian yarn about small-town life.

Further, suffice it to say that you should read all the "YBSF" anthologies, particularly on airplanes, because a) they exhibit great trust in the infallibility of modern technologies, and even if they don't, you're well airborne before you get to that part of the story; and b) the beauty of anthologies in general, especially with screaming children in the next aisle, is that if you decide you don't like the story you're reading, you can simply flip ahead to the next story.

About the screaming child, a few notes: 1) the two year old directly across from me was angelic for seven hours, sleeping comfortably in Daddy's lap, or studying the In-flight Emergency booklet like it was a comic book--colored pictures, not many words; 2) one row behind was a very similar child who was unsettled by every bump and every strange noise, and didn't mind telling Mommy in no uncertain terms, at the top of his lungs. I wanted to hate that child, but I couldn't--he was only saying what I was feeling; 3) my flights were less than ideal, including night-time take-offs and landings, and coming back to ICN, a foul weather landing. On the outbound flight, turbulence was horrible, including a full one-second drop which caused half the adults to scream! I refrained, but only because I wanted to keep a stiff upper lip for the two elementary-aged French children sitting next to me. Still, those kids were sterling and caused no trouble, though the little chap fell asleep on my shoulder a bit later; 4) not because of that, but I couldn't wait for the flight to end. Okay, I can never wait for the flight to end. I hate flying. Well, not flying, but taking off and landing. And yes, I did compliment the French kids' Mom about how well the tadpoles behaved.

Anyway, this is supposed to be the book report post.

• The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien - Probably the best fictional account ever done about the Vietnam War, the stories of O'Brien's platoon is riveting and real, but somehow lyrical. Chapter titles like "How to tell a true war story", "The man I killed", "Ambush" and "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" are sometimes as evocative as the tales they contain. The author takes his time to tell each episode, to get it right. Easily the best book I read this vacation, and for quite some time--cannot recommend it highly enough.
  
  

• Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon - In the last book of his I read, Chabon pretended the Jewish homeland was the tundra around Sitka, Alaska, instead of someplace in the Middle East. His subject matter in this book is just as odd: an effete Frankish apothecary and surgeon joins up with an outsize African warrior to help the foolish part with their money on the trade roads of 10th century eastern Europe. Almost against their will, they take up the cause of an exiled prince of the Khazar Empire. And, as you might figure from the cover art, elephants figure heavily in the tale. A slim volume and a quick read, but full of interesting characters, unexpected plot turns, and Chabon's rich prose.
  
• A Boy of Good Breeding by Miriam Toews - The jacket blurb compares the world of this book to Garrison Keillor's Lake Woebegon, and to an extent that's true, but it would also be true of small town life as described by Lewis Grizzard. Anyway, the town, Algren, Canada, is indeed small, at 1500 people--so small it's in the running for a special visit from Canada's Prime Minister to the country's smallest town (a village is below 1500 population). There's nothing Algren's Mayor Hosea Funk want's more, especially since his mother's deathbed confession leads him to believe the PM is actually his unknown father, a mysterious young man in a black hat who seduced his eighteen-year-old mother at a village dance 52 years ago. Good stuff.
  
• The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster - Set before September 11, 2001, Follies is the story of a retired life-insurance salesman who is diagnosed with cancer and moves to Brooklyn to die. But events don't turn out as he planned, for he re-establishes contact with his long-lost favorite nephew, breaks off all ties with his ex-wife, falls in something like love with the mother of a neighborhood jewelry designer who is dubbed the BPM (Beautiful Perfect Mother) by the nephew, takes custody of his lively great-neice, and doesn't die. Along the way, a really good book happens.
  
• Loser by Jerry Spinelli - Spinelli is the author of elementary school angst, and Loser is the tale of Douglas Dinkoff, an easy-going kid who is a lot like every other kid. Well, he raises his hand with the wrong answers in class, can't bounce a ball very well, and laughs till he cries when his teacher makes up the word "Jabip" to describe a faraway, unknown place. By fourth grade, other kids think of him as a loser, but he remains oblivious--and eventually proves them all wrong with a very un-loser-like act.
  
• Nick of Time by Ted Bell - A young teen coming of age, a time travel machine invented by Leonardo da Vinci, adventure and derring-do, history-changing events; this is exactly the kind of juvenilia I like, but somehow this story did not gel for me. Nick McIver's family operates the lighthouse on the smallest of the Channel Isles in 1939, the eve of Hitler's invasion. Meanwhile, time-traveling pirate Billy Blood is after Nick at the same time his great-great-great-grandfather is fighting off Blood's pirate ship in 1825 to prevent him carrying news of a Spanish double-cross to Lord Nelson and the fleet in Portsmouth. Blood has previously kidnapped Lord Hawke's children (Hawke owns Castle Hawke on the south end of Nick's island) and meanwhile, Nick's sister Kate and Hawke's second-in-command (Hawke is secretly a high-up in the Royal Navy) have been captured by a German U-boat. It's too much: the coincidences pile too totteringly high for me, the plot holes gape too wide, but I must say the ending is ripping good fun...
  
  

Bali: Nusa Lembongan

Nusa Lembongan is relatively quiet, low-key beach. But happily, not entirely deserted:


It is probably best known to tourists for the world-class surfing; there are three main surf breaks along the west coast, Shipwreck, Lacerations and Playground. So, many of the bungalow guests were well-gone most of the day, leaving the cafe and beach chairs for me to lounge around on and do some reading.

While there are excursions and their associated boats, the small boats all along the shore are used by locals in the main industry of Lembongan, seaweed cultivation. 80% or so of the economy comes from exporting seaweed, for processing into carageenan, which is a binding agent for processed foods like gravies, ice cream and beer, and a thickener for products from toothpaste to shampoo to fire extinguisher foam.


Seaweed farmers place starter strands on strings strung between the small poles.



The seaweed grows quickly, then it is harvested into the bushel baskets ...



... and laid in the sun to dry. It comes in lots of colors.




The north end of the island, north of the village of Jungutbatu, you can find the seaweed farm community. The crushing poverty is an eye-opening contrast to the resorts and hotels just a fifteen minute walk down the coast.



But at least the sunsets are free for everyone.

Bali: Ubud Culture

Denpasar is the capital of Bali, and it is the city most Balinese aspire to live in. It consists mainly of impossibly narrow streets lined with Circle K and MiniMart convenience stores. Extending northwest from Denpasar, the city blends into Kuta, Legian and Seminyak, which are over-crowded, commercialized, loud beachfront hells.

Ubud, about twenty miles north in the hill country, is the cultural and artistic center of Bali, surrounded by rice paddies and temples (as we saw in the previous post).


Every Monday night at 7:30, the Ubud Town Hall, right next to the soccer field, is taken over by the Luh Luwih Balinese Women's Gamelan and Dance Troupe. The gamelan music is easily recogniseable (go to my video about my accommodations to hear some) but the Balinese dance style brings to mind classical Thai dancing for all the emphasis placed on finger positions, the use of ornate masks, etc. The biggest difference to me was the stories seemed easier to follow.

Alas, when set on video, my camera did not pick up the dances well in the dark hall, so I'll just include a few stills for flavor. The Gabor, adapted from a ceremony in which young women distribute flowers among the temple's shrines; the Baris, in which a dauntless warrior prepares for battle; and the Oleg Tumulilingham, the hummingbird love dance.




In the Ubud area, and scattered around the mountainous region, are numerous coffee plantations which prepare the thick and strong Bali coffee, as well as the even more well-known "Luwak" coffee. The coffee starts as beans, of course, on a coffee bush:


The beans are fed to a "luwak", or Asian palm civet, a variety of cat:


After passing through the civet's digestive tract, the coffee beans (technically, they're not beans, they're fruit) are gathered and cleaned:



... Roasted and ground:



... then served, along with several other specialty coffees of the plantation, to visitors for 50,000 Rp (USD 5). Needless to say, there is a gift shop.



One of the most enjoyable days I spent in Ubud, and perhaps the most cultural of activities, was taking a one-day batik course, at Nirvana Batik studio. Instruction, all materials and lunch for the 10 AM to 2 PM session was 485,000 Rp. (less than USD 50).

This was awesome fun. First Nyoman explains the method to you. It's not like the batik I did in high school, where there's one color palette and you stain and wax over a period of days in successively darker hues. Instead, Nyoman has fabric dyes that more or less stay where you put them, especially if you stay inside the lines.


Okay, so you start by sketching with a pencil onto the fabric; my inspiration was this snap I took of some plants outside my hotel room window. Then if you're Joan, my only classmate, you go to the next step; if you're me, Nyoman fixes it up for you. He also provides a real life plant from the extensive property. You outline the project in beeswax using this really cool, but hard to work, pen thing, which you dip in the molten wax.




Then you paint in the different areas with colored dyes and let them dry. You fill in the parts you want to stand out with beeswax, and fill in the parts you want to "crinkle" with paraffin, using ordinary paint brushes.




Then you dye it with the background color (or actually have the assistant do it):


Then you boil it to melt off all the wax.


Then you let it dry, iron it, and take a picture for your blog:


I admit I'm no artist, but I like it and I had a great time doing it. Someday it will be framed and hang on a wall in my home--probably a little used guest bedroom.

Bali: Temples

In Bali, there is a temple on practically every other block; the Ubud area is particularly infused with them, most famously the Sacred Monkey Forest Temple--my bungalow was located on Monkey Forest Road.





The monkeys were everywhere, scampering around, squabbling, stealing food (do not attempt to secrete food of any type on your person, they will literally rip your clothes to get at it). The tumble-down atmosphere had me singing "Yeah, I'm the king of the swingers, oh, the jungle VIP ..."


But it felt a lot more like being in "Willard".


After finishing my visit to the Temple, I was enjoying a beer at one of the establishments near the bottom of the hill (Coffee & Silver) when I noticed some escapees hanging around.




Not far from Ubud is Goa Gajah, known as the Elephant Cave Temple, but no one is sure if that's because of some relation to Ganesha or if it's because the Elephant River runs nearby. The site dates from the 11th century. though there is vidence of an even earlier Buddhist temple on the site. Shortly after the site was discovered by Dutch archaeologists in the twentieth century, it was buried and re-buried by successive volcanic eruptions.


There is nothing much to see inside--the cave makes a "T" about ten meters in, and there is a small shrine at each end. That is all. The series of fountains by the entrance are supposed to bring youth and beauty to those who wash there. I'm waiting.


A few miles further on is Yeh Pulu, a water-bearer shrine, known for its rock carvings from the 1300s. My guide Ketut and I were the only people there. The carvings are 300 m along a pathway which overlooks some rice paddies.



The images appear to depict everyday life: first you can see a man carryng two jugs, perhaps full of palm wine (tuak), following a woman who appears well-to-do judging from her jewelry; the second photo involves an alms- or gift-giving; and the third shows a man wrestling with a wild animal, probably a bear.




At the end of the wall, a little old lady, who is perhaps a caretaker, extorts 5000 Rupiah off you, which I'll grant you is only 50 cents.


The site was uncovered in 1925, and is thought to represent daily life in Old Bali, but another theory posits that, when read from right to left, the relief tells the life story of the Hindu god Krishna.