yellow dust closes schools..

and you thought smog warnings were bad.. today, "yellow dust" warnings were issued for much of south-eastern korea. originating in china's gobi desert, the sand or 'dust' sweeps south enveloping the korean peninsula and parts of japan every spring. it gathers heavy metals and carcinogens such as dioxin as it passes over chinese industrial regions before hitting korea and japan. the korean environment institute reports that this yellow dust causes around 165 deaths per year, with about 1.8 million people becoming ill. it also estimates the damage this dust causes to be upwards around ($5.82 billion). this time of year has become widely accepted as "yellow dust season". the streets are nearly empty, but those who dare to be outside are wearing masks specially designed to cope with this season.
it disgusts me that we simply choose to cope with this problem rather than work toward fighting the source of the problem. humans seem to be able to adapt rather well in many different circumstances, but perhaps rolling with the punches isn't the best answer. we as a population need to stand up and stop buying cheap crap from china; stop buying so much stuff that has been shipped from other countries (buy local); stop supporting the big businesses; stop buying crap we don't need.. (i'm kind of tired and whiny- sorry bout that)
recently I've come to the realization that major changes in the world comes either comes very slowly (because the generation in power is often quick to educate, but slow to learn), or a little bit faster than very slowly because of the urgency of the situation.
although we all know that changes need to be made to clean up this world, it seems like we are never too worried about it. maybe it doesn't effect us directly, or we have ongoing projects that don't need finite due dates - but it seems that we are so slow to turn ourselves around when we've come down a wrong road.
i don't know. if we could educate (both the older and younger generations) about the many sustainable ways to live, maybe that would make a difference..

partially inspired by no impact man
yellow dust info gathered here.

a fear of mine..

With the Christmas season upon us, and me being at such a distance from my family and many of friends, my mind has been wandering about the idea of time. Time spent in Korea, time spent in school, work time and play time, the present time and lifetime.
So this brings us to the title "a fear of mine.." Ever since my first year of University I've grown to love learning, and thanks to the influence of the community in little St. Stephen, and a few influential and inspiring friends, I have come to see the beauty in so many different things. I think a fault of mine has never been unwillingness to try, but rather the opposite: the willingness to try everything. Starting many things wouldn't be a bad thing, if only they could conceivably be completed. My sights however have been set upon so many different things that it might be impossible to complete them all (to "complete" meaning, to be satisfied enough to move on from that subject). I took a Spanish course in my first year at SSU. I took a German course in my last year. I wanted to/want to learn French again to help me remember what I had lost in the years of not studying it. I am now teaching myself Korean, and am being sidetracked because of the "coolness" of learning Japanese and Chinese. The problem is, that I have a hard time saying to myself "no, it can't be done". So I undertake many things, which lead me to more amazing things that I want to learn and do. This all leads me to one end; being only a little aware in a variety of different subjects.
I have never had "one" passion, or dream, but I've had many. But those many only seldom reach 'near completion'. The question I guess I'm really asking - what leads to a fulfilling life? Aristotle said;

Now the peculiar excellence of man is his power of thought; it is by this faculty that he surpasses and rules other forms of life; and as the growth of this faculty has given him supremacy, so, we may presume, its development will give him a fulfillment and happiness.

So knowledge gives us happiness? does it? What brings us that fulfillment? No Impact Man thinks that if we want fulfillment, if we want to be loved,

what we we need is living rooms full of people instead of closets full of stuff. We need community. Isn't that an important point? We could be happy without the stuff and without wrecking the planet. We just need to hang out more.

I think he's right about less consumeristic practices and more wholesome family time practices, but what about living life. The movie "The Pursuit of Happiness" taught us that we will never reach that final goal, but we'll always be in pursuit of it. So then the question is... How do we pursue?

money - the wedge that divides us all

Should it be this way?
Many people are born into their place in the social status hierarchy. They are born into families with money, or they begin life in countries that can educate them, or at least feed them. Although some people are able to work hard and move out of their income bracket and climb that ladder, most people seem to stay within the financial bracket they were born into. Probably because they are unable to better themselves; the lack the financial backing to do so.
I was reading an article in the JoongAng Daily newspaper here in Korea, and there was one story that particularly stood out, relating to this very topic. The title of the article was "Gaining entry to elite high schools means cramming at a tender age". By cramming they are not talking about studying really hard five minutes before the test. They are talking about attending special "cram schools", like the kind that I teach at. These are schools that the kids would attend after a day of regular school in hopes that they would be prepared when the time came to apply to an elite high school, or even college. These kids spend their childhood setting up their future, and then spend their future teaching their child how to be successful like them.
The problem that I see with this is not that the kids are sleeping four hours a night studying for their exams. That's how the culture has been for the past few decades, ever since they took so strongly to Western philosophy. It's hard work imitating another's culture while leaving your own to rot in the history books. This is not the problem I see (at least, not the problem for this post!). Because these admission tests are so challenging, almost no one with the standard public school education will be able to even apply. The only ones with a shot at getting into these schools are the kids who's parents can afford the private tutor or cram schools. The Korea Teachers and Workers Union state two other problems. They state that "schools are making students overly dependent on private cram schools, while hurting the quality of education at regular schools and causing a gap between the wealthier students who can afford steep cram-school fees and those who cannot".
I suppose the point of this blog is to discuss how this "gap" between the rich and poor continues to widen. I know that these two groups have existed for a long time, but I always thought the perks of being rich seemed to end with their level of education and quality of life. As time moves forward, how much further will the distance become between the two groups?
Colin Beavan's blog No Impact Man is always inspiring to me. Recently, while catching up on his entries, I came across something that connects with this discussion. He highlighted the battle between public water systems and bottled water corporations. The main issue is this: with the growing demand for bottled water over tap water, what will the future hold? There is a pledge that is being passed around that states that one is to drink tap water instead of bottled water. Apparently of the seventy four Americans that drink bottled water, one in five drink ONLY bottled water... For more facts go here.
Currently, there is over one billion people who do not have enough clean water to fulfill their daily needs. By 2025 it is predicted that 2/3 of the worlds population will be in this category. What will happen if only the wealthy(and I say "the wealthy" knowing that I'm in this category) can afford clean water?
This is a longer post than I intended to make it, but I wanted to raise the point that I know has already been raised time and time again. I think that it's important to be conscious of the outcome of our actions. This includes buying bottled water over drinking tap water, driving a car over taking public transportation, leaving the lights or air conditioner on while no one is home, etc. With so much talk on climate change and how we are to shape the future I'm realizing more and more that how we live our individual lives does have an effect on what life will be like down the road. Individuals doing their own thing may only satisfy their personal goals, but a community of individuals holding each other accountable for their actions, this can have a much bigger impact. To sign the tap water pledge click here. For Colin Bevan's blog on this pledge, click here.

teaching with integrity or... just putting in the time

I'm out here in South Korea trying to make money, because the government of Canada demands that I pay back my loans. The goal of this year long excursion is to save money enough to end my debt and perhaps return with some money to boot. Of course there is the minor goals of traveling, and experiencing life and culture, but I suppose that these are second to the main goal of saving some cash.
So... how does this fit in with what I actually do here? I teach five days a week; I am the reason the school attracts it's students (the promise of a foreigner's native tongue). But these kids are anywhere from five to fifteen years old. The children want to be children and run around (so they should) and the older ones want to be anywhere else rather than the English Hagwon (academy). I'm realizing as I spend more time at the front of the room that these kids are... just kids! It should have been obvious, but... no it wasn't. I entered the English teaching field with the high hopes of teaching kids how to communicate, but I feel like that goal was set a bit high.
These are just regular kids. At five years old how many different languages did you know? How many different schools did you attend? These kids are worked hard! Trust me, I'm an optimistic person but they will not (most of them) be able to pick up a new language, even if they are pushed as hard as they are. So all this was to say that I have come to a conclusion (or, perhaps a more realistic goal). I will just be there. I will teach what I can, but also play the games. I will run through the curriculum, feeding the kids only what they can handle.
Sounds like the right answer? Maybe, but I feel like I'm taking the easy way out. And it WOULD be the easy way out. It's ridiculous trying to get them to follow any type of structure, or respect. Especially the little kids: back home these kids would be having a nap time, where here, they are learning how to chat about the weather in a foreign language. Have your break kids. Let's play a game.
But my other problem... The older kids, who have the potential to learn and to develop in their English. I can think of one class especially where the balance between teaching them and tolerating them is like walking a tightrope. On one hand there are some people in the class who are picking it up and want to learn. On the other, there are a few who don't want to be there, and swear at you in Korean because you tell them that they can't listen to mp3's in the class. Do I just let things slide to make it easier on me and them, while sacrificing their English lesson? or do I stand my ground and have fifty minutes of hell telling the few of them to behave? I was once told that I should just "do my time" and then come home. I'll get paid either way, but I feel that I can't just let the class run itself. There's much potential for knowledge there that I feel that it is my responsibility to run a good class. The other teacher that has this one particular class just lets them have their way: if the kids don't like the seating plan, then this teacher will cater to the kids. How can I contend with this and go against the other teacher that teaches 80% of the class? I feel like if I stop trying it would be so easy to just play games with them every class - but I'd get NO respect, everyday... I'm not sure if you follow what I'm writing, but it is a bit of an issue that I've been dealing with the last few weeks. How much effort should I put in? What difference is it making? The battle between having integrity, and having an easy year is war, a balance. I'm not sure which side will win...