IF I had the patience. . ..

I love typeface formats. I have no patience for anything graphic. The professionals make good parodies.

Is the world getting better or worse?

I love visuals and NewScientist for publishing them.

http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/2725/27250901.jpg

Miss (Ms) Universe

I have now been home for about two and a half weeks. In between re-acclimating to American culture and trying not to sleep 12+ hours a day I have been busy with yoga, running, erging, reading and cleaning. Last night after returning from a meditation gathering I insisted on watching the Miss Universe pageant. Say what you will about the parading of skinny tall women with breast implants and hair extensions, they are beautiful creatures to watch. Like horses in evening wear, that give super lame answers to questions such as Rachael Finch's, Miss Australia, answer to her question in the final round.

"Tonight you were judged on how you looked in a bathing suit," Valeria Mazza, a former Sports Illustrated model said. She then proceeded to then ask "In some countries women aren't allowed to wear a swimsuit. How does that make you feel?"

Finch stated "ummmmm", but then answered the question, telling the judges and viewers that wearing a swimsuit was a "beautiful thing".

"It gives everyone of us the chance to show our figures and our toned bodies and what we have worked hard for and I think our bodies are a beautiful part of a woman and we should definitely, you know, show them to the rest of the world," Finch said.

While this was one of the more in depth answers of the evening, she did not give any mention about it being a woman's CHOICE to wear a bikini and high heels. Doesn't everyone wear such sensible attire to the beach? I know what I'm wearing to the shore this weekend! On a serious note a little modesty never hurt anyone, kid. Some people don't have the option to exercise eight hours a day and have toned, bronzed bodies. Anyway this question brought be back to this article I read about a French swimming pool banning a swim suit that Muslim women wear. The swim suit is called a burquini.

Overall I was rooting for Ms. Kosovo who was sporting a Audrey Hepburn Breakfast at Tiffany's blue gown and hair do. If only she had the mini tiara and cigarette holder, she would have been spot on. I was of course a fan of Miss USA until I read that here interests included "online shopping" and she did not pronounce the "T's" in important. Miss France had her beat since her interests were "mathematics and different cultures."

The winner of the pageant for the second year in a row was Ms Venezuela. I am pretty sure Donald Trump is in cahoots with Hugo Chavez. However, this conspiracy is still developing. The former Miss Universe (from Venezuela) dropped the "Peace Crown" before placing it firmly on the head of the current Miss Universe (also from Venezuela).

GO PAGEANTRY!

Updates from the Land of Morning Calm. . .or something to that effect

This past weekend we went to a Mime Festival in my favorite part of Korea. This is the same area where we went for the Ice Fishing Festival in January and is by far one of the most beautiful on the peninsula. The festival was of an outdoor fringe festival with all sorts of performances. When I arrived home Sunday I had 5 voicemails from people at home concerned about North Korea. I am alive and well. As usual during such threats Korean children practice their drills in case of an attack and life goes on as normal. If you are a teacher, you should ask your kids to demonstrate. . .it is worth a laugh.

The teachers at CDI got a week off of work because so many of their teachers are suspected of having the Swine Flu. They were released earlier this week, but you can read the blog that one of the captives has been keeping here.

In March our school switched nams from Poly to Knox. Well a franchise of the Poly school opened literally across the street. I can look out of my classroom window and see their sign. Since many Korean mothers identify with branding, this includes brands of Hogwans, we have seen several students leave our school. For example the Pluto class, which once upon a time had 12, is down to 7 students. The Pluto and Jupiter classes actually retained more than most of the other Kindergarten classes. I miss certain students dearly, but I must admit that seven is much easier to handle when teaching math and science.

I think this is all I have for now. Tootles!

It's almost June and time for updates

If you are reading this, thank you. It has been a while since I last updated this site, but so much has happened. A brief rundown. . .
1. Spring has passed and SUMMER IS HERE!
2. Libby visited in April.

3. I am considering staying in Korea for graduate school.
4. I love teaching kindergarten.

5. We went to the zoo last week!
6. I lost my voice, went to a Chinese doctor and had it back within hours. There is truth in Chinese medicine.
7. I have been to a Bulls Fighting Festival, Cherry Blossom Festival, Rape Flower Festival, Penis Park, the Beach and other sites in the last several months.
8. The mountains of Korea are beautiful.
9. Amanda left (then came back YAY!!!!!), Mindy left (but will be back :(.
10. I bought a pink cruiser, basket and bell included.
11. Amy and I danced with a Buddha at the Anyang Art Park.


12. I Gave myself a black eye from a rather nasty sinus infection.


I will try update more often within the next couple of months.
-Ellen

Water Footprint Visual

I would recommend clicking on the image to view the entire chart.

Kindergarten on a Monday morning

I started teaching Kindergarten this week. My homeroom class is known as Pluto. I started laughing at myself for the internal realization that Pluto isn't even a planet (another faux pas we'll blame on Knox). Pluto is so far removed from our solar system that it is just another piece of rock floating around the sun. "Is this how they see my kids?!" was the defending question that ran through my head. As I looked into their little Korean eyes and corrected Sean to please remove his finger from his nostril, I explained to my little Plutos that we are different than the other Kindergarten classes because they are planets. Pluto is the exception because "our planet is considered a dwarf planet."

I was then greeted with the question from Wide Eyed Andy "Teacher. . .what is planet?"




This is Monday in Pluto.

Birthdays to come

Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate my 23 years on Earth. I will post photos and further comments about activities in the next couple of days.

Miguks

"Miguk" is the Korean term for American. Some expats come to Korea trying to embrace the Korean culture and traditions. This includes small gestures such as how you receive something that is handed to you. Also how you address people older and younger than you.
This beer commercial was shown to me by a group of 2nd graders. I felt a de ja vue after seeing it.



The actress' name is Brownwyn Mullen. Apparently she is somewhat of a celebrity in Korea.

Kimchi Deficit and Avian Flu

A while back I had a conversation with some Korean friends about how Kimchi prevented the Avian flu from spreading to South Korea. Apparently the BBC agrees.

In other news. . .kimchi sales have been down since the economic downturn.
Perhaps they should release more infected chickens into China to increase sales! Or lay claim that it will purify all of the American beef that they are being fed. Ultimately kimchi will cure people of mad cow disease, fan death AND altzeimers.

Amazingly Tofu Lady's price per block has not gone up. If this happens, it is the definite sign of a worldwide recession.

The Weekend

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year. Congrats, I am going to skip this topic of updates since it seems every other expat already cared to do so. In other news it is 26 January which means the following. . .

1. This past weekend we went to an ice festival in Hwacheon. I caught two fish and then proceeded to whack them against the ice to "lessen their suffering." At least they tasted good. Photos will be shared soon.
2. I have just passed 5 months in Korea and am starting to look seriously at prospects for August when I plan to return. The plan of course is changing week by week and my options seem similar to those I had this time last year. On that same note I submitted my first fellowship application as of last Monday!
3. It snowed in the city this weekend and Korea has yet to discover the snow plow.
4. I went to church with Grace and Tom last weekend, it was refreshing to be in the environment. We then went to lunch with Tom's family and I was sent home with two months worth of sweet potatoes!
5. My birthday is in one month and I have mixed feelings about entering the next year of life.
6. My little cousin and aunt both got facebook accounts in the past week.

Samores and Champagne

The inauguration of Barack Obama took place at 2am on Wednesday 21 November here in Korea. Several of us gathered at my apartment and drank champagne and roasted samores over the two burner range to celebrate the occasion. Huddled around the laptop I streamed the video off of the NY Times website for a live broadcast of the ceremony. It looked very cold on the mall, although I am very jealous of the 1.9 million people that made it out for the ceremony.

We had contemplated going to Unlce Don's (local bar for expats) to ring in the occasion, but




. . . it was cold.

"But Teacher, who would be President if North and South don't fight?" Well Lucy Jeong. . .

If you've already heard this story and are now reading this, I apologize for the repetition.
Thursday afternoon I walked into the office, before being reminded that it was the first day for monthly tests, I saw the brown paper envelope laying on my desk. Of course I look forward to my monthly National Geographic! You can read practically everything online and more, but having the slick glossy pages to flip through and being able to underline, cut and examine in different lighting can only be delivered through print. This month there is an article about escaping from North Korea. North Korean refugees who decide to flee from the country are forced to leave from the Chinese border. Once across the Tumen River they face increased danger in China, where if discovered they are arrested and returned to North Korea. In a question of international law and refugee status China believes they are seen as economic migrants.

Human rights organizations and various foreign leaders, particularly in the United States and the European Union, are urging China to honor its international agreements by treating the North Koreans as refugees, a status they're entitled to because of the punishments they face if deported. But China maintains that the defectors are illegal "economic migrants."

South Korea is considered the safe haven and about 15,000 refugees have made it to the Southern part of the peninsula since the 1990's. They are required to enter South Korea by traveling through China to Thailand in order to seek asylum.

In one of my classes the kids wanted to watch a movie. . .instead we discussed the situation to the North in the remaining 20 minutes of class.


Additional Links of Interest

• Youtube video following a North Korean family defect to Thailand (20min)
• 
  

Monthly Test

Every month in South Korea we get to conduct a standardized test for the children of this school. It tests what they have learned over the last month and tends to send some children into panic mode. Most of the kids however are used to the monthly testing so they will buck up and bubble in the scantrons. My favorite part of the test is when they are all finished and they argue over what movie to watch. Sometimes I give them options, but usually I bypass the most recent Madagascar/Disney/Pixar film and we watch one of the many classics such as Mary Poppins, Fern Gully or any of the other mid 1990 Disney animated films.
Next week we are giving the kids level tests, I told you they love tests in this country. Level tests send off a couple more whistles because they are only given every four months or so and determine if the child will move up or down a class. They were moved up a week this time, for God knows what reason.
The other reason I "LOVE" monthly/level tests are for the wonderful writing prompts that I have to grade. Here Poly can ruin a usually wonderful writer by demanding a response to prompts such as "What is your favorite time of the day or of the year?" The blase responses I get to grade, based on a standard scale, are often boring and do not show half of the talent most of my students have for writing. On monthly tests however there are occasionally a few students who understand the redundancy of such questions and write responses that said my in to laughing fits.


More to come!
-Ellen

Back in Seoul

I love Sunday mornings. They are by far my favorite time of the week. Along with Friday nights, I love both equally, but for different reasons.

I recently visited the Humanscape exhibit in Seoul. I was delighted to see some of Julia Fullerton Batten's work at the exhibit. Along with several other photographers that I have taken note of. The display is at the Old Seoul Train Station and the dilapidation of the building enhances the charm of the displays.

Welcome to the year of the OX

Year of the OX

Pictures. . .

Japan Photos

Happy New Year!

I am going to briefly update you all for the New Year!
Last night we went to a bar called Musk that Tim found. It had the usual combination of locals, expat teachers and military guys. I will spare you the details. We rang in the New Year here and danced the night away. We then took a train to the Dazaifu and saw hoards of people going to give their prayers and offerings. This particular temple is dedicated to scholarship, thus there were many young people offering prayers.
Tim and Eric are still asleep, and it is rather chilly here in Japan.
I will post photos as soon as I get time to sort them. . eventually.
Until then I hope you all have a wonderful new year!

Ｔｏｋｙｏ

We landed in Narita yesterday afternoon. Tokyo is a wonderful city, we covered a lot of territory in two days. Like most major cities it is much prettier at night. Tomorrow we are leaving for Kyoto at 8am. We should arrive there around 11a and procede with our travels. I ｌｉｋｅ　ｗｈａｔ　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ｅｘｐｅｒｉｅｎｃｅ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｃｏｕｎｔｒｙ　ｓｏ　ｆａｒ．　Ｉ　ｒｅａｌｉｚｅ　ｔｈａｔ　ｉｓ　ａ　ｖａｇｕｅ　ｓｔａｔｅｍｅｎｔ　ｂｕｔ　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ｎｏｔ　ｈｏｎｅｓｔｌｙ　ｆａｌｌｅｎ　ｉｎ　ｌｏｖｅ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｌａｃｅ．　Ｉｔ　ｉｓ　ｓｔａｒｋｌｙ　ｄｉｆｆｅｒｅｎｔ　ｆｒｏｍ　Ｋｏｒｅａ　ｉｎ　ｍａｎｙ　ｗａｙｓ．　Ｍｏｒｅ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｌａｔｅｒ．Ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｓｔｅｌ　ｗｈｅｒｅ　ｗｅ　ａｒｅ　ｓｔａｙｉｎｇ　ｉｓ　ｉｎ　Ａｓｕｋｕｓａ　ａｎｄ　ｉｓ　ａｓ　ｃｌｅａｎ　ａｓ　ｔｈｅｙ　ｃｏｍｅ．　Ｉ　ａｍ　ｓｔｉｌｌ　ｃｏｍｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｔｅｒｍｓ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｔｈｅ　Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ　ｋｅｙｂｏａｒｄｓ．　Ｉ　ｍｕｓｔ　ａｐｏｌｏｇｉｚｅ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｃｈａｎｇｅ　ｉｎ　ｆｏｎｔ　ｓｉｎｃｅ　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ｃｈａｎｇｅｄ　ｔｈｅ　ｌａｎｇｕａｇｅ　ａｂｏｕｔ　３　ｔｉｍｅｓ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｌａｓｔ　１０　ｍｉｎｕｔｅｓ．
Ｃｉａｏ！