April fool?

Recent events in the news have led me to think again about the tension/s in Korea. You may or may not know North Korea is set to launch some kind of rocket/satellite into orbit some time soon (April 4th-8th). America has now stated that it will not attempt to stop any rocket launch but I find that hard to believe especially as they have a vested interest in the area and have over 25,000 troops already here. This comes after the Japanese have openly said they will intercept any rocket that may fall upon its territory. Pyongyang has said any attempt to shoot down the rocket will be result in war.

How seriously should I/we take this latest development? Are their intentions sinister and is it wrong to be cynical? It is impossible to take anything the North Koreans say as fact as most things that come out of theDPRK are merely self satisfying propaganda as evidenced by the recent elections with only one candidate. And of course we have continued health speculation of their leader, KimJong Il and who may or may not succeed him. It is hard to believe that they do not have future nuclear intentions but perhaps it is an exaggeration to call it a delicate time. It is possible that this is another bargaining chip for future aid and another attempt to be taken seriously as some kind of power.


I have started to follow the situation more closely than in previous years because after a while it is impossible to ignore 'the elephant in the room'. The latest course of events are more than a curiosity. It must be remembered that Korea is still actually at war. No declaration of peace has ever been signed, only the armistice of 1953. Certainly tensions have been heightened since the current President in Seoul, LeeMyung-bak took office last year. The relative peace of the previous administration appears to have dissolved under new hard-line policies.

As a neutral observer in this peninsula. I have never heard a Korean co-worker or friend actively broaching the subject, nor a student for that matter. Is this talked about seriously by locals? Perhaps I have become blasé over the matter but not now! For the record I am not worried about next month and feel extremely safe. Ironically much safer than back home in England. However, I shall be watching developments with great interest. Is this just another example of attention seeking and posturing from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea?

Failure. But whose?

I found this last week in one of my classes and one of my more likeable kids. It took the student one minute to figure out his mistake. I'm not taking the blame for this one!

Nemesis update

Work remains the same but something is starting to grate. Little by little, day by day one offender has been gnawing away at my patience and sanity. There is someone at work who cannot walk properly. I will point out here that some of my co-workers wear something resembling slippers whilst at work. Presumably for comfort reasons. But what difference could these slippers make to being able to walk correctly? Rather than lifting one leg up then going forward (repeating with the other leg etc etc), this person is making no attempt to walk, only shuffle their slippers ever forward. The noise is not loud but relentless. Like a butcher sharpening a knife but worse. The laziness of this person beggars belief.

Korea Vs. Japan

Today was the final of the baseball World Championships. Korea played Japan for the gold medal. I can't talk about baseball with any authority because I just don't know the game, but whatever the game is between these two nations it is more than a game. I can tell you that Korea likes nothing better than beating Japan at any sport or any occasion possible. A look into the history of the two countries will show you why some Koreans literally hate Japan. Personally I feel that a lot of the kids I've taught have been a little brainwashed into hating Japan, but Koreans are proud people and will not let history or it's injustices be forgotten. This is very understandable. Of course there is still the matter of Dokdo and its ownership which is

disputed, bitterly.

Despite Korea's long history with martial arts, many people consider baseball to be the national sport of the country so expectations were high. For what it's worth, Japan won 5-3 (Korea are the more prestigious Olympic champions though). The mood of several student's was quite bad across the age ranges, predictable so. I sometimes feel that Koreans are bad losers, but this is not always the case so to test this I played on their emotions a little and took advantage slightly of the situation by asking them all to answer the loaded question "I like/don't like Japan because...". The following is a list of some of the answers I got, all the quotes are literal quotes, grammar errors et al. Interestingly, nearly the younger kids said they don't like Japan but the older ones weren't as vitriolic.

"They is win!"
"Japan people is Korean people"
"They are terrible"
"Korean history is Japan very bad"
"Japan Kill Korea"
"Dirty"
"Because Japan steal Dokdo"
"Japan is Koreans rival"
"Japan kills many Koreans"
"Long time ago Japan kills lots of Korean people"
"Japanese is gay"

Of course what I am writing is not new and many have chronicled this in the past. It is clear feelings remain as intense here as ever. I wonder how Japan feels about the matter. I feel that this coin has only one side.

This surprise is a Given

As mentioned before in a previous post, I thought I'd seen and heard every possible way of saying and writing my name out in Korea. This is due to the G sounding like K/C and V sounding like B to many people in Korea. I used to work with one Korean who insisted on calling me Gevin for the fifteen months we worked together. Even on my medical insurance my name (in Korean) is spelled with an E, not an A. But as you can see there is now another way of spelling my name. Given teacher. My students continue to surprise me

Summer in Spring

What tremendous weather we've had the past few days. The yellow dust appears to have come and gone leaving blue skies and above average temperatures. It feels like Summer already. Can it really be three months away? Everybody at work has been in a very positive mood this week. Spirited lifted by thoughts of future travels and exciting times to come. I loathe and despise Korean summers but what comes round goes around so I'm going to try and enjoy it as much as possible this time round. This week I returned to hapkido. I'm probably five weeks away from being back to the level I was before, but at least the problem with my feet is improving by the day. It was great to be back at hapkido, everybody smiling, laughing and having fun. The hamster is back on the wheel.

Reoccurring problem

Just another ordinary day in the peninsula, but not quite. The sun is shining, the weather is warm, but why can't we really see the sun and why is there no blue sky? The answer is straight forward. What we are experiencing right now is Yellow Dust (황사) coming mainly from China. Trying to sum it up, strong winds in China and Mongolia push dust and soil over China, Korea and Japan. Pollutants have exacerbated the problem which can affect the health of millions across the continent. Efforts have been made to improve the situation, but the problem is a significant one. Due to it's geographical location Daegu is not hit as badly as places like Seoul, but it still gets here.

This appears to be an annual occurrence around about this time every year. So far it doesn't seem to be too bad. Visibility is good so unless you knew it was here you wouldn't suspect anything was wrong. I've just come back from a 45 minute round trip to the shops and I can feel something wrong with my throat. During this period it is wise to stay indoors as often as possible to avoid any medical problems. If the situation becomes more visibly evident I will try to take some pictures.

Sign of the times

During my second spell in Korea I have paid a little more attention to the dialogue and vocabulary used in my classroom. I have noticed a worrying and depressing trend with some students. There has been a rise in the aggressive language used by some of the kids. Words I continue to hear constantly, by a few students include "Kick", "Punch", "Hit", "Psycho", "Crazy", "Nuclear", "Kill" and "Die". I must add that the majority do not use these but those who do are boys, usually in elementary school. Korea's a pretty peaceful country on the surface but the recent shootings in Germany and a discussion with my new partner teacher has led me to think more about what should and shouldn't be allowed in class.

Where are they getting these words from? I don't like to use these words in class but admit I have used some of them, but mainly in response to them using similar words. I am conscious of the example I set to some of the students so try to use appropriate language as much as possible. My theory is a) Computer games, b) Over-exposure to TV/Film violence, c) The North Korean situation that hangs over the peninsula.


Ask many a student here about what they want to do in their free time and they will more than likely say play a computer game. Usually in a PC Room. I find it utterly depressing that these youngster's do not want to play outside more often - yes there are not so many parks as back home, but there are things to do outside. I played my fair share of video games when I was younger but not to the extent that they do here. 'It' is everywhere. It cannot be a coincidence that so many kids in my classes wear glasses compared to the amount of kids I knew when growing up.

Regarding TV/Film violence, that's a worldwide problem I guess. I have though noticed being in a cinema where some kids have been allowed in to watch some films that are indisputably unsuitable for children. Onto the ongoing North Korean drama, perhaps kids are oblivious, perhaps not, but the existence of Nuclear technology in the North is known by my students but they don't seem to talk about that much. It could be a passing phase, or boys being boys, but it's disconcerting to hear children talk so much about death and destruction and as one student (who drew the picture) keeps saying, "Kill the people".