This Week in Korea November 5 2009

*Korean-made English ability test

*Fingerprinting of all foreign visitors

*Mr Bolt does a Glenn Beck

*Asian languages in Australian schools (with immigration garnish)

*Saudis to behead and crucify child rapist

*Food

We have an Australian flavour this week. Try to imagine that delicious lamb korma, or thai green curry, or prawn laksa, or Sydney’s Chinatown yumcha, or the souvlaki on the souvla, or the felafel and yeeros. And don’t forget the ever humble shepherd’s pie. My cousin used to run a takeaway shop in Blues Point, North Sydney. He always baked a shepherd’s pie and the same clientele would always buy it and remark how his shepherd’s pie was the best they had tasted. My cousin’s dog wouldn’t even eat that pie.

Why all the food? Because you really are what you eat. Because food is people (not, not in a soylent green kinda way). And because we have all those foods in Australia because we have a large immigrant community in Australia. But first, news from Korea.

Korea is set to abandon the TOEFL/TOEIC and replace them with state approved tests. This isn’t really that current as I previously wrote on another post. From the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, “The new exam surpasses other similar exams in its credibility because of the fact that it is supported and approved by the state.” No facts are given to support this statement. The claim is that the state-authorised tests will improve the level of English education. For those not familiar with the way bureaucrats talk, here is a translation:

Our government only has 5 years in power, at the end of which some current officials may be charged with corruption and bribery offences as is the norm in Korean politics. Because our campaign promises of improving English education seem unlikely to be achieved, we have decided to change the testing rather than the teaching of English.

The Korean government currently sanctions seven English ability tests, all of which are locally produced. TOEFL and TOEIC, both non-Korean produced and by far the most popular tests taken (for reason go back 9 words) are excluded from the list of state-approved tests. According to the newspaper, tens of billions of won are spent on TOEFL and TOEIC. This means that tens of billions of won are leaving Korea every year. Methinks promoting home-grown tests is a mild form of protectionism designed to keep money here and encourage the local “Pass Mr. Kim’s English Test” book market. To see for yourself, go into any bookstore and you will invariably find more books about how to pass an English ability test than books on teaching/learning English. Kudos to Kyobo Gangnam for stocking one ESL teaching theory book, the majority of contributors being Koreans addressing how to better teach English.

Not helping the situation for TOEFL/TOEIC is the US-based English Testing Service not paying any income take on sales worth about $21 million. ETS claims it is a non-profit organisation but according to the paper has not paid anything back into the community. You may think that $21 million is an obscene amount, and you would be right but you would also not be taking into account the TOEIC exams or the other seven major English ability tests in Korea (ETS is one of several organisations that administers TOEFL).

The Korean government is planning to fingerprint and photograph all foreign visitors from 2012. I know some foreigner groups in Korea will be up in arms about this. The United States started doing this is 2001 and Japan in 2007. So I guess hypocrisy of the human rights variety will be rife over the next few weeks. Remember, to be in this country you need to abide by this country’s laws, including laws of entry. All Koreans are obliged to submit fingerprints and mugshots when they turn 17. The only difference being that we get to choose to come here and we get ‘ALIEN’ written on our card. Always a good ice-breaker.

A few days back I stumbled on a writer – don’t think too highly of that profession as the proliferation of ’writers’ is linked to expansion of the internet – who must be running for a Glenn Beck-wannabe contest. He comments on the police raids in Melbourne on suspected terrorists and muses why their religion was not used to identify those taken in. The simple answer is called ‘vilification’. The fact that they are suspected terrorists and Muslims does not mean that all Muslims are suspected terrorists. Besides, unlike Mr Bolt, real news organisations (and real journalists) have a charter which generally forbids including racial or religious information when describing individuals/groups unless it is absolutely relevant. For example, one needs to identify which denomination is referred to when saying ‘church’ (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, etc) but one should not mention religious affiliation when describing a bank robber.

“Was he a bank robber because he was XXXX religion? What does XXXX’s holy text say about theft?” 

Besides, we all know there is only one unified all-encompassing (erm, catholic?) Muslim faith right? WRONG! Saying that all Muslims wish to visit divine wrath on Christians is as true as saying the Crusades were fully supported by all Christians. Just ask Alexius III. Artifacts stolen from Christians by Christians in 1204 were returned nearly 800 years later.

In keeping with our racial intolerance theme today, the Rees government in New South Wales has announced that starting from kindergarten children will be required to take up either Mandarin, Korean, Japanese or Indonesian for 90 minutes each day spread across all subjects except English and Mathematics. The article claims in its summary that the push will be for Mandarin as first choice. There is no further mention. Any English teacher will tell you that a summary should contain only information previously mentioned in the body. Summaries are usually at the end so our intrepid reporter might have put Mandarin (surprised they didn’t say Chinese since they speak Chinese right? WRONG) to grab the reader’s attention. China is Australia’s bogeyman, whole Yellow Peril thing. 

I had to learn Italian when I was in primary school for a few hours a week. Not because we were all going to grow up and go to Italy but because they thought we should learn something more. Some also give away their position by suggesting children learn a European language instead of an Asian language. Or even the Americanism “We’re Australian and English is our langaauge!” (misspelling intended).

China, Japan  and Korea are our biggest trade partners, and Indonesia is our closest neighbour so it makes sense that if we are to learn another language (we should learn another language), it should be one of those four. If not for simple business purposes – Tom Richards and Harry Smith both make identical offers to Lee Xiaolong but only Harry makes the offer in Mandarin – then for self-development and for understanding a culture different to your own.

What truly worries me though is the myopia some of these people’s comments betray. For a long time Australia saw itself as an outpost of Europe or as America’s deputy sheriff. Never mind that Indonesia is the fourth most populous and largest Muslim country in the world and is only 100km away. The comments show that while most Australians that come willingly to the country try to integrate there is still a sizeable group of people (that is either getting larger or just louder) that want nothing to do with non Anglo-Saxon migrants. How easy it is to forget the contributions people who arrived in Australia with nothing more than a suitcase have made to Australian society. When my mother came to Australia there was such a shortage of workers that the Australian government paid for her airfare provided that she stayed and worked for two years. She chose to stay permanently even though she was almost certain to start working at the Greek Tax Office had she returned when scheduled (she’s a smart cookie).

The Snowy Mountains River Scheme was the series of dams built in the 1950s and 1960s to supply water to agricultural areas and now produces 10% of New South Wales’ power. 70% of the workers there were migrants (my godfather being one, later working at Cockatoo Island in a shipyard). Most of those workers stayed in Australia after the project finished when their original plan was to work hard, save money and go home. So not only did they stimulate the Australian economy by not sending money back home (though some families did send a portion of their earnings), they chose to continue working hard in Australia.

Taking out those migrants leaves only 30,000 workers on that project over the same time. Methinks we’d still not have electricity in Australia without immigration.

Saudi Arabia is set to behead and crucify a 22-year-old man for abducting and raping five boys aged between 3 and 5 years. He left the 3-year-old in the desert to die after the ordeal. According to Amnesty International there were 102 beheadings last year for crimes like rape, murder and apostasy (rejecting Islam). Story here and here and here. Amnesty International rejects the courts rulings saying the defendant did not have access to a lawyer and could possibly have a mental disorder (sic). With the help of one of his victims, policed found the man who later confessed to the crimes.

I mentioned the food earlier because I often get asked “What is Australian food like?” It is hard for me to describe except for lammingtons and pavlova (though Kiwis claim the latter too). What I usually say is that you can find food from anywhere on this planet in Australia. For those of you in Korea or anywhere with a largely homogenous population, you may find the odd Italian restaurant or sometimes a Chinese restaurant but unless you go to a buffet you will be hard pressed to find a variety of food to rival that available in multicultural countries.

In short, more immigration means more diverse food. And I like food

This Week in Korea October 29 2009

This week’s digest

*Korean seafood

*Sino-Chinese relations

*South Korean defects to North

*Korean bear farms in Vietnam

*”The Chineses are COMING!!!”

*Languages other than English on the internet

*Me making tteok

So I lied about when this would go up. On Tuesday night my department went out for 회 (usually spelt ‘hoe’ but sounds more like ‘hwe’ like the first syllable of ‘where’). Korean 회 is almost the same as sashimi except for two things: it is much harder to pronounce and I hope Lee Charm and friends at Korea Tourism Organisation will do something about that, like they did with tteok/toppoki/떡#; and 회 rarely features salmon or tuna. When either one is on the menu they are usually frozen rock solid. Sushi (fish on rice) is called 초밥 (cho bap) in Korean.

The 회 we had was 광어 (gwang oh, with 어 meaning fish or language). In English it would be called flatfish. To those of you in Korea, it’s the weird side-ways fish. This fish is the one sold at the restaurant chain with the Orthodox symbol for Jesus.

The letters mean (in Greek) “Jesus Christ God(’s) Son Saviour”. This was used as a secret marker for early Christians when it was Roman policy to feed believers to the lions. Now you can find it on Korean fish shops. Yet the Koreans that ask me about my religion usually follow up with “Are you Christian?” when I say I’m Greek Orthodox. I tried explaining about the schism and also about the Protestant/Catholic break due to a certain King Henry (most of the people that ask me here are some form of Protestant) but they usually stare at me like I’m a one-eyed purple alien.

Point of that story being that I got a lot more drunk than I thought I was. Plus side was my discovery that chilled soju tastes much better than normal soju.

Recently Secretary Gates met with Xu Caihou (China’s top military man) for a 75 minute talk about China’s increased military spending (previous post here, reference here), Taiwan, cupcakes and Xu’s upcoming visit to the US. The USA spends about 5% of GDP on the military while China spends about 3% of their GDP. The actual difference in military spending is about 10:1. Gates rambled on about China being more transparent about their military spending (‘Come on guys, tell us where your nukes and battle groups are. Please? It will save us all the trouble of looking for them’), while Xu expressed his concern about US ships close to China’s shores (you know there’s a submarine base in Hainan yet you think it’s OK and that the Chinese are “not willing to abide by acceptable standards of behaviour” in letting you send an underwater surveillance ship to ‘you know, look at stuff’). A fruitful 75 minutes indeed.

In other military news, a South Korean man who had served in the army (most South Korean men have served in the armed forces for at least 22 months) defected to North Korea earlier this week. KBS’s re-enactment had a cartoon guy cutting a whole through a fence and making a run for it (presumably he survived crossing the world’s biggest minefield). The North reported that he had been welcomed by their ‘warm’ embrace.

According to Moon Gwang-lip, bear bile tourism could pose a problem for bilateral relations between Korea and Vietnam. Bear bile (like most everything else your local ajuuma will recommend to you) is good for stamina and sexual prowess. According to the article today, a significant number of Korean tourists travel to bear farms run by Koreans in northern Vietnam to purchase bear bile. Bear farming and the sale of bear bile is illegal in Vietnam. Bear farming and the sale of bear bile is legal in Korea. A travel agency director said he stopped taking tourists to bear farms because he learnt that the bile sold could be harmful to humans (being cut with chemicals to increase profits). Presumably if the bear bile was safe for humans the director would continue the tours.

In Korea, moon bears are an endangered species so it is legal to breed them. Those that don’t end up in zoos or shows are slaughtered for meat or harvested for organs and bile. The reporter’s email is joe@joongang.co.kr. Write to him and thank him for bringing this despicable trade to light. (More info here)

This got me thinking: If Koreans are doing something illegal (and not to mention cruel and abhorrent like the bear farmers) in another country then that country should set up an Anti-Foreign Crime Unit to bring these people to justice, swift Communist justice.

In Part Four of my 33-part series “The Chineses Are COMING!!!”, Qatar has decided to sell liquified natural gas (LNG) earmarked for the United States to China. This amounts for about 10% of Qatar’s LNG exports. Why did they do this? Dealing with the Chinese is simply better business. From Ibrahim al-Ibrahim, advisor to Qatar’s ruler: “We will not go to a low price market – there is a lot of demand for our gas elsewhere”. Basically, the Chinese are paying more money for their gas. China’s deep pockets coupled with a long standing policy of non-intervention in political matters (“Business is business after all. Sell to us and run around naked in the woods. We don’t care”) should mean you will see more of these energy and resource deals, especially with African nations the USA and Europe are loth to trade with on human rights grounds.

Part 5 of “The Chineses Are COMING!!!” is the recent meeting of the Chinese, Indian and Russian foreign ministers to discuss energy security (loosely translated as “We don’t want to be held hostage by the Middle East”), terrorism and climate change. Russia is a major oil and gas suplier for China and India. China and Russia have also been meeting with South American countries (notably Brazil and Venezuela) to discuss energy deals. China overtakes the US as Brazil’s largest trading partner China, Brazil Sign Oil Deal and China in huge Venezuela oil deal.

What should be more worrying for the West is China’s deals in Africa.  Though the China-Guinea oil/mineral rights deal is yet to be confirmed by China, Africa is still China’s biggest trade partner after the United States. And it looks like the Chinese are there to stay (see ‘business is business’ above).

Now for some real FEARMONGERING (I hope Andrew ‘Glenn Beck-wannabe’ Bolt catches this): The internet is set to undergo a major change with the expected approval of international names/addresses. Not scary enough? How about “Internet addresses in languages other than ENGLISH” Some statistics here and here. According to the second table, between 2000 and 2008, use of Arabic on the internet increased by over 2000%, Chinese by 755% and English by 203%. This table shows the number of internet users per country. China sits at the top with 338 million, followed by the Eurpoean Union with 309 million and the United States with 228 million. Again, the potential for growth is much bigger in China with only 25% of the population using the internet as opposed to 63% (EU) and 74% (USA). As China continues to get richer and other parts away from the eastern coast begin to develop, the number and therefore percentage of internet users will increase.

So the use of Chinese on the internet will increase too.

Now I have an answer for all those people who asked my “Why are you studying Chinese?” At the time, I was into the poetry and philosophy, but now there is a practical purpose for it too.

#떡 is rice cake in Korean. Here is me making some.

Fun but messy

Anyway, some smart alec/clueless twit decided it would be ‘easier for foreigners’ to change the name from the accepted spelling of 떡볶이 to toppoki, the long rice cakes in red sauce you find in places like Gangnam, Hongdae and Samsan (Ulsan). So now we not only have certain Korean agencies changing their language to accomodate people who by and large have no interest in Korean, but also people running around saying something as Korean as kimchi incorrectly. Could lead to Koreans wondering why foreigners can’t even say 떡 properly. For the record, I think it should be spelt ‘tteok bokk i’.

Come on guys! Have some pride in your language and culture!

Unmunsa and KORMARINE

OK, it’s been a while since I posted. Last week was hectic. We had the monthly trip to Unmunsa Temple, for which I might be on the cover of our magazine as there weren’t any other people ‘white enough’ this time. As an aside, it should be Unmun Temple since ’sa’ means temple in Korean. You wouldn’t say ATM Machine now would you? Anyway, here are a few pics of the temple, before I get into the heavy stuff. The weather was perfect, but the trip there was by far the scariest bus ride I’ve ever had. Bus driver was great, but the roads were at a 10° gradient and as you turn a corner you can see just how far you will fall. The bus driver would always sound his horn when he came to a corner because there weren’t any safety mirrors on those hairpin turns. Crazy ride.

The temple complex was built 1500 years ago. Now it is a Buddhist university for nuns

Buddha getting a nipple cripple. He’s OK with it. Why aren’t you? read something rather interesting last week. Buddhism changed from a self-help philosophy to a religion because it is easier to enjoy someone else’s enlightenment than to achieve enlightenment yourself.

Worker working, monk meditating (tempted to say ‘monking’, did it anyway). Why do Communists hate religion so much?

We also had KORMARINE this week at BEXPO in Busan. Our display was right in front of the main doors which shows how much sway this company has. Samsung Thales had a flashy booth, as did STX. The German exhibitors were pretty good too. I caught some Chinese exhibitors sleeping. My favourite exhibits were Samsung Thales (weapons systems), Thales (Aegis Weapons System which they claim will be shared with their clients, unlike the American’s version) and LiG Nex1.

This is naval ammunition. They are about 100cm long.

Below: The fat one on the right probably explodes. The others probably just makes holes in stuff. Keen scientific mind I has.

Best slogan, apart from our own, was LiG Nex1’s “True Dream Partner”. They make anti-submarine missiles called ‘Red Shark, surface-to-air missiles and multi-array missile systems. They are dedicated to the “vision of hope and peaceful coexistence of humankind”. Probably made easier if you use their weapons to destroy anyone not agreeing with you.

Our slogan, even after extensive (and intensive but ultimately ignored) editing was “Earth-fiendly Technology”. Seriously, I’ll be asked about something and some clown will tell me something like “The guy before you (who quit before his contract expired) said this was better.”  Parenthesis added. He will then go with whatever he fancies. He even tried telling me that ‘environmently’ is better than ‘environmentally’. No it’s not! It’s WRONG! And they generally despise abbreviations like ‘eco-friendly’. They may have fallen into the trap of using long words because some pretentious git said they were better.

Here’s a picture of my cat. I need to calm down.

My cat, not tearing up my apartment.

Last thing this week was a visit by Bulgaria’s president, Georgi Parvanov. When I came to work I was scanned with a metal detector at the front entrance of my building, the Orwellian named ‘Culture Building’. None of my coworkers were scanned because they usually enter the building from the side entrance. Security FAIL. He spent a whole 50 minutes touring the shipyard, which means he saw one transformer factory (No, not Autobots and Decepticons) and half a drydock. Press release from Sofia News Agency. Don’t worry, it’s in English. We’ll talk about English on the internet soon.

This Week in Korea will be posted tomorrow. I also realise the title should be ‘This Week from Korea’ as the news isn’t always about Korea.

This W(eek)ednesday in Korea 14 October 2009

This is more an addendum to this week’s ‘This Week in Korea’ than a post in it’s own right.

 

I got my H1N1 flu vaccination today. The whole thing took about 10 minutes. There was something pretty strange about the whole process as it took place in the gym by my building. Think of it more as an assembly line than a doctor’s consultation. The form asked if I was allergic to eggs.

 

Found this gem last week in the International Herald Tribune (actually the New York Times but with international advertising) for the 10th World Knowledge Forum. Must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel if George W. Bush is the headline speaker.

Better be worth the US$1000

Paul Krugman is playing second fiddle to Bush. Weird as Krugman is regarded as among the top 100 intellectuals on the planet while Bush is well, Bush.

 

Lastly, had our first English ‘lecture’ in my office. Every Wednesday my department would have a debate session on some contemporary topic but numbers were dwindling so my boss decides that instead of a debate we will have a lesson with a new teacher each week. I failed to get my point across when I was trying to explain how certain images that work well in a Korean context might not work so well with a non-Korean audience.

 

And I’m having WoW issues. Though strangely no withdrawal symptoms. I’m beginning to think it’s all an urban myth.

This Week in Korea October 13 2009

You’ll be glad to know there are no Korea Times/Korea Herald articles this week. Instead, this update has an international flavour to it.

 

Probably the biggest news this week was Obama winning the Nobel Peace prize for this year .

Here’s the announcement of the award in Norwegian (gasps at 15s)

Now, one may ask what has Obama done to warrant such a prize. There are still two wars in which the USA is the central player, with talk of a huge increase in troop numbers for Afghanistan later this week. Were there better candidates for the reward? Probably. Even if there weren’t, the prize does not have to be awarded every year regardless (see the list).  Perhaps he won for not being George W. Bush? Or maybe for not being Hitler (this last one it kinda depends on whom you ask).

Perhaps the meaning of peace has changed so much that we no longer know what it is. Maybe peace actually means sending in more troops than originally planned to bring an end to a very long war.

Agree or not with Obama winning the award, it is very hard to argue that it isn’t good for America. Even Bill O’Reilly says it’s ultimately good for America. I like his final point “The world is hearing ‘America and ‘Peace’ in the same sentence. That’s good.”

 

China still has Stern Hu and three other Rio Tinto staff in custody for allegedly engaging in industrial espionage and bribery. Obviously iron ore price negotiations have now stalled. China was originally holding out for price reductions to be lower than 33 percent, the amount agreed to by Rio Tinto with other Asian steel mills. Perhaps the Chinese got what they wanted from somewhere else anyway as Baosteel, one of the world’s biggest producers, announced a price reduction for steel products from November of 250 yuan to 500 yuan per ton. Thick steel plate will be cut by 400 yuan per ton. Thick steel plate is used in shipbuilding, with China recently overtaking South Korea as the world’s number one shipbuilding nation.

In other metal related news, China produces 95% of the world’s rare metals. Rare metals are those metals needed for banknotes, headphones, mobile phones and increasingly in green industry (Economist article here). It is expected that China’s demand for these metals will increase quite quickly which will lead to shortages for other countries, especially if the Chinese further restrict their export. There should be benefits for countries with uranium reserves as these metals usually occur together (albeit usually also contaminated by uranium).

 

Our idiot of the week goes to the Somali pirates who attacked the French navy’s flagship La Somme thinking it was a cargo ship.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091007/wl_africa_afp/somaliapiracyshippingfrance_20091007151820

 

PS: As time goes on and China becomes a much more important player on the world stage, you will often hear something like “After being in slumber for centuries, China is re-emerging…”. This statement is 100% true if by ‘slumber‘ the writer means ‘rape and pillage by invading foreign powers addicting your population to opium’.

THAT skit (you know, the Hey Hey blackface one)

Big news this week, or last I guess as I just had a five day weekend, in my end of the world was the blackface skit on Hey Hey It’s Saturday.

You can see the Kamahl running gag at 1m 32s. He is threatening legal action but realises it’s all the same rubbish. These clowns make the inference that since they are not Anglo-Australian then they can’t possibly be racist. I would think that the producers would get fired over this except they admitted to realising there may be a controversy over this skit. That may or may not be the reason why they decided to go ahead with it anyway.

 http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/873452/kamahl-hits-back-at-hey-hey

Harry Connick Jnr (rightly) expressed his disgust with the tasteless skit. There were claims he was a tad hypocritical as he had performed in a blackface skit years ago….

….except that he wasn’t actually wearing blackface. He did display all the other trappings of a Southern preacher but as the (clearer) photo below shows, he wasn’t in blackface.

Not blackface at all.

What is not surprising is the lack of interest in their choice of wigs.  The wigs (and of course the face paint) make the ‘performers’ look very much like gollywogs. This is a derogatory term in Britain and Commonwealth countries for Black people.  

British hypocrisy knows no bounds, Marina Hyde

Don’t forget, the British Museum is an active crime scene thanks to all those foreign cultural treasures in their ’safe keeping’. Even that suggests the creators of these highly prized pieces are inferior in that they can’t even take care of them themselves. Spare us. And give back the marbles, for now there is somewhere ‘worthy of housing them’.

The term ‘wog’ is not likely derived from gollywog. Wog in the Australian vernacular was used as a term for illness, germs or parasites. It later became a racial slur for Mediterranean people. Over time, the groups that were the target of the slur appropriated it for themselves though context can still mean that this is an offensive term.

 

Ever heard of the term ‘Yellowface’? No? Not particularly surprising as this is far more common and somewhat accepted in this ridulous world we find ourselves. I suppose it’s accepted because no Asians were ever subjected to slavery. Calling California ‘Old Gold Mountain’ in Chinese, stuffing Chinese miners in former slave ships, working them to death in the mines and on the railroads, and scalping them when they actually discovered something is totally not slavery. Similar to blackface, yellowface is when a Caucasian actor wears heavy makeup to give the appearance of being ‘Asian’ or ‘Oriental’. Here’s a wikipedia catalogue of said offences in film, the latest being in 2009’s Dragonball Revolution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowface

Kinda reads like a ‘Who’s Who of Hollywood’, doesn’t it?

Iran (and China) vs The Free World*

*’free world’ is here defined as whatever the US State Department defines as the ‘free world’. Bear in mind that the State Department uses a map of the world as its logo. Imagine if China did that for their Foreign Ministry.

 

Iran has once again snubbed its nose at the USA and friends on demands to let inspectors in to see the site at Qum. Iran’s answer to the sabre rattling was a little of their own, by testing a new missile and claiming “Iranian missiles are able to target any place that threatens Iran,” said Abdollah Araqi, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander. Apparently, the building in Qum is made of heavy masonry and steel to withstand an aerial strike. It appears that Iran has learnt something from Syria’s experiences with nuclear reactors courtesy of Israel. The discovery of the nuclear site and the missile launch attracted the predictable reaction from the West of sanctions and stern warnings. Like clockwork, China raised questions over the effectiveness of sanctions. Let’s address this issue in more depth.

 

China is currently Iran’s biggest import and export partner (14.3% and 14.8% respectively). Recently, China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) signed a contract with National Iranian Oil Company for the development of an oil field. Since China is also trying to secure energy resources from varied countries (think something like ‘don’t put all your eggs in the one basket, as the Europeans are slowly learning with Russian gas) and that Iran supplies up to 14% of China’s oil, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that sanctions are always vetoed by the Chinese. I think the Chinese also has a sly sense of humour when they follow up their veto with the standard statement “We believe that sanctions and exerting pressure are not the way to solve problems and are not conducive for the current diplomatic efforts on the Iran nuclear issue”. I feel its almost a little jab at the free market promoting Americans. Also, the USA has little to lose from promoting sanctions against a country that it officially has no trade dealings with, where as stated above, America’s closest global rival would also, by pure dumb-luck, have the most to lose from imposing sanctions.

 

In other China news, it is the 60th Anniversary of teh foundation of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese are going all out with their celebrations. You can see msnbc’s slideshow here. One photo in particular caught my attention. This is taken outside the Forbidden City and opposite the main government building.

Original caption: A surveillance camera mounted in front of giant portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong symbolizes the nation's relentless security presence around Beijing's Tianamen Square.

That sounds pretty sinister right? And Big Brother-ish yeah? Now, I challenge you to go to the government’s main meeting place in your country (Congress, Parliament, etc) and count how many cameras you see in that area. Then multiply that number by 3 for the ones you can’t see. Better still, go to any commercial district and do this exercise. At least the Chinese know they are under surveillance. We live with the delusion that in the Western world we are never being watched.

The Week in Korea, September 28 2009

This week saw me trying to convince my coworkers and my boss why ‘perennial’ cannot be matched with potential, for we all know that everlasting potential doesn’t actually do anything. My favourite editing gems this week were “Mrs Lee, propelling a swing” (she was sitting on a swing) and “Listening to the expounder at Gwangajeong”. Sometimes the dictionary is not your friend. Remember English learners, Keep It Simple!

 

As you may have guessed, the magazines are almost finished. I think the guy is driving the final copies to the printer as we speak. We had two to do this week as our monthly ‘only Indians come to our trips but we must put a white family on the cover’ magazine and our quarterly were both being sent out this week. So for now I’m in a kind of ennui at work, but this does give me time to study Korean, refresh Chinese and work out how to become a polyglot. I have no intention of being able to speak 10+ languages but I do like learning how these people’s brains work. You could say I’m a little like Sylar from Heroes, just without the murderous intent. Anyway, onto the news.

 

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/09/123_52506.html

In what probably comes as no surprise to anyone working in a private institute/hagwon/academy/’school’, Korea’s National Tax Service has found that the private education industry (as well as wedding hall operators, strangely enough) omit on average 46% of their income when filing their taxes. Institutes often encourage parents to pay in cash so they can leave it out of their income. The same goes for some self-employed professionals such as doctors, lawyers and dentists.

One can see how unregulated the private education industry is by the sheer level of tax evasion going on. When owners see that they can set any price and then not have to pay tax on it, is it really any surprise fees are so high? Couple that with many Korean parents feeling they need to keep up with the Kims (Kim’s child goes to hagwon until 9pm, therefore my child must go until 10pm) and the general cluelessness of foreign teachers when it comes to Korean laws on tax/health insurance/overtime/holiday pay/immigration and you have a disaster waiting to happen. I was lucky enough that my current employer helped me fill out my income tax forms, after which I realised that nearly every English teacher that starts work in March or later can claim a decent amount as a tax refund for not working the full year. There was no way my previous employer would have told me that (they dragged their feet on this matter until my boss intervened and since he is pretty high up in a chaebol even unruly hagwon owners do as he says).

I guess we are slowly learning that some regulation is needed in any market. We aren’t talking about a straitjacket. Instead, think of it like gravity. Do what you like as long as you remember that what goes up must come down and that will never change.

 

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/09/27/2003454588

Rebiya Kadeer was refused entry into Taiwan and demanded an apology from the Taiwanese government (headed by Ma Ying-jeou) for linking her and the Worldwide Uyghur Congress to terrorists. The Chinese government accusses Kadeer of instigating riots in Xinjiang on July 5. She had been invited by rocker Freddy Lim to visit in December. Kadeer also accussed Taiwan of bowing to pressure from Beijing (hoping that this will make them change their mind!?). For one, governments do not take kindly to being accussed of bending to another nation’s will. I think what motivated Taiwan more was the simple business motive. Recently things have been looking peachy between the mainland and what it regards as a wayward province, with the central government all but confirming that Taiwan is actually a separate country

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/25/content_12108173.htm

合久必分, 分久必合

 Why would you need a Council for Reunification if Taiwan is already a part of China anyway (bonus points for guessing where the quote in the caption is from). Business between Taiwan and the mainland is picking up but still has a long way to go.

 

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/09/113_52542.html

Our final story is about the ever multiplying chameleon-esque group After School (애프터스쿨). The girls, current count six with Son Dambi sometimes subbing in, were on their way back to Seoul when they were “harrassed by rowdy bikers”. Now, when I hear ‘bikers’ a sort of word recognition game begins in my brain where I get images of big ZZ Top-looking blokes on choppers with WW2 helmets, tattoos, leather and sawn-off shot guns. A K-pop group rarely figures in that slideshow (but it probably will now). The ’bikers’ in the article seem more like yong hoons with a crush. The chase ended when one of these clowns hit a car (maybe it was a parked car?). Come on guys, just leave After School ALONE. Stay strong girls.

 

*George has After School’s debut song as his wake-up alarm

This Week in Korea, September 21 2009

It’s been a pretty busy week with all the things to do with the Gorgon project and new power plants in Kuwait and Iraq. But what is really interesting to me, what shows me a little of the psyche around here is the fluff news. A few weeks back there was an article about US teens doing Korean culture things in Korea: learning Korean, taekwondo and how to make kimchi (we’ll take about kimchi later). The headline and the picture are an odd juxtaposition as the headline makes one think that making/writing on shoes is a Korean cultural activity. And if that guy in blue is a teenager, then congrats on that awesome beard.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2009/08/178_50208.html

 

Korean Culture?

My coworkers used rather colourful language when I showed them this headline with the picture, (rightly) complaining about the idea of ’Korean culture’ this newspaper was sending out to English speakers in Korea.

 

Last week, according to the same newspaper, there was furore on the Wonder Girls autographing shoes in Florida.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2009/09/178_51891.html

something offensive?

In the article an unnamed witness is quoted as saying she can’t believe how ‘our’ top singers are being treated. Is there any difference between the two stories? In many countries shoes are considered dirty and as such insulting depending on the context. Obviously putting your feet up on a table is bad etiquette in any country. Remember the shoe guy in Iraq? That’s another example of using shoes to insult someone. When Saddam Hussein was removed from power there were people beating posters of his face with their shoes.

In the US is it considered rude to ask someone to autograph your shoes? No, I don’t think so and that is just my opinion. I’m sure the girls agree with me as they reportedly smiled and happily obliged (perhaps they know who where the money comes from). These ultra-nationalistic, hyper-sensitive netizens seemed shocked and outraged that fellow Koreans had been made to do such a thing. Some netizens suggested the fans should have taken their shoes off. Really, summer in Florida waiting in line for a popular group. Feet are bound to sweat. I wouldn’t want to be smelling someone else’s footcheese, thank you very much. Then again, methinks these same whingers would complain about that too.

 

In other news, the KFDA (just like the American Food & Drug Authority, but Korean) recognised four foods that can help against H1N1 Influenza A. Surprisingly, kimchi is not on that list. That’s right, KIMCHI IS NOT A CURE-ALL! I can’t believe I’m saying that as I find it’s uses as varied as my dad finds WD40, Windex and aloe vera. Arthritis playing up? Just put some WD40 on it and bob’s your uncle. It stopped avian flu from hitting Korea.True, kimchi does possess some unique bacteria that do similiar things to those drinks (think Yakult and friends) which made me wonder why the boffins spent so much money, national pride aside, to make bacteria-free kimchi for Korea’s first astronaut. I still wonder why they needed to send a Korean (a women, as her male partner was removed after being accused of stealing Russian documents) into space anyway.

What made the list? Ginseng and red ginseng, as well as aloe gel and alkoxyglycerols (try saying that eight times quickly). Aloe gel you can find in many of those ‘energy/well-being’ drinks. It tastes quite sweet actually. If you’ve lived in Korea long enough, you will be familiar with ginseng. You might have even received some for Teacher’s Day or Christmas with wink and a nudge “It’s for stamina”.

George’s Diary 2009-09-15

나의 일기   9월15일  오늘은 화요일이에요.  날씨가 좋습니다.

 

주말에 나는 아주 바밨어. 토요일 아침에 머리자르러 갔어. 살롱에서 아줌마가 많이 있었어. 1시간 30분을 꼭 기다려야했어. 해어컷 다음에, 울산KBS홀에 ‘Bboy 와 발레리나의 사랑 이야기’를 봤어. 쇼는 그냥그랬어.

일요일에 서울의 친구를 만났어. 이번주 호주에사는 한국인친구가 한국에 왔어. 우리는 저녁을 같이 먹었어.