The specter of “losing your English” is something that haunts TEFL teachers living abroad. I’m not sure if it haunts mommies or kindergarten teachers in the same way, but I’ve heard TEFL teachers tyalk about it since I first arrived in Korea, and I, yes, indeed, have even experienced it a little bit too. The idea is, well, simply put, with language, use it or lose it. We know this is true since we see it in our students. Those who speak English seldom loose it, even when they pratice for an hour a day in a class. When not …
Month: March 2010
Random Snippets
If I ever were to write an autobiographical account of my life in Korea, or a chapter on the same in a bigger autobiographical text (other than this blog), I would want to have all of the humor of the first twelve pages or so of Peter Mayne’s A Year in Marrakesh. That’s all I’ve read, but I’m sure the rest is funny too. Other Westerners I know have much better first-day-in-Korea stories than I do. One guy I know ended up on the bus to a totally different city, but, if I remember it right, didn’t know he was …
Shutter Island
This post won’t make any sense to you unless you’ve seen it. So… it’s hidden for those who would just be baffled. I think it’s sorta worth seeing, though it disappointed me in the end.
Says South Korea’s Minister of National Defense: “In Africa, Only Ig’nunt Negros(*) Are Running Around!”
UPDATE 2: Thanks to the comment by Sonagi, here’s the video of his remarks. He does indeed stumble on what sounds like the first syllable of the word “깜둥이” which, indeed, is the infamous N-word. (Note added: Actually, as Sonagi notes in the comments, it’s 껌둥이, but this is just a variant pronunciation of (as far as either of us know) equivalent meaning.) Also, the video seems not to be loading on my Firefox, but in case it works in IE I;’ve leave it embedded here. Here’s a link for those who cannot view it.) And as per Sonagi’s comment, …
Don’t Ask Why…
… it might be a felony. At least, in the “land of the free.” Er, not so much. I haven’t been following this, though I heard about the original incident, mostly because those two months with barely any internet meant I haven’t been following anything. But it seems that Dr. Peter Watts, a Canadian scientist and author, has been found guilty of, well, disobeying an order. That is, if asking, “What is the problem?” is disobeying an order. He’s also been slammed in the media, with accusations of violence and worse, all of which he notes have been discarded by …
Sarging Rasmussen excerpt online
For those interested in my story “Sarging Rasmussen: A Report by Organic,” which is appearing in the Shine anthology, there’s an excerpt online. Yup, the story is what you might think it is from the excerpt: Pick-Up Artists meet the Green Movement meet the UN, basically. If you like it, there’s a huge pile of preorder links right there in the sidebar of the same page.
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
Having decided to defer my review of Ian McDonald’s Cyberabad Days until I’ve read his other book in the same world/setting, River of Gods, I have decided to skip ahead and review the next book I read, a nonfiction piece by Steven Johnson. This book was a loaner from my friend Charles, who recommended it highly to me. If I remember right, he picked it up at The Strand, which is one of the most wonderful bookstores I’ve ever visited… so much so that I even got a T-shirt when I was there. Maybe that doesn’t interest readers, but I …
Getting an iPhone, Part I
Seems not to be as easy as some say, though I’m not sure it’s quite as impossible as others claim. In short: I tried yesterday. I wasted a good bit of time.
You Know You’re Middle-Aged When…
… when you get your new steam-cleaner vacuum and you’re excited to give it a try. Oh yes, then there is no doubt in your mind.
Briefly…
“German bishop surprised at number of abuse cases.” He must be the only one. Even among practicing Catholics — in the Western world, at least — nobody who is in possession of his or her senses is ever surprised when charges and evidence come up of priests sexually molesting children, and nobody is surprised when it comes out that the Church was protecting such monsters, shuffling them around and keeping everything hushed up. In fact, the German bishop’s being surprised is either an act or a sign of utter naiveté. (Link via Mike Armstrong’s post on Facebook, which I won’t …