No more tentacles please!

School lunch has grown repetitive(, as school lunches are apt to do).

I’m tired of filing into the cafeteria, taking a metal tray (that could serve as a prop in a prison movie) and then having it filled with the same food I’ve eaten for months now. Day in day out, it's rarely any different: rice, kimchi, side dish and something swimming in broth.

I’m especially tired of tentacles! No more tentacle soup for me please! I don’t care if it’s squid, octopus or star fish. Can one even eat star fish? Who knows. Sometimes I feel that if it walks, crawls, remains still, breathes or has gills it is being eaten somewhere in Korea. The only taboo it would seem is cannibalism.

But then a really plump kid passes me, as I’m contemplating the tentacle that I am busy chewing, and I begin to wonder, “what is this kid being fattened up for? How is it that in a country obsessed with fitness that this podgy kid is left to munch away on tuckshop snacks?”

It would be reassuring if I arrived at school one day and I was told that “today is role the fat kids down the hill day!” We would then role the fat kids down the hill, the roundest wins (of course) and he is given a lollipop to fill that grinning chubby face as we depart for our regular classes.

No discussion of Korean food, at least for a westerner, is complete without a mention of ‘boshentang’: dog soup. Boshentang, and dog meat in general, has been illegal since 1988 but is openly advertised. The consumption of dog meat is an everyday affair in Korea, certain restaurants specialise in it, but opinions about the practice diverge significantly with little middle ground. It’s either, “No that’s disgusting”, or “yes I eat it”. Somewhat unsurprisingly it’s the younger Koreans that react with disgust while older people shrug their shoulders at the affair. Sometimes I wonder whether the kids are being entirely honest with me, and I suspect that some students merely yell the answer that they expect I want.

In truth dog meat is often a specialty dish eaten by older men, in part to maintain their ‘stamina’, and so it would seem natural for younger Koreans to have no interest in the practice. When I look at the students I wonder how many of those who vehemently oppose the practice as teenagers will eventually come to eat dog meat themselves as they come to find their place in Korean society. Or is dog meat destined to become an outdated cultural relic, hidden away, and available only to the connoisseur in the know?

Certainly if the drive to embrace everything that is western continues the taste for boshentang may diminish, but then again it is difficult to predict Korea’s future. Much of Korea’s culture seems to hang in the balance: on the one side Koreans hang onto traditional values, while on the other they avidly consume every available western fashion, product and idea.

The banning of dog meat prior to the 1988 Olympics , which were held in Seoul, was itself part of the incredible balancing act. On the one hand the government banned a practice that disgusts many foreigners, but on the other Koreans have continued to consume as much as 8500 tons of dog meat a year since the banning. A further 96000 tons of dog meat is used in a medicinal tonic.

My personal feelings on boshentang are mixed and confused. I believe that we should respect differences, in culture and even take ourselves out of cultural comfort zones – ‘hey why not try that bowl of steaming boshentang? You don’t have to finish it. Just try it, it’s part of the cultural exchange’ – but eating dogs does not sit well with me.

During my last few weeks in South Africa, prior to leaving for Korea, I often laughed and joked about how I intended seeking out dog meat. Now that I am eight months into my stay in Korea, the notion of eating a dog has grown far less appealing. I know exactly where to order boshentang, it’s available no more than 500m from our apartment. I miss my dogs though which is very off putting.

I eat beef and pork, but dogs? Surely one can’t eat dogs? These are animals that were bread and nurtured over many thousands of years to love and care for people. Dogs naturally seek out human company, it’s in their nature. To eat a dog seems like a betrayal of some basic and fundamental compact.

Apart from missing my own dogs I’ve seen dogs destined for the dinner table. While teaching in Andong in January I saw dogs being transported in stacked cages on the back of a truck. They looked miserable and were packed into cages so small that the only way to get a dog into one would have been to have the dog step in and then lie down. You can’t get a sheep to step a cage and then obediently lie down. It’s impossible. Dogs are loyal though, you can coax a dog into a cage and then have it lie down. Dogs trust the person that have them do this, it’s in their nature. We bread dogs to trust us and yet some people have them step into cages that eventually lead to the dinner table.

Coincidentally procrastination, earlier today, and an interest in ‘Laugh it off’, led me down the garden path to reading about how hens are raised in USA. The stories are horrific, and there were some interesting pieces on the intelligence of chickens. (Man – when I procrastinate I procrastinate – how much further can one get from preparing classes than reading about chickens intelligence??)

All of this has got me thinking: what makes it ok to eat a chicken, cow or pig and not a dog? Why do we eat any of these animals at all, and why don’t we eat everything that breathes or has gills?

[I’m thinking of rewriting this piece and submitting it somewhere or other, any freed back or ideas who might be interested in publishing it would be appreciated.]

I took this photo Haeinsa. A large temple complex, set in beautiful unspoiled mountains, about three hours from Sangju. It houses the oldest complete set of Buddhist tripitaka, wooden blocks form which prints can be made. The tripitaka date back to the 13th century.

It's a pity the photo is a little blurry. This an on going problem for me at the moment.

Pocastination is your friend

Hello everyone,

I’m at school, I’ve just had lunch, and I’m taking a bit of time out. Jess and I work hard at school, but I don’t just don’t have the energy today – I need a time out and I am taking one (at least for a little while).

I often wonder how hard the other NETs (native English teachers) work at school. As a group we are largely left to our own devices, and taking into account how much time some people spend on facebook etc, it is unlikely that many NETs are working to reach their full potential.

I have been told that Koreans are aware that many NETs do not put in the effort that is expected of them, and that some Koreans resent us a group. It is disappointing that so many foreigners do not take work their jobs seriously, and I symphathise with frustrated Koreans, but on the other hand being given free reign is an invitation, to some, to do as little as possible.

You know eight months into my first year in Korea and I’m still amazed at how little direction I am given. I can do almost anything. I have tried many ideas in class, some have bombed and others have worked well, but I have not once been directed to substantially change a class.

It’s easy to land a job in Korea, having a foreigner at your school or hogwan (private academy) is definitely in vogue. The ease of coming here and Korea’s location seems to attract two personality types: First there are the loafers, they mess around on facebook and the week is spent planning how to outdo last weekend; and then, in fewer numbers, there are the strongly independent and hard working individuals. While the loafers have only one agenda, to party, ‘the independents’ are here for any number of reasons – save money, travel, cultural exchange etc.

My good news for the moment is that Jess and I went out for dinner with my co-teachers on Tuesday evening. Apart from scoring a good free meal it provided a chance to speak frankly about the misunderstandings and ill feelings that arose out of our home leave request. It was a very positive experience and I came away feeling a lot happier. We can move forwards once again.

So Jess and I are planning our home leave carefully. It’s a real juggling act trying to fit in what we want while still trying to spend as much of the holiday together as possible. I’m so excited to be coming home. Korea is an adventure, and at times a whirl wind of emotions, and I am looking forwards to finding myself in familiar surroundings once again.

Lastly I am very pleased to see the hits on my blog slowly increasing, please feel free to comment on anything I post. If you have trouble commenting please let me know, and finally thanks to all those who read my blog and special thanks to those few of you who do comment. (Special special thanks must go to Eebee, my main ‘commenter’)

Idle thoughts

Hello all.

It’s been a ‘topsy turvy’ couple of weeks over here in Korea.

Life here it turns out, is drastically different. Of course I already knew this, but the struggle that Jess and I had to go through to ensure that both of us received home leave really brought home how different Korea and its people are.

On a whim Jessica’s principal refused her initial request for home leave. Jessica’s colleagues were sympathetic, but there was no rush to take the principal on. This is a very patriarchal society, and the men at top rule their fiefdoms with impunity. Jess pushed for the headmaster to change his mind which he finally did on Saturday morning.

This was however only after he brought both Jessica and her main co-teacher to tears. We are both very grateful that some of Jessica’s colleagues were prepared to put their own jobs on their line and help Jess push on. These people took very real risks, Jessica’s principal is known for transferring staff that speak out against him.

At the beginning of this school year two of Jessica’s colleagues were transferred to her school’s sister high school. These two teachers only found out about the decision to transfer them at the first staff meeting of the year, and it just so happened that both of these teachers were vocal critics of the headmaster. No middle school teacher in Korea wants to be transferred to high school. The hours that teachers are expected to put in at Korean high schools would drain even the most dedicated teacher.

I’m happy despite all the trouble we went through to secure our home leave. Sure I moan on occasion, and I have every right to. I’m impressed at my new found ability to shrug off difficult situations though. I get angry, curse and then calm down - there’s no dwelling on difficulties - you simply can’t afford to: daily life in Korea is replete with all manner of difficulties.

I’m looking forwards to coming home. For a brief period after returning from Europe I was incredulous at the number of black people in South Africa. After eight months of living in one of the most homogenous countries in the world I am beginning to find Korean faces quite mundane, while non-Korean faces are beginning to take on strange qualities.

I’m amused when I think back to how many times, while living quite comfortably at home, I dreamed of adventuring in foreign lands where I am one of the first foreigners. I’m living that dream. I don’t think it is likely that more 100 foreigners have ever lived in this town. The local populace certainly isn’t used to seeing my face. Fortunately I’ve grown accustomed to people openly staring at me. Sometimes it’s a point of amusement, at other times I curse the ‘starer’ and tell them that “I am not a freak you know”.

Of course they don’t understand me, and it’s unlikely that they hear me as I say this under my breath. The point of the comment is not to be belligerent but to release my frustration.

So I’m living in a surreal and dream like, sometimes nightmare like, world; but growing in a real and appreciable way.

Saving, Saving, Saving

You know I came to Korea with the intention of saving, saving and saving. It was my only thought, and yet seven months in my account does not reflect the millions and millions of Won that I had hoped it would.

This has been bothering me of late. But my life is not all glumness. I have in the last seven months had some amazing experiences. So here’s a list of totally incredible things that I have done. (It is in no particular order).

I have been skiing several times, and at several different resorts.

I have swung gently, arm in arm, with a complete stranger (actually he was one of Jessica’s colleagues) while singing love songs in singing room.

I have been to tropical islands. (The Philippines)

I went diving for the first time, and on my first dive I saw a turtle.

I have lived in Asia for more than half a year.

I have visited amazing temples.

I bought a scooter.

I have scrubbed, and been scrubbed by a male colleague.

I bought a lap top.

I bought a camera which I am totally thrilled about.

I have been lectured to about embracing Korean culture by my co-teachers, all the while sitting naked in a pink / strawberry hot bath with them.

I have finally started collecting books.

I am financially independent and have repaid the debt that I owed.

I am living half a world away from my parents (just kidding).

I have drunk fresh coconut juice straight out of a coconut.

I have swum in oceans as warm as bath water.

I have experienced and finally begun to understand very different cultures.

I have eaten silk worms and wriggling octopus - you really have to chew it.

I have eaten fresh squid on a desert island.

I have been involved in the incredible experience of teaching children to speak a new language. It’s been difficult, but there have been some great moments.

And at the end of all of this I must also say that I have grown as a person, and what in life can be more in important than personal growth? (Ok - so bringing about world peace and getting everyone to hold hands and stuff like that is probably more important -- but hey give me a chance I’ll get there yet.)

I only wish that I could have shared my amazing experiences with all of you back home. (Not the sitting naked in a pink hot bath one though.)

Jacob through a foreign journalists mind

So now that JZ is about to become our first unashamedly unintellectual, unintelligent, non-condom using, non-consitutional understanding / constitutional non-understanding president; foreign journalists covering SA are going to be left with increasingly puzzled looks and increasingly puzzled thoughts.

I therefore present to you:
'Jacob through a foreign journalists mind'.

1. Simply download the journalist pic, edit it as you see fit - change the colour of the journalist's clothes and skin (if you like), and change the speech bubble.

2. Please send me your edited pictures so that I can upload them and get a bit of a gallery going.

Thanks.

(I really like the journalist pic that I edited to create my own. What a pity several people on the internet are using it which makes it difficult to give due credit. Oh well – my thanks to the original cartoonist.)

Being published

I submitted this opinion piece to the East Cape News editor. I had hoped that he would send it on to the Daily Dispatch or another suitably serious publication, instead he chose to publish it in his magazine, the Makana Moon. (The Makana Moon is a small Grahamstown magazine. It is presently only 12 pages long. I haven't seen it before as it is fairly new.)

I'm disappointed. As an editor in charge of a news agency I thought he would take a moment to consider where it would be most appropriate to try and have the article published. To be fair though I did not stipulate where I wanted the piece published. Had I known of the Makana Moon I would most likely have been more specific in my request.

So this is not the start I'm looking for, but it is a publication.

__________________________________

Mpshe's Plagiarism

Plagiarism has long been a topic of concern at South African universities. Recent events have however catapulted the topic of plagiarism to a subject of national interest. Mokotedi Mpshe plagiarised when explaining his decision to drop corruption charges against Jacob Zuma.

Many South Africans are still reeling from Mpshe’s decision, and it is certainly hard to internalise how quickly the will to pursue charges against Zuma evaporated over several short weeks. The legal aspects of this decision have come under serious criticism, but less energy has been devoted to exploring the nature of plagiarism.

Plagiarism is a simple concept. The Oxford dictionary describes it in one line: to “take (the work or idea of someone else) and pass it off as one’s own.” Plagiarism is then, in all but a very few cases, an act of dishonesty. In academic circles it is so detested that it is regarded as theft. Mpshe did not acknowledge the source of his words, but this is not to say that he did not agree with them, and perhaps he felt that the passages he plagiarised expressed his thoughts better than he could.

This seems unlikely though. People in positions of power that struggle over difficult decisions, as Mpshe claimed to have done, have a lot to say. Former presidents often make millions on the lecture circuit, while many others also go on to lecture and publish accounts of their decisions, and how they reached them. These people do not plagiarise.

A small portion of people who plagiarise do so out of naivety or inexperience. Mpshe, who rose to the high office of Director of Public Prosecutions, does not fall within this category.

Others plagiarise knowingly, and with every intention of passing off another person’s work as their own. They do this for one of two reasons: either they are incapable of producing their own work, or they plagiarise in attempt to avoid having to produce their own work.

Was Mpshe incapable of making a decision in the Zuma matter? If so, how is it that he came to be the Director of Public Prosecutions? Did Mpshe wish to avoid weighing up the competing arguments and making a decision? Perhaps he did, but he made a decision and dropped the charges. Why didn’t he rely solely on his own reasoning and instead plagiarise passages? Did he feel that his own reasoning was inadequate and did not justify dropping the charges?

Mpshe did not plagiarise out of naivety or inexperience, his was the dishonest and ugly kind. Given that he was dishonest, perhaps we should contemplate whether the plagiarism was motivated by a desire to conceal his true reasoning.

If Mpshe’s decision to drop the charges was influenced by factors that he ought not to have considered, he would have had a strong motivation not to reveal his true reasoning to the South African public. Mphse would have had reason to engage in an act of deceit. Plagiarism, when not of the naive or inexperienced variety, is an act of deceit.

Mpshe’s decision to drop charges against Jacob Zuma has done little to resolve serious questions about Zuma’s integrity. Moreover it raised serious questions about his own integrity.

What are politicians good, for if they are not good for laugh?

"A society that takes itself too seriously risks bottling up its tensions and treating every example of irreverence as a threat to its existence”

- Constitutional Court Judge

Albie Sachs