89 days and counting.

Putrescibles.

Garbage is universal, yet unique in all parts of the world. Not only is the content of garbage different in all parts of the world, but also where and/or how garbage comes to rest. These days, in our ever growing world population, waste management has become a very important issue. In South Korea, where population density is high, land is limited and valuable; consumables can't be piled high at the end of life. Therefore modern waste management sorting techniques have been implemented. Putrescible food waste and recyclables are separated, while absolute trash is sent to the incinerator for power generation. Recycling is free, food waste bags are cheap, garbage fees are collected at the point of purchase of specific garbage bags, and fines are implemented to discourage cheating the system.

90 days and counting.

Peanut butter and banana?

I'm really having a hard time understanding this. What started as a seemingly good idea morphed into something so wrong. We chose two sixth grade classes to teach a special lesson; how to make a peanut butter and banana sandwich using English. The error occurred when the students opted to bring additional items to the class. Some groups ended up with such a schmorgasborg of ingredients, I couldn't initially imagine what the potential was. In the end, though some groups did successfully manufacture peanut butter and banana sandwiches, some groups ended up with sandwiches sans peanut butter AND banana. Worse though, were the groups which failed to fully transform, and ended up with Spam, cheese, ketchup, and banana sandwiches.

91 days and counting.

"I just bought a Mac from Frisbee."

Big city living in Seoul provides a plethora of culinary and drinking options. Some restaurants are famous for the food alone, others find their competitive advantage in the atmosphere and decor. For the latter, creative inventions such as the Cat Cafe have come to flourish. In more than a few restaurants, Post-it notes have become the themed wallpaper. Patrons can write anything they want on a note, then post it anywhere on the wall.

92 days and counting.

Around they go into the back stretch!

Kirin is a brand of Japanese beer, Keirin is a form of bicycle racing originating in Japan, a velodrome is an oval track built for bicycle racing, a track bike (a.k.a. fixed gear and "fixie") is a bicycle with only one gear directly connected to the hub. In Keirin racing, the racers line up at the gate behind the pacer, ride two and a half laps around the track before a bell is rung signaling the beginning of the sprint. The sprint lasts for a little more than a lap, which takes less than 30 seconds. This type of racing became an Olympic event in 2000.

Korean citizens are allowed to gamble in two types of venues (that I'm aware of); the horse track and the velodrome. Conceptually, betting at Kierin racing is very similar to betting at horse racing. The difference is; in horse racing the bet is placed mostly on the ability of the horse, in Keirin racing the bet is placed on the ability of the rider. To reduce unfair advantages, Keirin racers must be certified themselves, as well as choose their bikes and components from an approved list. For this reason, the bikes appear very simple and are comprised mostly of steel.

93 days and counting.

You and me?

As the international language, English is quite a useful tool in travel, business, and diplomacy. This is the very reason so many native English speakers are paid too much money to teach English abroad. Due to the heavy importance placed upon the English language, many companies in Korea have made slogans and products using English instead of Korean. When this happens, a perfectly good coffee shop can have the slogan, "Taste coffee, tea, and him," or a newly refurbished restaurant can celebrate a, "Grand Reopen."

94 days and counting.

Thanksgiving.

The large American presence in Korea--military and otherwise--has generated a significant demand for Thanksgiving goods and services. Some restaurants serve special Thanksgiving Day buffets, some even deliver a cooked turkey with all the fixings. The demand for such food is high, and the supply is rather low; turkey is somewhat a mystery meat in Korea. Instead of splurging on an expensive dinner, we opted for fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and carrots. There's nothing like a meal cooked with one burner and a rice cooker.

95 days and counting.

Costco kimchi.

Korea's most famous food is kimchi. There are many different varieties, but the most common is 배추김치 (Baechu Kimchi), which is fermented cabbage in pepper paste. In most restaurants in Korea, at least one type of kimchi is served as a complementary side dish. Costco has unintentionally found a niche in Korea with the chopped onions, ketchup, and mustard in it's condiment bar. To the Korean palate, any common dish served at Costco can be enhanced with what we've named 'Costco Kimchi'. A rare site is a table full of food without a heaping plate of this mixture.

96 days and counting.

Eat your bacon with chopsticks.

After more than a year, it's comforting to still find surprises. In this case, the surprise was a ruckus of students and the smell of 삼겹살 (samgyeopsal) coming from the 실과실 (home economics room).

Click on the picture to see the full album.

97 days and counting.

A few days ago--four to be exact--I was told our countdown in Korea has reached 100 days. A few days later--two to be exact--I decided it would be fun to have a 100 day project. A friend suggested taking a picture of my face every day to see what changes. I think the idea is great, but I'm not interested in having 100 shots of my mug. The concept sparked another idea, which is to take one photograph for each remaining day.

Unfortunately, by the time I discovered this idea, I was already a few days short of 100, it was evening time on the 98th day, and I was tired. Therefore, the first picture was taken on the 97th day in the countdown.

My intention is to take 97 photographs that best illustrate life in Korea, for a now experienced English teacher from America. I will do my best to post each picture on each day, but I will inevitably get behind from time to time.

--Update--

After a recalculation, what I thought was 97 days was actually 99.

Without further ado, here is my first submission. Please enjoy.

Die Springs.

Some Seoul citizens believe that in 50 years, the city will entirely consist of apartment buildings. In my neighborhood there are still signs of a bustling industry, but the encroaching high rise development looms in the distance.

Click on the picture to see the full album.

Your call to action. (Revised)

The Ultimate in large format.

Suggestions in large format.

Where should I go? If you were planning a trip to see the USA, what are the top 5 must see places? Top 10?

My friend and I will be taking a bicycle trip through the USA, starting in the spring. To help plan, I am looking for points of interest. Although we have planned a counterclockwise approach to hopefully find good weather, the route is fairly malleable. We will surely attempt to catch the classic landmarks such as; the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, etc.

For me, this trip is a quest to see the greatness that is America. I want to find the delectable pockets of culture that make the country great. Places so unique, they cannot be duplicated. So if you've been somewhere in your lifetime, a place so exceptional you can't forget, please indulge me.

The first map on this post titled "The Ultimate" is the route I have haphazardly planned thus far. This is by no means static, and will never be finalized until the road has been ridden into history. Please also note that we will be spending most of our time on secondary highways, not interstates.

--Instructions--

As I hear suggestions from people, I will add yellow pin marks to the second map in the proper location. In the comments section of this blog, please post suggestions you have with:

1. Name of city AND state.

2. What's there; food, people, landmark, etc.

3. Anyone you know that might let me/us pitch a tent in their yard.

To add a comment, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "comments". I have enabled anonymous commenting, so you're not required to have an account or sign into anything.

Feel free to make as many suggestions as you want.

Please repay my efforts to entertain you by making a suggestion. Even if you hardly know me, and/or read this blog simply as a means to admire, envy, judge, criticize, or mock--at least that's why I read blogs...

Thanks in advance.

The Book Club of Me: Walden and Civil Disobedience

Walden Pond, Concord, MA, USA. Photo Credit.

Walden and Civil Disobedience - Henry David Thoreau

Ah, Walden. How long this book sat unread on my bookshelf. Such a shame to neglect such great thinking.

--Summary--

Walden is a composition of ideas, thoughts, and experiences from Thoreau's time in the woods in the nineteenth century. The novel is written through themed chapters with experiences encompassing the entire experiment. In each chapter, Thoreau presents his thoughts on progress--namely his interest in the simple life, philosophical and intellectual progress, and holding his government accountable.

Civil Disobedience is Thoreau's famous essay that influenced many great change agents in history. His argument is for all people to withdraw themselves from a corrupt government by refusing to participate. To him, simply voting for abolition was not enough because paying taxes funds an unjust system.

--Thoughts--

Since these two masterpieces have been studied beyond my capacity, I'm going to avoid the risk of stating incorrect facts and mainly discuss my thoughts and reactions to reading the book.

Until I dove into Walden (figuratively) there had yet to be a book which compelled me to study it's words with religious fervor. Line after line of this work recites such beautiful language and thoughts. Thoreau's ability to capture so much thinking and feeling in one sentence is beyond words, especially mine. Only he could summarize his excellence in one sentence. I'm not even going to try.

I find this book begging to be thoroughly re-read and studied. Once through comprehension does not do it justice; my first time through only scratched the surface. These words deserve meticulous study as a theologian to scripture. I'm compelled take my time, to pause between each sentence and truly contemplate the fine words like a sommelier of the written English language. Gross, what kind of cliche have I become?

Walden is a masterpiece, but it resonates so powerfully with me because I share his beliefs of the values our modern lives are missing.

There have been points in my life when I have paused and thought, "What in the hell is the point of this?" One of the first times I can specifically recite as a memory was the time I became an automobile owner. I was lucky enough to have supportive parents who helped me into my first car, but there was a clear understanding that it would be funded by my industrious efforts--whatever those may be. So, I had a job in order to have a car. It's as simple as that. Of course there were a few small expenses like food and the cell phone bill, but most of my income went into the gas tank. Needless to say, at some point I reflected on my situation as I was driving to work. I thought, "Why do I HAVE to go to work? Last year I wasn't tied down by this obligation. Is this thing really worth the free time I'm sacrificing?" Of course, at the time, having a car was the material possession that provided priceless intrinsic joy--there was no price tag on my status.

Fast forward through college and into the transition stage between formative life and reality. I now sit here, all debts paid, in a state of limbo. As many of my peers continue on, pursuing their professional ambitions, I find myself wanting to go backward. If I continue with the standard operating procedure, I'll be dedicating the next 30 years of my life to the things standardized in society as measurements of success. Retirement, savings, real estate, STUFF, etc... I'm saddened by the idea that I should spend most of my days as such; 8 hours sleeping, 8 hours working, 8 hours commuting, shopping, fixing, holding, waiting, thinking about going back to work, all other responsibilities outside work, and enjoying myself. But if I don't follow the procedure, I risk the feeling of worthlessness, laziness, ineptness, not to mention homelessness and indebtedness because I hadn't properly prepare for retired life.

Our modern society has presented a double edged sword. While proliferating the great amenities that make us fatter, lazier, and greedier, violated human rights, and destroyed the environment; modernity has provided us with access to a vast wealth of information, scientific breakthroughs that help us live longer, and many more things that give us genuine pleasure. So my quandary is; how does one apply Thoreau's 1850s ideology of simplicity and minimalism to todays developed world? Knowing society won't turn back on progress, where is the balance between a 30 year sacrifice and zero contribution?

All you suckers can waste your lives working your asses off, I'm going into the woods.

The Book Club of Me: Where Men Win Glory

I'm going to think about a few books I've read recently; therefore, the next glob of posts might be a bit saturated--in books.

Afghanistan. Photo Credit.

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman -Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer is one of my favorite authors. Mainly because the topics of his books strike my interests. He has a very fluid matter-of-fact writing style that has made it hard for me to put--almost all--his books down.

--Summary--

Pat Tillman, in Where Men Win Glory, is drawn out as an individual with unpresidented charisma. He was the type of person to take control of his life, do what he felt most passionate about, and endlessly seek knowledge to better understand himself and the universe. He also happened to be a good football player and at some point decided, with great confidence, that he would become a professional. He did so successfully after overcoming unlikely odds.

While Tillman's career was just getting started, the worst attack to ever occur on American soil happened. Though he wasn't your stereotypical meat-headed football player, Tillman did have a strong urge to use physical force as a means to solve some problems. After the September 11th attacks, his priorities became reshuffled and he soon began considering his moral obligation to protect his country. Tillman couldn't help but feel compelled to enlist and help in the search for the people responsible, and so he did. Unfortunately, between the time he enlisted and the time became a soldier, the US was engaged in a completely different conflict outside Afghanistan, and Iraq is where Tillman was called to duty. In the book, this is where cognitive dissonance begins it's fight with Tillman.

Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire. The true events leading up to this tradgedy are still debatable, but immediately after his death, the US government tried to make Pat Tillman into a war hero by hiding the biggest detail of the situation--fratricide. People in power lied, and in the end not only was Tillman's death was terribly tragic, it exhibited horrible abuses of power within the US government.

--Thoughts--

As long as I've thought about war, it has always been from the perspective of American history. I was taught in high school about the battles--past and present--which America engaged in, of which almost all were on foreign soil. History has proven some of these military actions to be just and valid, and some not.

Considering the human cost of war, how can a country take military action without the absolute certainty and necessity of a just cause? In an event in which a country takes questionable military action, are the armed servicewomen and men of that country morally obligated to participate? Where is the line of patriotism superseded by the line of anthropocentric duty?

The turmoil in the Middle East today poses a threat to the safety of inside and outside the region. How does an individual combat the threats to a peaceful world by violent extremists and fundamentalists? How should a country combat these threats? Considering the corrupt nations where terrorists are bred and harbored, what responsibility does my government, other governments, or the UN have to neutralize the threats?

With the exception of a very catastrophic incident, America is rarely the scene of an international attack. Over the history of the USA, very few wars have been fought on our turf. In fact, almost every war the US has engaged in has been overseas. With these statistics, it's no wonder so many US lead military actions find such resistance at home. It's easy to object a war in a far off land, not directly associated with keeping invaders off your lawn.

I make these points because Krakauer's account of Pat Tillman's story is more than a story about an ambitious patriot. It questions the individual's and the nation's responsibility for world peace.