크리스마스

It's nearly Christmas Day in Seoul. Happy holidays to all.

Racism In Korea

I have a student in one of my classes from the United Arab Emirates. I'm happy to have him in the class, as his particular strengths and weaknesses add an unusual challenge for me and, as importantly, the other students as well. And he's an interesting guy. The new supervisor at work--a job which might've been mine, had I been interested--asked me if I'd "patted him down for bombs." What does one say to that?

Photo Dump

Here are some Facebook links to photos of my brother's visit to Korea and our trip to Thailand.

Vote

More Grammar Matters

The Toronto Star's Editor-in-Chief has written a column saying, basically, what I said about CTV's interview with Stephane Dion, which is nice to see. What's irritating about this, for me, is not that the interviewer--whose job requires, if nothing else, clear and effective communicative skills--made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. What's irritating is that neither CTV's anchor, who was unable to recognize his mistake and clarify the question, nor CTV's editors, who chose to run the interview uncut, realized the mistake. These people are journalists?

When Grammar Matters

I've avoided posting about the Canadian election, but I want to comment on this exchange because it concerns the English language, and particularly listening and speaking it as a second language, an area in which I have some knowledge. Here's the exchange:

"If you were prime minister now, what would you have done about the economy and this crisis that Mr. Harper hasn't done?”

“If I had been prime minister two-and-a-half years ago?” Mr. Dion replied.

“If you were the prime minister right now.”

At this point Dion begins talking about his plan for today. But he stumbles and again he asks for clarification: "“If I was prime minister starting when? Today?”

The question is a difficult one, grammatically--you've got the second conditional, and you've got present perfect. Add to that something I haven't seen mentioned in the media: The question isn't grammatically correct. Asking what Dion would have done (which is a question about the past) if he were prime minister now (in the present) doesn't make sense. The question, as Dion appears to recognize, should be: "If you had been prime minister since time t, what would you have done..." (if the interviewer wants to know about the past) or "If you were prime minister now, what would you do..." (if the interviewer wants to know about the present). As it is, it's unclear what he wants to know.

Sarah Palin Makes Intermediate Language-Learners Look Like Churchill

I teach the English language to Korean learners from the beginner to advanced level. And I can say, with absolute confidence, that my intermediate-level students would perform better than Sarah Palin did in her latest interview. I linked to an excerpt last time, but this answer is even worse (or better, if comedy is what you're looking for):

COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries? Allow them to spend more, and put more money into the economy, instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

PALIN: That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, we're ill about this position that we have been put in. Where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy. Um, helping, oh, it’s got to be about job creation, too. Shoring up our economy, and putting it back on the right track. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions, and tax relief for Americans, and trade — we have got to see trade as opportunity, not as, uh, competitive, um, scary thing, but one in five jobs created in the trade sector today. We’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All of those things under the umbrella of job creation.

Actually, I shouldn't even compare her answer to the kinds of things my students say. My students make sense.

Bank Note 2

Yesterday's post was full of jargon, and likely difficult to parse for those who don't read the business section of the newspaper. So I'll leave the topic with this: the answer to the question I posed yesterday appears to be, "I would." Hardly surprising.

Bank Note

A brief note about the Fed's AIG bailout, and the financial meltdown in the US: Suppose I'm a hedge fund manager who wants to get rich in a bear market. In the wake of the AIG bailout, why wouldn't I short the stock of some investment/insurance house that's, like AIG, wrapped up in CDS, and that's, like AIG, "too big to fail." I continue shorting until the stock tanks, which causes the firm's credit rating to drop, which in turn cripples the firm's ability to raise capital. With the stock in the toilet, credit unavailable, and with CDS coming due, the firm can't remain solvent, so it turns to the US government for assistance. The US government bails out the firm, wipes out the shareholders, and I get rich. So, tell me, why wouldn't I do this?

Addendum

Actually, I should clarify the claim in my last post. I believe that what we call "morally good" and "morally bad" is meaningful only relative to culture, which gives our actions meaning. Sometimes this is taken to mean that those concepts aren't really important. Here's the logic: If "good" and "bad" are meaningful only relative to culture, then they are highly malleable, since culture itself is highly malleable. If they are highly malleable, then they are arbitrary. If they are arbitrary, then they can't be important. That's a possible view, but it's not mine. I certainly do not think that they are unimportant. To be clear, while I do believe that "morally good" and "morally bad" are highly arbitrary, I do not believe that all virtues and vices are likewise arbitrary, and I do not believe that, even if they were, they would be unimportant. I might write more on this in the future.

Just Words? Part 2

Last time I argued that words at least sometimes constitute actions, and that there are no good or bad actions without a society to provide us with an opportunity to act in a morally good or morally bad manner (or courageously, or maliciously, or any other virtue or vice). I don't think these points are all that controversial. This time I'll argue that society does something else, too. It gives our words and our actions meaning. And because of this, in Part 3, I will argue that we have strong reasons to believe that language does change people--make them better or worse--as was suggested to me.

Society acts as the judge of our actions. Society imbues us with a sense of what a good person is. We judge people against that standard. Of course, we have some freedom to accept or reject those standards and create our own (though, as far as I can see, we don't have as much freedom as some would like to believe). For the most part, though, in order to judge people and actions, we measure them against real world examples. Want to know what you should do? Ask yourself what the virtuous person would do. What would the virtuous person do? Theorizing alone can't tell us; only our own thoughts and feelings can.

Critics object to this characterization of moral decision-making, charging it with relativism. If society is the judge of our actions, then an action could be good in one society and bad in another. And, indeed, I admit this; my view is relativistic. Actions are good or bad measured against actually-existing pracitices, not non-existent ideal types. I think it's ridiculous to suggest that there could be a society in which no individuals are virtuous people, yet non-relativists must argue that there could be such a society, at least in principle. So relativism is a strength of my view, not an objection. The charge of relativism is a red herring.

Just Words? Part 1

"I strongly believe that words can change the human being itself." I've been thinking about this statement. It struck me when I heard it as a bit counterintuitive but thought-provoking. It countered my intuition because of the context. We had been talking about strong language in general and expletives in particular. The idea that, say, swearing too much could change a person puzzled me. It wasn't something I had thought about previously, but it got me thinking. This post is the first part of my attempt to explain my thoughts.

Back to the original statement: Can words change people? Actually, this statement must be true. I don't think there's any doubt that words at least sometimes constitute actions. The bride who says "I do" at her wedding isn't merely saying those words; she's making a commitment, and she's embracing a set of norms bound up with marriage. She is saying "Yes!" to her husband, and also "I accept this" to the institution of marriage itself. She isn't just saying something; she's doing something. Once we admit that words are, or can be, actions, it's easy to see how words can, and do, change people.

Words change people insofar as people are products of their actions. Some would say that people just are their actions. That overstates things, but it's not far from the truth. We label people "good," "bad," "selfish," "warmhearted," etc. not based on what's in their heart; we apply those labels after we see how people manifest their thoughts and feelings in relation to others. There are no good, bad, selfish, or warmhearted people without a society to provide us with an opportunity to be good, bad, selfish, warmhearted, etc. Society provides an opportunity for people to express the virtues and vices. This is an important point, but it's not the only one. I'll write more on this in Part 2.

Qualia, Language, and Butterflies

I believe in something philosophers call qualia. Qualia are, basically, what human experience is like. If a blind person asked you what it's like to see red, you'd be hard-pressed to describe it adequately. Red is something you simply experience. Consider another example: What is it like to taste something? Maybe you think you can answer that question by replying "sweet," "sour," "chewy," "crunchy," etc. And I would say, "Yes, that's correct, but what is the experience of tasting something sweet like? How can you describe it to someone who has never tasted something sweet?" You can't, or at least I don't believe you can, but it exists as a quality of your experience. Lots of people disagree with me, though, and my view might well be in the minority.

Anyway, I believe that there some experiences in life that are simply ineffable. They can't be described properly in words. Qualia are ineffable. So is the feeling in my stomach as I write this. The closest approximation in English is to say that there are butterflies in my stomach. What does that mean? I can't say.

July 4

Life, as usual, goes on. Work is the same old same old. I enjoy it, though I'm looking forward to the next much-needed 3-day weekend. I'm taking Korean class this month, this time 2 hours a day, everyday. All together it's a heavy load, but it's all worthwhile.

Oh, and that Korean high school English teacher I met through Facebook? Well, I've met her a couple of times now, but she reads this blog, so I ain't gonna say much more than that ;) We were chatting last night, though, and she said something thought-provoking. I intended to write about it here, but it might be awhile before the post goes up. Her comments touched on some interesting ideas that I'm keen to explore at length.

Bugs

I've noticed a few broken links on the site lately. This is no doubt due to my HTML skills being stuck in the 20th century Blogger, but I've fixed what I've found. Please let me know if you find anything else that demands my attention.

Meta-Musings

People, especially my friends and coworkers, describe me as sanguine. Well, actually, they don't use that word, because most people aren't as geeky about language as I am, but it's what they mean. Sometimes I wonder how you--the people who read this, or at least the ones who don't know me--would describe me. Honestly, I don't care that much about what random strangers think of me, but it spurs my curiosity every once in a while.

By the way, I'm well aware that this post practically invites trolling. Inflammatory comments will be deleted swiftly and mercilessly, unless they're sufficiently clever and/or amusing.

When It Rains

The rainy season in Korea began this week. It's been a dreary week, weather-wise, but it's also been an interesting one for me, personally. Up until this week, I had gone several months without a date, which I admit without embarrassment. I don't care much about social mores when it comes to these sorts of things. Mostly I've been content with my life, so it hasn't bothered me. Recently, however, things have changed--and rather suddenly.

Last weekend one of my students tried to set me up on a blind date with another Canadian expat. Tonight a friend of a friend wanted to set me up with someone else, a Korean girl. I declined because I had already made plans for tomorrow that precluded a late night tonight. Those plans involve another girl, and they go far to explain why I haven't followed up on the blind date opportunity.

For the past month I've been chatting with someone I met on Facebook. She lives outside of Seoul, 2-4 hours away, depending on your mode of transportation. We've used Facebook, Skype, and text messages to communicate, and we've been doing it a lot lately--at least once a day. She's Korean, but she teaches English to high school students; communication isn't a problem. Quite the opposite, actually: we anticipate each other's thoughts before we give them words. We're going to meet tomorrow halfway in between our two cities. Despite long and, often, personal conversation, I'm not sure what to expect. This sort of thing, like many of my experiences in Korea, is a first for me.

Inside Jokes

Avert Your Eyes, Dear Readers!

I got some lascivious saké glasses from my supervisor after his visa run to Japan. I thought this merited a post. It also merits some soju-drinking, but that will have to wait awhile, since soju is hardly something I crave. Pictures, of course, will follow in due course.

Oh, Korea

That Time Of The Month

It's the end of the month: the time when my students buy me lots of Starbucks, food, and, in the evening, booze. Two of my students this month, husband and wife, invited me and my fellow expats to dine with them and their son this Sunday. The husband is a plastic surgeon with his own practice in 압구정 (Apgujeong)--far and away the most affluent area of Seoul, even moreso than the already-affluent 강남 (Gangnam), which is where I live and work. The wife has a high-powered job that requires her to travel to Japan several times a month. They live in a house in 강남. I think it's safe to say that Sunday's dinner will be good. I'm hoping for 갈비 (galbi) or 삼겹살 (samgyupsal).

Ye Who Is Without Sin

There's no doubt in my mind that Canada and the US are less sexist and xenophobic than Korea, but I wouldn't want to guess which is more racist. Check out this video. This one, too, which ably demonstrates that anytime someone says "I'm not a racist, but...", that person invariably goes on to prove that he or she is, in fact, a racist. Many Democrats believe that the next presidential election will be a blowout. I think that's badly mistaken, even though it shouldn't be. Here's hoping that the people in the videos don't get the government they deserve.

7 Months In

I'm 7 months in to my one-year contract, so it's time to start thinking about whether or not I want to renew for another year. I don't need to make the decision right now, but it's something I've been thinking about. It'll be hard to leave my job. I enjoy it, even when it's working me ragged, and I think I'm pretty good at it. Not to mention the money: I live in one of the most expensive areas of Seoul; I eat out at least once a day, everyday; and despite the 15% devaluation of the Korean Won over the past 6 months, I should be able to save about $15,000 by year's end. That's without doing privates, which is illegal, though common. It's not a bad deal.

The language barrier is significant, though, and Korea is not a good place for those who are uncomfortable being alone, or who are prone to feelings of loneliness. You have to get used to mood swings; "mood swings" isn't the best choice of words, due to its usage in psychology, but it'll have to do. There's no neat way to describe the up-and-down feelings most expats experience here.

My supervisor--who I'm fortunate to count as a friend--says that I'm generally a positive person. I've heard this before, and I suppose that it's borne true. I don't complain about Korean people or culture as much as most expats. I'm generally fond of Korea, despite its faults. And it's not for a shortage of faults: racism, sexism, and xenophobia suffuse the attitudes of many, probably most, people here. It's frustrating. My sense is that many expats allow that frustration to breed resentment (it should be said, though, that far from all of the resentment directed at Korea is fair). I don't feel that way, but many do. My attitude about this is not unlike my attitude about Korean racism directed at the Japanese: I understand the reasons for it, and I sympathize with those reasons, but I don't follow them to the same conclusions. I understand the feelings, but I don't share them.

Anyway, these are some of the things I've been thinking about lately.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell By Susanna Clarke

Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is long. You don't see many paperbacks exceed 1,000 pages. Then there's the footnotes: JS&MN is full of them. Maybe that's what you'd expect from a well-researched annotated history of 19th-century Britain--except JS&MN isn't a history book; it's an alternate-history fantasy novel. Footnotes aren't new to genre fiction: Terry Pratchett, for example, uses them. Clarke's usage, however, often leads to pages-long digressions into British history. The footnotes not only add to JS&MN's density, but also add to the reader's impression that he is reading a narrative history of Britain. So complete is the illusion that, more than once, I began to wonder: Why haven't other historians delved into the history of magic in Britain. It's so richly interesting!

The book moves forward through the lives of its title characters, who are both practitioners of the hitherto lost tradition of English magic. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell are giants in the alternate-history of Britain, so it's no surprise that they find themselves amidst the momentous events and among the most important and influential people of their day (e.g. Napoleon and Waterloo). But JS&MN is at least as much about its characters and their culture as it is about the history of Britain. There's lots of Jane Austin's influence at work, from the subtle social commentary to the empathetic--though flawed--title characters; and like her great books, JS&MN tells an essentially human story.

JS&MN has been called Harry Potter for adults, but that's not exactly correct. It's not correct both because adults have, and do, read Harry Potter, and also because JS&MN won't appeal to nearly as many adults as Potter does; though where there's inaccuracy, there's also some truth. Children will appreciate JS&MN when history becomes the most popular subject in school and they read Jane Austin for pleasure--which is to say that almost none of them will. It's a different kind of book. Partly for that reason, it's well worth the time investment--great as that investment may be.

Bang Bang Bang, Or, A Pun That Almost No One Will Get

I've been without inspiration to write for the last few months, but I've begun to suppose that the best way to get it back is to start writing again, with or without it. I'll start things off with the simple observation that bagels stuffed with cream cheese and chopped apples--yes, apples--are surprisingly delicious.

Bear Market

Once again I'm stepping in briefly to say that, hopefully, I'll be writing here more often in the not too distant future. One of my earlier posts, however, is worth recalling:

I've become increasingly concerned about the US economy, and by extension international markets. Maybe, if I have time next weekend, I'll write about my reasons.

I didn't have time to write about my reasons; as it happens, though, all you need to do is open a newspaper to see why I was worried. There's more coming, I'd bet. My money's staying out of the market for awhile yet.

This was entirely predictable: the inevitable consequence of a collapsing real estate market. The real question was always when, not if, a significant chunk of the financial sector would collapse along with it.

It's History

Namdaemun (Hangul: 남대문) burned to the ground yesterday. My students are devastated. It's a sad day in Seoul.

February

I haven't written anything in a long time, and I feel like when I do find time to write something, it centers around my not writing. That should change next month. As it is, I continue to have my hands full with my teaching duties. What's more, this weekend I managed to catch a cold. I suppose the timing could be worse: today is the last day of the 5-day Lunar New Year holiday. But those sorts of thoughts are cold comfort when you're stuck in bed, hopped up on pseudoephedrine (something I brought from Canada) and ibuprofen (something I got here--thankfully, if you can read Korean, it's not difficult to find good drugs here, since the chemical names are the same).

I'll close with an anecdote: before I got sick, I went to a request bar on a date. I asked my date what she wanted to hear. After some coaxing, she said that T-Rex's "Cosmic Dancer" was one of her favorite songs. It was an interesting choice for a Korean--certainly not mainstream by any means--though I have learned not to be too surprised by this particular Korean. Anyway, about 30 seconds after she said this the next song began to play. The song was none other than "Cosmic Dancer." Strange.

Work & Money

The reason I haven't been blogging lately is because I don't yet have Internet access in my apartment. Also, I've been extremely busy. I'm teaching 45 hours a week; add in prep time and I'm working about 55-60 hours. Add in showers, meals, transportation time, and the like, and I'm busy at least 16 hours a day, every weekday. I'm peaking at 5 hours of sleep a night during the week. During the weekends, I try to relax and recover.

Despite this schedule, I've managed to remain (mostly) happy and healthy. That said, the honeymoon period is over and I've begun to feel the effects of homesickness. Culture shock happens to everyone and I was aware of its phases before I came, so whenever I feel down, I pick up a book and escape to another world. So far, it's worked well.

I haven't been following the news lately, besides cursory glances at the Korea Herald and the New York Times website. What I've been reading, though, hasn't been encouraging. I've become increasingly concerned about the US economy, and by extension international markets. Maybe, if I have time next weekend, I'll write about my reasons. For now, though, I'll have to leave it at that.