Today's Rant...

I was going to post this link on facebook, but my little comment turned into a rant. So, I decided to throw it up here, since no one reads this anyway, and it's far less likely to cause me to unfriend people:

NY Times--Why I Am Pro-Life...

and my comment/rant:

I find this interesting because it's the reason I no longer claim a political party.

I am an environmentalist who opposes abortion (except in cases of rape or danger to the mother), believes that man has exacerbated global climate change, supports common-sense gun control, and opposes capital punishment.

I think that the government should regulate industry (I think history has proven pretty solidly that the market will not regulate itself), tell us where campaign money is coming from, and tax the rich at a higher percentage rate than the poor.

I believe that corporations are corporations, not people, and that they should shoulder their fair share of the tax burden, since they would not be able to function without taxpayer-funded stuff like infrastructure and schools. I don't believe that doing so is "punishing success," perhaps because I do not define success by the bottom line. Perhaps that comes from having chosen a profession where, no matter how good I am at my job or how advanced a degree I get, I will likely never earn even close to what my father (with a bachelor's degree) did when he retired 6 years ago.

I believe that the federal government needs to get its huge nose out of education and allow teachers to teach students skills and critical thinking instead of how to fill in a stupid bubble test.

I support charter schools, but not vouchers.

I also support teachers' unions (and other types of unions); having taught in one state with and one without (or at least without collective bargaining rights), I can say that I will never teach in a non-union state again. That's not to say I always agree with them (see my previous comment).

I am less concerned that American kids don't do as well as Asian kids on math tests and more concerned that children of all income levels think they deserve an A just for showing up to class.

I think the free exercise clause is just as important as the establishment clause. It is this that causes me worry vis-a-vis the gay marriage debate. Frankly, I don't care who can get married. However, I don't want religious institutions to be forced to perform marriages they disagree with.

I could go on, but I have a pile of essays to grade. Suffice it to say, the reason I turned away from the Republican party in my college years was that I couldn't figure out why it was important to protect the life of a fetus, but no the life of an adult. I couldn't figure out why the same people who were so concerned about an unborn baby were so unconcerned with a 5-year-old who was going to school hungry each day. I never have understood the link between being opposed to abortion and being opposed to taking care of this amazing stewardship we have in the Earth.

At the end of the day, there is not a political party in existence that represents my point of view.

End rant.

Fan Dance

I went to the wedding of a colleague this weekend. It was the first time I'd attended a traditional Korean wedding, and it was pretty cool. 

I got some video of the traditional Korean fan dance performed at the ceremony. I didn't have the best seat in the world, so I apologize for the number of interruptions (i.e. people walking in front of the camera). Still, you can get a good idea of how the dance goes...

Korea, Kiwis, and Self-Serve...

I think I stole some kiwis. I didn't mean to. I'm still not sure I even did it. 

Here's the story:

I stopped in at HomePlus for some toilet paper & a few other things. Kiwis were on sale; I got four. I got in line and a cashier hurried over, grabbed my cart and started pulling it to another line. Figuring she was about to open a new line, I followed her with that slightly victorious feeling you get when you're at the end of a line but suddenly get moved up to first. You know that feeling? It's great, right?

Only that wasn't what happened. Instead, she ushered me to the self-service line. Self-serve is a pretty new concept in Korea. They've hopped on the buffet bandwagon in a big way, but until recently, that was pretty much it for DIY stuff. Not only are most services not DIY, there are usually two more people to help you than you actually need. Gives people jobs, I suppose. 

Recently, though,  I've been noticing a little trend toward self service. It started with the self-serve gas station that opened up a couple of months ago about a block from my apartment. I was pretty psyched! I prefer to pump my own gas (don't know why... probably that stubborn independence my parents endowed me with), and--bonus--it was cheaper. So, I pulled in one day. Before I'd even shut off the car, an attendant had rushed up to help. Um, "self" serve?? OK, this is new, so I get that they probably have to teach people how to pump their own gas (this is, seriously, the first self-serve station I've seen in 5 years in Korea). But, I'm not Korean. I don't need to be told to remove the gas cap (not exaggerating). I finally convinced the attendant I don't need help, he left me alone. Only then did I realize that the payment touch screen on the pump was, of course, in Korean. Damn. Now I had to call the guy back. He showed me how to navigate the screen, my gas pumped, and when it clicked off, back he came to show me how to remove the nozzle and replace the gas cap (seriously... NOT exaggerating). I was so irritated, I haven't been back. 

What does this have to do with kiwis? Patience, young one. I'm getting there.

So, back at HomePlus, I'm now in the self-service line. They'd installed these a few months ago, but despite my preference for the self-checkouts at home, I've avoided them here. I assumed they would be in Korean. The cashier drags my cart in front of the machine which looks very familiar: it's the exact same system they use at Kroger, only instead of English and Spanish options, there's English and Korean. "Cool!" I think... for about three seconds before she taps the Korean button and starts emptying my cart. *facepalm* She dragged me to the self-checkout so she could do it for me? I grumble something about "English" and before I know what's up, she's cancelled out the system and clicked English. Sweet. 

(I'm GETTING to the kiwis...chill)

Another little aside for those who have never lived in Korea: There is a concept here known (and loved) by foreigners as the "bali, bali!! syndrome" (The misplaced exclamation points were on purpose and necessary... trust me). "Bali" translates, roughly, as "hurry the h*** up!!" If I wasn't already on an aside, I'd tell you how this looked yesterday at the Yeosu Expo... another time, then. Anyway, it basically means that no matter how many people are around, something like checking out groceries has to be done at the fastest pace humanly possible. 

How this looks at HomePlus today is that any time I pause for even a second, chashier-lady swoops in to take over. I HATE that. Seriously... with a passion. So, I start speeding things up so she won't keep pushing me aside to take over. When I see her heading over as I place the kiwis on the scale/scanner, I hurriedly push the correct buttons (I think), then push the payment button, leaving the kiwis on the scanner instead of moving them to the bagging area. I scan my point card (or rather, SHE does after I take more than a second to determine which way to stick the dumb thing in the slot), and try to insert my bills... no luck. It takes several tries, cashier-lady hovering the entire time. At some point, I realize that the kiwis are still on the scanner, so I move them to the bagging area... and get that "unexpected items in bagging area" warning. Whatever... I'm too busy worrying about the stupid bills to worry about kiwis. I finally succeed in inserting the bills, and get my little bit of change, and a warning comes up on the screen... the receipt printer is out of paper. I don't care! I've paid cash for items I won't need to return. So, as another cashier comes to fix the printer, I toss my stuff in the cart (no shopping bags...another reason I didn't want to use the self-service machines), and head off in a huff... 

I was about halfway to my apartment when I thought about the kiwis... Had I, in my haste, pushed the wrong button? Did they ever ring up? Is that why they had set off the alarm, or was it just because I'd waited too long to move them? No idea. In America, I would have gone back, explained, and paid the $2, whether I'd paid for them originally or not, just so my conscience didn't nag me. But, I'm not in America, I'm in Korea. I don't speak Korean. I have no receipt. I paid cash. I kept driving.

When you move overseas, you think about things that are going to be a challenge: opening accounts, ordering food at restaurants, explaining how the hell George W. Bush got re-elected. You don't think about what to do if you accidentally steal some kiwis...

Journey

And so it begins...

I've been having a lot of physical issues over the last few years. I go to doctors for something and they throw medicine at it that may (or may not) alleviate a symptom or two for awhile.

But, I've felt for a long time that everything was tied together and I wanted to find someone who would really talk to me and work through everything to figure out what was wrong. I know there are doctors like that in the US, but my insurance wouldn't cover anything but the chain clinics where they have to see so many patients to break even that they get you in and out before you have the chance to ask any questions of substance.

I gave up when I came to Korea, knowing that doctors here have little experience with issues like gluten sensitivity, etc. Even if there was a doctor who could help me, how could I find him or her? And if I did find one, how would we communicate?

The Lord works in mysterious ways. I was speaking with a recent acquaintance I knew to be a doctor, so I asked him what could be causing my recent bout of dizziness. As it happens, he is an American trained physician who practices integrated medicine: that is, medicine that looks at problems in a holistic way. He gave me his card. I called and made an appointment.

This morning, I headed across town to his office at the Honnam University hospital. The hospital itself wasn't much to look at and I started to worry. After about a half hour wait, I was escorted into his office. The initial "interview" took quite some time. He asked about symptoms, and probed until we had covered the range of maladies I've been coping with over the last few years. Then, he talked to me about the various systems of the body and how they were integrated, essentially mapping out how each issue tied back to these core systems, and demonstrating how imbalances in each area affected each other. He wrapped up talking about the plan for the next year... and how we would, together, bring me back from this malaise I've found myself in.

I hope he is right. I hope this is it... the turning point. I miss being a person who enjoyed doing things. I am tired of being tired. At the same time, my inner cynic worries that I could be getting my hopes up for nothing.

Here's hoping...



ps... in addition to losing 6 viles of blood to tests, I got my first ever IV... of some sort of concoction that is supposed to help jump start my system. It took 4 hours... I was at the hospital for over 6 hours!

Free Speech in the 21st Century

Is anyone else worried about the impact of instantaneous information and blogging on free speech?

This week, there’s been some hullabaloo in the media about remarks by Randy Bott, a religion professor at BYU, regarding race. Now, I’m not really writing about this story…it’s just what made me really try to pin down what’s been bothering me for a while.

In a nutshell: I am worried that the explosion of 24-hour news, blogging, social media, and instant access to all-of-the-above is a threat to free speech. Seems oxymoronic, eh? Read on (or don’t… not like anyone reads my blog anyway):

I think there’s an information vacuum. Everyone wants to have his* say and there’s just only so much to talk about. We NEED something to talk about. This leads to a world in which a person's comments can be taken out of context and blown out of proportion to the point that an off-hand or out-of-context comment can get a person fired or eviscerated the public mind (not sure which I think is worse). **Edit: I guess that world already existed... the modern digital age just accelerates it exponentially.

Some say: “They’ve brought this on themselves by what they said.” My point exactly… in most cases, we don’t actually know what they said. Or, what was said was said off-hand, or part of a larger context. Perhaps, a person was playing devil’s advocate. Whatever the case, someone hears it, records it, reports it, and suddenly the comments are fodder for a national (sometimes international) rant on __________ (insert issue-du-jour here).

Another issue at hand: How have we become so unforgiving? Are we, as individuals so perfect that we can publicly flog a person that makes a perceived verbal misstep? The US legal system is based on the philosophy “innocent until proven guilty.” Yet, we instantly condemn people we’ve never met based on a few words.

The end result is that we can’t talk freely. We can’t have discussions about uncomfortable issues because our comments might be misconstrued. We can’t have opinions that are outside of the mainstream because we will be vilified. And thus, free speech is muzzled.

Back to Brother Bott for a moment: I don’t know if he’s a racist. What I do know is that I took two classes from him, enjoyed them immensely, and never got any kind of negative vibe from him. I don’t even remember if the topic of race ever came up, although it probably did in D&C. It was discussed in other forums from time to time and I’ve certainly heard the opinion being credited to him from other people, though I’ve always disregarded it. I hope this issue does not taint the career of one of the most popular (and deservedly so) professors at BYU.

And, that’s my two cents for today.

* Yeah, I used “his”… Frankly, I’m sick of political correctness. Really. Grammatically, “he” works. “He or she” is bulky, and “their” is incorrect. So, until we come up with a gender neutral pronoun, I’m using “he” as the gender neutral. I’m a woman, and a somewhat liberal-ish one at that, and I’m not threatened by it. So, deal.

February 29, 2012

• 6:45 am... arrive at school to finish inputting grades before SAT club. Find my door locked. I don't have a key. I've never had a key. The door is not supposed to be locked. Apparently, in my haste to leave yesterday, I neglected to check to see if, during the course of a day of being opened and slammed against the wall, the lock had been engaged, as it sometimes is. Good news: the back door to the balcony is unlocked. Bad news:, there’s no way to access said balcony except through the upstairs classrooms, all of which are locked (the other teachers have keys).
• 7:00 am… principal arrives. I explain my plight. He breaks out some pretty spiffy ninja skills and goes up on the roof, drops down to the balcony (7 foot-or-so drop), and enters through the back door.
• 7:15 am… SAT kiddos arrive. They are barely conscious…more so (or is it less so?) than usual.
• 8:00 am… everyone else arrives. The day commences. The kids are weird all day. Just off…
  
• 2:30 pm… Ajumma comes in to clean my room, much earlier than normal. Instead of sweeping and stuff, she takes out some cleaner and is wiping down desks. It occurs to me that something is odd, but I’m too busy typing up Huck Finn questions for English III (NOT looking at Pinterest) to think much about it.
• 3:00 pm… I’m busy working through my prep period (NOT checking Facebook…). Cheering erupts next door. Principal comes in: “They’re cheering because school is cancelled tomorrow and Friday”… huh? whaffor? …It seems four teachers are out with the flu (several kids have had pretty nasty cases in the last couple of weeks). We only have 17 teachers… and no subs.

…. Happy Leap Day…

Perspective

Recalling a Mormon senator who tried to save Anne Frank’s life

by Rafael Medoff

"Before rushing to inject the issue into the presidential race, it is worth recalling that leaders of the Mormon church have already pledged to refrain from posthumously 'saving the souls' of Hitler's victims, and no doubt will remind their Dominican Republic branch and their other followers of that pledge.

And it is especially worth recalling that when the issue was not saving Anne Frank's soul but saving her life, the most powerful Mormon political figure in America did what he could at a time when too few were willing to do anything at all."

Why Temples?

There has been a lot of talk about the LDS practice of baptisms by proxy in the last couple of weeks due to the submission of the names of Jewish Holocaust victims.

It is important to note that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has prohibited the submission of the names of Holocaust victims unless by direct descendants. This has been church policy for nearly twenty years.

But, the question remains: why do we do baptisms for the dead?

I guess it's easier to talk about it in the negative. First, it's not about having a bunch of names on a list. Baptism is only in part about joining the church. Mostly, it is the first in a series of ordinances that we believe lead us to eternal life, through Christ's Atonement.

Nor is it about forcing people into something. We believe that when we perform ordinances by proxy for our deceased ancestors, they have a choice as to whether they will accept them or not. As one of our hymns states, "God will force no man to heaven." If He won't, who are we to?

What it IS about is providing our ancestors with the opportunity to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ and accept ordinances that will put them on the path to eternal life. That's it.

There is Biblical precedent for the practice. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is teaching the people at Corinth about resurrection. In defense of the doctrine, he states: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" Clearly, the people at Corinth were familiar with the practice, as there is no further explanation. If it was a false practice, why did Paul not condemn it? And why would he have used it to teach a gospel principle as foundational as Resurrection?

So, this New Testament era practice has been restored through modern revelation. Having participated in proxy ordinances in the temple, I have felt the joy and peace of the place and of the ordinances themselves.


Here is a short video discussing the temple:

It's been a little over a month since I found out that my dog Osito had been put down. It surprised me how devastating that was to me. I loved him, of course, but I hadn't really wanted a dog. That he became such an important part of my life was always a bit of a surprise. But, he was pretty much the best dog ever and I miss him.

I was working on adopting a cat when I found out. I stopped that process and have instead decided to be pet-less for awhile. I'm focusing my need to nurture on my new plant... which is thriving much better in my 4th floor apartments than plants did down on the first floor when I was here before. It's amazing what a little sunshine will do.

I am raw.

Man’s best friend? Forget that. You were MY best friend. I needed you.

Farook and Caroline wanted to call you Bob. Like that’s a name for a dog. But you weren’t Bob. You were my baby bear. Even before you were mine, you were mine.

I loved you. Not like a child. I’ll never be that person ... the one who substitutes a pet for a child. But I loved you all the same. You were part of my family.

Maybe people will judge. If I loved you so much, why did I abandon you? I thought it was for the best. I knew it was. A yard, a buddy, squirrels to chase? That was what you needed, not an apartment with a busy person.

They loved you too, that’s why they offered to have you stay. But, maybe you felt abandoned anyway? Is that why you began acting up? Is that what made you aggressive toward other animals? You never were before, not with Toni or Yum-Yum or Luna. Not even with Ralphie, though no one would have faulted you if he’d gotten on your nerves.

You smiled. I never knew an animal could smile. You were so. damn. happy when I came home. Sometimes I even resented you for it. For once, can’t I just come in the door without being jumped on and licked? But you were happy, and usually, that made me happy.

You know what else made me happy? You licking my feet, then curling up on them when I was chillin’ on the computer or watching TV.

You knew me. You knew when I was scared in that house by myself and you came and slept next to my bed, even though we both knew you preferred the cool laminate in the entryway. You stayed there until I was good and asleep, and even sometimes after.

You barked when strangers pulled up, but not friends. You knew who belonged and who didn’t. You were scary to people who didn’t belong, that guy from the roofing company after Ike said so. He said, “If I’d had any bad intentions toward this house, when I heard that dog coming to the door I would have gone on to the next place.”

I miss you. I’ve missed you almost every moment from when I dropped you off with him in Houston and I drove home to my empty house. But, then, I thought I would see you again some time. Now I won’t and that breaks my heart.

I miss you Baby Bear.

My Apartment

Entryway and my "Door o' Gratitude"

Bedroom... no pic inside cuz it's messy...

Living room

Lots of big windows, which I LOVE... they let in so much sunshine!

The other end of the living room thing... I wish I had a desk to put in here, but I don't know if there'll be room in little bitty apartment I'll live in when we move next summer..

Kitchen... messy as always.

There's another bedroom to the left of this picture, but a friend was staying with me when I took the pictures, so I didn't take one of that room. It's my walk-in-closet/laundry-hanging-area/guest room...

So, that's what it looks like. It's an odd shape because it's actually two smaller apartments remodled into one. The result is a lot of wasted space, but also a lot more openness than I had in the smaller apartment I live in during Korea, round 1.