It looked like a specialized high school and from the name I thought it was one of those government funded elite schools (well, “MinJok” (race, nation, people, etc.) sounded like a lot like a government work), but it turns out this is a private high school founded in 1993 by the founder of Pasteur Milk and is also funded by the company. Incidentally, there is a news item about Pasteur Milk being sold to another company.

Anyway, the TV segment introduced the school as aspiring to become the Korean “Eton School”. There were several interesting things about the school from other “normal” Korean high schools. Everyone lives in dorms. The school uniforms were hanbok-based. The classes seem to be small and everyone seems to be quite involved. Most students go to colleges abroad (mostly in the U.S.). They have a policy called “EOP” (English-Only Policy) that forces students to use English unless it is an emergency. And they have surveillance cameras in every dorm room (“Wha-wha-what!”).

Well, I thought the EOP was pushing a bit and somewhat oxymoronic for a school with a name that sounds very nationalistic. Also, the fact that most of their students going to the U.S. colleges sounded a bit weird. To me that sounds more like a brain-drain. And from my experience, the college years seem quite important in adjusting to the society, so I am not sure how well those students will adjust coming back, if they ever.

But the most shocking thing for me, was the surveillance camera on the ceiling in every dorm room (there was no separate bedroom / study room) that a teacher-on-duty uses to monitor students. How does this prepare the future “leaders” of our country?

Well, the female student who were asked if the camera does not bother her, said they only use it during the self-study (another oxymoronic term) period, so she got used to it and don’t mind. EVEN IF these cameras were used only during a limited period time, what the h*ll does it teach about the individual’s privacy and rights? Especially when these students attend colleges aboard. If they shared this particular high school experience, what would that say about Korea?

I mean, I think I am okay with someone making a round periodically, but surveillance cameras? P-lease….

And during a web surfing on this school, I also realized that there are heavy corporal punishment (“heavy” as in “till the stick breaks”). And that is whole another story…

President Roh Moo-Hyun was impeached by the opposition party parliament members for election fraud, corruption and incompetence. The matter is sent to the Constitutional Court to be decided whether the result of the impeachment vote would stand. For now, his presidential power has been suspended and his Prime Minister has taken over the job temporarily.

Personally, I doubt it will stick at the Constitutional Court and this probably was a political strike for the national parliamentary election a month away. I am sorry that those opposition PMs thought the matter of impeachment that lightly, and I hope they all lose in the election.

But the fact is that this shows the leadership quality (or lack there of) of President Roh. He has a very righteous and inflexible attitude that I am surprised he is in politics. Not only him, but his followers all carry a similar attitude. This has had more affect of disharmony (not bringing people together) and is definitely a cause for disaster, especially when your party has less than 1/5th of the parliament.

I believe one of the many qualities of a leader is to convince others to follow you, not just to force your will onto others. President Roh has many good qualities in my mind, but this he does not have. His competitive personality had created and intensified the level of opposition, and this impeachment incident clearly asks the question whether he can lead the nation.

After the parliament’s decision, there has been demonstrations by the supporters of President Roh. His supporters are generally young (in their 20s and 30s), and their knowledge and use of the Internet was what made it possible for the unlikely candidate to become the president.

The problem with this younger crowd is that they are not exercising their rights to vote. Of course, they did for the presidential election, but that’s just one of many elections to select those who would represent them (e.g., the parliament members). I’ve read a news article a couple of weeks ago that in a recent local election in Korea, majority of the voters were 50s and up, and hardly any in 20s.

This is truly sad. After Mr. Roh became the president, his core supporters in the party did not have the patience, so all 47 of them broke out and formed a new minority ruling party. What were they thinking? I am sure they think that they have the support of the people, but in a recent popularity poll, President Roh’s support was below 30%, and this, I think, is assuming that all younger crowds turn out (which is quite likely now with the impeachment pending).

Anyway, this is a sad sad situation in Korea, who just cannot seem to enjoy a moment of harmony and tranquility in the past century.

It is a very interesting and fairly well-written story on the subject that I began to care much since my last trip to Korea a couple of weeks ago. The most striking thing I noticed in Seoul was that at CD stores, the Gayo selections were very, very limited. It was difficult, if not possible, to find any stores that had variety in Gayo, especially from indie labels. The music (and movie as well) piracy is pretty big in Korea, too, and after that trip, the reality of the Korean music CD industry’s decline has hit me hard.

According to the IHT article, most musicians and record labels have given up on fighting the piracy and are trying to adapt to the new environment. The albums can be pirated, so “there is no income from the royalties, so artists in China record single songs for radio play instead of albums for consumers.” And since they cannot pirate physical people, what they end up doing is a lot of live paid appearances including concerts, which are mostly funded by corporate sponsors. And the record labels who cannot get much income from the album sales are turning into talent management agencies which gets a portion of the artists’ income.

As a business, this might not be a bad transition. The pop music industry is becoming not about the music and the creativity. From the article they say that another side effect of this piracy is that it becomes even tougher for new artists to get a chance. They claim it’s hard for the record labels to promote new artists in stores since there is no sales happening. Well, I think this will be a problem for those new artists who want to show their music. However, in this new “music” industry where music is no longer most important, there is always a chance for those with the right “images.”

Maybe this is the reality. The pop music has become just a fad and a commodity that nobody cares that much for a reasonably long time. I maybe am able to understand that this is a reality, but I can’t help feeling sad about the future.

There has always been anti-U.S. resentment in Korea since 1980. You can say it’s a love-hate thingy. Some part of the population (maybe most, unconsciously) felt the need of the U.S. military presence. However, some resented having a foreign military effectively controlling one’s own army. This is especially true for most of the younger generations.

I am sorry to say this to the men and women who serve their country, but they don’t really represent the finest in the soft power that the U.S. has to offer. Maybe, the hard power, but definitely not the soft. There have been many incidents between the U.S. military personnel and the Korean civilians, and most of the times, people will talk about it for a couple of weeks and it would quiet down.

However, this time it seems a bit different. It involved two middle school girls. There are already several agendas against the U.S. (the North Korea issues, the next-generation fighter selection, the HDTV formats, etc.) that it just exploded. Also, I think the success of the World Cup 2002, and the confidence that the Korean people got from that seem to play a bigger part. Also, there is a presidential election soon.

Anyway, maybe this, 2002, is the year that would change the attitude of Korea. Or maybe not.

This newspaper article (in Korean) talks about a Korean language instruction booklet that has been circulating on the Internet. This Korean language book was made about two years ago by a Vietnamese company who exports labor outside Vietnam. Almost all the Vietnamese workers in Korea are supposedly carrying this instruction book.

Some other phrases found in the book:

“We must get a written promise from him.”
“We can’t forgive such behaviors.”
“How can a man like you hit a woman like me?”
“I will go work for another company if you hit me again.”

I don’t know what to say. I mean, I’ve heard that there are human rights violations going on in Korea (and I must say similar things happen in the U.S., Japan and wherever there are workers who are under compromised positions, usually in a illegal status), but the fact that some actually have instructions on how to say such things in Korean, goes to show that how frustrating and serious the situation is.

Is it inevitable that one human will take advantage of another whenever possible? What makes us regard another human being and think they are not the same as I (or we)?

I wonder how big the human rights organizations are in Korea (or whether one exists). We, Koreans have been, for so long, regarded themselves as victims that maybe, it’s hard to imagine that we have gained such a powerful position these days after so much hard-work over the past several decades. I guess we need to grow up.

Yeah, what’s so surprising about it, you might say. I feel like I’ve been on this shifted daily schedule (going to bed at 2 in the morning and waking up at 9 or later) forever (well, about 8 years in reality) that my high school days of 6 hours of sleep and waking up at 6:30 a.m. seem like a figment of my imagination, an urban legend.

But my new home is a bit further away from work, so I decided I should wake up a bit early (well, I still like to get to work by 10 :p). But the surprising thing was I was constantly waking up before 8 even without the alarm, before I tried to fall back to sleep trying to squeeze out an hour or so more. It didn’t matter that I went to bed around 2 (although I felt a bit drowsy after lunch).

What I realized was that my biological clock was at work. The windows are facing south and with bright colored curtains, the early sunlights were brightening up the room and waking me up naturally.

In my old apartment, I had blinds closed on the north-ward windows that kept the room pretty dark even during the day (and I don’t even have to mention my sleep schedule in the Seattle area). I think this was the main reason why it was so difficult to wake up early in the morning.

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I’ve decided to put this newly found resource into a good use. I’ve been thinking about getting into shape (I’ve intentionally omitted the word “back” since I don’t think I’ve ever been in one :p), so I joined the YMCA fitness center and have been exercising regularly for two weeks so far. Well, it remains to be seen how really dedicated I am since there have been other “two-week” efforts before failing miserably, but this time I am a bit more confident because the exercise before work feels definitely more comfortable than the after-work attempts I’ve tried before. I think I used to skip a workout a lot because I was so tired after work. And all this with only 6 hours of sleep that even I myself is somewhat surprised.

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I know nobody cares that much about football (or soccer, as is known in the States) in the U.S., but I’ve been following the World Cup 2002 quite closely because it was co-hosted by Korea and also the Korean team was extremely successful so far. Since I grew up watching the Korean team miserably fail against the European and South American teams in the past, I couldn’t believe that we’ve actually made it to the quarter finals (I’ve been watching the Korean matches). I don’t know if we will get further (our next opponent is Spain and I’ve emailed David in Spain and wished him luck :p), but I am quite happy at what the Korean team has achieved so far (this doesn’t mean that I don’t want them to win the Cup :p).

I don’t know much about football technically, but I think the biggest contribution came from the following two factors: Guus Hiddink, the Netherlands-born coach for the Korean team, and the “Red Devils,” the (very well organized) support crowd. Hiddink truly turned a group of players with potentials into a world-class team within a year and a half. I mean, people joke about “Hiddink for President” (Korea has a presidential election coming this year) in Korea and talk about giving him an honorary citizenship, but I think he deserves all the credits. Also, the Red Devils (there has been a small controversy from a Christian group within Korea complaining about the name and suggesting “White Angels” as an alternative) were an amazing sight to watch each game. I just can’t believe we had such a well-organized support crowd. To some, it might look too overzealous, but we are a passionate people.

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While on a trip to Sanjeev’s wedding (BTW, it was a very beautiful and interesting ceremony), I started reading The Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr. I’ve seen a reference to the author and the book while reading A Beautiful Mind and felt intrigued by it.

I haven’t gone through much yet, but according to some of the psychopathological descriptions, I seem to have quite a strong schizoid tendency, (hopefully) within the boundary of sanity. Its characteristics, according to Storr if I remember correctly, are the avoidance of crowd and preference for solitude, the co-manifestation (I couldn’t think of what Storr called it) of superiority and powerlessness, and the immaturity and inept control of one’s own emotions, to name a few.

What I find interesting about this is not the realization that I have such traits but the recognition that a lot of my friends and contemporaries have them. It makes me wonder whether the busy and ever more complex modern societies with the instability of families are affect many more people these days. Just thought interesting (I should come back after finishing the book).

The book was published in 1941, with his forward dated 1940. So, it was quite interesting to see how little seems to have changed for the past 60 years. I mean, we (i.e., Koreans) tend to think that with so much economical and material changes during the latter half of the previous century, our lives are completely changed and so much progress has been made.

But reading this book, I can’t help but think that how much of what he talks about can still apply to the lives of the current, the 21st century, Koreans. Of course, the sentences look very old and the vocabulary sometimes unfamiliar, and some targets of his criticism have been improved or resolved.

Still, the relationships within in-laws, how daughters/women are thought of, the concept of marriages, the role of mothers… I can still see the same issues happening still after 3 generations have gone through.

I guess, it gets tougher, takes longer, to change things closer to who we are. Our external, material, economical lives may have changed greatly beyond recognition, but still our human customs, ceremonies, philosophies, with the bonds within the families, get handed down for generations before there are noticeable changes. How gargantuan “baggages” do our societies have to bear… ]]> http://sori.org/hongcho/2002/03/14/deceptiveness-of-progress/feed/ 0 http://sori.org/hongcho/2001/06/23/fooling-oneself/ http://sori.org/hongcho/2001/06/23/fooling-oneself/#comments Sun, 24 Jun 2001 00:15:14 +0000 Hong http://sori.org/hongcho/2001/06/23/fooling-oneself/ On a personal reflection…

I don’t have much accents in my English even though I spent the most of my first 24 years in Korea. This often puts people around me and myself in a bit awkward (?) place.

For example, at a wedding reception of one of my friends recently in Seattle, I was talking to one of the guests I just met at the reception. We were talking for a while and since she was doing a sociology research on Asian immigrants, I mentioned that it has been 7 years since I came to the U.S. Her response was, “Really? So did you attend an international school there?” No, I didn’t, I said. An expression of surprise continued for a while.

Anyway, the thing is, because of my English and my shallow, but broad knowledge of some segments of the popular American culture, even some of my American friends seem to often forget that I didn’t grow up here. So once in a while, I am often faced with a perplexed expression. On the same weekend, Sanjeev (who grew up here) and I were talking about something and he mentioned a children’s story that every American kid should know about. I had no idea, and he looked at me funny. I had to explain that I didn’t grow up here and there are certain things I have no idea about.

And recently I realized that not only this happens to people around me, but also to myself. Because I am not a typical Korean and I am fairly comfortable with English, I often seem to think that I would act as any American would. The thing is, I may not be a typical Korean, but I am not a typical American either. When it comes to my feelings and instincts, I am following what I am used to, a lot of which happens to be quite “Korean”. Also I don’t have any reason or intention to deny that fact. It’s just that I am often surprised at myself for being such a “Korean” (whatever that may be).

Maybe I am having an identity crisis at the ripe age of 31. :p

The definition of conservatists and liberals seem to be relative concepts that differ among places and times. While reading some of the message boards on The Motley Fool, I began to learn what the current American society seems to think of the conservatists and the liberals.

It seems to me, on a very coarse level, those two concepts are linked to the two major political parties. Among many characteristics, the most intriguing ones, for me, was the convervatists’ view of the liberals being socialists (or “commies”) with the idea of a bigger government and the convervatists being huge supporters of individual freedom and small governments.

I spent the most of my formative years in Korea. So, to me, conservatists are those who supports totalitarian, conformistic views in which the bigger governments are a good thing. And you would be a liberal if you were fighting for your individual rights.

Maybe I am confused (I probably am). But it just goes to say that even the seemingly straight forward terminologies can carry different ideas among different people.