it’s been a long, wintry hiatus. so many excuses. mainly this one: i never leave my house. between teaching, acting as atek‘s national communications officer and associate editor of busan haps, i find myself doing a lot of lesson planning, writing, facebook-checking and laundry and not a lot of snapping.

anyway, this weekend, it was finally warm enough to enjoy doing things outside again, so i returned to beomeosa (boh-MOH-sa) with rita and was led around the temple by a delightful volunteer named cho. it was the anniversary of a buddha’s death, and there were lots of people at the temples, chanting and handing out fruit and burning incense and other temply things. some nuns with their heads shaved gave rita some flowers to make tea with. they were cracking themselves up as one of them shoved a palm full of flowers under rita’s nose. zen antics? it’s hard to say.

beomeosa’s water fountain is a mountain creek that they pipe into this concrete box and drink with gourds.

all the monks were decked out in their fancy gear for the buddha’s memorial.

and there were spring colors!

afterward, rita and i went to shinsegae, where we found a bathtub full of pink bubbles and a big whisk.

then we hung out while jeff got a new tattoo before eating delicious jimdak with kyung jin.

Although the tragedies that are affecting Japan right now are serious there is something else to consider thinking about this month. There will be a film screening at The House of Sharing at Dongguk University which will show, in multiple languages with English subtitles, the stories of 5 survivors of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery during WWII.

I know this sounds pretty serious but let's consider this part of history for a moment and that you have an opportunity to go see a piece of creation about it.

• It is free. 
• The film is in multiple languages and there will be a speaker along with a group discussion.
• Date: March 26th from 3 - 5pm (the film is 63 min long)
• At Dongguk University in Seoul at the Cultural Center, Deok Am Seminar Room, 1st Floor
• How to Get there: Take Line 3 to Dongguk University Station. Take exit 6 and go up the escalator and follow the road until you see Lee Hae Lang Fine Arts Theater...it's the building on the backside of the theater.

• Info: www.houseofsharing.org                Email:  info@houseofsharing.org 

This looks like a great opportunity to see some history and then talk about it during the discussion period.

From the press release:

This screening provides a window to an episode of Asian and International history which has been willfully ignored by so many for more than 63 years. You are invited to join the House of Sharing and show your support to the survivors who continue the fight for justice.

Hello everybody!

The busy level here in Busan has cranked up about nine notches in the last couple weeks, hence my lack of Coco posts and pics.  I’ve got a couple new projects on the go, and as my Toshiba died its final death in early January, my current computer time is a juggle of brief breaks at school and late hours in the dungeon-like PC bong below my apartment building, where I prep essay-writing lectures while sitting wedged between teenage Korean gamers playing Starcraft.  At least I think that’s what they’re playing.  I slap the headphones on pretty quickly, click onto CBC Radio 2, and tune into the Classical station, attempting to drown out the sound of gunshots and K-pop blasting from both sides of my cubicle.  It almost works.

Luckily, I’ll be welcoming a new laptop into my life (hello, Mac!) asap.  Then I can go back to writing from the comfort of my bed desk, which will inevitably mean longer and more frequent Coco posts.  Can’t wait.

Until then, I’ll be posting brief notes and photos to keep the flow going.  Hope you continue to stop by and say hello.  I always love to hear from you!

These pics are from a sunset-hour hike Joe and I took on Ulleungdo Island in February. After a three-hour boat ride from Pohang, a steel-factory city on Korea’s East coast, we arrived to a volcanic island covered in snow, which made for a peaceful and beautiful two-day visit.  My boots were soaked about six minutes into this climb to Naesujeon Observatory (and remained soaked for most of the trip),  but the view was worth it.  More Ulleungdo posts to come!

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As Japan frantically fights to prevent power reactors meltdown following last week’s overwhelming earthquake and tsunami, I entreat that the world takes a hiatus and reflect. Perhaps I’m in a panic – or have I immersed myself too deep into junk news and analysis? Whatever the case, I have a right to choose hermeneutic of suspicion and doubt if we are being told only but the truth about the Fukushima radiation levels. The facts are neither consistent nor convincing. For the benefit of doubt though, I recognize the challenge of evaluating such a massive catastrophe.

But what lessons will the world learn from Japan? I must confess that the more I read opinions from the media outlets the more I get disappointed. Many proponents of nuclear energy hysterically suggest that the world should now build and operate modern nuclear reactors that use the latest and safest technology. But didn’t Japanese use latest technology for Fukushima reactors four decades ago? Correct me if I’m wrong. And how on earth can a natural calamity respect “safe” technology?

Predictably, some analysts have quickly turned their eyes to the emerging economies, China and India in particular. Though their concerns appear genuine, I submit to them that responses so far from these very nations have been an echoing disillusionment. Both Chinese and Indian governments say Japan’s catastrophe offers imperative lessons but they gave no indication that they will reconsider the ambitious development of nuclear plants. To be fair, but in a rather remarkable turnaround, China announced suspension for all new nuclear power plants until the government could issue revised safety rules. Yes, until a revised safety rules are issued… then what? Earlier, the Chinese vice minister of the environment allegedly said China will not change its plans to develop nuclear energy despite what happened in Japan. In other words China is likely to resume building reactors, about 28 reactors, or nearly 40 percent of the global total.

India’s own atomic scientist Dr Gopalakrishnan was quoted warning that nuclear safety in India has been compromised. India has plans to buy 21 foreign nuclear power reactors at time when, according to former the AERB Chief, Indian engineers are yet to grasp new and unfamiliar technologies – a dangerous situation should an accident occur.

The rest of the world with ambitious nuclear energy pursuit seems undeterred. In South Korea, for instance, the much the government has done in the wake of Japan tragedy is to undertake an anti-earthquake training. Korean peninsula is generally safe when it comes to earthquakes. If your guess is as good as mine, Korea’s nuclear expansion and export plans remain intact.

In another development, though France has called for an emergency G-20 meeting, I doubt whether the message will be to stop nuclear energy development and take on renewable energy path. I stand for the latter.

While a number of countries rely on nuclear energy, last week’s earthquake is an open wake-up call – a call to heed the advice to undertake alternative energy and shun fossil and nuclear resources altogether.

Whether developing countries and newcomer nuclear countries will reconsider their energy investment strategies or not, the lesson is for them as well.

There are a number of reasons why the world’s lesson from Japan should point towards renewable. First, owing to the realities of climate change, governments need to drastically reduce reliance on fossil fuels and rethink nuclear power ambitions. Secondly, one of the greatest unacknowledged threats to global economy is the looming peak of global oil production. And thirdly, natural calamities are neither 100% predictable nor its destructive capacity controlled.

Serious problems associated with nuclear energy include enormous cost of establishing a nuclear power plant. Again, the intrinsic problem of what to do with nuclear waste arises. The highly radioactive byproducts of nuclear fission create a massive health and security hazard. The world admits that no easy way to handle nuclear waste today and we are yet to see that when Japan recovers.

On the other hand, renewable energy can supply a significant proportion of energy needs, create jobs and offer other benefits including environmental improvement, increased fuel diversity and national security. It also has economic development benefits. Renewable energy is also advantageous over nuclear in that there is no need to transport fuel to generators since hydroelectric dams take advantage of existing streams; photovoltaic cells utilizes direct sunlight; and wind generators take advantage of the atmospheric movement inherent in a rotating planetary body.

Renewable energy, especially solar and wind power, is also tremendously scalable. Multiple generators can be installed across a wide geographic area. The recent improvement of floating wind turbines means that the geographic area does not necessarily have to be on solid ground.

Ultimately, there is the overall human responsibility of stewardship over the environment. In fact, any religion, education, art, government, culture or philosophy that has no concept of stewardship on environment and indeed all of creation may be as good as notoriety of cancer – killing slowly.