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May 16th - Dongria Kondh Presentation

This month's meeting will be at Busan Racetrack. We will meet at 11:30 a.m at Hadan subway station Exit 6 and will take a bus from there.

Thomas will be presenting some information about the Dongria Kondh Indian tribe. Below is a 11 minute video to help familiarize yourself about this potentially displaced community.



As well, if you are interested in placing bets at the track, please make sure you bring money and ID.

Finally, I believe there will be a lantern parade for Buddha's birthday happening later that evening. All are welcome to join me later (Jason)!

Welcome Pho, PNU

PNU is by and far the epicentre of foreign food in Busan. Basically, if you want some non-Korean fare, this is where you will find it, be it Burgers, Kebabs, Indian Curry, you name it.

So its no surprise that PNU is also a great place to enjoy some Vietnamese style dishes. Welcome Pho is a very stylish and clean restaurant with a great view for people watching. The service is good and prices reasonable.

Most important, of course, is the food - and it is quite good. The spring rolls are perfect and come with a delicious peanut sauce. The pho is not quite up to the standard found in Vietnam itself, but is authentic enough to evoke memories of the gasoline stench from the motorcycle-filled streets of Ho Chi Min City; the sound of boats putt-putting down the Mekong delta, the colours of silk and vegetables in the crowded market...

As usual with Vietnamese food, you'll find more than enough here to sate your appetite. The usual assortment of sauces, spices and sprouts are provided for you to season your own meal. The only real downside to this place is there is no lime to flavour the dishes with, only lemon. For the moment, lime remains out of reach in Korea - even in Vietnamese cusine. Also, some Vietnamese beers would be nice - 333 or Saigon - but Korean beer is a pretty similar style anyway. In any case, they serve Vietnamese style coffee, the perfect accompaniment to a relaxing afternoon.

Prices: Pho/Fried Rice: 6,000+
English Menu: Yes
Vegetarian options: Yes
Directions: It's next door to Kebabistan, on the corner, 2nd floor.

선유도 Seonyudo

3 Oct 2009, To determine if the Yellow Sea truly is yellow, I take a ferry out to 선유도 Seonyudo in the Yellow Sea.

The Royal Guard Changing Ceremony

His Highness, originally uploaded by breeze-O.

Seoul has lot of palaces in the metropolitan area of Ganghwamun and Gyeongbook. Every day at the Gyeongbokgung and Deoksugung palace in the afternoon one could witness the Changing of Guards ceremony and get a glimpse of Korean history back in time. Make sure you visit the Korea.net and Visit Korea website to get the details about this ceremony before you visit any of the palaces.

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My Rebuilt Netbook

9 May 2010, A couple weeks ago, my netbook's hard drive died. As my primary computer, I stupidly kept my vacation pictures from the last six months on it without keeping any back up. But, Dell has replaced the hard drive and I have started reinstalling all my software. Lesson: Keep copies of all your important files.

Parents, teachers and students.

We all want to help the students learn and grow as human beings.

How are teachers doing?  How do college students describe great teachers?

However much one may abhor the idea of teaching being a popularity contest, in some facets, popularity should be sought not for popularity itself, but as a medium to inspire and encourage students. Indeed, students themselves assert they prefer a teacher who cares that they learn, gets to know students, and is personable; such teachers help students achieve their goals of focusing in class, understanding the material, and developing a personal relationship with the teacher. These are but intermediary goals which help students enhance their grades, improve their careers, and increase their salary — ultimately achieving happiness, financial success, and a sense of accomplishment. Though it may not be surprising that students also prefer teachers who communicate well and provide dynamic lectures, the strong evidence supporting this notion may help instructors commit to clarity and variety in the classroom.

For teachers who are struggling to acquire the approval of their students, this study points to a few suggestions which are, fortunately, relatively easy to execute. Getting to know students personally, demonstrating a concern for student learning, and exhibiting personable character traits are simple notions that do not require an overhaul of a course structure, nor do they require a change in teaching style. Yet, these simple notions are among the most important characteristics when students describe great teachers.

Instructors of large classes should not bemoan the importance students place on getting to know the students. Discovering creative ways of connecting to students in a large class demonstrate more powerfully the instructor’s desire for personal connections. One of the authors teaches a large class and begins each lecture with a Know Your Classmates activity, where one student is singled out (based on a student information sheet completed by the student) for discussion. The student’s career interest is discussed and used to show how the impending lecture can be used in their desired occupation. This activity demonstrates a desire to know the students, and by demonstrating the usefulness of the course content it relays a sincere concern for student learning and gives them the

motivation to commit to the class—recall that committing to the class is a consequence of getting to 20know students, which helps compensate for the inability to personally know each student in a large class. Know Your Classmates is a wildly popular activity, one that students promptly note if the instructor fails to do at the start of class.

Meanwhile, this really isn’t the way for a parent to help any child.  It seems a mother checked out all the ‘Gossip Girl’ books from a local library and has kept them for two years so youth couldn’t read them.  Oh, ‘checked out’ doesn’t mean ‘looked at’ in this case- you got that, right?

From the article:

A Longwood mom who refused to return four Gossip Girl-inspired library books because she objected to their content took them back to the public library Thursday. …

After an article about Harden appeared in Thursday’s Orlando Sentinel, a man donated replacement books to the library and several others told the library they planned to send checks or books to replace the ones Harden was keeping. …

Harden owes $85 in fines but hasn’t paid them. She said she is hoping the library will waive the fines.

“It’s not that I lost the books or I didn’t feel like turning them in,” she said. “I want us to work together. Hopefully they have the same goals as I do.”

I have misplaced library books and eventually returned them.  I wouldn’t want to be charged with theft.  Still, her intent was quite different from mine – are such charges impossible? Yes, she has finally returned them, so perhaps she doesn’t need jail time or even a fine, but she would still get that criminal record.  That would be worth the $85, I think.

Both links courtesy of Marginal Revolution.


Destination: RAK (Raising Awareness in Korea) / World Bellydancing Day 2010


One of the first acts we saw - Raks Azhaar, an amateur belly-dancing performing team.

It's not too many events that can pull together
dozens of performers, yet Raising Awareness in Korea / World Bellydancing Day 2010 did just that. Raising money - and awareness - for the Dasi Hamkke Center (dedicated to helping women out of sexual exploitation) and Bear Necessity Korea (dedicated to helping Asian moonbears) were the reason for the 15,000 won cover, but the entertainment was well worth it. An all-star team of foreigners came out to perform for a packed house - from Brian Aylward with his stand-up comedy to Ryan Goessl with his baritone voice, the event covered the spectrum from well-known stand-out acts to emerging artists still finding their direction.



Ashley did a great job belly-dancing - are you noticing a theme yet?



One highlight - Josh Roy performing some fusion reggae. One of his songs apparently is ranked #3 on the Ugandan reggae charts - raise your hand if you knew Uganda
had a reggae chart.



It's a good sign when people spontaneously come out to dance to your music.



Kaitlin Branch - another belly dancer showing off a different style.



It wasn't all about belly dancing, though -
Paula Wilson & Giovanni Garcia put on an impressive display of leg sweeps and tango moves.



Presenting Team J - the name may change, but hopefully the attitudes won't. An offshoot of a recent Seoul Players 24-hour project, the name has stuck for now.



Zahira Sujong continuing the wonderful belly dancing.



Aly Mewse - some very nice tattoos, and won the award for most adornments of the evening.




The star and organizer of the event, Belynda Azhaar. Not pictured after her solo performance was a Serbian Line Dance - I got invited to join with a number of other belly dancers. What straight guy is going to say no?



Moniqa Paullet showing off her double threat as dancer and spoken word artist.


The Willman Band, featuring Willman Morcillo (Vocal/Guitar), Frederik Bourdon (Bass), Jenny Jang (Keyboard), and Chang Soo Kim (Drums).

With cheap drinks, a good cause, and hours of entertainment, it's hard to find a flaw. My only complaint was the lack of consideration by other guests - spoken word is the sort of thing that really has to be heard, not spoken over.

I mentioned this event on this month's event schedule - while I don't usually attend or mention fundraisers (they're not usually my thing), the excellent performances makes the fact that money goes to a good cause is a nice benefit.

Creative Commons License © Chris Backe - 2010

This post was originally published on my blog, Chris in South Korea. If you are reading this on another website and there is no linkback or credit given, you are reading an UNAUTHORIZED FEED.


 

Interview: What's up - no, really

A version of this interview was published in May 2010's issue of the Groove magazine. All photos in the printed article are Aaron Brown's; all photos below are my own.




With little warning, the synth keyboard, guitar, and drum trio halted their sound check and listened. "Can you check that feedback? It might be a bad cord." The
venue staff went silent as the noise played on. The curious part was this feedback had a melody - not like the tune they were playing, but something strangely similar. A off-kilter foreshadowing of the performance, or just a weird glitch? Turns out it was the latter, but still an unusual moment with an unusual band.

I had a chance to chow down on some pre-concert samgyeopsal with the
Sacramento-conceived, Portland-transported trio What's Up. Making their debut in Korea with SuperColorSuper (a promotional company), they didn't seem too fazed by the unusual elements of Korean culture - "we really dig the kimchi" was heard repeatedly from all members of the band to this writer's surprise. With shows in Busan, Daegu, Seoul, and Daejeon, they've had a great chance to experience some of Korea's, er, distinctive, culture. "This one drunken businessman, he was shaking my hand and he just wouldn't let go - he was asking me, like, how old are you and where are you from" - just the sort of culture shock every foreigner gets at least once during their time here.

Korea isn't exactly known for bringing in indie acts that weren't formed here. "Sean [Maylone from SuperColorSuper] lives out here and got us a chance to perform across Korea." While this isn't the promoter's first concert - they were responsible for Do Make Say Think's February performance in Seoul, among others - the nascent company has already gained a sizable following, as evidenced by the crowd at Seoul's concert.

Teddy Briggs goes between the drums and keyboards; Brian Pasos keeps the bass alive, and Robby Moncrieff claims the title "polymorphic instrumentalist". Their current record - a seven-song, thirty-minute EP entitled "Content Imagination" - is for sale at obstructivevibe.com, along with some of Robby's other projects. "We've been working on a new album for about a year and a half now", although Robby couldn't say when it would be released. Robby also mentioned he'd be DJ'ing for the after-party, although "I don't really know what I'm doing..." was his summary of his skills. If Robby is genuinely worried about his DJ skills, just wait for them to build as his musical skills clearly have.

As for the music, it's less about understanding the nuances and more about admiring the work that goes into making said music. There's a lot of technical prowess that goes into the production of each and every song. To some it might sound like noise; to others, it's a series of complex and progressive compositions. It pulses, swaggers, staggers, randomizes, and syncopates - yet stays tightly together. Robby's background mastering tunes from old-school NES games (look up The Advantage from circa 2004 to hear some more of those chops) makes him the perfect guy to mix up those sounds he surely spent hours originally learning. There are no lyrics to get in the
way of the almost robotic instrumental sound, and they're not really needed.

While What's Up has returned back to the States (and "a burrito from the Mission in San Francisco", added Teddy), look for more concerts from SuperColorSuper coming to Busan, Daegu, Seoul, and Daejeon in the future. This month welcomes the California duo Xiu Xiu, complete with
synth-pop, gothic chiptunes, and an atonal guitar. Look for more information about future performances at http://supercolorsuper.com/all-shows/.

Creative Commons License © Chris Backe - 2010
This post was originally published on my blog, Chris in South Korea. If you are reading this on another website and there is no linkback or credit given, you are reading an UNAUTHORIZED FEED.


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