Somehow two weeks have slid by without a fresh Coco post, days teaching weather and short vowel sounds, evenings researching and writing my first story for Eloquence Magazine (more on that later), and an attempt to incorporate sit-ups into my daily routine.  This weekend S. Korea beat Greece 2-0 in their first game of the World Cup, a win I cheered for under a starless sky on Haeundae beach, the night lit by thousands of red plastic devil’s horns glowing from the heads of fans.

Now it’s after midnight 3 a.m. on a Sunday, and I was all geared up to write the final post of the Seoul collection, a story on my trip to the DMZ which divides North and South Korea, and the underground tunnel I trekked through there with Dianna and Bryan, built 73 metres deep by the North in the 70′s with the intention to invade Seoul, and a brief overview of the current political situation between the two nations, which involves a battleship, 46 men killed, a suspected torpedo, and threats of war.

But it’s a post that will have to wait– for more research, for a night when the morning is further away. 

Instead, I want to introduce you to Bill.

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Bill’s seven.  He likes dinosaurs and gingerbread men. His favourite day is a day when he sees a rainbow.  Most of his stories start with “A long time ago . . .”  He can make a snowman and a snow angel, and likes to eat a hot dog on a snowy day.  

Sometimes Bill forgets to do his homework, or he did it but he can’t find the right book to show me, or he lost his book and isn’t sure his mom knows where it is.  I move around the classroom from child to child, checking their answers with a red pen and a sheet of stickers.  “Teacher,” Bill will say, pointing to a half-finished sentence.  “How can I do this?”  Together we read the question, find the answer.  He clutches my arm with his little hand, fishes his eraser out of his pencil case.  When he leans over his notebook his hair falls forward, like a shiny bowl on his head. 

At the end of each month, I have all eight students sit in a circle with their writing books.  They each take a turn, reading one story they wrote– tales of robots and dragons, tornadoes and pelicans.  They fidget in their chairs and drum the floor with their feet.  They flip through their pages and mumble and hold their books up in front of their faces.  “Books down,” I’ll say, “so we can see you.  A little louder, so we can hear you.”  After each story, I remind them to clap, to ask the author questions.  And over and over, to listen.

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 giger bread man

A long time ago there were giger bread. 

His name is gigerbread man. 

He was very good.  He help man and the women. 

Now man make one more gigerbread man.  Because he was good.

 

I want to eat gigerbread man. 

Because gigerbread man is yummy. gigerbread man is cute. 

He is very fast.  He can win fox.

~Bill

(April 2010 Writing Workshop, Yale Class)

I decided it was time for another feature. Since The Economist is my one remaining subscription, which means it’s my newspaper, I should be more forthcoming and deliberate about my opinions toward it. I’ve read the weekly newspaper since March 1985, and here’s a record of my comments. So, here are this week’s leaders:

• What’s Wrong with America’s Right

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Mr Obama deserves to be pegged back. This newspaper supported him in 2008 and backed his disappointing-but-necessary health-care plan. But he has done little to fix the deficit, shown a zeal for big government and all too often given the impression that capitalism is something unpleasant he found on the sole of his sneaker. America desperately needs a strong opposition. So it is sad to report that the American right is in a mess: fratricidal, increasingly extreme on many issues and woefully short of ideas, let alone solutions.

All that about the GOP is spot on. But, President Obama, scraping “capitalism” off his sneakers? If anything, President Obama has been too deferential to the companies, like BP, that put him in the White House.

• In Praise of Techno-Austerity

If the feature-obsessed technology industry can change its tune, perhaps there is a chance that governments—which have also tended to be inveterate believers in the idea that more is more—might also come to appreciate the merits of minimalism.

Agreed.

• A Cut Too Far?

A calm look at the numbers, then, suggests that the odds of a collective G20 blunder towards recovery-wrecking austerity this year are low. The real danger of the current embrace of austerity is not that it is reckless, but that it is thoughtless—missing an opportunity to make the policy changes that will help economies most in the future.

First, most rich-country governments are being insufficiently bold about reforms, such as raising the statutory retirement age, which improve public finances in the medium term without denting demand now. Second, proponents of fiscal austerity are putting disproportionate weight on budget discipline as a solution to the rich world’s ills, underplaying the importance of structural, supply-side measures.

• A Step Away from the Bomb

…valuable though it is, this week’s resolution can’t stop Iran crossing the nuclear threshold. That is true; but there is no way of stopping a country going nuclear if it is prepared to find enough cash and face down international censure. Even air strikes would only buy time—an uncertain gain at a huge cost. The best deterrence, therefore, is to raise the price of a bomb and deepen the disgrace. That is what this week’s sanctions were all about.

• Not Dead Yet

The problem with…newspapers is that, although they do much that is excellent, they do little that is distinctive enough for people to pay for it. The Los Angeles Times’s foreign reporting is extremely good. But it is hard to argue that it is better than the stuff supplied by the New York Times or foreign papers—sources to which the residents of Los Angeles now have unfettered, largely free access via their laptops and iPhones. Similarly, it has never been clear why each major newspaper needs its own car reviewer: a Corolla is a Corolla, whether it is driven in Albuquerque or Atlanta. And by extension, it is not clear why presidential candidates or sport teams require huge journalistic entourages. Papers should concentrate on what they do best, which means, in many cases, local news and sport. If the rest is bought in from wire services or national outfits, readers are unlikely to complain—as long as there is enough competition between those larger providers to keep up standards (and thanks to the internet there probably is now). Specialisation generally means higher quality.

And, yes, I’m still figuring out what to specialize in when I grow up.

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Hello Readers.

Well, it's been a fantastic weekend! And, by the way, my hair cut turned out awesome! I'm SO excited. More about that later.

To begin, I'd just like to say...

대한민국!!!!
대한민국!!!!
대한민국!!!!

KOREA BEAT GREECE!

Now let me tell you, I've never been a huge fan of watching sports. Sitting down and watching other people play a sport just never seemed like the ideal fun-time for me. However, lately I've been becoming interested in soccer. Ever since I went to my first soccer match with a co-worker of mine I've been becoming more and more intrigued by the game. So I was excited about the world cup happening this weekend!

I ALMOST didn't go! Why? Well, because I hadn't eaten all day and I ordered some food somewhere and they were backed up so it was taking forever and the group I was going with suddenly planned on leaving earlier. The thought of not being able to eat anything until after the game was not one I took kindly too. So I initially thought "Well...is it really that big of a deal."

Yes. Yes it is. I discovered this later.

We watched the game at Sajik stadium, so we had to make a bit of a trip on the subway to get there. On the way we bought some face stickers/temporary tattoos and a couple of "Red Devil" bandannas. Then when we arrived we were greeted by a huge line of vendors selling light up devil horns, long balloons that you can slam together and they make irritating noises (this is instead of clapping), t-shirts, hair bands, and many other items that you seem to suddenly need when on your way to cheer for a sports team.

Ems and I bought headbands with big red crinoline bows on them. We all looked pretty great by the time the game started! The more "Red Devil" red you wore and the more stickers you had on you the better. It was so much fun.

Then the game started. I have never been so interested in a sporting event in my entire life. I was on the edge of my seat, sometimes even half standing in anticipation for a goal. I yelled, I cheered, I even cursed once or twice (shame shame :P).

I never realized what an interesting sport soccer was until last night when I couldn't get enough of watching all the footwork, the goal attempts, the saves, and the occasional violence (soccer's a rough game, I had no idea).

It was nice to watch Korea play, because I noticed they never played dirty. Some of the Greek team were tripping and pushing and fouling all over the place. There were a couple of times when I was definitely like "WHAT THE HECK?! DID YOU SERIOUSLY JUST DO THAT?!" after watching a Greece player very obviously (and painfully) foul a player for Korea. Thankfully one of the worst foulers got a 'yellow card' which I found out means that he can't play in the next game.

HA! Take THAT, you MEANIE!

Anyway. It was an awesome time, and I am totally cheering for Korea during their next game again Argentina on the 17th. Argentina is apparently one of the best teams in the world, but I have high hopes for team Korea!!!!

Here's a look at my outfit for that evening of Sajik Stadium Red Devil Super Bowl watching.

These are pictures that I took after the evening was over. That was around 5:45 AM because we stayed out to watch the England vs. America game at 3am. Yikes!


How's my outfit? Yeah... I love it too!


People really went nuts with the stickers/temporary tattoos. Mine say "I love Korea" and "Fighting!"


I also had a neat soccer ball with wings and the Korean national emblem on my arm! Heehee!



This picture is brought to you by my exhaustion and my t-shirt which says "Do u love Korea?" Can you guess my answer? :)


The England vs. America game wasn't as exciting. That's mostly due to the fact that I was really tired, and the other fact that there were English and American people screaming obscenities all around me half of the game. That makes for a very not-so-enjoyable atmosphere. I dozed off a couple of times admittedly.

Also, the game itself didn't really get anywhere, did it? I mean, those of you who saw it know. They tied. They each scored one goal and the rest of the game was footsie, and a couple of "OUCH! That looked painful!" moments.

Poor USA goalie got kicked in the chest with those cleats. The slow-motion recap captured the look of pain on his face as the collision occurred. There will certainly be a bruise.

Anyway. I have more things to write up about, but I don't have anymore time. Part II coming up later.

Everyone have a great day!

Until next time,

~Auggie

The World Cup fever is now here in Korea and how.

There are many a parks and public places in Korea these days where the Korean Government as well as biggies like Hyundai, SKT are hosting the World Cup live using Massive LCD screens… and it is one awesome experience.

So yesterday I had been to Seoul Plaza, City Hall to experience the Korea vs Greece match with my friends. And regardless of the weather – THE RAINS – the whole of Korea was out on the streets in their true spirits to cheer for their team.

It was so much fun to see everyone in red tees and wearing the Red Devil Horns..

And as we all know – KOREA WON… to the cheering of the crowd – DAE HAN MIN GUK – all the way..