Plagues and Led Zep
This is my first mix with Audacity. alternate frame of change
Recent Blog Posts
The trouble with "Asian Pride"
Asian Americans, as a whole, are an exemplary example to all Americans. By every measure --education, income, productivity and a lower rate of typical social ills, they are by far the most accomplished of the American census' muddled concept of what constitutes an ethnic group.Consider this: Fifty percent of Asian Americans over 25-years-old have a college degree --drubbing second ranked,
More from the great Mortimer Hayden Smyth
I don't know, but I love this guy.
Hoddeok
Tuesday was Childrens’ Day here in Korea so we made the most of our day off with a trip to the beach.
Songjeong, the most westerly of Busans’ beaches, is relatively free of the high rise sprawl that dominates the others. It also seems to enjoy better water quality and tends to get less crowded, making it a great place to loll about the sand for a few hours on a sunny day.
A number of small food stalls periodically dot the promenade here, and with food never far from the equation I quickly decided on buying some Hoddeok, a kind of hollow cinnamon pancake. At a mere 1000 won a piece, these treats were exceptionally good value and with the vendor’s prime beach side location, I didn’t even need to put my shoes back on.
It was good. The thin, slightly crispy outer shell enclosed a sugary, cinnamon jam–like substance so sticky you could catch wasps in it. Sandwiched between its bodyguards, the filling was sweet without being sickening. The best part however towards the end when the cinnamon had trickled down to the bottom of the bun, creating a concentrated, gooey reservoir through which the last few bites were transported to decadence and hell and damnation.
With the temperature nudging the mid-twenties and the previous night’s carousing having drained me of around 90% of the water from my system, I had worried that the Hoddeok would prove too much for my tortured insides and rob me of what little moisture remained, rendering me as motionless and helpless as a beached whale. Happily however, it did no such thing and before I knew it I was bounding into the water obliviously.
I even managed to keep sand out of it.
Songjeong, the most westerly of Busans’ beaches, is relatively free of the high rise sprawl that dominates the others. It also seems to enjoy better water quality and tends to get less crowded, making it a great place to loll about the sand for a few hours on a sunny day.
A number of small food stalls periodically dot the promenade here, and with food never far from the equation I quickly decided on buying some Hoddeok, a kind of hollow cinnamon pancake. At a mere 1000 won a piece, these treats were exceptionally good value and with the vendor’s prime beach side location, I didn’t even need to put my shoes back on.
It was good. The thin, slightly crispy outer shell enclosed a sugary, cinnamon jam–like substance so sticky you could catch wasps in it. Sandwiched between its bodyguards, the filling was sweet without being sickening. The best part however towards the end when the cinnamon had trickled down to the bottom of the bun, creating a concentrated, gooey reservoir through which the last few bites were transported to decadence and hell and damnation.
With the temperature nudging the mid-twenties and the previous night’s carousing having drained me of around 90% of the water from my system, I had worried that the Hoddeok would prove too much for my tortured insides and rob me of what little moisture remained, rendering me as motionless and helpless as a beached whale. Happily however, it did no such thing and before I knew it I was bounding into the water obliviously.
I even managed to keep sand out of it.
Plucking Class
Classroom 43 is far too small. I can't walk from the door to the whiteboard without inadvertently rubbing up against 6 students. I'd rather not spend part of my teaching day contemplating the ass-or-crotch dilemma. Student-Teacher relationships aren't really my thing, making me somewhat of a minority at Barbie Hagwon Version 2.0.
Sometime last week as I was going into class, I noticed a white hair sticking out on top of Reba Student's head. Were I not impulsive and just plain big mouthed, I could have let this go. As it is, I immediately blurted out, "Reba Student, you have a white hair." I then poked her in the head to indicate exactly where the hair was.
The other five students giggled for longer than was probably necessary (whether it was at Reba's expense or mine remains to be seen). Reba Student took a mirror out of her purse and frantically began inspecting the top of her head for a white hair. "Rebecca, I don't see it". She put her mirror down, defeated.
I apologized for the comment and suggested that we just pretend that never happened. I pointed out that my head is full of white hairs (not entirely true) and attempted to move on with the day's lesson. Over the next five minutes, as I tried to get the class engaged in some activity about food or something or other, Reba and Jackie Students worked together to find and remove the white hair. Jackie Student would find it, then fail to rip it out, then lose it. This process repeated itself three times before I accepted that I had no choice but to intervene.
"Reba, do you want me to rip it out?"
"Yes, yes please! And thank you."
"Really? It's just a white hair. I have some, too. Really. I swear."
"I want it out"
"Now?"
"Yes, now. It's fine."
Sigh.
I went to my purse to retrieve a pair of tweezers and plucked the hair right from her scalp. In the middle of class. With the other students watching. She yelped then examined the hair that I placed on her desk. "But it's black", she insisted. Then she noticed the tiny hair beside it. "Oh. It's white". Yes, it was. It was also totally unnoticeable to anybody who doesn't have to crawl over her on a daily basis to get to the whiteboard. Yet, for some reason, she thanked me afterwards and insisted that my repeated apologies were totally unnecessary.
Sometime last week as I was going into class, I noticed a white hair sticking out on top of Reba Student's head. Were I not impulsive and just plain big mouthed, I could have let this go. As it is, I immediately blurted out, "Reba Student, you have a white hair." I then poked her in the head to indicate exactly where the hair was.
The other five students giggled for longer than was probably necessary (whether it was at Reba's expense or mine remains to be seen). Reba Student took a mirror out of her purse and frantically began inspecting the top of her head for a white hair. "Rebecca, I don't see it". She put her mirror down, defeated.
I apologized for the comment and suggested that we just pretend that never happened. I pointed out that my head is full of white hairs (not entirely true) and attempted to move on with the day's lesson. Over the next five minutes, as I tried to get the class engaged in some activity about food or something or other, Reba and Jackie Students worked together to find and remove the white hair. Jackie Student would find it, then fail to rip it out, then lose it. This process repeated itself three times before I accepted that I had no choice but to intervene.
"Reba, do you want me to rip it out?"
"Yes, yes please! And thank you."
"Really? It's just a white hair. I have some, too. Really. I swear."
"I want it out"
"Now?"
"Yes, now. It's fine."
Sigh.
I went to my purse to retrieve a pair of tweezers and plucked the hair right from her scalp. In the middle of class. With the other students watching. She yelped then examined the hair that I placed on her desk. "But it's black", she insisted. Then she noticed the tiny hair beside it. "Oh. It's white". Yes, it was. It was also totally unnoticeable to anybody who doesn't have to crawl over her on a daily basis to get to the whiteboard. Yet, for some reason, she thanked me afterwards and insisted that my repeated apologies were totally unnecessary.
Today's Hong Kong Photo
5/5
Originally uploaded by Paul Swee
alternate frame of change
"Oink, Oink": That's Chinese for "Welcome!" Citizenry backs government quarantine of Mexicans
The Chinese government has been catching flack from the international community in recent days over its decision to quarantine Mexican nationals in China over Swine Flu concerns.But the typical Chinese citizen thinks they are doing a grand job with those "devious" Mexicans.The quarantines have been anything by cordial. According to the Mexican ambassador, in one instance a family with three small
South Korea Trip - Jinju 진주
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Beijing Complicates Non-Proliferation Campaign
Even more noteworthy than any discussion of nuclear non-proliferation in the Independent Task Force on U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy report is the jarring topic of PRC's nuclear arsenal. In a CFR conference call with General Brent Scowcroft, moderator Charles D. Ferguson downplays how American policy on Russia and PRC operate on two different tracks.We also [...]
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