Norabong Spin Class Coming Soon?

I saw this news clip and thought... why haven't I seen or heard of Koreans already doing this?  I wouldn't be surprised if it already exists in Korea.

8-Bit Quest Map Korea

Google released a feature yesterday on google maps that allows users to turn any image or map into an old-school 8-bit Nintendo map.  I have no idea how long they will keep this function available for use, but I hope it the answer is as long as it takes for me to save the princess and restore harmony to the kingdom!

Here are some maps of Korea I quickly made and took screen shots of.  You can click on them to enlarge to full size.

South Korea:

Seoul:

Bullying Update

Now that we live in the age of every child having a smart phone with a video camera on them at all times, the entire world is connected and becoming collectively outraged by how terrible children treat each other.  I remember there being plenty of bullying when I was a kid, but parents (and everyone on the internet) never got to see it happen.

The issue of bullying continues to be a topic of national discussion in South Korea as every month one or two children take their own lives to make the agony of being constantly tormented by school bullies stop.

Last month I posted about Ellen's help in an internet campaign to get the rating changed on a new documentary about bullying in American schools.  The campaign to get the rating changed failed and the movie is going to be released without a rating now to avoid it being given an R rating, which would make it impossible for teachers to every show in high schools.

Here is the trailer for the video again:

Korean Families Split Up For Earlier Childhood Education

The Associated Press ran another story today about education in South Korea and parents desperate to give their children a competitive edge in our global economy.

Source:

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — As American teenagers go, Sally Kim is pretty typical. She's crazy about singer Bruno Mars and the Plain White T's rock band, spends way too much time on Facebook and can't wait to start college in the fall. 

Yet when it comes to that familiar bane of her fellow high school seniors — uncool parents — Kim has few worries. Hers are nearly 7,000 miles away in Seoul, South Korea. They sent their only child to live with relatives in Missouri a decade ago, when she was just 8. 

The three keep in touch over Skype, but Kim craves personal contact even more than when she first arrived. 

"As I get older, it definitely gets harder," said Kim, who lives with an aunt and uncle, a college professor, and returns to her native country in the summer. "I look back, and I think I've missed out on so many years of being with my mom and dad." 

Such relocations, known as early study abroad, have surged in popularity in South Korea, where a rigid, test-driven education system, combined with intense social pressure to succeed in an English-first global economy, often means breaking up families for the sake of school. 

Some children, like Kim, live with relatives or family friends. Others move with their mothers and siblings while the fathers remain alone in Asia to work. Among Koreans, the families are known as kirogi, or "wild geese," because they visit home briefly once or twice a year before returning to their overseas outposts. 

The Korean Educational Development Institute reports that the number of pre-college students who left the country solely to study abroad increased from just over 2,000 in 1995 to a peak of nearly 30,000 in 2006. And that number did not include students whose parents work or study overseas. 

I teach several classes of Korean elementary homeroom teachers each semester.  Once a semester we have a lesson discussion about the Korean education system and its hyper competitive nature.  I usually ask them all with a show of hands how many of them would be willing to send their children abroad to receive an education in America instead of here in Korea if money was not a problem and it cost nothing (a simple alternative to Korean schools), and usually more than half raise their hands.  Korean elementary school teachers do not want their own children going to the school systems they work in because they think it is too difficult (competitive) to be a child in the South Korean education system

The number has since declined to more than 18,000 in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available. 

Unlike American students who usually wait until high school or college to study abroad — and generally limit the experience to a semester or two — 77 percent of Korean students in the U.S. in 2009 were in elementary or middle school, a time when they are seen as best able to learn English. 

Wild geese families are particularly common in college towns such as Columbia and Champaign-Urbana, Ill., where researchers are studying the effects on family life, culture and the economy in both countries. 

[...]

And status-conscious American parents who proudly display their children's college choices on bumper stickers have nothing on their Asian counterparts, Lee and others said. In South Korea, a prestigious college is seen as even more vital to prosperity, social standing and marital prospects. That message is driven home early. 

"If you are not a very good student, they treat you like you're nothing," Lee said. "That kind of pressure gives too much stress to children. They are not happy." 

Kim, a senior at Columbia Independent School who's been accepted to the University of Illinois' honors program but hopes to attend Brown, recounts a similar experience as a young student in Seoul, where her father is a marketing executive and her mother owns an Italian restaurant. 

In high school, she's been able to study martial arts, join the orchestra, work on the yearbook, play varsity tennis and participate in the model United Nations club. 

Back in Korea, she said, she would have far fewer extracurricular choices. 

Many American parents would struggle with sending away their children so young or leaving a spouse behind. But Rick Williams, a former dean of students at a private Christian school in Champaign, cautioned against making judgments based on U.S. attitudes. 

At Judah Christian School, the number of high school students from Korea increased tenfold from 2000 to 2007. 

"That was a hard call for us, as an evangelical school," Williams said. "I had my students and families take me to task for not being able to understand the fabric and structure of Korean families. We were often called to task for having too much of a Western perspective."

High schools are not fun places in South Korea.  Students go to school or have to study 12 to 16 hours a day usually six days a week.  There are no extra-curricular clubs, no school dances, no fun events.  anything outside of preparing for the college entrance exam is seen as a waste of time.

Here is an excellent news piece from Al Jazeera English last year.

Google's April Fools Joke - Google Tap

I saw this and laughed my ass off.  There are so many things in this video that are winning.  LL Cool J actually says "You can tap it in the bathroom."

They also released a video for "Google Fiber", but this one didn't hit me as funny.

KPOP Korral - [B.A.P] - Warrior

B.A.P (비에이피) is a new six member group just launched by TS Entertainment.  Their group name stands for "Best Absolute Perfect", so it makes sense that these guys do not seem shy coming out of the gate.  Their members names are, Yongguk (용국), Himchan (힘찬), Daehyun (대현), Youngjae (영재), Jongup (종업), and Zelo (젤로).  However, with those hair styles, I do not think I am going to be able to tell them apart anytime soon.

Eat Your Kimchi had a good review of their video.

I am liking that giant creepy bunny in the background.  Reminds me a lot of Donnie Darko.

EPIK Makes Big Changes To Hiring Process

I am currently an elementary school teacher working for EPIK (English Program in Korea) and every six months when they go through the next round of hirings, they usually tweak the contracts a little or up their applications requirements in a small way.  But, starting this month, applicants for EPIK teachers wanting to start at the beginning of the next school term in August will have some additional hoops to jump through.  I have two friends going through the EPIK application process now (with different recruitment companies) and both have confirmed with e-mails forwarded to me of the new EPIK guidelines.  I will include below some excerpts from the e-mails.

Change #1 - Level 3 applicants have been eliminated.  I came to Korea three years ago as a level 3 applicant, meaning I only had a bachelors degree.  I did not have a background in English, a master's degree, I was not a liscenced teacher, I had no prior teaching experience, and I did not have a TEFL certification of any kind.

Public schools in Korea have begun to consider only applicants at salary level 2 or more this term. With this, the easiest way for most people to get to a level 2 salary is taking a 100hr+ TEFL course. Fortunately, this is something that should pay for itself in the first month with the salary increase. Teachers must register for the TEFL course before applying to the program, the course itself does not need to be finished until July.

This actually should produce a more professional workforce and maybe should have been implemented years ago.

Change #2 - No more joint applicants.  Two friends, or a couple that wanted to be together that were not married were allowed to apply at the same time and usually were placed at the very least in the same area or city.  EPIK does not want to deal with these exceptions anymore.

EPIK has told us that they most likely will not be able to consider non-married joint applicants for positions this term and would prefer non-married joint applicants to apply as single applicants... The program has requested teachers don’t include friends or people you are in a non-married relationship with on your application.

Change #3 - Applicants can no longer request a specific city or province to be placed in.  On the application, you can only check a box for one of three things: "Provincial Province", "Metropolitan City", or "Seoul".  On all previous applications, new teachers chose either metropolitan cities or provinces and ranked them #1 through #5.  EPIK is apparently taking away this option to reduce on people complaining about not getting their top choices.  EPIK is also stressing that they have the power to place new teachers anywhere in the country and people need to accept the teaching assignment they are given wherever it is.

Change #4 - A GPA requirement is now in effect.

The program has informed us that they will only consider teachers with GPA’s of 2.5 or Above on a 4.0 system this term. If your University does not use 4.0 system, please write down your overall GPA on your application as it will show up on your transcripts. Many universities will use a percentage system, other universities a ranking system with classes or honours, please use this as your GPA on the application. We are advising teachers to apply with a percentage of 70% or higher or with any class/degree level. Teachers who are still in the process of finishing classes should list their current GPA for classes completed. I would advise all teachers with education, english, and post-graduate degrees to send in applications to be considered on a case by case basis.

Change #5 - A sample lesson plan must be submitted with the application form.  It even says on the application form "Minimum 2 pages, single-spaced".  I definitely think this will help weed out people who are not committed enough to even make a 2 page lesson plan when they apply for the program.

The problem with the EPIK application process is they do not hire the best applicants, but for the longest time they have hired anyone willing to get on a plane and move to Korea.  It has only been in the last three years that they have received enough applications to fill all the positions they want.  They still have the problem, however, that they hire on a first apply, first hired basis.  If you meet the minimum requirements and apply early, then the job is guaranteed.  It looks like they will still operate that way, but they will continue to creep up their application requirements as long as the supply of applicants exceeds their demand.

Obama's Soul Trip

President Obama met with other world leaders at this year's nuclear summit in Seoul, and The Daily Show covered it because the biggest news to come from the summit in the American news cycle was Obama caught on mic explaining that he would be able to do more on the issue of arms control after the election... because American voters believe the sky is the limit for the number of nukes we can own...

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Borscht Whisperer
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Black Hole in Boy's Pants Caused by Galaxy S2

I found this article and just had to make the joke about it... I hope the kid wasn't seriously injured.

Source:

A junior high-schooler in the southwestern city of Gwangju suffered burns to his buttocks Wednesday when the battery of his smartphone exploded in his trouser pocket. The parents said the boy's Galaxy S2 phone exploded in his trouser pocket as he was preparing for class at school on Wednesday afternoon. 

It was an extra battery that he had put in his rear pocket, which started smoking after what sounded like a thud. He suffered burns on his fingers and buttocks as he took the battery out of his pocket. According to school regulations that prohibit cell phone use during class, the boy had reportedly left his phone with the school authorities but kept the spare battery. 

The parents said they bought the phone in downtown Gwangju in December last year. Samsung Electronics staff collected the burnt battery when the parents notified them. A Samsung spokesman said, "The explosion of the battery occurred when it was separated from the device, so we are inspecting the battery in question with the manufacturer. It will take time to get to the bottom of this."

Seems like there is another good joke in there somewhere. 

China Launches 24 English News Network - CCTV America

Since moving abroad and escaping the corporate American media bubble, I have found a lot of foreign English based news programs and I have grown to appreciate their alternative perspectives on both American and international events.  I am a youtube subscriber to both Aljazeera English and Russia Television.  I also enjoy the PBS's News Hour and Comedy Central's Daily Show and Colbert Report, but beyond that, I cannot watch for-profit corporate news anymore because it is just so sensational and vitriol.

Anyone who appears on television and is given the power to reach audiences of millions of people is owned and censored by someone on certain issues.  I do not see an ethical difference between having a government funded bias or a corporate "for-profit" bias.  People should be smart enough to take in information and realize it has always been filtered first by someone with an agenda.  With that said, it should be fun to see what a China owned and operated cable news network has to say about world events and American foreign policy (in English!).

I cannot find their official Youtube Channel, so maybe that will come soon.  This is their website in the meantime and embedded below is a news piece from the PBS News Hour.  Check it out!