I post occasionally to Yule-Tide.com, which I call “my quiet corner of the Internet.” (Formerly known as “Yuletyde.com” and “Yuletide5142” before that.) This began in early 2013 and for certain reasons partly technical in nature, slowed down in 2017, 2018, and 2019 (thru September).
I write with no specific goal.
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The following is a full list of posts, linked, with short descriptions.
[Updated: October 18th, 2017.]
— — — — — — — — —
October 2017
Post-357: Young Metternich – A 31-year-old Chancellor materializes in Austria.
Post-356: Unlimited Economic Growth Forever — An allegory about economists/economics.
Post-355: Chinese Government of Beijing is Rogue Government — On pro-regime Chinese graduate students in the USA.
Post-354: Grandfather in 1943 — Mine. In the uniform if the U.S. Army Air Corps.
September 2017
Post-353: Herr Genscher Speaks (1989): As Viewed from the Present — On the decline and fall of East Germany.
[September 2016 to May 2017: Graduate school, year one. No new posts. / In brief, the graduate school I have landed in is a competitive and high-stress environment with its fair share of difficult people. A great place in many ways, but tough. Lots of things happen. I contemplate a new post now and then, but never go through with it. (I should have found the time. I lost insights-at-the-time that I can now recall only as memories. — This written in October 2017)].
[September 2016: I start graduate school in Washington, D.C.]
[Very end of August 2016: I return to the USA, saying goodbye to many friends.]
August 2016
Post-352: Twenty Thousand Photographs — A reflection on what ‘memory’ is what ‘history’ is.
Post-351: Falling Flower Petals — I continue my attempts at Korean poetry translation. Lee Hyong-Ki (1963).
Post-350: Scolded by the Thief — China’s resentment over THAAD missiles in South Korea.
[May to July 2016: I get busy in Korea and make no new posts. Summer…]
April 2016
Post-349: On British Rhetorical Superiority
Post-348: An Empty Chair (Is what I am) — a 1978 K-Pop song, my translation
Post-347: Self-Portrait by Yun Dong-Ju — My translation attempt of the famous poem.
Post-346: Upset Victory in the 216 Korea Election
Post-345: K-Pop Says Join us and Vote
Post-344: One Week to the Election, a Closer Look at the ‘Political Noise Truck’
Post-343: Waving Back at the Political Noise Trucks
Post-342: Will Ahn Cheol-Soo Win Reelection?
Post-341: The Answer to Nuclear Intimidation is Nuclear Armament — Fringe politics in South Korea.
March 2016
Post-340: Against the “Sleeping National Assembly” — Analyzing some South Korean election banners
Post-339: German Insights into Korea: The Story of Renate Hong
Post-338: April 2016 Korean Election: “The Liars are at it Again” — The first on a series of posts on the Korean April 2016 legislative elections
Post-337: Dreams, Roots Stars — Translation of three poems.
Post-336: Encounter with a Stone — Translation of a poem.
Post-335: Spring in Kashmir
Post-334: The Path to Greatness
Post-333: Ro Hae Park, Poet. (Or, a Poet’s Life Arc.)
Post-332: In My Absence…
[End of February 2016: I return to Korea]
January 2016
Post-331: On the Road Again
December 2015
Post-330: The Call of Northwestern Europe
Post-329: Nordisk Julbon, Christmas Service
Post-328: Remembering John Redin
Post-327: List of All Posts and a To Do List
Post-326: Cornerstone of Washington, D.C. — A search for a stone laid in 1789 in Alexandria, Virginia.
Post-325: Using the Galaxy SIII — My (smart)phone, and its humble story.
Post-324: Who is Aubrey Beardsley? What is a ‘Pierrot’ — Where a curious 1928 advertisement takes me.
Post-323: The Reinvigoration of Korean Buddhism in the late 1800s — Professor Sem Vermeersch speaks.
Post-322: Pen Your Wishes to Singapore on Her 50th Birthday —
Post-321: Donald Kirk, Speaking on Jeju, Okinawa — A talk I attended.
September to November 2015
No posts
[Mid-September 2015: I begin the process of applying to graduate school(s). For me, this means an intensive economics course and preparing for the GRE exam, among other things. I lose the habit of writing on these pages for a while.]
[August 20th, 2015: I leave Korea. My return trip is a week long with stops in Malaysia, Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, and Seattle. Thereafter more time traveling and visiting friends/family in the USA.]
August 2015
Post-320: This Person is a Korean. (He Is?) — What is a Korean? The textbook has a clear position.
Post-319: Worst U.S. Presidents — According to some angry ideologue.
Post-318: A Glance at the Gwanghwamun Protesters — Malcontent Central.
Post-317: Dr. Strangelove — What a great movie. Online for free.
July 2015
Post-316: Warning! Live Fire Drills! — Sign in the hills of Incheon.
Post-315: Two Danes — I have met two Danes in my life. These are their stories.
[Summer 2015: Busy with a range of commitments. Working more than usual, studying Korean, and much else. The MERS Virus Panic occurs.]
June 2015
Post-314: On Taiwan — Twelve impressions of Taiwan. It’s good to write these down when they are fresh.
[June 2015: To Taiwan for about five days (to renew my Korea visa).]
May 2015
Post-313: Going to Taiwan —
Post-312: West vs. East, as Seen by the East — In simple pictures.
Post-311: “Drink Tap Water? No Way, Say Koreans” — It’s true. They don’t.
Post-310: Demonize the Police, and Then… — Anti-police agitation being encouraged is troubling.
Post-309: “Mad Max, Fury Road” Movie — Life as it really is? Excellent movie.
Post-308: Could We Destroy the Internet? — It seems so.
Post-307: Four Scenes from the Seoul Subway — These are fun.
Post-306: Coup in Burundi, and the Nilotic vs. Bantu Conflict — Another civil war in Africa at hand?
Post-305: Annoyed by Avengers II — Leading to an Inquiry on the Nature of Quality and Group Thought.
Post-304: The UK Election 2015 Decided by “Local Nationalism” —
Post-303: Stop Being So Polite! — It’s hard for us to understand overpoliteness.
Post-302: Do Facts Matter? — The Baltimore crime case dominating U.S. news.
Post-301: Greek Palestine — Palestine was culturally Greek in Jesus’ time.
April 2015
Post-300: Luther on the Book of Revelation — He didn’t like it at all.
Post-299: Baltimore Race Riots —
Post-298: The Beginning is Near — Sounds good.
Post-297: Pointless War Story, Tokyo Bay 1945 –Japanese perspective, from a book bought in Japan.
Post-296: It Came Out of the Sky — 1969 song.
Post-295: Believing in Islam — Can one not believe in God but believe in Islam?
Post-294: Finding a John Donne Poem — “Catch a Falling Star.” On poetry interpretation.
March 2015
Post-293: Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel — American folk song.
Post-292: On Lee Kuan Yew, Founder of Singapore — Upon his death.
Post-291: “It Works Good” — Or, a 1974 prediction about the evolution of English.
Post-290: First Impression of Japan — In which I try to describe what really “hit” me there.
Post-289: Back from Japan
[Early to Mid March 2015: I am in Japan for the first time.]
February 2015
Post-288: Going to Japan for a While
Post-287: “Tienanmen Square June 4, 1989” “I’ve Never Heard About That” — Said by a Chinese I Know in Korea.
Post-286: [Video] Ukraine Prisoners of War Interviewed — Interesting. Transcribed.
Post-285: Fog of War at Debaltseve, Ukraine — What really happened?
Post-284: Ukraine Civil War, Surrender at Debaltseve — Ukraine loses.
Post-283: Ukraine Civil War, The Azov Battalion — Volunteers at the front.
Post-282: Chiang Kai Shek’s Dream — If he had won…
Post-281: My Great Aunt Has Died — At Age 95.
Post-280: The Ukraine is a Hard Road to Travel — Confederate East Ukraine?
January 2015
Post-279: The President is Unpopular Again — No one likes Park Geun Hye.
Post-278: Marxists to Lead a Government in Europe Again — It’s Greece.
Post-277: Encounter with a Retarded Young Man — On the bus in Korea.
Post-276: Low Five — Or, How We are Remembered.
Post-275: Not So Much Water After All — All the Earth’s water.
Post-274: Malaysia-Singapore-Korea Cookie Mystery —
Post-273: [Korean] Early Childhood Education in a Foreign Language —
Post-272: What Happened to Standards of Decency? — On the killings of the French cartoonists.
Post-271: China’s Dream — What is China’s Dream?
Post-270: Leading the English Orientation — Stick around anywhere long enough, end up in a leadership role.
Post-269: Hearing the Beatles in Korea — Or, the 1910s vs. the 1960s vs. the 2010s.
Post-268: My True Eighth Birthday — Or, a Tribute to Germany 2007.
December 2014
Post-267: U.S. General Walker’s Site of Death (1950) in Seoul — Found.
Post-266: “Notorious” Movie (1946) — The Nazis on screen in 1946 were more sympathetic than the screen-Nazis of 1996, 2006, 2016…Why?
Post-265: Yuletide 2014 — A bit about “Yule” and Christmas.
Post-264: Korean English Newspapers Contrasted, Part II — Cases in Point.
Post-263: South Korea’s English-Language Newspapers, Contrasted — Korea Herald vs. Korea Times.
Post-262: European Identity Circa 200 AD (and Beyond) — Who are we?
Post-261: But Which Twin is the Elder? — A Real Korean Dilemma.
Post-260: What’s Wrong With This Picture? — Digital World > Real World.
Post-259: [Korean] To Each Country Its Own…Alcohol Culture —
Post-258: Pearl Harbor from the Japanese Perspective —
Post-257: [Korean] “Our Second Winter Vacation” — Recollection of the Blizzard of ’96.
Post-256: Like Bitcoins in the Bank — In Which I Enter the “Bitcoin” World.
Post-255: DokiDoki Postbox — A “message in a bottle” smartphone app.
Post-254: Iraq’s Hollow Army — Or, Why Don’t they Just Partition Already?
Post-253: [Korean] Christmas Tree at the DMZ — Is it just to annoy North Korea?
Post-252: Western Civilization’s Long-Forgotten Catastrophe (circa 1200 BC) — This is amazing.
Post-251: [Korean] Election 2014 in the USA — Synopsis.
November 2014
Post-250: [Korean] Where are the Non-Smart-Phone-Using People? — Wherever they are, it’s not Korea.
Post-249: Thanksgiving 2014 — And, how to say ‘turkey’ in Korean.
Post-248: Thinking About Germany and “The Left” Party — NeoCommunist and proud of it.
Post-247: [Korean Essay] How to Speak Korean Well — Maybe I am not qualified to give advice on this…
Post-246: Here Comes Bodo Ramelow — Some reminiscences on the German political scene, including Left vs. Right street politics.
Post-245: On the Fall of the Berlin Wall — The end of the 20th century came 11 years early.
Post-244: Mao Zedong the Praiseworthy — Chinese in my Korean Class say so.
Post-243: The Great Pumpkin Will Appear! –Charlie Brown’s Religion.
Post-242: November 11th, 1918 — Where were you on Armistice Day?
October 2014
Post-241: Eating Shrimp Burgers at Lotteria — Or, the Shrimp Burger War.
Post-240: “First World, Third World” Travel Essay — Someone else’s essay on the state of air travel in the 2010s USA.
Post-239: [Korean Essay] Mistakes by Foreigners in Korea — And there are many.
Post-238: Back to Sailing the Seven Seas —
Post-237: [Scene from Korean Class] Famous Person from Kenya: Obama —
Post-236: Speedy Gonzales (1962) —
September 2014
Post-235: [Korean Essay] Cultural Differences in Alcohol —
Post-234: Asian Games 2014 — Foreigners everywhere in Incheon for two weeks.
Post-233: Scotland Defeats Secession — Or, Another Notch in 1,600-Year Intra-British Rivalry.
Post-232: Secession, In Principle —
Post-231: [Korean Essay] The Internet’s Pros and Cons —
Post-230: American Imprisoned in North Korea was an Illegal English Teacher — My discovery.
Post-229: Scotland’s Secession Vote / Reminiscences of a Scottish Friend.
Post-228: Scottish Independence — Is it really going to happen? The Braveheart connection.
Post-227: The Arrival of Substitute Holidays in South Korea — About time.
Post-226: [Korean Essay] How to Maintain Health — Eat well. Exercise. But saying it in Korean…
Post-225: Brutally Unforgiving of Small Mistakes — The awful ‘TEPS’ test, that is. Also applicable to Korean education in general.
[August 2014: I make a big push to pass the exams for Korean Level 2 class (high beginner). I am successful, barely. (In retrospect, though I was so proud to squeak by on the Level 2 exam, I should have allowed myself to repeat Level 2. Level 3, which I began in September 2014, was much too hard. Written October 2017). After exam success, I leave Korea for two weeks. Philippines, one day; USA, ten days; air travel, two days. September 1: I return to Korea to continue intensive language training.]
August 2014
Post-224: My Great-Grandfather’s Piece of World War I — He was a bit player.
Post-223: Kinsfolk by the Millions — Or, my Y-chromosome story. Or, What’s an “R1b-U106”?
Post-222: Good Journalism, From Iraq/Syria — Patrick Cockburn.
July 2014
Post-221: Watching the Grapes of Wrath (1940) —
Post-220: Jewish Classmate, Reminisced —
Post-219: Dilbert and Dave Barry on the Middle East —
Post-218: Gaza in the “Mirror” (Spiegel) (And the Abyss Stares Back) — Israel is killing Palestinians again. Newspaper editorial positions examined.
Post-217: Introducing “I’m Cappuccino” — One of my first Korean essays.
June 2014
Post-216: Earliest Memories — World Cup, O.J. Simpson, and a Tragic Defeat at the Hands of a Small Girl.
Post-215: World Cup USA 1994 — I remember it well. Maybe not well.
Post-214: World Cup 2014 and Southern European Political Pessimism — Mediterraneans didn’t do well.
Post-213: Letter to Mincheol Backfires — Or, the Ghost of Heidegger from a Korean Textbook.
Post-212: In Which I Relate My Biggest Shock of 2011 — Or, A Martin-Luther-Related Surprise in Korea.
May 2014
Post-211: Martin Luther Statue in Washington D.C. —
Post-210: Korea Costco Comments — “Your Pizza and Bake are too salty! It’s serious.”
Post-209: Watching “The Bridges at Toko-Ri” (1954) — An Anti-Korean-War Movie.
April 2014
No posts
[Late April 2014: I return to Korea, by coincidence exactly five years to the day after first leaving for Korea. The situation is now much different. The goal is language study. I am in class in early May.]
[March and April 2014: I work at a ‘Phone English’ job in the USA, but with Korean clients. I am also hired to teach at an English institute in the USA at this time. I ultimately decide to return to Korea to study Korean more, which has become my great goal of 2014 (Update, 2017, in the middle of graduate school: Looking back, a December 2013 decision to stdy Korean formally for the first time, and this Spring 2014 to go back into the unknown and continue for a while, was absolutely critical in putting me on the path I was to be on through 2018, at least. I did not realize it at the time.)]
March 2014
Post-208: Pyeongchang Olympics 2018 —
Post-207: Seoul City Hall, 1961 vs. 2014 — Or, why does Seoul’s new City Hall look so strange?
Post-206: Ballad of Forty Dollars —
Post-205: Into the National Archives — Of Washington, D.C. But not far.
Post-204: Through NYC on Superbowl Weekend 2014 — Streetscenes.
Post-203: With Rommel, in Good Humor — A memoir of Rommel’s assistant.
Post-202: Pollution Wave in Seoul, Feb.-March 2014 — Orange skies.
Post-201: George Kennan and the Question of “Loyalty of Principle” — George Kennan, a brilliant man and towering figure of the U.S. State Dept., grew to be quite disillusioned with the USA.
Post-200: Celebrating CELTA in Himalayan Style — Our celebratory dinner.
Post-199: CELTA Last Day — The super-intensive schedule is over. We are certified.
February 2014
Post-198: Ukraine Flag Wearer —
Post-197: Right Sector, the Men Behind Ukraine’s Revolution [Video] — Transcription of video and statement of principles released by Right Sector just after the revolution. Note: The video did, as predicted, disappear, so my transcription efforts were not in vain.
Post-196: Pessimism in the USA —
Post-195: A Classmate’s Tragedy — A fellow CELTA candidate’s brother.
Post-194: Ukraine, 1989 vs. 2014 — A simple comparison by the number. Falling expectations.
Post-193: Ukrainian Insurgent Army (1940s and 2010s) — A close look at video footage from the Ukraine anti-government protests.
Post-192: George Washington Day — Why ‘Presidents Day’?
Post-191: Let’s Monitor Our Mothers at the Store! (Or, Why U.S. Beef is Hard to Find in Korea).
Post-190: From Yuletide to Yuletyde(.com) — A sleek new URL.
Post-189: Six Balloons and Piece of Cake — My birthday, celebrated at the CELTA center.
Post-188: The Big Feb. 13th Snowstorm — I went to “work” anyway.
Post-187: General Sherman’s Conformity Problem — W.T. Sherman “least likely to succeed” at West Point.
Post-186: Bus Riding Futility — Narrative of a rather-pathetic experience with bus riding in the USA.
Post-185: CELTA Time — I spend the month of February studying for a CELTA ESL-Teaching certificate.
Post-184: Korean Class Final Project, “Trip to White Cloud Mountain” — The first, not to be the last, speech I ever deliver in Korean. With photos.
Post-183: Korean Course Success — Intensive Korean course over and done, I return to the USA.
[January 31, 2014: I return to the USA from Korea. February, I complete an ESL teaching certification (CELTA) in Washington, D.C.]
January 2014
Post-182: Real-Time Pollution Sign; A Warning Against Too Much Breathing — I love these signs.
Post-181: Jack London Visits Korea (1904) — He traveled all through Korea. They “talked down to him.”
Post-180: Geo-Guesser — A game showed to me by a Norwegian exchange student in Seoul.
Post-179: Imaginary Postcard ^_^ — A fun assignment from Korean class.
Post-178: Doctor Visit in South Korea Without Insurance — I commend the Korean health system.
Post-177: Korean Solstice Soup — Thick Solstice porridge, with a friend in Bucheon.
December 2013
Post-176: “Did Anything Good Happen in 2013?” — A humorous article by Dave Barry.
Post-175: In New York City (Part IX, Rego Park’s History) — I visit Rego Park, Queens (a “Soviet-Jewish” area), and comment on NYC’s ethnic dynamics.
Post-174: In New York City (Part VIII, Asian New York) — Recently back from Korea, surreal to see so much ‘Asian stuff’ in the USA.
Post-173: In New York City (Part VII, Modern Art) — Museum of Bizarre Art, err, Modern Art.
Post-172: In New York City (Part VI, The Ghost of Sherman McCoy) — So few White-Protestants left in NYC.
Post-171: In New York City (Part V, Under a Christmas Tree Like It’s 1999) — Reminiscences of my 1999 school trip to NYC.
Post-170: In New York City (Part IV, Pay Up!) — Money issues in the USA.
Post-169: Teaching the Equinox — A pleasant classroom experience in Korea.
Post-168: Yuletide 2013 — The winter solstice has come and gone.
Post-167: In New York City (Part III, Up the Empire State Building) — I rose to the top of it, twice.
Post-166: In New York City (Part II, Feeling Provincial) — New York City is not the USA.
Post-165: In New York City (Part I, Transportation) — I visit a friend in New York City; Part I is an account of my bus trip back and forth.
Post-164: Hiking, Living in Seoul, Visiting Malaysia, Cashing Out of Korea — An update after a six-week-long silence on these pages.
[late November to December 2013: In the USA. Late December 2013: I return to Korea to study Korean for the first time.]
November 2013
No Posts
[November 2013: Mainly traveling, including to Malaysia for the first time, before returning to the USA one day before Thanksgiving.]
October 2013
[I finish my attempt to cross South Korea on foot on about October 31st near the halfway point of the mountain trail ‘Baekdu-Daegan’ that crosses the entire country, south to north]
Post-163: At Hwaryeong — A mountain pass along the trail with an enormous stele.
Post-162: On a Foggy Mountain Top in Korea — [Video] Misty afternoon along the trail. Humbling view.
Post-161: At Yukship Pass — At “Sixty Pass”. I was there.
Post-160: At Nongae’s Birthplace — Passing by birthplace of Korean folk-hero Nongae.
Post-159: In Jeomchon — About the town of Jeomchon, place of rest for me.
Post-158: Peering Over the Ledge at Geumsan — [Video] Overlooking a shattered mountain.
Post-157: Where Three Provinces Meet — [Video] Resplendent view out from “Three-Province Peak.”
Post-156: No Time to Write — An update from Gimcheon, along the Baekdu-Daegan trail.
Post-155: Halmi Holes Mystery — What would foxholes dug in 1950, abandoned for sixty years, look like today?
Post-154: On White Cloud Mountain — Sleeping atop White Cloud Mountain was a small triumph.
Post-153: In Hamyang — Pleasant Hamyang, place of rest during my Baekdu-Daegan hike.
Post-152: A Bus Ride Across Hamyang County — Emerging from trail, back to civilization (for now).
September 2013
Post-151: Progress Across South Korea After Two Weeks — My Knees haven’t forgiven me so far.
[Note: In mid-September 2013, I start a 50-day hike across South Korea’s ‘Baekdu-Daegan’ mountain-crest trail.]
Post-150: The End Came on a Thursday — A vindictive manager stays vindictive till the very end.
Post-149: Visiting Chipyongni, 2013 — I visited the battle site mentioned in post-147. With photos.
Post-148: September 11th, 2011 — I left the USA on September 11th, 2011. A short reflection.
Post-147: Chipyong-ni (Feb. 1951), “the Gettysburg of Korea” — On a decisive Korean War battle.
Post-146: Across South Korea on Foot — My plan to hike the length of South Korea in fifty days.
Post-145: Trip to the Incheon Visa Office — Successfully extending my visa very easily. What luck!
Post-144: Entering the Army — Basic training for compulsory military service. Not me. A friend.
August 2013
Post-143: Punish the Homicidal (Syrian) Maniac! War! War! — Orwell vs. American op-ed writer.
Post-142: Royce — I give a student an “English name” for the first time. How we settled upon ‘Royce’.
Post-141: Writing Cartoons With Students — Filling in Dilbert’s blanks.
Post-140: Washington Post Commenters Angry About Syria — Everyone is against intervention.
Post-139: Syria Intervention and Atrocity Propaganda — The apparently-imminent attack on Syria.
Post-138: Earth’s Longest Insect and Starcraft — Thoughts of “zerglings” spring to mind.
Post-137: Five Months; New Banner — In honor of five months of activity here, a new banner.
Post-136: Low Point, High Point — Two dramatic events that occurred within eight hours of each other.
Post-135: Civil Defense Drill, Part II — More on the civil defense drill, with photos.
Post-134: Civil Defense Serenity — An account of Korea’s civil defense drill of August 21st.
Post-133: Eighty Essays — All 75 essays done. New “To Do” pile: 80!
Post-132: No Time for Content — 75 essays to do in one night. Thoughts about this site’s purpose.
Post-131: Oppressive Heat. Oppressive End of Semester Work
Post-130: “What Properties Have Verbs?” — A strange-sounding wording on a test from the 1910s.
Post-129: On Fear and Going Abroad — A nice essay, and one with which I identify.
Post-128: August 15th Independence Day — Korean attitudes towards the Japanese surrender in ’45.
Post-127: Lincoln’s Pet Goat — It ran away.
Post-126: Robert E. Lee’s Appalling Treason — Somebody is agitating to strip a high school of its name.
Post-125: Two Years Gone; One Month To Go — One month from this writing, I leave my job.
Post-124: Bloodtype Webtoon — Explaining “Blood Type Personality Theory” in a simple way.
Post-123: Blood Type Theory in Korea and Perception of Gandhi — A social experiment in class.
Post-122: School Names in South Korea vs. The USA — Korean school names are a bit boring; a foray into Arlington politics.
Post-121: “Growing Hope and Pleasure” — Or, Chinese characters in Korea.
Post-120: Woman Taxi Driver — My taxi driver was of an unexpected gender.
Post-119: Jinju Fortress’ General Kim (and Admiral Yi Soon-Shin) — What I learned in Jinju. 1590s Japan-Korea war.
Post-118: Letter of Intent Not to Renew My Contract — Fool me once, shame on you…
Post-117: “I Wanna Ride the Train!” — Or, learning Korean from a toddler.
Post-116: Back from Jinju and Jeonju — Impressed by both.
July 2013
Post-115: Back to Jinju — Or, a second vacation in summer 2013, to the same place.
Post-114: Climbing a Wall that Simulates a Rock — I mostly failed. My two companions succeed.
Post-113: “Plenty of Work, Just No Money” By Larry L. Dill — Or, the two kinds of work.
Post-112: “Why America Failed” — Morris Berman vs. Larry Dill. I side with Dill.
Post-111: Google Street View and the Prius Vandal — Finding a location from post-109.
Post-110: “It’s in the Nature of the Thing” — Or, a coworker’s befuddling verbosity. File under “How not to talk to Koreans”.
Post-109: Anti-Prius Vandalism in Arlington — Somebody slashed the tires of 15 Prius hybrid cars.
Post-108: “Countdown”, a Fine Movie From Thailand — I saw at a film-festival in Bucheon, Korea.
Post-107: More on the Origin of “Philistine” — It came into English in the 1860s via the efforts of one man.
Post-106: Where Does the Word ‘Philistine’ Come From? — Surprise! It comes from German.
Post-105: “AFN The Eagle, Serving America’s Best!” — Or, Hearing America on Korean FM Radio.
Post-104: Gettysburg 150th — Reading, Watching, Walking — Who isn’t mesmerized by it?
Post-103: When Lincoln Was Wrong — “Sincerity, Simplicity, and Humlity without servility.”
Post-102: “Incapacity, Amounting to Almost Imbecility” — Or, the worst U.S. Civil War general.
Post-101: Ilsan’s Suburbs — Or, heavy is the head that wears the crown.
Post-100: Ilsan Bus Stop in the Rain — An (amateur) sociological analysis.
Post-99: Vacation a Success; Surgeries a Success — Good news all around.
June 2013
Post-98: Wishing Well for Surgeries — Two people having early-July surgeries.
Post-97: Jiri Mountain Vacation — I sign off for a week.
Post-96: Veterans’ Bus in Seoul — Spotted two days before the 63rd Korean War anniversary.
Post-95: “All Cooks From Mexico” — Or, dipping a toe into the world of off-base U.S. military life in Korea.
Post-94: A Peace Corps Volunteer in Korea, Ca. 1970 — A particular photo in the handbook catches my eye.
Post-93: What’s the Opposite of “Golden Handshake”? — In which my coworker, J.H., gets the short end.
Post-92: Summer Solstice 2013 — The longest day of the year; why do we call it “solstice”? Is it a holiday?
Post-91: Korean Monsoon Average Onset Dates, 2005-2013 — Is June 17th actually “early”?
Post-90: Earlier Monsoons and Climate Change Speculation — Early monsoons all across Asia.
Post-89: Monsoon Season 2013 Comes Early — The first sustained “monsoon rain” was June 17-18th.
Post-88: Up For This, Down For That (Part II) — Others’ comments on “down for that” and “down with that”.
Post-87: Up For That, Down For That — A coworker claims a phrase I use (“up for that”) is out-of-date.
Post-86: National Quotas in Sports / USA vs. Korea — National origin quotas in sports proposed.
Post-85: Armenia, Belarus, China, Papua New Guinea — Countries with similar “Peace Scores” as the USA.
Post-84: The Best Prize Life Has to Offer — “The chance to work hard at work worth doing” –T. Roosevelt.
Post-83: Forty Minutes From East Falls Church — Or, commuting-as-adventure reminiscences.
Post-82: What is a ‘Maß’? — Or, Don’t forget your wallet at Munich Oktoberfest.
Post-81: Death Penalty for Blasphemy — Or, what not to say in front of a Syrian rebel.
Post-80: One-Third of Syrians — An essayist argues against intervention in Syria; U.S. parallels.
Post-79: Buying a Haircut Online — A glance into the world of high-end haircutting in Korea.
Post-78: Ken Robinson’s New TED Talk — “Big idea” talk on education.
Post-77: A Return to the Soccer Field — I play soccer for the first time in 2013.
Post-76: Memorial Day in the USA, a “Proxy Holiday” — Or, Pagan habits die hard.
Post-75: Memorial Day(s) in South Korea — June 6th. An account of my Memorial Days in Korea.
Post-74: Failure is Impossible, No Matter How Hard You Try — No Korean can fail a grade.
Post-73: Test Prep and Its Ethical Discontents — Or, Senator Schumer’s perfect SAT score explained.
Post-72: Stumped by “John’s GRE Prep” — Or, when learning vocabulary from the Bible doesn’t pay off.
Post-71: Ahn Cheol-Soo Can Destroy Korea’s Democratic Party — But will he?
Post-70: Koreans, Finally, Buying Foreign Cars — 12% of cars in South Korea in 2013 are now foreign.
Post-69: Haircut Inflation — The price charged by the barber who cuts my hair shoots up.
May 2013
Post-68: 2010s Syria = 1930s Spain, or 1630s Germany? — Complicated, full of foreign intervention.
Post-67: Syria’s Complicated Conflict — Don’t Underthink this.
Post-66: “Two Parties’ Place Fighting is Terrible” — Or, students react to the April 2012 Korean election.
Post-65: Jeong Jeong Jeong — The Korean mystery-emotion “Jeong” demystified (I hope).
Post-64: Refusing a Nickel — In which I conduct a nickel-based sociological experiment on students.
Post-63: Three Weeks of Spring — Summer arrives early.
Post-62: North Korea and Israel are Equally Popular — Make that equally unpopular.
Post-61: Everyone’s a Manager, Except You — This describes the workforce at my job (through 9/2013).
Post-60: “That’s Not Even Mexico!” -Homer Simpson — The Spanish version seemingly insults Mexico.
Post-59: Orwell’s Actual Doubt — A shocked George Orwell walks among the ruins of 1945 Germany.
Post-58: Contrasting Images of Buddha’s Birthday — Or, When praying is really taunting/antagonizing.
Post-57: Busy Buddha’s Birthday — The Cheongye Stream in Seoul vvery crowded.
Post-56: Contest of Contempt — A student makes a curious and humorous writing error.
Post-55: Grading Up Students Who Resemble You Most — Grading and its discontents.
Post-54: Koreans Feelings Today About May 16th, 1961 — Seem mostly positive.
Post-53: “The Finest Thing to Happen to Korea in a Thousand Years” — The May 16th, 1961, coup d’etat.
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Posts 46 thru 52 form a series I called “One Night In April of 2009.” This is a project I began to, (1) gather all my memories of my first night in Korea, (2) analyze them in perspective, and (3) comment on them from my position of knowing so much more four years later. There will be 12 parts in the end.
Part I: At the Airport — Finding the woman waiting to pick me up.
Part II: Wild Neon Yonder — By car from airport to new workplace; observations along the way.
Part III: Meeting the Boss — New boss; relation of her personal history; departure for the restaurant.
Part IV: The New Coworkers — At my first “hweh-shik.”
Part V: Hweh-Shik — Discussion of Korean “hweh-shik” and its purpose/importance; My subsequent hweh-shik experiences.
Part VI: Affable Predecessor — Description of my predecessor; Amazement at his ability to read Korean.
Part VII: What to Call the Boss? — I did not know my boss’ name; it turns out, I didn’t need to.
[Parts VIII thru XII will come in June, I think] [Update, Sept. 2013: Maybe coming in November…] [Update, December 2015: Maybe coming in 2016!] [Update, December 2015: I have lost my original notes, but I can give it a shot.] [Update, October 2017: Maybe 2018.]
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Post-45: Looking Back in My Arrival in Korea, Four Years On — First Arrival.
April 2013
Post-44: One Month of This — After one month, I reach 44 posts.
Post-43: Tea-Time at Gloster Hill — Short story or play/movie, in three parts, based on post-40.
Post-42: Unification Tomorrow Through Security Today — A sign at a train station in Bucheon.
Post-41: The USA Circa 1930 — U.S. Civil War veterans gathering circa 1930.
Post-40: The Fall of Gloster Hill, April 25th — An account of a dramatic battle in the Korean War, April 1951.
Post-39: Let’s Compete With Korea’s Best Students!! — An attempt to translate a banner at my workplace.
Post-38: Apples in the Summertime — A folk song.
Post-37: Boy Scouts at 2.7 Million and Falling — Decline of an institution; On my time in Boy Scouts.
Post-36: Substitute Holidays are Coming to Korea — No more “lost” weekend holidays.
Post 35: A Bowl of Hot Milk and Rice in 1953 — A photo from Seoul, 1953; jumping around in history.
Post 34: Two Weeks of Spring — Spring is depressingly late in coming in 2013.
Post 33: Reminiscences of October 2002 — Beltway Snipers. Learning to (wrongly) fear white vans.
Post 32: Martial Law, 1775 vs. 2013 — Boston has had defacto martial law twice.
Post 31: Watch Out When You Wind Down — A catchy song. What does it mean?
Post 30: Bitcoin Remorse — An account of my coworker’s failure to buy “Bitcoins”.
Post 29: Ending South Korea’s Five-Year Presidency — Limited to one-term, for now.
Post 28: Bitcoin Buyer — An account of my coworker’s desire to buy “Bitcoins”.
Post 27: Enterbull Instrudent — The ear of a 6th-grader can hear great new words.
Post 26: Little Psy, 50% “Saigon Style” — Eight-year-old K-Pop star is half-Vietnamese.
Post 25: From a Warlord’s Shrine to Mini-Planetariums in Seoul — The things you’ll see in southern Seoul.
Post 24: High on the Hill Suribachi — A country-western song from 1945 about the Battle for Iwo Jima.
Post 23: On Iwo Jima Isle / At Iwo Jima Memorial — Iwo Jima is actually very small.
Post 22: Phone Birthday — My phone was manufactured five years ago today.
Post 21: Is ‘Why’ Rude? Korean vs. English — Foreign coworker barges in, asks. Answer: Not in Korean.
Post 20: Ten U.S. Bombers — A curious entry in “This Day in History”.
Post 19: I’ll Trust You, Too — A cartoon that, sadly, depicts my work situation.
Post 18: No Walmarts in Pyongyang — Listening to shallow analysis of North Korea.
Post 17: 1999 vs. 2013 — Or, a Tale of Two Kim Jong-Euns.
Post 16: Cherry Blossoming — In my ignorance I somehow had no idea cherry blossoms existed in Korea.
Post 15: A Very Long Subway Ride to Eat Some Chicken — An account of my trip to Chuncheon.
Post 14: Shiloh, 1862, Killed in Action — An account of a young man killed at the battle of Shiloh.
Post 13: Sail the Seven Seas — A pleasant song with a profound message.
Post 12: The Sky Betook an Awful Shade — The dramatic yellow-dust storm that left my in awe.
Post 11: Flying Pigs and Korean Unhealthy Food — An unhealthy Korean food? Students puzzled.
Post 10: Unpopular Leaders — President Park Geun-Hye’s very low approval rating.
Post 9: Gyeonghui, 1906 — The railway line through Ilsan, now refurbished, is actually quite old.
Post 8: Who Wants Robot Teachers? — “Pro-Robot” demographics (from students’ essay responses).
Post 7: No Love for Robot Teachers — Very few students want robot teachers.
March 2013
Post 6: Soccerless Saturday — We used to play soccer every Saturday.
Post 5: IQ 151 — Dealings with a precocious 11-year-old boy student.
Post 4: The First Korean-English Dictionary — It was made in the 1810s by British adventurers.
Post 3: Gloster Hill, 2012 — An account of a trip to a Korean War battle-site near the DMZ.
Post 2: Yahoo Mail Says a Lot — My use of Yahoo-Mail flummoxes a coworker for some reason.
Post 1: A Blog — The first post.
[This blog was started when I was employed at Av**** English Institute in Bucheon, South Korea. I worked there from September 2011 to September 2013. I have fond memories from that time. This does not include the misfortune of dealing with the semi-criminal Av**** bosses. Oh well. Live and learn! As of 2016, I notice their business has shrunk a lot. Schadenfreude. He who laughs last…]
Pre-Blog Life, In Brief
[September 2011 to September 2013 — Bucheon, Korea]
[Late April 2011 to late July 2011 — Kazakhstan]
[December 2010 — Dresden, Germany]
[September 2010 to April 2011 — USA, Solar Panel startup company]
[June to July 2010 — Travel in the USA]
[June 10, 2010 — I “left Korea forever” for the first time]
[Mid-to-late May 2010 — Shanghai and surrounding area]
[May 2010 and June 2010 — Suwon, Korea]
[May 2009 to May 2010 — Ilsan, Korea]
[2009 — Graduated university]
[2008 — working in GIS in Virginia]
[January 2007 to August 2007 — Germany] [July 2007 — Estonia]
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