It was a busy month, with assignments coming thick and fast, but I think most of 'em are behind me. The load was pretty heavy for a while there, and it seemed like papers and presentations were all due at the same time, making for a lot of stress on ol' Stig, I can tell you.
In general, life has been pretty good. I've adapted to getting up in the morning and handling the early class with a lot less difficulty than I had anticipated. I've never thought of myself as a morning person, but I find myself handling the class okay, and wanting a nap more in the afternoon classes.
The 'dean' of the program handles the curriculum design class, and we've started designing lesson plans with the Alberta Program of Studies guide, a massive document, as our starting point. We've just done PhysEd and Health. Next up is Math and science (ugh!).
I always hated doing lesson plans in Korea, mainly because I had no idea of what the fuck I was doing. Well, after studying the whys and wherefores of lesson planning in Alberta, I still hate doing them like poison. A lot of pointless busywork. It's okay to have the big overarching vision, and some goals in sight (which I almost never did in Korea), but the detail of working out to do in one class just makes my ass tired.
The field experience class is held once a week, and we just go over what we saw the last time we went out, and think about other things to look for next time. The prof is pretty good. All of the profs have had a lot of experience teaching, and bring a wide variety of experiences to the classroom. Our field exp. prof just completed a term as principal of a school. He said he left there feeling wrung out and drained, but has been rejuvenated by this class.
Another class dealing with society and education was the one that put a lot of pressure on us with assignments and so on. But the prof has pushed some things back and given us some breathing room after we whined and bitched and complained as much as we possibly could. I participated in one group presentation, which the class has been doing the past coupla weeks. We each had an educational philosopher to present. Mine was Friedrich Frobel, the inventor of kindergarten. I learned a lot about how people have influenced the development of education and educational theory. it isn't as dry as it sounds, because most of my classmates are pretty smart, and their presentations were really well done.
The fourth class is yet more theory about education. This past week, I did a solo presentation about "Cognitive Views of Learning and The Role of Attention."
Whew.
I had read the chapter on Cognitive thinkers in the text, and zeroed in on the role of attention out of all the various topics presented. mainly because I thought capturing students' attention was pretty important. The presentation went pretty well, and I got a lot of positive feedback.
I have been focused on school the past coupla months, with a little over one month left to go until the Christmas break.
Every once in a while, I'll start reminiscing about life in Korea, and sometimes I wish I was back on the patio at Dunkin's with Flint, smoking a cigar, laughing at the mooks and shamelessly ogling the hotties.
Sigh.
But, those days are gone for now. Maybe we'll get back there again someday. I'm fairly satisfied with the progress I've made in school, and I'm looking forward to continuing the process of developing my professional talents.
Take care.
Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Reasons Why
I was reading Eve's post about the 'Boycott American Women' website. There were some good comments made about it, and even I had something to say. I said that the reason I boycott women is because I am painfully shy. I am an introvert. I've always been an introvert, but the way I lived my life made it a stronger part of my character than perhaps it should have been.
My folks moved around a lot. In the 90's, I bought one of those books where you fill in your family history, and the pages that described where we lived were completely filled in. This was before I went to Korea. I need another book for those.
I had a couple of good friends in elementary school, when we were living in Deadmonton. After I had finished grade 6, we moved back to Calgary, where we moved a coupla more times. In junior high and high school, I was the new kid. A new kid who's shy is not going to be part of a crowd. I had a few friends (never at the same time), but they sort of petered out, and by the time I graduated, I was close to no-one.
And girls?
Forget about it!
In junior high, I was interested, but could not bring myself to let them know it. I was too scared of what might happen. I learned to build a wall around my feelings and bury them deep.
That's been the pattern throughout my life. I can talk to women upon occasion, but any attempt on my part to take it beyond a certain point causes a complete brain freeze and I turn into an incoherently babbling idiot.
I mean, more than usual.
So I've come to a point in my life where I know that it's just not going to happen for me. I'm learning to be comfortable with myself, because I know that that's all I will have.
A posting on Facebook alerted me to a book about the subject, called The Introvert Advantage by Marti Laney, PsyD. It's a pretty good description of what I'm like.
I don't talk until I have something to say.
I need a reason to talk.
I've given up on trying to find something to say, just to be part of the conversation. It has to come naturally.
I like having few friends, because most people aren't worth my time. I'd rather have one Flint as a friend than a hundred of them.
I'm happy in my Batmancave, because mooks can't figure out the entry code.
I can think clearer without their noise.
I'm not interested in what is popular, or hearing about it from other people. I've got my own shit to think about.
Like Popeye says, 'I am what I am.'
My mom is driven to despair sometimes, because I don't perform well (for her) when she introduces me to her friends. She thinks I'm rude. I tried to tell her about this book, and explain why I do the things I do, but she still doesn't get it. Most people won't, but I don't worry about them anymore.
Flint's post about how Korea prepared him goes for me, too. Learning to deal with the stress of living and working in the Land of Morning Calm (and Afternoon Confusion) makes that as easy as pie.
My folks moved around a lot. In the 90's, I bought one of those books where you fill in your family history, and the pages that described where we lived were completely filled in. This was before I went to Korea. I need another book for those.
I had a couple of good friends in elementary school, when we were living in Deadmonton. After I had finished grade 6, we moved back to Calgary, where we moved a coupla more times. In junior high and high school, I was the new kid. A new kid who's shy is not going to be part of a crowd. I had a few friends (never at the same time), but they sort of petered out, and by the time I graduated, I was close to no-one.
And girls?
Forget about it!
In junior high, I was interested, but could not bring myself to let them know it. I was too scared of what might happen. I learned to build a wall around my feelings and bury them deep.
That's been the pattern throughout my life. I can talk to women upon occasion, but any attempt on my part to take it beyond a certain point causes a complete brain freeze and I turn into an incoherently babbling idiot.
I mean, more than usual.
So I've come to a point in my life where I know that it's just not going to happen for me. I'm learning to be comfortable with myself, because I know that that's all I will have.
A posting on Facebook alerted me to a book about the subject, called The Introvert Advantage by Marti Laney, PsyD. It's a pretty good description of what I'm like.
I don't talk until I have something to say.
I need a reason to talk.
I've given up on trying to find something to say, just to be part of the conversation. It has to come naturally.
I like having few friends, because most people aren't worth my time. I'd rather have one Flint as a friend than a hundred of them.
I'm happy in my Batmancave, because mooks can't figure out the entry code.
I can think clearer without their noise.
I'm not interested in what is popular, or hearing about it from other people. I've got my own shit to think about.
Like Popeye says, 'I am what I am.'
My mom is driven to despair sometimes, because I don't perform well (for her) when she introduces me to her friends. She thinks I'm rude. I tried to tell her about this book, and explain why I do the things I do, but she still doesn't get it. Most people won't, but I don't worry about them anymore.
Flint's post about how Korea prepared him goes for me, too. Learning to deal with the stress of living and working in the Land of Morning Calm (and Afternoon Confusion) makes that as easy as pie.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Great Wall
Korean Adventure (February 21, 2003 Chautauqua)
My trip to see the Great Wall was a full day trip outside the city of Beijing that took in two other sites, the Ming Tombs and Long Qing Gorge.
The road system was fairly up-to-date. The gas stations are something to see. They combine the usual amenities with a circus tent-like appearance, to attract customers, I imagine. One of the things that amused me was seeing a road sign forbidding horse and buggy traffic on certain parts of the highway.
The Ming Tomb
The Ming Tombs lie in a valley where 13 of their emperors are buried. There are also six other tombs for imperial concubines and one for the princes. On the way leading to the tombs is a stone archway, a great red gate, a stele pavilion, a sacred path flanked by stone statues of generals and ministers, and a dragon and phoenix archway. The tomb precincts are covered with ancient pines and cypresses.
The stele at the Ming Tomb
As for the Great Wall, there are three sections within range of the city that are open to tourists. The farthest afield is at a place called Jinshanling, near Gubeikou, where you have the wall more or less all to yourself.
The second site is at Mutianyu, and is rarely visited by tourists, too. It has a cable car and offers spectacular views similar to that of the most popular site, at Badaling (where our tour was scheduled to visit). Badaling has been much built up, and could be termed overly touristy. The highway makes it the most convenient site to visit.
Cable car up to the wall
There are endless pay toilets, souvenir stands, peddlers, tourist buses and a cable car, but the view from the top is striking. The wall and the strategically placed towers climb and swoop along the crests of the mountains that has to be seen to be believed.
The entrance to the stairs up to the top of the wall
It is amazing when you consider the fact that the wall was built more than 2,700 years ago, to protect Chinese territory. These walls had a total length of 50,000 kilometres, which ran across an area as large as 16 of today's provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. You can see it from space.
After getting off the cable car you come down to a rest area where they sell refreshments and souveneirs before climbing up to the top
After being carried to the wall by the cable car, there is a short walk to the entrance. This is a fairly small door leading to the stairs up to the top. It's a little crowded. Once you are up top, there is a variety of places to go to take in the views.
View from the top
Getting from one place to another is the trick, though, as the wall gives new meaning to the word steep. An appreciation for what mountain goats must go through is instilled in everyone.
Care must be taken to avoid becoming part of someone's picture. The wait for the pose to be captured on film makes for a welcome break from climbing. There are towers, as I have said, but these are not accessible to the public, except to go through to the next section. You can walk back down, but there was no time allowed for our group.
One of the dams at Long Qing Gorge
Before we knew it, we were back on the bus, headed for Long Qing Gorge. It was a bit of a ways from the wall, and the group took the opportunity to commandeer the tour guide's microphone for some karaoke. Each singer introduced himself, and sang what I guessed was some traditional Korean song. They were nice enough to invite me up, and I gave them a few verses of the Beatles' "In My Life."
A typical boat - very snug!
Long Qing Gorge is the site of a lake, created by a dam, upon which "dragon boat" tours carry approxiamately 100 or so people up to a recreation facility and back. There are pretty spectacular cliffsides on view. There is also an escalator, that carries you up to the boats, built inside a giant plastic dragon (below).
This was the impression that I brought back from China with me. There was some very ancient, undeniably spectacular scenery, surrounded by the modern day trappings (both good and bad) of garish capitalism.
... that's very steep
Sometimes it was hard to appreciate what I was seeing, the tour moved so fast. But I think my background in history gave me enough insight to put things in their proper context. I hope these stories have been entertaining, informative, and shown just a little bit of what the world has to offer.
----------------------------------
I took this tour in October 2002, just after Korea's amazing performance in the World Cup of soccer. We heard a chant from that time, "Daehan Minguk!" from one of the other boats on the lake. The trippers in my boat were so pleased with this that they yelled it at every other boat we passed. Some of them responded, and some of them just stared back blankly.
Being part of a package tour has its advantages, in that you cram a lot of stuff into a short time. But if you're not pressed, it's better to find your own way to these places.
My trip to see the Great Wall was a full day trip outside the city of Beijing that took in two other sites, the Ming Tombs and Long Qing Gorge.
The road system was fairly up-to-date. The gas stations are something to see. They combine the usual amenities with a circus tent-like appearance, to attract customers, I imagine. One of the things that amused me was seeing a road sign forbidding horse and buggy traffic on certain parts of the highway.
The Ming Tomb
The Ming Tombs lie in a valley where 13 of their emperors are buried. There are also six other tombs for imperial concubines and one for the princes. On the way leading to the tombs is a stone archway, a great red gate, a stele pavilion, a sacred path flanked by stone statues of generals and ministers, and a dragon and phoenix archway. The tomb precincts are covered with ancient pines and cypresses.
The stele at the Ming Tomb
As for the Great Wall, there are three sections within range of the city that are open to tourists. The farthest afield is at a place called Jinshanling, near Gubeikou, where you have the wall more or less all to yourself.
The second site is at Mutianyu, and is rarely visited by tourists, too. It has a cable car and offers spectacular views similar to that of the most popular site, at Badaling (where our tour was scheduled to visit). Badaling has been much built up, and could be termed overly touristy. The highway makes it the most convenient site to visit.
Cable car up to the wall
There are endless pay toilets, souvenir stands, peddlers, tourist buses and a cable car, but the view from the top is striking. The wall and the strategically placed towers climb and swoop along the crests of the mountains that has to be seen to be believed.
The entrance to the stairs up to the top of the wall
It is amazing when you consider the fact that the wall was built more than 2,700 years ago, to protect Chinese territory. These walls had a total length of 50,000 kilometres, which ran across an area as large as 16 of today's provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. You can see it from space.
After getting off the cable car you come down to a rest area where they sell refreshments and souveneirs before climbing up to the top
After being carried to the wall by the cable car, there is a short walk to the entrance. This is a fairly small door leading to the stairs up to the top. It's a little crowded. Once you are up top, there is a variety of places to go to take in the views.
View from the top
Getting from one place to another is the trick, though, as the wall gives new meaning to the word steep. An appreciation for what mountain goats must go through is instilled in everyone.
Care must be taken to avoid becoming part of someone's picture. The wait for the pose to be captured on film makes for a welcome break from climbing. There are towers, as I have said, but these are not accessible to the public, except to go through to the next section. You can walk back down, but there was no time allowed for our group.
One of the dams at Long Qing Gorge
Before we knew it, we were back on the bus, headed for Long Qing Gorge. It was a bit of a ways from the wall, and the group took the opportunity to commandeer the tour guide's microphone for some karaoke. Each singer introduced himself, and sang what I guessed was some traditional Korean song. They were nice enough to invite me up, and I gave them a few verses of the Beatles' "In My Life."
A typical boat - very snug!
Long Qing Gorge is the site of a lake, created by a dam, upon which "dragon boat" tours carry approxiamately 100 or so people up to a recreation facility and back. There are pretty spectacular cliffsides on view. There is also an escalator, that carries you up to the boats, built inside a giant plastic dragon (below).
This was the impression that I brought back from China with me. There was some very ancient, undeniably spectacular scenery, surrounded by the modern day trappings (both good and bad) of garish capitalism.
... that's very steep
Sometimes it was hard to appreciate what I was seeing, the tour moved so fast. But I think my background in history gave me enough insight to put things in their proper context. I hope these stories have been entertaining, informative, and shown just a little bit of what the world has to offer.
----------------------------------
I took this tour in October 2002, just after Korea's amazing performance in the World Cup of soccer. We heard a chant from that time, "Daehan Minguk!" from one of the other boats on the lake. The trippers in my boat were so pleased with this that they yelled it at every other boat we passed. Some of them responded, and some of them just stared back blankly.
Being part of a package tour has its advantages, in that you cram a lot of stuff into a short time. But if you're not pressed, it's better to find your own way to these places.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Going To China
Korean Adventure (December 6, 2002 Chautauqua)
I went to China as part of a package tour. Just getting to the airport was an adventure in itself. I got off work at 7:30 pm Tuesday night and went home to pack.
I then caught a 10:30 express bus from Daegu to Seoul. The buses in Korea are fairly pleasant as buses go, and I thought I would be able to catch a few Z's on the way. My seatmate, however, had other ideas.
He received many calls on his cell phone during the ride, and for some reason he had to speak to all his callers at the TOP OF HIS VOICE. On one call, he also had to repeat everything he said three times.
There is a surfeit of cell phones in Korea. I know they can be handy sometimes, but it gets a little ridiculous when you see a couple walking down the street, both talking on phones (MAYBE to each other, but I doubt it).
The "text message" feature is another thing that annoys me. It's not uncommon to see people concentrating more on tapping out a note than the world going on around them. You have to watch out for them when they are walking down the street.
The phones also have a variety of tunes that you can select to alert you to a call instead of a ring. I would appreciate it if the users would select "vibrate," especially when I am trying to teach a class.
Anyway, to return to the bus (we have to get to China, don't we?) things finally settled down after a short rest break. There are some interesting rest stops on the highways of Korea. There are restroom facilities, restaurants, and even little roadside stands selling cheap souvenirs, CDs, etc.
As we were getting close to Seoul, I almost had to referee a battle over an open window. My seatmate was a little hot, but the Koreans don't like the cold. He tried to pretend he was asleep, but the others just reached over him to close the window. It was a good thing the trip was over shortly thereafter (China's getting closer now).
I got into Seoul about 2:30 am with three hours to kill before the airport limousine buses started to operate. Next to the express bus terminal is a hotel/shopping mall/ bus depot complex called "Central City." I imagine it's a happening place during the day, but the only people I found awake were night owls like me and the cleaning staff.
None of them seemed excited about their trips. I was too wired to sleep so I read a bit and, before I knew it, the limousines were running. I almost took a cab to the airport, but it would have cost me 60,000 won ($75 Cdn). The limousine bus costs 11,000 won ($15). No contest.
At the airport at 6:00 am, and STILL two hours before my tour group met (Don't fret, China is almost near enough to touch). Coffee and a donut was breakfast, and the paper was a distraction.
The two previous e-mails I had received from my travel agent specified the "Hana Tour (table #5) between B and C check-in counters" as the meeting place. The tour meeting there, however, was going to Japan (!). A helpful agent directed me to the Hana Tour table between K and L check-in counters.
Well, there they were, and I was now part of a group of middle-aged Koreans. Most of the tour was conducted in Korean, and I would pretty much have to shift for myself as to explanations as to what was going on.
There was a very nice man named Michael who spoke English, and he was to be my roommate for the tour. We each had a badge to identify ourselves to the tour guide, who held a flag up for us to follow (Let's get to China already!).
Going through customs was no trouble at all. After 9/11, I had expected an ever-increasing gamut of checks to go through, but they have been decreasing, if anything.
We were all released to hit the duty-free stores, and about an hour later, we were rounded up and herded through the gates towards our stalls... er... seats on the plane. I was very excited, despite the lack of sleep. In only a little over an hour, I would be in China! (At last!)
It will be a little longer before you read about that experience, though. Until next time...
--------------------------------------
I never had a cell phone until my third year in Korea. They are pretty handy when you're getting together with friends, but I did try to resist having one as long as I could. Probably too long.
Korean buses can be a trial if you're not sitting next to the window. The heat can be oppresive, but the average Korean seems to thrive on it. I always tried to get next to a window as much as possible, because some drivers just ignored the A/C button.
Travelling around Korea is usually cheap and fast. Buses, taxis, and the train were all very convenient ways to get around, much more convenient than back here in The World.
I don't recall too many difficulties with Korean Customs. They usually waved me through without any baggage search at all.
I went to China as part of a package tour. Just getting to the airport was an adventure in itself. I got off work at 7:30 pm Tuesday night and went home to pack.
I then caught a 10:30 express bus from Daegu to Seoul. The buses in Korea are fairly pleasant as buses go, and I thought I would be able to catch a few Z's on the way. My seatmate, however, had other ideas.
He received many calls on his cell phone during the ride, and for some reason he had to speak to all his callers at the TOP OF HIS VOICE. On one call, he also had to repeat everything he said three times.
There is a surfeit of cell phones in Korea. I know they can be handy sometimes, but it gets a little ridiculous when you see a couple walking down the street, both talking on phones (MAYBE to each other, but I doubt it).
The "text message" feature is another thing that annoys me. It's not uncommon to see people concentrating more on tapping out a note than the world going on around them. You have to watch out for them when they are walking down the street.
The phones also have a variety of tunes that you can select to alert you to a call instead of a ring. I would appreciate it if the users would select "vibrate," especially when I am trying to teach a class.
Anyway, to return to the bus (we have to get to China, don't we?) things finally settled down after a short rest break. There are some interesting rest stops on the highways of Korea. There are restroom facilities, restaurants, and even little roadside stands selling cheap souvenirs, CDs, etc.
As we were getting close to Seoul, I almost had to referee a battle over an open window. My seatmate was a little hot, but the Koreans don't like the cold. He tried to pretend he was asleep, but the others just reached over him to close the window. It was a good thing the trip was over shortly thereafter (China's getting closer now).
I got into Seoul about 2:30 am with three hours to kill before the airport limousine buses started to operate. Next to the express bus terminal is a hotel/shopping mall/ bus depot complex called "Central City." I imagine it's a happening place during the day, but the only people I found awake were night owls like me and the cleaning staff.
None of them seemed excited about their trips. I was too wired to sleep so I read a bit and, before I knew it, the limousines were running. I almost took a cab to the airport, but it would have cost me 60,000 won ($75 Cdn). The limousine bus costs 11,000 won ($15). No contest.
At the airport at 6:00 am, and STILL two hours before my tour group met (Don't fret, China is almost near enough to touch). Coffee and a donut was breakfast, and the paper was a distraction.
The two previous e-mails I had received from my travel agent specified the "Hana Tour (table #5) between B and C check-in counters" as the meeting place. The tour meeting there, however, was going to Japan (!). A helpful agent directed me to the Hana Tour table between K and L check-in counters.
Well, there they were, and I was now part of a group of middle-aged Koreans. Most of the tour was conducted in Korean, and I would pretty much have to shift for myself as to explanations as to what was going on.
There was a very nice man named Michael who spoke English, and he was to be my roommate for the tour. We each had a badge to identify ourselves to the tour guide, who held a flag up for us to follow (Let's get to China already!).
Going through customs was no trouble at all. After 9/11, I had expected an ever-increasing gamut of checks to go through, but they have been decreasing, if anything.
We were all released to hit the duty-free stores, and about an hour later, we were rounded up and herded through the gates towards our stalls... er... seats on the plane. I was very excited, despite the lack of sleep. In only a little over an hour, I would be in China! (At last!)
It will be a little longer before you read about that experience, though. Until next time...
--------------------------------------
I never had a cell phone until my third year in Korea. They are pretty handy when you're getting together with friends, but I did try to resist having one as long as I could. Probably too long.
Korean buses can be a trial if you're not sitting next to the window. The heat can be oppresive, but the average Korean seems to thrive on it. I always tried to get next to a window as much as possible, because some drivers just ignored the A/C button.
Travelling around Korea is usually cheap and fast. Buses, taxis, and the train were all very convenient ways to get around, much more convenient than back here in The World.
I don't recall too many difficulties with Korean Customs. They usually waved me through without any baggage search at all.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
TV
I like watching TV. Perhaps I watch too much, but what else have I got to do? The job search is not going too well, and school doesn't start for another month or so.
So I kill time by watching Flint tease John, writing this blog, and watching TV. There's a lot of good video being offered out there, if you know where to look. The problem is, when you are in a country like Korea, you miss a lot of the really good programs (unless you know how to download), and you're very much behind people who've had access to it all along.
I sort of learned how to download in my third year in Korea, and then I started having problems with my 'puter, so I left off until Flint taught me how to do it properly. After that, I returned my TV to the hagwon and started getting caught up.
I'm still way behind, even after a coupla years of plugging away.
While I was in Korea, I started to get into shows like Dexter, The Shield, Battlestar: Galactica, and Californication. I've only just started the first season of The Wire, Damages, and Life On Mars (UK version).
I've been staying with my folks since I got back from Korea, and they had a pretty good cable package with Shaw. Then they changed it to Telus, and added the PVR function.
Hello!
I am in love with the PVR, which frees the viewer of the networks' tyranny like never before. No longer do you have to sit through boring commercial breaks or (badly) edited-for-TV versions of my favourite movies. With a PVR, you really can watch what you want, when you want it. It's brilliant.
Then, after my mom's accident, we had to stay at a hotel to be near her, and I was shocked, shocked when I saw the kind of TV being offered by the hotel, as well as to patients in the hospital.
Basic cable. (dramatic chord)
50 channels max.
Ew.
I guess hotel guests and hospital patients, being fairly transient in nature, don't need a full-on package of every single channel as well as all the technical add-ons. They just need something to look at for a night or two.
But if you're in for a long haul, the inadequacies of basic cable become more and more apparent as time goes by. Especially if you're looking for quality television, and not the drek offered up by networks and local stations.
Networks are in it for the money, and the commercial break is all important. They gotta get that ad revenue. A good show is just something to attract viewers that can be trapped into watching ads, not an end in itself.
Networks have something they call "standards and practices," which they say they use to censor offensive content like vulgar language (shit, fuck, cunt, piss, cocksucker, mothefucker, tits), excessive violence and gore, as well as sexy things like naked bodies and people making love.
Well, if you're an adult, being told by some faceless corporation that you can't watch something is like being told you can't vote or drink or stay up past eight o'clock. It's just not on.
So I go to a channel like HBO and watch a program like Deadwood, which has more nudity, violence, and people saying "fuck" per square inch than a whorehouse, but is also one of the finest programs ever filmed.
Local stations are even worse. They're always interrupting shows with "news breaks," which don't have any news, just promos for the local news teams. I've mentioned before how my folks are fans of Global Calgary, which I loathe and despise with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns.
Fucking mooks.
Even if they do run a good program, you have a tough time seeing it through all the supers on the screen. The station logo is there (as well as the network logo sometimes), and the station adds on supers that describe what's coming on next and what'll be on Thursday at nine. Talk about distraction.
It shows a fundamental disrespect of the show, as well as the viewer. I decided a long time ago that I would not tolerate it. That's why downloading shows and using the PVR is so important to me.
So I kill time by watching Flint tease John, writing this blog, and watching TV. There's a lot of good video being offered out there, if you know where to look. The problem is, when you are in a country like Korea, you miss a lot of the really good programs (unless you know how to download), and you're very much behind people who've had access to it all along.
I sort of learned how to download in my third year in Korea, and then I started having problems with my 'puter, so I left off until Flint taught me how to do it properly. After that, I returned my TV to the hagwon and started getting caught up.
I'm still way behind, even after a coupla years of plugging away.
While I was in Korea, I started to get into shows like Dexter, The Shield, Battlestar: Galactica, and Californication. I've only just started the first season of The Wire, Damages, and Life On Mars (UK version).
I've been staying with my folks since I got back from Korea, and they had a pretty good cable package with Shaw. Then they changed it to Telus, and added the PVR function.
Hello!
I am in love with the PVR, which frees the viewer of the networks' tyranny like never before. No longer do you have to sit through boring commercial breaks or (badly) edited-for-TV versions of my favourite movies. With a PVR, you really can watch what you want, when you want it. It's brilliant.
Then, after my mom's accident, we had to stay at a hotel to be near her, and I was shocked, shocked when I saw the kind of TV being offered by the hotel, as well as to patients in the hospital.
Basic cable. (dramatic chord)
50 channels max.
Ew.
I guess hotel guests and hospital patients, being fairly transient in nature, don't need a full-on package of every single channel as well as all the technical add-ons. They just need something to look at for a night or two.
But if you're in for a long haul, the inadequacies of basic cable become more and more apparent as time goes by. Especially if you're looking for quality television, and not the drek offered up by networks and local stations.
Networks are in it for the money, and the commercial break is all important. They gotta get that ad revenue. A good show is just something to attract viewers that can be trapped into watching ads, not an end in itself.
Networks have something they call "standards and practices," which they say they use to censor offensive content like vulgar language (shit, fuck, cunt, piss, cocksucker, mothefucker, tits), excessive violence and gore, as well as sexy things like naked bodies and people making love.
Well, if you're an adult, being told by some faceless corporation that you can't watch something is like being told you can't vote or drink or stay up past eight o'clock. It's just not on.
So I go to a channel like HBO and watch a program like Deadwood, which has more nudity, violence, and people saying "fuck" per square inch than a whorehouse, but is also one of the finest programs ever filmed.
Local stations are even worse. They're always interrupting shows with "news breaks," which don't have any news, just promos for the local news teams. I've mentioned before how my folks are fans of Global Calgary, which I loathe and despise with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns.
Fucking mooks.
Even if they do run a good program, you have a tough time seeing it through all the supers on the screen. The station logo is there (as well as the network logo sometimes), and the station adds on supers that describe what's coming on next and what'll be on Thursday at nine. Talk about distraction.
It shows a fundamental disrespect of the show, as well as the viewer. I decided a long time ago that I would not tolerate it. That's why downloading shows and using the PVR is so important to me.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Why I Live Alone
I like Jerry Seinfeld. I think he's very funny.
In one of the bits I really like, he talks about the difference between living alone and with another person.
When you're alone, you're the president, the king, the dictator-for-life. You do what you want to do, when you want to do it. But when you live with another person, you become part of a vast decision making body that examines the issue from every angle before tabling the discussion for further review at some point in the distant future.
Since coming home, I've had to live that difference.
When I was in Korea, I became used to a certain schedule, one that did not involve getting up early and attacking the household chores with a will.
It's not that I won't help out around the house, but I'm not a mind reader. If somebody wants me to do something for them, all they have to do is ask.
And then when I do go ahead and do something, do you think it would kill a person to say thank you? Well, I guess it would.
If I cut the grass, I get shown the single blades that I missed.
If I dust, I'm told that a person could write their initials on the surfaces.
If I iron, the wrinkles I missed are catalogued and added to the list.
I remember once getting all excited and cleaning my house from top to bottom because my folks were visiting. My mom straightened me out when she got there. It was so dirty (in her eyes), I should've been ashamed to allow anybody to see it.
Sheesh.
I guess I should've expected it. My mom cleans the house to get it ready for the cleaning lady.
So I like to live on my own, go at my own speed, and live by my own rules.
Now, as to why I've never married, that is another series of posts.
In one of the bits I really like, he talks about the difference between living alone and with another person.
When you're alone, you're the president, the king, the dictator-for-life. You do what you want to do, when you want to do it. But when you live with another person, you become part of a vast decision making body that examines the issue from every angle before tabling the discussion for further review at some point in the distant future.
Since coming home, I've had to live that difference.
When I was in Korea, I became used to a certain schedule, one that did not involve getting up early and attacking the household chores with a will.
It's not that I won't help out around the house, but I'm not a mind reader. If somebody wants me to do something for them, all they have to do is ask.
And then when I do go ahead and do something, do you think it would kill a person to say thank you? Well, I guess it would.
If I cut the grass, I get shown the single blades that I missed.
If I dust, I'm told that a person could write their initials on the surfaces.
If I iron, the wrinkles I missed are catalogued and added to the list.
I remember once getting all excited and cleaning my house from top to bottom because my folks were visiting. My mom straightened me out when she got there. It was so dirty (in her eyes), I should've been ashamed to allow anybody to see it.
Sheesh.
I guess I should've expected it. My mom cleans the house to get it ready for the cleaning lady.
So I like to live on my own, go at my own speed, and live by my own rules.
Now, as to why I've never married, that is another series of posts.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Me
I returned home from Korea last August. I already had a job lined up in England, so I was only looking at a quick stopover at my folks' place until the UK visa process was completed.
Well, that job blew up in my face when the person I was dealing with asked me to send him some money.
What the fuck? I thought.
This guy was promising me 3,000 pounds a month, plus health care, plus 1,000 pounds vacation pay. He would pay for my ticket over there, pay the immigration lawyer, set me up in an apartment in his house with a computer and a car and on and on and on.
He didn't ask for money right away. We went back and forth, and I sent him copies of my resume, degree, passport info page and so on. It was about three weeks into our correspondence that the "immigration lawyer" made the request for some money that he would use to open a bank account for me. He claimed that he had to show immigration that I actually had money in-country before they would approve my visa.
My spider-sense started tingling right away, and I checked with the British Embassy here in Canada to make sure that the rules about immigration did not have this requirement. It didn't take very long to confirm this, and I stalled the "lawyer" while I took all my information about these people to the RCMP.
They knew right away, as soon as they heard about the request for money, that something was fishy, and confirmed (a while later) that none of the e-mail addresses checked out.
I wrote the guy and told him I wasn't sending him any money as the rules didn't require it, but he kept insisting. Finally, he called my house and asked me point blank, "Are you sending the money?"
"No," I said.
"Then I'm going to cancel the visa?" he sort of half-questioned.
"Okay," I replied, and he hung up.
I haven't heard from him since.
Bummer.
I was looking forward to working in England and travelling through Europe, just as I had travelled Asia while I was in Korea.
I should have been suspicious, though, considering the guy was offering me all this money and extras. I mean, I'm a pretty good teacher, I think, but there are loads of people out there who have a lot more paper (in the way of education degrees) to show any potential employer. All I have is experience.
So I was stuck for a job. My mom was going in for a hip replacement in October, so it was decided I should stay around the house and help out for a bit before moving on.
And then, when I did start up the job search again, my mom crashed her car real good and was on the brink of death. I couldn't leave then, so a lot of my plans got put on hold.
And now I am looking for work again. I haven't really put a lot of effort into it, as I have been concentrating on returning to university this fall in order to get my education degree. Make my resume that much more attractive, get a job in Europe or here at home.
But the past few months or so, Alberta teachers have been laid off in the hundreds. There's just not enough money in the provincial budget to justify teachers' salaries. We all know from the budget battles in the States recently how cushy a job teachers have, and how much of taxpayer dough they suck up in their half-a-day, two-months-of-vacation-per-year lifestyle.
It's been quite a year, I can tell you. Things are waiting on this university application. I'm pretty confident, but if things don't work out, I guess I'll be looking at the overseas postings again.
Well, that job blew up in my face when the person I was dealing with asked me to send him some money.
What the fuck? I thought.
This guy was promising me 3,000 pounds a month, plus health care, plus 1,000 pounds vacation pay. He would pay for my ticket over there, pay the immigration lawyer, set me up in an apartment in his house with a computer and a car and on and on and on.
He didn't ask for money right away. We went back and forth, and I sent him copies of my resume, degree, passport info page and so on. It was about three weeks into our correspondence that the "immigration lawyer" made the request for some money that he would use to open a bank account for me. He claimed that he had to show immigration that I actually had money in-country before they would approve my visa.
My spider-sense started tingling right away, and I checked with the British Embassy here in Canada to make sure that the rules about immigration did not have this requirement. It didn't take very long to confirm this, and I stalled the "lawyer" while I took all my information about these people to the RCMP.
They knew right away, as soon as they heard about the request for money, that something was fishy, and confirmed (a while later) that none of the e-mail addresses checked out.
I wrote the guy and told him I wasn't sending him any money as the rules didn't require it, but he kept insisting. Finally, he called my house and asked me point blank, "Are you sending the money?"
"No," I said.
"Then I'm going to cancel the visa?" he sort of half-questioned.
"Okay," I replied, and he hung up.
I haven't heard from him since.
Bummer.
I was looking forward to working in England and travelling through Europe, just as I had travelled Asia while I was in Korea.
I should have been suspicious, though, considering the guy was offering me all this money and extras. I mean, I'm a pretty good teacher, I think, but there are loads of people out there who have a lot more paper (in the way of education degrees) to show any potential employer. All I have is experience.
So I was stuck for a job. My mom was going in for a hip replacement in October, so it was decided I should stay around the house and help out for a bit before moving on.
And then, when I did start up the job search again, my mom crashed her car real good and was on the brink of death. I couldn't leave then, so a lot of my plans got put on hold.
And now I am looking for work again. I haven't really put a lot of effort into it, as I have been concentrating on returning to university this fall in order to get my education degree. Make my resume that much more attractive, get a job in Europe or here at home.
But the past few months or so, Alberta teachers have been laid off in the hundreds. There's just not enough money in the provincial budget to justify teachers' salaries. We all know from the budget battles in the States recently how cushy a job teachers have, and how much of taxpayer dough they suck up in their half-a-day, two-months-of-vacation-per-year lifestyle.
It's been quite a year, I can tell you. Things are waiting on this university application. I'm pretty confident, but if things don't work out, I guess I'll be looking at the overseas postings again.
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