New Camera

Went to Namdaemun (in Seoul, a technology market) and finagled a new Canon 450D. Although I'm photographically illiterate, I'm an eager student. Joe & I will be going to practice soon but I have already taken a few shots that I've put on facebook here.

Because I got it on the gray market (meaning it was shipped in from Hong Kong), it came at a steal deal combined with said finagling.

looks exactly like this but says kissx2 since it's Japanese

Flies in Appleby's Eyes

On the way to the bank yesterday to unravel a mystery surrounding an exorbitant bill, I was struck in the eye by something larger than a gnat but smaller than a fly. Unrelenting tears sallied forth. Some quick notes I discovered on involuntarily crying:
- When you do it at the bank you look like you have money problems.
- When you do it in front of a public bathroom mirror you look like you have self esteem problems.
- When you do it on a train you look like you have loneliness problems.
- When you do it while ordering at McDonald's you look like you have eating problems.
- And lastly, when you are caught by a student, eating McDonald's alone and crying, you look like you have a whole boatload of problems. I was able to enjoy all these phenomena yesterday. When my student rolled into the foodcourt I thought I might be able to hide but then I remembered I was wearing my fluorescent hoodie..
It's like a game of Where's Waldo - can you find where I am hiding??

It took a while but I finally reached into my own eye and got it out.

Deokjeokdo

Camping was entirely miserable. We did an overnight this past weekend to an island an hour and a half off of Incheon and were greeted by never-ending rain, wind and cold. Let me illustrate how bad it was:
You know those dreams where you end up having a test you didn't prepare for, a paper due or lost a large sum of money and/or possessions but you wake up elated that none of this actually happened? Ok, Good..
I dreamt that night on Deokjeok Island that I was back in Incheon and had my bag stolen. In it were my Ray-Bans, passport, books, journal & health insurance. I woke up only mildly relieved because even though I had my bag, the sobering reality set in that I was still stuck on that island. That means I almost would have surrendered my most valuable possessions to get home.

My friend Tony from Wisconsin upon our return:
"I am going to kiss the ground in Incheon and never leave 'til my contract's up."


Hopefully I can plan a return trip soon when the weather is improved.

Brownsville Reporting at it's Finest

newsworthy

More Frost

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Korean Gems

Used Simon Says as a review for 3rd Graders in my open classroom and after class an old coteacher (Lt. Dike for any old readers) approached me:
Lt. Dike: "Evan, Who is Simon?"
Evan: "... umm.. what?"
Lt. Dike: "Who is Simon? Why do all the students listen to Simon?"
Evan: "... Simon is not a real person. It's a game we used in the last class."
Lt. Dike: "Oh, did you invent this game?"
Evan: "Haa.. No."


Two of my favorite students had a conversation about how many stickers they had collected (we give them out and after 2 months the student with the most is the winner).
S1: "Evan Teacher, I have sixteen stickers. She has one-seven stickers."
S2: "What is one-seven. I have seventeen stickers."

The open class went well. There were about 20 teachers who came to observe plus a video camera. The only thing that was weird is that of the 20 teachers who watched me, I know 10 or so well enough for it to be kinda awkward. Open classes are the only time I have to dress up so I was in the whole coat & tie. I guess I might've started looking a little nervous leading into it because as class was starting I turned to one of the 3rd grade girls and she gave me a double thumbs up and said "You look great!" -- I guess she realized I needed the quick pick-me-up.

Today I start studying for the second portion of the GRE. I spose I have a tendency to mention when I have a big occasion coming up but never let anyone know how it went. The written portion of the GRE went well and I'll be looking forward to seeing my score. Also, went to the Seoul Lotus Lantern Festival for Buddha's birthday last night and had a ball of a time there. Pictures should come soon but my camera died early into the night.

My Uncle Jay and Aunt Pat are coming to Korea tomorrow to see me and maybe, just maybe my cousin (their son Steve) too.

What I'm Listening to

It's been a soundtrack heavy couple of weeks:


Dexter Soundtrack: My favorite for any particular show
Blood Theme
so wonderfully eery
Photos
Kind've reminds me, at the 1 minute mark, of the song they played on the OC whenever Ryan was about to hit someone.
Main Intro - Morning Routine


Last Samurai - Way of LIfe
good soundtrack for a subpar movie. I think they are recycling it for the Karate Kid so I guess that will be elements of a good soundtrack in two, separate, subpar movies.


Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas
Shawshank Redemption Soundtrack


Open class tomorrow = Coat & Tie, principal and vice-principal observing, and a boatload of expectations. Bring it, "Cuz I love- my- job- .. Hoorah"

Poetry in Motion

I remember the precise moment I came across Emerson's Success. I found it in a “Peace and Nonviolence” course during senior year in high school. It was late morning and as I was getting ready for lunch and lazily flipping through the textbook, I found this boxed, pink excerpt. We passed right over it as far as class was concerned. I had seen the poem in passing a few times but doubt I had ever taken the time to read it. I did, however, take the time that day, and I read and reread and reread. Since that day, all those years ago, it has served as an absolute truth for me. People go their whole lives struggling to determine why we are here and what we ought to be doing. I was fortunate enough to have my answer fall into my lap at age 17.

It's felt like a vindication of the way I have been and am today. I would have a difficult time calling that poem anything other than religious doctrine. The only two distinct memories I maintain from that class were finding Emerson and getting a grasp on Gus Leal, my future roommate. Though Success made the class worthwhile on its own, Gus provided the icing on the cake (I think he still owes me three "frog-skins," however). Anyhoo, this post is not about Gus, to the chagrin of many, nor does it center on Johnny Tillotson. The day I blog about Johnny Tillotson is the official moment I ran outta blogging material three years prior.

No, this post is about distinguishing between what defines me (as much as one thing possibly could) and what drives me (again, as much as one thing could).

What defines me is this poem. What drives me, especially as of late, is Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken. I know, I know -- I happened to pick two of the most famous poems around. Great minds think alike, I suppose.

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

________________________________________________

I am aware that there are two very different translations of this poem. One follows the literal interpretation in terms of self-discovery and individualism, while the other is an ironic take dealing with rationalizing our own personal decisions throughout our past to make peace with them. Using this poem as a driving motivation in life keeps me aware that if Frost's intentions reflect the latter explanation, it would put me in the subgroup of grooms and brides who dance to "Every Breath You Take" by The Police at their wedding. So be it. but let me quickly segue.(Condolences to any couple whose song is "Every Breath You Take" by The Police)

I know a particular girl who once told me, upon noticing me for the first time, that I appeared "too cool for school." This is something that has stayed with me for reasons less ego-driven and obvious than you might initially presume. It is not in my particular nature to burst out and be a huge risk taker and while I can only speak for my own nature, I would bet that I am not the only one who's in this lifeboat. If I appear TCFS, as the kids call it, it usually means I am out of my element (the aforementioned episode did take place in a math class) and have looked inward for solace. I know a few people, though, whose nature is to approach things with a healthy dose of reckless abandon, especially when out of their element. I deeply admire that quality and greatly wish I possessed it. I don't. A certain logic has always guided me that made this quality come a little harder -- though it has really shaped my Risk and Diplomacy skills so it ain’t all bad. The risks have always been slightly more calculated though slightly less rewarding, personally. This TCFS business is the personal illustration that kept me focused on veering away from it and kept me steadied on Frost.

I take The Road Not Taken as a muse. It is to me a melancholic challenge. It challenges me to choose the right way and to stick to that path even when the other is not lost. The awareness that we cannot take every opportunity opened to us is sobering. Making one decision closes us off from another one. It challenges me to succumb to the potential loss of cool-points in favor of decisions that keep me on my own path. I know quite well that the regret of not doing something far outweighs the immediate embarrassment of messing up. Practically everything I've learned in Korea has come through error.

Frost's work doesn't define me, yet. It guides me, and on a long enough timeline I won't have to approach things with a purposeful mind towards finding that path so much as letting it fall into place. I think in many ways it's already set in motion. I feel like I have always marched to my own drum; I'm just making sure the beat is in tune.

You can go ahead and listen to your friend Billy Zane; he's a cool dude. I'll be challenging Hansel to a walk-off precisely because he's so hot right now. If I end up with underwear riding high, I'll do so holding my head to match it.

Dexter

Finished season 1 last night.
Wow Sooooooooooooooo good

I have heard that 2 & 3 go a little downhill but I am still excited for them.
My mind has been on the show pretty heavily since I started watching it (4 days ago).

Probably tied in my esteem with Mad Men for the best intro for a show, which I know sounds goofy but that goes up against The Wire, Band of Brothers & The Fresh Prince of Belair - pretty stiff competition. Season 1's soundtrack is the best I've heard for a show too, though Treme might give it a run for its money.
Hands down, best finale to a season as well. It wraps up so, so so so, so so well.
All in all, if you haven't seen it, do so - you really ought to.

Defeat

Well.. my Spurs are out of the running for the 2010 NBA Championship after being swept by Phoenix in 4 games.  I had a bet running with Neil (my roomie from orientation) and will now be wearing a Randy Moss, sleeping bag sized Patriots jersey the next time I go out with him.  Had he lost (and this was a bet of who could survive the longest between the Spurs and Celtics) he woulda been forced to don a tight, sleeveless Spurs shirt for the night.  It is probably good this bet ended now because every round the stakes were going to go up.

At least we didn't lose to the Mavs.

People who know me can tell you that I take sports.. rather seriously.  This one isn't quite as bitter of a pill to swallow since I have been abroad all year.  It has been an interesting displacement in regards to sports.  I stay tuned in pretty well by maintaining healthy doses of PTI and ESPN.com -- maybe an hour a day or a little more when there are a few different sports running concurrently.  Concurrently, ergo, vis-a-vis... If you didn't understand that last part don't sweat it.  Anyway, being abroad has made me feel as if a fraction of me is paralyzed emotionally from both the ups and downs of my respective sports teams back home. 

Also, I always have had a soft spot for the Suns in theory.  Basically, they are a hard team to truly dislike, and I always tell myself that they wouldn't be a bad team to pull for if the Spurs were out.  What always follows, however, is that we play them and theory goes out the window as I realize that they really annoy me.  Not having been able to watch the game through any other means than Gamecast has kept that annoyance from surfacing so this one doesn't sting quite as bad as the others.

Of all the train stations in all the towns in all the world,

She walks into mine.
Koreans love clothing with completely inane slogans and sports teams.  New York hats with the Nebraska "N" and a slew of Jackie Robinson merchandise springs to mind.  Generally, being the avid man of sports that I am, I like to keep an eye out hoping one day I'll run into a Korean attired in something of personal significance to my rooting interest.  Early on in Korea, I saw a young buck with a San Antonio Spurs hat. Score!! You'd think so, but I was not fully engulfed in Korean nonsense at that point, and therefore, the gem was lost on me to a degree. 

Lost on me until yesterday that is!  I ended up coming up the steps at Woninjae Station where I live, and passed by a girl in a purple, acid wash sweatshirt with "Superbowl XXXI" blasted across it and a huge GB Packers emblem.  Alas, after running through the gamut of oddly colored Yankee, Red Sox & White Sox merchandise, I came across the holy grail of all finds.  And yes, the Packers should toy with the thought of ditching the green and gold for acid wash purple; it works.

Sadly, this approximate recreation took far longer than it should have to make:

Cannnnnnn you dig it?  

Meh.. the GRE

I will be taking the written portion of the GRE this coming Friday.  Originally, when I signed up for the GRE, I wanted to take about a month and a half to study for it.  The verbal/math portion of the test is on June 12th so when I looked into officially signing on my general goal seemed reachable (I signed up for it about 5 days ago).  What I was not aware of, however, was that in Asia one must take the writing portion of the GRE one month prior to the verbal/math.  This flies in the face of the American version of the test to prevent cheating (it was a bit of an epidemic in China a few years ago).  So I went from having 6 weeks to having 8 days because the last day to take the written portion is May 7th (I'll be there at 11 AM and ask for some good vibes if you are able to figure out the time change because Evan Don't Need No good vibes at  1 AM the next day ^^).  Korean, and generally Asian smiley by the way ^^ . 

The written portion is broken up into two separate essays.  The first is an "Issue" task where the test taker is given two general statements and tasked with choosing one and being either for or against it with a rainbow of possibilities in the middle.  You can take it at almost any angle as long as the logic flows smoothly and there is sufficient evidence to back it up.  The "Issue" task comes with a 45 minute time allotment.  The second essay is an "Argument" task where we are given a prompt and must critique it's soundness of logic, use of evidence and general efficiency. 

Today I spent my time on the latter half and because I (a) have no classes today, (b) feel deep shame over a lack of steady posts and (c) figured "why not?", I will upload a practice prompt and my general outline in regards to the "Argument" task.  I wrote an outline rather than an actual paper since none of my readers are GRE graders and I am not really focusing on polishing my writing at this point - that's what the blog is for!

::::PROMPT::::
Six months ago the region of Forestville increased the speed limit for vehicles traveling
on the region’s highways by ten miles per hour. Since that change took effect, the number
of automobile accidents in that region has increased by 15 percent. But the speed limit in
Elmsford, a region neighboring Forestville, remained unchanged, and automobile
accidents declined slightly during the same six-month period. Therefore, if the citizens of
Forestville want to reduce the number of automobile accidents on the region’s highways,
they should campaign to reduce Forestville’s speed limit to what it was before the increase.

::::MY OUTLINE::::

• Short timeline, 6 months, makes it difficult to gauge the true impact.
• +15% accident rate seems like a convincing statistic but doesn't shed much light.  Huge difference between +15% if we are talking about a yearly accident rate in the 300's and one in the 3000's. 
  
• Most importantly, (the bread and butter), speed limit goes up on highway, spike in accidents don't indicate where the accidents take place or the type of accidents that occur (things other than speed related?).
  
• Using Elmsford, a neigbhoring "region", helps to negate general seasonal changes as a result of this spike and serves as an efficient example in this regard.  One must exercise caution, however, when using a completely different region as the control for a study.  There is no indication of either region's greater historical trends in regards to motor accident history so it might be unwise to base a decision on Elmsford.
• Finally, switching back may intro more damage with two willy-nilly shifts in such a close timeline.  Drivers who might be adjusting to this new change must now readjust and this could cause accident percentages to further increase.  Also, there would be a reintroduction of whatever problems initially motivated the speed limit to go up 10 MPH in the first place (traffic??). 

So, hopefully I do well so I can go on to study that major in that place to get that job.  I'll replace the "that's" when I come up with a better answer.