Censorship Is Not A New Thing Here

How many other sites are involved in this, and how long has the censorship been going on?? I did an internet search for "south korea censorship" and it pulled up a website from 1997 where they were banning Geocities for having illegal information on North Korea. Geocities sites are currently not loading. Is this a new ban, or have they been banned since '97? In 2002, gay and lesbian sites were blocked, along with an anti-military site. North Korean sites I suppose have always been blocked--I can partially understand that one, although there are so many ways to get information over the internet that blocking the North Korean sites wouldn't entirely keep the info out. I haven't researched all the stuff that went on in the 80's . . . yet. I may still do that, if only to see where they came from, and where they could be going if everyone does nothing.

Hey, I'm angry. One more letter--this time to Fox News.

I was watching the debate over the Iraq turnover on CNN tonight (the European viewpoint on things). I'm afraid that between the Iraq turnover, continued explosions and attacks in various countries, and the North Korean nuclear meeting finishing up, that the South Korean censorship will be pushed to the side and deemed unimportant. But really, this seemingly small issue could very easily snowball into much worse abuses of power and a total disregard for the Korean Constitution. We must continue to speak out until someone listens! It being a weekend, nothing may happen until Monday. Can I wait that long?!

More Letter Writing

I stayed up way too late last night seeing what everyone had to say about the censorship issue. I've also written letters to the MIC (Ministry of Information and Culture), ICEC (Information and Communication Ethics Committee), the Lakeland Ledger, CNN (as added information to their news article about the Korean governmental ban on the beheading video), and the Washington Post via a feedback form on their site.

I've also seen the beheading of Kim Seon Il. Whether that in and of itself is a crime or if uploading and distributing the video is the crime, 12 people have been arrested for exchanging the video. Kim Seon Il was critical of both the Korean and American governments just before his death; the actual beheading was fast and when compared to the Nick Berg beheading, looked more humane (in that it was done faster and with a sharper knife). I don't have a problem with people viewing stuff like that, and don't think it would make people any more angry at the Korean government than they already are. Sure it's gross, but we need to see what's going on, and not just hear about what's going on. There's a big difference. Just hearing, "Oh, this guy got his head cut off" is one thing, but actually seeing it makes it more real.

I met Octavia, John, and Paul for lunch today. The Koreans didn't understand why I was so upset about the censorship. Octavia explained that people are angry at the Korean government, so the government doesn't want them to see the beheading video. So what?? In a democracy, which Korea pretends to be, people are allowed to be upset at the government!!!! She said that people working in the foreign service have "iron ball" jobs (the Korean idiom). Translated, it means that they have tenure, and no matter how bad a job they do, they can't be fired. Korean people are upset that the system is like that. (The whole thing with someone in the foreign service knowing about Kim Seun Il's kidnapping in early June but doing nothing and telling no one.) Well, good! If people are upset enough and actually DO something other than holding a candle and chanting in protest, perhaps the system would change. I don't understand how seeing the beheading video would make things any worse. And what about the collateral damage of all the blogs?! It's called free speech, guaranteed in article 21 of the Korean Constitution, and how about freedom of learning, guaranteed in article 22? I can't learn about what's going on in Korea now, at least not without using subversive methods.

I'm having problems with other sites, too. Some sites are loading more slowly than normal, or not at all. When I try to load them with Unipeak, no problem.

I've checked all of the blogs again this afternoon--a few were updated, but no new info, just more ranting. I'm curious to see if any of the news outlets will respond to me. I'm hoping at least the Lakeland Ledger will, in some way or other. I wrote that I'm a Lakeland native, and that I feel the world needs to know how the country often referred to as one of the USA's closest allies is treating its residents. I originally sent it to Bill Rufty, the politics reporter, but got an automated response that he's on vacation, so sent it to the reporter that he listed in the response. Will the world care about the first step that could lead to a unified Korea under dictator Kim Jong Il?!

Lunch was nice. Mostly John and Octavia spoke in Korean, while Paul and I spoke in English. We ate some kind of noodle/seafood dish with lots of sidedishes at a small restaurant near Shinbok Rotary. I'm feeling OK today, but the late night made me plenty tired, and my mouth is incredibly dry from the medicine I'm still taking. Paul had no idea about what's going on, so I clued him in on it, and we discussed conspiracy theories a bit.

BANNED!

The Korean government has blocked websites carrying the video of the beheading of Kim Seon Il, but has also blocked entire DOMAINS, including blogspot.com, blogger.com, blogs.com and typepad.com. Come on! That's how I communicate with the other expatriates!! I thought I was working in a democracy, but now I feel like I'm working in China!! Google.com has also blocked certain sites related to the beheading from popping up as search results. What happened to free speech?!

The few bloggers not on blocked sites are offering space to host other blogs, AND broadcasting ways around the government ban. I didn't know things like this were possible! I'm not even sure that it's completely legal--I feel like the police are going to come knocking at my door at any moment. Lots of other blogs have thoroughly covered the topic, but it is ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS that the Korean government is doing this. So far I've written letters to the New York Times and President Bush, mostly just to let people know what's going on. One of the other bloggers contacted an official in the Korean government who was less than helpful. The official said that only "dangerous" websites were being blocked, so didn't know why the other sites were blocked. For now I'm accessing the sites through Unipeak, an AWESOME thing. I can't access the comments section and there are lots of errors and it takes longer than normal, but I don't feel as cut off from everyone now.

I slept really late this morning, and awoke with a half dozen mosquito bites. After my first two classes I had the hour break, but spent the whole time correcting student journals and entering daily reports into the computer. At 5 PM they talked me into buying ice cream for everyone. Despite the rain, it was still a very hot day. That class has five 7th graders and one 9th grader. They're very articulate and have good ideas about things. We talked about Kim Seon Il for quite awhile. So far it sounds like they're angry at President Roh Moo-hyun and the Korean government in general, along with the Iraqis, but no anger has been directed at Americans . . . yet.

In the next class of 5th~7th graders it struck me how just a year or two can make a big difference in the level of topics that I can discuss with them. They're at roughly the same level of English, but not at the same level of sophisticated thinking as the 5 PM class. Several of the boys, working together, wrote "Cleo loves (a girl's name)" with a permanent marker on Cleo's bag and he was QUITE upset. As Mona says, he's a "sensitive" boy. Is he ever! He took his exact-o knife that he uses to sharpen his pencils and cut that part off of his bag. We ended up getting him another school backpack from the closet to replace his.

At 8:30 there were only 2 students again, but I was ready with an alternative activity to their textbook. We did an internet scavenger hunt using only English websites. I gave them a list of weird animal names and they had to find out where those animals lived ("zoo" was not a possible answer!).

Joelle told me that I have to make a test for the adult class when they finish their book. I told her that they REALLY hate tests (some of them refuse to come when tests are being given) but Joelle said that Mr. Kim said we had to. OK, whatever.

I received some kind of bill in the mail today. When I took it to school, Joelle said that it was my electric bill and that it hadn't been paid in two months and that if I didn't pay it by July 5th it would be cut off. She made it sound like it was my fault that I hadn't paid it, so I explained that I always bring whatever I receive to the school and they take care of it. Either the bill didn't arrive, or Jennifer didn't pay it (but took the money out of my pay anyway). With the school continuing to lose students, I'm a little concerned about the last several months of my contract. I'm worried that I might not get all of my salary, bonus, airfare, etc. I'll try to get the bonus and airfare at the end of my actual contract, when I still have another month to work before Sandra returns. That way if there's any problem, I could threaten to leave.

Mr. Kim's looking really haggard these days. Part of me feels sorry that he's having money problems, but the other part feels that it's his own fault. He hasn't been getting enough younger students to replace the older ones who are quitting, and he continues to let the Samsan people do their own thing. That school has been losing money for years. What's he thinking changing the academy name NOW?? New signs, website, books, etc. must cost a lot. Does he think students will be attracted to the new name? Our school is falling apart--the desks and walls have graffitti all over them, everything's filthy, the computer mouses (is that right, mice didn't sound right) have broken buttons, etc. It looks pretty pitiful!

Drugs Are Good

I survived the night, and actually slept pretty deeply. I went back to the doctor today. Since my ears still hurt a little he looked in them with the thing that connects to the TV so I can see inside my own ears. It's so awesome to see the inside of the ear! My ears were normal, and my throat is no longer irritated. I told him about the annoying sneezing, and he asked me if I had a history of allergies. I said no, but that my dad does. He then used a couple of English words that I didn't know. He wasn't sure if he was saying/spelling them right, so looked them up in the Korean-English dictionary. He was using the right words, but I explained that they were medical words so I didn't know what they were. It apparently wasn't that important, because he moved on. He said that I probably have some kind of allergy, so gave me the same drugs as before, along with a half tablet allergy pill. Whatever that drug is, it is FANTASTIC. I still have a constant dull headache made worse by loud noise and my head feels weird, but the sneezing, runny nose, and watery eyes have completely stopped.

There were two new students in the adult class. They seem to be at a lower level than the others. When I got back from the doctor's office, Grace, Nicole, and Jennifer were still at school. I asked Joelle why they were still there, and she said that they were there to talk to Mr. Kim. They're not happy about the class changing from 5 days a week to 3 days a week, but she said that because of the economic situation at the school that Mr. Kim wouldn't change his mind. I knew we'd lost a lot of students, but this is the first I've heard of money problems--that's why Mr. Kim looks stressed.

After the mothers' conversation with Mr. Kim, the class will still be 3 days per week, but I'll teach all the days, and they won't have a Korean teacher at all. They don't want to study grammar or other "boring" things (actually, they don't want to study at all outside of class), but they only want to have fun and get more fluent at speaking. Well, if they don't learn from their mistakes then they won't improve at all. From what I've seen, they think that having a class with me will magically make them improve in English. The magic secret to improving in English is . . . HARD WORK.

The kids were pretty good all day; it helped that Brandon was absent. I asked Mina to order me fried mandu for dinner, but she ordered bimbim-mandu instead, so I couldn't eat all of it. I asked other teachers if they wanted some of the mandu, and Miro was going to use my chopsticks--uh, not a good idea! They are not at ALL careful about germs! I expected them to eat the mandu that I hadn't touched, but they also ate some of the salad that my chopsticks had been all over. It's no secret that I've been sick, so it's all their fault if they get sick!

As I was working on my computer a message popped up that the website meeting at Dave's academy tomorrow has been cancelled. YES!! That means I can sleep in. I'm feeling so much better tonight that perhaps I'll even try to get back into exercising after 4 days off, slowly to start.

I tried to access the website with the gruesome videos so I could see the Korean guy's last words, but either their site is down from too much traffic, or the rumor that the Korean government is blocking websites who show the video is true. I thought Korea was a democratic country--what's up with the censorship?

Sneezing

The sneezing that began last night continued ALL DAY today. It was CONSTANT and I probably used half a role of tissue. Of course everyone looks funny when they know a sneeze is coming; sneezing 4~5 times in a row is also weird; I got lots of looks from the kids. In the 4 PM class Mary implied that I was crazy to have a cold in the summer, and I agreed with her. At 3 PM the kids took great pride in telling me that the Korean soccer team beat the USA team last night in Busan. The score was 1-0. When I got home I continued to sneeze miserably, and finally took a single Benadryl (a normal dose is 1~2 capsules). Not knowing the drugs the doctor already had me taking, I know it might not have been the smartest thing to do, but I needed some sleep, and it had been a couple of hours since I'd taken the other drugs.

Can I take off my clothes?

It was SO HOT today! Only in the mid-80s, but 90% humidity made it worse. The first thing Grace said when she came into class was, "Can I take off my clothes?" Thinking with my American brain, that does not sound good! But she was wearing two shirts, and meant to ask if she could take one of them off. I said yes (what else could I say?) and explained how what she said could be interpreted. She laughed a little, but is so naive that she might not have completely understood. She then told me, "I'm very polite." Apparently in Korean culture, you're supposed to ask before removing an article of clothing? Does that sound right? I explained that in the USA, removing or adding an article of clothing to become more comfortable was something we did without asking for permission. After that, I saw what was written on her shirt--"Get Used." Huh?

Another miserable day as far as my health. Hearing the Korean teachers talking about me while I was just a few feet away didn't improve my attitude. Surely they know by now that I can understand at least some of what they're saying. Jane in particular bothers me. She hardly ever speaks to the foreign teachers; it's like she's afraid to speak English. Yet, she has no problem talking about the foreign teachers behind their backs.

Oxygen, please!

The day passed quickly yet slowly. I woke up this morning not feeling any better than yesterday, and possibly slightly worse. Most of the symptoms, while annoying in the combination, were pretty mild--headache, fever/chills, general achiness, sore throat, occasional shoots of pain from my ears, slight cough, and dizziness. Possibly a rash, or that might just be from the heat. But the whole not being able to breathe part was somewhat frightening. I went to work and struggled through my first class. Somehow the adults managed to understand some of what I said, although half the time I didn't understand what I was saying myself.

There was no wait at the doctor's office. He looked in my throat and diagnosed, "mild tonsillitis." Then he listened to my chest (the first time he's done so without a nurse present--after all, it means lifting up my shirt and seeing--gasp--skin, even though just my back). Then his second diagnosis, "mild bronchitis." MILD? I'd hate to have severe bronchitis. Most of my breaths are shallow, and even a deep breath feels like I only get about half the oxygen I normally get. How is my body supposed to heal if it doesn't have adequate oxygen?! Anyway, he went on to give me a little anatomy lesson in how the throat, ears, and nose are connected, thus the related symptoms. He then prescribed the normal colorful packet of drugs--4 this time--Tylenol, an antibiotic, and two anti-somethings (something about bronchial somethings). The typical "drink water many many" advice, then a strange one, considering this is Korea, he said, "bed rest." Yeah right, like my boss will go for that. As I paid, the receptionist told me (in Korean) to come back in a few days. With how my breathing is, I doubt the three days worth of drugs will fix it, so I was already sure that I'd be returning.

At the pharmacy the lady wasn't there to explain the drugs, so the man explained them in Korean. I understood only some of it, so it's good the doctor had already told me how to take them. The man also said something that I didn't quite get, so he made the sleeping motion. Oh, OK, I need to get lots of sleep, OK. At least that's what I thought he said.

Well, I got back to school, ordered lunch, wrote an email to Sandra, ate lunch, waited the half hour, and then took the first dose of medicine just before going into my first class. I made it through the first class, but by the second one I understood what the pharmacist meant--the drugs would MAKE me sleep. I fought to keep my eyes open, dozing a bit as I listened to the kids read. The day passed in a blur. The only thing that stands out is Brandon from the last class, and that's mostly because he was his normal obnoxious self. I hope the kids learned something, because I can't remember what I taught. I've been drinking 2~3 liters of water a day; today it was close to 4. Today there was more rain in the morning, with a beautiful blue sky in the afternoon.