Bush website censored!

The censorship thing continues to annoy me. Sure I can access my page now, but there are still a lot of other sites that I can't access. Some news site this morning linked to the Bush campaign site. I clicked it and got the error message, "The page cannot be displayed." Hmmm.....is this anything like being unable to access the Republican website? The people there, by the way, haven't responded beyond the initial "We got your email and understand your concern." Next I tried typing the site into Unipeak.com, and got through immediately. So I sent this letter to the folks at the Bush site:

Subject: Korea censors your site
To: BushCheney04@GeorgeWBush.com

I'm an American living in South Korea as an English teacher. I want to draw your attention to the fact that your site is inaccessible from South Korea. Yes, the Korea that is supposedly an ally of the USA.

On the night of June 24, 2004, the Korean government went deeper into the world of Internet censorship by banning a whole slew of sites, mostly those related to the Kim Sun Il beheading. However, many innocent sites got caught up in the hysteria. Any idea why yours would be among them? There are many undecided voters, and Americans overseas often use the Internet to research issues. How are we supposed to make an informed decision if we can't access the information??

I know enough to be able to circumvent the block, but others (especially in the older generation) probably give up after typing in the web address and getting the "The page cannot be displayed" error message. This is particularly troublesome because the Korean government refuses to release a list of all of the blocked sites.

This is something you may want to look into, especially since the John Kerry website is not blocked.

I think it's so weird that they use their own domain and are censored, and Kerry's site is not. Is someone in the Korean government trying to influence the election?! I hinted at that in the letter, but didn't want to sound like a conspiracy-theory nut.

There is censorship everywhere!! One of the proxies I tried using gave me this error message:

ACCESS HAS BEEN DENIED

Access to the page:

{{{a normal, everyday, nothing-wrong-with-it page}}}

has been denied for the following reason:

Weighted phrase limit exceeded. You are seeing this error because the page you attempted to access contains, or is labelled as containing, material that has been deemed inappropriate. If you have any queries contact your ICT Co-ordinator or Network Manager.

Then just for the heck of it, I tried the Big Hominid and that went through no problem. ????? I would think he would have more "inappropriate" content than the first site I tried to access! The weaknesses of machines. Then I tried the Bush website and was going to laugh so hard if it was denied, but it went through fine.

I sent the following letter to the MIC and ICEC, and a slightly different version to the head honcho at the MIC, as he received Master's and Ph.D. degrees from American universities, thus knows plenty of English (one would assume). The webmasters may or may not know much English. This time I felt OK with closing with "sincerely":

Subject: Censorship--when will it end?
To: webmaster@mic.go.kr, webmaster@icec.or.kr

This letter is regarding the Internet censorship which began on June 24, 2004 and continues today, 5 weeks later. While Blogspot pages are now accessible from many computers, pages hosted at blogs.com, typepad.com, livejournal.com, mu.nu, and others remain blocked. Please give me some idea of when I can expect to be able to access these sites, most of which have nothing to do with Korea.

*****Where can I find a complete list of censored sites/domains?***** As it stands now, I don't know if a site is having technical difficulties, is no longer in existence, or is among those offensive to the Korean government.

Selected Student Diaries

I asked Mr. Kim about the visa again.  I don't want to make a pain of myself, yet it's a really important issue!  He said he went to the immigration office today, but has to return next week to pick up the card.  Without the card, I have to trust that he did everything that needed to be done to keep me here legally, and that I'll have the hard proof in my hands next week (in the form of the updated resident ID card).  What's another week of going around without my Korean ID?  Actually, no ID--I don't carry my passport on me, and my American driver's license is with my important papers.  In my wallet I have non-picture ID.  For going to Seoul, I'll add my driver's license in case I need a picture ID for anything.

The day went by really quickly.  Overall a great day.  Again, lots of absent students.  I had to read the OLT test several times for students who were absent yesterday.  The two Can You Believe It? classes that I teach back-to-back on Fridays are awesome.  Their speaking ability is skyrocketing, and they easily use the idioms correctly (most of the time).  Luby asked me to bring her a present back from Seoul--uh, what?  I was surprised to hear that several of the students have never been to Seoul.  Sure lots of people in the USA have never been to Washington, but the U.S. is a huge country.  Seoul is not more than 5~7 hours from most people. I did a marathon of correcting English diaries this morning--somewhere between 2~4 hours, I lost track because I was doing other things at the same time.  I came across several great diaries to win the prize for diary-of-the-month.  Nice and detailed and long.  On the other hand, when Cleo gets back I may have to kill him.  His diary:

HI CRAZY SITE. CRAZY SITE. CRAZY SITE. CRAZY SITE. CRAZY SITE. VERY CRAZY. 겨우 숙제 다했는데. ALL ERASED. CRAZY SITE. CRAZY SITE. CRAZY SITE. CRAZY SITE. BYE CRAZY SITE.  

What's the Korean say?  I've barely finished all of my homework????  In the comments section, I wrote: 

This is unacceptable.  You can't repeat the same thing again and again.  : (

 
I also told Kara about it, so she can scold him, as well, when he gets back from his trip to China.  He's been studying English privately for at least 6 years and is in a really advanced book.  But he is extremely lazy.

It's weird when they write about one of the teachers or our classes.  I'm not sure the entire meaning of what Tom wrote:

Today is Monday.So Beth class.I like Beth class.Why? Because I have many,many score.Miro teacher,Beth teacher to study hard.But I study with Beth class I have many score and everyday English speak. But I study Miro teacher gave me the score,Beth teacher to litte.two teacher small score give me.So I study hard

Mary is in the first book where they write a diary.  While she is one of the quietest in class, can she ever write!  Some kids I strongly suspect that they've copied from somewhere else, but she uses simple sentences and has a consistent writing style.  Miro suggested that "snake-strawberries" means "wild strawberries."  Notice how she even uses things like quotation marks correctly!

We ate bulgogi. It tasted good. Mom said you ate very fast. so I felt good. I ate very much. I ate with stop playing. I was thirsty, so I drank a lot of water. I was full. Then mom said " Yearin, Are you very full?" I said "Yes.” Father said, "Let''s eat corns". I ate a half corn. It tasted good. And then, I watched TV. My sister said, "Do you want to go to the mountain? I will go to the mountain." At that time, Mom wanted to go there. After we changed our clothes, we went to the mountain. It was very hard. We climbed to the path. We ate mountain-strawberries. Father picked them. It tasted sour. After climbing, we went to the playground in my school. I wanted to play there. But Mom said I couldn’t. So I went up to stairs. I didn''t eat snake-strawberries. Because father said I must not eat any snake-strawberries. I saw inside snake-strawberries. Its color was white. At that time, Father said, “I went to go.” Then I saw a little frog. It was not pretty. I jumped and hid. When we got to the top of the mountain, we went inside small cabin. It had many flies and bugs. I saw landscape with a telescope. My sister wanted to let her look with a telescope. So "Wait until I see birds. Wait until I see our house." ^^* There are many frogs there. When we came back on our way, we saw two big dogs. We were scare of them. But My father is very good at scary dogs. So father protected us. I think Mom loves Father very much. Because she always says father is the best in the whole world.

So that's a selection from this week's diaries.  Five days vacation, two days back at work, then another weekend.  WOW!  I mostly like the job, but it's nice to get a break.

Work Visa (slow progress)

Perhaps the fact that my visa expires on MONDAY finally sunk in with Mr. Kim.  Last night he had me fill out an "extension of sojourn" paper.  Tonight he had me sign a 2-month contract, because apparently the immigration office won't extend the visa otherwise.  A 10-page contract, and of course I don't read anything because contracts don't mean anything here.  I did glance at the length of the contract, which said 2 months, but then the dates of the contract said March 8, 2004~March 9, 2004.  I asked Mr. Kim if perhaps that would be a problem with immigration.  He didn't think so, but went ahead and changed the dates to August 3~October 9 (although those aren't the dates I'll actually be working).

The kids play way too many computer games.  In the past I was reading a dictation to them and Lewis wasn't ready for me to go on, so he said, "Teacher!  Wait!  Loading!"  In a diary a student was writing about his tests and how well he did and how he "lvl up."  Tonight at the end of the OLT test a boy said, "Game over!"  Uh, that's "The end" or "We're finished!"

The heat is almost unbearable.  With the humidity, it feels like 40 degrees Celsius.  That's like the middle of the desert temperature!

The adults (OK, only Grace) were really annoying again today.  Because of the vacation, I won't have to see them again for a full week.  I'm more excited about that than about the vacation!

The OLT tests today went pretty smoothly.  I did a little small talk with some of the kids before the test began.  Most of them pleaded with me to read easy questions and go slowly, but I always replied that I was reading the most difficult questions very quickly.  I talked a lot with Tanya, and some with Matt, over the course of the day.  I didn't get any of the diaries or daily reports done.  I wrote a letter to Grandma P. over the course of the day--it's such a disorganized mess.

Most of yesterday was really great.  In the first class Tomas asked me a lot of questions--what kind of things I have in my apartment, how I get to school, and what countries I've been to.  I had to use the Korean names for some of the countries, and Tomas counted them up and was amazed.  Then he asked me if I've been to North Korea, and seemed surprised that I hadn't.  I explained that Americans couldn't go to North Korea.  Why not, teacher?  Because North Koreans don't like Americans.  Why not, teacher?  Do you remember the Korean war?  South Korea and the USA vs. North Korea and China?  OH, OK, teacher--North Korea doesn't like Americans.

In the next class there was lots of joking.  Only 8 kids were there (of the normal 12).  They used a little Korean, but only when necessary.  The picture in the textbook was a cut-away of a 2-story house, so they asked where the doors and stairs were, then commented on how small the house was, and that there was no father so the family was so poor that they couldn't afford doors and stairs after the typhoon came and ripped the house apart, etc. etc.  It doesn't recreate well when written down, but it was absolutely hilarious--both their powers of observation, and the way they put it into English.

The 5 PM class argued about whether last night's concert was inside the soccer stadium or outside by the lake.  I later learned that both were correct--the singers were live in one location and on a big screen in the other.  The next class studied really well (it helped that Billy was absent).  We got a ton done in the book so I rewarded them with 5 minutes of playing.

The last two classes weren't as good.  Paul was insane as usual, chanting, "I am a boy, you are a girl" repeatedly.  In the last class Charlie refused to listen, so I moved him by me.  His back faced the rest of the class and he was completely cut off from the other boys.  He was not at all happy with me, but still studied without too much of an attitude.

Progress

One of the students' listening exercises said the first computer was made in 1944, but it wasn't until what--the 80s?--that they became common.  Then they became important incredibly quickly.  I can remember how exciting it was when we got our first home computer.  And the internet--WOW--how neat was that!  I can't remember exactly when we got it; I was probably between 8~12 years old.  In elementary school I had to do my first research paper, and I remember Mom showing me how to look up things in the card catalogue--you know, the one with the actual cards in the drawers and that kids these days have probably never seen!  Then I learned how to take notes from the books and write down the info I needed to properly cite the books.  Our local library didn't have an adequate selection of books on that topic, so we visited another library, used inter-library loan, and it took a long time to get all of the information that I needed.  (I can't remember the paper's topic.)

By university, computers were everywhere.  By then when faced with a research paper, I first used the internet to gain an elementary knowledge of the subject, narrow the topic, and determine competent authors.  Only then would I visit the library to get nearly every book they had vaguely related to the topic.  Over the next couple of months I would read (or at least skim) the books, take notes, and make an outline.  Come time to actually write the paper (usually a couple of days before it was due!) it was guaranteed that I'd be missing some vital info.  As long as I cited plenty of books, then I could pull the needed info from the 'net and cite that article.  In the pre-internet days I would have had to make a last minute run to the library or have an incomplete paper.

Technology is changing so quickly.  Tanya asked me yesterday what a "blog" is.  It's such a part of my vocabulary now, along with "blogger." While I never use it, I understand "netizen" and all the other words that have been invented in the last 10 years or so.  Still, the majority of people are still learning much of the new technology.  I'm on the brink of getting my first digital camera, some time after they became popular.  My grandparents tell me stories of living with no electricity.  What stories will I have to tell?  I've already seen such changes in my life. 

In the same listening exercise, it said that man landed on the moon in 1969.  Sure, I knew that already, but sometimes dates don't sink in.  The kids (2nd graders) didn't understand the sentence, so I drew a picture for them--a crescent moon with a smiling stick-man with spiked hair standing on top.  They laughed at "E.T." and didn't believe that it was true.  I insisted that it was true and told them to ask their parents.  Seeing their amazement that man had been on the moon brought back the amazement to me.  It's a pretty grand thing to figure out how to make a rocket to put a man on the moon!  And it happened in my parents' lifetime!

Medical advances like organ transplants.....communication devices like cell phones......organizational devices like PDAs.....so much progress, so many things to make life easier.  Yet, we feel busier now than at any time in the past.  Perhaps we're trying to multi-task too much, or simply taking on too many things.  I've lost the point to this post.  Are advances good or bad?  Certainly some of both.  It's in how we use the advances that determine their benefits or detriments.

Work Visa (4th Reminder)

The rest of the day went quickly.  The 4 PM class was pretty normal; I wanted to kill the kids at 5 PM.  They are some of the densest people I've ever met!  In the next class there were only 3 kids (of the normal 8).  The others were at various camps or at a big concert at Munsu Soccer Stadium.  Famous singers like Boa and Se7en were supposed to be there.  When I was walking this morning around 9 AM people were already beginning to arrive for the 7 PM concert!!!! 

Again, I can't help but think that when the kids are able to insult each other in English, they've reached a high level!  They even used the idioms we're studying!  Zach said, "I'm crazy about Cleo meat," while Cleo responded, "Zach looks like pork."  At one point Cleo told Zach, "Please shut up" so I taught them that you can say "Please be quiet" or "Shut up," but that you can't mix the two.

The last class was very boisterous, yet good.  There were lots of cute moments and I was a lot sillier than normal with them.  I didn't have to give out any punishment; I think they may have learned my limits.  It certainly took them long enough!  The best part of the class was when Alex and Mike were reading the dialogue and instead of saying, "What's your favorite animal?" they changed it to "What's your favorite monster?" and proceeded to make a conversation out of that.  I gave them lots of praise; they demanded money.  I asked if points would be OK; they acted shocked that I could give them points.  Sure, I'm your teacher, aren't I?  The only problem is, since I share that class with Matt, they don't show up when I sign in to the computer system.  I'll ask Matt tomorrow to sign in under his name so I can add the points.

I finally caught Mr. Kim toward the end of the night.  He had been in and out for several hours, meeting with parents, on the phone.  I asked him if he had been to the immigration office, he looked at the date on the phone, and somewhat sheepishly replied "No, this week."  It expires August 2!  I was expressing my frustration to Matt and Tanya, and they said that you have a week from when your visa expires to leave the country.  That's not what EFL Law says (quoted below).  According to that site, if you don't leave by the date your visa expires, you get fined.  In my case, it's not just a matter of asking for a couple of extra weeks; it's more like 2 months.  Besides the fact, if the visa expires on 8/2 and I continue working and Mr. Kim goes to the office after that date to get the extension, then the office knows that I've probably been working after that date.  He'll most likely get it done in time, but it makes me nervous to think of the possibility that it won't get done.

Qn: After my contract expires, when MUST I leave Korea?
Answer: Your visa will expire on or about the same day as the contract. That is the date you MUST leave Korea or you will be fined by Immigration. BUT, if you want to stay after your contract expires, you MUST go to Immigration before the Visa expires, tell them the contract is expiring on such and such a date, but that you would like to stay in Korea (preparing to leave) and Immigration will grant you an extension of 10-14 days. It is possible to get an extension to this depending upon your circumstances.
BUT remember to go to Immigration before the working visa expires!

Sax or Sex?

Grace was so so so so so so so so annoying today.  She reminded me of Rooky in many ways.  We were talking about one thing and she interrupted to talk about something completely unrelated.  She asked me about my vacation plans.  I told her my plans, and then she asked me further questions about it.  I looked at the other students with a questioning look as I repeated what I had already said.  One of the students said to another in Korean, "Didn't she already say that?"  YES!!  Some students (ahem, one student) just don't (doesn't) know how to listen!!!!

The special 55-minute class at 1 PM was EXCELLENT.  Twelve kids were signed up for the free summer class, but only eight came.  Seven girls, one boy.  That in and of itself made it good, but I currently have or have had 6 of them, so had a good idea as to their temperaments, levels, what I can drag out of them, etc.  They also know how I teach, am familiar with my accent, and know the behavior I expect from them.  They were extremely quiet, but if I asked a direct question most would usually answer it.  I knew I could count on Anna or Tiffany to answer when no one else would.  Because there was no book, it was more lecture-style than I ever do, plus some pair activities.  They worked well, with only slight squirming towards the end.  Was I ever tired by the end of class!  My throat was dry and sore and I wanted to rest, but I had only 10 minutes before my normal day began.

I knew animals made different sounds in Korean and English, but other things do, too.  The latest thing I've learned is the sound a gun makes.  In English it's bang, bang.  In Korean it's bong, bong.

Over the summer vacation advanced students 4th grade and up will have a hacking test every day.  If I understand correctly, that means they must memorize 30 difficult words every day.  No playing for you, kids!

In yesterday's class we read about a boy who loved the saxophone but hated playing in the band.  At one point in the story it was shortened to "sax," which elicited laughter from most of the kids.  I wrote "saxophone" on the board and showed them its short form, then wrote "sex," which caused even more laughter.  I showed them how they're not the same thing.  Jack asked, "Sex--what is it?"  I told him to check his dictionary at home.  He looked mystified as to why everyone was laughing, then dismissed it with, "OK, talk about it!"  (Which is the title of the next section of the book.)  

Questions I've been wondering about and need to research: 
1.  "Everyday" or "every day" (Mona asked me)
2.  When writing out/saying the year, "two thousand and four" or "two thousand four."
3.  "a while" or "awhile"
Sure they're little things, but if I'm teaching them I need to make sure I'm teaching them right!

King of Nose Bleeds

The day went by surprisingly fast.  Things went smoothly, the kids were good, yet some weird and funny things still happened.  Most kids started their summer vacation today, so everyone was dressed more casually than normal, with lots of tank tops and sundresses and shorts.  The kids were happy at having more time to play, yet still studied well in my class.

In the first class of still beginner level 2nd graders, Maria responded to almost every question with a giggle and, "I am scared."  How's the weather?  Giggle, giggle, I am scared.  What day is it?  I am scared.  Giggle.  How are you?  I am scared.  Giggle, giggle, giggle.  Is that an OLT test question, or what?? 

Halfway through class Penny got upset with Kate and Maria because Kate pretended to be the teacher and wrote 100000% on Maria's perfect paper but didn't write anything on Penny's paper.  It took me awhile to figure out why she was upset.  She was crying, rubbing her eyes and nose, coughing, crying some more.  As she was calming down, her nose started bleeding.  A lot.  There wasn't any tissue, so purely from the not-getting-blood-all-over-her angle, I tilted her head back just slightly to contain the thick dark red blood.  Kate ran to get tissue, which Penny took and vigorously rubbed her nose with.  NO!  Don't rub it!  Hold pressure on it!  Can you imagine?  I wasn't sure exactly what to do (as there is no standard way to handle nose bleeds here), the kids were telling her one thing, I was trying to help but without getting near the blood myself (my parents' paranoia at hepatitis, etc. showing there).  

Then suddenly there was blood in her mouth.  A couple of the kids were freaked out by that.  It was certainly gross, but understandable because of my stupidly having her tilt her head back.  I took her to the bathroom with two other girls tagging along and had her spit the blood out in the sink.  Mina saw the train and followed us in, and was shocked at all the blood.  Who knew a tiny little girl could bleed that much!  Mina took over from there--thank goodness--and I returned to class with the other girls. 

Kate very worriedly asked why there was blood in Penny's mouth, so I tried to draw a picture showing how the nose and mouth are connected.  I think she understood.  Penny came back into class a few minutes later with tissue stuck up her nose.  She proceeded to pull the tissue out of her nose every 10 seconds or so to check on how much blood was there.  Don't touch it!  Just leave it there!!!!  She had to leave class one other time to spit blood out of her mouth.  When class ended her mother was waiting.  I don't know whether they were going to the doctor or what.  Seeing them together was nice--the mother gave her a hug, and thanked Mina and me for our help.

In the next class we did the listening book and they did an excellent job.  It helped that Ally and Jenny were absent!  At 4 PM they were incredibly silly, and constantly giggling like little girls.  But they stayed at a reasonable level and finished the lesson.

The 5 PM class was dense, like usual.  Lewis refused to do any work, while Rooky continues his talking off the subject.  OK, kids, let's open our books to page 30.  "Teacher!  How was your weekend?"  Fine, but it's not time to chat, it's time to study!!

The next class was good; the last class was fantastic.  Brandon is taking off this month because of financial problems in his family.  Just this month, so Kara says.  How is one month off supposed to do anything to help?!  It will just put him behind the other kids when he comes back!

Enough procrastination, I should get ready for my special class now.  It's tomorrow at 1 PM and I only have a vague idea of what I'm going to teach.

Not Exactly

Well, I can now access blogspot blogs from my home computer, but blogs.com, typepad.com, and other miscellaneous but innocent sites are still blocked.  While the current censorship may be ending, there's nothing to keep the government from doing it again.  The really nasty sites like Ogrish are still blocked.  It may take awhile to get all of the sites unblocked, and I'm sure the government will forget to unblock some.  We've already seen how unresponsive the MIC and company are.  Some new sites I've been reading and deciding if I like or not are on their own servers (as far as I know) and yet blocked:  Everyday Stranger and Ranting Profs.  I don't like the government deciding what I can read!!  On day 32 the ban on my site was lifted.  How long will it take for the other sites?

There was a good article regarding the censorship in the current international version of Newsweek.  I don't know if this is the whole thing, or just what they put on the internet:

INTERNET: A Blog Blanket
South Korea may be one of the most wired societies in the world, but some Koreans are beginning to wonder if Seoul is truly ready to embrace that status. Last Thursday a university student in the capital was fined for posting political parodies on the Internet. In 2003 some 18,000 Web sites were censored for crimes such as "undermining law and order." And since late June, about 50 Web sites have been shut down for allegedly trying to post the video of the execution of South Korean hostage Kim Sun Il. Authorities have also blocked large Weblog services, cutting off thousands of blogs that did not offer the video. Officials claim the blanket ban is merely a technical matter: although they could shut down Korean sites, they couldn't be as targeted with foreign blogs. Bloggers, though, worry that average Koreans are coming to accept infringements on the free flow of information as normal. Kevin Kim complains on his site, Big Hominoid, that Korea "has not come far out of the shadow of its military dictatorship past." While that may be extreme, Robert Koehler, whose blog, the Marmot's Hole, is one of the most popular English-language sites about Korea, says, "there seems to be this idea among Korean Netizens that the Net [is] a forum for expressing the power of nationalism." Trying to help the country's reputation, though, may only end up hurting it. —Mark Russell

Is the censorship over?

Another extremely hot day.  It took about 15 minutes for the adult classroom to cool off.  Only 2 adults this morning, and both were late.  No Grace!!!  It made things so much more pleasant to have students who actually listened!!  The special summer classes started today, so from 12~2 there were elementary school kids everywhere, and about half of the teachers here.  That made things quite a lot louder than normal.  The internet went out for awhile, and I thought it was only on the computer I was using, so tried to find the control panel internet connections part, but couldn't find it on Windows 98 (mine is XP).  All it took was Mona jiggling a wire for it to work again.  The internet expert!

I can access Blogspot from this computer!!!!  I'll have to try from home tonight, plus the other blocked sites that I have saved in my favorites folder.  I don't have any of the typepad or blogs site addresses memorized.  Perhaps slowly the block is being un-done, all without much an acknowledgement from the MIC as to what they were doing, the timeframe that the ban would last, etc.

Is it ever HOT!!!!!!

There was a guest speaker at Simin yesterday, so the foreigners and the Koreans had church together.  The guy was an American in his 60s or 70s, with a slight southern accent.  He said a sentence, then the woman translated, another sentence, she translated again.  Despite that, it was good.  It was good for me to hear the Korean of the English that had just been said--I would pick out the words that I knew and guess at the meanings of others.  I'm pretty sure that at least a couple of times she translated incorrectly; I counted five times that she had to ask him for clarification/what a word meant before continuing.  At one point he said something about the scripture that had been read earlier, and added that we didn't need to read it again.  I didn't understand exactly what she said, but she said it while reaching for her Bible.  I think she probably translated that we were going to read it again.  But I don't imagine that that type of translating is easy.  I'm positive that they went over the sermon before the service, because she had no problem with words like "atonement" but did have a problem with an idiom like "a load on my shoulders."  Singing along with the Korean songs is a great way to improve pronunciation; they had the English words to most songs also on the board, so even though I was singing in Korean I knew what I was saying.  The air conditioning was AWESOME.  It was nice to hear a choir and see the orchestra.  I had a perfect view of the organist's feet--impressive.  After the service finished we met downstairs in our normal room to say goodbye to Holly and Jody.  They said they'd be back to visit, but that makes our small congregation even smaller.

Riding from Simin to Shinbok, John and I talked about the weather, among other things.  Ulsan is his hometown, and he said he's never seen it this hot before.  Usually it's around 30 degrees in the summer, but this year it's 35.  (That's in Celsius, people.  In Fahrenheit, it's HOT too.)

The Bible study was held in the kindergarten room today, so while the older elementary school kids were trying to listen and read English, younger elementary school kids and a few toddlers were running around, playing, screaming, etc.  I found it really hard to concentrate.  One boy around 2 years old took off his diaper but no one seemed to mind.  He was running around with only a t-shirt on, climbing up on things, rocking on a rocking horse type thing, being picked up and swung around by other kids, all half-naked.  At the end of the study we had orange juice.  To start one of the girls helped him drink from the cup, then she left him alone with it.  When there was a yellow puddle on the floor, the girl assumed it was spilt orange juice.  I looked at it--that's the wrong color for orange juice!  She thought maybe so, too, so inspected the boy, and found him still dripping.  She cried out to Octavia, who had started to clean up the mess, "Yuck!  It's baby pee!" then in English with a finger shaking at the boy, "Dirty!"

Octavia took me to McDonald's where we spent an hour and a half talking, eating ice cream, and drinking water (did I mention that it was really hot today?!).  The air conditioning on the 2nd floor was excellent.  She made me speak Korean a little, and explained a couple of things that I sort-of knew but didn't completely understand.  The first hour was nice, then I was ready to leave.  Another half hour, OK.  I dropped my bag off at home, then went for a walk at the soccer stadium.  There were tons of people out.  Some walking or riding bicycles, but many taking naps on the grassy hill or having picnics in any bit of shade that they could find.  In the passageway under the highway, a group of older people were having their picnic underground, complete with soju and a traditional Korean game (I didn't notice which one).  It was a bit cooler 3 flights of stairs down than on the surface.

At home I took a shower and ate a sandwich (I had lunch at Shinbok).  I did a little on the computer, but then turned on the TV and got comfortable in bed.  That was around 8 PM, and before long I was asleep.  I got up just before 10 to brush my teeth and turn everything off.  Going to sleep before midnight is extremely rare for me.  I guess all of the semi-sleepless nights caught up to me, because I slept the whole night until my alarm woke me at 8 AM.

JQ Meaning Confirmed

Yesterday I asked Mrs. Yoon about the 잔머리 thing.  The kids insisted that it wasn't slang--that even their grandmothers would know what it is.  Mrs. Yoon confirmed that, and told us that she was always telling her sons to not be like that.  Apparently many children (and adults too??) think it's a good thing to have a high JQ.  With the kids, they don't seem to understand/care that if you cheat on your homework, how are you going to do on the test?!  The same thing exists in the USA, I guess--do anything to get ahead, if it doesn't hurt anyone you should do it, if it hurts someone but it benefits you then you should probably do it, etc.