Nov 2006

HIYA!

Friday night, after work, I bought a stone (granite I think) fry pan. I've been thinking I wanted to buy a fry pan. I found a stainless steel one (I don't want teflon coated ones) but didn't buy it because I wanted to compare prices. Then I thought about a stone pan. I don't know where I got the idea but it really intrigued me. So I jokingly asked a few people about it. Only one - a student - gave me a positive answer - that such a thing existed. So I asked the boss' wife and she called a place that she knows, told me they have stone fry pans and the price - about US$18. So I went and bought one. It's really neat. When I got to the shop and saw it, I said, "Of course. I've seen these before. At those restaurants where you grill the meat yourself at the table." I'll take a picture of it someday.

I haven't used it yet because I got the idea - from where I don't know - that it might need to be oiled or somehow treated before using it. So I looked around on the internet and found something that suggested it should. But no details. So I asked a few Koreans here but they all say nothing special is needed. No instructions came with it. I've thought about asking the boss' wife to call and ask the shop owner but she's so busy and ... never mind. If I damage it because I didn't treat it first, well .... I doubt it.

One of the first things I want to make is a kind of pancake. A Korean style one. I bought the mix and used it once. But at the time I didn't have a fry pan. Only a pot. So I put some batter into the pot and cooked it. Didn't work too well. Before I finished I heard some snapping, cracking, popping that I couldn't locate. Turns out that the pot has a lining or something on the bottom. It's a sheet of metal that is (still partially!) attached to the bottom, outside of the pot. Well, it started peeling off, I guess because of the heat. I've steamed potatoes and sweet potatoes a few times with no trouble. But this time I didn't put any water into it because I wanted to use it as a fry pan. Now I'm guessing that pots can't be used as fry pans! Shoot. My boss loaned this to me. So I went out and bought a new one. The pancakes that I tried to make didn't turn out so well. I don't know if they'll turn out well with this stone pan.

And there's a local food that I love to death. It's a buckwheat flour pancake rolled up with some shredded giant Japanese radish, some chopped green onion, and some toasted sesame rolled up inside. These are delicious. And a little while ago I found a recipe in English on the internet. Doesn't look hard to make but a couple of people have told me it is hard to make. The lady who I buy this delicious food from at the fresh outdoor market not too awfully far from the school said she'll show me how to make it next time I go get some. I was shocked to see that the recipe calls for PORK FAT! I'm going to learn to say "pork fat" then ask the lady if she uses it. I suppose I'd know the smell and taste and would immediately reject it just from the smell. So I suppose the one I get at the market doesn't have pork fat.

Anyone interested? Need buckwheat flour, nothing else is unusual, unless you're not familar with those enormous white radishes. Some Americans seem to know them by the Japanese name of "daikon".

One of my favorite meals is to take a few bananas and some vegetables and blend them up. Wow. A bit of cinnamon is nice, and / or some ginger. A tiny bit of garlic doesn't hurt. Some goji berries (aka wolf berries) is great with just bananas.

Troy.

HIYA!

I've been watching it on the internet for about 10 days or so. Since a day or two after it's inception. I like it okay but honestly, there's nothing so special about it for me. I'm glad to see what it's like but it's pretty tame. I often feel like Democracy Now! and even National Public Radio provide more thought- (and sometimes emotion-) provoking news.

I've known the name Noam Chomsky since universtiy and have been listening to lots of his lectures since I first arrived here in Korea. In some of his lectures he says that Al Jazeera is democratic and so of course, successive US administrations have criticized it.

Then when I heard on Democracy Now! that they were going to start broadcasting in English and that it would be accessible via the internet, I decided I wanted to watch. Glad to watch it but I don't see or hear anything spectacular or that I couldn't get in much more mainstream news programs. They even have sports. Yuck!

There's not that much criticism of the US. Certainly more critical of the US government than Fox News (which I used to watch in Thailand) but nothing that I've heard so vociferous against the US. A little while ago there was a show with a guy from the Iranian government, a guy from the Iraqi government, and a US military man in military uniform. The American was hardly sidelined, he got just as much respect and attention as the others, arguably even more than the Iranian.

And though the focus is on the Middle East, there is coverage of news around the world. There's a wide variety of programming. But the news show gets too much air time for me and the stories are too few. So there's lots of repetition, it seems to me. But this is a brand new program and who knows how things will develop. David Frost has a show on Al Jazeera Int'l but I haven't yet watched.

I wonder how this English language version compares with the Arabic language version. Some of the newscasters and others (like the weather lady) are white while some are not. I don't think I've seen any black hosts or hostesses but it's not all people from the Middle East by any means.

They say that no other news program has been launched on this scale. They say that billion English speakers around the world are watching. That's really hard to believe.

Enough,
Troy.

HIYA!

I've been thinking for a while now that educating children is like hammering a block into a round hole. Bam bam bam, pound, smash, bang, bang, bang. Violent, in a way.

I can understand why it "needs" to be this way, but it sure seems incredibly unfortunate. Seems there is enormous diversity among children (and of course adults). So to try to squeeze everyone into any one way of understanding, thinking, speaking, and acting seems harsh and severe. You see the effects in classrooms. Some kids enjoy the lessons, other hate them. Most are sort of in the middle, conforming to the concept of "Bell Curves".

I know there are other ways and I'd sure like to work with something, and of course, get better results than what I'm currently getting. My students are enjoying lessons a bit more than before, but I don't feel they're learning more. They enjoy the games, card games and bingo mainly. They're are a couple of games that I've dreamed up that are big hits but I only use them with the littler kids.

What I want is some way to get kids interested. That may mean to give them something they themselves decide they want to learn, or, I don't know. My boss says we can change the curriculum at the end of the year so I don't want to try to make lots of changes just now. I'm reading about learning and making small changes but I don't want to do anything major until the end of the year. I don't have lots of time between classes so lengthy planning for each class is impractical. I do of planning for several classes before I start my first class of the day, but I don't usually prepare for the later classes of the day. Time. I don't want to go in so early to really extensively prepare. So, a book that kids like would be great. And various other materials.

I've been teaching some card games but without the betting. We've played Go Fish, a game that I made up, and most recently, Black Jack. Kids love these games. I want to give them new ones so we can learn new language.

Had a speech contest today at the local Ramada Hotel. 50 or so kids from 7 schools got together at the five-star hotel for a few hours. A Canadian guy and I were the judges. Had a pretty good time and the kids from my school were generally pretty good. I get along pretty well with most kids. Especially since I introduced more games, more when I started the card games, then most recently when I started giving the kids "noogie" (I learned from Saturday Night Live years and years ago), which is knuckle taps on their heads, just for fun. They love it.

The curriculum and the books I'm supposed to use are way inappropriate. Apparently the situation at my school is typical in Korea.

Troy.

My lifeline at the temple used to call the head monk at the temple "my monk". I chuckled the first time I heard it. She now says "the monk" though I tell her that there's a kind of charm, something special about saying "my monk" though I don't say this when talking about the monk. I don't feel that close. It seems like a real term of endearment.

Anyhow, a couple of weeks ago she told me about this website. www.koreanbuddhism.net I've been reading it, slowly. Several days ago I was looking for a Dhamma Talk to listen to when I came upon this one. http://www.koreanbuddhism.net/hwadu/content_view.asp?cat_seq=3&content_seq=457&page=1

I scrolled up and down to find a link to listen but didn't find one. Instead I found a picture of "my monk". My eyes bulged and I smiled.

Read it if you're interested.

Just today I found these other two. The first is some biographical information. The second regards fasting and meditation.

http://www.koreanbuddhism.net/master/priest_view.asp?cat_seq=12&priest_seq=93&page=1

http://www.koreanbuddhism.net/life/essay_view.asp?cat_seq=25&content_seq=467&priest_seq=93&page=1

He doesn't speak more than a tiny bit of English so for sure these are translations. I don't know for sure but I suppose these are all there are of his teachings in English. I'll ask.

I asked my friend if they believe "our monk" is enlightened and she said yes. I myself don't feel anything special around him but do see him as a generous person. You need to be around someone intimately to get a better sense of whether or not they are enlightened.

Last Sunday he invited me for breakfast, at 6:30. I've decided to go tomorrow morning, Sunday, Nov. 19. Rice porridge and I don't know what else. Vegan for sure. All the food is vegan and most or all of the vegetables are grown at the big garden next to the temple. The garden is all organic too.

Troy.

HIYA!

It's getting so cold. So cold. The jacket I bought a while back on eBay isn't doing the job. It wasn't advertised as a warm weather jacket, but since it's waterproof and windproof, and a ski / snowboarding jacket, I thought, it's gotta be warm. Plus, it was only $45! Well, now I'm hunting for something else.

I was online a few days ago looking for "vegan jackets" when I eventually got to Patagonia's website. There are several jackets that they have that I'm interested in. Most are about $260.

I really like Patagonia's environmental things. Just say "things". And the only two animal products they have are non-chlorinated wool, and down. I called and talked with a lady there and she said the down comes from birds that are not plucked while they're alive. They're killed for other purposes and the feathers are a by-product. Well, I don't want that either. There are plenty of synthetic things, which of course, have their own drawbacks, but, well, we all gotta choose something. I make my own choices based on my own views and understandings.

Then a couple of days ago I went shopping at the local outdoor market. I stumbled on some winter pants. $15. I figured I'd try them. Wow! I love them. Well, with reservations.

When I sit down there's a feeling of warmth on my butt. I always wonder if someone had just been sitting on the chair and made it warm! Yesterday at work I inadvertently brushed up against the wall and felt a warmth right there. So I touched the wall to see if it was warm! Nope. Can't explain it. But I'm pretty warm with these things on. One possible explanation is the static cling. I've noticed a few times there is static cling. I wonder if this is part of the reason for the warm feeling. And just what is static cling and why does it happen? Is there any reason to be concerned with static cling? I've long wondered about these two questions.

Then a couple of days ago I saw some winter jackets on the street. $5! $5! I didn't look at them because I thought that a $5 jacket couldn't be very good. $5! But when I compare $260 and $5, I have to say I'm interested. And I can have the jacket immediately. I'll try them on next time I go to that place.

From what I'm told, this is probably the second warmest place in Korea. The southern part of the island is a bit warmer. A tiny bit.

I'm glad to know that the temple has heaters so we can keep warm while we sit and meditate at night. Otherwise I wouldn't go. We haven't started using them yet but it's not so very cold.

Troy.