hagwons

So my friend the American warrior poet finally was fired by his boss, the hagwon owner, after a long and bitter battle between them.

A lot of us saw the signs and basically got Scot to hang in there, forcing the owner to sever the contract and thus having to pay the penalties such as giving Scot a months' salary. 

All this got me thinking about the various economic systems and how capitalism seems to be the system that is outlasting the rest, at least as far as our modern society goes. Yet, will it truly last in the long run?

The idea that each man gets rewarded according to how hard he/she works and how much financial risk they assume is, like most theories, great on the face of it. And, so far, it is working. Despite the fact that the risk-taker (owner, manager etc.) seems to take a short-term view of the labour pool.

What do I mean? Well, case in point - Scot will certainly spread the word that this hagwon cannot be trusted, the word will spread among others that it cannot be trusted, and as the reputation wanes, so will the profits, and eventually the risk taker will end up losing all.

Sure, the business may outlast a few changes of staff, but eventually a business that treats its labour badly will do the same to its clients, and then it is only time before it falls into total disrepute and bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, of course, the cupidity of human nature is such that socialism has failed and no clear alternatives to the 'dog eat dog' world of capitalism has emerged.

Icons

How ironic that two of THE icons of the late seventies and early eighties, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson have both died, almost within hours of each other.

Farrah, she of the hair and teeth and tan, golden and lean, every young male's fantasy and every young woman's object of envy, died of cancer. And how disturbing is it that the news reports are not only specifying the type of cancer, but are adding that little rider - usually acquired from sexual activity! And, at least in the NY Times, she is a sidebar, while...

...over on center stage, the king is dead, long live the king! Michael Jackson is reported dead of a heart attack, and the eulogies are there from family, friends, music moguls etc.

Now of course I appreciate that Michael was the bigger star, which probably accounts for the discrepancy, but is it only due to that? Forgive me for trotting out a feminist rant, but, if Michael had not died, would Farrah have had a front page spread? Or would she still just be a sidebar?

How do we measure their respective worth? Certainly in terms of fortune, Jackson wins hands down. In terms of notoriety he does too. So maybe we should ask, if another pop icon, such as Britney Spears, had died, given her notoriety as compared to that of Ms. Fawcett, would she have graced center stage?

Someone recently suggested that happiness is how many people tell your story once you are dead. I'm sure Michael Jackson is a happy man by this definition.

All work?

There is a mysterious thing that happens when we study something, then leave it and do something else. Know what I'm talking about?

It's as if, during the time you are not thinking about the new stuff, it somehow settles into your brain, and then, when you pick up the book or listen to the tape, suddenly it's all so familiar. And, you suddenly see connections you did not see while studying.

As teachers, therefore, it behooves us to grant our students time to do this. Time to go away and not even think about what they've studied, but to play.

Maybe this is where the old saying: 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.', comes from?

Wednesdays' child

According to the old rhyme, the child born on a Wednesday is full of woe.

Why exactly, is not clear. All the other days get reasonable things, some get great things assigned to them - Monday is beauty, Tuesday gets grace, Thursday will travel, Friday is kind, Saturday will work hard, Sunday gets the whole package of blithe and bonny and gay - so why is Wednesday the day for crying?

And, of course, it does not mean the rest of us don't get our share of woe.

Of course, this is just as arbitrary as thinking that all whites are racist, all blacks are lazy or violent, all Jews are grasping, all Asians are cunning etc. etc. The stereotypes are always there and are always arbitrary. How can we break free?

Bread

The transformation of some kind of grain (wheat, rice, corn etc.) into a loaf of bread by grinding it, adding water, letting it ferment, then baking it is one of the oldest of the kitchen crafts, and also, dare I say it, one of the most satisfying.

A truly great loaf of bread, hot from the oven, is surely one of the most wonderful things to eat - the crisp or chewy crust, the soft center gently aerated and smelling of sugars, yeast and flour - no wonder I used to hollow out a fresh loaf before my mom could get it home!

The bread of my childhood was a standard white sandwich loaf - square with a crisp crust and robust insides - just right to hold chicken mayonnaise or be spread with Marmite. The taste of this bread is still to some extent my touchstone when I judge other breads - does it have the same bite, the same flavour?

Korean bread falls far short from this standard, although they have suddenly learnt to make baguettes, and these will do in a pinch.

However, I've developed two recipes that I use to bake my own bread as and when needed. One is the traditional labour of love - kneading, resting, proving etc. and you should start this about 12 hours before you want to eat it; while the other is an almost instant bread, needing about 2 hours, including baking time.

First the instant bread.

Measure out two measures (cups, bowls, handfuls, whatever you have available) of flour. I mix white bread flour and wholewheat in equal proportions. Mix in about 1 tsp salt (more if you like salty bread), 1 tsp sugar and 2 tsp instant yeast. Boil some water and let it cool until you can dip a finger in without being scalded. Fill the same measure you used for the flour with this water and add to the flour mix. Stir with a fork or a heavy duty whisk until it is all mixed. This is quite a soft dough, very sticky, so dust your hands with flour when you do the next stage. Also check that it will hold its shape to some extent (not runny). Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, oil a baking sheet, then scoop the dough from the bowl onto the sheet and form it into a round or long shape, depending on you. Bake for 1 hour or until the loaf sound hollow when you tap the bottom.

Next, the traditional loaf.

Use two measures white bread flour, one measure wholewheat flour and one measure rye flour. Mix this with 2 tsp salt, 4 tsp sugar and 3 tsp instant yeast. Boil some water and let it cool to where it won't scald your finger but is still hot to the touch. Using the same measure as the flour, put in 1/2 a measure water and add 4 tbsp good virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil. Make a hollow in the flour mix and add the liquid. Work the liquid into the flour until all the flour is absorbed into the dough. If needed, add a splash or two more water, but be careful - this should not be a wet dough. Now comes the kneading - at least ten minutes or more of turning, punching, pulling, and otherwise mixing the dough to activate the gluten. Form the dough into a ball, place it in a greased bowl, grease the top of the dough and cover with cling-film and a damp cloth. Place it in a warm spot and leave it overnight or for twelve hours. The following day you can shape it into a loaf in a loaf tin, make it into small balls for buns, shape it into a cottage loaf - whatever you like. Then leave it again for about an hour, preferably two to prove. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for an hour or more, again until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Both of these recipes can also be used to make a deep-fried version (vetkoek) by dropping balls of them into hot deep oil if you want.

Add things such as seeds, raisins, nuts etc. if you want to the dry mix.

Enjoy!

Complaints

My friend the warrior poet, as he styles himself, has been in Korea for six months now and has a litany of complaints that he regularly rattles off to me, using these two phrases:

But wait, it gets better...

And then....

It made me revisit my first month in Korea via the journal entries I made at that time. Here are some of the entries.

26 March 2007

Well, I’ve been in Korea for just over a week now, and exactly one week in Seoshin. My arrival here last Monday was compounded of equal measures confusion, misinformation and Korean efficiency.

27 March 2007

Once I had settled on a flat (the second option) we had to furnish it – in my contract there is a list of items (headed sample inventory) but taken as literal gospel by my hosts. No substitutions allowed so instead of a bedside lamp, which would be really useful, I have a tiny little toaster oven! At least I have a really useful fridge and microwave oven, and a two-ring gas cooker! All these appliances and the actual bed, wardrobe etc. had to be bought in Sanyong, a bigger centre, to which Mr. Hong drove me. Here we also bought a duvet, a sheet (which is really like a very flat comforter with plush on one side and linen on the other, and which just lies flat on the bed, no tucking under!) and a pillow. Since all the furniture would only be delivered the next day I spent the night tucked up on the floor in my new duvet on top of my sheet. The thought kept running through my mind as I tried to get comfortable – I’m getting too old for this...

2 April 2007

Well well well – I never thought to say this but boy, does SA have efficient banks in comparison to Korea! Maybe it was just the language difference, or maybe its just me, but a relatively straightforward transaction such as remitting money to a foreign bank took on the aspect of Sisyphus’ stone. I’m hoping that Internet banking, which I have now signed up for, will solve this problem and that I will be able to transfer money fairly painlessly in future. 

5 May 2007

As to yesterday’s teaching – after nearly three months of fairly advanced reading, lots of sentence construction (all on paper, though) and lots of vocabulary (all via translation) we played Simon says with the grade one class. Out of them all (51) only about ten students could actually do what the sentence ‘Simon says touch your nose’ or any other body part instructed! It just goes to show that the grammar translation method of language teaching is great for producing literates, but not speakers of a language.

Unfortunately the worst part of it is that the schools remain wedded to it (it’s how they teach Chinese, too) and as far as they are concerned it’s all about whether the children pass the tests!

So, to borrow a phrase - 'wait, it gets better!' Although I have come to terms with a lot, and I live quite happily here after two years, some things have not changed - the teachers still translate everything while the kids still struggle with the most basic of sentences, the bank system is no better or worse and the people are still as efficient in one sense and confused and confusing in the other as ever...

Ideas worth spreading

Courtesy of TED, ideas worth spreading, I spent the past twenty minutes listening to Ken Robinson talking about the future of education.

Please please please - go there. Look at it and at some of the other videos they have there. It will certainly make you think.

The link is www.ted.com - easy enough to find.