Monday, January 30, 2012

Last day of winter camp

Well today is my last day of winter camp and I couldn't be happier. While I was happy for the overtime this month and will be extra happy when I start having to pay for school this summer it was a long haul and one that I'm happy is over. It only added two extra hours to my day but on Mondays and Thursdays it left me with eight classes for the day. It is also one of those 11-9 situations where your whole day is taken up with work. I think if it were 9-6 or something it wouldn't have felt nearly as long.

Anyway, off for one last class.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Major League Changes

okay, another off season baseball post, but with all thats happened across the Pacific can you blame me?

I already talked about two major Korean players returning to the KBO, so I don't need to say much about that. I am already excited for a Daejeon road trip to see Park pitch.

Yu Darvish, the best pitcher to come out of Japan since Daisuke Matsuzaka signed with the Texas Rangers for a $60 million, 5 years contract. Unlike other Japanese pitchers I think he has a real chance in the major leagues. He's big, he has power and he has been the best pitcher in the last 30 years in the second best baseball competition in the world. That being said, Texas is where good pitchers go to die, so it's hard to say how he'll do. Though as I said, I think he'll succeed. Elsewhere in the AL west the Angels have picked up Pujols and may have a team that will knock Texas off of it's AL Championship pedistool. It's finally made the west coast interesting in baseball and although it's WAY too early to make predictions I am excited for this season. As to my Pacific Northwest "hometown" Seattle Mariners...... I think they are in a lot of trouble. Contract extensions with Ichiro have broken down, Pineda was swapped for an unproven hitter and again we're hearing about young up and comers.But with all respect to this team, I haven't seen another Alex Rodriguez or Ken Griffey Jr. in this batch. Add to that all the games against Texas and the Angels and..... well if they don't lose 90 I'll be happy.

I guess the other big news is Fielder is in Detriot and the Yankees have solved their pitching problems. The Phillies still look good but I'm thinking this year is the AL's. Withh the improvements to the AL and KBO I'm excited for April.

getting over a bug

well the docs prescription seems to have worked and I'm on the mend. I have spent Saturday at home with a few good movies and finished taking my meds. I've also managed to get going on apps for schools in Canada and a couple that do distance classes and a thesis in person. Sunday I need to go out and do some shopping but overall a restful weekend to kill off the last of this virus. Hopefully next weekend will be a bit more exciting :)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Obesity vs. Smoking

Strange post I admit, but I was thinking the other day about how smoking is still so commonly accepted in Korea. Bars, many restaurants, public spaces all smoking friendly. It's something us westerners have a tough time adjusting to (I know my eyes burned here for three months when I first showed up). Koreans say they find it a bit much but many just seem to see it as a lifestyle choice. However, they seem way less forgiving on being overweight or obese. Westerners put it down to being shallow and superficial but the truth is, obesity is every bit as bad as smoking. It just seems that one culture chooses to condemn smoking while the other chooses to condemn obesity.

The more I thought about it the dumber it seemed. In Canada a smoker is somewhere between bank robber and pedophile on the list of bad guys. I was all in favour of making the smokers go in to special rooms to smoke. I was even in favour of making them go outside to smoke. But in many North American cities you can not smoke outside at the park. I mean, once you are outside that soccer mom giving a smoker dirty looks is doing far more damage to my lungs with her SUV than the guy having a cigarette is. Second hand smoke certainly isn't healthy and the smell is just awful but only constant exposure to it (say by living with a smoker or working in a bar with smoke) is proven to cause any real long term damage - thus why I favour making smokers go outside to smoke. In Korea though, smoking is a lifestyle choice and you have to deal with it. Complaining about it is rude and can hurt the other person. In Canada, you can get them fined hundreds of dollars for having a cigarette in the same open, outdoor public space that you occupy, even though it in no way effects you. But here's the thing, Obesity is the same. The mayor of Toronto got a bit of slack recently when he vowed to cut 50 lbs by June (he is 325 lbs with an ideal weight of around 220) because he said that he could not do his job effectively being so overweight. But here's the thing (and I never thought I'd be typing this) Rob Ford is right. You try carring around a 100lbs backpack all day and see how much energy you have by mid-afternoon. Carrying all that extra weight boggs you down, so presumably others who are more fit are doing more. How about airplanes or buses? I flew down to Vegas a few years back. $150 each way. On the flight down I get a guy next to me who's excess rolled over the arm handle and well in to my seat. I figured he was taking up about $45 worth of my chair. In countries with socialised healthcare systems obese people cost the system more than smokers do as obesity can lead to more long term illnesses than smoking. Something like 1 in 4 smokers gets lung cancer and another quarter get other cancers or lung illnesses as a result of their habit, but the other 50% basically get away with it. Obesity doesn't match up that well. In Korea these people are scolded for being lazy and bad examples even when the person is in no way effecting you personally, their body is still seen as something that you need to comment on to encourage them to get healthy. In Canada, you can get fired for complaining that you 150lbs overweight coworker has called in sick again and you have to cover for their lazy ass as you are discriminating against them.

I don't know what the point is exactly except that I think it's funny that two totally different cultures have massive hangups about someone else's bad habits and poor lifestyle choices.

visiting the doctor in Korea

The last few days I've been down with a nasty little cold, so yesterday I decided to visit the doctor to get some prescription meds. I walked in at 630 and gave them my registration card. Three minutes later I was taken to a doctor whose English was quite good. She sprayed my throat with antibiotics, took my temperature and gave me some nice pills. Total cost for the visit: 4800 won (about $4.50 US). I then went to pick up my meds. Three days of heavy antibiotics. Total cost: 2800 won (about $2.60 US). I'm already better but the weekend and a bit of bedrest can't come fast enough.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Out to Gyeongju

Well it's a four day weekend for lunar New Year and while I'm not doing a 4 night trip like I did last year I am managing day trips and some good rest. With that in mind I headed out to Gyeongju on Sunday with Mike and Kris to explore a bit and gt out in to the country. I had previously gone to Gyeongju three times in 2009 and had seen the major sites before, but it was there first time so we got up early and headed out.

You can read about Gyeongju here. In short it was the capital of the Silla Kingdom that was founded in the first century BC. For about 600 years there were three kingdoms in modern day Korea and Manchuria. Then in the 7th century Silla allied with Tang China and conquered the other two but lost most of Manchuria to the Chinese in the process. With only a slight move north to the Yalu river these have been Korea's borders ever since. Today it's a small town with a population of about 250,000 but at its peak it was a city of over 1,000,000. It is covered with ancient ruins, temples and artifacts.

We got there around 11, grabbed food and hit the major temple Bulguksa, which is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Korea and a centre of Buddhism. It holds several ancient relics as well as gifts from other Buddhist orders throughout the world. It's location in the mountain makes it a beautiful spot to explore as well. We then saw Anapji Pond, which is all that i sleft of a major pavilion built for the nobility to play in. We also saw a few other Silla era ruins including an observatory and burial mounds. By around 5 we had covered about 15 square kms and decided to head back to Daegu where we hit a makgeolli jip and then headed home.

Gyeongju is a really beautiful little city and at an hour by train an easy day trip.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Taiwan has successful election with KMT winning, so what does that mean?

The Taiwanese election is over, with incumbent President Ma of the KMT (Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-shek's old party) winning re-election. I don't know enough about internal politics in Taiwan to comment too much but for relations with China it signals the status quo. The KMT agreed in 1992 with Beijing that indeed there was only one China, but that which was the "real" China remains undefined. This is good for peace and stability in the region and of course for the Taiwanese, who continue to be among the wealthiest and most interesting people in Asia. I'm not sure what else is all that remarkable about this election other than the fact that Taiwan only had real election in 1996 following decades of KMT rule, which was often brutal and violent. Yet today you see very little evidence of that history, as Taipei is a modern world city on par with some of the top cities in Asia like Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong or Singapore.

Personally, I fell in love with Taiwan within hours of arriving in Taipei and I really hope to go back soon. It's a beautiful place with some of the most lovely people you could imagine. Taipei is an amazing city with a great vibe and the natural beauty of the rest of the island is also stunning and amazingly pristine for such a highly populated area. I'm happy to see the island prosper and hope it continues for years to come. As to independence, I'm a believer that if a group of people want to make their own country and freely choose to do so they should be allowed to. I support Quebec's right to cede from Canada (heck I encourage it), I love the Republic of Oregon or Cascadia idea that kicked around a few years ago where BC, Washington, Oregon and Idaho would become their own country (and I'd vote for it if it came up), I support every suburb in the Balkans becoming it's own republic if that's what they want and I support Taiwan's right to be independent if they wish it (though I'd suggest that they drop the "Republic of China" and just make the country Taiwan). Of course I don't expect Beijing to take my opinion in to account, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

So for the present check out Taiwan if you haven't already, it's a really cool little island.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

North Korean tourism is on the rise

following Kim II's death, tourism to the DPRK has actually increased. While I think it may be a few years away from replacing Thailand, Bali and Hong Kong on the top of the Asian tourist list, it has actually seen a real upsurge in interest. Personally I only know one person who has done the trip, and I hope he doesn't mind me linking to his site (if you really object I'll take it down David :). I've read all his blogs on it and it seems fascinating. From what I've read there and elsewhere the whole thing is strictly controlled, with your trip being part of a 3, 5, 7 or 16 day package with a group. Starting price for the 16 day one is 2000 euro's (about $3000 U.S) from Beijing. The whole thing seems strictly controlled, with your itinerary, accommodation and transport all booked in advance. You also must be accompanied by two guides (guards?) at all times who will give you all the info you could ever need about how Kim Il-Sung invented electricity and Kim Jing-Il hit 11 hole-in-one's the first time he played golf. I hear Kim Jong-Un has already taken credit for the extinction of the dinosaurs and the invention of the Big Mac.

Personally I'd love to do it just to see it, even if I can't leave my hotel after dark (actually they usually put you up on a small island in the middle of the Taedong River which runs through Pyongyang, you can walk around the island but don't think about crossing the bridge in to the city). I know some people criticise these trips, arguing that giving even $3000 to the Kim regime only strengthens them. However, you are the ONLY non-DPRK controlled entity many North Koreans will encounter and perhaps even a friendly smile from you will start to change their perceptions of the west. That being said, the only place you will have any contact with north Koreans is in Pyongyang, and that city is full of the 2.5 million party elite who benefit from the Kim regime and so maybe your trip won't do anything more than give you a chance to take a picture next to the statue of Kim Il Sung. I guess its up to the individual to wrestle with that one, but I have been to the U.S and China, the two largest military powers and violaters of human rights (China) oand national sovereignty (America) in the 21st century so I guess if I'm giving money to Hu and Obama I'm already a hypocrite. With that in mind if I ever get the chance to do a South Korean or Koryo tour and feel like parting with that kinda cash I'd do it.

Anyone else feel like a summer holiday to Baekdu-san?

Lee Seung-Yeop to play in Daegu again.

Lee Seung-Yeop, who most fans of Major League Baseball have probably never heard of but who is a household sports name in Korea and Japan, will return to his first base role after several seasons with Japan's Yomiuri Giants. Although he never played in the US, it was his at choosing, turning down a contract from the LA Dodgers and later the NY Yankees to play for Yomiuri.

As a side note, the Yomiuri Giants are the NY Yankees of the Japanese professional leagues. They benefit greatly from Japan's lack of a salary cap but have also managed to create several powerhouse teams and have put together over 30 championships since 1934. You'll also notice that virtually no Japanese player in MLB started with Yomiuri. Ichiro Suzuki, Daiske Matsuzaka, Hideki Matsui, Kosuke Fukudome etc. all came from teams like Chiba and Orix. This is because Yomiuri can pay at or close to major league salaries and can guarantee championships. Some commentators (mostly in Japan) have suggested that if one Japanese team could compete in MLB seriously it would be Yomiuri.

Anyway, at 35 he's a bit past his prime but in the smaller Korean parks (esp in Daegu) I have no doubt he'll be a powerhouse. He already holds the single season record for home runs in the Korean Baseball Organization at 56 (and he didn't even use steriods!) set in 2003. Anyway, with Park Chan Ho already back it could make Korean baseball fairly interesting this season.

Friday, January 13, 2012

well give that week a mulligan

well this last week has been one to forget. Not that anything especially terrible happened. BS at work that I won't get too into, as it's not too bad and doesn't really effect me at all, but would have me reconsidering a second contract there, though it's only one week after four good months so I do need to keep that in mind. Could also be my long days, and everyone else's this month, are effecting moods. Give it a mulligan

I'm putting together my Keimyung app as well. I've been looking at one 3.5 million won contract after another that require everything I have except an MA in TOEFL/linguistics etc. Not just in Korea either. Taiwan, China, Indonesia, heck even the US. But since I can't get in for March I must now wait until Sept. mulligan.

I have one more full, long week and then a four day weekend. Can't wait :)

Monday, January 9, 2012

my January weekend

well given my busy schedule during the week I spent Saturday doing precisely nothing. Unless you count playing Final Fantasy III and watching Hong Kong movies doing something. It was what I needed and I felt better for it.

Sunday I was a bit more productive. I got up and met JiWon and HaeMi in Seongseo for coffee and Korean chat, which I need. I hadn't seen JiWon since Kurt's going away thing (last August) so it was great to catch up. I then went downtown for Indian food. The place we went to was sort of a fusion place and so not exactly what I had in mind. The Chicken Curry was great but the Oriental Noodle salad was a bit less authentically Indian :P

After that we did some sightseeing (even now I haven't seen everything in Daegu). Nothing amazing, it was the first church built in Daegu (1898) and the Oriental medicine market. Neat stuff to see but as it was already geting dark we opted to head home and finish the tour later. On the way home we saw that the Catholic Church downtown (the headquarters for them in Daegu) had their lights out in full force so we stopped to take a few pics before jumping in a cab.

Here are a few pics:

the oldest church in Daegu

same but from the side

the Catholics all lit up :)

Friday, January 6, 2012

Park Chan Ho will be playing in Korea this season

Well it's old news but kinda cool. The first Korean born baseball player to ever make it to the major leagues will be playing next year with his quasi-hometown Daejeon Hanhwa Eagles (I say quasi because he's actually from Gongju, about 45 minutes west of Daejeon). Although his best days are 10-15 years ago (2000 being his best season) and he really hasn't been the same since the 2007 season when he suffered from internal bleeding and missed most of the season, it will be neat to see a real legend playing here. I'm sure his games will sell out well in advance in Daegu but with his Daejeon being 45 minutes up the road I invision a Daejeon weekend to see him when the Lions are in town.

Park is important to Korean baseball far beyond his actual talent. He debuted in 1994 but didn't become a regular in the Dodgers lineup until 1996. This is in line with the first Japanese players to make the move to MLB (Masanori Murakami's 1965 season aside). In much the same way that Hideo Nomo proved that Japanese could play at a Major League level and Ichiro Suzuki proved that the Japanese could hit at an MLB level, Park proved that the Koreans could play at the Major League level.

I'm not sure how many seasons Park has left in him (he's 38 after all) but it will be neat to see him before he retires for good. You can read about Park Chan Ho here.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Getting my butt kicked

Well my January schedule is going to keep me exceptionally busy, and may have me posting a bit less.

I've taken on extra classes at my school for the winter vacation. That means that instead of working 2-9 I'm working 1145-.... well anywhere between 8 and 830. It's great for the extra cash and it's not too much work and lets be honest, it's not much more than the 8 hour day most people work. After that I've been hitting the gym with Mike, my coworker who used to work out at the University of Florida where there football team trains and where Randy Savage used to work out. I'm dying doing it but it feels great and I can see improvement in a week. However, that adds 90 minutes to my day giving me a full weekday schedule.

Hopefully I can do more updating on the weekends.