Sort of Gangwon related

A Dr. Samia Mounts from the Seoul American elementary school recently visited a cement factory - probably in Donghae or Samcheok, and although that is not the point of her article in the Korea Herald, it is enough for me to discuss her article here (the two cities are in Gangwon).

The point of the article is Makgeolli and Makgeolli bread. She was on her trip and over-indulged a little. She still had a lot of makgeolli but felt unable to drink it. Instead, she made bread and it sounds delicious. It sounds good enough, and is so well explained, in fact, that I may try to make it myself. Seeing as I have never made bread before, that is quite an accomplishment on Dr. Mounts part.

I don't like to paste large sections from other websites, but here is the ingredient list:

Makgeolli bread

l 1 3/4 cups makgeolli (warmed)

l 1/4 cup olive oil

l 2 tablespoons sugar

l 1 teaspoon salt

l 1 package fast-acting yeast

l 3 cups all-purpose flour

l 1 cup sweet rice flour

l 1/4 cup sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

There are also some mouth-watering pictures of, well, bread - I can't say for sure that they are made from the recipe.

Though the fields lay golden...

I was given permission to escape the house for a bit so I went up Cheongdae hill/mountain. Though the colours were past their peak, it was still a scenic hike.

This photo was meant to show how the oak shrubs, close to the ground, still had their leaves and gave the hill itself colour.
The surprise snow on Monday is the main reason the colours are past their peak, and I suppose ruin the title of this post. Indeed, with Monday's weather, I guess the poem would have to be completed with, "something shouted snow." Anyway, I remember learning the poem (about geese flying south in the fall) in elementary school and it seemed appropriate.

Youtube has "Something Told the Wildgeese", if you're interested.

Now, off to Seorak Pines for a swim with the little guy.

Club ride and other pictures

I want to share some pictures but don't really have enough for a post on one subject.

One of Kwandongwife's co-workers belongs to a cycling club. Through her, he invited me out for a ride today. It was a beautiful and scenic, but short ride and I didn't feel overwhelmed.

I did run into some trouble near the beginning as the other riders all had mountain bikes and, though they stayed on farm roads, some of them were rougher than my tires prefer. Strangely, the rear tire lost air but wasn't punctured. They provided a pump and we were soon riding again.

The fall leaves have mostly fallen but there were frequent flashes of colour as we rode. The photo below was taken at he entrance to Seorak Dong, Seorak National Park.

Here are some of the cyclists. I had fun but did they really need to remind me to suck in my gut for every photo?

Before the ride, other Coasties were competing in a Jokgu tournament. I didn't stay long and my battery was fading so I only took a few photos. Here, a coastie has just kicked the ball over the net.

I learned a little about the dynamics of the game. Players in the back spend most of their time being ready for the high-speed shot, the 'spike' in volleyball terms. Near the net, the players wait for the ball to be somewhat controlled and sent forward. One of the forwards, in this case the one with the blue towel-scarf, is the 'spiker'. He mostly ambles around, waiting for the others to set the ball up perfectly so all he has to do is drive it with great power. Most of the time he appears very relaxed. I think the photo below catches some of that languor and apparent laziness. Oh, the man with no scarf doesn't have his hands in his pockets, he is wearing black gloves.
This photo is from Friday and was taken at my university. Clearly some students will be traveling. I am greatly amused, and cannot clearly explain why, that they are taking two gas heaters with them. I guess it is because they are so large, bulky and annoying to move. Note also the traffic batons and huge pack of toilet paper - they are prepared for road emergencies and mild food poisoning. Oh, there is plenty of beer out of sight, behind the ramyeon and water boxes.

Enjoy winter in Gangwon

The Herald has an article titled, "Climb and carve your way out of the winter blues" The 'blues' they write about seem to be those suffered by people living in tropical areas. I hope the tourism plans are well supported by more than awkward slogans as Gangwon could be well situated for such tourism.

I am disappointed, however, that the 'carve' in the title seems to describe how to ski or snowboard rather than carve wood. I would like to attend a workshop or two in that field.

Anyway, here is an excerpt:

Gangwon Province for one has begun actively promoting its various ski and snowboard resorts to potential tourists especially from all over Southeast Asia.

The province recently invited 120 Thai tourists from Chiang Mai for a tour of Nami Island - where the hit Hallyu television drama "Winter Sonata" was filmed - as well as an idyllic trek through the foliage covered Seorak Mountain.

A group of 16 travel agency executives from Malaysia were also invited on an excursion around the province's key attractions along with an introduction of various winter travel packages they had in store for potential inbound Malay tourists.

Last month, a travel seminar was held in Taiwan - considered the biggest market for Korean winter travel packages - where major travel agencies and brokers congregated for a summit to further enhance inbound winter tourism to Korea.

Of them, one of the new packages developed specifically for tourist from Taiwan was a tour tied to the forthcoming Hwacheon Ice Fishing Festival to be held early January next year.

One bit of snark, already covered by the writer:

A package aimed at potential Russian tourists will commence this winter season called "Rus-Ki," in the province's efforts to reach further out to non-Asian regions.

Although organizers might want to change the name of that package for obvious reasons pertaining to it being an offensive epithet which was used on Russians by American soldiers during the days of the cold war.

The article goes on to describe ice climbing and where you could try it in Gangwon as well as gives contact information for some ski resorts.

With the recent surprise of waking to snow, I think people are currently excited about winter. A state which dries up about mid February - the excitement, I mean.

They love me in Denver!

This was on fail blog, but I am sure they simply didn't understand the context. I am disappointed they didn't capitalize the first letter of my name, though, and left out the "kwandong..." part.

They are "ranked fifth smartest in U.S." - naturally, if they are reading this blog.

When to close a school: a Japanese study that might work here

Study

review of study.

Some time ago, I saw a link to a study that used hard data to predict when an epidemic is likely and so when a school should be closed.

I should point out that I don't know the exact definition of 'epidemic' - the study uses data to predict if an absentee rate of 10% of students was likely. Losing 10% of students sounds like an epidemic to me, so that's how I am using the word.

The researchers looked at historic absentee rates in previous flu seasons. When they found the magic number of 10%, they looked at the week previous. a single day of 5% absenteeism was a good predictor of 10% absences a week later, but two consecutive days of 4% was better and three days of 3% was better still.

This graph is from a review of the article. I don't know why the numbers are different.

In the study, absences were known to be due to the flu. This might be a problem at my university as students often use a simple prescription form as evidence of illness as an excuse for missing class. They should be using the official excuse letter (Korean "Hal-ae-sa" or "Seo-yo-sa") but many teachers are lenient. This means that some students might be faking the illness but also that the university might not be aware the student was sick.

I'm not satisfied with this post - my son wants some more attention, so I must turn away from the computer. Oh, not 'must turn away', 'get to play with my son'. I may look it over again later, but no promises.

Cold night

Autumn leaves and early snow on campus

The classrooms were well heated today- I'm really impressed with the physical plant people being on the ball and turning the heating on. Good work, guy.

This meant that I could enjoy the falling snow and not be inconvenienced by it. I will get sick of it, I am sure, but the first snowfall is always beautiful - also, I didn't have to drive today.

Some students seem mixed up about when Hallowe'en was. Kidding. Elections for student council are coming up and campaigning means looking silly hereabouts (why don't I have a permanent position?)

whole lotta snow here

I planned to check out the peaks to see if they were white-capped but I didn't have to look so far away -and I couldn't see that far, because it's snowing right here in town.

I took some photos but won't be able to upload them until this afternoon. I'm loving the fall colours edged with white.

Hallowe'en monster

It is a relatively cute monster - what with it wearing Winne-the-pooh pajamas and all. Still, a few students were terrified sufficiently for me to feel it was worth it.

On Thursday and Friday at University, I played a prank on classmates and coworkers at school. The craftsmanship was appreciated more than the effectiveness, I'm afraid. Still, a few students were briefly but properly terrified. As with fishing, the best reaction got away. I didn't have my camera ready for him.

Anyway, I made a dummy about a metre tall, dressed it in my son's pajamas, then taped a ruler -signifying a knife - to a hand. The most important part of the construction was the fasteners. It was hung from the ceiling at the head and toe, with the toe supposed to be permanent, while the head hook should come free, allowing the dummy to swing forward, attacking the person opening at the door. Obviously, there was a string to the door, but also an arrestor, so the dummy wouldn't actually hit the person - I am proud of thinking of that. A coworker covered the windows so people wouldn't see it ahead of time. Enjoy.

I can't tell if this is a deliberate pun

From the Korean Times, I found the headline:

Embracing Minorities Key to Fertile Nations

Perhaps the 'free hugs' movement is a way to embrace foreigners.

The article is a long and thoughtful one about maintaining population sizes, how the US and France are managing it in different ways, and what Korean could learn from the two disparate* examples.

I wrote more, then deleted it. I still think the title is amusing, but I am not sure how I feel about the article. Is it encouraging births out-of-marriage or merely reporting on it? Am I so conservative that I automatically disapprove of single-mothers? I need to think more about this article and I am not sure that I will be posted the results of my meditation.

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*vocab question:

This is the first time I have used "disparate" - it means something like 'diverse', right?

KOTESOL REVIEW # 2

Marc Helgeson always gives a great lecture and his main subject is happiness. This one began with his defense for wasting time on happiness.

He started by comparing educational psychology with 'positive psychology' -how and why people feel happy. Students who are having fun are more engaged and are more likely to remember things.

Alright, how can we use positive psychology in class? If you ask students to give compliments in class, look at the event chain. Students think about the English they need, give the compliment, then it is heard and remembered. It goes through the minds of the students at least four times.

He also gave attendees a 'happiness journal' for students. I expect to use it with my third year classes next year.

The material in this lecture was meant as a supplement or as directions to keep in mind during class and curriculum planning.

To learn more, go to his website.