My life is so swampy right now!

This is what I look like right now! IT'S TRUE!!!

Ok gang, I know it’s been forever and a DECADE since I last wrote a post and I am sorry. I wish I had some good excuse to give you like; I’ve been soooo busy earning a living (hardly even close to true), or I have just been so tied up with all of my super creative endeavors that I just lose track of time what with my painting and poetry. The truth is, I’ve had the time. Not gonna lie about it. The problem I have is that I have become such an overly avoidant procrastinator that I seem to go out of my to avoid avoiding whatever it is I plan on doing tomorrow! HOWEVER, for some unknown reason which my wife has had absolutely no part in (wink) I feel compelled to write you all now with an update and a few mental antipasti I’ve been cookin up these past few weeks. Bon apetite!
Update: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” A wonderful expression that in my mind conjures images of a large shiny boulder, truckin it’s way down a sunny hillside path, waving at the passing tree’s and crushing the obstacles in its path. Here’s another way to phrase it that’s a little bit more in line with how I’ve been feeling lately; “a sitting stone bakes in the blistering sun till night falls when creepy demons lurk in its shadow and gross stuff starts to grow on it as each day passes until after years and years of the same bird crapping on the top, the roots and bird crap eat away to its core and slowly crumble it apart from the inside out till there’s nothing left but dust!!! A little dramatic I suppose but that’s all I’ve got in my life right now guys! Ok, that’s not true. I have wonderful friends and family that care about me very much and lately, I can’t tell you how much I have appreciated the concern and the company. All joking aside, yes, I am extremely frustrated with the situation and yes, I feel as though Van’s and my life has hit a metaphorical Great Wall of China, but I’m doing what I can to stay busy and while I don’t seem to be handling things as well as I had hoped I would, CUT ME SOME FRIKIN SLACK, I’ve been apart from my wife for 6 damn months, I can’t get a steady job cause NO ONE is hiring part time, and I’m sick of being a 25 year old dependent FFS!!! OK, rant over, whining done. Truth is, things could be so much worse for us right now and we constantly have to remind ourselves of that fact when either of us is having a hard time dealing. Here are a few things I’ve been thinking about recently as I trudge through this mucky swamp.
Mental Antipasti: Concerning expectations: It recently dawned on me that part of the reason people get so depressed is that we get up every morning with the expectation that things will not have changed. My Visa situation will still not be resolved, I will still weigh 20 lbs. more than I would like and I will still be just as avoidant as I have always been. Then one morning, for whatever reason a cat decides to wake you just as the sun is rising by licking the inside of your nostrils. He looks into your soul and says telepathically; “didn’t see that one coming did you stupid?” and as he struts off with that smug, holier than thou cat ambivalence, you remember that each day starts with infinite possibilities. Thank you QT. Thank you.
Concerning affection: We are all aware that most societies, including ours, dictate that men be rocks when it comes to emotional expression. Things seem to slowly be changing in this department and I don’t think it’s any secret that Rogers men never seem to have gotten that memo. Recently though, I have begun to notice something about myself that I hadn’t realized before. I need affection. My emotional instability has caused me to withdraw a bit from my social interactions, as I’m sure many of you have noticed and that, coupled with not having my wife to gushy with has made me realize just how important affection is to me. Every hand I shake seems more important, every hug seems more endearing. On an analytical level, I realize that what I might truly be missing is the reinforcement of other peoples love for me, and I’m sure that that’s true but I’ve never realized just how comforting it can be to get close to the ones you love.
I’ve got more I wanna share, but let’s be honest; if I make this post any longer, I’d lose half my audience!
Love you all!
P.S. Phone status is sketchy at best at the moment so please shoot me emails if you need/want to get in touch. I’m trying to get better about communicating guys, I really am!

Mosquitoes GO AWAY!!

I have mentioned this before, probably multiple times, and most likely more times than you are interested in hearing, but I must once again whine about mosquito bites. The wonderful thing about the blogging world is that I can talk about what ever strikes my fancy, and when the actual walking, breathing human beings not in cyberspace are fed up with my grumbling, there is still the blogging medium to allow for even further complaints if I myself am not tired of hearing myself moan. So without further adieu let the grumbling about mosquito commence:

I love the outdoors, I especially love warm summer nights with refreshing breezes softly tickling my neck. What I do NOT love about the outdoors in summer, however, is the mosquitoes. We live in this beautiful secluded area surrounded by mountains and trees. I find our school an oasis in a desert of concrete, monolithic buildings. Coming home from the hustle and bustle of typical Korean city life, is incredibly relieving. All of my worries evaporate into the mountain air. I often go the balcony, lay in the hammock, attempt to live in the moment and think only about my breathing. In the evenings we escape our sauna of a lounge for a cooler place to hang out. But recently we have been joined by unwelcome guests, mosquitoes. And no matter the amount of bug spray used, they seem to zone in on my blood and ignore what is meant to repel them from sucking my blood. A couple of evenings ago, I choose to battle them with extra clothing. Rather than only using repellent as protection, I covered myself from head to toe in sweat pants a jacket, and socks. The only areas on my body exposed to the night air were my face and my hands. My hands were the first attacked. They made a b-line for the tip of my ring finger, distorting my fingerprint, and the spot directly under the cuticle of my forefinger. They had found my weakness, so I tucked my hands safely inside my sweat jacket. Or so I thought they would be safe. Little did I know that these beasts, when hungry, will be stopped by nothing, even clothing. I felt him first, the little blood sucker, and then in horror realized that he had found a way to stick his sucker through my clothing to find my hidden blood line. After this happened two more times, I gave up the fight and went inside to watch T.V. Now, I should say, I have never been tested for an allergy to mosquitoes, but judging by my abnormally violent reactions, I assume that I am allergic and no anti-itch cream would soothe the constant itching. Ice is my one and only cure and I sleep with it in bed. Typically at home, if I don't touch the bite, it will stop itching within a couple of hours and wont bother me, but not these suckers, these babies festered for days.

The most obvious bite, but taken two days after the biting occurred. The other two were worse but situated very close to my butt and I felt this audience might not appreciate getting so close to that region.

In class, my students noticed my most obvious bite in horror. In stationary store, we talk about how 4 billion trees are cut down every year to make paper. After discussing this, I try to drive home the point by asking,
"What lives in trees." I get lots of different answers but birds are always on the list.
"So," I continue, "what happens to the birds if they don't have a home."
"They die," some of the kids respond.
"What do birds eat?" I ask
Sometimes the kids know the answers and sometimes they just stare at their shoes.
"Mosquitoes" I say with fever, as they are my arch-nemesis. "And what happens if we cut down the birds homes, and they die?"
"Many mosquitoes" one kid will offer.
"That is right. Who likes mosquitoes?"

And as if to illustrate the point a mosquito zoomed over a child's head as I asked this question. "Look teacher, a mosquito."
"Kill it!" I screeched.

The class then went into a frenzy to kill the insect that no one seems to like or need. Many kids stood up and started slapping at the air. We all watched carefully, our hunting instincts alert, trying to track its movements so as not to loose it before it struck. We eventually captured him and I took great pleasure in killing it. It must have been a hilarious seen to any on looker, but if I can help it, I will allow no mosquito to exists in my vicinity as I know what they are after. I am not a violent person, and I don't say this about many things but I HATE with a capitol 'H' mosquitoes and genuinely wish that their existence would vanish. The other day, I tried to look up whether mosquitoes had a greater purpose in the animal kingdom, and I could find non except that they provide food for animals such as dragonflies and birds, but I am pretty sure those animals could find another source of food if the mosquitoes were to disappear for all eternity. Whose with me!?

The inflamed areas would grow and decrease depending on the heat of the room. Occasionally the inflammation would snake all the way to inside of my elbow, which I found odd. I wouldn't have believed it to be a mosquito bite had I not caught him red-handed.

p.s. I have been told in the past that mosquitoes are actually female, but I don't have concrete facts on this so I took liberty to call them males. :)

Amazing

What is it that you see? What do you think this is?

When I first saw this photo, I thought it was just another piece of amazing artwork. A really beautiful flower maybe.

If you said that this is a high resolution photo of a sunspot, and first ever model of a full sunspot you would be correct!!

What is a sunspot?
A sunspot is basically a blemish on the Sun, like the acne of stars. I wish my pimples were as beautiful as this, then maybe I wouldn't mind them so much.

It's amazing what is out there isn't it. So many beautiful things. When life doesn't seem very kind, it's nice to have reminders of the awe inspiring elegance of nature. It helps to remove us from our own negative thoughts, to bring us back to the world beyond us.

What happens without A.C.?

The simple answer: We melt !


Hot air rises. It creeps up the carpeted stairs, and wriggles it's way up to the tippity top, until there is no where else for it to go. The air molecules physically change once they find themselves on the fourth floor, the place where we live and attempt to sleep. It as if, they go wild once they realize they have no where else to climb to, and frantically search each nook and cranny for an escape route to some higher place. The air maddens as it bounces from wall to wall, sweating profusely and finding nothing. As we walk up the stairs, the air noticeably changes from warm to hot to unbearable. It is like walking into a wall of mobilized, demented and inflamed air molecules looking for someone to inflict suffering. And suffer we do. The balcony would be a wonderful reprieve if the mosquitoes weren't also searching for victims in hordes. One of our favorite activities is to sit on the balcony in the evening sipping wine and enjoying the breeze, however, we have recently had unwelcomed company. I, armed my body with repellent last time we sat on the balcony, only have two new bites to my name, however the rest of the folks suffered major causalities in upwards of 30 or more bites a piece. But before you casually blow off those measly two bites, I can assure you, my few bites were ferocious. So incensed in fact that they swole to 2 inches in diameter.

In the evening I lay in bed, with as few clothes as I can manage, praying for a breeze, a slight movement of the air. Trickles of salt water tickle my neck as they run their course downwards. My body softens in the heat, like an apple in an oven, and slowly the molecules break down into mush and finally liquid. I am no longer in solid form, but liquid Vanessa. I slide into the creases of the comforter I have on the bed for extra cushioning, slipping and sloshing as I become a river within the wrinkles of the yellow comforter. I imagine this happening, as the night air refuses to release the heat, but the savage stinging and itching caused by my monstrous mosquito bites bring me back to solid form.

Our A.C. should be fixed within the week, but by then I might actually have melted only to evaporate into thin air.

Ever feel like this?

This picture is the epitome of how I feel right now. I don't thrive on drama like some people, I don't even like drama,. I prefer things to be easy and uncomplicated. I don't even like it when there is too much drama in the lives of TV characters, I cover my eyes or hide behind a chair. I love to lie on my back staring up at the starry night feeling the peace and wonder of simplicity. But sometimes life has other plans than your own. Sometimes as your minding your own business finding your way along the yellow brick road, life hands you, a tiny bird, a spool of black thread and says, "move this tree from here to there, good luck." Is it worth it? Should one even strive for what seems like the impossible? I guess that is the ultimate question. Is it better just to walk away, or keep pulling at the thread?(Painting by Laura McCabe)

Peace

It's ironic that when I saw this photo, the first thing that came to mind was peace and tranquility and how badly I crave that in my life at this point. It is ironic because this is a picture of a forest in Brazil burning. The smoke which I mistook for haze, adds to the allure, even. I guess it goes to show, that what looks like peace in someone else's life, might not be what you were searching for after all. Somehow, even after the knowledge of what this photo is, I still feel that quiet sensation within when looking at it; that feeling that most people feel when looking at the ocean in the moonlight, or listening to the sound of the rain on a tin roof. Somehow, amongst the caos, this photo captures the essense of tranquility. I wonder if someone took a picture of my soul if they could capture a similar image, one that portrayed calm, but somehow only captured the eye of the storm.

A Korean wedding

We attended a co-workers wedding a little over a month ago. I am not sure why I put off writing this post for so long, maybe I was still trying to gather my thoughts on the whole thing. Upon attending, I had few if any expectations, except from what I had been told by other foreigners: lots of food, lots of pictures and very short. So I am going to give you a step by step of the events of the day as best as I can.
-first of all it was very exciting to get to dress up. I don't get many opportunities here in Korea to dress in fancy attire, so it was thrilling looking for a fancy dress, shoes etc. Sometimes I am such a girl! I just love dressing up! However, I have to say I am disappointed with how I looked in pictures. I was pretty confident that I was rocking the house with my outfit, but my few pictures were unflattering- kind of a bummer.

(outside the wedding hall)

-We then had to take a bus to a hotel. We felt even more out of place than usual being so dressed up and taking a regular bus to our destination, a hotel I think.

-The bride, our co-worker Jessica, sat in a designated picture taking room for all who wished to take her picture before the wedding. She looked like a princess. A beautiful Korean princess wearing a very typical western style wedding gown.

- Unlike in a typical American wedding, we sat at a table in a huge fancy smancy reception hall rather than in a church or a designated ceremony room. This reception hall had a long run way running down the center.

-Several projectors displayed engagement and wedding photos. I found it odd not only that they would have wedding photos displayed before the actual wedding, but also many of the pictures showed her wearing a myriad of wedding gowns rather than the one I had just seen her wearing. After further inquiry into this matter, I discovered that brides in Korea do not purchase their wedding gowns, but rent them in a package deal. You can rent 3 or 4 gowns for the wedding photos which are almost all taken before the actual wedding day. Personally, I like this idea of getting to wear several different dresses. In our system you wear the dress for one day of your life and spend hundreds if not thousands on a gown that will probably spend the rest of it's lonely days hanging in your closet.

-The wedding began with the bride walking down the extremely long aisle to pre-recorded music. The ceremony was held all in Korean, so I am not sure what was said except that I was told it was mentioned in the proceedings by the officiator that the man should make sure and make his family his first priority rather than his job like most male Koreans have a tendency to do. They then bowed to her family, and they bowed to his (and at this point the groom and his mother both started to cry, it was very sweet). And then without the very important first kiss at least to western society they walked back down the runway (which felt more like a super model runway than an aisle as it was raised much higher than the ground.)The mothers walking down the runway

-Amazing food was then delivered in 5 courses to our tables. The food was western style. Our boss explained to us that they are typically given three choices of styles; Korean, western or Chinese. I am so glad she choose western, we got real steak!

-They came back in wearing different outfits, cut a funny shaped cake, poured and toasted campaign on a campaign tower with changing neon lights complete with a smoke machine, and that was the end. No dancing, no party, no drinking (very strange for Korea.) Watch, eat and go home, time for the next wedding. Seriously, these places have several weddings a day, and one on every floor as well.the cake

The whole event seemed surreal to me, in less than two hours they had presented a proper performance up on a stage, fed hundreds of people a very expensive meal and then said adieu. I realize that the same can be said about western weddings. "They are a waste of money, why spend so much on just one day." as I have heard many say. And as much as I complain about the costs of wedding because they are exuberant and over priced, I wouldn't trade mine for anything. I loved our wedding, and I loved that we could make it so personal and reflect who we were, why we were there and celebrate our union with all of our friends and family. This wedding however, wasn't really a celebration at all, it was more like a show, I mean it literally had a runway. The ceremony was short, they fed us and that was the end, time to go home. It felt incomplete and impersonal. I think the impersonal aspect of it bothered me the most. It just felt rushed as if they needed to get down to business so the next wedding could take place, like we were in a wedding factory. I don't know what a traditional Korean wedding looks like or looked like in the past. I know that traditionally they wear the hanbok, the traditional Korean dress, as you see the mothers in, but other that I am in the dark. It was a fun event, and to be fair by the end of it I was exhausted, even without a party or dancing, so I was even a little happy to be going home.
I am not sure how Jessica and her husband met, but according to wikipedia, many marriages are still arranged by parents or match makers. I have a feeling this particular union was what is refered to as a 'love' match as they were together 7 years before tying the knot. One reason, at least that I have infered for putting off marriage here in Korea, is the amount of responsibilty, mostly on the wife, that comes with marriage. Your husbands family becomes your family in the sense that you are responsible for the cooking and events that the family celebrates. A co-worker once told me that when she worked in the country one of her Korean co-workers said that she dreaded the weekends because of the amount of work they involved almost every weekend to entertain her in-laws.

Arranged marriage

Arranged marriage is popular in South Korea. Koreans usually refer to this type of marriage as Seon (선). Generally, parents arrange a meeting. The reason why this type of marriage is prevalent in Korea is that marriage in Korea is not just a matter of a bride and groom but a merging of two families. Because the potential spouses are pre-screened by the family, there is much less of a chance of family opposition to the marriage. It is extremely rare that a single Seon leads to a marriage; many succeed in finding a suitable spouse only after dozens of Seon meetings with different individuals. Following the initial meeting, the couple typically date for several months to a year before the actual marriage. The distinction between an arranged marriage and a "love" marriage is therefore often blurred, although in an arranged marriage the families tend to be more closely involved throughout.

Matchmakers

Matchmakers are common in South Korea. Families present their son or daughter to a matchmaker, or a single man or woman arranges a meeting with a matchmaker, to analyze their resume and family history for the purpose of finding a marriage partner who is compatible in social status and earning potential. Koreans keep precise lineage records, and these are listed on the matchmaking resume. Today, almost all single people meet their matched partner prior to the marriage and have more say about the match than was previously allowed. Matchmakers earn a fee for their services.

A Korean friend of mine mentioned once to me that it is still common practice to consult a fortune teller to help parents decide on important events in their childrens life such as marriage. According to this article, parents, armed with their child and the prospective spouse’s birth information (date, time, place, etc) will ask if the couple are a compatible match and if the union will be a happy fruitful one. Marriage plans, even today, may be cancelled if the reading is unfavourable.

Sometimes I think that parents in Korea are way TOO involved and controling of their childrens lives. Thank you parents for allowing me to make my own choices. I feel oh so much more appreciative now.

(me and some of my fav Korean ladies)

Hopefully I will get attend another Korean wedding in the future to compare the differences.

What do you do with pieces of a broken heart

A wonderful friend of mine sent me this little video and I thought it was great. I don't really have a broken heart as I am still fully in love with my husband, and as each day passes find my love continuously growing, not just from the distance but also from his absolute and unwavering positiveness in this dreadful situation. However my heart is hurting from being so far apart from my other half so the song is still relevant and oh so lovely.



p.s. I really want to find myself a Chinese bird that can play the guitar too!

Baseball- the favorite Korean pastime

We went to a baseball game a couple of weekends ago. I should start out by saying that my liking for baseball is minuscule, minute even. In fact, if we want to get right down to the facts, I don't like baseball. It's boring, no it's beyond boring, it's mind-numbing. It's like putting one's brain in a freezer and probably causes just as many brain cells to die slow painful deaths from boredom. The only other game I attended previous to this one was a minor league game in San Antonio with a couple of friends and we ended up sitting in the grass with our backs to the game eating pretzels and nachos rather than torturing ourselves by actually watching the incredibly tedious game. But, despite these facts, I decided with my own free will, to go, mostly because I had nothing better to do, but also because I wanted to see what a baseball game in Korea might look like. As it turns out, it is pretty similar to that of an American game. In fact this game, had a huge crowd, much larger than the only other game, which to be fair was minor league while this one was their pro-team, I had been to back home. The game was held in the Olympic stadium in Seoul and although it wasn't completely full, it was close enough to impress the likings of lil ol' me.

Differences:
- the cheerleaders were first in pink hello kitty outfits and then changed into clubing attire later on in the game.
- snacks included dried squid, tofu, ramen, and some other strange treats. NO HOTDOGS!!
-we found no water within the stadium to drink or buy
-a guy in front of us watched another baseball game on his phone while watching the live baseball game.
-No American anthem.
- Adjumas (old ladies) sold the concessions.

Yummy

Eating squid

Similarities:
- Huge, lively crowd that went crazy!
-they had many similiar cheers, except that the words were in Korean.
- Their noise makers (the large red balloon things that when banged together make a large "Bong" noise) were in English, not Korean and read, "The Pride of Seoul"
- As far as I could tell the rules were the same- but honestly you might as well be consulting a donkey.
- Beer was a huge seller- but rather than being sold for $8 as at home it was $3.
- it was still boring... even in Korea.
- they had funny mascots that danced the Margerena.

Before, in their Hello Kitty uniforms

After, in their clubbing outfits

Despite that the game was boring, I had fun. Plus, the forecast predicted rain all day long so I packed my raincoat and it didn't rain a drop! Major advantage considering the last game we went to was a soccer game in which we stood in the rain the entire time! Way better dry than wet!

Reading troubles

I love to read. I love to read so much so that I willingly admit to the nickname "bookworm." There is just something about curling up with a good book. You can enter into a world all on your own, using your own imagination to guide you. Growing up my favorite books were R.L. Stein thrillers and anything to do with the paranormal. I loved the thrill and the spookiness that only a mystery can provide. I then moved to mystery novels, my mother's book of choice. She would read a mystery and then hand it off to me. It got to the point where I never expected any other type of genre from her.

She once handed me a book called "The India Fan" by Victoria Holts. A few days later she asked how I was enjoying it. I explained that it was good however, the murder was taking a while, as I was 100 pages into it and no one had died yet. Come to find out, it wasn't a murder mystery which is why no murder had taken place. We couldn't stop laughing about that for days.

I graduated from murder mysteries in high school, when my book of choice centered around classics like "Gone with the Wind," "Jane Eyre" and "Pride and Prejudice." I found these types of books more rewarding than the easily predictable, choreographed murder mysteries I had grown up on.

Since arriving in South Korea, I have read around 13 books, however recently I have found I've lost my reading zone. The desire to pick up a book as escaped me. This might be a great title for a book "The Mystery of the Fallen Avid Reader," except that the mystery isn't that difficult to solve making the book a bit too short for my liking. Directly after I had plowed through some really wonderful books, I decided to pick up a classic I had been wanting to read for a while, "Catch 22." I didn't know much about the book except that it was a MUST read as it was a classic. However I hated it, ok that might be too strong of a word, strongly disliked it. And I can't say that about many books. There are few books that I refuse to finish, but "Catch 22" is one of them. The book is about the absurdity of war, but every character is insane in the book and no one makes any sense intentionally. I couldn't follow what was going on and 70 pages in I threw the book down in disgust. The next book I picked up was "Beloved" by Toni Morrison becuase it was in our community bookshelf and had raving reviews. However, I found the writing style bizarre. Let me clarify, I like interesting writing and I love metaphorical writing, but this book reminded me of reading Faulkner. WHAT IS GOING ON? Something about a baby haunting a house and a possessed wedding dress, and a tree growing out of scars from the ladies back. WHAT?? And that was it, two books in a row that I couldn't finish and I didn't pick up another book for a month. Has this ever happened to you? I know I can't be the only one. What books have you not been able to finish?

Recently however, I made a decision to climb out of my reading slump by picking up an easy, fun, pink, chick book that a friend lent me called "Can you keep a secret?" by Sophi Kinsella. It's kind of like reading a bad chick flick. Seriously, I don't think I have ever read a chick flick book quite as bad and as corny as this one, but it's entertaining and most importantly it got me back into the zone so I plan to finish it just because I need to finish something I start even if it is turning my mind to mush.

So that's the end of my tradgic reading troubles, two books I couldn't finish and the unlikely book hero that saved the day!

(If you ever want to keep up with what I am reading, you can click down below on my Shelfari book shelf. It is this great website that allows you to share which books you are reading or have read with friends and family. The thing I love about it is that I can keep track of what books I have read and what books I want to read in the future. If you love reading as much as I do, or even just a little, you can check it out and select me as your friend. )

The importance of sleep

As you may have gathered from previous posts, I love my sleep. Let me emphasize this point, I LOVE SLEEP partially because without it I am far from pleasant, probably on par with Godzilla! People who don't need very much sleep boggle my mind, and I might argue that they just aren't part of the true human race. Personally, I am similar to a lion in that I would prefer to sleep most of the day only waking for important events such as eating, grooming and relaxing. Lions sleep up to 20 hours a day and that sounds just about purrrfect, doesn't it. Ok so I don't think I could actually sleep that long as my body prefers 8 to 9 1/2 hours a sleep per night, but doesn't the lion's life have an appealing ring to it besides the hunting gazelles and eating them raw part? I chose to write about the topic of sleep however because of a discussion, a rather impassioned discussion, maybe a little too impassioned on my part about the importance of sleep. One of the teachers mentioned to me the other day that one of her students wasn't very excitable and she asked her what was wrong. The student replied that she didn't get any sleep. She had gone to school all day, then to her hagwon (private English school), didn't arrive home until 1 am and then had homework until 4 am in the morning before having to get up in the morning only to repeat the whole process all over again. I was horrified, absolutely dumb-struck at the absurdity of a sixth grade girl getting such few hours of sleep in order to remain competitive in Korea. At 12 years old, I was in bed by 10 pm if not earlier and still struggled to get up in the morning for school. But one of the things that alarmed me the most was how unhealthy it was for a young adolescent girl to be getting so little sleep. Inadequate sleep is correlated with many problems such as weight gain, depression, mood, safety, inefficiencies in academics that we often attribute to other areas in our lives.
Harmful to Growth

A study by researches at the University of Philadelphia has revealed that even children are suffering from lack of sleep and this may be harming their growth. The researchers at the University compared the sleep patterns in young children from Caucasian and Asian countries. Dr Jodi Mindell of St Josephs University in Philadelphia revealed that children from United States went to bed by 8.52 pm, while children in Asian countries were being sent to bed by 10 pm or later.

Children from India get 8 hours of sleep every night, while children from New Zealand slept for 10.5 hours a night. Dr. Mindell revealed that lesser duration of sleep hurts the growth of kids. Inadequate sleep affects the carbohydrate metabolism in children and caused impaired glucose tolerance. This impaired tolerance in turn affects the secretion of hormones that regulates fat storage. These developments will ultimately result in kids gaining weight. Lack of sleep will also mean less hormone secretion that can stunt growth. This is owing to the fact, that the growth hormone which is released by the pituitary gland is secreted during sleep. The study was presented on June 11 at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, in Baltimore called Sleep 2008.

Sleepy teens have more car accidents, are more likely to be obese, and are more likely to be depressed or anxious than kids who get enough sleep. Plus, sleep is physically restorative, so teens that don’t get enough impact their growth, hormones and metabolism.

Harmful to Academic performance
A new study has shown that getting more high-quality sleep positively impacts academic performance, especially in maths. The study's authors say that the findings provide overwhelming evidence of the importance of sleep during a period of development that is critical in adolescents, and highlight the importance of the development of sleep intervention programs for students in order to improve existing problems with sleep and daily functioning. (ANI)

In the March/April issue of Child Development, it was reported that one extra hour of sleep significantly improved school performance. Children with an added hour of sleep significantly improved their performance on tests assessing attention span and memory; children who lost an hour of sleep performed significantly poorer than they had before they were sleep-deprived.

Depression and Suicide

The findings are the first to examine bedtimes' effects on kids' mental health — and the results are noteworthy. Middle- and high-schoolers whose parents don't require them to be in bed before midnight on school nights are 42% more likely to be depressed than teens whose parents require a 10 p.m. or earlier bedtime. And teens who are allowed to stay up late are 30% more likely to have had suicidal thoughts in the past year.

"We feel like we can just eat into our sleep time," he says, "but we pay for it in many different ways."

Teenagers, sleep problems and drugs

According to a long-term study published in the 2004 April issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, young teenagers whose preschool sleep habits were poor were more than twice as likely to use drugs, tobacco or alcohol. This finding was made by the University of Michigan Health System as part of a family health study that followed 257 boys and their parents for 10 years. The study found a significant connection between sleep problems in children and later drug use, even when other issues such as depression, aggression, attention problems and parental alcoholism were taken into account. Long-term data on girls isn't available yet. The researchers suggest that early sleep problems may be a "marker" for predicting later risk of early adolescent substance abuse—and that there may be a common biological factor underlying both traits. Although the relationship between sleep problems and the abuse of alcohol in adults is well known, this is the first study to look at the issue in children.

The Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests six reasons to get enough sleep:

1. Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
2. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
5. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
6. Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

One teacher begged the question of whether all of this stress and excess studying was actually bringing Korea the results it desired. I don't know the answer and I would love to hear anyone else's opinion on the matter. Another teacher brought up the point that maybe the importance of sleep differs culturally and argued that possibly Korean children didn't actually need as much sleep as other children in other countries, as they have grown up in different environments. Most research I had read in the past had been conducted in the U.S.A as far as I knew so I couldn't dispute the validity of her argument. And to be honest, I still have yet to find any definitive answers that agree or disagree with this possible argument, besides that individuals can differ on the amount of sleep they need, but research across cultures seem to agree on the importance of sleep.
Below is a snippet of an article that comes from the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics which seems to suggest that sleep issues are not individual to one country or even one continent but runs rampant across the globe. As you can see I searched for sleep and differences in cultures and it helpfully highlighted my keywords within the article which did not disappear when I copied and pasted this section into the blog.
Many types of pediatric sleep problems are common to both Western and Eastern cultures. These problems include bedtime resistance, night wakings, inadequate sleep, and daytime sleepiness. Although prevalence rates may vary and the etiologic and contributing factors may differ somewhat across cultures, the similarities are often more striking than the differences. In particular, specific sleep issues that were perceived as being universally present across cultures included insufficient sleep in both school-aged children and adolescents, the influence of television and other electronic media on sleep behavior, the impact of academic demands and school schedules, and the integration of sleep practices with family lifestyles. The heavy emphasis on academic achievement in many cultures and intense competition for school placements and jobs was a commonly cited reason for insufficient sleep at many levels, which may imply some degree of "homogenization" across cultures, especially in urban areas (which tend to look quite different from the more rural and thus less "Westernized" areas in terms of sleep problems). There is universal agreement that sleep problems impact on children's health, learning and school performance, and quality of life, as well as on the family. In addition, there is increasing recognition that inadequate sleep may coexist with other unhealthy behaviors such as tobacco and alcohol use. The level of awareness of both practitioners and parents of the interaction between poor sleep and poor functioning/poor health also varies widely. There was a general acknowledgment among the participants that sleep problems are fundamentally a public health issue and need to be addressed as such.


So there is my speal. I may have gotten a little overzealous in my research or with sharing my impassioned zeal with you. I apologize if I have gone a little overboard and you feel that you are drowning in statistics. I have always loved my sleep and I love that I am justified in my attempts at getting an adequate amount of beauty sleep. Sleep is not for the weak, but for the strong!

My day so far

(painting by Caroline Wang)

What do I have to show for myself? Nada! zilch!

What have I done today? Absolutely nothing!

What have I done so far on my day off... here is the list of events so that you can grasp the severity of the word "nada"

12:01 am (before going to bed since it is 10 am at home Sunday)- Called my dad because I thought it was Father's day. Turns out I was wrong- that doesn't happen very often :) But as he didn't answer, I didn't make too much of a donkey out of myself by saying "happy father's day" on the wrong Sunday. But hey, I am out of the country, I have more of an excuse as they don't have Father's day here.

Night- Dreaming about escaping from zombies. Maybe that is a sign I watch too many zombie movies.

10:00 am- wake up with good intentions. I put on work out clothes, ate an energy bar, told Kyle I was going to call him later when I had finished with my run. Let my food settle while checking my email.

10:15- stomach hurts a tad- that run is going to have to wait

10:20- now it hurts worse. I know, I will lay back down for a short time and then go for my run.

10:40- put my sleep mask on, sleep is impossible with all of that sunlight! I know I was just going to lay down and not actually sleep, but sometimes your body just says "go to sleep" and you have to listen. Run? What run?

11:30- oops, time for lunch. I guess I will have to wait even longer for that run. I will just wear my stinky work out clothes all day for motivation until I go for the run.

12:00- Wow! Lunch was unappetizing. I basically just ate two fried eggs and rice. I really want to eat some chocolate now, but I have nothing to reward myself for yet. Now I really have to go for that run so I can eat chocolate!

12:30- chat with Kyle over skype. "How did your run go honey?" "what run?" Ha!

1:00 -thinking about what to blog about. I could blog about the baseball game we went to yesterday, but that would take too much energy and creative juices. I could write about how I made blackened banana bread in our funky extremely frustrating oven microwave. I would rather just write about how I can't get my lazy butt out of my bed to do anything productive.

Plans for the remainder of the day:

Obviously go for a run....
eat chocolate after run
possibly clean my room
write people emails
watch a movie!

Yeps sounds fantastic!

(Painting by Adam Rote)

Update**
- I went for the run around 8:30 at night after spending nearly the entire day doing nothing
- directly following the run ate cheese and crackers while sipping on wine on the balcony (with a piece of chocolate)
-emailed some but not all (sorry grandmother, I will email you soon!)
- did NOT clean my room :(

You Crazy

A few posts back, I wrote about the ENORMOUS suicide rate here in South Korea. One of the factors that contributes to the suicide rate, that I chose not to address at the time to keep the post from getting out of control, is the stigma with mental illness in Asia. In our classes because we are silly with our students, we often will jokingly call students "crazy." It is a word that all of the children know, even if they can't answer the question, "how old are you?" they probably understand the word "crazy." It is a word that we use loosely to describe many different behaviors, but never in a derogatory or purposefully hurtful way. However, a couple of months ago, we were asked to refrain from using the word to refer to the children as it is coupled with mental illness, which is seen as unacceptable in their culture. In my mind, probably because I come from a Western culture the words "crazy" and "mental illness" are not compartmentalized together. I hadn't even thought of the two words going hand in hand, but in Korea, they do and they try with all their might to hide any disabilities they might suffer from. The family is seen as at fault for having passed down faulty genes if there are any mental disabilities.

The U.S. Surgeon General in 1999 said, "Powerful and pervasive, stigma prevents people from acknowledging their own mental health problems, much less disclosing them to others.'' In Korea, most people with a mental illness are reluctant to talk about it due to the stigma associated with it. The afflicted person feels a sense of isolation as they maintain a facade of happiness in their daily interactions.

Seeking help outside the family, Kim said, "lets people know there is a defect in the gene," which could jeopardize the marriage prospects of siblings and other relatives. That belief, he said, was especially strong in Korea, where matchmakers were widely used.

"I've worked with families where the parents encouraged marriage almost as a cure for mental illness," said San Francisco's Lu.

(The Washington Post)

"Asians don't view it as a sickness or an illness, but as a family curse," said Esther Chung, a minister and part-time counselor at the Korean Family Counseling and Research Center in Vienna. "They try to take care of it themselves." (The Korea Times)

I mention this now, not because I have dealt with mental illness recently, but children with issues that go undiagnosed or unrecognized. And it isn't just mental illness that have stigmas; flaws, any flaws have stigmas. I understand this, I honestly do. I have flaws. You have flaws, yes you, my pretty little reader you. But it isn't something most of us flaunt. Most of my flaws I try to sweep under the blanket. I feel that I am a pretty honest person and I will confront my flaws and willingly admit to them, but they aren't something of which I am proud. I understand this feeling of wanting to hide issues from the rest of the world when often what we see is a facade of a perfectly happy family making us feel isolated in our own imperfections. We know that others have problems, but at least for me, it doesn't keep me from feeling at least a little bit of jealousy.

So when I talk about issues and flaws, I don't mean to say that they must be laid out for any and all to view and trample, but they must not be hidden away in shame. When these issues effect others in a negative way, they need to be addressed. We have two rival schools this week, and this week especially the children are violent. Just today, I had a boy punch another boy in the face. He looked angry as he was throwing his fist into the other boy's eye and for a few seconds following the punch, but as it was his friend, his face changed to from anger to that of regret and he didn't leave the other boy's side for the next hour after apologizing multiple times. I sent them to the front desk to work it out as it is difficult enough to speak another language but to do it when emotionally charged is nearly impossible.

Another girl in our class was listed on the "special needs list." When we first started receiving the special needs list, I was a bit confused because it would list things like; annoys other children, is violent, father is a gangster (seriously true), has the measles, has tonsillitis. I was expecting things like; has a learning disability, has difficulty concentrating in class etc. I have never once seen "has a learning disability" when it is obvious that some of these children do. This sweet little girl in our class is listed as "doesn't get along with friends," which equals "has no friends as has no social skills." And she is often spaced out, staring out into nothing. The kids tease her, but she has so far showed no signs of reactionary emotion. And she never makes any attempts to interact. She is such a sweet little girl and all I want to do is go up and give her a great big bear hug, but that wont solve her issues, and she may not even like being hugged. There is something wrong with her, that much is obvious, but I don't know if the cause is being treated or addressed as she is only my student for a week and I don't know her life history.

One week we had a girl who was obviously mentally disabled. She couldn't answer questions in English and I don't know how much Korean she spoke. She would make noises and throw her hands around. The rest of the school just ignored her and went on with their merry making except for one girl who seemed to be her friend and care-taker. After having these two girls in my class, I had many issues with this scenario. A) what was this girl doing at SNET in the first place when she obviously wouldn't be able to learn in this type of fast paced evironment. Why did her parents send her? B) Why was she sent without a proper care-giver? If in fact her parents or the school thought she would benefit or enjoy SNET, why did they send her without any helpers, when she wasn't able to cope on her own? C) Why was it allowed that another little girl was to take the position of care-taker. I understand that they were friends, probably so because the girl taking care of the mentally challeged girl, covering her mouth when she yelled out in class, keeping her from swinging her arms about, guiding her to the next class, also seemed to be missing some marbles, and yet they let the responsibilty fall on this little girl's shoulders. She wasn't able to participate in the games because she had to watch over her friend. I don't imagine and I would hope that in the USA this situation would not have been acceptable nor allowed.

It's an interesting world over here. Different than any other I have experienced. I am always learning, but sometimes it feels as if I am wandering around blind-folded through a maze. Or maybe I am the crazy one!

sleep walking dog

Kyle, don't laugh too hard when you watch this! So hilarious! Enjoy.

The bird that wont stop squawking

I concede I may not be the most patient person in the world. Some individuals may even choose not to use the words patient and Vanessa together in the same sentence fearing that a confusion of a tight-bonded relationship might be misconstrued. I am painfully aware of my lack of patience, but I would like to make the case for another quality which I DO posses which I see as equally beneficial; tolerance. I may not have an abundance of patience but I am tolerant, laid back even. Don't get me wrong, I will get angry, but in general, I let most things that I find irritating slide like melting butter down my back. An unlucky few people have seen my claws unleashed, and to those I apologize, but those few times are greatly out-numbered by the many incidents that could have been disastrous situations.

I mention this now, because I have recently encountered an arch-nemesis and my tolerance which is normally high as I mentioned above has been depleted. This arch-nemesis has come in a wickedly clever disguise for he is part of nature, something for which I have a deep love. He is a bird, but don't be deceived by the images that flood your mind when you think of little adorable love birds, this monstrosity which happens to also have wings is the most annoying bird to grace this planet. Normally I love the sounds of birds chirping, their calls are soothing and musical, but my bird, my villain's call is a far cry from soothing, rather his call is grating, like metal against metal or nails on a chalkboard. The noise he makes reminds me of a broken wheel on a cart such as you would find in the grocery store, high pitched and repetitive. It is an agonizing sound which sends shivers down your back. It is right at that level in the sound spectrum that is close to unbearable and feels as if someone is repeatedly jabbing my eardrum with a searing red-hot poker. It is something that you might try to ignore in the beginning, but as you continue to push the cart and hear that irritating, ear-numbing noise over and over and over again, you realize that the sound is slowly sending you over the brink of insanity. At least with a push cart, you can choose to switch carts once the noise gets to be too much for one person's ear to handle, but he lives outside my room, he has invaded my personal space. I have dreams, nay fantasies of loading a shotgun and shooting him from his perch. I have never even seen with my eyes my tormentor but I imagine that he is an ugly, oily rodent with wings and blood red, squinty and harassing eyes. I know what your thinking. You think that I am displacing my anger of our (kyle's and mine) tiring and frustrating situation on a poor innocent bird. And that could possibly be true, but if you woke up to this bird's high pitched screeching at 6 am in the morning, only to hear it again at lunch time every day, you might go a little bonkers and have violent, unwarranted fantasies as well.
I wish I could tell you exactly what kind of bird he is so that you might give me suggestions as to how to be rid of him without a violent crime, but I have never seen the pest, only heard him. However, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Below is my attempt at trying to record his screeching. There are two things to keep in mind, a) excuse my face, it looks awful as I had just broken out, b) the noise is not as loud in the recording as it is in real life.

An interesting Hike

Hiking in the great outdoors is one of life's greatest pleasures. I love hiking. I love being outside, surrounded my nature; the dirt, the grass, the water, the animals. I feel so at peace when I am able to escape city life and breath air as it was made to be, clean and fresh. However, the hike I went on recently included none of the escapes I usually look forward to, in fact, it was quite the opposite. It was a company outing with a group of 40 plus members. I had low expectations for the serenity factor upon hearing about the trip, but the event was a far cry from my expectations. I don't know what I was expecting but what I failed to take into account was the amount of people who live in this tiny country. South Korea has an area of 98,480 square kilometers (38,023 square miles), with nearly 50 million people. South Korea alone is about the size of Portugal, Hungary or slightly larger than the state of Indiana. But the difference in the amount of people is outstanding. While Indiana has around 6 million, South Korea has 50 million, 10 million people in Seoul alone. Texas, the largest state in the 50 states if you don't count that ice block attached to Canada, with three of the most populated cities in the USA only has around 24 million people. South Korea has one of the highest densities in the world, but what makes it even more dense is that between 80%-90% of those populations live in the cities. I am sorry if you are feeling overloaded with so many statistics, but the point I am trying to make here is that Korea is a itsy-bitsy country with 1/6 of the population of the US within it's borders. There are way TOO MANY people in South Korea. It's amazing that this peninsula doesn't just sink. It's a good thing Korea doesn't have the obesity issues of the US, then it might really be in trouble.

The company ever so often has company events,( you might recall the soccer game and the first lunch) which are not mandatory, but are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED, meaning you need to come or be lying on your death bed. The plan was to meet early in the morning (10 am on a Saturday is early!) take a bus to a mountain, climb up lots of stairs and eat lunch. That is what was rumored at least. The bus dropped us off and we walked past about 4 huge outdoor shops selling any gear you might have forgotten and realize you must have in order to hike a trail, before finding ourselves at the bottom of the trail. We stood around for a good thirty minutes waiting for something, someone, I don't really know, but while we waited we took lots of pictures to pass the time.

bored and taking pictures to pass the time

Not everyone was prepared for REAL hiking

Kimbap (Korean sushi usually with ham or cooked tuna instead of fish) was passed out along with frozen, undrinkable bottles of water and then the hike began. Taking into consideration that it was a company trip, the beginning of summer, and the population density, I knew that our hike would be a bit more crowded than usual, but what I wasn't expecting was to feel as if I were walking the streets of New York, while out in the woods. Honestly, it was as if I were back in NYC except with trees instead of shops, and bird noises instead of honking. I couldn't get over the amount of people we were surrounded by. All I wanted was that feeling of tranquility that comes with being out in the woods, and instead I felt claustrophobic, overcrowded and completely covered in sweat. The humidity must have been high because in general, I am on the low end of the sweating scale, and I am in pretty good shape, but my sweat glands along with everyone else's went into overdrive until the point where we might as well had just gone swimming there was so much salty water coating our bodies. There were a lot of stairs, near 1000 at least, which might account for a small percentage of the sweat, and it wasn't by any means an easy hike, but it wasn't Mt. Everest. We made it to the top in less than an hour. The top, some 5,000 m. above sea level, was more than a little disappointing of a view. The view was hazy, and mostly buildings, lots and lots of buildings, with a few trees doting here and there.(the view, but keep in mind this is Sepia colored, not the true color)

At the top, can you see the number? 5825 m. above sea level

Not everyone made it to the top, but here is a pic of those who did

This was a random monk on the path up the mountain.

He was very friend and spoke English

Climbing back down the mountain was more of what I was accustomed to in terms of scenery and the amount of people. Following two of the Korean staff, a fellow teacher and I found ourselves on a path which was unfamiliar. Throughout the way down, I kept having flashes of images that we would find ourselves on the other side of the mountain and end up having to climb back up to the top in order to find our original meeting place along with the rest of the group, but the boys (the Korean staff) did actually know where they were going, and we ended up right back where we started, miraculously.

On the unfamiliar path down with the other foreign teacher and two other female Korean staff who also didn't trust where the boys were taking us.

And as with every company event followed a meal with plenty of mysterious food, booze, soju, and rice wine. We were excited as they told us the meal was chicken, but as we pulled the "chicken" out of the pot of typical Korean juices and spices, the bones didn't seem to match our idea of a chicken, a turkey maybe or some other type of bird, but unless Korea has started breeding giant chickens, our food was and will always be a mystery. But living in another country, in a completely different culture is like constantly living in a mystery book, and I have started to become accustomed to not really knowing what is going on all of the time and that is ok. In fact, it can even be fun some of the time, sitting back in complete ignorance watching the world go by, not having a clue as to what is going on and just being able to laugh at it all. The lunch ended with ice cream (my idea). I am always irritated that we have these long meals with so much food put in front of us, but never the best part of any meal, nothing sweet to finish off the deal so when they came by asking if we wanted to order anything else, I asked if there was any dessert. Dessert- what a silly idea for a restaurant to have! But the convenient store next door to the restaurant had a bin full of different ice creams so to appease the silly foreign staff, that is what we were given!Rice wine

yummy

We were home by 6 pm for a nap before we were to go out 2 hours later for the farewell party for two of the British teachers leaving this week. Another fun and crazy Saturday in South Korea.

Not apples, tomatoes

A veggie market with your typical ajumha (older Korean lady)

So many veggies, way too pricey!

This game is called, how many people can you fit in the back of the bus. We fit 13.

Here is a little video from when we made it to the top of the mountain. I wasn't a very good videographer. Sorry.

South Korea and suicide

Last Saturday, the former president of South Korea committed suicide at the age of 62.

To read the entire article click here. It was a shock to the nation as he was a beloved president who was touted as doing many great things for his country. My Korean co-worker informed us Saturday morning of his death. She said when she heard the news, her heart started thumping uncontrollably. She couldn't believe "the president was dead."
President Roh Moo-hyun- a reformist shamed by a corruption scandal that tarnished his image as a "clean" politician — jumped to his death while hiking in the mountains behind his rural home in South Korea, his lawyer said.
Roh was hiking in Bongha village when he threw himself off a steep cliff around 6:40 a.m.

Roh left a suicide note.

"Too many people are suffering because of me," he wrote, according to South Korean media.

Roh, a self-taught lawyer who lifted himself out of poverty to reach the nation's highest office, prided himself on his clean record in a country with a long history of corruption. He served as president from 2003 to 2008.

But he and his family have been ensnared in recent weeks in a burgeoning bribery scandal.

The suicide — the first by a South Korean leader — stunned the nation.

Last month, state prosecutors questioned Roh for some 13 hours about allegations that he accepted more than $6 million in bribes from a South Korean businessman while in office — accusations that deeply shamed him.

"I have no face to show to the people. I am sorry for disappointing you," an emotional Roh said April 30 before speaking to prosecutors.

He denied the allegations against him during questioning, prosecution spokesman Cho Eun-sok said.

The president was the first public official to commit suicide but suicide is not uncommon in Korea. In fact according to a government report taken last year South Korea was the highest ranked country in suicide rates in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with Hungary and Japan following closely behind. And it is the No. 4 cause of death in South Korea next to cancer, cerebrovascular diseases and cardiovascular ailments such as strokes. According to the report compiled by the National Statistical Office (NSO), 26.1 out of every 100,000 South Koreans committed suicide last year, a sharp increase from 11.8 people in 1995. Sometimes listing just numbers doesn't convey the message, the suicide rate has doubled in the last ten years. The death rate translates into an average of 33 people a day taking their lives.

Although suicide is No. 4 cause of death in Korea among the general population, it is the leading cause of death for people in 20's and 30's. When I read that it was the leading cause of death in Korea for our generation, I had scoop my jaw off the ground. How could it be possible that so many young people would choose to take their own lives? So many that it is the NUMBER ONE reason for death!
The president was the first public official but many public icons have been setting a suicide trend. Choi Jin Sil had been one of the most well-known and popular movie stars at the time of her suicide. She was the mother of two and had a lot to live for, but after a brutal attack on her character and extra-circular hobbies in cyber-space she choose to take her own life.

The suicide trend has been fueled by South Korea's status as one of the world's most wired countries with a highly developed Internet infrastructure, meaning finding methods to kill oneself or partners for group suicides are just a few mouse clicks away. Websites promoting suicide and encouraging group suicide pacts have recently been banned as the government looks to combat the recent string of suicides. Keyword searches relating to suicide are now blocked by the government.

But why is Korea the leader in suicides? As with many questions, there is not a simple answer. An article in USA today says this,

Although there are different motivations for suicide, the common denominator is "stress and pressure," Lee said, pointing to an unfortunate side-effect of the country's rapid economic development.

"Rapid change is the biggest problem in all areas — the economy and family system," he said. "At the same time the support system is getting weaker."

There is extreme pressure on not only adults but on children and young adults in Korea. South Korea is often hailed as a success story, but with the rapid increase of economic growth came the pitfall of competing for highly coveted positions in the top ranking universities which are crucial to finding the better jobs. Living in a semi secluded area requires taking taxis weekly. Some of our taxi drivers are friendly, while others are not. One particular friendly taxi driver keen to practice his English told us that he was a boxer when he was in school. We thought he must have meant high school but when we pressed, we found that he had in fact been a boxer in University. Why would a man with a 4 year university degree drive a taxi? Which university one attends has a decisive impact on what type of job one is eligible for in Korea, much more so than at home. The academic pressures on children and young adults are often beyond ridiculous. They have no time to be children. Many children start classes at 7am and go until midnight and that doesn't include their homework. It is one reason we don't give grades at SNET. Our hope is that their time at SNET is more relaxing and fun-filled than that of their regular school week. It is a place where English can possibly be fun, rather than that topic that keeps them in school that much longer. The Asia Times paints a morbid picture of the pressures of getting into college from 2005:

During last year's CSAT [college entrance exam], there was a spate of student suicides. This year one student committed suicide in Seoul on the morning of the CSAT. Numerous school-related suicides occur throughout the year, with this past April being especially tragic. A father in Gongju drove to his son's high school and torched his wife, daughter and himself with gasoline because his honor roll son disgraced the family with bad grades. All three died.

Statistics are unclear as to how many students end their lives because of education-related stress. Numbers from the National Statistical Office indicate that more than 1,000 students between the ages of 10 and 19 killed themselves from 2000 to 2003. In another report supplied to the education committee of the National Assembly by the Ministry of Education, 462 students (both primary and secondary) committed suicide in the last five years. Two surveys, one by the Korea Teachers and Educational Workers Union, the other by the Korea Youth Counseling Institute, found that 43% to 48% of students have contemplated suicide.

Older Koreans have increased the frequency of suicides as well. Many feel they are a burden to their family and are better off dead. I find this topic very depressing and in all honesty when I began to write this post, I had no intention of discussing suicide in such depth. I wanted to address the president's death and mention South Korea's high suicide rate as a side note, but the more I researched, the more I was horrified. In the blog in which I found so many resources on the topic, I read about a sixth grade boy who committed suicide during his vacation because he could no longer handle the pressure. Somehow their reasons for suicide seem different, less emotional and more of an escape from society. The government is taking strides to combat this sad statistic with more outreach groups and facilities. Let's hope the needed change will follow.

Budddha's lantern festival

If you haven't noticed, I have been a little lazy lately with the blog. Some days I am really inspired to write, while other days I could care less if I saw or touched my computer again. I would say that these mood swings are intertwined with my productivity spurts and the status of Kyle's progress in getting here. There are periods of times when my dedication is as strong as Hercules and I am super productive all of the time, I work out regularly, I write often and I manage my time and money well, and other times when the dedication wanes to that of a pillow; soft, weak and squishy but since it isn't living doesn't do much but assist with sleep. (Do you like how that makes absolutely no sense? I couldn't think of anything clever so I went with an inanimate object which has no strength at all! Good thing I am not writing an essay for school.) But back to my laziness with the blog, I mention it because this post is about the Buddha's lantern festival nearly a month past and I am just now getting around to writing about it. Ooops! How did that happen?

The weather had been really lovely. The sun had been shining all week. My long sleeve shirts remained in their shelf for the entire week making way for my short sleeve shirts and even a skirt or two. It was all very exciting, this exchange of cold weather clothes for warm weather clothes. I had planned on going to the lantern festival with a friend until the cold, with a stubborn furry stormed back in to ruin the weekend. You may not have gathered by my multiple posts about my dislike of cold weather, that I really hate any type of weather that doesn't have the word warm and/or sun involved in it's description. I considered crawling back into my hibernating state, but was somehow persuaded to enter the land of the living even if it included engaging in battle with cold weather and possible rain. I threw on my coat, scarf and gloves and we ventured into Seoul to meet up with some other foreigners whom were friends of friends.

The lantern festival is a celebration of Buddha's birthday with festivities such as lantern making, games, activities and a parade. The Korean tourism website says "The lighting of a lotus-shaped lantern in Buddhism traditionally symbolizes a display of religious devotion to performing good deeds and lighting up the dark side of the world filled with agony. "
Unfortunately, the lantern festival which main attraction was making one's own lantern stopped making lanterns by the time we joined in on the festivities. We had read that it would be happening until 7pm but at 3pm the lantern making booths started to close. We wandered aimlessly unsure of what to do next for a while until we came upon the Buddhist temple. Many performers dressed in traditional Korean clothing were either on stage performing or lined up next to the stage waiting for their next performance. The kids were particularly adorable.

There were hundreds of booths lining the normally busy street with many different attractions. The group of people I was with however didn't seem too interested in stopping to look at the different booths, which I found odd and a little frustrating. Why go to a festival, walk the streets, but not stop to participate in the activities? What was the point in going to this festival if all you wanted to do was walk the streets in the cold? Alison, the friend I went with, and I nstopped at a fan painting booth and sat down to paint. The design was already on the fan. My job was to fill it in with paint, kind of a like a paint by numbers. The Korean lady helping out, however was unhappy with some of my painting choices. She informed me that I needed to change the color of the center part which unbeknownst to me was a seed. I tried, but was unsuccessful. Not to worry, I was told, for her "teacher" would make it beautiful for me. She whisked me and fan away to a little old lady running the booth. With little concentration, she took a brush, and painted away at what she saw as my mistakes. In the end, the fan was more beautiful than my original copy, but the whole experience was a bit strange. I liked the end product, but why couldn't my fan just remain in it's ugly condition?

After the paint by number failure we found ourselves at the next booth- a small lantern making booth! Hurray!! We wouldn't miss out on the lantern making after all. And we found it just in time because they were running out of leaves faster than you could sneeze. The process included taking a toilet paper roll thingy-ma-jig, dipping your finger in glue, smearing the glue on the toilet paper roll and sticking on the brightly colored lantern leaves in the shape of a flower. I was working as quickly as my sticky glue covered fingers would work as I could see that the flower leaves were running out quickly and the green leaves which went on the outside seemed very sparse. In fact, the only ones available by the time I was ready for the finishing touches were torn up bits littering the floor. In the end however, my lantern was able to be completed because a few booths down, another lantern making place had some left over green available. I was actually quite pleased with the state of my lantern- granted it wasn't hard to make and probably very difficult to screw up, but it isn't uncommon for me to find a way- I mean since my fan was unsatisfactory with the paint by numbers.

After the lantern making, we found refuge in a little Korean restaurant that served porridge. This isn't breakfast oatmeal we are talking, it is something similar to oats but not oats and served with chicken or seafood. It isn't sweet, it is a regular meal, one that Koreans are great fans of. Personally, I have decided, I prefer my oatmeal without meat.

After our strange dinner was the parade. If it had been up to me, I would have chosen to go home considering that not only was it too cold for my liking, the heavens had opened up and were beginning to shed light tears. Rain plus cold weather plus sitting outside in this weather equals NO THANK YOU. But that is what we did, sit in the cold drizzle to watch the Buddha parade. It was a lovely parade, and the rain even stopped after a while. My camera stopped working half way through the days so I have very few photos to share, but all in all, it was an exciting day.

The kiddos and apple cider vinegar is amazing!

Two quick things before I have to go back to work.
It's Saturday- and yes, I am working- don't worry- it's only every other Saturday. We have a Saturday program where the children in the community are invited to spend their free Saturday learning English (for a pretty penny of course). The program is filled with many fun activities and the kids generally have a lot of fun. For the past few times I have participated in Saturday program, I have taught first or second graders, but today, I am teaching third graders. My class level is pretty low, so through most of the class the children are speaking to me in Korean while I try to explain to them that I only understand English which can be frustrating for both parties as you might imagine. For today's program we are discussing music. One of the assignments was for the kids to draw a picture of their favorite entertainer/musician. However, my kids didn't seem to know any, not even the BEST BAND OF ALL TIME (according to our regular sixth grade kids) BIG BANG! Big Bang is like the Beatles of Korea, anyone and everyone knows Big Bang, even the household pets learn this word it is so commonly used. I knew I was in trouble when they didn't recognize Big Bang so instead I had the kids draw an instrument. Some of the girls asked me to look up some pictures on the Internet of a piano and a flute. And through miming asked for the picture to be printed out. There was no printer in the room, so being the clever little children they were, they grabbed their cell phones and took pictures of the instruments they were planning on drawing! I nearly died laughing. These children really are born with cell phones attached to their arms. It's amazing how technologically savvy they are.

Number 2 point- The wonders of Apple cider vinegar. Have you any idea of the myriad of ailments that Apple cider vinegar is claimed to be able to cure. It is the cure all and end of all of anything and everything. I just discovered this after a friend told me that it was helpful in preventing UTI (urinary track infections) and so I looked it up and my oh my what did I find!! It cures everything, everything I tell you!! Home remedies watch out, apple cider vinegar is going to put you out of business! Just look at this list. I haven't tried any of these out yet, but I plan to very soon. If anyone has had any experience with apple cider vinegar and it's cures I would love to hear about it.

ACNE BLEMISHES
Apply a solution of apple cider vinegar and water (2 tablespoons to 1 eight ounce glass of water) with a cotton ball several times a day. This will help reduce infection and dry out inflammation.
Another natural healing home remedy calls for the daily application of apple cider vinegar which has been infused with horseradish.

Prepare the solution by adding two cups of ACV to one pound of grated horseradish. Let it sit for two weeks, then strain.

For more information on the types of things that contribute to chronic acne and what simple steps to take to stop them, (using all natural products) check out Chris Gibson's e-book called "Acne Free in 3 Days".
This book can really change the life of anyone living with the effects of acne and resulting scarring and comes with a full, risk-free, 60 day money back guarantee.

AGE SPOTS
Apply daily, to these darkened areas of the skin, a solution containing 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and 1 teaspoon of onion juice. According to this home remedy, the spots should begin to fade within 2 weeks.

ARTHRITIS HELP
Message the sore joints with a liniment made up of 2 egg whites, ½ cup (125 ml) apple cider vinegar, and ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil. Also, simply taking the apple cider vinegar tonic (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) before each meal has been an effective natural healing home remedy for many people.

ASTHMA
Some people have found relief from mild asthma by taking the apple cider vinegar tonic along with applying a vinegar-soaked compress to the inside of the wrists.

ATHLETE'S FOOT
Athlete's foot is a fungal infection which is quite difficult to get rid of. One of the best home remedies involves soaking the feet twice a day in a 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. Or, you can apply pure apple cider vinegar to the affected areas several times a day and before bedtime.

BLEEDING NOSE
Soak a cotton ball in pure apple cider vinegar, have the person lay his head back and then place it in the bleeding nostril. This home remedy will help stop the bleeding quicker.

BLOOD PRESSURE
Take 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of honey in a glass of water twice a day to help lower blood pressure. The high potassium values in both natural healing substances helps to balance out sodium levels in the body, which aids in maintaining blood pressure within healthy limits. Apple cider vinegar and honey also contain magnesium, a mineral that works to relax blood vessel walls and thus lower high blood pressure. To maximize the benefit of this and other home remedies, take the holistic approach, and couple this with dietary modifications such as a reduced fat and salt intake, increased fiber intake, moderate coffee and alcohol, no smoking, and daily exercise.

BODY ODOR
Use apple cider vinegar as a natural body deodorant and eliminate the bacteria causing offensive body odor. For example, check out these two related home remedies:
Underarms can be kept free of odor causing bacteria by wiping them once a day with undiluted apple cider vinegar whereas foot odor can be greatly minimized by soaking the feet two or three times weekly in a pan of warm water mixed with 1/3 cup (75 ml) of ACV.

BONE HEALTH
Due to its mineral content, Apple cider vinegar helps to sustain bone mass and fight against osteoporosis. The important minerals involved include manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, and silicon.
Take the general apple cider vinegar tonic (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) to boost the body's supply of these minerals. Click here to find more about the mineral content of apple cider vinegar.

BRUISES
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in ½ cup (125 ml) of warm apple cider vinegar and apply it to the bruise as a compress.

BURNS
Apply pure apple cider vinegar to the burn, whether it's from the sun or a hot surface, to reduce the pain, to disinfect, and to supply nutrient required for healing.

CANCER PREVENTION
Apples and apple cider vinegar contain numerous substances that protect against many types of cancer. They contain beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant, and phytochemicals such as flavonoids and polyphenols that are also protective against cancer formation.
Plus they both contain pectin, a soluble fiber , which binds certain cancer causing compounds in the colon and speeds up their elimination from the body.
So eat an apple a day and take the general apple cider vinegar tonic home remedy (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) to maximize these benefits.

CHOLESTEROL REDUCTION
It is thought that the water soluble fiber pectin, found in apple cider vinegar, absorbs fats and cholesterol and eliminates them from the body. And at the same time, the amino acids present in apple cider vinegar neutralize some of the harmful oxidized LDL cholesterol.

Recently, researchers from Mizkan, a japanese food manufacturer, reported that regular vinegar intake of 3 teaspoons (15 ml) or more per day can significantly lower the level of cholesterol in a persons blood. They found that acetic acid, the major ingredient in vinegar, is responsible for this effect.
The results were presented at the 59th Annual Meeting for the Japanese Society of Nutrition and Food Science in May 2005.

Maximize this benefit by taking the apple cider vinegar tonic home remedy (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) and increasing the amount of fiber rich food in your diet (more fruits and vegetables) while reducing the amount of saturated and unsaturated fat.

COLDS
At the first sign of a cold, take 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in half a cup of water several times a day. The body becomes more alkaline during a cold and the vinegar will help to rebalance the body's acid level. If you have a chest cold, a long-standing home remedy calls for soaking a piece of brown paper in vinegar then sprinkling one side of it with black pepper. Place the peppered side of the paper on the chest, cover with a towel, and relax for 20 minutes.

CONSTIPATION
A low fiber diet and the reduction in digestive acids and enzymes as we age, can lead to constipation. More fruits and vegetables and a daily tonic of apple cider vinegar (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) is a natural healing home remedy to combat constipation.

CORN AND CALLUS TREATMENT
Soak your feet for half an hour in a warm bath containing half a cup of apple cider vinegar. Use a clean pumice stone to rub the affected areas then apply pure apple cider vinegar and cover with a bandage. Reapply vinegar and bandage the following morning.

COUGHS
A home remedy to sooth a nighttime cough is to sprinkle apple cider vinegar on a cloth placed on a pillow.

CRAMPS
Muscle cramps can be caused by a calcium and magnesium imbalance in the body and by a lack of vitamin E. To help prevent the recurrence of cramps, take a regular tonic of apple cider vinegar (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) along with 1 teaspoon of honey.

DANDRUFF
Apply pure apple cider vinegar to the scalp and work it into the roots of the hair; allow the vinegar to stand for a half hour or a full hour before washing your hair. This will help to destroy the bacteria and fungus that cause dandruff and itchy scalp. Click here for information on how apple cider vinegar can be combined with certain herbs to make an extra strength natural hair care product for combating dandruff and soothing itchy scalp.

DIABETES
A daily tonic of apple cider vinegar (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) supplies dietary fiber and other ingredients, which are beneficial in controlling blood glucose levels. As well, the acids and enzymes promote better digestion and nutrient absorption, which is impaired in many diabetes sufferers.

This home remedy has been the subject of new research that shows that apple cider vinegar can help lower blood sugar levels.
Click here for more details.

DIAPER RASH
Use a 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water to eliminate the bacteria and fungus that cause diaper rash.

DIARRHEA
Pectin, the water soluble fiber in apple cider vinegar, will help to absorb water in the intestines and provide more bulk for the stool. Also, intestinal bacteria transforms pectin into a protective coating which sooths the irritated lining. The well known over the counter diarrhea preparation, Kaopectate contains pectin. So take the natural healing apple cider vinegar tonic (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) to help eliminate diarrhea.

DIGESTION
As we age, it is common for people to produce less stomach acid (hydrochloric acid) which can lead to digestive problems. Taking the apple cider vinegar tonic home remedy (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) before a meal will enhance the action of your stomach's acid and digestive enzymes.

EAR INFECTIONS
Use an ear syringe (found at drug stores) to squirt a vinegar solution into the ear and let it sit for a minute or so, then turn your head and let the liquid drain out.

The vinegar solution can be a 50/50 mixture of ACV and pure water, a 50/50 mixture of ACV and rubbing alcohol or a solution consisting of one-third vinegar, one-third pure water, and one-third rubbing alcohol.

If the ear problem persists, see a health professional.

ECZEMA
To help relieve the itching and dryness of eczema, apply a 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water to the affected areas.

FATIGUE
It is thought that the potassium and enzymes obtained through regular use of a vinegar tonic can help beat fatigue. Some experts believe that the addition of 1 or 2 teaspoons of raw honey to the ACV tonic will also help.

FLATULENCE
Many people avoid eating certain foods such as beans due to the gas they produce in the body. This gas is a result of incomplete digestion and can be minimized by soaking the beans in apple cider vinegar prior to cooking them.

FOOT CARE
Try this home remedy for sore and tired feet which sometimes ache at the end of a long day: Add a cup of apple cider vinegar to a basin of warm water and allow your feet to soak for 15 minutes.

GOUT
Although not yet backed up by scientific testing, many people have found that gout home remedies using apple cider vinegar are very effective.
The procedure involves either ingesting an apple cider vinegar tonic or applying ACV to the affected area.
Click here for detailed information on gout and how to use apple cider vinegar as an alternative home remedy for gout.

HEADACHES
Research has shown that people have slightly more alkaline urine when they have a headache. An apple cider vinegar tonic will help restore your body's acid/alkaline balance.
According to one home remedy, inhaling the vapors from a small bottle of apple cider vinegar can also help or if you have a vaporizer, add about 2 tablespoons cider vinegar to the water and inhale the vapors for five minutes.

HEARTBURN (ACID REFLUX)
Heartburn or acid reflux is a condition in which some of the acid content of the stomach periodically backs up into the esophagus.
Even though testimonials abound throughout the net on the effectiveness of using apple cider vinegar to relieve heartburn, no scientific studies have been done to substantiate this.
A recent survey, however, conducted at the Earth Clinic web site found that vinegar was the best of all the home remedies suggested to relieve heartburn or acid reflux.

So to relieve occasional heartburn, try drinking the general apple cider vinegar tonic (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) before each meal.
Click here for more information on acid reflux and how apple cider vinegar and some simple lifestyle and dietary changes have helped others.

HEMORRHOIDS
Apply the natural healing abilities of pure apple cider vinegar directly to hemorrhoids to help reduce stinging and promote shrinking. Use a cotton ball to apply the vinegar every few hours until symptoms are relieved.

HICCUPS
To stop hiccups, try sipping a glass of warm water in which one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar has been mixed in. This is a lot simpler than many other home remedies for hiccups.

INSECT BITES AND STINGS
Bee and wasp stings, as well as itchy mosquito bites can be soothed by applying undiluted apple cider vinegar to the affected area.

INSOMNIA
Dr Jarvis in his book "Folk Medicine" recommends the use of honey and apple cider vinegar for those who have a hard time falling asleep at night. Mix one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in one cup of honey and take two teaspoons of this mixture just before going to bed. Repeat after an hour if required. (You can sleep on that one!)

Some people find that simply taking one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in 8 ounces of water just before bedtime, helps them to get to sleep quicker and sleep much longer.

JELLYFISH STINGS (Chironex Fleckeri and Chiropsalmus Quadrigatus)
The sting of the large box jellyfish, found along the northern tropical coastline of Australia, can be deadly. The venom injected by these animals is capable of killing humans within minutes.
When a sting occurs, pieces of tentacle may be left in the victims skin which can continue to release venom. However, by dousing the sting area with regular vinegar (5% acetic acid content), the further release of poison will be rapidly and completely stopped.
That's why Australian lifeguards always keep vinegar on hand and it's their initial first aid treatment of choice.

Reference:
Australian Resuscitation Council Guideline 8.9.6


LEG CRAMPS
Take the apple cider vinegar tonic regularly (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) to help the body's absorption of calcium and magnesium and thus protect against painful leg cramps.

MENSTRUAL PROBLEMS
A glass of apple cider tonic (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) in the morning has been reported to help reduce the flow of a heavy period.

MORNING SICKNESS
Many women experience nausea and vomiting, often in the morning, during the first three months of pregnancy. A home remedy reported to help keep morning sickness at bay involves simply drinking, as soon as you get up, a glass of water containing a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.

MUSCLE SORENESS
Apply a cloth dampened with apple cider vinegar and a dash of cayenne pepper directly to the sore muscle for 5 minutes and reapply as needed.
For sore muscles all-over, try soaking in a warm water bath into which you have added 2 to 3 cups of apple cider vinegar.

NAIL FUNGUS
Nail and toenail fungus infections are very difficult to cure even with modern drugs which many people prefer not to use due to reported side effects and poor effectiveness.
Fortunately there are many vinegar home remedies used to cure this condition some which use only vinegar and others involve combinations of vinegar with hydrogen peroxide, tea tree oil, olive oil, etc.
In all cases the treatment lasts for months and is usually applied to the effected area twice a day.
Click here for more information on nail fungus and a description of one of the simpler vinegar nail fungus home remedies involving just plain white distilled vinegar.

NIGHT SWEATS & HOT FLASHES
Apple cider vinegar has helped reduce hot flashes and night sweats for some menopausal women who for various reasons can't take hormones. Use the apple cider vinegar tonic regularly (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water).

POISON IVY & POISON OAK
The health and fitness expert Patricia Bragg recommends spraying a solution of equal parts apple cider vinegar and distilled water on to the affected areas to stop the pain, itching and ease the swelling. Cooling the spray in the refrigerator will provide even more relief.

SINUSITIS
To help relieve the pain of sinusitis, both Patrick Quillin PhD, in his book Amazing Honey Garlic and Vinegar, and Cynthia Holzapfel, in her book Apple Cider Vinegar for Weight Loss and Good Health, suggest drinking a glass of water with 1 or 2 teaspoons of ACV added, every hour for 6 to 8 hours.

For sinus headache, Marie Nadine Antol, in her book The Incredible Secrets of Vinegar, recommends adding an eight of a cup of ACV to a cool-air vaporizer and inhaling the infused-air directly for 5 minutes.
After that lie down for 20 minutes and wait for your respiratory passages to clear.

For excess mucus in the nose, throat, or sinus cavities (post nasal drip), try a solution of warm water and 1 to 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Place a small amount in the palm of your hand, block one nostril, then place the other nostril into the vinegar solution and sniff hard. You'll experience the disinfecting and mucus-cutting benefits of apple cider vinegar deep into your sinus cavities. Let the solution run down the back of your throat then spit it out. After that, repeat with the other nostril.

SORE THROAT
One of many natural healing home remedies for a sore throat involves gargling with a mixture of 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to half a cup of water, using 3 mouthfuls of mixture each hour.
As P. Bragg warns in her book "Apple Cider Vinegar-Miracle Health System", don't swallow the gargled mixture, because ACV acts like a sponge drawing out throat and mouth germs and toxins.

SUN BURNS
If the sunburn is localized, apply full strength apple cider vinegar on the affected skin to obtain relief. Do this by soaking a thin towel in apple cider vinegar and placing it over the burn. Leave it on to help prevent peeling and itching.
If the sunburn covers a large part of the body then try this home remedy recommended by Patricia Bragg in her book called Apple Cider Vinegar-Miracle Health System:
Take a cool bath in which one cup of ACV has been added. After soaking in the bath, gently dry the body and pat ACV directly onto the needed areas. Wait 5 minutes, then pat on aloe vera gel.

ULCERS
A preliminary study in Japan showed that taking a weak vinegar solution can give over 95% protection from alcohol-induced ulcers.

URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS
Drink a daily tonic of apple cider vinegar to help you keep the right pH balance in the urinary tract since the proper acidity creates an inhospitable environment for bacteria and yeasts that cause these infections.
Cranberry juice is also a well known home remedy for urinary tract infections. It prevents bacteria from attaching to the walls of the urinary tract.
For a tasty drink, try adding 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to an eight ounce glass of cranberry juice and benefit from both home remedies at the same time.

VARICOSE VEINS
Dr Jarvis notes that the following folk remedy is used not only in Vermont but also in Scotland, England and Germany.
Apply undiluted apple cider vinegar to the varicose veins at night and in the morning, and take two teaspoons of ACV in a glass of water twice a day. Shrinking of the veins will be noticed after one month.

WARTS
Patricia Bragg cautions: do not rub warts since this could spread them. Apply an ACV soaked gauze bandage to the wart overnight and in the morning replace it with a castor oil soaked gauze bandage. At night alternate the ACV with crushed fresh garlic and vitamin E (prick open capsule).

Click here for details on warts and another effective (and simpler) home remedy for the removal of warts using apple cider vinegar.

WEIGHT LOSS
The use of apple cider vinegar as a home remedy for weight loss is centuries old. Dr Jarvis maintained that an overweight person could lose weight gradually by taking 2 teaspoons of ACV in a glass of water at each meal. No change in the daily food intake is required except to avoid high fat containing foods.

Click here for more information on apple cider vinegar and weight loss.

YEAST INFECTION
According to one home remedy, relief can be obtained by the use of a vinegar douche, consisting of 2 tablespoons of ACV mixed in one quart of warm water, applied twice a day until the burning and itching symptoms of the infection have stopped.

Frequent douching however is no longer recommended, since recent studies have shown that this can cause more harm than good.
A vinegar bath, prepared by adding one cup of ACV to the bath water, can help provide external relief.

If you tend to get frequent yeast infections, try to find the cause (such as antibiotic use or a diet too high in refined sugars) and reduce or eliminate it.
Many have found that a daily intake of yogurt helps to get rid of this problem.

For more information on yeast infection symptoms and causes as well as an an All-Natural Cure that is quick, safe and effective, check out Sara Summer's e-book called: "12 Hour Cure for Yeast Infection".

Sarah Summer, a former yeast infection sufferer herself, is a health researcher and author.
She offers a full 100% refund for up to 8 weeks after purchase if for any reason you are not completely satisfied with her e-book.

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This is by no means a complete list of natural healing home remedies that use apple cider vinegar. Many more can be found in an excellent book titled: Dr Earl Mindell's Amazing Apple Cider Vinegar.

Mother's Day

I meant to write this post for Mother's Day, but as you can see, I am a little late, not even fashionably late, just plain Jane stinking late. I did call my mother on the actual day and I had Kyle buy her flowers and take them to her office, so my tardiness, although it is embarrassingly late, isn't too reprehensible.

In the United States in the year 1914 the United States Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday of every May to officially commemorate Mothers. It is a day of much needed recognition. It is a day to honor the woman who carried us for nine months, bore us, and raised us. From the many bratty Vanessa stories, I can attest that although my mother is only the mother of one child, it took much patience and perseverance to raise me. Personally, and I realize my opinion is biased on the matter, I feel that I turned out to be an OK adult (even one might say a good adult if that is really quantifiable) and much of the credit goes to my wonderful and loving mother. And I am very grateful to everything she has ever done for me, which is more than I could ever asked for in a mother. She deserves this honor, and day and so much more.

(My mother and me in my ornery adolescent years)

You might wonder however, if Korea has a mother's day. The answer is Yes and No. Parents day is celebrated on May 8th to commemorate both Mother's and Father's day together. It is not an official Korean holiday, no one gets the day off if it falls during the week, but flowers, especially carnations, are very popular gifts. My first question when I was told about this combined holiday was, "what if your parents are divorced? Who do you celebrate with?" The divorce rate in Korea is near 1/3 but it is still very much frowned upon and kept behind closed curtains. Most of the older generations are still married, but the younger generations are getting divorced with more regularity so the issue of which parent gets to celebrate on parents day wont be a huge issue for a few more years.

And although parent's day is not an official holiday, Children's day is and occurs only a few days before parent's day. Children are given gifts and typically have Children's day off to celebrate with their families, however the kids at SNET this year had to attend school. They were very dissappointed to be in school for the last year that children's day would apply to them. This article helps to explain the origins of Children's day and helped me to understand our kids true dissappointment.
If you ask a Korean first or second grader what important event took place on June 25 they most likely won't be able to tell you, but ask them what holiday takes place on May 5 and nearly every one of them will answer Children's Day. Children's Day in Korea is viewed by Korean children in a similar manner as Christmas is viewed by many children in the rest of the world -- as a time for gifts and fun. Because it is a national holiday, parents are free to indulge the whims and wants of their offspring by taking them to amusement parks, movies, parks, zoos, and other places that draw the excited laughter of youth.

Children's Day in Korea traces its origins to Bang Jeong-hwan, a children's story book writer, who, on May 1, 1923, wrote "An Open Letter to Adults." This letter called upon adults to, among other things, "speak to children with respect, and speak softly." One translation of Bang Jeong-hwan's letter states: "Children are the future of our nation. Let's show respect for children. Children who grow up with ridicule and contempt from others will become people who disrespect others, while children who grow up with respect from others will become people who respect others in turn." [1] According to various Internet sources, Children's Day in Korea was known as Boy's Day up until 1975 when it was officially accepted as a holiday, but, as seen below, there are other sources from the 1950s that clearly denote the day as "Children's Day." Perhaps the sources are confused with the Japanese holiday, on the same date, known as "Tango No Sekko" (Boy's Day). On this day a carp-shaped kite is displayed for each boy in a household. Considering Korea was under Japanese control at the time, it is very likely that this holiday was celebrated in Korea and that Bang Jeong-hwan, aware of the prejudices against little girls, declared it "Children's Day" to honor both sexes.

Although Children's Day is a celebration of youth and innocence, its history has been marred by the politics of adults. In 1946 South Korea moved Children's Day from May 1 to May 5, but North Korea chose to celebrate International Children's Day on June 1, "a date that was established in November 1949 at the International Democratic Women's League Council held in Moscow."[2] Perhaps the most poignant account of the terrible repercussions of the war upon the Korean youth is Time Magazine's description of Children's Day in 1951: "Some 30 years ago, in the days of Japanese rule, the elders of Korea saw no hope of freedom for themselves. But their children, they felt, might be more fortunate. They began to observe May 5 as Children's Day. Last week battered Seoul celebrated Children's Day with a parade by the police, who marched 600 strong behind a brass band and a huge placard: 'Children Are the Nation's Flower.' "The nation's flowers emerged from caves and broken buildings. Beside the budding, shrapnel-scarred elms along the streets, they watched. Now & then a youngster clapped or smiled, but mostly they stood with wooden faces, like tired old people who have found life very hard and who take little joy in parades." The article noted that the band avoided the South Gate and the bombed Seoul Station where "the abandoned, the homeless, [and] the orphans prowled restlessly, begging, stealing, conniving to stay alive." It ended by noting that the police handed out small packets of candy and food to the children, and those with parents then went on long happy walks, while those who were orphaned by the war and "had no parents to take them home melted back into their caves and cellars." [3]

Fortunately things have changed since the war and children are now able to enjoy the bounty of living in a prosperous nation. Parks, museums, and other venues of entertainment have been built for the benefit of children. One of the largest parks in Asia, the Seoul Grand Children's Park, was built under the guidance of then president Park Chung-hee who, echoing Bang Jeong-hwan, wrote: "Children are the heroes of tomorrow. May they grow to be gentle, vigorous, and wise." Let us hope.

Korea even has a Teacher's Day. Wikipedia said this about the holiday : Originally it was started by a group of red-cross youth team members who visited their sick ex-teachers at hospitals. The national celebration ceremony had been stopped between 1973 and 1982 and it resumed after that. On the celebration day, teachers are usually presented with carnations by their students, and both enjoy a shorter school day. Ex-students pay their respects to the former teachers by visiting them and handing a carnation. Many schools now close on Teacher's Day because of the rampant bribery implicit in the expensive gifts often given to teachers. Schools can use the day to have an outing for the teachers.

However, once again SNET is not a typical school so we did not have a short day or the day off. In the morning we received a red carnation corsage which was too heavy for my shirt, but was beautiful and thoughtful none-the-less. Our presents from the children were few if any. I was gifted a piece of candy from one of the passing students. Our boss took us to dinner which was fantastic. It was nice to be recognized for our hard work and I think that this should be a holiday also celebrated in the USA!

I'm still alive

No, I haven't died of a broken or strained heart. And no, I am not on the verge of getting on a plane back to the US. I know I left the blog untouched for a week in a bit of a sad state. I honestly don't know what happened. I was busy... I was distracted...I didn't care...I avoided. The last answer is probably the most accurate. I didn't want to do anything that included the words "need" or "have to." I didn't work out until the very end of the week, which means I let procrastination take hold. My room looked like a tornado blew through only touching down in my tiny room followed by a mad hippo race. I shouldn't really use past tense in that last statement because I haven't actually cleaned anything up. I only threw clothes in piles so it doesn't look so devastated, it now looks more like organized chaos.

I have a lot to write about and share but I still feel so tired. Even after 9 hours of sleep. I am not sure today is going to be the productive day I was hoping for. Oh well...

But I would like to leave you with something funny rather than depressing. One of the new teachers is from Australia and he sent this article copied directly from the FAQ section on the Australian tourism website. Ozzies have a great sense of humor, and the fact that they are actually answering these silly questions on their website says alot about that sense of humor. Anyways, enjoy!

Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain on TV, how do the plants grow? (UK).
We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.

Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA)
Depends how much you've been drinking.

I want to walk from Perth to Sydney - can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden)
Sure, it's only three thousand miles, take lots of water.

Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? Can you send me a list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay? (UK)
What did your last slave die of?

Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Australia? (USA)
A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not - oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.

Which direction is North in Australia? (USA)
Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Can I bring cutlery into Australia? (UK)
Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)
Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is - oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Kings Cross, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Can I wear high heels in Australia? (UK)
You are a British politician, right?

Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? (Germany)
No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense rattlesnake serum (USA)
Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca which is where YOU come from. All Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make good pets.

I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It's a kind of bear and lives in trees. (USA)
It's called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of Gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in Australia? (USA)
Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Can you tell me the regions in Tasmania where the female population is smaller than the male population? (Italy)
Yes, gay nightclubs.

Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? (France)
Only at Christmas.

Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
Yes, but you'll have to learn it first.

Things are looking....well......

Let me start this post by saying that I am still not in South Korea, nor do I have any real idea when I will be getting there. That being said, I THINK that I will be leaving by the 15th of this month. For those of you wondering, I am waiting for my working Visa application to be processed. I had been hoping that things would be sped up by Van's being over there currently and my employment at SNET, however things don't seem to be moving any faster. SO... in the meantime, I have been going through a very interesting stage in my life. Van and my separation is taking a rather serious toll on both of our emotional well beings. I think her last post made that pretty clear for her but it has been brought to my attention that I don't seem to be displaying the same sentiments. Let me just assure you all that I too have had my “sky falling” days. I have discovered that my personal choice for dealing with emotional stress is a far less productive, withdrawal tactic, contrasted poignantly by Vans more expressive and, in my opinion, more beneficial methods. So for all of my dear friends, whom I have not made the effort to get together with, I truly hope that you all understand I still love and care for you all very much. I sincerely hope that none of you take my absence to be an indication of anything other than my stress and poor management of it. It is selfish, foolish and inconsiderate and I am sorry.

So during my time of self induced seclusion, I've had quite a bit of time to reflect on my state of mind and I've realized a few things that I thought I might share. It's not that I think these are words of wisdom or anything. I just think that perhaps by sharing my thoughts, it might help to alleviate some of the burden.

“Distance does make the heart grow fonder.” There's a part of this common phrase that either got left off, or was never there in the first place. Either way, it's important. Distance makes the heart grow fonder of it's missing piece. Distance also makes the heart realize just how incomplete it is.

“Idle hands are the Devil's tools.” Apparently, the Devil likes to play World of Warcraft. No matter how high my level gets, I still have a very low sense of accomplishment. If only I could really vanquish evil with a huge sword and magic spells of death and destruction.

“Sometimes, the best thing you can do for someone is to tell them no.” I can't tell you how many times I've started something I wasn't able to finish because I couldn't say no to it. One of the great lessons of my life will be to learn the value of knowing your own limits. Maybe one day I will get there. Then again, maybe I won't.

“The fool spends his money on possessions, the wise spends his money on experience.” What good are toys unless you use them? I've got way too much junk. I hate that I'm a pack rat. Time to streamline and start investing in my relationships.

As you can see, most of my thoughts lately have been rather pessimistic. I suppose that for someone in my position, it shouldn't really surprise anyone that I've been a bit down lately but that's got me thinking as well. Some of the “new age” philosophy I've read about and have been told about says that for good things to happen in your life, you have to put good vibes out there. If you're thinking negative, you exude negative energy and that attracts MORE negative energy. I get that. I guess I would say that I even agree with it to some extent but here's the thing; I think life is about both. Reality is not purely positive, nor is it purely negative. Our emotional states are constantly in a cycle of ebb and flow, back and forth, happy and sad, angry and relaxed. For me, this funk I'm in is a part of the whole. A process through which I will ultimately appreciate the good that comes of it even more. We always worry about those around us who seem like their having a rough time and with good reason. Some people get in a funk and never really get out. For all of you reading this thinking, man, Kyle's goin through some heavy $#@! right now, you're damn right I am and to be honest, I think it's a bit over due. I always thought of my self as a very happy go lucky kind of guy. I'm the mellow one. I'm the dude that doesn't sweat the small stuff. I think I'm realizing now that that guy, the cool Kyle, that's the real me, and no matter what I do or what I go through, nothing will change my essence. But for now, I've gotta do a little spring cleaning of the emotions and there's a layer of dust a few years thick so bear with me guys. Like they say, “the sweet ain't as sweet without the bitter.”

The sky is falling

(painting by Jaz Harold)

I sit under a tree, the wind against my face. The breeze is warm but my arm hairs stand on end. The leaves rustle and mummer disturbingly above. An acorn tumbles from it's seemingly secure branch and my head stings from where it bounced before falling to it's resting place next to my feet. My hand searches for the bruised location and rubs away the pain. My eyes close shut and I let my mind wander but it isn't allowed to go far. There are strict boundaries to where it must adhere. I know where it always try to go but I must keep it from trespassing because if it finds the forbidden area it seeks all it will find is pain. But sometimes there is no controlling a mind. It can behave like a two year old, defiant beyond reason.

The first piece lands on my nose it . It is light and soft like a snowflake but warm rather than icy. I cross my eyes trying to get a better look before it takes to the wind. The second floats to my left knee which is pulled into my chest. I hold my legs tight and study this foreign blue object sullying my white jeans. The blue is vibrant but has varying shades depending on how I turn my head. The leaves murmur furiously. Their whispers urgent and frightened. My eyes are drawn towards their fearful words and another blue brushes my face like a kiss followed by yet another. I feel no surprise by the blue bits sprinkling the world. Rather I feel almost as if I have been expecting it, even waiting for this moment. I step out from under the tree. The grass has turned from green to an ocean of blue. The color is radiant yet blinding. I feel that I should avert my eyes, but I can't keep staring. Small lighter sky blue bits are stick to my bare feet as I walk through the blue shower. They don't fall straight as rain does, rather their floating is magical like a modern art ballet performance. They swirl, sashay, spin in formation and curtsy before they make their final landing in a parade down to the Earth.

Black chunks burn in the day sky where the blue once lay. The menacing black is darker than the night sky and it's growing presence is harrowing and disquieting. The air is so thick with blue now it is hard to see ahead and I struggle to breath. I am seated in what was once grass but now shows no remembrance of it's former green life. My hands finds a fistful of blue and I lift it to my face. When I was young, I loved cotton balls. I loved that the soft vibration they made when I rubbed it between my thumb and forefinger. I loved how fluffy and soft they were against my face. They were the equivalent to other children's blankies. Cotton balls were my comforter; what I held onto when I needed soothing. I would often take them and rub them on my face as I sucked lightly on the inside of my lip.

As I hold the blue to my face, I feel the familiar longing as I did with my cotton balls. Unconsciously my lip reverts to it's position of comfort as it had when I was a child. The blue feels like rose petals, rubbery and soft. It is warm and feels almost alive, pulsing with life but it's vibrancy is dulling as the seconds pass. It's aroma is poignant and sentimental. It is somehow one smell and yet millions of micro smells of everything I have ever smelled in my life; rain on a hot summer's day, Grandma's pecan pie, my mother's face creams, a rotting carcass , burning plastic. Even my emotions are aromatic; fear, hope, sadness and love are all present and piquant. The smells interweave together, but do not blend rather remaining separate like marbled bread.

My head lands heavily onto it's blue aromatic pillow, my eyes towards the ever extinguishing darker than black sky. Running from the darkness is futile so I will embrace it. Warm droplets dapple my hands and neck. The sky is falling but it's not raining. The water droplets are my doing, not because I willed them, but because they have been dammed inside their protected walls, but will remain no longer. And I don't attempt to block their promenade. It feels good to cry. It feels good to let them out away from the torment of emotions inside. They are streaming out of me as quickly as the blue is falling and I relish it. The warmth is comforting and makes me feel human, bringing me back to reality. I will wait, maybe when I wake the sky will have returned and then again maybe it wont have. I will wait.

painting by james roper

The artwork was found on artist a day. I felt that both peices seemed to demonstrate the mood and feeling I was trying for in this prose.
p.s. Please don't read too into this. I am feeling down but by no means should anyone worry about my emotional health.

Re-branding South Korea

Re-branding South Korea another article about Korea, you might find interesting.

South Korea has decided the world doesn't appreciate it enough, so it's spending millions of dollars to develop a national brand. Look out, Coca-Cola. You too, Czech Republic.

By John M. Glionna
May 3, 2009

Reporting from Seoul -- In the world popularity contest, South Korea feels a little like the ugly duckling that wants everyone to know it's really a swan.

Citizens flinch on hearing their country ridiculed as a place where politicians throw punches. They despair over a recent poll of foreigners in which four in 10 cited the nation's lack of "charm."

Then there's the outlaw cousin to the north. When much of the world hears "Korea," it envisions Kim Jong Il and his hermit state of North Korea, not the democratic nation that has long been a trusted U.S. ally.

Well, South Korea isn't going to take it anymore. The image-obsessed country intends to repair its maligned reputation by spending millions of dollars to develop a national brand.

A what?

In a campaign that has many scratching their heads, South Korea is convinced that it must match the efforts of companies such as Hyundai, LG and Samsung to promote its public identity. So it's taking part in an international ranking system to compete against other nations on first impressions of outsiders.

Early results are not encouraging. According to one recent Nation Brands Index, South Korea ranked 33rd among 50 nations -- behind countries that officials here whisper are lesser than their own, including Poland and the Czech Republic.

The United States ranked seventh. Germany was No. 1.

President Lee Myung-bak has formed a Presidential Council on Nation Branding and has announced the goal of moving to 15th place by 2013.

"Korea is the world's 13th-largest economy with some $20,000 in per capita income but ranks only 33rd in the global brand index," reporters here quoted Lee as saying. "This is a big problem."

Some find it refreshing that the nation cares about what others think about it. Others hint that it's a bit neurotic.

"Korea's problem is that it doesn't have an Eiffel Tower. Paris doesn't need a slogan -- it's Paris," said public relations executive Phillip Raskin, a branding committee advisor.

"Paris would be attractive even if its slogan was 'Go to hell.' In fact, it might actually be that."

Analysts say South Korea has been dealt a bad hand.

"One unfortunate thing is that South Korea shares its name with a rogue state," said Simon Anholt, a British government advisor who devised the ranking system. "The link to North Korea is bad news. It gets painted with the same brush."

Despite its ancient culture, South Korea is a relatively new player on the modern stage.

"It just hasn't been a significant country for very long," Anholt said. "Other nations have been sending a stream of cultural or political ambassadors into global consumption for many years. Korea hasn't been doing that."

But the ambitious Lee wants to change that, introducing programs to promote the South Korean martial art tae kwon do and pitching the nation as an environmentally friendly "Green Korea." The centerpiece of his agenda is food. The government has announced a plan to globalize Korean cuisine, vowing to put it among the world's top five by 2017.

Every day, newspapers carry articles about image boosting: Should the nation build a robotics museum and compete with Japan in that emerging field? How about building some of the world's tallest skyscrapers, or opening a nude beach on a popular island?

The branding czar talks of a new volunteer program modeled after the U.S. Peace Corps and of "Rainbow Korea," a catchphrase for the nation's so-called expanding multiculturalism.

"I am frustrated that people don't appreciate our culture," said Euh Yoon-dae, head of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding. "For so long, Korea has been sandwiched culturally and economically between Japan and China."

Euh distinguished his plan from a mere marketing or tourism effort. "We're trying to advance the identity of Korea," he said. "It's the substance rather than the brand itself. We want to walk the walk rather than just talk up some new advertising campaign."

Still, newspapers and bloggers have poked fun.

"It's just mind-boggling. A country isn't like some product you can just promote overnight," said Jon Huer, a sociologist and Seoul newspaper columnist. "Korea's image has always been a bit harsh. It's not a Nepal or a Thailand -- both tourist-friendly places. It takes time and patience to get to know the place and its people."

Many here have some advice for South Korea: Relax.

"Korea is stuck in this way of thinking that it has to outdance, outspend and out-palace other countries," said Michael Hurt, a local blogger, photographer and branding committee member.

"It's never been about that. Korea is a quirky taste."

Euh acknowledged that South Korea has a long way to go: "It takes time to change the image of a country."

More on South Korea's "Comfort Women"

A while back I posted about my experience with visiting The Sharing House which housed the South Korean halmoni ( otherwise known as "comfort women" South Korean sex slaves). My lovely friend and old roomie from college recently sent me an article she read about these women and I thought I would share it with you.

Click here if you would like to be directed to the actual article.

By John M. Glionna
April 30, 2009
Reporting from Toechon, South Korea -- Kang Il-chul rides in the back of a van packed with gossiping old women. The 82-year-old girlishly covers her mouth to whisper a secret.

"We argue a lot about the food," she says, wrinkling her nose. "To tell you the truth, some of these old ladies are grouchy."

There are eight of them, sharing a hillside home on the outskirts of Seoul, sparring over everything from territory to room temperature.

Some wear makeup and stylish hats; others are happy in robes and slippers. A few are bitter, their golden years tarnished by painful memories; others have sweet dispositions and enjoy visiting beauty salons or performing an occasional dance in the living room.

But they all share one thing: Decades ago, they were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers occupying the country before and during World War II. They were repeatedly raped and beaten over months and years.

Now time is running out for the halmoni, or Korean grandmothers. About 150,000 to 200,000 Korean women served as Japanese sex slaves, most living out their lives in humiliated silence.

When activists brought the issue to light in the early 1990s, officials sought out survivors. While many were too ashamed to come forward, officials registered 234 women.

Ninety-three are still alive, according to a nonprofit group that looks after them.

In 1992, some of the so-called comfort women volunteered to live at a new House of Sharing established by Buddhist organizations and philanthropists. There is a full-time chef and nurse and volunteer caregivers. There are regular art classes, exercise sessions and trips to the doctor. Kang is the youngest of the eight remaining residents. The oldest is 92.

They are part Golden Girls, part adamant activists.

Holding out hope for closure before they die, they are waging a battle to persuade the world to acknowledge their ordeal. They are seeking reparations and a formal apology from the Japanese government. They have also pressured the South Korean government to speak out.

Japan's response has been mixed. After the war, the government maintained that military brothels had been run by private contractors. But in 1993, it officially acknowledged the Imperial Army's role in establishing so-called comfort stations.

Conservatives in the political establishment still insist there is no documentary evidence that the army conducted an organized campaign of sexual slavery -- a contention challenged by many researchers.

The testimony of the women of the House of Sharing is the riposte to those who say there is no evidence that Korean women were forced to sexually service Japanese troops. They gather every Wednesday outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul or at various South Korean government offices. They unfurl their banners and mostly stand in silence, unflinching as guards snap their pictures. Over 17 years, they have picketed 861 times. Some have traveled to Washington to testify before Congress.

They are host to 30,000 visitors a year at the House of Sharing, part of a complex that includes the Historical Museum of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery.

They have been poked and prodded like laboratory specimens, their daily lives chronicled by sociologists, their rudimentary artwork studied to gauge the long-term emotional effects of trauma.

Now, many are tired, their years as rabble-rousers behind them. There's a changing of the guard. With a gruff, drill sergeant's demeanor, Kim Kun-ja calls herself a "troublemaker." For years, she was among the loudest activists. The others call her No. 1.

Today the 84-year-old uses a walker. She fell twice recently and rarely gets out of bed.

"We are all mentally ill and physically damaged," she says, eating a bowl of soup. "But I don't want to talk about it anymore. It brings up bad memories from the bottom of my insides."

In her place has emerged the indefatigable Kang. As a teenager, she recalls, she was lured from her home by Japanese soldiers who offered her caramel candy.

On this day, Kang receives a group of 20 mothers who sit in a semicircle on the dormitory floor. Perched on the edge of a couch, dressed in a silk shirt with a scarf wrapped stylishly around her neck, she waves her hands like a veteran politician trying to stir up a crowd.

With age, she has become more defiant, she says, and she is looking for justice.

"We have to resolve this problem before we die," she says. "We have to go away if God calls us, but until this is solved, I can't close my eyes happily."

Kang calls over to Kim, asking her to address the group.

Kim waves her off. "I am deaf," she says.

Nearby, resident Kim Soon-ok, 88, maternally strokes the hair of a visitor half her age who sits before her on the floor.

Some residents, never married, have no grandchildren to visit them. They welcome contact with strangers. They hold hands with visitors and seek long hugs as a grandfather clock in the corner ticks away their remaining days.

One carries a small stuffed rabbit. She says she likes animals more than humans.

Sometimes there is tension at the House of Sharing. Caretakers have placed each resident's photo on her bedroom door and place setting to avoid confusion and tiffs among the women, who can be territorial and cross.

"Open the window, I'm hot," one demands.

"Well, I'm cold," says the one next to her.

Often, the women have complaints. Meals served by the full-time chef are "tasteless," say several as they sit at the dining room table, talking like prisoners plotting a breakout.

Moved to temporary quarters during a renovation of the main dormitory, many complain that they no longer have keys to their rooms.

Kang, the group leader, suddenly pauses. "Shhhhh, someone is coming," she says as a nurse enters the room.

She sighs, saying that although life at the House of Sharing may not be perfect, "we have nowhere else to go."

During a tour of her room, Kang says she cannot tell the others about gifts she has been given by visitors. She holds up an exercise gripper. "If they knew this was given to me, there would be trouble," she says. She shows another gift, a silk scarf. "Isn't this pretty?"

Although many women no longer discuss their past, others seem to derive some relief from retelling their tortures.

Without prompting, Park Ok-ryun, 86, launches into an account of how, as an 18-year-old, she was abducted by two Japanese soldiers. She and a friend had gone to a stream to get water.

"Don't cry," she remembers the soldiers saying. "If you go with us, you can get some nice food and nice clothes."

Park grabs a listener's arm. "I was thrown into the truck and covered with a red-and-blue fabric," she says. She begged to be released, explaining that she had to return home to make dinner.

"But they said, 'Jackass, stop nagging,' and kicked me," she says, showing a jagged scar on her leg.

The women know that some people are listening. The U.S. Congress has called on Japan to apologize and "accept historical responsibility" for the sex slavery.

The Japanese government offered to start a fund, but the women refused the money, demanding that the government also accept responsibility for their suffering.

In a moment of quiet, Kang says that while they can never forget what happened, they must forgive the Japanese, if only for the emotional health of the next generation.

Then Kim, old No. 1, flashes a rare display of humor.

"Not all men are bad," she says, smiling. "There are good ones and there are bad ones."


For more on these women you can check out these articles as well.
Comfort Women seek their own comfort
and US Military Accused of encouraging prostitution

The story of stuff

There are days when I just go shopping CRAZY and all I want to do is buy buy buy! I walk into a store, my adrenaline surges at the wondrous beauties of new things and my heart droops at all that I know I will not be able to buy because I am still under the classification of POOR in my book. I LOVE shopping when I have money. I love the hunt, I love the kill and I love the feast when it is all said and done with. (Having the money to buy things with of course is key because if I can't have it, and can only look, I am only disappointed in the end unlike my mom and husband who seem to like shopping no matter if there is intention to buy or not) But my best friend recently shared a video with me that help put some things in perspective about the things we buy. It is called the Story of Stuff and honestly is shocking. In fact, I find it beyond shocking and has helped me to rethink my LOVE of all things new.

This video is about 20 minutes but I strongly urge you to take the time out of your day to watch it. Even if it is only a few minutes at a time, maybe during the commercial breaks of your fav TV show. It is something we really should think about because the world is our home, and we need to take care of it or else we wont have a home much longer.

Pattern anybody?

After the disastrous Friday afternoon was evening event; Farewell party! The kids watch their photo stories that they put together in class, have a hula hoop contest and dance to some of their favorite songs. As I was watching their dancing two things struck me.

1. How do the kids know all of the dance moves to all of the songs? You know how there was a boy band craze in the US for a while with "cute" boys who could sing and do synchronized dancing. Korea never left that faze, in fact they have probably perfected it. Almost all bands are made up of either 5 plus girls or 5 plus boys who can dance in sync.
The application must look like this:
Photo: Must be attractive- and have had plastic surgery
Name: Not really important
Age: Should be under the age of 24 years
Talents:
Singing voice should be above average but negotiable if considered HOT by tweens.
Must be able to dance in sync with others and should not be concerned about looking idiotic.

But it really is amazing how all of the kids know ALL of the dance moves!
Here are two examples of some of the HOTTEST songs right now.



2. Does anybody else see a pattern here?
Gee Gee
Haru Haru
Nobody nobody
sorry sorry

These are the names of popular Korean songs. Why do they all have double names?

A potion for disaster

This past Friday was a difficult one. All in all, the week was a good one. My classes were fun to teach. The children were rambunctious but generally well-behaved and respectful. Friday, however was a different story. The disaster as most are, was not just one incident but a combination of small things piling one on top of the other.
Dreadful combo:

1. I was pooped! I stayed out a little too late on Thursday night and therefore had a shorter and more frayed string of patience to start out with.

2. I had the three lowest classes to end what was close to a great week. Low classes are not always bad, in fact, most of the time, I would say they are generally quiet. Quiet as little field mice running around scourging for cheese. So quiet that my voice gets louder and louder as no words or peeps or even acknowledgement is said as I ask questions. In fact many times teaching the lower classes is like being a dentist, it feels like pulling rooted teeth except there is no anesthetic involve, just pain and misery. But the low classes this week weren't field mice. OH NO! They were more like drugged up on crack, escapee science experiment rats with a mission. Rambunctious was the word I used to describe this school, but these kids were crazed!

3. And last but not least, and this might have been the thing that really lit the fire, was the fact that these were the last classes of the week on Friday afternoon. I remember full well sitting in school, wiggling my bootee, waiting for the clock to tic toc over to the sweet bell of freedom. The nervous, restless anxiety that filled my empty vessel of a body up. There was no learning on a Friday afternoon. A mind cannot sit still when freedom is just around the corner. And the contagion had begun and spread like wildfire. That familiar freedom itch was obvious not only from the look in their stir crazy eyes but in their actions of "how to drive a teacher mad!"

So there you have it, my disastrous combination stewing in a cauldron, a short frayed patience, eye of newt, crazed children, rotten apples, a hair of a swine's tail and low level classes is a recipe for certain ill fatted consequences. I should have known by the black tainted steam pillowing out of the sparkling abyss.


Cataclysmic conclusion:
1st afternoon class- I stumble out of bed, with lines still creasing my face from my afternoon nap and find that I now have to teach the LOWEST CLASS of the school while fighting off the sleepy daze. Broadcasting is not a hard class except for two things. It is hard to help all of the kids who can't figure out the script if they aren't high enough to figure it out on their own, and it is hard to control the children who are waiting to be filmed in the other room from going absolutely bananas. As I began walking around the room helping the kids with filling in the blanks and pronunciation, I realized that I couldn't possibly help everyone in time to do filming. Most of them weren't interested, some of them couldn't read English, and the boys didn't even have their books open and had started to get up and walk around the room as if I weren't there. As I looked around the room at the 13 children my rope of patience started to stretch taut. I could feel the strings popping as tiny threads gave in under the weight. The overwhelmingness encompassed hit me like a cloud. We didn't finish the taping. Normally I have at least ten minutes to spare with enough time to show them their hard work on the big screen. But when the kids can't read and you have to spoon feed them every line, it doesn't work so smoothly.

State of patience: rapidly fraying, in very bad shape

Second class: Before class even started, the boys walked in and started playing with the video camera, speakers and TV. VERY BAD SIGN! That is an obvious NO NO, and it was obvious that they had they didn't care if they should or shouldn't touch the NO TOUCH equipment. I began the class with yelling. I hoped that if I scared them enough at the beginning, I could get them to behave the rest of class. NOPE! They were past needing drugs for hyper activity. I needed a tranq gun to keep this class in line. They were screaming, rolling on the floor, pressing every imaginable button grabbing at the video camera, tripod and any other thing with wires sticking out. Solution: WORD SEARCH for half of the class! Result: They didn't even really pull my patience taut. Oh NO! They took scissors and cut it into little pieces. I might not be very frightening, but I knew who their next teacher was, and he COULD be frightening. "Make them cry," I said, "Have no mercy." I am pretty confident they had what was coming.

State of patience: cut into little shreds- disastrous, all people coming in contact with me should be concerned


Third class: They weren't as bad as the first and second classes but it didn't matter. There no longer was a short string of patience. There was no patience left. It was cut into tiny smithereens and scattered all over the broadcasting studio. I don't honestly remember what happened in this class- it was as if I were in a daze. A crazy, teacher's gone off the deep end daze.

State of patience: Non existence, lost to the world.

This weekend, I am working on sewing my rope back together. It is tedious work, but I am hoping it will be restored with some R and R and time away from kids!

A typical work day in Korea

7:20 am- the alarm goes off. I groan, fumble around for the alarm until the piercing sound has been muted at least for another blissful five minutes.

7:25 am - Should I shower this morning? Is it worth it? To sleep or shower, that is the question? Would my co-workers really notice my stench undulating off of my body if I skipped it this morning?

7:30-35 - Zombie Vanessa has arisen. Watch out, she does bite this early in the morning. It is best not to try her patience which if measured might be 1/2 inch long. Make up or no make up? Dress nice or going bum today? These are the important questions I must face each and every day. It is a hard life.

7:50- I am simultaneously fixing/eating breakfast, and calling Kyle on skype. My breakfast usually is one of the following: a banana, if I have a fresh one, banana bread, if I have made it from the bananas that went bad, cereal if I have milk, or peanut butter toast if my bread has not gone stale or has mold growing on it.

8:25- saying goodbye to Kyle, wishing desperatly that this goodbye did not have to occurr daily.

8:30 - office meeting (yep, five minutes after I get off the phone with Kyle. I just have to walk down the stairs and I am in the office, living at work has it's perks)

8:45- Homeroom class (Each of 20 classes has a name, my class's name this week is Original and I see them everday before classes and after classes. If the kids are great kids like they are this week, I take full responsibility for their angelicness however if they are brats like usual, I take absolutely no responisibility). My voice as of late has been similar to a bull frog so I try not to talk to much so as not to scare the kids in thinking I am an alien. (Anyone remember those books?)

9:00-11:50- Three 50 min classes of my situational class for the week. This week, I am teaching cooking class in the morning. We make something similar to rice crispy treats but with corn flakes and choco chex. They aren't as good as rice crispy treats, but the kids love them. I always tell them to start off with though that we are making CHOCOLATE KIMCHI ICECREAM. The funny thing is, some of the kids think that sounds delicious! I swear, Koreans and their kimchi!

11:50- I can't tell you how much I look forward to lunch. Not that I think the cafeteria food is going to be spectacular, and sometimes it is even under the heading of obismal (aka: I am not sure my dog would eat it) but it I LOVE FOOD! Let me repeat this in case you skipped over it, I AM OBSESSED WITH FOOD! I swear that my entire day revovles around when I will get to eat again. When can I eat breakfast (which is what used to get me up in the morning, although now, talking with Kyle is what gets me up in the morning), when is lunch time, when is dinner, when is my snack time? Should I treat myself today? Of course I should!

12:15 I am usually back in my room. I chat with Kyle for a short time depending on whether I need a nap. Usually the answer is a resounding YES!! NAP PLEASE or else I may bite a small childs head off and use it as chewing gum!

1:30-3:30 Three 50 min situational classes which today is Broadcasting studio. They learn words in which they hardly ever remember like: celebrity (none of the kids can remember how to pronounce that word), interviewer and camera person. They then have to take turns reading a interview script and filming with a camera. I scream at them for acting like crazed monkeys at a zoo while waiting for their turn at fame, pull my hair out in chunks and chew on it and then laugh as they scream and hide their face when we watch the interviews on TV afterward. They love it generally and so do I when I have co-teachers to help control them.

(Christy and Jon who recently left posing in the broadcasting room)

4:30-5:20 Homeroom again. The kids have to write a journal, something like "Today at SNET I went to Cooking class, broadcasting studio.... My favorite class was...." It takes them a really long time to do this typically and I stare into space and relish the fact that I don't have to hear my voice echoing in my head. Then we play a game, they wash their hands, and low and behold, dinner time!! YAY!!! Food, food, food!

Free time- unless I have evening event. Tonight, I don't have any obligations so I think I will go for a jog unless I get too lazy- which has been happening a lot lately.

If you don't want to cry

... don't watch this video of this little girl singing like an angel as she steals the hearts of the entire audience.



Over the Rainbow was meant for her to sing it!

Hope your having a fantastic day. I am, I finished a book in a little over 24 hours and have been listening to the sounds of raindrops all day long. If only I had someone to cuddle with. :)