Dokdo at Times of Crisis?

On March 11, Japan was stricken by a mighty earthquake and tsunami. Many have lost their lives and homes during the catastrophe. People had to evacuate and leave their homes as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant crippled. With the sudden tragedy, Koreans sympathized for the loss, and donated funds to Japan. With funds being collected, the Korean public showed their mature attitude by helping their neighboring country. It all seemed that both country’s foreign relations and the public’s opinion of each country improve; however, on the 30th, Japan stated that they will publish Dok-do, a Korean island under territorial dispute with Japan, as their territory on middle school textbooks. Korean's sentiment against Japan started to become negative. It is very frustrating why Japan has made this statement when the Korean’s and Japanese’s public sentiments were getting optimistic. It is hard times for Japan struggling to get back to its feet. Japan is rich a country and they may not need our aid, but when Korean publics feet sorrow for Japan's tragedy, it would be grateful to show some appreciation. However, Koreans did not deserve an answer in this way, especially at current times. Just as the topic of the island was forgotten, it was resurrected and the past history was again at the dispute table. Few years back, Japan apologized for the wrong things done in the past history to Korea. However, if Japan keeps disputing about Dok-do, it feels as if Japan is still not apologetic for the wrong things done in the past history. If Japan is truly sorry about the past history, they should leave history behind and stop trying to take away from Korea. In Germany, the past history is history to them. More than 60 years have passed since the holocaust and 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Germans were able to live peacefully together till today as they kept the past behind and by understanding each other. If Japan keeps their past history behind and not dispute, then the Korean public might be more sympathetic to Japan. Only then, at times of difficulty, can both neighboring countries be able to help each other more greatly when needed.

Korea’s Cell Phone Addiction

I decided to write about this topic, because wherever I go, I’m disturbed by people who are obsessed with mobile phones. For example, when I’m in the subway, I see people talking loudly on the phone, watching DMB without an earphone, playing a game and etc. These people disturb me especially when I try to read books and I’m not the only one who wants to read in the subway. When people are talking on the phone loudly especially about their private life, I feel unpleasant because I get to know about their life without any intention. I’m sure those people also have experienced the unpleasant feeling too when they heard another people talking on the phone. But somehow they repeat it without any sense of guilt. Not only those, but I’m also disturbed to see people who are obsessed with phones in general. For example, in the classrooms, some students seem to never stop looking at their phones, texting, playing games, etc. and due to the advent of smart phones and applications, students have a lot more to do with their phones. It causes distractions not only to themselves but to the other students and the professors. Professors usually do not punish them, but I think they would feel terribly displeased and even offended. According to the research, the addiction to cell phones is more serious among late teens and young women than other demographics. The reason behind cell phone addiction is, in my opinion, is that people are afraid of the loneliness. It happens more often among teenagers and young women because they feel more secure as a part of a group and relationships. In my opinion, text messages and phone calls do not necessarily make human relationship closer. It is only an assumed relationship but people find comfort in it because they believe that they are not alone. Especially in Korean culture being or doing things alone may appear abnormal because the culture emphasizes group rather than an individual. I think using cell phones excessively is not a matter of problem but more of an issue. Because some people might argue using a cell phone in spare time gives more advantages than disadvantages. But it certainly becomes harm if it becomes an addiction as it affects the person’s performance in school and workplaces. In my opinion, cell phones should be used only when necessary and not in making friends and socialization. When there’s an acquaintance in front of you, talk to them not to the phone!

How Starbucks Got Its Mojo Back

I found a fun article and I have breifly summarzed it and wrote my reflection. I hope everyone enjoys reading it! How Starbucks Got Its Mojo Back. The excerpt from Howard Schultz’s book “Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul”, briefly explains how the current CEO Howard Schultz saved Starbucks from falling off the cliff. It starts out by talking about how Starbuck grew into one of the biggest global franchising coffee store with the passion of Mr. Schultz. Starbucks seemed to be rapidly growing until the year 2000 when Mr. Schultz stepped down as CEO to become the chairman. However, in the year 2007, Starbucks could not meet the projected earnings and Mr. Schultz returns as the CEO. After his return, Starbuck still struggled to maintain its customers. It was time that Starbucks had to become creative. In the year 2008, Starbucks tied with the financial crisis, seemed to get in a bigger slump. Starbucks closed down 200 stores and canceled 348 store openings. Mr. Schultz had to take serious actions. He made two decisions, training the 135,000 baristas about pouring espresso and holding a workshop with the managers of Starbucks. These two decisions were proved to be successful. Not only did the public view positively of the workshop which was held in New Orleans which was an attempt to help recover the city from Hurricane Katrina, but the training of the baristas was successful as well. Finally, Starbucks also was very successful in introducing instant coffee with VIA. It was clear that Starbuck grew out of its past slump. The language Mr. Schultz uses is seemingly easy to follow and straight forward. He does not use complicated words and delivers his message in an efficient manner. The excerpt was set out in a chronological order. This excerpt seems to be more like a commercial of the book itself. I really could not understand the point of this excerpt other than advertising. Newsweek seems to be promoting the book written by Howard Schultz. In my personal view this has a negative effect of the book since the main story is already reveled and I doubt if people will be willing to read the book. To be a critic of this article/excerpt, it seems that reporters and writers of Newsweek could not be bothered to write an article, so instead they decided to post an excerpt. I wonder who approved such meaningless excerpt which intended to be an advertisement. I really was disappointed with Newsweek’s style or so to say characteristics. It is well known the magazine Newsweek takes a liberal stance. It can be deducted that since they are more liberal than other magazines, such excerpt could be posted. It would have been better if the reporters of Newsweek interviewed Howard Schultz and asked him questions about his book. In this manner, readers will be more curious about the book will want to read the book. In my personal view the approach of Newsweek magazine was totally a failure. The editors should be more considerate of the readers and provide meaningful and useful information, not just plain advertisment.

Bill Gates' Favorite Teacher?

When I first saw the title of this article, 'Bill Gates' Favorite Teacher' it was so interesting to me because Bill Gates is known as on of the most richest person in the world, and is also famous for his big amount of donations toward poor countries. And the title says that there is a person who Bill Gates thinks as a teacher, "so then who is the teacher of this great person?".

The teacher is 'Salman Khan', who teaches math, science, and a range of other subjects through the 'Youtube' for FREE(!). His class is quite unusual to any other online classes. The teacher 'Khan' never apears, instead the students can only see the electronic blackboard and his voice. He isn't famous just because of his free lecture or unusual teaching style. Instead he teaches math, science, economics etc. which are actually hard to study in a very breif way. Each lecture only takes 15 to 20 minutes. Some might think that 'because he teaches in a very short time, he might be teaching only the simple things'. But guess what! during the short classes he gettes to the essence of each topic and makes people understand easily too! As the title of the article tells, the reason why Bill Gates favor 'Salman Khan' is also because of his skill to teach important thinks in a very easy way.

As a owner of a mentor school, I also really envy the teaching skills of 'Khan'. When I teach my students I find it really hard to make students to get to the point what I'm teaching and understand it. So after I found this article(which was writen quite ago...) I went to the site, "Khan Academy" - where all the lectures of Khan are listed and able to take the classes just by clicking the title of the lecture - and took some classes to learn his teaching skills. Teaching is NEVER easy!!! What usefull skills do you have for teaching?

* URL and "click here" link fixed, 2011. 4. 6

On the need for professional economic ethics

Hey, guys. I would like to talk about a little boring topic, which is economics. Have you ever thought that economists are just a swindler? Economists are paid a lot and all they do seems to analize the economic situation, but no one predicted the sub-prime morgage in 2007. I remember that many people criticized economics and questioned what economics can do at that time. Some people said economists are not capable of predicting economics and some said economists are just supporting Wall Streeters and big companys which are paying them. As one of students who are studying Economics, I've always wondered if economics is doing the right thing for a society. Meanwhile I noticed a poster declaiming that "Manqiw is a lier" (I suppose most of students ever heard of this name because he's the author of the best selling the principle of economics) The poster was fixed by "Capitalism Forum", a student organization. If they're right, I've just learned lies for 3 years. I think they're also a bit extreme. Economists can be selfish and work for big banks and companys rather than people, but I think economics itself is for social welfare. Economics is not lying, but obviously still have a long way to go. What do you think? Do you think that economics contribute to our society?

I attach a part of an article from the Economist, which helped me organize my thoughts

All this is to the good, and long overdue. Not because economists are typically crooks or shills for outside interests, though there are some of those just as in every other profession. But because most economists are trying to do good work in a field where they enjoy extraordinary influence, their interventions generally harm some while benefitting others, and things can go very wrong in unpredictable ways. And so while it is important that the AEA and other economic associations take steps to address conflicts of interest among their members—and while publications like the Economist should as a matter of course begin to demand full disclosure from those economists who appear in its pages and on its blogs—economists and non-economists alike should press for something much more ambitious. We need a new field of inquiry into the many ethical issues that arise in the context of economic practice, including the risk of causing harm; the role conflict that arises when an economist serves an institution with an agenda that conflicts with the public good; the virtues that are required of the ethical economist; and so forth. And perhaps most difficult of all for a profession that has worked so hard to achieve influence, we need to consider our obligation to convey to our students and to the public not just the capacities but also the limitations of economics, and of economists.

Jan6 2011 by George DeMartino

North Korea food aid

On the news a few days ago I saw a struggle between Baengnyeongdo residents and activists over food aid being dropped into North Korea by balloons. I considered why this is happening, and how people could oppose a humanitarian act like giving food to the hungry. The reason for the conflict has to do with what is traveling along with the food-anti-North Korea leaflets. Curious about the details, I looked up what the issue of the leaflets was all about on the Internet. I discovered that South Korean had provided the food aid to North Korea for the past two presidential administrations.Then Lee Myung-bak administration significantly cut aid to the North Korea over the issue of nuclear weapons. Even now, humanitarian food aid for the starving people of the North is not completely forbidden. However,Europe NGO announced that they would not futher support food aid to North Korea. The reasons for this are many, but mainly concerned nuclear arms in the North. They also disputed the North's claim that there is a food shortage in the nation. Furthermore, they said that the ruling Workers' party didn't distribute the food to the people. It seems like a simple and good idea to give food to the starving people, but life is never that simple. So,I can understand the residents of Imjingak, Baengnyeongdo and the other affected areas. They fear retaliatory attackes on their cities from the North because of the propaganda activities. Should there be a law passed forbidding the inclusion of propaganda in humanitarian food aid? It is a difficult issue to decide. What do you think?

Bicycle Lane in vain.

For I being an enthusiast in riding a bike, I ride my bike from home to han-river park in Yeouido from time to time. Everytime I ride there via Daebang station, I have to get off my bike and carry it for many times. It isn't good to have no appropriate Bicycle Lanes. Definitely it is not good for bicycle riders, nor pedestrians.

Even when there are bicycle lanes on road, quite often it is hard to ride on them easily (they are usually blocked by street vendors, taxies, or other unpredictable things). It is not hard to hear voices of the discontented on korean websites.

When we face problems, we gotta find the causes and solve them. It doesn't seem simple as it sounds, though―especially when it comes to the vehicles(buses, taxies, and other automobiles). Actually, the bicycle lane and bus, taxi station near National Assembly in Yeouido overlaps (or just right next to each other).

Fundamentally, road system should change or we should bring up the ingenious solution appropriate to Korea to organize ideal, came-out-as-intended bicycle lanes. There's no sufficient parking space, for example, in Korea especially in Seoul. When we consider the bicycle lanes are right next to pavements in Korea, it is often inevitable to run into parked cars along the road riding a bike on the bicycle lanes.

There are some solutions coming up for this problem, which is not fundamental, enough(like IOS App about bicycle lanes, riding bikes on the road). If we really want to solve the problem about bicycle lanes, we have to approach the root cause not making more bicycle lanes without any solution. If we consider the road system of Korea, it is clear that we shouln't be just copying other Europian bicycle lanes. We have to come up with creative idea, which seems not available right now.

Ever thought of volcanic eruption in North Korea??

During this week, I saw several news related to the expected volcanic eruption in North Korea. According to the news, Mountain Baek-du in North Korea is a dormant volcano and volcanic eruption may possibly take place in 3-5 years. A Meeting was held between North and South Korean officials in Munsan yesterday(March 29th) to discuss about this matter. I never thought of volcanic eruption related to the Korean penninsula- I thought geology condition of Korea was very stable. Looking at the situation - a meeting organized to discuss the matter-the problem seems pretty serious. All this news was very shocking for me. Following is the related article that I've read on Korea Herald.
What are your ideas on this matter?

Japanese claim over Dokdo

Today evening, I saw an entertainment program introducing a famous Korean singer, Kim Jang Hoon, opening a press conference and supporting Korea's claim over Dokdo. I knew that the singer is famous for his hearty donations to the society, but it was unusual for me to see him stepping forward in quite a sensitive political issue. It was that Japan had claimed over Dokdo (once again!) through their revisions on history, geography and ethics middle school textbooks. I don't understand why Japan should bring up this issue when they're in such a mess. Read all about it what Japan has to say.....

The amazing movie disaster

There was a interesting article in the site 'the onion'. So I posted it. Following this week's freak release of 34 Heigl films, Sony executives were quick to remind the public that the widespread hospitalizations were a result of the sheer amount of Heigl to which the public was exposed. Had the movies been released one at a time, they say, the ill effects would've been no greater than the light nausea and confusion which sometimes accompanies with viewing a Heigl vehicle. Take for example, the Christmas-themed ''Holidaze." in which Heigl plays a career-driven news producer who's forced off her story about the war in Afghanistan to do a fluff piece about a local toymaker. Had this movie come out in December, when it was supposed to, it would've likely been called it a ''sweet holiday treat'' or a ''forgettable but fun festive film'' It's only because the film-in which a toymaker not only teaches Heigl how to loosen up and fall in love but also the meaning of Christmas-was released alongside 33 other Heigl films that it contributed to the mass psychosis and self-blindings. The same goes for ''Venus and Mars." If the film hadn't been noted as "the final straw" which pushed a Denver man to shoot himself ini the head, it probably would've been lauded for its fun and surprising celebrity cameos, which included Heidi Montag, Joe Montana, Justin Bieber, Newt Gingrich, Michael Phelps, Stephen Hawking, and Gloria Steinem. Many people who watched the movie appeared the actress Heigl were shocked and suffered from mental and phsical sickness. Someone went to the hospital. The others moved to the safety place. I think the movies were very surprising because her acts were terrible and awful. Actually her appearance was beautiful and good. People should have been cautious for the movie. This is interesting. Movies are very popular. People can see the movie easily. Usually, they don't take care the movie. They don't have nothing to do with the story and act of the movie. To prevent this amazing and significant disater (Because it happened through the large area), people need to be informed in advance about the movies they want to see. The daily bump : The Heigl film deluge, the onion news network March 25, 2011

Sleep Deprived, Blame Thomas

The purpose of sleep remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in science. Although we spend at least one third of our day asleep scientists have still yet to figure out why humans and other animals sleep. So why does sleeping play such a vital role in maintaining a healthy human body, both physically and mentally.

We often hear that an average human requires at least eight hours of sleep everyday or it could lead to serious consequences such as sleep deprivation, insomnia and in the long run increased risks of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and even cancer. This may be the cause of the increase in health risk as sleeping patterns has evolved over the past few decades. Nowadays in our modern society we are all too busy with our working life pulling all nighters or out in the city enjoying the night life with our friends and family. This gives us less time to sleep and studies show that after 24 hours without sleep, a person's performance can drop to the level of someone who is legally drunk.

It has been said that the shift in our sleeping habits has been largely influenced by Thomas Edison's light bulb and the Industrial Revolution. In the past, especially during winter, it was usually dark for at least 14 hours after the sunset so people had no choice but to go to bed early, and this gave a great deal of flexibility to their nightly sleep requirements. However, the revolution has brought both good and bad revolution in our society. It has helped us subsist in a better living condition. But also due to his invention of the light bulb people tend to sleep later and consume more time doing other things.

This has eventually affected more than one-third of adults to wake up in the middle of the night on a regular basis. Furthermore nearly half are unable to fall back asleep right away due to the distraction they get from the surroundings (i.e. computer, television, reading and etc). This condition is a sleep disorder called insomnia, which is one of the most common and well known sleeping disorders than many adults and even teenagers experience. It is founded that in the past five years people worldwide spent $2 billion on sleeping pills and shockingly it was predicted that within 5 years time the global sales for sleeping pills will drastically jump to $5billion.

To add on, the invention of the light bulb has also help establish our current night life, which initially means that we are given more opportunities to eat. This ultimately conveys one of the biggest problems in our current society; obesity for both adults and children. Researchers has concluded from various test results that adolescents who slept fewer than eight hours gained more calories from consuming the same amount of food compared to adolescents who slept eight or more hours. This may be due to the fact that sleep deprivation alter levels of the hormones that regulate appetite.

It is true that Thomas has gifted us with one of the most empowering invention of all time. Nevertheless it has also excessively brought us some problematic issues. For this reason we should learn how to contemplate and weave out the necessity to our leisure. The bottom line is that you can have a good night’s sleep if you just maintain a healthy lifestyle. For example go to bed at the same time nightly or stay away from caffeine, heavy or spicy foods, and alcohol and other medications that might keep you awake and most importantly exercise regularly.

Some Interesting Taboos in Korea

Hope everyone had a great Monday.
During this weekend, I've done some researches for my project about Korean culture.
As a part of this project, I found some interesting stories about taboos in Korea, and I’d like to share a few of them.

Taboos that I read clearly fell into two categories. One category consists of the taboos that are backed with logical evidence (but which may not be a fact).This type of taboo can be explained by a Korean taboo that discourages writing our names in red. Such taboo exists as back in past, King was the only person who could write his name down in red. So when a person wrote his name in red, he or she was considered as a potential rebel, and therefore was punished.

On the other hand, there were some taboos which do not have any logical evidence to support themselves. They were rather based on superstitions. One good example would be a taboo on Koreans not stepping on the thresholds of their houses. This is because threshold represents a boundary between a room and outside. Our ancestors believed that by stepping on the threshold, the boundary that protects the room from evil spirits gets weak, and those spirits invade into the room by taking that chance.

As far as I know, more taboos in Korea are based on superstitions than logical or historical evidence.
Does anyone know about more taboos that are based on clear (or logical) evidence?
Please share your ideas!

Thanks.

Babies also have mental disorders!!

Surprise surprise! According to the article I read for my other class called "Small Child, Big worries," infants and toddlers can develop some very adult mental illnesses. These illnesses include general anxiety, depression, insomnia and PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder). Here when we say infants and toddlers, it includes babies from age 0~9 years old. The most striking statistic shown on this article is that 10% of kids from birth to 3 years old have psychiatric impairment about the same as adults! Isn't it shocking and terrifying that little babies who are just born have these disorders? The biggest problem is that the babies cannot talk, so it is the adults job to carefully observe their behavior to find these disorders. It says it is hard to heal these illnesses as it is often chronic. However the early experts find these illnesses, the greater chance to repair them quickly in children. So classmates, next time you see a quiet, shy baby, don't just think he'll grow up fine~!! Observe carefully for the baby's sake!! :) Read this article from Times under "Small Child, Big worries" posted on March 21, 2011. Click Here

Argh.. Morning Call

I was having good sleep right now..
Suddenly bell rang and I thought it was an alarm but actually it was my parents calling me to ask me when are you going come today.
(I don't live with my parents heh)

It is Saturday(weekends=holiday)... but my parents wake up at like about 7 o'clock or so..
arrgh!
Now I got to take shower and get ready to go to see my parents.

I wonder why people back in my parents era?
People tend to wake up early...
in Korea there is a saying, "Early birds get the food..."
..well I think nowadays "Early birds wait for others..."

Radiation follow-up

To get a good idea of how worried you should be about radiation, please have a look at this chart.  Also, here is an analysis of the Tokyo tap-water situation.

Disclaimer:  I am not a fan of nuclear power.  At the same time, I'm not terribly worried about the situation in Japan.  At least not yet.

Pancake = 전 ???

Korean Food Globalization is always a task for chefs in Korea.
Even foregin chefs try to cook fusion dishes using Korean foods.
I onced visit this restaurant called "정식당" in Apgujeong-dong, which offers fusion of French and Korean, and it was worth the price :)
But sometimes, a problem can occur when writing descriptions for menus in English,
Can you think of '전' when you see the word pancake???
I don't like '전' but like pancakes!!! They just don't match.. - -
The blueberry pancakes in the picture are so not like the original blueberry pancakes..
I hope they find a new word for it, or just use the spelling as it is in Korean..

How bad is it, really?

With all the hype about Japan's nuclear emergency, it's worth noting that the safety systems actually worked very well:

Japan's nuclear powerplants have performed magnificently in the face of a disaster hugely greater than they were designed to withstand, remaining entirely safe throughout and sustaining only minor damage. The unfolding Fukushima story has enormously strengthened the case for advanced nations – including Japan – to build more nuclear powerplants, in the knowledge that no imaginable disaster can result in serious problems.

Whether or not you agree with the conclusion, the writer makes a strong case for continuing to use nuclear power and blames the media for blowing the Fukushima problems out of proportion.  Worth a good, hard read.

Welcome

This is our totally awesome class blog for spring semester.

Happy blogging!