Why Korea is a Third World Country: Reason No. 354

To tell whether a country is in the third world (as various global organisations must) you should follow a predetermined set of criteria.

I think it's a more personal approach, however, that truly decides whether a country is part of the 'civilised,' world.

In my case, I have found both sides of this particular coin to be true.  The telecommunications network is the most advanced in the world.  The road network is sublime (especially considering the terrain they must traverse) and buildings are demolished and erected in days - not months as is the case in England.

Problems arise when you look at the people however.  Disease and illness are exceedingly high, because the quality of life for working people is poor.  Everyone works far too hard for relatively little pay.  The upshot is stress-related illness.

There are an increasing number of elderly out of work, relying on picking up garbage to sell to scrap dealers.  The fact that dozens of carts (cobbled together from scrap wood, metal and tyres - immediately recognisable as transport for recyclable goods) are parked along our road suggests this is a common activity.

Complaints are rife that England is a 'booze nation,' because every Friday signals the beginning of a weekend bender.

Every day is a booze fest here, with people drinking and passing out on a regular basis.  The town is relatively small, but there are around one hundred bars (a rough estimate) in this area alone.

Then we come to the people.  Using the Korean teachers as an example: they are beyond stupid.  They are so dense you could use them as paper weights.

The Korean teachers complain every day about us receiving over-time.  (Which is paid at 3 pounds an hour, by the way)  Their argument is that we use overtime to complete lesson plans, which they manage to do without overtime.

This sounds reasonable, except that they get over 12 hours a week (during school) without students, with which they can do their lesson plans.

We get zero hours a week.

This comes about because their kids are sent to music classes, English classes, art classes, gym classes and so-on.

They also complain that we get free apartments.

Again, a reasonable concern.

Except that they earn four times more than we do.  An entire nation of lobotomised individuals?  Incredible.

Then they complain that we get a free bus in the morning; they have to pay for it.

Another valid concern.

Except they all drive cars.


Christ almighty, these people are so moronic they make americans look like Nobel Prize candidates.

And they smell of cigarettes and alcohol.

In the Market for a New MP3 Player

So my venerable Sony Walkman Mp3 player is on its' last legs.  The fact that it's been on its' last legs for the past three years is neither here nor there...

The fact is I'm worried that it's going to give up in the middle of a file run (carrying files from home to school or vice-versa) and drop me in a pile of the sticky stuff.  The obvious question is 'why don't you just use a pendrive?'  This question can only be answered by looking at my current PC setup.  I've an SD card in the back of my laptop running a flavour of Ubuntu, a pendrive that's essentially keeping all the files not critical for booting the operating system, and a few other pendrives that are burned out or full - lying around the place.  I go through portable storage like meals.

At least, I do when the device is primarily used for storage.

For some reason my MP3 players have always been a reliable way to carry files; at times the fringe benefit has been playing music, rather than the other way around.

There are tons of options on the market, and going through them all would be impossible, so I won't even try.

My criteria for the player are extensive, but could be (somewhat) boiled down to capacity, flexibility, (the range of file formats it supports) and modability.

Since I've been using linux I've found myself modifying things a lot more.  My PS3 and Xbox can run video and music from a media server.  In most cases this means 'Windows Media Centre.'  If you buy a fresh network storage device (like a mybookworld) you can often modify it to run as a media server.  This is possible because they all run some version of linux natively.  You just crack it open (metaphorically) and change the program it runs.

Alas, I couldn't change my own NAS because it would mean wiping the whole thing and starting again (which I'm not prepared to do), but after installing a media server on my baby laptop (just to see if it could be done) I think I'm ready to do something more ambitious.

Being able to play all my media files without converting them would be a boon, and I think it would only be viable with a hacked player.  Which players natively support .ogg for example?

So the challenge has been set, internet.  Go find me a huge, highly modable solid quality Personal/portable Media Player for a decent price.



On an unrelated note: the weather is insane here.  Yesterday I was wearing a t-shirt under my school shirt.  It wasn't particularly cold, warm enough to stay outside at least.

Tomorrow I will be wearing my skiing jacket, and it will be zipped up.

Fastest changing weather in the world?  I think so.

Stitches and the Avoidance of.

I keep getting stitches when I try and run on the treadmill.  How do I avoid this?  Any and all thoughts welcome.  (Except telling me to run through it, I've tried, it does not work, and it's not fun...)

Kids Fall.

So one of the other teachers had a horrific experience today.

A kid fell off his chair, hit his face on the corner of a desk and lost his adult front tooth in the process.

Tons of blood apparently.

I was in half a mind to carry some of my kids into the room, to warn them that's what happens when you swing on a chair.  I'm certain it would make no difference to any of them though.

As dumb as bricks has become my new favourite saying.  I think it applies in this case.

Beware, Dehumidifier Users. And, My Boss is Trying to Kill Me.

So my boss put out a dehumidifier for everyone to enjoy in the office.

Being the child that I am, I was messing around with it, blowing into it and being all silly for the kids.

Within hours I had a sore throat.  The next day I lost my voice, and now I have a chest infection.

My boss didn't clean it.  It had stale water in it for a year, and she thought it would be okay to simply swap the water.

Asians are still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to the understanding of bacteria and viruses.  I'd imagine their comprehension of things fungal isn't up to much either.

It's 3AM and I can't sleep on account of my chest infection-irific cough, and the worst sore throat I've ever had.

I've had my throat scraped with a spade, and this is still the worst sore throat I've ever had.

My boss is a dumbass...

Royal Navy Cuts

While I think we should just cut all our armed forces, and have a minimalist self defence force (consisting of a few drunk men, and pointed sticks), most have eschewed that in favour of big, expensive ships and aircraft.

I keep reminding people that England doesn't matter anymore, and we should stop poking our noses in where it doesn't belong.  This falls on deaf ears mostly, but the new defence review has ordered the scrapping of the HMS Ark Royal.  Our biggest ship.

The Ark Royal is:

• 211 metres long
• Has a maximum beam of 36m
• Has a draft of 8.4m
• Displaces 20,000 tonnes
• Full complement of 682 sailors
• Can carry an additional 668 aircrew and Royal Marines

This sounds extremely impressive.  Let's see how this stacks up against the american equivalent:

Displacement:	100,000 to 104,600 long tons
Length:	Overall: 1,092 feet (332.8 m) Waterline: 1,040 feet (317.0 m)
Beam:	Overall: 252 ft (76.8 m) Waterline: 134 ft (40.8 m)
Draft:	Maximum navigational: 37 ft (11.3 m) Limit: 41 ft (12.5 m)
Propulsion:	2 × Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors 4 × steam turbines 4 × shafts 260,000 shp (194 MW)
Speed:	30+ knots (56+ km/h; 35+ mph)
Range:	Essentially unlimited distance; 20 years
Complement:	Ship's company: 3,200 Air wing: 2,480		Why

Why don't we just call it a day on all this meaningless posturing?

In Lieu Of

Real presents are hard to find, and even harder to ship.

On this miserly note; happy birthday Ray!

I'll cook a funny picture up at a later date.

(I've set my kids on the task, and will hopefully receive a dinosaur car themed happy birthday, or something equally ridiculous.)

Pictures, And What I Can't Do

So I recently took a couple of photos of my kids.  They were all dressed up in the traditional Korean clothing (called Hanbuk), and they looked pretty smart.

My original plan was to share them on here.

If you asked someone to name the traditional Japanese clothing you'd get a mixed response; some would name it directly, others would skirt around the correct name.  The constant is that everyone would describe it, to a greater or lesser extent.

Now ask people to name the traditional Korean dress.  Any takers?

Describe it then.

Still no one?

One tentative hand goes up in the back row - and  that about sums up Koreas contribution to the world.  It would be nice to share the traditional Hanbuk with people back home without resorting to a supermodel swaying along a catwalk.  No one looks like that, and fewer women walk like that.  They really do look splendid, and are a direct contrast from the Japanese muted dress.

Perhaps that's why my opinion on Hanbuk changed when I saw the kids wearing them; they're colourful and vibrant in the way the people simply aren't.  A form of expression perhaps?

If you want to know what they look like however; stick to google.  I'm sure I'd be placed in a deep pot of steadily boiling water if I were to post pictures of the kids on the internet, and someone were to find out.

(The only way they'd find out is if they searched for my name on google, I'm sure.)

Should Probably be Working

So the first period of teaching isn't happening today; the kids are gallivanting.

This leaves me time to say hello to everyone.

Hello.

That is all.

Some Photos From England

This is part of the ropes course.  I can assure you, it's far more uncomfortable than it looks.  Sitting in that harness for a couple of hours is painful enough; the added fear of knowing that it's your own setup, that's a killer.

Terrifying.

 This will be some kind of traversing wall, when the handholds have been completed.

I was only there for one day, so I couldn't help with much more than the cargo net.

 This is the bespoke cargo net.

Hand-crafted in England, guaranteed for at least one use.

I hope it doesn't fall apart - there are a lot of screws in there that I don't want tighten again!

 I would like to point out that I had no hand in building this; it's on here purely because it looks cool.

An alternative angle of the traversing wall.  I'd love to give this a go when it's finished.

Next time I'll have a couple of rifles slung over my back, one shotgun in each pocket and a short axe in each hand.

Zombie survival plan complete.

BREAKING NEWS!

JAPANESE PEOPLE TEND TO BE ALONE A LOT.

Read the article here.  It's only a brief mention of Japan, but the article doesn't present itself as being revelatory, for a change.  They don't mention the fact that social networking is not a big deal in Japan, and they have their own networks over there too.  Whether this is taken into account I don't know.

The extreme work ethic, social practices, and extremely cramped living and working conditions all play their part in this statistic; I would imagine.

In other news - I bought conditioner instead of shampoo yesterday.  The upshot: very dirty, but extremely shiny hair that smells faintly of oranges.

Work related news - My old boss left, to be replaced by a new boss.  One of the guys I work with has been promoted.  After spending a week as the department leader/head, he is looking for a new job.  Hard work is not fun, apparently.

A Look at the Cool New Layout of my Room

Yes, my room is as cool as it looks.  (I'm a little disappointed that I have nowhere to display my pimped out (pimped out or up? Or in?  I'm not sure which is correct) PS3 though)

No, it isn't cool.  With all the electronics, my room runs about six or seven degrees Celsius higher than the outside ambient.  It's very hot.

Yes I am very tired.  I woke up at 2 AM today, so I'm going to bed now. (7.45PM)

Yesterday I woke up at Midnight, so was very tired also.

Two of my colleagues have taken a 1,000 won (50p) bet with me, each taking a time when they think I will wake up tomorrow morning.  I took 3AM, one took 3.30, the other 4AM.

In other news, my bag was weighed by baggage people at the airport, and came to twenty five kilogrammes.  It was subsequently labelled heavy, as it presumably posed a health risk to those throwing it around.

Post-travel thoughts: Dubai

The Dubai conspiracy is one that has taken six months to unravel. I've been here three times now, and have tried to like this place every time. I keep getting told it's a fantastic airport, and the best port of transfer you could hope to embark/disembark from.

My first impression was one of complete ambivalence. It's extremely big, and extremely brash. For those of you familiar with the palm tree islands and Venice themed resort (whereby each room is accessed via a gondola and your own punt) this brash exuberance shouldn't come as any surprise. Despite knowing this, I still found the crass plastic palm-trees and large water features extremely distasteful. Moral issues aside, (the whole of the emirates are based upon Indian slave labour) it's just vulgar. It's Las Vegas. Both are built in the middle of a desert. Both are built by people who have too much money, and want to prove this to the world. Both are morally bankrupt. Only Dubai is literally bankrupt.

Both are plastic, tacky and lacking any kind of decency.

Despite never being to Las Vegas, I have been close enough to smell the fake american stench. You can catch a whiff whenever the place is shown on TV.

The designers of the new terminal at Heathrow talked about it being a gateway into England, and as such, it should represent what it means to be in England. If the designers of this airport followed the same principles then, simply put; I will never visit the Emirates. Any of them.

Just as a quick flight update. I hate a monstrous aboriginal child in front of me, pushing her seat into my chest for the whole flight (despite her ignorant, fat little legs not being able to touch the floor) and the worst behaved Indian/English child I have ever had the pleasure of meeting – right behind me. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Just the worst flight ever.

The Emirates staff were rude, unhelpful and above all else, they didn't give me the seconds they promised.

Post-travel Thoughts: Heathrow

Sitting in the airport, this time on the return leg of my cross world journey. I was stopped on the way out, because it's unusual for someone to be carrying a monitor in hand luggage. They drug swabbed it, interrogated me, checked my boarding card four times, and then let me on my way.


Not before warning me against labeling my items 'fragile,' however; as the security guard said they play 'throw the fragile item as far as you can,' from the boarding section in the hold. Apparently, this was captured and subsequently broadcast on national television. Luckily, I didn't see that episode. My xbox is in the hold... I wonder if it will survive. I sorely doubt it will, but for the sake of the myriad unplayed games I have on there, I hope it does. (Edit: And it did!)

In mind boggling statistic news, Halo – Reach clocked up 200 million dollars of sales in its' first day. This isn't the biggest entertainment release of all time; that crown rests firmly with Modern Warfare 2 (again proving that you don't need a good product in order to make a profit), but it is the biggest of 2010. Remember that this release is an xbox exclusive though, so the audience for it is substantially smaller than comparable releases in this genre.

The mind boggling doesn't stop there, as over the first weekend, that's 48 hours remember; some six thousand man years have been clocked with this title.

Over a million mods, videos and pictures have been created and uploaded using the ingame editor.

It's by far the best game in the franchise since the original, and the design team runs hundreds strong; but these numbers are mind blowing. Consider that most of the assets were already created for the previous two games and you realise that they were primarily slacking off for a year. A month of hard graft and eleven months of fine tuning I would imagine...

News of England: Scrabble has changed its' rules to allow proper nouns. This means you can make up any word you want, and it's now acceptable.

Traffic jams are still commonplace. We were held up, for forty-five minutes or so on the M25, only moving one junction forwards.

It rained a lot while I was here.

That's my summary of my time back in England. Notice how there's very little mention of England, and more of international entertainment releases. This signifies that I don't find England particularly interesting, and that I'm a terrible computer bore. Oh well.

The Month Long Hiatus is Over

So the month long enforced absence is over.  Starting soon, hopefully, I'll start posting again.

Interesting fact, Jetlag really sucks when you don't plan particularly well.  This is the worst I've had it.  Last night I went to sleep at six PM, woke up at midnight, ate dinner, played some Halo (on the xbox I smuggled into Korea), went to bed at Four AM, woke up at six AM, played some Halo on my smuggled Xbox, had a shower at half seven and continued my normal morning routine.

Mental right?