We're having a sleep-over tonight. Four of us teachers from the main institute are visiting August this weekend. We're pleased. August and Angela are cooking. I'm pleased.
I was alone--the three ladies had left earlier in the day. This guy makes eye contact with me on the train. The man next to him offers to put my pack in a storage cubby hole. It's Chusok (Thanksgiving) here, and everything is packed. Everything = taxis, buses, subways, trains, planes, and automobiles. It's a great Exodus as everyone heads home for a 3-day weekend. Nobody is actually from Seoul; they must all go back to where they're from.
So how crowded is the train? This guy making eye contact is about 4 feet away, or 10 people away, depending on how you calculate distance. Train tickets were sold out, so hundreds of us are on the train with "standing" tickets. And we happen to be standing in front of the bathrooms between railcars, the only space left.
Just the usual questions--Where are you from? Where are you going? Why in the name of all that is good and right are you traveling during this holiday?
"Where do you work?" he asks.
"SDA Language Institute. Have you heard of it?"
"So you're an SDA?"
"Right. Do you know about SDAs?"
"I studied until Level 4, then I went to the U.S. to study. So you're going to transfer to get to Chungju?"
"What?" My eyes open further in a show of concern.
"This train doesn't go there."
"Um... Well... I thought that..."
odee imnika jusayeo kamsamnida ologa (2 Korean gentlemen talking)
"I'm sorry. You are on the right train. Your stop is coming soon. I'm on the wrong train, so I have to transfer."
And so my travels ended smoothly. I didn't have to transfer, but my new friend did. He said he'll look me up; "Jeff at Hoegi institute. OK."
I finished reading Ghengis Kahn and the Making of the Modern World this morning. Very interesting. I'll add some quotes later. But for now let me tell you that this guy's army definitely knew how to pack light. I brought more on this weekend trip than half the Mongol army lugged through Asia, and I haven't exactly conquered a continent since noon. Henceforth, sherpa, pack light.
Friday, September 16, 2005
BIO: Desmond Doss
Only once has such a thing happened. Yes, I have fully read all of one book in one day in my whole life. Got it? The Unlikeliest Hero is the only book I've read cover to cover in one day.
It's about Desmond Doss. It's not well written. But his years have been well lived. He was an SDA medic in WWII. His men hated him--threw boots at him when he prayed at night, threatened that they would shoot him when they went into battle, mocked his manliness.
But time after time he put his life on the line to help his men once they were under fire. He soon gained their respect, and saved the very one who promised to kill him. Because of his heroism on Okinawa (he saved roughly 75 men after everyone else retreated), he won the Congressional Medal of Honor. Look for the DVD. It's quality.
He is the only consciencious objector to have one the CMH. That's right, he refused to kill, refused to carry a gun. When everyone else was packing heat, Desmond Doss was packing light.
It's about Desmond Doss. It's not well written. But his years have been well lived. He was an SDA medic in WWII. His men hated him--threw boots at him when he prayed at night, threatened that they would shoot him when they went into battle, mocked his manliness.
But time after time he put his life on the line to help his men once they were under fire. He soon gained their respect, and saved the very one who promised to kill him. Because of his heroism on Okinawa (he saved roughly 75 men after everyone else retreated), he won the Congressional Medal of Honor. Look for the DVD. It's quality.
He is the only consciencious objector to have one the CMH. That's right, he refused to kill, refused to carry a gun. When everyone else was packing heat, Desmond Doss was packing light.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
PERSONAL: Life of a Proofreader
I never planned or trained for this. But here I am. I'm on a team that's writing a conversation textbook in South Korea. When I first joined the crew, I read the hundreds of pages previously prepared. Here are some of the lines that caught my attention.
"Would you rather be on an accountant or a hairstylist?" Now that's a question I'd never been asked before. It was in a chapter on occupations.
A conversation in an airport:
"He said he would be wearing a plain shirt and pants."
"Isn't that Mr. Wilson wearing a shirt and pants?"
"What's the weather like in the rainy season?"
"It's been a month since I started to take this voice lesson."
"Well, I'm a pessimist because it is still risky to sell bath products to Chinese."
Well, there you have it. It's yours now. With knowledge comes responsibility.
You've gotta lay that burden down.
You've gotta lay that burden down.
'Cause when you lay your burdens down
When you lay your burdens down
When you drop them burdens
What a free-fall
What a thrill.
-Newsboys
Sounds like the N-boys know how to pack light.
"Would you rather be on an accountant or a hairstylist?" Now that's a question I'd never been asked before. It was in a chapter on occupations.
A conversation in an airport:
"He said he would be wearing a plain shirt and pants."
"Isn't that Mr. Wilson wearing a shirt and pants?"
"What's the weather like in the rainy season?"
"It's been a month since I started to take this voice lesson."
"Well, I'm a pessimist because it is still risky to sell bath products to Chinese."
Well, there you have it. It's yours now. With knowledge comes responsibility.
You've gotta lay that burden down.
You've gotta lay that burden down.
'Cause when you lay your burdens down
When you lay your burdens down
When you drop them burdens
What a free-fall
What a thrill.
-Newsboys
Sounds like the N-boys know how to pack light.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
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