2012년 10월 8일 월요일

Mnemonics needed!

I need to learn the following Korean cultural vocabulary for my co-teacher's Open Class. I want to make her look good, and I only have until tomorrow to learn them. I have to be able to name them when my students describe them.

Bok jumuni -- traditional good-luck money bag (bok/bag jew money)
Hanji -- mulberry paper so strong it can be used to make armor and so beautiful it was used for fans and wallpaper (Korean/han gee, it's great!)
Dockdo -- a cluster of islands and rocks contested by the Japanese and Koreans (dock at them, they're worth dough)
Yi Sun Shin -- Awesome admiral (Ye olde sun shine)
Taegeukgi -- the Korean flag ()
Mae samjoen bulsang -- Place famous for bas-relief Buddha carvings in rock ()
Park Tae Hwan -- Korean Olympic swimmer ()
Han ok -- traditional Korean domicile architecture (han/korean okay houses)
Jongmyo -- Confucian site for memorializing Korean kings and queens ()
Samulnori -- musical form played with 4 traditional percussion instruments ()
Nanta -- An acrobatic and dance group that makes music on kitchen utensils ()
Dangun -- Ancestor of all Koreans; if I get the mythology right, he was born of a bear who became a woman ()
Talchum -- mask dance that expresses frustration at being squashed by Confucian society ()
Changdeokgung -- Grand palace in Seoul, "East Palace," 70% destroyed by Japanese occupation ()
Pansori -- Female singer, accompanied by drummer, singing certain traditional stories that go on for hours (The pansori singer from the book)
Suneung -- High pressure Korean version of the SATs ()
Ganggansulae -- 5,000 year old traditional dance to bring a good harvest, danced by many women in a large circle ()
Seokguram -- Buddhist hermitage and grotto known for its carvings of Buddhas in living rock ()
Kim Yeon Ah -- Olympic figure skater ()
Kyongbokgung -- Largest of the royal palaces of the Joseon dynasty, located in Seoul, "Palace Blessed by Heaven" ()
Donguibogam -- Ancient Korean medical text, 25 volumes with anatomic drawings and diagnostic and treatment guide ()

2012년 10월 4일 목요일

The Obama/Romney Debate Pt. 1



I'm only responding to the things that leap out at me.

1. The whole question about creating jobs is nonsensical. The government can not create jobs, unless you count civil service jobs which do not create wealth but rather are parasitic. The government can meddle with the economy and hinder job creation or can get out of the way and allow job creation, and that's that.

2. Obama less than Presidential with the whole "Happy anniversary, Sweetie!" thing. He's *at work* during this debate. That's not the time for smoochie smoochie stuff.

3. Then Big O blathers a while about the past, then suddenly says it's "not about where we've been but where we're going." So why did he bring it up?

4. Big R goes off on the "Can you help us?" That's the OPPOSITE of the message he's supposed to be on. It's not about the government helping us, it's about the government getting off our necks.

5. Score one for Big R with "trickle down government." A big fat bonus check to whichever soundbite meister came up with that one.

6. Big O didn't answer Lehrer's question but instead went into his Mental Teleprompter.

6. Big O wants to "hire more teachers"? That's not the federal government's job! That's up to the individual school districts. As he goes on, he keeps talking about what "we" have to do -- meaning the federal government. It's not the federal government's job to do those things. It's energy companies that need to invest in developing new energy sources. (Keep especially in mind that "we" "invested" in Solyndra. Fat lot of good that did..)

7. Good job Big R in slipping in Biden's "crushed middle class" gaffe.

8. Big R nailed O on the whole redundant federal training morass. Comment about putting control in the hands of the workers was spot on.

9. They each keep going off on their own tangents rather than directly answering questions.

And I'm finding myself tuning them both otu.