Thomas journals

The war is not over.    Thus said the wife of the American vet who was detained by the NK police last month, and released only after extensive lobbying by the US.   As it turned out, the vet was part of a special-forces team that worked behind enemy lines in North Korea, seeking defectors.  When I visited the border area, one of the old-timer expats explained the situation as analogous to a Saudi man visiting NYC on a package tour, then asking around about some buddies who were in New York in late 2001.  To the North Koreans, the war is definitely still going on -- that is the only way to justify the extreme measures taken in all parts of that country.

Today's Korea Times newspaper published this photo as front-page news, with no accompanying article.  A westerner looks at the photo, wonders why it rates front-page status (above the fold, no less!).  The first thing I noticed was the high quality of the photo, and the bright colors.  Then I saw the red circles that the editors had photoshopped in to the photo, drawing our attention to something notable. To a Korean viewer, that something is unthinkable:  he is wearing SHOES IN THE HOUSE.  I asked several of my Korean students what they would think of someone who would wear shoes in the house.  They responded, repeatedly: "It would never happen."  No, really, what would you think of such a person?   "It would never happen." Then one student noted that on Korean dramas, the bad guy usually storms into the house with shoes on... just another marker of how bad he is.

Chris and Cole arrived finally, on separate days, after separate delays, but all healthy.  Just in time for Christmas holidays. We went to the gorgeous National Museum, on a beautiful cold winter day.  Note the NamSan tower in the distance.

Diorama in our subway station Is it DokDo? or TsuShima? or Liancourt Rocks? Two very tiny islands in between Korea and Japan are the cause of an ongoing dispute between the two countries.  They are simply large rock outcroppings, never inhabited — but national pride and potential mineral or navigation rights make their ownership valuable. Korea claims the Dok Islands, says they were part of the old Korean kingdoms five hundred years ago and so marked on old maps. Japan claims the Tsu Islands (the same rocks—Japanese name) because  Japan owned Korea in the first part of the 1900s so they designed the navigation maps used since then. This is a virtual carbon copy of similar disputes about similar rock outcroppings between Japan and China; between Philippines and China; and between Vietnam and China; as well as uninhabited glaciers between India and China.   Notice a common thread in these last sets?  The recent air-rights claims made by China over the Diaoyu/S...

Our Drama Department put on an adaptation of Pride & Prejudice .  Barb coordinated the costuming for the show.  She adapted costumes that we borrowed from a sister school that had done the same show a few years ago — she developed additional costumes and jewelry as well.  The result looked great, and all had a fun time.  I helped on show nights, selling baked goods at the concession stand, putting up signage, taking tickets.  I have promised to help with the elocution for the next play, as most of the performers had trouble slowing down enough to be understood.  Next spring, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!

Korean currency is denominated simply into Won.  Given inflation of the 70s, it now has lots of zeroes.  However, because the exchange rate is quite near USdollar decimals — at 1100won to the dollar, now increasing in value so it will soon be 1000won to the dollar — it is easiest for us to simply treat 1won as equaling 1/10 of a cent.  Thus, a one-thousand-won bill is like a dollar bill.   A ten-thousand-won bill is like a ten-dollar bill.  Easy! I think the won has a bit better purchasing power also — many small items can be purchased for under a dollar, whereas it is rare for anything substantial in the US to be sold for under a dollar. It is interesting to note that, just as in the US, coins are less and less important:  there is no coin valued as much as a dollar (unlike in Canada or Europe). I would guess that the government in Korea has a problem similar to that of all mints — it now costs them more to produce and distribute small coins than...

Jeff and I were among many YISS teachers who attended the concluding worship service of the "God of This City" Youth Event, at our school in September. It was held at the end of a full day of activities for Christian high school youth from English-speaking congregations and schools in Seoul. The YISS Praise Team led worship and did an excellent job. Afterwards, a team of youth leaders from the U.S. called Axis, led a tag-team discussion about how to read the Bible - a practical message to inspire us all to read our bibles as a story, not just as isolated passages. I was impressed that the message delivery appealed to the youth, but was not "dummed-down" for them - it challenged their thinking, as it did mine.