Running With Reindeer

I didn't go to my Korean class today. I'd developed an unpleasant head-cold on Friday, but nonetheless was planning on kicking my ass into gear and getting down to the YMCA by 11am this morning. Then morning arrived, and I was awakened before my alarm by one thunderclap after another, shaking my doors and windows and sending the cat scuttling for cover. So I did exactly what you'd expect me to do: I unplugged all my electronics, then crawled back under the covers. I've been under the covers most of the day, alternating between reading, sleeping and listening to podcasts. Starting to feel better, although now I'm going to be even more behind in my Korean studies.

I finished reading an absolutely fantastic book today, Running With Reindeer: Encounters In Russian Lapland by Roger Took. For starters, this fellow must be completely insane. Who the hell frequently tresspasses into closed military zones in Russia - sometimes for the purpose of viewing the wildlife and wilderness, other times for the purpose of viewing closed military and nuclear facilities? Roger Took, that's who. I’m certainly glad that he did, as it allowed for the creation of the fabulous book that is Running With Reindeer… but seriously, the man’s got to be a tad nutty. I’ve done my share of crazy things in Russia (I may have even done a bit of trespassing on occasion, being my mother’s daughter and all), but did I ever sneak into any closed military zones? No. However, I suppose whether or not Took’s actions have a bearing on his sanity doesn’t really affect the outcome here, which was his creation of a stellar book.

Running With Reindeer chronicles Took’s adventures in the Kola Peninsula, a frigid bit of land in the northwest corner of Russia, over the course of a decade. Since Russia’s such a ginormous country, here are some maps to help you orient yourself:

See the peninsula in the center of the circle? That's Kola.


Kola close-up

I must admit that despite my rather extensive knowledge of Russia, I knew nothing about the Kola Peninsula except that it was where the city of Murmansk was located. All I knew about Murmansk was that during my first Russian winter back in 2000, I had the opportunity to go to Murmansk for the weekend. I passed it up, thinking that I really didn’t want to spend 27 hours on a train to end up somewhere even colder than where I started. After reading this book, I’m wishing I’d gone and at least seen a tiny part of Kola.

Running With Reindeer chronicles Took’s many travels around the Kola peninsula, as he interacts with the remnants of the native Saami (Lapp) and Komi tribes. Took addresses in detail their force relocation during collectivization, and the impact it had on their formerly nomadic lives. He traces the influx and impact of ethnic-Russian settlers in Tsarist and Soviet times – and the effects of their post-Soviet exodus from Kola. He examines the Allied invasion of Russia at the end of WWI (this chapter is actually one of best accounts of this occurrence that I have read; most historians have a tendency to gloss over this for some reason). Took addresses the enormous problem of pollution in the once pristine Kola Peninsula and its impact on the neighboring countries of Finland and Norway. He also spends a significant amount of time discussing the environmental and geopolitical impact of the decay of Russia’s Northern (nuclear) Fleet. Apparently, the Kola Peninsula is full of nuclear products and biproducts just ripe for the taking – which is quite distressing given the current fears over what would happen should nuclear materials fall into the wrong hands.

All in all, this book was fabulous. It provided an excellent glimpse into the lives and histories of the people of the Kola Peninsula, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Russia. My only complaint with the book was that I wish there had been more photographs!

PS – Mom, thanks for the book!
PPS - Linda, I just started Smoke and Mirrors and am thoroughly enjoying it :-)

Where is Child Services when you need them?

(this is an old picture of Jason, taken last fall)

This little boy goes by the English name of Jason. He just started the second grade this month, although he has been studying at my school since long before my arrival in Korea. Jason is absolutely adorable, well-behaved and smart. He's one of my favorite students at Oedae. Today, when I walked into his class, I noticed that his entire face was red and splotchy. One of his eyes was swollen, as was his nose. I asked what was wrong. Apparently, he had lost 5000 won (roughly $5), and his mother was so angry that she hit him in the face. This isn't the first time he has come to school with marks on his face from his mother. Back in August or September, he lost his backpack. He came to school with what looked like a rope-burn on his face. When I asked him about it, he said his mom did it as punishment for losing his backpack. There were similar incidents prior to my arrival. And of course, the face is a very visible place; who knows what sorts of abuses we're missing. Back in the US (as well as in many other countries) there would be absolutely no doubt as to what we teachers would do in a situation like this. Unfortunately, here in Korea there is no equivalent to Child Protective Services.

Terrifying.

You need to listen to this. Now.
Especially if you're an American.
Do you find that as terrifying as I do?

Spring is here!!!

Today was such a fabulous day, especially compared to the weather we had yesterday. The temperature made it up into the upper sixties (or possibly even lower seventies), the sky was a brilliant blue and a light breeze was blowing. It was warm enough to go out without even a light jacket, and I was able to open up all the windows in my apartment and finally air the place out. I needed to go to E-Mart to restock my catfood and kitty litter, and I decided to walk there and back, as the day was so beautiful. On the way there, I got some great shots of early spring blossoms.

E-Mart customers are not allowed to bring backpacks or other large bags inside the store. Lockers are provided for customers to keep their various things in while they shop. On my way out of the store, as I stopped to reclaim my backpack from one such locker, I heard a loud and frantic peeping. I looked around and found, inside a nearby locker among various other items, a little baby chick. Poor thing.

In this picture you can see, in addition to the chick, my reflection
and the reflection of the E-Mart man who then asked me to stop photographing.


Okay, so if you've read the comments on my scooter post,
you'll note that I determined that this was a Honda Scoopy,
which is supposedly not sold in the United States.
Yet why does this have a Michigan plate??

I decided to walk back to the old Banyawol train station, which I first visited back in November, for the purpose of taking more photographs. Even though the gate leading to the platform was locked, I decided to find a way onto the tracks further down from the station. From there I walked back up to the station in order to get pictures from the track-side.

Old Banyawol Train Station


Old Banyawol Train Station


There were a few rusty old chairs out by the tracks...

Waking up is hard to do.

I'm sure you know the oldies song Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. Go ahead and substitute waking for breaking, hum the tune, and you've got the soundtrack of my life. I actually didn't have too much difficulty waking up for my Korean class at the YMCA this morning... but then when I returned home, I napped the entire afternoon away. I don't feel too guilty, given that it was a dreary, drizzly day... but still! Do any of you have any non-caffeine related tips for not spending everyday somnolent?

The allegedly "intermediate" Korean class wasn't quite as scary today as it was last week - mainly because I did spend the week studying. Unfortunately, a couple of the people at my level (Rob and Julie, this means you) have decided to go back to the beginning level class, which leaves only me and one other guy whom I don't know at the dumb-asses of the class. I did manage to purchase the So-gang 1A book today, so (in theory) I should be able to catch up on some of the things I'm missing. Or I'll cause my brain to melt down completely. One or the other.

UPDATE: It's 12:20 on Saturday night (er, Sunday morning) here, and I just spent the last hour reviewing the first fifty pages of So-gang 1A. Yes, I am obviously a dork, but that has never in my life been in question. Anyway, fifty pages is a little more than a third of the book, and I feel pretty good about working through that so quickly. Of course, I can also tell that it's going to get tougher. Grrr. If only there was a class that started halfway through 1A! Sigh.

Animal Rights in Korea

It finally seems as though spring is here. Skies are blue, birds are chirping (Mia is sitting in the window, fascinated by the birdies in the trees right outside), flowers are beginning to bloom, and the little corner stores are selling popular springtime treats for kids: chicks. Yes, as in baby chickens. While I will admit that chicks are adorable peeping yellow fuzzballs, the problem is that even under optimal circumstances, eventually they grow into large, not-cute-at-all chickens. Of course, optimal circumstances are rather lacking over here:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is a very small plastic bag into which this girl's newly purchased baby chick was placed by the store-keeper. (This chick was sold at a stationary store, of all places.) The store had several crates packed full of peeping chicks, ready to be sold to girls like this one, who were all oohing and ahhing over how cute they were. These spring "toys" don't have a long life expectancy - although given the preferred plastic bag method of transport, that's not surprising. On my way home from work last night, I passed a trashbag with several dead chicks poking out of the top and one tossed on the ground next to it. I took a photo and juxtaposed it with the one above. It's rather disturbing, so I didn't post it here. However, if you're interested in seeing it, click here.

Brother One Cell

My internet has been out for the past few days, and I've seriously been going through withdrawl. Yes, I am an internet addict. Anyway, the internet repairman just left (the power supply to my external cable modem had gone kaput and had to be replaced), and I am back online. I am currently listening to an episode of the Diane Rehm Show from a few days ago:

At age 23, Cullen Thomas was arrested in Seoul and sentenced to three-and-one-half years in prison for smuggling hashish into the country. He provides a view of South Korean society few Americans will ever see and describes how his experience transformed him. Listen to it here.

Granted, Thomas was a complete idiot; how stupid can you be to smuggle narcotics into South Korea? But, it's interesting to hear his description of the English-teaching culture here in South Korea back in the mid-1990s. Certainly, things have changed here quite a bit since then, but in many ways it's very, very much the same. Anyway, give it a listen. It's quite fascinating... especially his description of life inside the prison.

Anyhow, Thomas has written a book entitled Brother One Cell: An American Coming of Age in South Korea's Prisons.

I saw my dream-mobile today.

Isn't that simply awesome? It was parked on my street today, and I must admit that I stood and drooled over it for a while. I would love to get a scooter like this - if anyone in GA comes across anything like this for sale for cheap, let me know!

Shiny.

I think my head is going to explode.

So, today was the first day of Korean lessons at the YMCA. Even though it had seemed from the sign-up paperwork that there would be four levels of classes, there are (most unfortunately) only two: beginning and intermediate. During the first hour I sat in the beginning class. The teacher was really nice, but I was totally bored... We were learning hangeul, the Korean alphabet - which I've known for quite some time now. According to the syllabus, the plan is to spend the next four classes continuing to learn the alphabet. While it seemed that most of the roughly 30 other students in the beginning class were genuine beginners, there were a few of us who already knew the alphabet and a good number of nouns and short sentences.... something that the class wasn't going to get to for weeks. They had talked about splitting the beginner class into two groups, as it is so large. I had hoped that they would divide it into beginning beginners and advanced beginners, but unfortunately it seems that it will be divided between English-speaking students and Chinese students (as they have a teacher who speaks English and one who speaks Chinese).

The teacher suggested that those of us who could read the alphabet go to the intermediate class. I, for one, was quite skeptical about this, as Gwen - who has lived in Korea since 2001 - is in that class! She and I should obviously *not* be in the same level Korean class. But during the break at the halfway mark, Gwen told me that I had apparently been "placed" in her class (based on the survey I took when I signed up), as there was a name plate in the classroom waiting for me. She also said that the class was way too easy for her, although it seemed too difficult for many of the people in it. Some of us decided to try the intermediate level for the second hour. (I didn't know if I could tolerate another hour of a, ya, ka, kya, na, nya.....)

Unfortunately for me (and several others), the intermediate class was way over my head. It was conducted entirely in Korean! While I could follow a lot more than I expected, I had no idea how to respond to most of the teacher's questions, and felt like a complete dumbass. Luckily, I was seated next to Gwen, who did a lot of translation for me. Even though the class was totally above and beyond my level, I've decided to stick with it, simply because there is no point to me spending the next month and a half learning the alphabet and simple phrases.

After class, I decided to buy both the beginning class book and the intermediate class book. Unfortunately, given that all thirty or so beginners were on a quest for So-gang 1A (the beginning book), the two large bookstores downtown were all sold out. I did, however, manage to buy a copy of So-gang 1B (intermediate level). Then Gwen and I went to Starbucks and she helped me work through the first several pages of the book. I'm going to have to spend all this upcoming week studying my ass off in order to be even somewhat prepared for next Saturday. It's so embarrassing to think that I've spent fifteen (non-consecutive) months in Korea and yet I speak so little of the language. It's time I did something about that. So that's how I'm going to spend the rest of my weekend. After the nap I'm about to take.

Also, in the intermediate class, there is a Russian woman! As soon as I saw her, I was almost certain that she was Russian, and then a few minutes later, Gwen whispered to me, "That girl's from Russia!" I talked to her after class - nice to be able to talk in a foreign language that I can actually manage - her name is Katya and she's Vladivostock, and she seems nice. It's quite fascinating for me to hear Korean spoken with a Russian accent (although her Korean is really good; she's actually taken the intermediate level class before).

Okeedokee. Off to nap. Then study. Aaack.