scott41679

The other day I decided to get ordained as a Buddhist monk. I figured, though, that before embarking on such an irrevocable course of action maybe spending a day in the life would be a worthwhile endeavor. Fortunately Korea offers just such a service: 24 hours of eating, sleeping, and meditating like a monk. I quickly found out that being a monk isn’t all about living the high life of enlightenment and inner peace. Monks spend decades struggling to eliminate suffering and other intrusions of the outside world. On a more practical level, they can’t blow off steam by attending the occasional soccer match; theirs is a life of sobriety and celibacy. Into this cauldron of mayhem and madness (naturally waged deep within the cerebral cortex), my friends and I temporarily but forcibly flung ourselves. Even ... read more

On my first day of teaching here in Seoul, I took my laptop with me on the bus, planning to show pictures to my students during my self-introduction. On the bus, I spotted an 8-year-old kid with his dad and asked if he was going to the same school I was. When he replied yes, I immediately fixated on him and made sure that any movement he made toward the door would be followed with a copycat movement of my own. I was sweating a bit in my business suit, and when I saw him make that long anticipated movement to exit the bus, my laptop remained where I left it, on the floor by my seat. As soon as I got off the bus and it pulled away, my heart started pounding with the realization ... read more

Greetings from the recently rated number one e-government friendly nation on earth where nothing remains unblighted by technology. Imprinted in bold white letters right under the name of my school on its 50-year old brick surface is the following: seouldorim.es.kr, which I assume is not a porn site. In spite of all that, I don't have Internet access. They wanted the entire year's payment in advance (that would have broken the bank several times over) because apparently they were afraid I was going to flee the country momentarily. Truly, I have thought about defecting to the North due to my well-established love for communist countries (if not the leaders who run them), but I had misgivings mostly concerning whether I would ever be able to see my family again. Mom, you can stop panicking now! Anyway, ... read more

As I wrap up my two month stint in Mali, I thought I would fill you in on some of the little escapades I have taken around this country of sand and grass. Because the rains mostly cooperated with us, we finished our work a bit ahead of schedule. Consequently I have had some time to do a bit of this country with a surprising amount of things to see. As the title implies, I did not, unfortunately, make it to Timbuktu, the ancient center of trade and learning on the edge of the Sahara. Nor did I go to Mali's second most famous attraction: Dogon Country. The DOgon people have developed a complex cosmology and built their dwellings ... read more

The rainy season seems to have begun in earnest. The rain still falls mostly at night, but it’s power and fury are like nothing I have seen before. Here, one is never surprised by the onset of a storm. Piercing cracks of thunder and seemingly interminable lightning strikes (a fireworks displays that many would be proud to emulate) slowly, inexorably wage successful battle against the fierce unforgiving sun. The sky becomes dark gray, a few shades this side of ebony, and the winds start to howl and swirl ferociously, and finally, almost anti-climactically, the torrential downpour begins. No, I don’t spend all of my time mesmerized by the feats of Mother Nature, or for that matter running from her vengeful wrath. I do have several important things to accomplish here. But, let me start from the ... read more

One of the neat things about living in various places and not just passing through is being able to observe and sometimes participate as the local people celebrate or commemorate the principal stages of the life cycle: birth, coming-of-age, marriage and death. In Japan I was privileged to attend a wedding of a fellow teacher, and although the Western influence on the dress and ceremony was strong, the Japanese setting created an atmosphere that hinted of ancient rites and customs, unique to their culture. Similarly, at a coming-of-age ceremony which celebrated entrance into adulthood at age twenty, I saw young men dressed in Western-style suits and women dressed in gorgeous kimono with an elaborate bow tied across the back. They were eager to leave the gymnasium and begin exercising the «rights» that adults enjoy the world ... read more

I am currently in Bamako, the capital of Mali, as I write this, my town, Ouelessebougou, not being sufficiently advanced to have access to the internet. Bamako is a vibrant, bustling city of more than a million, but it is very much a local place with sidewalks filled with street vendors. There is no 5 star hotel per se, but of course there are some luxurious accomodations and fancy western restaurants for the occasional foreigner who stumbles into this city. The national museum is pretty impressive, but unfortunately Mali, once the home of three great empires, retains little of its great heritage. Most artifacts have long ago been pillaged and plundered. I visited in Bamako the national zoo, a journey better ... read more

Now for the main event: my ascent up Mt. Fuji. After enduring a day in which my nerves prevented me from eating much of anything, at 6:00 in the evening, my friend Lou and I climbed into the bus that would take us to our destiny. This was not a normal bus ride, but one that would take us half way up Fuji, before depositing us at the Fifth Station some 6,000 feet from the base. The wind was whipping around quite a bit, and we were grateful for the coats and gloves that we had the foresight to bring. There were several dozen people milling around, chatting, drinking beer, and generally waiting for the night to get a bit closer before beginning the climb. In the distance, I heard a man shouting that all climbers ... read more

First, a little background: Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is a small island off the southeast coast of India. Its people are mostly Buddhist, but also Hindu and Muslim; they mostly plant tea or make apparel to earn a living. The Singhalese, mostly Buddhist and the Tamils, mostly Hindu had been engaged on-and-off in a civil war until last year. During the conflict, the Tigers, a Tamil guerrilla group, perfected suicide bombings throughout Sri Lanka to carry out their fight for independence in Tamil-dominated areas of the island. Now, a cease-fire has been signed, and there is widespread optimism on both sides that there will be peace, and this nation of 18 million people will be able to prosper. In Sri Lanka, elephants are used as horses or mules are elsewhere, and they can pop ... read more

First, a little background: Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is a small island off the southeast coast of India. Its people are mostly Buddhist, but also Hindu and Muslim; they mostly plant tea or make apparel to earn a living. The Singhalese, mostly Buddhist and the Tamils, mostly Hindu had been engaged on-and-off in a civil war until last year. During the conflict, the Tigers, a Tamil guerrilla group, perfected suicide bombings throughout Sri Lanka to carry out their fight for independence in Tamil-dominated areas of the island. Now, a cease-fire has been signed, and there is widespread optimism on both sides that there will be peace, and this nation of 18 million people will be able to prosper. In Sri Lanka, elephants are used as horses or mules are elsewhere, and they can pop ... read more