blogging live from s. korea quarantine 2009

So I've been in South Korea for a few days now, and the lock down on our campus has gotten increasingly serious. Medical checks are also becoming tighter, and rumors are starting to fly in place of any actual information. (okay, so I was kidding about the quarantine part, but in that way where its a little bit true. things do seem to be heading in that direction, but I would like to state for the record that we are not in actual quarantine-- so far as i can tell.)

In response to the encroaching cabin fever, most of us English teachers have reverted to middle school level games of yore. There is only so much to do on a closed campus with a strict no alcohol policy. All excursions to the outside world (trips to our schools, a city tour of seoul) have been canceled. This is going to be a very long week, I think. With an luck, though, on Saturday we will get to move to our apartments.

Still, its somewhat disquieting, knowing you are being held for observation.

And, in all the weirdness, its hard to find a way to express my sadness over Senator Ted Kennedy's passing. He was a good man who did a lot of good for his country and who got behind a lot of really groundbreaking legislation. We could use a lot more like him but we're not likely to see his equal for quite some time. If there is peace to be had in whatever follows life, I hope he finds some. It will be well deserved.

On travel.

"We take our fetters with us; our freedom is not total: we still turn our gaze towards the things we have left behind; our imagination is full of them."
-Michel de Montaigne, On Solitude.

Leaving soon. I'm excited and nervous about the adventure to come. I'm both sad to leave the people in my life here, and extremely happy to have so many good people and so much love in my life.

Ah well, on to the next crazy venture...

mean daddy works for MSNBC. horray!

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He raises an interesting point. Repubs do appear to be, on one hand, claiming all government intervention is evil while on the other, telling people over 65 that their beloved government run health care (aka Medicare) will be jeopardized. This would seem to negate the "creeping socialism" argument if this issue hadn't already become an overly ideological shouting match.

Still, no one respects the left for just sitting there politely while being screamed at. The right is content to call that a victory, so its good to see someone stepping up their game a notch.

Found on an esl forum discussing what one should bring to S. Korea:

Bring nothing & redefine your needs.

good advice, I think.

reason #376 why I heart Pete Seeger