Random Thoughts

For lack of better terms, my host father Mr. Seo is a businessman at SK. And he works morning to late night, every day. I rarely see him, he never eats at home, and his children never see him either, except for the weekends. This lifestyle reminds me of my dad during his residency, but Mr. Seo is much more busy. I have been told this is the life of Korean business man, I cannot imagine, so many men and women in this country working this way, day in and day out. It must be exhausting, but it seems to me, that Mr. Seo returns home with a smile each day, and a peaceful look on his face, he never looks stressed, though I am sure he is, nor does he look too tired. As a man, nearing 50 I believe, it is amazing. I don't know the schedules or demands of businessmen in other countries, but the demands on Mr. Seo, I have never seen before. But on a lighter note, one night he came home late, because he decided to go play Starcraft 2, with his colleagues from work, until 2 or 3 AM.

To be honest, I work all day here. Though it never feels like work, because, A.) everyone else is working just as hard, and it is quite fun to be working with a purpose, and B.) the people here at work are really fun, though stressed, we find time to laugh and tell jokes. Everything though stressful, feels less like work but a family collaboration. My co-workers and I are all working very hard for the opening of school and also, several other endeavors planned in the future. I am enjoying every moment, here, but I do miss kids, of course soon they will be scampering here - I haven't extensively interacted with children for more than a month, and everything just seems too quiet. I am anxious, nervous, at times while writing curriculum, sudden pangs of uncertainty hit, and I am not confident of what I am doing, but with some prayer, and more reading, once again I am at peace. But the first day of school will be tough, I think, having never worked with children with no experience in English, there must be other ways to reach these children, and my toughest challenge is to find those ways. Although of what I have done so far, my supervisor approved of, I think a lesson plan always has room for improvement.

I read an interesting article today, about how Egypt practically shut off all the internet during the protests for a few days during the revolution. Egypt, having been an authoritarian state, controls its networks via the government. China, has a history of censorship of course, but they too have the power to shut off the web for specific regions. What a scary thought, instead of the government controlling what we hear, or see, or learn, instead they can completely cut off all information exchange, in and out of the country. Everyone should check out this link of the article...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/technology/internet/29cutoff.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=egypt,%20internet&st=cse


Argh, it is 2AM. I don't know what I am typing anymore. But one last thought, two things that has affected me the past couple days is Hebrews chapters 6 to 11, and Interlude 5 in MTV Unplugged 2.0 by Lauryn Hill. Both have redefined, or reminded me of this faith I profess. In Hebrews chapters 6 to 11, it is a summary of the new covenant, and what the death of Christ means in the covenant, and also it is a call to persevere, and a call for us to serve God. In Interlude 5, Ms. Hill, defines what I believe the inner life of a Christian is. I don't know whether she is a Christian or not, but obviously she has some background in the church, and has important insight into the human condition.