What could have been a wonderful weekend has turned into a weekend of grossness and of pain. Robin and I have strep throat. I didn't even know adults got that. I thought it was a shitty thing that elementary students got but apparently teachers get it as well and let me tell you, it sucks as much I remember. This past weekend was Robin's birthday (well, technically it's today) and we had planned to do number of things. I did manage to take here out for Indian food Saturday night before either of us were really that sick but soon after that, both of our muscles started aching and by the time Sunday morning came around, we felt as though we had been run over by firetrucks. Instead of singing for Mass and for the evening Lessons and Carols service, which we had been looking forward to for a couple of weeks, we laid around, not able to do much and not able to eat much. We were able to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" and most of "Howl's Moving Castle" which was some reprieve from awful burning sensation in our throats.
This morning, we both went to Yonsei Hospital's international walk-in clinic. I didn't trust going to a Korean doctor on Ganghwa. The staff there was very nice and it was neither dirty or crowded like Gimpo hospital. We were both diagnosed with strep throat. Well, 'acute tonsilitis'. We were given antibiotics and iodine mouth wash (yummy). After that, I returned Ganghwa and Samryang High School with a doctor's note in order to explain why I couldn't teach any classes today. They couldn' get the idea that my voice was completely shot and couldn't possibly talk for the duration of one 50 minute class, nevermind four. They tried telling me that if I took a nap, I would be better. They apparently have no idea what strep thoat is. I can't raise my voice over a certain level without it being excruciatingly painful. They finally relented after I mentioned that I can take a sick day provided that I have a doctor's note which I had. Those crazy Koreans. But anyway, I've been sleeping most of today, only having woken up a few minutes ago to eat some ice cream and take some antibiotics. I'm feeling a little better but not much. Hopefully, I will be right as rain tomorrow.
Dec 22, 2008
Dec 16, 2008
Sapientiatide
Tomorrow, as some of you may know, begins the 'mini' liturgical season of Sapientiatide, which is sort of a precursor to Christmastide. In the ancient Church and presently, the season celebrated the mystery of the Incarnation. However, there are only vestiges of this major liturgical cycle retained in the modern Church, namely in the the Magnificat antiphons at Vespers between the 17th and 23rd of December. However, these antiphons are better known combined as the lyrics to the beloved carol, O Come, O Come Immanuel. As we move into the final days of Advent and prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, I think its fitting to reflect upon the mystery of the Incarnation and the love of God that it so strongly demonstrates. These ancient antiphons are not only quite beautiful, they help us reflect on this very crucial reality.
Dec 17th:* O Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end [of the heavens] to another, and dost mightily and sweetly order all things: come to teach us the way of prudence!
Dec 18th: O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel, who didst appear unto Moses in the burning bush, and gavest him the law in Sinai: come to redeem us with outstretched arm!
Dec 19th: O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at whom the kings shall shut their mouths, unto whom the Gentiles shall seek: come to deliver us, make no tarrying!
Dec 20th: O Key of Davd and Sceptre of the house of Israel; that openest and no man shutteth; and shuttest and no man openeth: come to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death!
Dec 21st: O Day-spring Brightness of the everlasting Light, Sun of Righteousness: come to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death!
Dec 22nd: O King of the Gentiles, yea, and Desire thereof, O Cornerstone that makest of twain [two] one: come to save man, whom Thou hast made of the dust of the earth!
Dec 23rd: O Emmanuel, our King and our Law-giver, Longing of the Gentiles, yea, and Salvation thereof: come to save us, O Lord our God
(from the Anglican Breviary)
Aquinas' Treatise on the Incarnation from the Summa Theologiae
Athanasius' On the Incarnation
Dec 15, 2008
Poem for Robin
Should I post this or should I not. Oh well, it has been done:
From the high vaulted ceiling of the night,
the myriad stars set within Heavens' dome,
though dimmed across the aether's bound and by
the ill weakness of our eyes now pursued,
shine for us only this night, though all Seoul,
does sleep beneath the same celestial cover.
O Lover! (And yes, you are my lover),
let me take your hand, let me hold you close.
Let me, now, in my failing French proclaim,
“Je t'aime.” And at your blushing reply,
raising your head to mine, I will kiss you,
our embrace becoming ever closer
and this, our love-fever ever hotter,
cooled only by the chill of the starry night.
From the high vaulted ceiling of the night,
the myriad stars set within Heavens' dome,
though dimmed across the aether's bound and by
the ill weakness of our eyes now pursued,
shine for us only this night, though all Seoul,
does sleep beneath the same celestial cover.
O Lover! (And yes, you are my lover),
let me take your hand, let me hold you close.
Let me, now, in my failing French proclaim,
“Je t'aime.” And at your blushing reply,
raising your head to mine, I will kiss you,
our embrace becoming ever closer
and this, our love-fever ever hotter,
cooled only by the chill of the starry night.
Christmastime in Ganghwa.
I'm sitting here, unshaven, listening to Christmas music, having just done some reading. I had most of today off. My students are taking their final exams. The time I was there, I just finished writing out Christmas cards. This past weekend, like every weekend, was quite wonderful. I am very much in love with Robin. I don't think that's a mystery to anyone, considering the way I speak about her. Any time I spend with her is amazing, even just sitting together reading silently. We did not really do any of that this weekend. It was actually a very busy weekend. Saturday, we went to house warming party of a Korean friend of ours. We had a wonderful dinner there. Stewed chicken, noodles and no kimchi in sight. Jennifer, whose house we were visiting, gave Robin a wonderful necklace hand made onGanghwa. It is very pretty.
After dinner, we headed back to Seoul to Robin's apartment. We watched the Passion of Joan of Arc, which is an incredibly powerful film chronicling the trial and execution of the saint, directed by a young Carl Th. Dreyer. It's not a very romantic film but it is wonderfully moving. I have seen it before but the scene where Joan is refused the Blessed Sacrament by the chief priest brought a tear to my eye once again. The black and white cinematography, focusing on the facial expressions of the actor, allows the viewer to be engaged in the emotions of the characters and ultimately to fear the suffering and the humiliation of Joan. It is a wonderful film. Robin really loved it.
The following, we went to Mass at the English Mission. The both of us got to the chapel early to rehearse for the choir. Robin has a beautiful voice and is much more musically inclined than I am. She follows all the choir jargon perfectly well while I have no idea even what parts I'm supposed to sing. I must seem so ignorant to everyone. My lack of musical training is a little emabarassing. I feel slightly uneducated in that regard. Oh, the things one does for love. But we sang one of my favourite hymns Be Thou My Vision which turns out be one of Robin's also.
After Mass, we went to lunch with a friend we met at church. His name was Chris. He's an incredibly intelligent guy, with a pretty good knowledge of Koine Greek. He definitely had his eye on Robin which definitely made me rather jealous. We ended up going to a Thai place that's in the same building as Robin's school. It was very good. It blows Korean food out the water any day.
Well, that's all for now. I'll be updating again soon
After dinner, we headed back to Seoul to Robin's apartment. We watched the Passion of Joan of Arc, which is an incredibly powerful film chronicling the trial and execution of the saint, directed by a young Carl Th. Dreyer. It's not a very romantic film but it is wonderfully moving. I have seen it before but the scene where Joan is refused the Blessed Sacrament by the chief priest brought a tear to my eye once again. The black and white cinematography, focusing on the facial expressions of the actor, allows the viewer to be engaged in the emotions of the characters and ultimately to fear the suffering and the humiliation of Joan. It is a wonderful film. Robin really loved it.
The following, we went to Mass at the English Mission. The both of us got to the chapel early to rehearse for the choir. Robin has a beautiful voice and is much more musically inclined than I am. She follows all the choir jargon perfectly well while I have no idea even what parts I'm supposed to sing. I must seem so ignorant to everyone. My lack of musical training is a little emabarassing. I feel slightly uneducated in that regard. Oh, the things one does for love. But we sang one of my favourite hymns Be Thou My Vision which turns out be one of Robin's also.
After Mass, we went to lunch with a friend we met at church. His name was Chris. He's an incredibly intelligent guy, with a pretty good knowledge of Koine Greek. He definitely had his eye on Robin which definitely made me rather jealous. We ended up going to a Thai place that's in the same building as Robin's school. It was very good. It blows Korean food out the water any day.
Well, that's all for now. I'll be updating again soon
Nov 26, 2008
Providence
Certain events in my life, especially as of late, have called me to reflect on the role of Providence within my own life. For me it has always been such an abstract concept and one that, though I have always believed in as dogma, never really felt its power within my own life until now. Providence, God's plan for creation, can be understood in two senses. The first being more of a general type of Providence. God simply provides for all. This the meaning of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount: " That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."(Matt. 6:45). It is through God's providence that we have everything. The sun, the rain, food, drink, love, and even beer can be understood in this way. They are gifts to mankind in general. We must be thankful for these kinds of gifts and many of them, of course, are life sustaining. One couldn't live without sunshine or oxygen for instance. These gifts are for everyone, however, and are not aimed at the individual person. There is, however, a second type of Providence and it is one that is harder to understand and for most, including myself, harder to believe. This second type is Providence ordered toward the individual and is experienced as a special gift, a miracle even, that equips the individual to better to serve the will of God. This idea of Providence is expressed throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testement. Gifts such as prophecy and kingship can be seen in this context as well as the election of Israel (think of all the instances of God breaking the natural order to come to the aid of Israel). For us, especially in the modern world, this is pretty tough to believe. The idea that God breaks through the barrier of the natural order of things to intervene in our daily lives seems pretty absurd. It was pretty easy for the Puritans to believe in this and they believed in it alot but for us, it seems almost silly. As Christians, we believe (or rather, are supposed to believe) that with God anything is possible. But we tend dismiss miracles and throw providence on the rubbish heap of erroneous ideas. And I, like most, have effectively done this while still maintaining the doctrinal notion. However, there are certains events and certain feelings that I have recently developed that make me reconsider Providence. I am left speechless now and in awe because without a doubt Providence is working in my life and not in some abstract theological sense but in a very visceral sort of way. I must thank God for these precious gifts that I have received and am receiving still. This Thanksgiving will be special in a way that I never thought possible.
Nov 25, 2008
Good Morning
For those of you who do not know (and there cannot be many), I have a new girlfriend. Her name is Robin Fox. She's from Ohio originally but has been living in the Chicago area for the last couple of years. She is actually quite an amazing person and I have to admit that I am completely smitten. This past weekend, she and I joined the choir at the Anglican English Mission in Seoul. She is a lovely singer and with her charm (and I must say its significant), she was able to convince me to join as well. If you don't know, that's quite an accomplishment. My voice is mediocre at best and I can't really read music. I have a vague idea of how to follow along with the notes once a song has been started up but other than that I'm pretty illiterate. So this past Sunday, after Mass, we both went to breakfast with the choir on the US military base at Yongsan. The breakfast was incredible and was totally Anglo-American in character. It was definitely the first time I have seen bacon, eggs, and proper breakfast sausage in Korea. And let me tell you, it was was delicious. They even had a proper cup of coffee. There was none of that sugury, heated-up coffee milk stuff in sight. It was actually brewed. After that, we all went to Craig's house, which is on base. He is a US diplomat and his home is incredible. Robin and I decided that he's actually some kind of spy. But anyway, his wife is sort of the de facto music director for the Mission so we all gathered around her piano and practiced for the Lessons and Carols service which will be next Sunday evening. My only salvation was that I was familiar with all the hymns. Robin is a really talented musician but coming from pentecostal background, she's pretty unfamiliar with all the old English hymns. She more than made up for that unfamiliarity, with her shear musical talent. I have to say, she sings like an angel. I have never heard a voice that touches me so.
The evening before, last Saturday, she observed my birthday and made an unbelievable supper, steak smothered in a mushroom sauce with real mash potatoes. She is a very good cook and insists on making me dinner every time I come over. Everything she makes, including just her french fries, is like it was hand crafted by angels. It is ma-sit-sey-o, as the Koreans would say. After dinner, she brought out a birthday cake which she picked up at the local bakery. Like most Korean (supposedly western style ones), It was covered with random bits of fruit (kiwis, strawberries, and bananas). It was delicious. After the cake, she gave me my birthday present, which I have to say, was as wonderful as presents get. She got me a coffee pot. Yes, a real coffee pot. I have never seen one in Korea and was under the impression that you couldn't get them at all. But she managed to find one, knowing how much I object to Korean style coffee. She also got me some coffee grounds and told me where I could find them in Seoul. That present made me so happy. Now I can have a decent cup of coffee in the morning.
The weekend before last, Robin, myself, and Paul went up to Paju to the DMZ. It was an absolutely fascinating experience. Before entering we went to this monutment park, adjacent to the DMZ itself. It is the closest that South Koreans can get to the North. They are not ordinarily allowed in the DMZ. The most interesting part of the memorial were the old military relics from the Korean War. They had a small collection of old Jeeps, Sherman tanks, and even a Saber built for the R.O.K. by the US. I have some brilliant photos of that. Also at this park, was the Freedom Bridge, actually the furthest point north in South Korea. It is where North and South Korean forces exchanged prisoners at the close of the Korean conflict in 1953. At that place, mounted in the barbed wire fence is impromptu shrine set up South Koreans in remembrance of family members still in the North. It is a very emotional place and reminds one of how bitter and tragic the human experience can be.
After seeing the Freedom Bridge, we moved in the DMZ itself. We took a tour bus in and had to show out passports to the Joint Security personnel. Once we were in the DMZ itself, we toured a number of interesting locations. The first place we went to was the Third Tunnel, which was built by the North Koreans in an attempt to infiltrate the South. It was extremely deep in the earth and was a pretty decent hike in and out. It is extremely terrifying to think of the consequences if the tunnel was a success. The tunnel is only 30 miles from downtown Seoul. after the tunnel, we went to the Dora observatory but it was an extremely cloudy day so we could not see much. If it had been clearer, we would have been able to see some of the North Korean military operations and the propaganda village set up in the North. That would have been really cool. After this, out last stop was the Dorasan train station, which was very odd. It is a train station that goes no where. It was built in anticipation for the reunification of Korea. There are even custom agents there who do nothing. The most eerie part of the whole station was the electronic timetable with no arivals or departures scheduled. They even have the platform labelled "Pyeongyang" (the North Korean capitol). Well, I'm running out of time so I will end my post here. I promise to update really soon.
The evening before, last Saturday, she observed my birthday and made an unbelievable supper, steak smothered in a mushroom sauce with real mash potatoes. She is a very good cook and insists on making me dinner every time I come over. Everything she makes, including just her french fries, is like it was hand crafted by angels. It is ma-sit-sey-o, as the Koreans would say. After dinner, she brought out a birthday cake which she picked up at the local bakery. Like most Korean (supposedly western style ones), It was covered with random bits of fruit (kiwis, strawberries, and bananas). It was delicious. After the cake, she gave me my birthday present, which I have to say, was as wonderful as presents get. She got me a coffee pot. Yes, a real coffee pot. I have never seen one in Korea and was under the impression that you couldn't get them at all. But she managed to find one, knowing how much I object to Korean style coffee. She also got me some coffee grounds and told me where I could find them in Seoul. That present made me so happy. Now I can have a decent cup of coffee in the morning.
The weekend before last, Robin, myself, and Paul went up to Paju to the DMZ. It was an absolutely fascinating experience. Before entering we went to this monutment park, adjacent to the DMZ itself. It is the closest that South Koreans can get to the North. They are not ordinarily allowed in the DMZ. The most interesting part of the memorial were the old military relics from the Korean War. They had a small collection of old Jeeps, Sherman tanks, and even a Saber built for the R.O.K. by the US. I have some brilliant photos of that. Also at this park, was the Freedom Bridge, actually the furthest point north in South Korea. It is where North and South Korean forces exchanged prisoners at the close of the Korean conflict in 1953. At that place, mounted in the barbed wire fence is impromptu shrine set up South Koreans in remembrance of family members still in the North. It is a very emotional place and reminds one of how bitter and tragic the human experience can be.
After seeing the Freedom Bridge, we moved in the DMZ itself. We took a tour bus in and had to show out passports to the Joint Security personnel. Once we were in the DMZ itself, we toured a number of interesting locations. The first place we went to was the Third Tunnel, which was built by the North Koreans in an attempt to infiltrate the South. It was extremely deep in the earth and was a pretty decent hike in and out. It is extremely terrifying to think of the consequences if the tunnel was a success. The tunnel is only 30 miles from downtown Seoul. after the tunnel, we went to the Dora observatory but it was an extremely cloudy day so we could not see much. If it had been clearer, we would have been able to see some of the North Korean military operations and the propaganda village set up in the North. That would have been really cool. After this, out last stop was the Dorasan train station, which was very odd. It is a train station that goes no where. It was built in anticipation for the reunification of Korea. There are even custom agents there who do nothing. The most eerie part of the whole station was the electronic timetable with no arivals or departures scheduled. They even have the platform labelled "Pyeongyang" (the North Korean capitol). Well, I'm running out of time so I will end my post here. I promise to update really soon.
Nov 7, 2008
And yes, I still have a cold.
I still have a cold. It it is a little better but my throat is hoarse from a combination of the cold itself and the fact that I'm a teacher. My second grade middle schoolers were particularly nasty today. I generally start off each lesson with a hangman game as sort of an introductory activity. Most kids like it, especially when there is candy involved, and it gets them warmed up for the lesson of the day. Well, tonight we didn't get past hangman. Today's class was an endless game of hangman, constantly being interrupted by cackling girls, cell phone (in korean, hand pone) sound effects, and screaming, which altogether sounded something like a train derailment. Speaking loud, if you didn't know already, doesn't do a thing, but for some reason it always seems like a necessity. Nothing I tried could curb their behavior. None them, especially the girls, would shut up long enough that the game could progress so what was supposed to be an introductory type thing became the entireity of the class. My other classes are quite manageble. Sure, they're all adolescent punks raging with hormone but they are not demon children like these kids. They can't even be bribed, they can't be disciplined, but these 2nd graders disregard everything. They don't want to even try to learn or even have fun. They disregard any discipline I try to enforce. Pushups just don't matter to them. The are impudent little brats and pretty unmanageable. I grit my teeth and just attempt to present my lesson, hoping that a few get something out of it. What else can I do with these kids. It's something like the myth of Sisyphus, where I am constantly rolling a boulder up hill, never being able to reach the top.
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