Alright. it's Valentine's Day here in Canada...and other places around the world as well. I spent the afternoon at the National Art Gallery here in Ottawa and I wasn't alone. My entire Teacher Education section from the University of Ottawa went to the Gallery this afternoon for our Arts class. Mai came along as well and we all had a good ole time. I've been to the Gallery at least 4 or 5 times since I moved to Ottawa last summer. The most exciting part of this trip for me was to see the BIG BABY...as I call it or as it's properly called, "A Girl" by the Australian artist Ron Mueck.
Here it is..."A Girl" by Ron Mueck....or as I call it....the big ole gross baby!!! This thing is huge. It seems that most people are either horrified by it or think it's great. Either way, everyone is transfixed by it!
"A Girl" was donated to the National Gallery last Fall. Here I am hammin it up. As you can see...it's damn big. The eeirest thing about it is the detail. You can see the amniotic fluid, the pores on the skin and the hair looks especially realistic...therefore...nasty.
Some classmates wanted to capture the moment in a complimentary pose! Shall I call this one "A Girl and A Boy"?
According to CBC news...."A Girl is a 4.5-metre-long sculpture of a newborn, her eyes half shut and hands clenched, and umbilical cord still attached.
Mueck uses modern acrylics and other sculptural techniques taken from the film industry to create the true colours and textures of human skin, but all of his sculptures are out of scale — either much larger or smaller than their inspiration."
Here's an intersting blurb about Canadian English Teachers...in Canada. I read this in the Korea Times. The great Korean "Unqualified vs. Qualified" ESL teacher debate continues...and will for the next 10,000 years I think! Canada’s English Programs
Tonight was a night of firsts. A night for NOT doing school work even though it was a Sunday AND a night for cooking my first turkey. Ok...what was the special occasion???? Nothing...my friend Anne just had the idea a few weeks ago that a crew of us should get together, pool our resources and make a nice "festive" turkey dinner. Well, tonight we did and it was BANG ON!!! I didn't cook it alone...we all fumbled through the event together...none of us had truley independent turkey cooking knowledge, but together, we got the job done. What a turkey,...... My buddy Roddy carved the dead sucker while Mai looked on....
Now the turkey has been consumed, the wine drunk.....it's back to Teacher's College world. The world of the B.Ed guy continues.....
In non turkey related news....
I saw this on Marmot's Hole this evening... North Korea Releases Kidnapped Canadian Citizen SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- A Korean-Canadian pastor has been released after being detained for more than two months in North Korea, a U.S. government-funded radio station reported Sunday.
Minister Kim Jae-yeol was released last week from detention in North Korea and is heading for Seoul, the Voice of America (VOA) reported. original...
BUT...in the Land Of "Unqualifies Teachers"....what the Hell makes a "Qualified" teacher anyway?? It seemsto change all the time. Is a "qualifies" teacher a person with a B.Ed? A TESOL or TEFL certification (often from fly-by-night "schools"), a weekend course online? Does anyone know? 53% of Foreign Tutors Lack Teaching Degrees More than half of foreign teachers at elementary and secondary schools have no English teaching certificates. Of 3,808 native English-speaking teachers, 2,002, or 53 percent, didn't have teaching certificates such as TESOL and TEFL as of September 2007, according to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, Sunday.
TESOL is short for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and TEFL means Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Among 1,806 foreign nationals who hold English teaching certificates, 532 teachers had teaching licenses from their countries, 1,134 had TESOL or TEFL and 140 had both.
``Native English speakers holding English teaching certificates are most preferred and applicants need to have an education major or teaching experience of more than one year if they want to work with us,'' said Kelly H. Ye, coordinator in recruiting native English speaking teachers at Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE).
However, schools, in practice, have difficulty hiring certificate-holding teachers. Currently, Korean elementary and secondary schools are hiring foreigners as teachers aides, as this is legal, for English conversation classes. Native English-speaking nationals with a bachelor's degree or above can apply for English teaching or E-2 visa.
By region, South Gyeongsang Province had the highest ratio of ``licensed teachers,'' with 60 percent. The province had 163 foreign nationals with teaching certificates out of 270. Following South Gyeongsang were Gwangju and South Jolla Province with 57 percent.
In Seoul, 54 percent had certificates while the ratio fell to 47 percent in Gyeonggi Province.
Ulsan City had the lowest ratio of licensed native English teachers with 23 percent and Daejeon City also showed a low ratio with 26 percent.
Korea has seen a growing number of foreign English teachers and accordingly the number of foreigners forging their degrees to get E-2 visas is also increasing, according to the Korea Immigration Service. A total of 692 foreigners with fabricated degrees were caught as of August 2007.
Meanwhile, top educators in 15 cities and provinces requested President-elect Lee Myung-bak to ease English teaching visa regulations that restricts foreign English teachers by national in a meeting with Lee at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, last Friday.
Regarding this, an SMOE official said they can secure more qualified teachers by expanding English teaching visas to more countries. ``If Asian teachers are allowed at schools, we can also place those teachers in math and science classes for English immersion programs planned by the incoming government,'' said Choi Chun-ok, the supervisor in charge of recruiting foreign teachers at SMOE. Original...
No shit! If the only requirement for someone to be an English teacher is a 3-4 year degree in any subject...of course these folks aren't "registered" teachers. ALSO...if you only offer "real" teacher crap wages compared to their native countries...what doyou expect! I can remember a few years ago when public schools were offfereing "non-qualified"teachers 2,000,000 a month and those with an actual B.Ed 2,100,000 a month....no wonder "qualified" folks did't want the gigs...ah well...maybe times are a changin...
OK...enough of the rants...I love this little ad ditty... I thin kit would be a great tune to teach little kids their "ABC's"...ignoring the "Zellers" part at the end of course. ALSO...if they aren't in Canada or Canadian they wouldn't get the reference anyway. ALSO...if their young enough to be just learning their "ABC"S" I doubt the whole "Zellers' thing would have much of an impact on their lives anyway^^
Way to stir the bee's nest Mr. President-Elect Lee.... English-Only Classes fresh debate has erupted over President-elect Lee Myung-bak's drive for English-immersion education for secondary schools. Korean teachers of English, parents and scholars are divided over the plan calling for classes to be conducted in English. The debate began immediately after the Presidential Transition Committee announced Thursday that all English classes in high schools will be given in English from 2010.
Under the plan, high school teachers will be also required to give a few classes, including science and math, in English. Obviously, such measures reflect Lee's strong will to help students significantly improve their English proficiency in an era of globalization. In reality, high school graduates lack English-speaking skills even though they have learned English for six years in school. The problem can be attributed to the education environment focusing too much on taking college entrance exams. Read More...
TokyoCooney eats raw chicken in Japan...nuff said!!!
When a Chinese resident in Korea went to an ATM machine run by the Korea Post during the Chuseok holidays, he was taken aback by a text that appeared on the screen asking him to confirm his identity at the service counter. Since it was a holiday, the post office was closed, leaving him without cash throughout the break. The incident was a result of Korea Post’s new measure to prevent a new style of fraud, in which fraudsters pretend to be officials from public institutions and threaten victims into transferring money into specified bank accounts. Those accounts often belong to foreign residents, including foreign-born Koreans.
To address the problem, Korea Post in August began to crack down on some 10,000 bank accounts held by foreigners suspected of being used for fraud. When it was unable to reach account holders after calling them three times, it temporarily suspended withdrawals from those accounts. To put it right again, foreign account holders must visit a post office to confirm their identities. But the blameless Chinese man felt it was discrimination. "They treat us as if we're some kind of imposters," he said. Korea Post says it only meant to protect innocent citizens from fraud, but admitted the measures could have affected another innocent group.
It stopped the inspection of foreign bank accounts at the start of October. "Suspension of bank services of all foreign residents based on the misbehavior of some is a typical case of opting for convenience rather than doing things right," one bank official says. More consideration will be required now that there are over 1 million foreign residents here. Chosun Ilbo
I remember seeing posters scattered throughout the Seoul Subway system a few years ago with a group of non-Koreans pictured and they said something about living the "Korean Dream." What was that all about? Looks like there are a lot of foreigners simply being denied basic services.
Here's a little something I came across on the Marmot's hole and got a kick out of!
What’s a Canadian Pothead to Do? Alert the Immigration Bureau! — Korea may have to prepare for a flood of Canadian potheads fleeing new, Draconian drug laws in their native land:
Reversing earlier moves to decriminalize marijuana use, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada announced new legal and spending measures against drug use and distribution on Thursday.
In 2005, the government, then led by the Liberal Party, introduced legislation to eliminate criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana. The bill did not pass Parliament before the election that brought Mr. Harper and the Conservatives to power. It was never reintroduced.
“Far too long now in Canada, governments have been sending out mixed messages on drugs,” Mr. Harper said Thursday. “Canadians hardly know what the law is anymore.” To make it clear that drug use is illegal in Canada, he said the government would spend about $64 million on antidrug campaigns and increased enforcement, including mandatory sentences for dealers and smugglers. There will also be increased coordination with the United States, he said.
Maybe Korea and Canada can exchange populations — Canadian potheads to Korea, Korean prostitutes to Canada.
Any story about condoms deserves some coverage....a good ole "rubber conference"!
Condom Experts to Gather in Korea
Around 100 experts in the area of condom standards from over 50 countries around the world will gather in Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju next Monday. They will attend a five-day long conference organized by the International Organization for Standardization to discuss the quality and size of condoms. Korean firms account for the lion’s share of the condom industry around the world, a factor that has led Korea to host the conference. Globally, 80 companies have facilities to produce 12 billion condoms a year, equivalent to W1.1 trillion (US$1=W916). Of the 80 companies, Korea’s Unidus, Dongkuk Trading and Hankook Latex account for 30 percent of the global market, making Korea a sure no.1 in the world. The conference is expected to focus more on enhancing quality and safety of condoms rather than size, since there already exists a global standard for large, medium and small condoms. At present, condoms 49 mm in width and a minimum of 170 mm in length are small, 53 mm by 170 mm medium, and 57mm by 205 mm large. Large ones are generally being sold in the U.S. and Europe. In Korea, the most popular size changed to medium from small about five years ago. To further raise the effectiveness of condoms as the best protection against AIDS, period of circulation is likely to be reduced to three or four years from the current five along with tightened quality inspection. In the global condom market, low-priced condoms from China, Malaysia and India are threatening high-priced ones from Korea and other countries. In this light, shoring up the quality standards of condoms may prove an advantage for Korean firms.Chosun Ilbo
It's interesting that the condoms sold in Korea have traditionally been smaller than international standards. Luckily, it seems that things are "getting bigger" and the "industry is growing." I wonder how those changes have happened?
After failing honesty test, NOVA tightens the screws on teachers
NOVA, Japan's biggest chain of English language conversation schools is feeling the pinch, and it's struggling to pay its biggest asset -- foreign teachers, Weekly Playboy (10/15) says.
NOVA was supposed to pay its instructors on Sept. 15, but hundreds still hadn't received their wages 10 days later and some may have still yet to get their due remuneration even now.
NOVA's problems began in April when the Supreme Court ruled its repayment methods when students cancelled contracts were illegal and two months later the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry suspended some of its operations.
But now, the chain of schools is hurting -- itself, its employees and its paying customers.
"NOVA has been flooded by requests to cancel contracts from students worried about its future and its shortage of capital," Katsuji Yamahara, head of the multinational General Union to which many foreign NOVA instructors belong, tells Weekly Playboy. "Some schools have had to be shut down because they don't have the money to run. I guess that's also been behind the late payments to the foreign teachers."
Many of the roughly 5,000 NOVA teachers are furious at the way they've been treated.
"Our payday is the 15th of every month. Sept. 15 was a Saturday, so they were supposed to pay us the day before. But the only people paid on the 14th were some instructors in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka. I didn't get paid," a NOVA instructor of seven years experience tells Weekly Playboy. "After that, they told us by e-mail that they'd definitely pay on the 19th. But there was nothing. Then they said the 21st, but nothing again. Then they came out and said they'd pay on the 25th after the long weekend, but it still didn't come through. They just keep telling us all these lies."
Another NOVA teacher adds the problem is not just unpaid wages. For many of its foreign instructors, NOVA borrows an apartment on their behalf, deducts the rent from their pay packet and pays the landlord directly.
"But NOVA has been deducting the rent from our pay and then not handing it over to the landlords," the teacher tells the weekly. "Some landlords have been telling teachers to get out of their apartment by the start of October."
Foreign teachers are the biggest asset an English conversation school can have in Japan. Many NOVA employees have already fled to other popular conversation school chains. But those who stay at NOVA are being drastically overwhelmed by student numbers and demand is enormous. Students, in turn, are complaining because they can't get classes as easily as they had been told it would be. Further reductions in teacher numbers are likely to hurt the chain even more.
Weekly Playboy says it repeatedly contacted NOVA for a comment about the situation but was constantly told that a reply would be forthcoming "tomorrow." Each time tomorrow became today, the response was identical. Phone calls to the company always got a busy tone. After 5 p.m., the engaged signal was replaced by a recorded message.
Union boss Yamahara is hardly bullish about NOVA's future.
"They'll close more schools because they can't pay the rent. Teachers will quit because they haven't been paid. It's in a truly downward spiral," he says. "NOVA has always sold itself on being cheap and convenient. To be honest, though, I don't think there are really many options open for NOVA from now on."
While the foreign teachers are languishing, NOVA's president Nozomu Sahashi is sitting back on a personal fortune estimated to be several hundred million yen, a fund the weekly suggests he should consider tapping into to pay his teachers' wages. The teachers certainly like the idea.
"I've got workmates who can't pay their transport costs. They can't come to work because they haven't got the money for their train fare. Other teachers have to eat cup noodles three times a day because they haven't got the money for any other food," a foreign NOVA teacher tells Weekly Playboy. "F**k you, Sahashi. Hurry up and pay!" (By Ryann Connell) （Mainichi Japan） October 4, 2007
