2011 in Retrospect

It is time to take inventory of the past year. (See summaries of 2008, 2009 and 2010.)

January / February

The year started somewhat traumatically as I was involved in a car accident while I was in South Africa; thankfully nobody was seriously injured. During my time in South Africa I enjoyed spending time with many family and friends, some of whom I hda not seen in many years. The fruitful quest in search of my grandfather's grave in an old cemetery in Johannesburg was especially memorable.

March

In March there was a terrible earthquake that caused the terrible tsunami that destroyed large areas of Japan's eastern coast and resulted in the explosion of nuclear reactors. Japan took the brunt of the tsunami, saving Korea from any ill-effects. At a personal level, March was much less volatile. After working on the day of my birthday, I went to an excellent bakery and enjoyed exquisite pastries and deserts.

April

In April I started my Afrikaans poetry blog, Ingelegde Lywe, with focus on love and erotic poems.

Nothing else much happened. I did do some touristy things in April, such as visiting Seoul Tower, watching the theatre performance Jump! (for the fourth or fifth time), and hanging out in Insadong.

May

A most memorable thing in May was the Lantern Festival Parade (which coincides with Buddha's birthday) that I went to see with some friends whom I hadn't seen in years. Another memorable random day was when I went with my Taekwon-Do instructor and another friend to meet some high level Taekwon-Do people. That wasn't the memorable thing; the memorable thing happened later when we went to the Han River and found this strange bridge with a glass floor on which you can stand (or lie) and look at the river below.

Because of the car accident earlier the year I started going to a chiropractor again on account of acute back ache. It helped a lot—it also forced me to practise more Korean as the doctor is even worse at English than I am in Korean.

June

June was a much more active month for me. I went paragliding, went to the port city Mokpo where I had some of the best vegetarian food I've ever had at a little place called “Waltz Vegetarian Buffet” and also went for a weekend to Jeju Island.

I was also asked to give a speech on poetry and Christianity; I focussed on the value of Mythos and the Numinous.

In June this blog reached its 1000th post.

July

I travelled to three countries: Thailand, Laos and China. From Thailand I flew to Laos, crossed the border by bus into China, back again by bus to Laos and then by plain back to Thailand. During the Laos-China trip I had a wonderful experience meeting with Sabbath keeping Hmong Christians. It was an enriching and humbling experience. For my second journey in Thailand I just relaxed, first in Bangkok, then on an island (Koh Samui) where I hanged around and went scuba-diving, and back in Bangkok again, exploring Thailand's jazz spots.

August

In August I went to the Taekwondo Hall of Fame ceremony to support my instructor and other acquaintances as they receive awards. I was very surprised when I was also awarded with a citation.

September

It may not sound particularly noteworthy, but it was a life enhancing discovery for me: I started making nut milks.

October

With the cooler, more pleasant weather I enjoyed more trips around Seoul, enjoying the Gangnam Fashion Festival, a trip at some of the palaces, and a trip to the Blue House, the Korean presidential residence. I also went to a Fantasy Festival where I ended up being a model to be sketched with two other French models for one of the live-drawing sessions.

Not to be forgotten is my backpack that I lost, with nothing inside missing. This was soon to be followed by another miracle.

November

Early in November my car in South Africa got stolen. Miraculously it was retrieved, and with value added. The thieves actually spray painted my car, so that when the police got it back, it is now worth more than when it got stolen! I can only praise God for this.

December

Friends from South Africa came to visit me. This has been the first time for people from my South Africa life to enter my Korea life. For some reason, it feels like something important. Since they have been here I've been all around Seoul, doing and seeing a myriad of things and enjoying Korea again with “new eyes.”

...ooOoo...

This year it felt as if I really settled into living in Korea. I remember at the beginning of the year how I seriously considered leaving Korea by the middle of next year, maybe relocating to Europe, but as the year progressed I became more and more comfortable in my life here. My work has been a good blend of stress and enjoyment. I truly enjoy most of what I'm doing. I definitely do not think that I will want to stay here indefinitely, but for now I am happy. For much of the year I've been contemplating about my future plans—what will I do when my contract expires at the middle of next year? Will I renew? It's still too early to answer that question. I do know, however, that I would not mind staying on in Korea. At the beginning of this year, shortly after I arrived back in Korea after my trip to South Africa, I caught myself calling my apartment here in Korea “home”. I do feel it.

In 2011 I've made some new friends, learned some new lessons, and reminded myself of some old ones.

What will 2012 involve? The world economy will continue it's uncertain downward spiral. There is likely to be a war (between America and allies with Iran and allies) with the potential to escalate to global proportions. But before WWIII occurs, I'll be teaching new subjects that I'm looking forward to teach. Next semester will be a hard semester because I'll be teaching extra hours, but I look forward to the new classes and expanding my knowledge and skill set. I hope the global elite's plans for world domination will not hinder me to see the next Batman film (a little shallow, I know), and afterwards I will join the millions and millions of people that will resist their psychopathic ambitions. I haven't decided what my involvement in the protest movement will be just yet; in the meantime I'll use my vocation as a teacher to get my students to think for themselves, to question the status quo, and to value the great principles: Love, Hope, Liberty!

Jack Parrow, Katie, Mmê Emily and The Help

In a recent post about Afrikaans rap and Hip-Hop music I mentioned how I'm not a big fan of the Afrikaans rapper Jack Parrow. But let me not be a spoil sport for others that enjoy him. Someone just now showed me the video below of a help (maid) in South Afrika, most likely working for a white family, and listening to the Afrikaans rapper on television. Watching her do her work with that amount of enjoyment she derives from Afrikaans rap will bring a smile to anyone's face and is possibly the best marketing for popular alternative Afrikaans music I can imagine.



It also made me think of Koos Kombuis' Afrikaans song "Katie", in memory of the maid that worked for his family and helped raise him. In the lyrics of the song he proclaims that their maid "was not merely a maid / but also a mother" [my translation] to him. In the video below Christo Wolfaardt does a rendition of the song "Katie".



This song by Kombuis is one of his most famous, probably because it resonates with so many white South Africans that grew up with an "Ousie" (Afrikaans word derived from "ou suster", meaning older sister, and used to describe a maid or house help). For many white South Africans of around my generation "the maid" was more than just another worker; for many of us, our Ousie was a second mother.

Me and my "mother" Emily.

Mine, was definitely a second mother. She worked for our family for 27 years. Her name is Emily but I often called her "Mmê Emily". Mmê is Sesotho for mother. She is actually ethnically Zulu, but the area we lived in was predominately Sotho, so she spoke Sesotho to me. The name I use and which all my family and friends use is a Sesotho name and was actually given to me by Mmê Emily.

She is retired now and currently lives in the Sebokeng-area, Vaal Triangle. The last time I visited her was in 2008. I hope to go visit her again next month, God-willing, when I visit South Africa.

Recently I watched the film The Help (2011), based on the 2009 début novel by Kathryn Stockett. The Internet Movie Database gives the following synopsis: "An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960's decides to write a book detailing the African-American maid's point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis," and gives it a rating of 8 out of 10. The American Film Institute listed the film as one of the ten films of the year. For people like myself, coming from a white family, who grew up with a nanny who is a person-of-colour, the film was particularly touching. Although the set-up in America and in South Africa worked differently, the similarities are enough for South Africans to also appreciate The Help, and appreciate our helps, as I appreciate my Mmê Emily.

"Sir, you look like Mitch."

Jesse Tyler Ferguson
(Image Source)

versus 

Me

“Who is Mitch?”
“Mitch. Mitchell from Modern Family.”
“NOOOoooo!!! I don’t want to look like Mitch!!!”

Or something to that effect is how a dialogue went between one of my students and I this morning. Now what I find quite curious about her statement is the peculiar timing. I usually have a stubble. I’m not fond of shaving, so I just use a clipper to quickly spruce my beard to a two-day trim. This morning I actually shaved properly, splattered toner and moisturized. “You look ten years younger,” is what a colleague told me. Why the student should compare me with Mitchell on this particular day is unusually baffling. Not only is Jesse Tyler Ferguson, the actor that plays Mitchell Pritchette in the TV-series Modern Family, my senior by a couple of years, on this particular day we look a decade apart.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson
(Image Source)

versus 

Me

So let’s compare Mitchell and myself. He, is older. I'm younger. Okay, just three years younger, but still. Mitchell is out of shape; I'm not. Yes, I'm no beefy hunk either, I will admit it, but I'm not sagging -- yet. He has an unfortunate sense of style. I may not be a fashion slave, but I do have a sensible aversion of checkered clothes. He has what one can obviously refer to as a ginger beard, while I usually display an auburn stubble. He is evidently gay, with the fame and salary that warrants the paparazzi's attention, while I'm questionably bi-sexual with neither the fame nor the salary to have strangers take pictures of me without my shirt on. If I want shirtless pictures of myself on the Internet I have to take them and post them myself.

So what do the character Mitchell and myself have in common that causes my student to "compliment" me as Mitchell's doppelgänger? Mismatched red hair? He is a strawberry blond, while I'm more of a light auburn. A fair skin? Pink cheeks? A slowly receding hairline? Jobs that require talking? (Mitchell is a lawyer and I'm a literature lecturer.)

I guess in Korea all Caucasian gingers look alike. ;-)

Grappling Photo Series

While searching for some other photos in my 2009 folder I came upon these photos that I took during a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training session. I thought them to be nice and decided to share them here.

Ancient Korean Colours and Patterns

Self-Portrait: Fighter

Blue House

Yesterday I visited the Blue House, the official residency of the South Korean president. I wrote a little more about the Blue House on my martial art blog: Soo Shim Kwan.

Myeongdong Fantasy Festival 2011

Today I went to the 2011 Myeongdong Fantasy Festival. Myeongdong is a trendy fashion districts in Seoul. I went to a particular item on the fantasy festival list, namely a live drawing. Here's one sketch I made.

Since it was a fantasy festival I decided to dress in steam punk for the occasion. Coincidentally this matched with the clothes of the two models so I volunteered for one sitting.

Miao Village, South Western China

Very Random Photos from the Back of a Taxi in a Southern City in China

All of these photos were taken from the back of a taxi. I did not aim or look through the view finder for any of them. I merely had my camera hang from the side, put it on autofocus and clicked as we passed things. That's why some of them are out of focus. They are all completely random shots of this particular city in southern China. All I did now was to crop the more interesting parts of some of the more interesting photos and adjust the brightness and contrast.

This city is relatively close to Laos and there is also a large Thai community so one can see the Lao / Thai influence in some of the architecture. Culturally this city is not what I would describe as typical modern Chinese, although it is a large city.