• Category Archives Korea

  • Softball, Korea News

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Lughnasa and the Korea Moon

    Friday gratefuls: Labor Day weekend. My son has Friday and Monday off. The Minnesota State Fair. A not so faded remnant of the Lughnasa festivals of the old Gaeltacht. A Minnesota Fall. Brilliant colors, blue Waters, trips up North. A Rocky Mountain Fall. Aspens gold against Lodgepole Green on Black Mountain. Clear cool Skies. A Korean Fall. Will find out.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Seasons

    One brief shining: My son came home last night in a bright t-shirt with Aladdin 02 on the back and a Cobra on the front his left arm bruised at the bicep after he threw a pitch and a hard hit soft ball came right back to him full of joy at playing and having an injury.

     

    My son plays on his squadron’s soft ball team. The Cobra signifies their squadron. His first time up a few weeks ago he hit a homer. Now he’s hooked for the season. He’s an athlete, has been since middle school. Cross country in the fall. Ski racing in the winter and track in the spring. High school. He also raced on the UofM’s ski team.

    He and Seoah both have the athletic gene, now expressed most often in workouts and golf every weekend. Makes dad glad. Ha. Good for health and for their marriage.

     

    Used the apartment’s gym again yesterday. Feel better already. More limber and a regular dose of endorphins. The same three buff middle-aged Korean women were in the weight room. Seemed like chatting had as much to do with their reason for being there as the weight machines.

    Noticed, again, that I tilt to the left. Scoliosis. Polio. Beginning to have some soreness in my right hip and lower back. Not often, not always. Usually after a lot of time on my feet.

    Still not sure how it will affect my stamina when I get into serious sight-seeing. May be limited to mornings. Maybe less than that. Or, maybe rest at intervals will be enough. I’m sure to find out this weekend since we’re going to Seoul for the first time.

     

    Big news here. War games held for both North and South Korea. Every year a war game called Freedom Shield unites South Korean and U.S. militaries in a display of force designed as a response to a hypothetical North Korean invasion. Such exercises enhance the ability of two command structures to blend when faced with actual conflict.

    North Korea launched an unsuccessful spy satellite last Wednesday in response. Then two more short range ballistic missiles this week. Today North Korea announced military exercises simulating the occupation of all of South Korea. Tit for tat.

    This annual saber rattling makes both sides a bit nervous, jumpy. My son has had some extra work as a result.

    On the streets of Songtan this causes no reaction whatsoever as near I can tell. The taxis pick up passengers. Folks go into the coffee shops. Buy meals in restaurants. It’s not that people don’t care. All Koreans want unification. Just not through military means. It’s more that the specter of war hangs so heavy here that it has become a backdrop to daily life. Not ignored, but not engaged daily.

    Sort of like having cancer it just occurred to me. You can’t pretend it’s not there. And, yes, it could kill you. But, if it occupies your heart/mind all the time  you give up life. Which doesn’t make sense. So  you make an uneasy peace and go on about your day.


    Asia Family Feelings Fourth Phase Health Jefferson County Korea Memories Minnesota Mountains Plants Travel Weather +Climate World History

  • The Meat Shop

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Lughnasa and the Korea Moon

    Thursday gratefuls: K55. The bus to Osan AFB. T-card. Transportation money on a debit card. Rain from Typhoon Hauikui. Seoah. Murdoch. My son. Comic books. Dressed in his uniform and off to work. Posco the Sharp. My son and Seoah’s apartment complex. CS. A convenience store. The Meat Shop. How my son cares about his squadron.

    Sparks of Joy and  Awe: A well organized and easy to understand bus system

    One brief shining: When boarding a city bus in Songtan, the bus stop itself tells you how far away in minutes your bus is as well as having a swiping spot that tells how much money you have on your T-card no digging  through pockets for change or wondering when the bus will be there or whether you have enough money for a fare. Civilized.

     

    Went out last night for a farewell dinner for a master sergeant who worked in my son’s office. The Meat Shop. In that cluster of small shops and restaurants I mentioned across from the main gate for the base. Slices of meat in a long row of glass covered cases. Pork. Ham. Galbi. (beef cut in small pieces). Sausages. Pork belly. Some marinated in soy sauce, others in a barbecue sauce. Vegetables like bok choi, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes. Rice at a separate station. Lots of small saucers and plates and bowls. Linoleum and several long tables.

    An odd decor which featured a Klimt print, muscle bound scantily clad women, tiled surfaces with faces on some of the tiles, a Korean calendar, lacy paper on some of the shelving.

    Back at the table every four chairs had a gas burner and a large griddle tilted downward toward a grease pit. Cut out the chef. Make the guests cook their own meal. A very typical Korean spot. Hot Pot the same. Galbi, too.

    Seoah has her own opinions about how meat should be cooked. Wielding scissors, also so Korean, she cut our meat into smaller pieces, turning them with chopsticks. A loud and boisterous evening. Lots of beer and meat. Very American yet with a strong Korean stamp.

     

    Seoah and I took a taxi home because my son  had to walk all the back across base to his car. When we got home, Seoah went down the CS (convenience store) and the dry cleaners. I sat down on a stone bench to wait. My hip was sore for some reason.

    While I waited, the towers of the five tall apartment buildings in the Posco the Sharp complex rose above me. Lights on in random windows. A slight mist in the air. Cars came and went from the parking garage directly across from where I sat. Hissing in the recently rained on streets.

    Delivery motorcycles avoided the automated gates and turned into the garage. Not busy, a late evening pace of movement. Folks returning from work. Going out for a meal or to a club. Ordering food for delivery.

    Thought of Shadow Mountain. The Lodgepoles and the Aspens. The Mule Deer and Elk. Bears and Mountain Lions. Black Mountain across the way. This spot where I sat was as far away from Shadow Mountain as I could get. Urban. Gentle slopes. City streets. Constant movement of cars, buses, taxis, motorcycles. People living high off the ground stacked on top of each other. Lights blinking and fading, suddenly appearing.

    Yet, I liked this, too. I also realized how it fooled the eye. Yes, every one lived one above the other, side by side, yet each apartment was an individual home. Folks here did not live their lives with each other, rather they lived their lives in their own versions of home, still separate from each other. Not like, say, a small village where Seoah grew up.

    Sure on any day you’ll run into way more people here than I do on Shadow Mountain, but the number you know? Probably about the same, given the usual differences between introverts and extroverts.

    I could live like this. But I don’t want to. I prefer my own house, my wild neighbors, the Rocky Mountains. Still, at another point in life? Maybe.

     

     


    Asia Cooking Family Feelings Fourth Phase Korea Mountains Shadow Mountain Wild Neighbors

  • A Babette’s Feast of Sushi

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Lughnasa and the Korea Moon

    Wednesday gratefuls: The gym. A workout. Rain. Typhoon Haikui. Sushi place. Lunch with Seoah. Tripping the circuit breaker. Murdoch. Soil, a classic Korean novel. Kate, always Kate. Jon, a memory. The USAF. Osan AFB. Sim cards. Smart phones. Computers. Zoom across the waters. From Songtan to downeast Maine.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Humid Korea

    One brief shining: That lunch with Seoah yesterday first came miso soup, kimchi, pickled onions, water cress, seaweed packages, creamed corn (I know.), then udon noodles in soup, after that a large serving platter of sashimi, beautiful fresh Salmon, Tuna, translucent Fish, a buttery cut, all thicker than U.S. sashimi slices, later tempura a sushi roll and a dish of Fish entrails.

     

    This was the Babette’s Feast of sushi. The food kept coming on the little serving trolley. The smiling waitress unruffled as she sat down dish after dish. I quit before the sushi roll and the Fish entrails. Full. Seoah ate on. Not much in the way of carbs, mostly protein and vegetables.

    The restaurant had a second story perch over the same ro (street) on which Seaoh and my son’s apartment building sits. A delightful time with Seoah talking and eating, sharing. Making more memories together. Due to rain we took a cab both ways, oddly the same cab driver both ways.

     

    Got back to workout routine. Treadmill and resistance. In a room of eight treadmills I had one to myself until a Korean man came and chose the one right next to me. An American would have chosen one in the rank of treadmills facing the other direction. We ran together for a bit.

    In the weight room were three buff middle-aged Korean women and an older Korean man. I felt slightly self-conscious as the only old guy, only white guy, and the only one lifting lighter weights. Got over it. I know my weight lifting, my lower body work with the exercise ball, planks. Did shoulder presses, chest presses, concentration curls, flys, crunches, plank, dips, and squats.

    Felt good to get back in the gym. My body had been feeling sore and I am demonstrably weak. I can cure most of that with regular gym time here and back home. Our bodies are meant to move.

     

    Jet lag is in the past. Normal bed time. Up at 5:30-5:45. Joe gets up around the same time. He checks up on baseball, other sports. We talk a bit. He gets ready and leaves between 7 and 7:30 in desert camo with the oak cluster of a Lt. Col. prominent. Sand colored boots.

     

    It’s the end of the rainy season here but typhoon Haikui has pumped up the cloud systems, sending more and more water over Seoul, Osan, and most of South Korea. The Mountains on the way to Okgwa and Gwangu over the weekend looked like Jungles with Vines overgrowing road signs, Trees green and healthy and numerous.

    Looking forward to the cooler and drier weather of September. Cool back home, I noticed.

     


    Asia Cooking Family Feelings Fourth Phase Korea Travel Weather +Climate

  • Songtan. Its streets. Korea.

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Lughnasa and the Korea Moon

    Tuesday gratefuls: Songtan. Rain. Lots of rain. A walk. Buying Vitamin D3 and a green tea latte with the aid of my translation app. Signing up for the gym in the apartment complex. 28,000 Won. My son playing video games he found in moving. Old ones. Having a great time. Seoah and I have a sushi brunch date today. Sleep normal. Good. My own desk and chair in my room here.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Korea

    One brief shining: Pressed my index finger into the scanner with the apartment complex manager softly touching it, went into the gym area, put my finger on the scanner and got an X, back out to try my thumb, again a soft pressure from the manager, again to the scanner, X, only to learn that sometimes old people’s fingerprints are too weak.

     

    Oddly disappointed that my fingerprints were too weak. Considering it later I think it might be years of grasping and gripping, typing polishing the whorls and curlicues, losing definitive ridges. Reminded me of my mortgage banker Valerie who was one of a rare group of people who have no fingerprints at all. Valerie would always get X’s.

    The gym is a good one. Six high quality treadmills in their own room. A weight room with machines and free weights. A room with mats and exercise balls. May get down there before my brunch with Seoah. If not, I’ll for sure start tomorrow.

     

    Took a walk yesterday down a street used by locals, lots of coffee shops, drug stores, small restaurants, an occasional clothing store. When I stopped in one of the drug stores, I typed Vitamin D3 into my app and showed it to the clerk. Ah. She said. And went to get the pharmacist. Who found it and asked me if it was for an adult? Yes. Pricey. 23,000 Won. $17.

    At the Paris Baguette I met the limits of the translation app. The young Korean girl, masked, read my order, nodded and asked me a question. Well now… A bit of back and forth. Finally figured out she wanted to know if I wanted only one. Made me wish I’d been more diligent with my Duo Korean.

    I backed away from it after realizing I’d been doing it wrong from the start. And, I was pretty far along before I realized it. I learned Hangul. I learned words and phrases, could distinguish the spoken words. But I had neglected to pronounce the words as I learned them. Turns out in the real world of Songtan, being able to speak it is the most important skill. Being able to read, much less so.

    Hope I can leverage my immersion here, Seoah, and Duo itself to recapture some of the gains I made and add to them pronunciation.

     

    Korea, like all nations, has a complexity and sophistication difficult for a foreigner to see. Of course the language. Of course the bowing. But the knowledge of the  land, how to make it productive. The weight and possibilities offered by a long history, still shaping Korean life. Those Confucian virtues rippling down through time. The military victories and losses. The time of the hermit kingdom. Now a nation intertwined with great power conflicts between the US and China. Isolation no longer a possibility. The role of women. A fight back as contemporary women refuse to marry and bear children.

    Still learning. So much fun.

     

     


    Family Feelings Korea Travel

  • A Daughter is Stolen from her Mother

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Lughnasa and the Korea Moon

    Monday (across the date line) gratefuls: Mary’s birthday! Shaking off the body’s desire to still be in Colorado. Back home in Songtan. Everybody happy to be here. Most of all Murdoch. Warm and humid. 96%! Not the arid U.S. West. Korean fried chicken for dinner last night. Watermelon from Okgwa, Seoah’s parent’s grown. Being here. Faraway, yet with those closest to me.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: My little family

    One brief shining: At the table we’d sat around in Warner Robbins, Georgia, on Hickam AFB in Hawai’i, now in Songtan, Korea my son, Seoah,  and I ate fried chicken, drank water and chatted about tours we could take in the land of the morning calm.

     

    Daughters are stolen from their mothers. Seoah repeated this bit of Korean folk wisdom to me as her mother stuffed watermelons, long beans, an Instant Pot, a blender, a mystery appliance, and other items into various bags before we headed back to Songtan. This sudden efflorescence of baggage required Joe to remove the golf clubs, stow the cargo cover, and arrange everything carefully.

    Appa and Umma watched as did Seoah’s youngest sister and her daughter. Appah went into his machine shed and gathered some cold bottled water for all three of us. He gave everyone a hug, smiled. Seoah’s younger sister prodded her daughter who came over and gave me a delightful hug. A loving and familiar sendoff after a family visit to the farm.

     

    Korea is a land of low Mountains covered by deciduous Trees, vines, and in obvious open spaces the mounded graves and grave markers important to this still Confucian inflected culture. It reminded me a bit of the Smokies. Except no signs for boiled peanuts, no Confederate battle flags. The journey from Okgwa to Songtan took us through many, many tunnels. At least twenty, perhaps more.

    Most of the traffic control on the highways involves photo enforcement and various, often odd, reminders. Like the occasional actual rear end of a police car with a speed limit sign attached. Or, also a speed limit sign, but a police mannequin below watching the traffic. At regular intervals there are flashing blue and red lights like those on a stopped police car. A subliminal message? Not sure.

    Unlike Korean urban drivers these highway drivers were sedate and orderly for the most part. Very few angry speeders or the dimwit who weaves in and out to gain a few seconds advantage. Urban drivers here, at least according to Joe, are unpredictable and erratic. I’ve not witnessed this myself.

     

    Today or tomorrow I’ll start exercising again. Gotta do more resistance work. My back is sore and I’m weaker than I like. Feels good to be on vacation with my home duties signed off to Vince and Luke, bills paid, and money in the bank f0r the trip. Also to be in a country as far away my own culture as Korea.

    A traveler can focus on the similarities or the differences between their home culture and the place they have traveled to. Neither focus gives a true picture of a cohesive culture, an intricate web of customs, assumptions, language, location, ethnicity, history, and ambition.

    Glad to be here long enough for immersion.

     


    Asia Family Feelings Fourth Phase Korea Travel

  • A Birthday Party

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Lughnasa and the Korea Moon

    Sunday gratefuls: Seoah’s mom and her 70th birthday party. In Gwangju. Her dad, a sweet guy. Her two sisters and her brother. Outback Steakhouse. The three hour drive from Songtan to her small village outside Okgwa. Highway rest stops along the way. The verdant, overgrown Mountains. The Rivers. Those grave sites high on the Mountain sites. Seoah’s memories. Swimming in the River. Playing in the Mountains. School. My son’s careful, steady driving.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Being able to translate the Hangul (mostly)

    One brief shining: My poor jet lagged body kept me in a purple haze for most of the trip to Seoah’s parents I saw the passing countryside, the blue tiled roofs, the goofy speed signs with a mannequin policeman, listened to Seoah’s commentary, but not much made it past the veil.

     

    We arrived in Okgwa after a long and congested trip on various Korean highways. Her brother had built her parents a brand new home, mostly concrete, stylish inside with an all white interior, polished floors, marble kitchen surfaces, in room mini-splits, and designed lighting. Kate and I saw the old house so I could see the contrast. Huge.

    Four bedrooms so the family could stay for holidays or just because. One bedroom was the one he always uses when he visits. He lives in Osan as do Joe and Seoah. Knowing I was recently arrived and an elder, he gave up that room to me and slept last night on the floor with two of Seoah’s nephews. Not as onerous as it might sound since sleeping on the floor is still common in Korea. Joe, Seoah, and Murdoch found their room.

    At 5:40 we drove to Gwangu, about 30 minutes away, and found the Outback Steak House. A much different experience than in the U.S. It had high stairs on both sides leading to an entrance on a balcony. Seoah’s oldest sister showed me the way.

    The sisters had a clever idea. In a cake shaped object with decorations there was a card. When Seoah’s mom took out the card to read it, it caused a ribbon of 5000 Won notes to pull out. $1,500 worth. Her grandchildren gathered around her, her husband read the card to her, and behind the two of them was banner with an early picture of them as a couple and congratulatory statements.

    The original plan was for all to go to a karaoke place. OMG! Someone said no. Instead we all drove back to the new house and had an after party. Seoah’s youngest sister, her husband, and her three kids stayed the night. In the morning Seoah’s mom made a traditional Korean breakfast for all. Tofu soup. Rice. Bulgogi. Kimchi. Bean sprouts. Egg pancakes. Quail eggs and mushrooms. Delicious.

    The drive back. Much less eventful. We got back. Tired. But with another family memory in place.

     


    Family Korea Memories Travel

  • Day 2 Korea

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Lughnasa and the Korea Moon

    Saturday gratefuls: That disappeared Thursday. A good shower. Electronics charged up and ready. Mastered the Korea two pin outlets. Got a new sim card. $49 for a month. Unlimited data. Verizon’s plan? $10 a day. Korean barbecue with my son and Seoah after. Learning building codes, apartment code. Necessary numbers. Murdoch the tail wagger. Slowly entering Asia culture.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Credit Cards

    One brief shining: A shiny tin pipe about the width of a large coffee cup drew smoke away from the barbecue set in the middle of the table, Seoah had the tongs and the scissors, her show, placing plates of beef one slice at a time on the metal sheet over the fire below while the waitress brought rice, pickled cucumber, kimchi, glass noodles, tofu, then boiling miso soup.

     

    All this in a restaurant a block or two away from the imposing gate of the Osan AFB. My son got me to a sim card shop and the owner recommended the place to eat. This is in cluster of streets and businesses all lined up to catch money flowing from the pockets of Uncle Sam via the military personnel working and living across the street. One more robust American stood outside a souvenir shop flapping his shirt bottom and staring vacantly at the goods on display. Where Korean commerce and US customers meet.

    Seoah and I got there from their apartment building via taxi. Joe had just gotten off work and we found him sitting on a couch at the realtors who helped them find a place to live. Joe makes friends easily and had done so with the realtor.

    The sim card shop was shallow, maybe 8 feet in depth and twenty wide. A display case with faux phones advertising real ones to purchase. The owner behind the counter and a small area for customers between the display case and the window wall to the street.

    Seoah talked with him and Joe pulled out 5000 won notes to pay. No credit cards. I bought dinner. About the same.

     

    Today we head to Gwangju and Seoah’s parent’s village. It’s her mom’s 70th and we’re staying all night at their new house. Built courtesy of her brother. My son and Seoah bought the appliances.

    My understanding at the moment is that her birthday party will be at a fancy Gwangju steak place, the Outback. Yep. An American chain with an Australian theme in one of the most radical cities of all Korea. Go figure.

    Gwangju is about three hours south of Osan and her parent’s village maybe a half hour further. I’ve been to the village once before when Kate and I came for my son and Seoah’s wedding. Her father was headman of the village for many years. As I get it, sort of Mayor and clan chieftain.

    We had a wonderful neighbor produced meal with many Korean women chattering and putzing around in the kitchen while we sat at the very low table chatting. Sister Mary was along, too.


    Asia Family Feelings Korea US History

  • The last day before leaving

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Lughnasa and the Korea Moon

    Tuesday gratefuls: Colorado almost in the rearview. All details accounted for. Save two. Boarding pass and mail hold. Will solve this morning. All those gifts somewhere between here and Korea. Korea. My son and Seoah and Murdoch. Can’t wait to hug them. Ruth getting out today or tomorrow. The play pics. Glad that’s put to bed. A vacant feeling.  Some anxiety. The usual amount for heading into unknowns with airlines and airports.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: The ability to cross oceans quickly

    One brief shining: Vince will have my back for house related matters coming at least once a week to run all the taps and flush all the toilets, cut down a few dead trees, fix that damned toilet seat downstairs as well as the strip between the tile and the laminate, clean all the mini-split filters, maybe install a few shelves in my kitchen cabinets.

     

    I would be finished except for the Post Office’s 30 day hold rule and an unreceived boarding pass. I have to fill out and return two hold forms one for thirty days and one for six. The nice guy with the gray ponytail said that should cover it. Done but I have to take them there after I have my last Aspen Perk’s breakfast for awhile.

    On the boarding passes. Aaargh! When I finally had resolved all the errors on my entries, added my passport number for the fourth time, and gotten a successful notice, that last page, the one with the two options: print or send to mobile device for the boarding pass. Well. The button for the mobile boarding pass, the one I wanted, wouldn’t work. So? Just print one. Right. Except. My printer went on strike yesterday and all the tricks I know have not convinced it to return to work. I know. I can print one at the airport, but I got very completist and wanted to do one or the other. Finally, the American Airlines website sent up a distress signal. Apparently a system wide problem. Gonna go have breakfast and try again for the mobile option a few hours from now.

    Been happy with how light I am with myself over these last few months. Very little oh shit Charlie, you dipstick! More amused laughter and gentle self-acceptance. This is a big and welcome change. I want to carry this change over into travel which can trigger Bad Charlie  easily. I get anxious, can’t hear well, not sure I’m making good decisions and that comes out as anger. At myself and others. 99% of the time I’m fine. But, oh boy that 1%. A part of myself I want to give over to my mussar training. Pause. Breathe. Assess. Then react. Another opportunity for self-acceptance and improvement. Among the many, so many that occur everyday.

    Bought two Korean literary classes for my Kindle and plan to read them on the way. Gonna take a leave in the seat pocket Lee Child Reacher thriller, too. Once I get these last matters taken care of, some food in my stomach, I’ll return to being excited. A familiar routine.

     


    Feelings Korea Travel

  • Nations. Divided.

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Lughnasa and the Herme Moon

    Monday gratefuls: Murdoch. That funny guy. Leo, gone home. Luke. Tal. 48 degrees. Clear Sky. Great Sol brightening the Lodgepoles and Black Mountain. Great Sol’s angle already beginning to visibly decline. The harvest season underway. The Midwest. Its farms and farmers. Its humidity. The arid West. Its Mountains. Dogs. All Dogs. Of all time. Angels. Love incarnate. The Sacred. Revelation.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Dogs

    One brief shining: A Dog lays her head in your lap, gazes up at you with adoration, follows you on a walk, waits for you at the door when you come home tired from work, tail wagging, eyes filled with you only you and you reach down, pat her, scratch behind her ears, then the world comes into focus.

     

    Realized only yesterday that my travels this year will take me to two divided nations, Israel and Korea. Very different in the origin of the divisions, yes, one xenophobic and the other bemoaned on both sides yet hardened and both societies with strong military presences, the threat of imminent conflict always in the air. I wonder what to look for, how to gauge the impact of the Arab/Israeli conflict on day-to-day life in both Israel and the West Bank. In Korea the division separates a nation into two parts, a  Southern and Northern, yet considered one country by all Koreans. How though does the continuing division affect the average Korean? Not my main reason for visiting either place yet a dominant reality in both.

    After my conversion in Jerusalem, I will have a strong personal stake in both countries. A Jew considering the life of Israel. And, a father-in-law with a Korean daughter-in-law, my son stationed in Korea for four years. Also, the Jang family, Seoah’s brother, two sisters, nieces and nephews, her mother and father. The deep wounds in both countries have increased significance for me.

    Makes me wonder about the soft division (compared to Israel and Korea) that has come to dominate American politics. About its impact on our body politic here. How does a nation fare when large numbers of its citizens disagree on the fundamentals of what it means to be a nation? What is, after all, a nation? Certainly it requires some minimal cohesion among its resident population.

    This Wikipedia entry, nation, has a nice precis of what the word has meant and might mean in the future. It’s important to remember that the nation state is a relatively recent invention, most scholars agreeing that the modern nation state arose in the 17th century. I found this quote from the Wiki helpful: “The consensus among scholars is that nations are socially constructed, historically contingent, and organizationally flexible.” My mental ears perked up at the first two terms: socially constructed and historically contingent.

    Yes. Israel came into being in 1947, a recent expression of an old homeland, one imposed on an existing territory already occupied by Jews and Arab. Socially constructed as a necessary antidote to the horrors of Hitler’s Germany, yet oh so historically contingent as an increasingly large swath of the diaspora, Palestinians, and progressive Israelis argue it must change its nature as a nation. It is refusing to be organizationally flexible.

    Korea though is an ethnic nation divided by modern politics. Both South Korea and North Korea socially constructed by the historical contingencies of big power politics, the Cold War, of the 1950’s. Because of those ties of ethnicity, most Koreans on both sides of the border yearn for unification.

    Yet here. Here. The standout phrase. Historically contingent. As in, will not necessarily always exist. The nature of our socially constructed reality? Contested. Is there an organizational structure that can contain both far right and liberal Americans? That is our big question.

     

     

     


    Judaism Korea Politics Travel US History World History

  • Changes

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Herme Moon

    Thursday gratefuls: Rebecca. Mussar. Hail at 5:30 AM. 48 degrees. Living at altitude. That Bull Elk Tuesday night. Wildness. Wild neighbors. Fox. Moose. Marmot. Robin. Magpie. Abert’s Squirrel. Red Squirrel. Ravens. Crows. Lodgepoles. Aspen. Various Grasses. Judaism. Sadness. Acting Class. Herme. Taking shape. Writing. Creating a short play.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Wildness

    One brief shining: Wham wham wham woke me up as Hail pounded against my bedroom window followed by driven Rain Thunder and Lightning all the old familiar sounds from my Midwestern days not so welcome in the Arapaho National Forest with all its Lodgepole Pines.

     

    Breakfast with Dick Arnold, my roommate in Israel. He says the Tomatoes in Israel are the best anywhere. Something about irrigation with slightly salinated water and the Tomatoes compensating by producing more sugars. Looking forward to that. Israeli restaurants divide up by dairy or meat. He’s lactose intolerant so as long as he’s in the right restaurant, he can eat anything. Handy. Kosher, I’m sure. Dick was a therapist specializing in kids and abused women.

    Talked to him about Ruth a bit. He gave me a tip. When I told him I felt sad about her situation, he said it might be empathetic sadness. In other words a feeling I’m getting from her, too. Might help guide me when I’m with her. He said something else that surprised me, but made sense. After that all caregiving, you’ve been opened up. I understood what he meant immediately. I knew I’d changed over the last few years but I thought it was just aging. Not only that. A welcome opening of my heart.

     

    Came back from breakfast, read some more from Cuming’s Korea’s Place in the Sun, felt sleepy and took a long nap. Over to Jackie’s for a hair cut. The estrogen was flowing. Jackie, I said, you run a friends central salon. Friends, mostly women, stop by, give her a hug and kiss. Same for Rhonda. A warm, loving space. We could use more of them. And. My hair looks great.

     

    Thinking about Herme, the short play. Four characters: Herme, Gaius Ovidius, the Seeker, Cold Mountain. I have Herme and Cold Mountain down. I need to work on Gaius and the Seeker. That is, I have to create their characters as distinct from Herme and Cold Mountain. Not only voice, but posture, attitude. Guess that’s why they call it acting. According to Meisner, I have to find a truthful way to be them in an imaginary situation. I also have to write more dialogue, edit some of what I’ve got. The challenge is real, but I’m getting there.

    Feel like I’ve found a strong ending by changing the way the last poem will be read. In the voice and character of the Seeker. Signalling that she has joined Herme and Cold Mountain. Joan came up with the idea that Herme and Cold Mountain are the same. I liked that idea and I’m using it. Tal has helped me see how I need to shape the characters and the dramatic arc. I like the collaboration.

    My first time writing a play and I find the help supportive. Mostly. I’m a little defensive. Hey, that’s my work we’re talking about. Maybe it’s the changed nature of my nature that Dick helped me see. Allowing help in.


    Acting Korea Travel Weather +Climate Writing