Almost May, Brain Thinks It's Still February

It seems like my college is on track for a May 11th in-person start.

I have no idea how we'll handle the midterm.  I can't in good conscience test them on grammar stuff that I haven't been able to explain to them fully in person.

Honestly, everything feels like it's been in a weird time-stasis event since as early as February.

Nationally, lots of students (and parents) are calling for partial tuition refunds due to a perceived low-quality in distance learning materials so far.

Don't tell my boss, but I agree.  (Especially for language courses but then again English is an elective for my students, not a major, so I might dodge a bit of heat on this one.)

The "Korean way" would be for the students / parents to suck this up as a one-time deal and assume that with good governance and health-care it won't happen again.  Optimistically speaking I think that's the way to go, but who knows what happens come next fall / winter and the possible pre-vaccine "second wave."

Since I've finished all my video recording required so far (basically, half a semester's worth of material, along with quizzes and grammar supplements) I think tonight I'll enjoy some red wine and download Disco Elysium.

The spring weather here in Daegu is absolutely gorgeous as always, but then I get all sad-like wishing I could attend an actual Samsung Lions ball game or even an FC Daegu soccer match.

Buying a stationary bike is probably one of the smarter things I've done since moving to Korea, despite my boss thinking me a crazy person for exercising at home instead of at the school gym.  (Which raised its "faculty discount" prices recently, not to mention is currently shut down, so even better.)

So ends this highly detailed but fairly incoherent update.  Things could be better.  Things could also be a whole hell of a lot worse.

Also, Tiger King was actually kind of shit wasn't it?

Life Update

If you told 2019 me that 2020 me would tear up a little watching Miley Cyrus cover Pink Floyd I'd have called you nuts.

— 2020 Is Already Bullshit, James (@wetcasements) April 26, 2020

Now Some Good News

It's close to May and the Orioles are .500.

Fifth Time's The Charm

Word now is that my school will re-open, meatspace-wise, on May 11th.  Over Facebook and Twitter it sounds like Korean colleges and universities are all doing things their own way.  Some are shooting to open in May, others have already cancelled the entire semester.

In terms of "feel," I think there's a cautious confidence that if new cases flare up the structures are in place to contain as necessary.

We shall see.

Please Reset The Matrix For Me TIA

Just read an article re: Trump loses 2020 but runs again 2024 and where is my bottle of Jack Daniels anyhow?

— 2020 Is Already Bullshit, James (@wetcasements) April 21, 2020

Well, This (Might Have) Happened

Apparently Kim Jong-un had a botched heart surgery and is now in a coma.

2020, your script-writer deserves a raise as always.

"good enough for me"

John Mellencamp and friends, "Small Town" live

I wonder if the Pitchfork types will ever figure out than on a good day Mellencamp is just as bracing as Springsteen.

Last Friday night I was pretty damn bored so I finally gave Rise of Skywalker a shot.  (I actually kind of liked the first two movies, and I was fine with the "even Luke says the Force is bullshit" plot-line.)

Interestingly, the film was only in South Korean theaters for less than a week.  Now I understand why.

I made it to almost 30 minutes and gave up.  If it had been a major theater I would  have walked out in under half that time.

It's rare that a work of art can simultaneously make me feel infinitely superior on an intellectual level, but also stupid.  Like, giving me a migraine level stupid.

It was so many colors and shapes moving across the screen at high velocity, with only the barest association to characters or plot points or -- Yoda forbid -- actual human emotions.

It made me pine for the prequels.

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- J. J. Abrams has always been kind of shit.

Anyhow, I made it through with a great series -- Spectacle: Elvis Costello -- which none of my British Twitter homies had ever managed to tell me about.  (Free on YT now.)

Fuckers.

Simple Thought

On the one hand it's silly to anthropomorphize a virus.

On the other, it's clear that the Earth has had enough of our bullshit.

Thinking Out Loud

Word on Facebook (I know, I know, but it's a more reputable South Korea group than most) is that South Korea will cancel in-person college classes for this semester.

I'm supposed to have a lunch meeting with my boss this Monday.

Do I have a job next week?  (I'm a pessimist by nature.)

I'm actually surprised I haven't been asked to take a pay-cut yet.

FWIW, I'm fine savings-wise.  I just really don't want to go back to America right now.

Ruh Roh

I write a monthly dead-tree letter to my racist, non-internet-having father every month.  Stopped into friendly local post office this afternoon and was told no regular service to America, no express service to America, and literally, "no airplane."

As a strong believer in and supporter of well-run, efficient government institutions this is all strangely shocking.

More seriously, if you're not familiar with teaching jobs in South Korea, there is a ton of paperwork required -- transcripts (if not actual diplomas), criminal background checks, etc.

Plan accordingly.

"forcing governments to take their wellbeing seriously"

I have a lot to say -- entirely positive -- about living in South Korea during the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.  Sure, it was scary at first, and my sleep schedule is probably shot for the rest of 2020 at best.  But living here and seeing what an effective government response looks like, and what a fully-functional, first-world health care system should be, has been an eye-opener.  This piece by Tae Hoon Kim in The Guardian gets to the point:

"The restoration of democracy in 1987 did not change this state-led economic model and infrastructure management. What changed, however, was the attitude of the people. The toppling of the military dictatorship in 1987 was the result of a series of nationwide protests. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, South Korea saw numerous mass civil protests against a wide range of issues, from the import of US beef to government mismanagement of a ferry accident in 2014. The apex of this mass mobilisation were the demonstrations against the previous resident, Park Geun-hye. The protests continued from October 2016 to March 2017. On 3 December 2016, an estimated 2.3 million people took to the streets, almost 4% of the entire population. These subsequently led to Park’s impeachment and imprisonment.

Korean politics since the 1990s can thus be characterised as a period during which citizens became increasingly emboldened in their relationship with the state, forcing governments to take their wellbeing seriously. One area that this has been the most conspicuous is in public transportation, energy and healthcare. For the average person, these are everyday services that all citizens have the right to enjoy, and which are paid for by taxpayers’ money. To put it in more utilitarian terms, they are the most tangible barometers with which to judge the government’s commitment to its citizens. Failure to improve their qualities and manage them properly almost always leads to a loss of votes for the ruling party in upcoming elections."

Korean history is nothing if not complex.  But no doubt a country that has high expectations for its leaders, and is willing to hold them to account when they fuck up, is the defining characteristic of a healthy, functioning democracy.

The thing is, South Korea is hardly a den of Bernie supporters (or the rough Asian-Socialist equivalent).  I have friends (usually older, but still) who will routinely bitch about "Reds" in both the government and the dreaded, hated labor unions.  (A lot of his comes from right-wing indoctrination during two years of compulsory military service.)

But still, even the most right-wing Korean politician would get booed / laughed off the stage if they suggested privatizing the health care system or subways and buses.

Which is to say, the only thing preventing America from finally joining the rest of the industrialized world and putting a national health system in place is a lack of imagination.  An imagination of what's possible (as demonstrated by literally every other rich country in the world) and an imagination of who the government should serve -- the citizens, not the markets.