This week’s topics: movies and moving along in history and stories

This is one of the topics for Monday, 4th August, 2008:

South Korea and Alzheimer’s disease.

The other potential topic is:

famous movies from New Zealand – ‘Whale Rider’.

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‘Whale Rider’

Please watch this YouTube clip.

What are your first impressions?

What do you think the movie is going to be about? ie. what are the major themes?

We will watch some more clips and talk about the major themes of the movie, and how different cultures relate to their own stories and histories.

You can read more about the movie here.

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More and more elderly couples are dealing with Alzheimer’s

The Long Goodbye: Part IV

The fourth instalment of the World News America series on Alzheimer’s goes to South Korea, a country with the most rapidly ageing population in the world, as the BBC’s John Sudworth reports.

South Korea may not be the only place facing an explosion in the number of Alzheimer’s sufferers, but it will have to learn the lessons faster than most.

Lee Byung Ray and Cho Sook Ja have been married for 50 years.

Alzheimer’s disease has deprived Mrs Cho of her speech, her memory and her power to recognise faces.

In their apartment in Seoul, Mr Lee said he had only one wish: to outlive his wife.

“In Korea it used to be the tradition for children to look after their parents,” he said.

“But society has changed and I want my children to be free of this burden, so I need to live as long as possible.”

Safety net

According to South Korean government figures, in the year 2000, 7% of the population were over the age of 65.

By 2019 it will have doubled.

The amount of spending on the elderly will leap from 18% to 50% of the healthcare budget.

And, as South Korea undergoes its rapid demographic shift, traditional social structures are being broken down.

Lee Sung Hee, president of the Korea Alzheimer’s Association, says just when it is needed the most, a vital safety net is disappearing for the country’s growing army of the elderly.

“Alzheimer’s sufferers used to be cared for at home, by their extended family,” she said.

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Lee Byung Ray cares for his wife Cho Sook Ja

“But the Korean family structure is becoming more nuclear, women are pursuing their own careers and people are no longer able to look after their elderly relatives.”

In the future, it seems there will be many more couples like Mr Lee and Mrs Cho.

But there is a problem for the state, too.

Put simply, at the same time as the falling birth rate means that the proportion of old people is increasing, the proportion of young, working tax-payers is falling.

So the government has had a rude awakening.

Residential care

As the country prepares to face the growing cost of illnesses like Alzheimer’s, it has little choice but to raise more revenue to pay for it.

From 1 July this year everyone’s national health insurance payments went up by 4%.

The extra money raised will be used specifically to pay for the long-term care of the elderly, with a large proportion of the cash going towards the treatment of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

The type of care that used to be done by individual families is having to be taken over by the state Han Mun Deok, ministry of health

And as the state takes on the role of the extended family, there is a pressing need for more residential care homes.

So South Korea has been building at a rate of 100 new homes every year for the past decade.

Many more will be needed in the future: by 2020 there could be up to 700,000 Alzheimer’s patients.

Han Mun Deok, from the ministry of health, says the rise in insurance premiums is part of a bigger strategy, with the setting up of a special commission tasked with preparing for the shift to an ageing society.

“The type of care that used to be done by individual families is having to be taken over by the state,” he said.

“The increase in insurance payments will mean the burden on individuals will decrease, and those who were trapped into having to care for relatives will be free to work.”

Tackling the projected rise in Alzheimer’s cases is now a South Korean health priority.

But experts fear the government will be unable to respond fast enough.

They say that there is a shortage of trained health professionals with specialist knowledge of the illness.

And even with the increase in facilities, the provision of care may continue to fall short of what is needed.

Shared Dinner – Farewell to Mr Kim Jung Hune

Friday, from 6.30 pm,

at Sietti Belli restaurant,

in Bongsun Dong.

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Dear Free-talking Students,

Thanks to Julie Teacher
it has come to my attention that the restaurant named Rosemary
will not be open for dinner tomorrow night,
so, we have moved the farewell dinner for Mr Kim again.

Siete Belli is in Bongsun Dong.

You can see a map here.

If you go to Bongsun Dong and find the intersection with Natural Dream bread shop nearby,

Dunkin’ Donuts on one corner,
a Kim Bap Nara on the diagonal corner from that
(with a Hollie’s coffee shop just past that)
then please go past Hollies,
and straight through the intersection past Kim Bap Nara on your right,
past Dunkin’ Donuts on your left, and up the road a bit.
If you see an organic store (유기농가게) on the left,
Siete Belli is on the right and across the road,
and it is set back from the road a bit (you have to look carefully for it).

If you would like directions in Korean,
please call the owner/ operator/ nice guy/ head chef:

김동욱 011-494-6751

062) 655-9718

The address is:

503-061 광주 과역시
남구봉선동 552-13

If anyone would like personal guidance to get there, please email me or send a text message to my phone to confirm you would like to meet me at the front gate of Gwangju University at 6.15 or 6.20, and I will then be happy to make sure you get there by 6.30.

See you there then!
Julian

010-6873-1816

Example #10 – continued

Conversation topic for class discussion on Wednesday, 30th July, 2008.

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(‘Uniquely’?) Korean concepts – Part II

Premise summary:

Every language includes words which represent the thoughts and feelings of the people who speak that language. Every group of people has a history shared in knowledge and awareness if not in actuality. For that group of people (whether of a nation, region or smaller area, or even an online community) individual words can come to represent thoughts or feelings stemming from that shared experience and which thus – perhaps – require extra explanation to learners of that language coming from outside of that culture. … Or do they?

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In class last week we talked about:

the literal meaning of the word 정, and we discussed some examples of what it looks like

or in other words we shared some stories about our own exprience of ‘jeong’;

we started talking about 효,

and 한,

and began to talk about 체면.

Questions:

1.) What words which express ‘uniquely Korean concepts’ can you list?

Listed, and yet to define and discuss:

귄

멋

기생

재벌

아주마래라

To discuss more, or in more detail:

정

체면

2.) How do you explain the meanings of those words in English?

3.) What is the history behind those words? How did they develop?

4.) Can you describe a specific incident – or tell the class a personal story – which illustrates the meaning of any of these words?

5.) What words in other languages (including English) do you know which represent concepts which seem unusual to you, or to other Korean people of whom you know?

6.) What do you think of the discussion of 눈치 as contained in this thread?

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Random Topic – Example #11 continued

Discussion topics for Monday, 28th of July, 2008.

Title:

Being personal in different cultures, and,

more fun-time non-threatening  personal questions

a.) Giving and receiving compliments

Korean culture and other cultures, especially western English language speaking cultures, seem to have differing attitudes to how to interpret compliments, and when it is appropriate to offer compliments to others in any given context.

(i) In what context is it appropriate to offer another Korean person a compliment in Korean society?

(Think about ‘when’ it is appropriate, and where, between whom, about what topics, etcetera.)

(ii) In what context is it appropriate to offer another person a compliment in western English culture?

b. Personal questions, continued

(i) What book has had the most impact on your life, or made the strongest impression on you when you were younger?

(ii) What has been your favourite year-of-age so far, and why?

(iii) What has been the scariest thing you’ve ever done?

(iv) Have you ever been close to death?

(v) Who is the most famous person you have met?

Random Topic – Example #12

Topic of discussion for Friday, 25th of August:

Parenting

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This is another discussion where you have the opportunity to share personal stories describing what I shall presume is an important aspect of your life.

Homework is, therefore, merely to consider the questions below and think of at least one story you can tell about your own life experience as a parent.

Please feel invited and free to bring family photo albums or favourite pictures to class with you.

(… – but please don’t expect to have the time to show us all every photo in your entire collection – as much as I might like to see them all …!)

Questions:

1.) What’s the best thing about being a parent? (Think of one example: one time something happened that you really enjoyed.) Or, if you are going to have children one day, what are you most looking foward to about being a parent?

2.) What has been the worst, or the hardest thing about being a parent? (… other than just the financial cost…!) Can you give an example relating to one point in time? Or, what do you imagine will be the hardest thing…?

3.) What expectations did you have about parenthood before you actually became a parent? Or, what expectations do you have?

4.) In what ways were your expectations met, or defeated? Why do you think this was this so?

5.) Given hindsight and the wisdom of your experience (if you are now a parent) what would you do differently with regard to your role in your family as a parent, and as a spouse? Or, if you have not yet had childrent: what do you think it is necessary to remember about being a parent, before becoming one?

Random Topic – Example #11

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* NOTE: scheduled topic has changed. *

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Discussion topic selected for Wednesday 23rd July, 2008:

Personal Questions

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Questions:

taken from Dean Derkson’s book Questions to Muse You

1.) If you were a caveman or cavewoman, what five things would you invent first?

2.) Have you ever had a premonition?

3.) What would you do if you were a ghost?

4.) With whom would you like to be stuck in an elevator for three hours?

5.) Have you ever broken any bones (not necessarily your own)?

Other questions:

[... taken from Julian's twisted late-night imagination ...]

(i) What book has had the most impact on your life, or made the strongest impression on you when you were younger?

(ii) What has been your favourite year-of-age so far, and why?

(iii) What has been the scariest thing you’ve ever done?

(iv) Have you ever been close to death?

(v) Who is the most famous person you have met?

Random topic – Example #10

Topic of conversation for Monday 21st July, 2008.

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Uniquely Korean concepts

Premise summary:

Every language includes words which represent the thoughts and feelings of the people who speak that language. Every group of people has a history shared in knowledge and awareness if not in actuality. For that group of people (whether of a nation, region or smaller area, or even an online community) individual words can come to represent thoughts or feelings stemming from that shared experience and which thus – perhaps – require extra explanation to learners of that language coming from outside of that culture. … Or do they?

Questions:

1.) What words which express ‘uniquely Korean concepts’ can you list?

2.) How do you explain the meanings of those words in English?

3.) What is the history behind those words? How did they develop?

4.) Can you describe incidents – personal stories – which illustrate the meaning of any of those words?

5.) What words in other languages (including English) do you know which represent concepts which seem unusual to you, or to other Korean people of whom you know?

6.) What is your opinion of the definitions of these words, including ‘jeong’?

(See below the definition of this word for others words and active links to pages with their definitions.)

* * * * * * *

In class today we talked about:

the literal meaning of the word 정, and discussed some examples of what it looks like ie. we shared some stories about our own exprience of ‘jeong,’

we started talking about 효,

and 한,

and began to talk about 체면.

Random topic – Example #9

For class discussion on Friday, 18th July, 2008.

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Topic: Urban myths

Information: please do an English language web-search for information on the topic of ‘urban myths’.

Remember sites such as www.wikipedia.org, and www.google.com. (Both these sites also have Korean content pages.)

Examples of urban myths:

1.) if you leave a house by a different door than that which you entered, you’ll get bad luck,

2.) lemmings commit suicide en masse,

3.) if you want to get rid of hiccoughs you have to put a paper-bag over your head and let someone frighten you, or, you have to drink water from a glass upside down, or, you have to swallow three times, or, …

4.) if a black cat crosses your path in front of you, you will get back luck…

Questions:

1.) What’s your favourite urban myth?

2.) What are the most common urban myths in Korea?

3.) How do myths (of any sort) usually begin?

4.) Have you ever started a myth?

5.) What is the difference between an urban myth and a (standard, ‘normal’) myth?

News article – Example #8

For class discussion on Wednesday 16th July, 2008.

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World’s oldest blogger makes final post

AAP | Monday, 14 July 2008

The Australian woman renowned as the world’s oldest internet blogger has made her final post, aged 108.

Olive Riley, of Woy Woy on New South Wales central coast, died in a nursing home just after 6am yesterday.

She will be mourned by family and an international readership in the thousands.

“It was mind blowing to her,” her great grandson Darren Stone, of Brisbane, told AAP tonight.

“She had people communicating with her from as far away as Russia and America on a continual basis, not just once in a while.”

Olive had posted more than 70 entries on her blog – or as she jokingly labelled it, her “blob” – since February last year.

The ardent Sydney Swans AFL fan shared her day-to-day musings and her life’s experiences raising three children on her own, living through two world wars and the Depression, her work as a station cook in rural Queensland and as an egg sorter and barmaid in Sydney.

In her final post, dated June 26, an increasingly frail Olive noted she couldn’t “shake off that bad cough”.

She also wrote that she had: “read a whole swag of email messages and comments from my internet friends today, and I was so pleased to hear from you. Thank you, one and all.”

Olive’s musing live on at www.allaboutolive.com.au and more recently at www.worldsoldestblogger.blogspot.com.

She was born in 1899, and would have turned 109 on October 20.

“She enjoyed the notoriety – it kept her mind fresh,” Mr Stone said.

“What kept her going was the memories she had, and being able to recall those memories so strongly.”

Olive’s funeral will be held at Palmdale Cemetery, on the NSW Central Coast, late this week.

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Original article at:
http://stuff.co.nz/4617300a28.html

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Questions:

1.) What is your opinion of science fiction?
What is your definition of science fiction?

2.) Who is the oldest person you know that knows how to use a computer, or that maintains a blog? How old are they?

3.) Have you talked with older people about other such technological developments of recent years? What have they said? How do they feel about technology? What kinds of newer technological advances are popular with them, and which are unpopular?

4.) Do you have any favourite blogs you read personally?

Are there any famous blogs ‘maintained’ (or written) by Koreans?

5.) Who was Samuel Pepys, and why did he become famous?

6.) What are the differences and similarities between a paper-written diary and a web-log?

7.) What are the similarities and differences – in terms of advantages and disadvantages – between the two forms of written text?

8.) What do you think Olive Riley would have said when she was a child or younger adult, if someone had told her then that one day she would be able to write messages and letters at home that could be read by anyone around the world instantly?

Discussion #3 – Graffiti in Italy; reactions in Japan

For discussion on Monday 14th July.

Topic and articles chosen, questions written and discussion led by Kim Ju Hyang.

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Article 1/2

Japan hunts Florence Duomo vandals

Magazine “Italy” Published 01-07-2008

Japan’s two largest newspapers on Monday apologised to Italy on behalf of Japanese tourists who have been scrawling their names on the walls of Florence’s famed 15th-century Duomo during trips to Europe.

The apologies in the Yomiuri and Asahi papers came after a flurry of media attention on the recent tourist trend, which has seen a number of culprits forced to step forward after anonymous tip-offs.

On Monday a 30-year-old Japanese high school teacher’s job hung in the balance after an anonymous message to his school revealed he had written his name and date on the marble wall of the Duomo’s panoramic terrace during his honeymoon in January last year.

”I did it without thinking much after hearing that writing your name on that stone brought happiness,” the teacher said.

The school’s headmaster apologised for the teacher’s ”inconsiderate behaviour” and said he had already been dismissed as school baseball coach as a result of the incident.

Another anonymous tip-off led to three Kyoto university students being suspended after writing their names, the date, and the name of the university on the Duomo earlier this year.

The university said it was considering sending the culprits back to Florence to clean off the graffiti.

A high school student was also unmasked as being among tourist vandals but was let off with a caution from her school.

During a special programme broadcast by national Japanese television station Tvs6, Tokyo-based Tuscan chef Pietro Androsoni described the phenomenon of writing on Brunelleschi’s famous dome as ”incredible”.

”I can’t believe that this can be happening when the Japanese are known for their correctness,” Androsoni said.

”It’s like if someone wrote on (Kyoto’s UNESCO-pegged golden pavilion) Kinkaku,” he added.

Florence city council’s security chief Graziano Cioni described the trend for writing on the landmark as ‘’shameful”.

”But I like the fact that there’s been a mass uprising in Japan against tourists who carry out these acts,” he said.

Cioni added that he did not think ”posting a policeman at every crossroad” was the answer to the problem

”It’s a question of culture. I hope that everyone will police themselves – and others – so that we can bring back decorum to the city,” he added.

Italy spends hundreds of thousands of euros every year cleaning up historical monuments that have been defaced by writing or graffiti art.

www.italymag.co.uk/italy/tuscany/japan-hunts-florence-duomo-vandals

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Article 2/2

Japan gets tough on graffiti

John Hooper in Rome The Guardian, Wednesday July 2, 2008

A few initials scratched on one of Florence’s famous buildings set off a hunt for the culprits on the other side of the world – and highlighted the vast cultural differences between Italy and Japan.

Italian media yesterday recounted – in tones of wonder, bewilderment and admiration – the fate meted out to Japanese tourists who left their names or initials scrawled on the stonework of the city cathedral’s panoramic terrace.

But so many Italians and other tourists do the same thing that, as a cathedral official, Paolo Bianchi, acknowledged: “We have staff whose sole job every day is to rub out pierced hearts, declarations of love and travel graffiti.”

In a nation whose prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is busy giving himself blanket immunity from prosecution, no one would dream of taking the matter further. But when a Japanese holidaymaker photographed a series of graffiti in his own language, it unleashed what the daily La Repubblica termed a “manhunt” involving appeals for information in two of Japan’s biggest newspapers, on national television and in online forums.

One of the guilty, who left her initials and the name of her university, at Gifu, in Japan, was soon traced. She and two fellow students have since been given two-month suspensions and may yet return to Florence to remove the graffiti. Their university offered to pay damages to the cathedral, which the cathedral authorities politely refused.

An even more severe fate may await three students at Kyoto Sangyo University who confessed that they too had defaced the marble walls supporting Filippo Brunelleschi’s sublime dome. They could be expelled.

On Sunday, yet another culprit was brought to light – a 30-year-old teacher from Mito who visited Italy in January. He has already been dismissed as the coach of his school’s baseball team, and now risks losing his job.

Corriere della Sera, which devoted part of its front page to the affair, also carried an interview with a Japan expert, Gian Carlo Calza. In an effort to explain the severity of the reaction, he said the students “but above all the teacher made Japanese lose face abroad.

“They offended their hosts – that is to say, Italy – and this, for their mentality, is unacceptable.”

As for the teacher, he told a television interviewer, reportedly with eyes cast down: “I had heard that writing your name on those walls brought happiness.”

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/02/internationalcrime.italy

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Questions

1. Have you ever written graffiti at famous or public places?

2. How do you feel about this kind of activity?

3. How do you feel about the forms of punishment described above?

Are they reasonable, too harsh, or insufficient?

4. What level of punishment would be appropriate for putting graffiti on a site of important cultural heritage?

5. Why does Japan have a different attitude towards apologizing to Korea for the countries’ shared history and the kind of faults described in the article?

6. In what ways was the media involved in seeing the creation of this incident?