Recently, I learned something new about this word definition – Jeong. I think it’s a cool concept.

The concept of jeong exists in Korean, Japanese, and Chinese cultures, and the same Chinese character is used in these countries. However, it is very interesting for us to see that the meaning of the same character is subtly different for each of these countries. The Chinese emphasize the aspects of loyalty and reciprocity in relationships when using their jeong character. The Japanese equivalent, pronounced “jyo,” means sentimental feelings with the addition of another word, “nin jyo.” Jeong in Korean culture has much broader meanings and ambiguous nuances in the expression of emotions, and encompasses the Chinese and Japanese concepts.

The manifestation of jeong in a social structure and in social values is primarily through loyalty and commitment without validation, logic, or reason. This can be compared to the concept of amae in Japanese, which is an expectation of behaviors without validation. It is very interesting to see that interactions in Korean culture, whether formal or private, often carry the assumption of commitment. In Western culture, commitment is often contractual and defined, such as in a marriage, instead of being implicit. When commitments are made based upon contextual significance, for example, because of “jeong-related” affairs rather than logical interpretations of content, individuals easily become members of a cohesive group at home or work, bonded by jeong or perhaps even held in bondage by jeon.

Some of the things I appreciate most about Koreans, such as Korean hospitality, I discovered during my first visit to Seoul in 1987. Others, like “jeong” and “euiri,” I am still learning to fully appreciate and often find difficult to explain to non-Koreans.

One of the qualities that define the Korean people is also one of the most complex: jeong. Of the many definitions in my dictionary, “feeling,” “compassion,” “sentiment,” and “affection” seem to come the closest, but none of them convey the real meaning or importance of the term. I see jeong existing between family members and close friends as an invisible force that binds them together. It is difficult for foreigners to “see” this emotion because it is often not verbalized. Westerners regularly tell their loved ones, “I love you,” but for Koreans, these words are infrequently spoken.

Links: http://www.prcp.org/publications/sig.pdf

http://www.koreaherald.com/opinion/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20090915000050

Today, I’ve gotten around the Sun 31 times. It’s a fun way to look at this way, as we’re all revolving the Sun. And who knows for how many more. What to say on my birthday? Well, I think it’s going to sound a little disappointing ’cause my thoughts are pretty much the same, more or less, of what I’ve said in my last few birthday posts. Although I must share that in the last few years, I felt like there was a cloud over my head, as I thought deeply about myself, then an opportunity opened up for me to work abroad in Korea for a year. That seems to make a big difference in myself, as I immersed myself into the ways of Korean culture and also had been interacting with Koreans, which I’ve realized to be a little different than the people in America. Koreans do have a strong sense of identity to themselves and quite proud of what they’ve accomplished thus far and the language, Hangul, is a big part of that. In fact, they’re the only country that has a national day devoted to the Hangul language. They dabble in the thousands of Hangul keys on their smartphones everyday. Aside from learning about the culture, the biggest benefit of being able to live in Korea for a year was simply getting know the area and whereabouts. It’s this subject that pops up often in conversations as Koreans may ask you where you were born, where are you from, where do you live, and where are you going to. South Korea is roughly the same size as Indiana is, so it’s much smaller than most people expect it to be. You’d need to have a good knowledge of the geography and whereabouts in Korea to have some meaningful conversations with Koreans. By now, I’m familiar with the geography and what do cities look like. I even snowboarded at four different ski resorts and went on KTX train to Busan to visit my sister and her family. Also, I’ve been reading into the history of modern Korea as I think it’s important to know where you come into the picture. Really great read is here. Pretty much what you need to know about its modern history. I read one book that explains how Korea was literally down to one city, Busan, and had the city been captured, it’d be all over for South Korea to have any hopes of having democracy in the government, so it was a big deal that General MacArthur had a brilliant idea of attacking the Communists from the port of Incheon. You can read all about it here.

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This has been on my mind for a while, so I’ll try my best in sharing my musings. I was born deaf and was raised by parents who are deaf too. We all graduated from the same school, ISD. Much of my sign language development came from my parents (in the early stages) and the deaf peers (later stages) at the school. Now, to bring this to a topic, it should be noted that ISD only employs 10% of its staff who are deaf. Which means most of my peers sign better than most teachers at the school. I can remember many times when my friends and I would make a little funny joke, teachers would ask what were we joking about but we wouldn’t want to bother explaining because we knew they wouldn’t get it anyway. It’s a cultural thing, you know. From time to time, I often wonder why hearing teachers would want to work at a deaf school anyways? wouldn’t their service better be rendered elsewhere, perhaps at public schools? They can barely sign. Yet they remain at the school, as I later learned, our school pays better than public schools, with the union protection and this is equally important, deaf students aren’t as vocal as their hearing counterparts, they become quite comfortable at our school, controlling things to their favors. Statistics has shown that sex crimes were committed higher at deaf schools than any other school.

Teaching jobs is a popular avenue for deaf students because it’s one of those few jobs where knowledge of sign language is a prerequisite. So, if a hearing person were to take the teaching job, it means a lost job opportunity for deaf people, as most of them aren’t likely to leave the school and stay there till retirement. Also, one most common difficulty for deaf graduates to get a teaching job is they’ll have to pass the teachers certification exam, which tends to be different in each state. So, for example, if a deaf student studied at Gallaudet University and got a degree in deaf education, it doesn’t mean they are ready to teach yet. They’d have to take additional courses in that state, and then pass the teacher certificate test. Whereas it’s a different case for hearing students, their path to becoming a deaf educator is marginally easier, as their in-state colleges have a closer designed curriculum, of what would be on the exam and by the time they’re seniors, they’re well-prepared to take the teachers exam with a relatively high success rate and they arrive at their goal much sooner than deaf counterparts. Then they take in one of the scarcest jobs for deaf people.

See this link – http://www.mac.edu/academics/catalog/current/education.asp – all set up nicely in steps 1 to 7, upon the completion of the Assessment of Professional Teaching test.

So, it’s not hard to see why the % for deaf employees remain historically low at the school.

That’s one thought I have. Another thought I have comes from a recent deaf event. Two years ago, I excitedly traveled to five different countries in the east Asia over the span of 17 days with my good friend, Bak. One of these highlights was attending the 2009 Deaflympics. I’ve had always wanted to attend the Deaflympics, after having heard from deaf peers, and ofc, I am a fan of sports. But I learned a couple of things while attending the Deaflympics. In my mind, I had thought that more than 10,000 fans would go to this event but not very many people went – I think only 500 fans or fewer. For the opening ceremony, the tickets were literally sold out. How so? were there that many interested fans? No, most of the “fans” were Taiwanese citizens who wanted to see the fancy grand performance by dancers and singers. Also, the president of Taiwan would make an appearance at the event. A deaf friend mentioned to me that there was a bit of politics and competition going on between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, as the PROC recently hosted the 2008 Olympics. So, the ROC wanted to follow that up with its own grand show performance that ended with fireworks firing from the Taipei 101 tower. So, again, it’s in their own interests, doesn’t matter if you’re deaf or not. Though one deaf guy did mention to me that it was the best, most expensive opening show he’s ever seen. He’s gone to five Deaflympics before, so he has credibility.

The next thought I have, and the last one is a story told by my friend from South Korea. My friend recently flew to South Africa to attend the World Federation of the Deaf conference last summer. While there, she told me there was a big surprise visit made by someone. Guess who? It was four persons from North Korea coming to visit the WDF. However, none of them were deaf. As you may know, tensions between North Korea and South Korea still remain high, with no peace treaties formally signed, so technically, both countries are still at a war. It was the first time and an awkward moment for them to be meeting one another—there’s even a law that disallows citizens from meeting each other due to the risks of espionage. It was an interesting experience, she said, although it felt like something can go off at any minute and they rush to defend their ideologies and what they stand for their country. Patriotism, you know. Yet I’m not sure what’s their business visiting the WDF and it’s not like they are going to improve life conditions for their deaf citizens in North Korea after they go back. So, my question is what are their interests toward deaf people? and hearing people whose sign language skill is barely fluent enough truly want to teach to deaf children? and do they want to truly host an international event for the deaf people or for their own interests? To be, or not to be, that is the question, my friends.

-nathan

Santa Claus is indeed working hard to get these presents in time!

Hard to believe you’re really gone. Rest in peace, Steve.

My mission in life is to listen to my own voice as much as possible and follow my instincts. Whenever I do this, I always feel good about myself eventually and I get the glimpse of the freedom of being outside the Matrix. It’s a hard thing to do, but it’s worth it every time. I never lose when I trust myself. -Ji Lee

The Sun was just beginning to touch its horizon and I looked at the clock. Okay, it’s time to head out of work and I made a little quick search into Google. “Seoul metro map.” Images of the metro map quickly appeared and I looked for ones that were the most readable. I clicked on a few images and then let my mind examine the Seoul metro map. There were 9 different lines and each line has a color of its own. Where do I get on? where do I get off? more lines to get on? Seoul station was the one that I wanted to go. After reviewing a few times, I tried to hold a mental map in my mind and I’d try to depend on my ever reliable memory and I walked out of the office.

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The greatest achievement is selflessness.
The greatest worth is self-mastery.
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
The greatest precept is continual awareness.
The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
The greatest patience is humility.
The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

In criticizing, the teacher is hoping to teach. That’s all.

All know the Way, but few actually walk it.

~Bankei

Saw this article in the newspaper, thought I’d share.

Since then, the subway added 10 billion more passengers every seven years, reaching 20 billion in 2000 and 30 billion in 2007. As of 2010, 1.48 billion passengers used lines 1 through 4 each year, which boils down to 4.04 million users a day.

The number of people using the Paris Métro, which started operating in 1900, stood at 1.15 billion in 2010, while the London Underground, which began running in 1863, has 868 million people using it every year. The New York Subway has 490 stations, four times more than the Seoul metro system, but has only 1.13 billion users per year.

Yep, it’s always full when I take subway in Korea for one year. I remember reading somewhere that it was 3 million riders a day but really it’s 4 million riders.

via The Chosun Illbo

As a reader, man is unique among living things. The ability to read—-and, more broadly, the ability to express complete ideas through language——distinguishes human beings from all other life forms. Without language, complex thought is inconceivable and the mind remains undeveloped. The inability to speak and write imprisons thought. In the same vein, sloppy imprecise thinking begets sloppy imprecise language. Language and thought are interconnected, and the written word is the vehicle which best advances both. Therefore, I count reading and its associated skill writing among the most significant of all human efforts. Good writing is simply the result of enormous reading, detailed research, and careful thought. It means studying to gain a good vocabulary and practicing how to use it. These kindred skills should be developed and nourished from the very first for man to grow intellectually. And unless he can express himself well, he can exert little influence on others.

If you’re keeping up with news around the world, you should know by now that there has been a massive flooding in South Korea. I was in Korea for one year and during the summer, I can remember it rained almost non-stop. And it even rained more this time. I suppose S. Korea is in an unfortunate position because it’s a peninsula next to the seas, making it more likely for clouds to dump on S. Korea before it disperses out to the sea.

I found it interesting that KBS news channel used Google Maps to show where the flooding was, so I am thinking that Google products have broken into Korea’s public mainstream as they get the information quickly.

There are some good big pictures on boston.com.

My parents looked adventurous!