Week-van-Betwisting

'n Vierde-jaar student wat 'n klas van my gedruip het, stuur sowaar vir my 'n e-pos om te vra dat ek haar F-punt na 'n D-punt (slaagsuifer) moet verander. Haar motief: "My parents are disappointed."

In Korea is dit heel algemeen dat studente hulle finale punte kan betwis. Nadat die punte op die aanlynstelsel verskyn is daar 'n week geleentheid vir studente om hulle punte te betwis en om die punte te verander. Tydents hierdie week moet al ons dosente beskikbaar wees sodat studente wat probleme met hulle punte het ons kan nader. Gewoonlik wanneer studente my kontak wys ek hulle bloot op die manier wat die punte bereken is volgens hulle werk: opdragte, toetse en eksamens, klasbywoning, klasdeelname, en so aan. Die meeste studente aanvaar dan hulle lot wanneer hulle sien hoe dit gebeur het dat hulle punte lyk soos dit lyk.

Soms is daar sinvolle klagtes. Byvoorbeeld: 'n Student betwis 'n lae punt, ek wys vir hulle watter opdragte nie ingehandig is nie, die studente merk op dat hulle wel 'n spesifieke opdrag ingehandig het, ek gaan soek in my kantoor, vind die verlore opdrag, merk dit, herbewerk die studente se punte, en so aan. Dit het al gebeur so twee of drie keer in die vyf jaar wat ek hier werk.

Maar ek is elke semester verstom oor 'n paar studente wat nie ligitieme redes het vir hoekom hulle beter punte veronderstel is om te kry nie.

Een klagte wat al meer mal by 'n student opgekom het wanneer hulle verstom staan voor 'n swak punt is: "But I've attended all the classes." Baie Koreaanse studente meen dat klasbywoning behoort 'n outomatiese slaagpunt tot gevolg te hê. Persoonlik dink ek dat klasbywoning nie eens moet tel nie -- as jy by die huis jou werk net so goed kan leer en dit kan demonstreer in opdragte, toetse en eksamens, dan sien ek geen rede hoekom jy in 'n klas hoef te kom sit nie. Om na 'n dosent te luister werk nie ewige goed vir almal nie. Nietemin, die universiteit forseer ons om klasbywoning 10% van ons finale punt te laat tel.

'n Ander algemene klagte is senior (vierde jaar) studente wat dink die feit dat hulle seniors is maak gee hulle 'n onmiddelike "get out of jail free card". Hulle hoef nie te werk nie en sal eenvoudig slaag en sommer met goeie punte ook.

Dan is daar die algemene idee dat dit is die dosent wat hulle punte bepaal, eerder as die student-self. Op 'n keer het 'n student my al die volgende gevra: "Professor, why is my grade so low -- don't you love me?" Genugtig! Wat my emosies te make het met jou punt weet nugter alleen!

Een ding wat ek nooit doen wanneer ek so 'n e-pos aan die einde van die semester ontvang nie, is om iets te sê soos: "I'm sorry but I cannot change your grade." Deur jammer te sê maak ek dit my verantwoordelikheid. En dit is nie. Studente se punte is geheel en al hulle verantwoordelikheid. 'n Vriend van my wat by 'n ander universiteit in Korea gewerk het vir oor die 10 jaar het 'n paar keer vir my genoem hoedat baie Koreane nie 'n sin vir agentskap het nie. "They don't have agency," het hy genoem, "and neither do their fiction characters." Hy het, soos ek, 'n klas aangebied in Skryfkuns, en het gevind dat die karakters in sy studente se stories agentloos is. Menende, dinge gebeur met hulle, hulle laat selde dinge gebeur. Hulle is pasiewe dobbers wat deur die golwe gedryf word. Dit het waarskynlik 'n kulturele basis -- ek probeer nog dink waarop dit gebaseer is; moontlik 'n onbewustelike fatalistiese Daoïstiese kosmologie.

Ek is darem nie geheel en al hardekwas gedurende die Week-van-Betwisting nie. Soms, vir grensgevalle, byvoorbeeld 'n studente wat 'n C+ gekry het en wonder oor 'n B-punt, sal ek toelaat om sekere opdragte oor te doen en hulle punt te verbeter. Die belangrike ding bly egter dat hulleself hulle punte verbeter. Dis nie 'n arbitrêre goedhartigheid van my kant af wat op 'n toweragtige wyse hulle punt van 'n C+ na 'n B verander nie. Dis hulle eie werk en insette wat vrugte afwerp.

Die student wat ek aan die aanvang van hierdie skrywe genoem het, wat haar klas gedruip het, het nege opdragte nie gedoen nie. As sy my aan die begin van die Week-van-Betwisting genader het kon ek haar dalk 'n week geleentheid gegee het om haar opdragte in te handig. Maar sy kontak my nou eers -- Sondagaand, die laaste ure voor betwisting formeel eindig. Ek skud my kop in ongeloof -- en skryf daaroor op my blog.

A List of Emotions

Image Source

Over the last year I have been feeling many emotions. Something that particularly frustrated me about my feelings were my inability to describe them. I knew I felt things, but I just couldn’t put them into words. This is quite ironic, as I am, after all, a man of words—having degrees in literature and creative writing, and being a lecturer of English Literature. Nonetheless, I found myself struggling for words as I tried to explain my feelings. Apparently, this is particularly common among men. Hence I decided that it is prudent that I improve my lexis of emotion adverbs, so I started by aggregating the list below. If you have an adverb which you think definitely have to be on this list and which fits the pattern “I feel . . .”, please leave it in the comments. There is one particular emotion which I have been feeling and for which I am yet to find a descriptive. What is the word for when you feel both happy and sad at the same time? One person suggested “emotional” since I’m experiencing multiple emotions, but that just seem a bit like a cop-out to me. For the time being I have settled for “conflicted,” but I don’t think that is describing what I’m feeling exactly enough—there must be a more exact word for when one feels both happy and sad.

(An Incomplete) List of Emotion Adverbs: I feel . . .

Abandoned
Absorbed
Adoration
Afraid
Agitated
Aggravated
Alarmed
Alienated
Alone
Amazed
Ambivalent
Amused
Angry
Angst
Anguished
Annoyed
Anticipating
Anxious
Appreciated
Appreciation
Apprehensive
Aroused
Ashamed
Anticipation
Attraction
Awed
Awful
Awkward
Baffled
Beguiled
Bemused
Benevolent
Bitter
Bored
Bothered
Brave
Calm
Caring
Cautious
Cheerful
Choked-up
Comfortable
Compassionate
Concern
Confident
Conflicted
Confused
Contempt
Content
Curious
Cynical
Defeated
Delighted
Depressed
Deprived
Disappointed
Disdain
Disgraced
Disgusted
Disillusioned
Disliked
Dismayed
Disoriented
Disrespected
Distrusting
Disturbed
Dreading
Dreadful
Eager
Ecstatic
Elated
Emasculated
Embarrassed
Empty
Emulation
Engrossed
Entertained
Enthusiastic
Envious
Exasperated
Excited
Exhausted
Exhilarated
Exuberant
Failure (like a)
Faithful
Fanatical
Fearful
Flattered
Fondness
Frustrated
Grief-stricken
Grumpy
Guilty
Happy
Hateful
Helpless
Hesitant
Hopeful
Hopeless
Horrified
Hostile
Humiliated
Hurt
Indifferent
Indignation
Infatuated
Inferior
Insecure
Insulted
Interested
Intrigued
Irked
Irritated
Isolated
Jealous
Joyful
Liking
Lonely
Lonesome
Love
Loved
Lust
Melancholy
Misunderstood
Neglected
Nervous
Numb
Nurtured
Optimistic
Outraged
Overwhelmed
Panicked
Patriotic
Passionate
Pity
Pitiful
Pleased
Powerless
Preoccupied
Proud
Rageful
Receptive
Regretful
Rejected
Relaxed
Relieved
Remorse
Resentful
Respected
Restless
Revulsion
Sad
Safe
Satisfied
Scared
Scornful
Self-confident
Self-conscious
Shamed
Shameless
Shocked
Sorrow
Spiteful
Starstruck
Stressed
Strong
Stumped
Stunned
Suicidal
Suspicious
Sympathy
Teary
Tender
Tenderness
Trepidation
Trust
Trusting
Unappreciated
Unashamed
Uncertain
Uncomfortable
Undervalued
Valued
Vengeful
Violated
Weak
Weary
Worried
Wrathful
Yearning
Zealous

Zestful

I'm a Negotiator

I watched a TED Talk in which the biological anthropologist Dr Helen Fisher discusses "The Brain in Love". Towards the end of the talk she discusses four temperament types and their attractions (or non-attractions) towards each other. You can read about it in a PDF here: "We have chemistry! –  the role of four primary temperament dimensions in mate choice and partner compatibility".

Image Source

Always curious to find out more about myself, and having recently come out of a relationship still trying to understand the dynamics of what happened, I decided to log into her dating website Chemistry.Com and go do the temperament dimensions test.

There are four temperaments: Director, Builder, Negotiator, and Explorer. I score highest for Negotiator, followed by Explorer.

This is what the test have to say about me:

As a Negotiator [Your primary type]

You are imaginative. You are emotionally expressive and share your feelings. The big picture is what interests you most, and you like to assemble facts and focus on larger concepts. When you make decisions, you often think things through very carefully, weighing all the options before deciding what to do. People are important to you and you prefer to build intimate attachments with others, connecting on a deeply personal level.

Agreeable and unassuming, you can be very intuitive, and you generally prefer win-win situations that protect social harmony. You are very good at reading people, and this includes facial expressions as well as vocal inflections. You excel at what scientists call synthesizing, which means you collect lots of data and then find patterns that lead to larger concepts.

Things Negotiators should be aware of:

Because they can see so many angles to an issue or decision, they can be indecisive. Their need to please can make them placating and their trusting nature can make them gullible. When they feel betrayed they can be unforgiving and hold a grudge too long.

When you add Explorer [Your secondary type]

You tend to be curious and creative, optimistic and generous. You have lots of energy and you like to spend your time seeking out new things. You avoid routine and really enjoy surprises. You’re creative and curious and flexible, which makes you very adaptable to almost any situation.

Things Explorers should be aware of:

hey are so mentally flexible and spontaneous that they can appear indecisive and unpredictable. They tend to be impatient with cautious people or those with more rigid views of morality. They focus on many things at a time.

I'm very much in agreement with most of the result. I am indeed imaginative; creative; emotionally expressive (I write poetry after all); intuitive; concerned with the big picture and looking at things from different angles; am more interested in deep, intimate relationships; curious and flexible. And the negatives also apply: I can be so overwhelmed with different aspects of a problem that it could make me indecisive; I always have too many things on my plate; and I do get irritated with rigid views -- the older I get the less black and white the world is to me.

It was an interesting exercise. Whether I will actually make use of Chemistry.Com to find a partner, I very much doubt. Firstly because the site is chiefly catering for Americans. Secondly, my love languages are quality time and affection, neither of which makes online dating a particularly attractive option for me.

Mmm . . .

“The only way of knowing a person is to love them without hope.” ― Walter Benjamin

Work and Vacation Plans

Image Source

The deadline for my students' grades to be entered onto the university's network was Sunday evening. I worked all through Saturday night to finish grading exam papers and went to my office early Sunday morning where I continued finalizing grades until around 1pm the afternoon. Exhausted I came home and slept from around 2pm until 8pm. Of course, having slept the whole afternoon I am not tired and now, at 2:30am I'm still wide awake.

On Tuesday I have to submit two reports for one of my PhD classes. While I'm not sleepy, my brain is not in a state to write philosophical reports on the views of the body and soul dilemma (topic of the first report) or the body-schema concept as understood in Phenomenology (topic of the other report). I hope I have more psychic energy tomorrow to tackle these reports and write the two 2000 word papers.

There is still a week of admin left before I can go on vacation next Monday. I haven't yet decided if I will travel anywhere or not. I have quite a lot to do actually.

First, I need to compose the syllabi for some classes, then there are two classes which I'm basically creating from scratch, which will take time too. Then there is a class that I did teach last year (Creative Writing), but which I need to give a make-over, having learned some things from the previous time I tought it.

Second, I'm the creative director for a magazine and need to do the page layout for it. I hope to finish it within the next three weeks, if possible.

Third, I have four ideas for books that I hope to at least do the outlines of during the vacation. Two are textbook style books, one concerns a specific topic on ITF Taekwon-Do, and the last one is an attempt at reworking my anthology of love poems.

Fourth, there are also two academic articles I've been contemplating. I did some brain storming on both long ago, but maybe I can get a formal outline finished.

Lastly, something that is not work related ("all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy") but which I've been hoping to do for three years now -- I want to get a paragliding licence. I went paragliding the first time in 2011 and it was really quite a highlight. It is definitely something I hope to do more often and the best way to do that is if I can get a license.

If I will have time or money to do any traveling I'm not yet sure, but I'm staying open to that possibility in August. I will definitely try and do some travelling in Korea though. There are still many places I am yet to visit.

On another note, I went to see Brad Pitt's World War Z on Friday. Quite good. Two other SF movies I watched recently are Star Trek: Into Darkness and Super-Man: Man of Steel. Of the two I highly recommend the Star Trek movie. With regards to Man of Steel, if you must see it, go watch it in 3D and only watch the first 15-30 minutes then walk out. Apart from the very well done Krypton setup towards the rest of the movie, the movie is generally very bad in my opinion.

The Connection Between Your Mouth and Your Health

I have at long last found a biological dentist. Ever since I have been in Korea I have been constantly frustrated with the dentist I went to. Don't get me wrong, Korean dentists are not ill-equipped. With the very high rate of plastic surgery and other aesthetic alterations being made in Korea, Korean dentists are some of the best in the world in creating beautiful smiles.

The problem is that none of the dentists I went to and with whom I shared my concern for the connection between my mouth and my health grasped what I was talking about. And instead of partnering with me to take care of my wellbeing they assume modernistic authority and subjugate their patients—“I’m the all-knowing doctor, you are the ignorant patient; now this is what we are going to do!”

Most people do not consider the link between their mouths and their health. Problems with your teeth and gums affect your body in two ways. Bacteria in your mouth are constantly ingested. If your mouth is a breeding farm for harmful bacteria, you are continually swallowing down germ filled saliva. A healthy body is well capable of taking care of small amounts of germs which we are exposed to on a daily basis, but a continuous ingestion of harmful bacteria can very well be overwhelming to the immune system, causing inflammation that has been linked to heart disease and various cancers. There is another way that a sick mouth causes a sick body. The teeth are set in the jaw bone and skull, which through the bone marrow is supplied with nerves and blood. This means that a sick tooth can infect the surrounding bone causing necrotic tissue, and also germs and other toxins can slip directly into the bloodstream via the teeth and jawbone to go cause havoc somewhere else in the body.

Slowly dentistry and the medical profession have come around to acknowledge the severe dangers of amalgam (grey/silver) fillings which is an alloy that contains mercury. This highly toxic metal escapes into the mouth as fumes with the slightest of agitation ranging from mere mastication (chewing) or hot liquids like drinking coffee.



Many people suffering from chronic diseases are sick because of slowly being poisoned over a long period of time by the stuff in their mouths. And many a patient has been cured by removing the amalgam fillings and going on a heavy metal detox program. I’ve had my amalgam fillings removed long ago.

But amalgam fillings are not the only culprit of sick mouths causing sick bodies. An often overlooked cause of many chronic diseases is root canals. A root canal is a procedure in which the dentist drills out the living tissue from a tooth and then fills it up, basically leaving a dead tooth with dead roots in your jaw. In a healthy tooth there is a pulp chamber made up of living cells and supplied with blood vessels. In case there are some toxins in the tooth at least the blood supply can help to carry away the toxins and bring antibodies to the infected area and so there is at least some way of caring for the tooth. In root canals, germs and toxins trapped inside the tooth cannot be “cleaned out” by the body’s natural filtering system. Instead they just continue to fester there until they start to infect the whole surrounding area, and eventually poison the jaw and the rest of the body. Studies from the early parts of the 1900s already proved that such root canals are directly linked to different ailments elsewhere in the body.



I’ve been having a problem tooth for quite some time now. At least three dentists have told me that I should get a root canal done. One dentist I convinced to treat the tooth without giving me a root canal. His solution was making me pay for a gold filling which I later found out via an X-ray he merely placed over the cavity, leaving the cavity to further grow behind the filling. After another dentist saw this, he said that the only solution is to have the gold filling removed (which I had only gotten a few months earlier) and getting a root canal. When I told him about the dangers of root canals he got angry with my, saying that if it was dangerous they would not have taught young dentists to perform it in medical school. Here is the problem: we have the ignorant dentists on the one hand that doesn’t know about the connection of the mouth and health, and then we have the money hungry swindlers on the other hand that likes to put expensive gold fillings in your mouth or perform unnecessary procedures just to fill their greedy pockets. Sadly, often the ignorant ones and the greedy ones are one and the same.

I’ve been in Korea for around five years and after much frustration I have eventually found a biological dentist. I’ve been to two previous ones that I thought would know what I’m talking about, but they both disappointed me and were eager for me that I should get a root canal done. Eventually I discovered another dentist who advertised himself as a biological and homoeopathic dentist. When I explained to him my fear of having a root canal done he immediately understood and also cautioned me about the practise. I nearly cried, being so relieved at finding at last someone that understands my concerns and is willing to partner with me in the managing of my health. After taking an X-ray the doctor said that the tooth is indeed likely in need of a root canal—the alternative, of course being that it should be pulled.

There are methods of doing root canals that can reduce the possibility of future problems. Such procedures attempt to seriously disinfect the tooth using extreme methods such as laser cleaning, ozone treatments or calcium hydroxide. It is not that most dentist do not disinfect a tooth when doing root canals, it is just that they don’t do a good enough job. Dentists are concerned with the one to four major canals and focus on cleaning out these canals before filling the tooth. The problem is, however, that there are many auxiliary canals which are extremely difficult to disinfect and it is in these auxiliary canals where the bacteria hide out just to later emerge and cause mayhem. So difficult is it to reach these germs that dentist using calcium hydroxide as a cleanser often leaves it in the tooth for one to two months in order to saturate all parts of the tooth, before filling the tooth permanently.

Even so, a tooth that had the root canal procedure done is a dead tooth. Basically, you have a dead object sitting in your body.

The biological dentist started on my tooth, slowly moving in and cleaning out as far as he went. Then, discovering that while the cavity is indeed quite deep, it has not properly reached the pulp and after an hour of work on my tooth (other dentists spend maybe 15 minutes!) he announced that the tooth need not have a root canal done. He took a mould of the cavity and had a moulded resin filling made. I cannot help but repeat this: THREE previous dentists have insisted that I get a root canal done, which may have untold future disease causing implications.

I am extremely thankful for at last discovering a dentist whom I can trust with my mouth.

With this post I'm hoping that if you have either amalgam fillings in your mouth or have a root canal done that you seriously consider finding a good biological dentist to work with you and treating these disease causing areas in your mouth. Particularly if you are showing any signs of chronic disease or discomfort anywhere in your body, it is very possible that the cause is in your mouth.

A sweet childhood memory

Image Source

When I was a kid I very much lived in an imaginary world of my own. One of my several childhood fantasy-games involved being a pixie living in a forest, and spending much of my time on lily pads. I would fold baby blankets into small surfaces and pretended that they are lily pads and would hop from one to the other, imagining that if I fell into the "water" that some fish or other ferocious creatures will make a meal out of me.

I just happen to see this terribly cute little duckling taking a stroll over lily pads (below) and it brought back all those memories.

Image Source

Food for the gods

Home baked bread with melted dark chocolate.

No Child For Sale

No Child For Sale infographic by AndrewDavies.

Kim Kwan Seok

Een van Suid-Korea se bekendste musikante is Kim Kwang Seok. Wat Johannes Kerkorrel vir ons was, is wat Kim Kwang Seok vir Korea was. Min mense weet regtig watse effek Johannes Kerkorrel op die Afrikaanse musiekbedryf gehad het, soortgelyk dink ek nie die jonger geslag Suid-Koreaners besef hoedat Kim Kwang Seok 'n ruimte geskep het vir die Koreaanse indie-sektor nie. Kleiner, intieme konserte soos wat tans in die Daehangro in Seoul beleef word is grootliks weens sy invloed. (Die alternatief is daardie ondraaglike monsteragtige K-Pop konserte met oorverdowende klank en verblindende ligte en sintetiese klanke.) Soortgelyk aan Kerkorrel het Kim ook selfmoord gepleeg deur homself te hang. Dit was 1996. Hy was slegs 32 jaar oud.

Kim Kwang Seok se balades is emosie belaai in die volk-rock / indie-rock genre en 'n mens kan maklik die musiek "voel", al verstaan jy nie die woorde nie. Nietemin, onderaan is een van Kim Kwang Seok se songs met onderskrifte.




Hier is 'n skakel na 'n aanhanger-webblad vir Kim Kwon Seok.

A Lesson on Love

Today I learned that one can end a relationship not because you love someone too little, but because you love them too much.

It is one of the most interesting life lessons I have learned so far.