Today we (Link, Duke and I) were supposed to go hiking or mountain climbing with Link's friend Sam. However, Sam never told him when/where we were supposed to meet, so we didn't. Instead, Link thought that today would be a good chance to go to the electronics market. So we planned to meet at Segyero in the morning. I got up at ten-thirty and he called at about eleven to say that he had been told that the market was too complicated to get to, so we should postpone. Fine. I went back to bed.
Last night I stayed up until four, writing a letter to [redacted]. It will accompany my gift of Ginseng tea which I will hopefully be able to mail tomorrow. The letter was long, and I fear I didn't express myself well. I'm still too shy to say clearly what I think without jumping between absurdity and self-reproach. Alas.
I did very little today: bought some Kim-bap and some bread and coke. I read a few more chapters of Crowley -- almost done with the book. I also managed to assume proper zen-position for the first time in many days. I counted to one hundred (one count / breath) and back down. By the time I finished, my legs hurt quite a bit, but not too bad.
After diner our water stopped working. When we caught up with Mr. Im we found that his water was not working too -- he had sent for the engineer. Our purpose was to get our passports back, which Duke did, but he kept mine and Link's because information needs to be changed on them (actually on our "alien registration cards"). Anyway, we sat and talked for a long time, mostly about teaching method and the importance of teachers.
Mr. Im maintains that teachers are the most important people (more important than professionals) because they have the responsibility of shaping the minds which will shape the future. It is a good point. I do not know if I agree -- though I do think that teachers are important.
My complaint lies in the content of the lessons. As Nietzsche and Crowley might say, (and I am inclined to follow them on this) it is absurd to compel all people to the same standard of proficiency in subjects as narrow as reading writing and arithmetic. What the world calls education is really more a vast exercise in making people the same: if you take one hundred dissimilar children and "teach" them all the exact same skills (e.g., how to multiply fractions, diagram a sentence, and read an essay) the result will be one hundred people qualified to go to college, but not to do anything other than digest prefabricated information. It is not educating but the closing of minds.
Anyway, this digression aside, Mr. Im said we are important because we are shaping the minds of people who will lead Korea in the future. Heavy stuff!