What do  Korean children treasure more than the ability to swim (while living on an island)?  What puts more sparkle in those tiny black eyes than a brand new 10,000W bill fresh from the mint?  What causes more animosity, treachery, deceit, competition and tears than anything else in the modern Korean child?  No, it's not a new bike.  It's not a computer game.  It's not even Pokemon cards.  It's a simple glittery sticker no larger than the eraser on a pencil (which is actually rare here in Korea...) that comes in the shape of a star or heart.  As a form of positive reinforcement, I have my students compete on workbook assignments.  Clawing tooth and nail through the tedious "I would like some, thank you." sentences as well as the more difficult "I went to the store yesterday to buy some veggies, an apple and juice." these kids will scribble nearly unintelligibly, simply scrawling whatever seemingly correct Engrish seeps from their skulls, all in the hope of ascertaining that beloved and revered sticker.   Once the child has garnished his/her finger tip with the new bedazzled plastic, it is put on a particular sheet of paper containing numerous circles, sometimes representing balloons or cookies.  Every 2-3 months, on Sticker Party Day, these treasures are totaled, allowing for the leading student to get a 'Certificate of Achievement' while the others sit around feeling sorry for themselves saying things like, "Muggahsah Teacha, 3 too" (I needed 3 sticker to tie the winner) or "Mong Teacha, nehgay, joosayo".  (Four more please)  These stickers, upon being tallied by the official representatives (myself and my coteacher) are turned into Dollas, which the kids will spend purchasing Dakboji, snack mix, pb&j, juice, or playing the raffle to maybe win some Pogs (yes, they are still ridiculously popular here) or maybe some Pokemon cards or even a soccer ball, a couple highlighters or a 'ball-pen'. 

The sticker party is also one of the most boring days for Meaghan and me.  We sit around, doling out old food and damp snacks, while kids attempt to talk to us in Korean, even though we know they can at least say numbers in English.  On the other hand it's a good chance for us to take some candid pictures of the good, the bad, and the ugly in their natural habitat.  On that note, enjoy the following:  (Notice that some of these children have bigger heads then even me.)

This past weekend I ended up staying in Seogwipo to dive.  I woke up Saturday morning to pouring rain and decided it was a good idea not to camp.  Apparently the rest of the group had the same idea and nobody went to Udo.  Oh well, there's still time.  Anyway, I ended up doing 3 dives.  I had two daytime dives in Munsom Bay where the visibility was 18m+, and there were tons of fish.  At one point I had stripeys (little yellow and black striped fish) following my hand as I went around in circles.   They'd even get bold enough to try and take a nip at my finger.  Another time I ended up being surrounded by thousands of silver fish with yellow lines going down their backs.  Every where I turned, there were fish as far as I could see.  It was really amazing and still so peaceful and quiet.  There were just three divers in our group; myself, Tanja (assistant dive master) and Marcel from Germany, a trained dive instructor.  Needless to say, I was the least experienced there, but still we were all considered experienced divers and could have a little more freedom and less worry in the water. 
The night dive was just as incredible as before.  Definitely more Octopi this time, but no stone fish or lion fish.  I did get to see some squid and scorpion fish, a large box fish and a puffer fish.  The box fish was so chill, he swam right along my finger as I held it out.   After diving we all gathered with Ralf in the dive shop and bs'd over a few pitchers of Max and some snacks, discussing diving spots all over the world (which I know nothing about), cheese and German culture.  It ended up being a great day that kept me away from home from 9am till midnight.   And Ralf said he'd like for me to help at the shop when Tanja leaves to go back to Germany.  It'll be a great way to get some more experience in diving, and maybe one day it will all come in handy.  I mean, what else am I going to do in October? 

School is still the same old.  I think I'd really enjoy it, or at least be able to appreciate it more if we just had some vacation time.  One of my co-teachers asked me what it would take for me to stay on for another year.  My response was:  Lauran would need to move here, and I'd have to be guaranteed at least two weeks in winter off and two weeks in summer.  I'm so jealous of all my EPIK (public school) friends going to Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan, while I sit in school teaching kids that don't really even want to learn English.  Some of my kids I love, others I detest.  I really didn't think you could dislike a young child so much, until I met Dexter.  He is just the epitome of everything you hope your child does not become.  He picks his nose and either eats it or puts it on somebody else.  When he sneezes, if we're lucky enough for him to cover his mouth, we usually see some white seepage from his Korean snot rockets firing through his fingers.  When Candy is teaching the kids a new dance to go along with some music they are learning, he chooses instead to do roundhouse and sweeper kicks with the occasional right-hand chop, typically whilst wearing a cape.  Today when we were coloring flags of English speaking countries, he decided to color the American flag with a yellow box and pink stripes.  Pretty close, right?  The Canadian flag was brown, and Australia came out purple.  No, he's not colorblind, he just sucks.  Dealing with Dexter has definitely taught me some patience, which I'm thankful for, but I'd give it all up to be rid of him once and for all.  His mother even came in to talk to me (through a translator) about her troublesome child, and even though I told her he does not pay attention and distracts other children, his behavior has not changed at all. 

On another note, (Gog you will appreciate this), we were teaching the kids how to greet people in a few languages.  Japanese, Hebrew, English, Maori, and German.  One kid asked 'Muggs Teacher, why American and no Korean?', to which I replied, 'Because without America, there would be no Korea.'  Obviously too young to understand the (kind of) joke, and the fact that the Americans fought to preserve a South Korean in the early 50's and have since stationed over 20,000 troops in the country just so Kim Jong-Il doesn't go a little too stir crazy and change the Republic of Korea into his Democratic (Ha!) Peoples Republic of Korea.  Despite that the elderly and less educated here will still spat at us or talk trash as we walk by and are offended hearing us speak too much English at a bar where they are yelling in Korean and coughing up lungs.  Yeah, so I hope that wasn't too stereotypical 'Amurcan', and no I won't be getting any tattoos with of a bald eagle holding a rose in its' mouth in front of a billowing Ol' Glory.  As many problems as America has, and it sure has plenty, it's still a pretty great country.  Especially because I can buy real cheese and turkey there. 

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So after weeks of gray, the epitome of summer has finally arrived, and not a day too late.  We suffered through weeks and weeks of no color, thousands of tourists, annoying 'lifeguards' which can only help you during times of duress by blowing their whistles.  Koreans love whistles so much that while Paul and I were surfing a deserted beach just west of Sanbang-san, two random Koreans pulled their cars over, one broke out a whistle and decided to wave us in.  Obviously they weren't going to do anything else besides wave, and I'd put good money that they couldn't even swim.  So Paul and I ignored it until it was actually time to get out and head to school.  We had about a week to two week period of amazing surf here from typhoons, but I can barely remember it.  It's been about 3-4 weeks with nothing.  I mean Lake Linganore flat.  During the typhoon swell I had my biggest waves of my life out west of town.  Had a couple good days, but on the last one, the sheer power of the head and a half high surf snapped the tail off my board.  The next day it took Paul's nose from his board.  Prior to that it was a rush.  Huge drop-ins, ridiculously hard paddles and intimidating waves.
After that, there has been nothing.  It's been so flat that I ended up having time to get my advanced scuba cert.  I think I did 6 or 7 dives in 3 days including a night dive.  I went down to 30m, and also learned the basics of underwater navigation.  The night dive was by far the coolest part of the experience.  I was definitely nervous about it before being submersed, but after that, it was sheer exhilaration.  We began by putting all our gear together in the shop and doing a pre-dive briefing, and then we headed to the harbor.  We loaded up all our gear and hopped on the boat which dropped us of on a little cove on Munsom Island.  After suiting up and doing all our safety checks, we hopped in the water, being careful to time it right so we didn't hit a shallowly submerged rock.  In the water it was pitch black with a blue tint if we looked up towards the surface.  Immediately upon entering the water, our guide Ralf saw a squid flashing it's defense colors, squirting and swimming away.  During the dive we must have seen a dozen scorpion fish, 3 octopi, some catfish eels, file fish, lion fish and a huge stone fish.  The stone fish I actually found by accident.  If you don't know what it looks like, I suggest you google it.  It's a poisonous fish that blends in really well with its environment, and you don't really want to mess with it.  I found it b accident as I was about to plant my feet on the ground so that I could take a look at a few scorpion fish.  As I looked for a suitable place to land, I noticed a strange looking rock.  I got in a little closer and realized that it had eyes.  I signaled for everybody to come over look at it, at which point Ralf gave us the 'danger' signal.  All-in-all it was a pretty incredible dive. 

With this beautiful weather, I've been trying to camp more, and have spent the last couple weekends away from home.  I went the Chuja-myeon, a set of some 40 islands about two hours north west of Jeju-si and camped on a secluded pebble beach.  Followed that up with two nights at the Caribbean-esque Gimnyeong with Rob and Marion and eventually Justin.  I even had a the opportunity to go sailing in between Gimnyeong and Hamdeok (both on the northern side of the island.)   Gimnyeong was stunning with it's white sand and crystal blue water.  We were the only people camping in our little area under some pine trees and had a great time. 

Since the last post I've also purchased a bike.  Granted it's a pretty crappy mountain bike, but there aren't many options here and it was less than $50.  I've been trying to ride every other morning, at least from here to Supsom island which is only a 30 minute round trip.  It's short, but hilly like you wouldn't believe.  That ride is also gorgeous.  On one side I've got the pacific and the islands off Seogwipo, and on the other side there are tangerine fields and the volcano towering over everything. 

Other than those updates, nothing big has happened.  Unfortunately we've been losing a lot of good people off the island.  The toughest departure had to be Dave and Anna, but I have a feeling I'll see them again in the future.  It comes with the job and my lifestyle; you make friends only to leave them within weeks or months, maybe to never see them again.  But it's worth it getting to meet so many interesting people.  Really helps me see the world differently. 

This weekend I might go camp on Udo, but there's a night dive Saturday night, so I might skip the camping and stay and dive. 
Oh, one other thing, I might not be going on my surf trip post-Korea now that Pav might have to take classes.  Any suggestions on what to do?  I feel like I really should see something else over here before I depart.  One thought was going to a free diving camp in Thailand where they teach you to dive over to 30m with no mechanical equipment, and hold you breath for over 4 minutes!  Could be pretty incredible. 

Here is just a quick summary on the epidemic that has been plaguing Korea for generations.  Ever since that wicked device, the oscillating fan, was first invented by some evil genius and pawned off on unsuspecting and fragile Koreans, thousands have died in their sleep.  No, their deaths are not due copious amounts of Soju consumed that could drown a jellyfish.  Nor are these innocent people dying from heart disease due to the fatty meat they prefer, nor the cigarettes which are puffed on without attention to the side effects.  No, these factors do not contribute to the death of many Koreans.  They are a resilient people and can overcome numerous occupations, wars and devastating typhoons.  But their reaper comes in the form of an oscillating fan.  In fact, I believe the easiest way to take over Korea, would be to put a giant dome or bubble encase the country, then merely turning on a large fan to blow a gently breeze, cooling off the populous and either causing them to die from hypothermia, lack of oxygen (because fans split oxygen molecules) or even poison.  So here is a summary of the epidemic from Wikipedia.  Please proceed with caution...

Fan death is a South Korean urban legen (also found in Japan) which states that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can cause the death of those inside (by suffocation, poisoning, or hypothermia). Fans manufactured and sold in Korea are equipped with a timer switch that turns them off after a set number of minutes, which users are frequently urged to set when going to sleep with a fan on.  (True story.  My fan has that feature, though I never use it.  And there was an interesting pictorial warning telling me not to leave my fan on in a closed room.)

 The specifics behind belief in the myth of fan-death often offer several explanations for the precise mechanism by which the fan kills. However, as explained below, these beliefs do not stand up to logical and scientific scrutiny. Examples for possible justifications of belief in fan death are as follows:

• That an electric fan creates a vortex, which sucks the oxygen from the enclosed and sealed room and creates a partial vacuum inside.  This explanation violates the principle of conservation of matter, as indoor fans are not powerful enough to change the air pressure by any significant amount.

• That an electric fan chops up all the oxygen particles in the air leaving none to breathe. This explanation violates mass conservation and well-known properties of molecules and gases. (If a fan can chop up molecules, couldn't a really nice fan split atoms, and then be used in a weapon of mass destruction?  I'm sure the Bush White House was all over this was, as was Kim Jong Il.  Maybe North Korea doesn't even need plutonium, just a fan in an airtight box...)
  

• The fan uses up the oxygen in the room and creates fatal levels of carbon dioxide.  There is no actual conversion of oxygen to carbon dioxide happening; unlike a candle, the electric motor in a fan does not alter the chemical composition of the air (apart from creating some ozone if the motor uses brushes, and outgassing from the materials).

• That if the fan is put directly in front of the face of the sleeping person, it will suck all the air away, preventing one from breathing. This explanation ignores both the fact that a fan attracts as much air to a given spot as it is removing from it, and the fact that most people point a fan towards themselves when using one, which causes air to move past the face but does not change the amount of air present.

• That fans contribute to hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature. As the metabolism slows down at night, one becomes more sensitive to temperature, and thus supposedly more prone to hypothermia.  (Blankets anyone?)  If the fan is left on all night in a sealed and enclosed room, believers in fan death suppose that it will lower the temperature of the room to the point that it can cause hypothermia. Empirical measurements will show, however, that the temperature in the room does not fall, at least not due to the fan; if at all, it should rise slightly because of friction and the heat output of the fan motor, but even this is generally not significant. Fans actually make one cooler by increasing the convection around a person's body so that heat flows from them to the air more easily, and by the latent heat of vaporization as perspiration evaporates from the body. However, there is no scientific study which indicates that this effect would be sufficient to cause hypothermia unless the temperature were already very low (in which case, there would be no need for a fan anyway).

Electric fans sold in Korea are equipped with a "timer knob" switch, which turns them off after a set number of minutes: perceived as a life-saving function, particularly essential for bed-time use.

• That fans contribute to hyperthermia, commonly known as heatstroke. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that during excessive heat events, people should not "use a portable electric fan in a closed room without windows or doors open to the outside." The EPA's position is based on the fact that although a fan can decrease the perceived room temperature and convection improves the ability of the human body to lose heat by sweating, a fan alone will not prevent hyperthermia brought on by hot weather, not that a fan will exacerbate hyperthermia by producing heat.

• That fans contribute to prolonged asphyxiation due to environmental oxygen displacement or carbon dioxide intoxication. In the process of human respiration, inhaled fresh air is exhaled with a lower concentration of oxygen gas (O2), and higher concentration of carbon dioxide gas (CO2), causing a gradual reduction of O2 and buildup of CO2 in a completely unventilated room.  Other indoor sources of carbon dioxide include burning fossil fuels, such as a gas-fueled water heater, and seepage through foundations in areas of high CO2 soil content.Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas, and because it weighs 1.5 times more than normal air, it tends to concentrate toward the floor, depending on temperature and air currents. In South Korea, some people sleep on traditional floor mats, called yos, while others prefer western-style beds, and floor vents may be absent when ondol radiant underfloor heating is employed. According to The Straight Dope website run by the Chicago Reader newspaper, asphyxiation is an unlikely cause of fan death because "few rooms are totally sealed, and the fan would tend to keep CO2 and other gases well mixed."

The South Korean government position: The Korea Consumer Protection Board (KCPB), a South Korean government-funded public agency, issued a consumer safety alert in 2006 warning that "asphyxiation from electric fans and air conditioners" was among South Korea's five most common seasonal summer accidents or injuries, according to data they collected.  Also included among the five hazards were air conditioner explosions and sanitation issues, including food poisoning and opportunistic pathogens harbored in air conditioners. The KCPB actually published the following:

If bodies are exposed to electric fans or air conditioners for too long, it causes [the] bodies to lose water and [causes] hypothermia. If directly in contact with [air current from] a fan, this could lead to death from [an] increase of carbon dioxide saturation concentration [sic] and decrease of oxygen concentration. The risks are higher for the elderly and patients with respiratory problems. From 2003 [to] 2005, a total of 20 cases were reported through the CISS involving asphyxiations caused by leaving electric fans and air conditioners on while sleeping. To prevent asphyxiation, timers should be set, wind direction should be rotated and doors should be left open.

Fan-related hyperthermia research A 2007 meta-analysis of studies on heat wave-related deaths explains that "a fan induces air movement that increases evaporation and lowers skin temperature, but in warm environments increased wind speeds of hot air can actually raise the skin temperature and thus produce opposite results by increasing core body temperature."  The study concludes that definitive recommendations on fan use require further study.

An analysis of risk factors contributing to 700 "excess deaths" during a 1995 Chicago, Illinois, heat wave found no evidence that fans either increased or decreased mortality, but noted that "interpretation of the data on the use of fans is complicated by the need to take into account specific environmental factors (for example, whether the fan is used in a room with an open or a closed window) and the health status of individual subjects."  Fear of crime was cited as a factor in people keeping windows and doors locked shut.

Media coverage:  The phenomenon of fan death is accepted by many Korean medical professionals. In summer, mainstream Korean news sources regularly report on cases of fan death. A typical example is this excerpt from the July 28, 1997, edition of The Korea Herald, an English-language newspaper:

The heat wave which has encompassed Korea for about a week, has generated various heat-related accidents and deaths. At least 10 people died from the effects of electric fans which can remove oxygen from the air and lower body temperatures...

On Friday in eastern Seoul, a 16-year-old girl died from suffocation after she fell asleep in her room with an electric fan in motion. The death toll from fan-related incidents reached 10 during the past week. Medical experts say that this type of death occurs when one is exposed to electric fan breezes for long hours in a sealed area. "Excessive exposure to such a condition lowers one's temperature and hampers blood circulation. And it eventually leads to the paralysis of heart and lungs," says a medical expert.

"To prevent such an accident, one should keep the windows open and not expose oneself directly to fan air," he advised.

According to The Straight Dope website, when informed that the phenomenon is virtually unheard of outside of their country, "some locals claim Koreans are uniquely vulnerable due to a peculiarity either of their own physiology or of Korean fans." 
(Seriously, who would admit to being so genetically fragile?  I'd be embarassed.  Imagine if we could be killed by fog in the States due to a 'unique physiology...)

Published professional opinion:  Gord Giesbrecht, a professor of thermophysiology at the University of Manitoba in Canada is a leading expert on hypothermia:

It's hard to imagine death by fan, because to die of hypothermia, one's body temperature would have to get down to 28 [°C], drop by 10 degrees [Celsius] overnight. We've got people lying in snowbanks overnight here in Winnipeg and they survive. Maybe if someone was elderly and they were sitting there for three days in a sealed room with an electric fan turned on. Someone is not going to die from hypothermia because their body temperature drops two or three degrees overnight; it would have to drop eight to ten degrees." In addition, "the only way to verify whether someone had really died of hypothermia during the night would be to take a core body temperature the following morning. Waiting three days while the body was in the morgue wouldn't work because the corpse's temperature can drop during that time.

Dr. John Linton at Yonsei's Severance Hospital, who attended medical school at Yonsei University, is licensed to practice medicine in South Korea:
There are several things that could be causing the fan deaths, things like pulmonary embolisms, cerebrovascular accidents or arrhythmia. There is little scientific evidence to support that a fan alone can kill you if you are using it in a sealed room. Although it is a common belief among Koreans, there are other explainable reasons for why these deaths are happening.

Dr. Lee Yoon-song is a professor at Seoul National University's medical school and works with the school's Institute of Scientific Investigation. He has conducted autopsies on some of the people who have been described in Korean media as having succumbed to fan death:

When someone's body temperature drops below 35 degrees, they do start to lose judgment ability. So if someone was hiking and later found dead, that could be part of the reason. But we can't really apply this to fan accidents. I found most of the victims already had some sort of disease like heart problems or serious alcoholism. (SOJU....) So hypothermia is not the main reason for death, but it may contribute.

He blames the Korean media for the persistence of the urban legend:

Korean reporters are constantly writing inaccurate articles about death by fan, describing these deaths as being caused by the fan. That's why it seems that fan deaths only happen in Korea, when in reality these types of deaths are quite rare. They should have reported the victim's original defects such as heart or lung disease, which are the main cause of death in these cases. If a Western doctor investigated these deaths, he would say what really caused the death, and say that a fan was beside the victim.

Well, I hope you feel well informed now, and please keep in mind:  If I am ever found dead in bed, with nothing but a fan on, there is no need for a comprehensive investigation nor an autopsy. 

For great Korean T-shirts:  Check this out.

I'm not really sure how I forgot to include this in my previous blogs, but I had a first here in Korea.  About a week and a half ago I had my first experience with a multitude of naked men.  Public baths are a big thing here in Korea, and I had been avoiding them like the plague.  That last thing I really wanted to see here on Jeju was more Korean penis.  After a good couple days of surfing, and nice meal at the spicy galbi place, I decided to give it a shot.  No, I did not go in alone.  I went with the local expert; Dave Patton.  He once had a 4 day per week habit at the Jimjilbang.  It costs less than $5 to go in, and it includes showers, cold tubs, warm tubs, hot tubs, massage jets, dry sauna, hot sauna and many other amenities I did not partake in.  I was definitely a little nervous stripping butt-naked to go bathe with a bunch of other men, but I just kept my eyes up and enjoyed the relaxation.  The jets combined with all the heat helped to work out all of the knots in my shoulders and back as good as any $5 massage could, and I left feeling relaxed and content.  And I can honestly say I did not look at another penis there.  It was so relaxing, I will definitely be frequenting the same spot when it begins to cool down here in November. 

Friday night, Anna, Dave, Meghann and I decided to whip up some home made margaritas and enjoy the cool summer weather.  We ventured down toward the harbor with the cooler and ingredients and ended up discovering this great platform on the water with freshwater baths and a small shrine.  There were a few Koreans coming and going taking baths or offering up gifts and we just sat and watch the glowing lights from the squid boats out in the harbor bob up and down like dozens of floating moons.  Afterward Brett and I enjoyed a couple OB's and conversation at a local mart.

In other news, I did a little exploration this weekend with Dave.  We went to this island that I believe is called Seogeun-do near the World Cup Stadium.  During low tide the water recedes enough for a fairly dry path out to the small island, but when the tide rises, there's no way to get back without getting wet.  (Which we learned the hard way.)  There were some plank walkways built on the island and a gazebo or two, but it was largely overgrown.  We climbed around, I took pictures and had a pretty nice view of the larger -som islands off the coast.  On the way home, we swung by Yacheonsa (a large Buddhist temple) to get a quick picture.  The night ended (at least for me) with a little barbecue and my first gin and tonics in Korea.