Tunnel Visions

 Another 4:30 wake-up for me. If you have read this before on my blog, you'll know that I have been stricken with the curse of doing some of my best thinking and writing at 4:30 in the morning. What am I thinking about today? What will I be writing about? Well for starters, I should be as happy as I can be today. I'm like a schoolkid on the day after the last day of school. It is unofficially the first day of my vacation today, Friday, July 30th. It is unofficially the longest time until I have to work again. I say "unofficially" (twice even) due to the fact that I'm only not working today because I have no teaching hours and I've recently convinced my employers to alter the contract to enable me to stay home when I have no teaching hours. If you have any knowledge of the Korean workplace, this is a plum that must be cherished!  However, there could be some carefully scheduled bureaucratic busywork that has been devised to disrupt the soft opening of my vacation on this Friday. I could be called in for a meeting, asked to do some editing, or given instructions or schedules for the upcoming fall semester, which starts in September. Or, sadly, it's more likely that I'll be summoned to perform one of the residual duties of my former security-like position - I'll need to open one of the doors for somebody. I still have the only functioning keys for the infuriatingly faulty sliding doors to my office. Some of the international students need to work there from time to time, but they haven't been entrusted with keys. Until now, one of the duties of the foreign professor had been to sit idly passing time in the office enabling their entrance into it. For these reasons, and because I didn't feel like it, I refrained from the customary celebratory beverages in which one tends to partake on the initial day of one's freedom from the salt mines, or wherever one happens to be stationed to do one's earning for one's owners.

I say I should be happy. I should be. But possibly because today is but a soft opening of my vacation, or possibly because of the dependability of cheer-draining Korean summer humidity, mosquitos, heat, and lack of sleep, I am not feeling the joy. Yet. 

My relative despondence may also have something to do with some of the news stories I have allowed past the cerebral surface and into conscious contemplation these days. And, as is so over-representatively the case, the soul disturbing story I'm referring to comes out of China. It's not Emperor Xi or his exhausting Emperor antics, which continue to be tolerated by fawning, obsequious leaders of countries that continuously illustrate the prophetic words of Dostoievski:

This time it's a more specific story out of China that is hammering up and down my spine with the icy mallets of mortality. If a person were to imagine the worst way to check out, I mean the most nightmarish of deaths, you'd have to go some to match the demise of the FOURTEEN people the CCP-controlled media is reporting to have died in a traffic jam in their cars in a tunnel in recent flooding in the Corporate Communist Kingdom this week. 

I kinda doubt the above video will last much longer due to the aforementioned Sino-gluteal-smoochery, so I'll try to summarize its contents and somnambuscarfious effects. Well, that'd be too ambitious. But I will sum up one part of it that gave me nightmares and continues to give me little daymares. It's the part about the Jingguang Tunnel. The Jingguang SMART-Tunnel. Like most other things with the label "smart" attached to them, there is a requirement of stupidity to believe that it is smart. The tunnel in Henan province that had cameras and digital tech enough to know at any time the cars, license plates, passengers, names of passengers, credit ratings of passengers, last bowel movements of passengers, you get the idea... was flooded in 5 minutes. All that technology and nobody could foresee this? All that "smartness" and nobody knows who's missing or dead yet?

But it's not the overhyped wonders of Chinese construction and development that bothers me so much. We all know about those shenanigans. I've written here plenty of times before about them. What is sticking in a veritable loop of horror in the back of my brain is what it must have been like to be one of the (officially 14 even though this video says 6) people who died in this disaster. My latent claustrophobia and non-latent fear of drowning are playing havoc with my imagination right now. Non stop. What would it have looked like to see a brown wall of water coming at you? What would it have felt like to be in the Titanically safe smart tunnel (see what I did there?) and suddenly be decidedly UNSAFE? What must their last 5 or fewer minutes have been like for those motorists? I can't imagine, yet at this moment, my brain is saying, "Oh yeah? Hold my beer..." and forcing me to try whether I want to or not. Again and again in my mind I am imagining the helplessness, betrayal, sorrow, frustration, the pure rage every one of those people must have felt. That is bad enough... but this is China, it only gets worse.

Thousands of people who knew loved ones who were travelling the road that led to the tunnel were using phones and social media to locate them. The Jingguang Tunnel holds hundreds of cars when there is traffic and there was traffic at the time of flooding. Even if all of those cars contained only the drivers of them, 14 dead? The CCP that is responsible for the situations in China that lead to mythical "sponge cities," "smart tunnels," and the like, horrible flouting of construction codes, and general citizen overconfidence in everything Chinese, is now adding insult to ass-rape by shitting on the people who lost friends and loved ones in the tunnel, withholding information, names and closure, just being the fucking Chinese Communist Party and protecting the bladder full of hot air that is their public image. But this is China, it only gets worse!

When mourners of the people sacrificed to CCP hubris laid flowers at the site of the tunnel, the CCP ordered a wall to be built around those flowers. Ostensibly because there were a LOT of flowers. More than one would expect for 14 people. The citizens removed the wall. The CCP put it up again and the citizens knocked it down again. Not sure how many times this went back and forth, but I can only hope this is but a microcosm of future relations in China between the citizens and their despotic leadership. And the video contains some hope of that.  You see, there is an ancient Chinese belief that nature indicates when dynasties are at their end. 

The Northern Song Dynasty from 960-1147 came to an end after mismanagement of environment and disastrous flooding of the Yellow River that killed over a million people. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) ended partially due to inability to manage irrigation and flood control combined with massive flooding and other natural disasters like Black Death, earthquakes and famine. The conditions in China now with flooding, mismanagement of flood waters, Covid 19, collapsing buildings, (and there are still earthquakes and starvation) look a lot like Nature telling China to get rid of its current leadership. Or at least it must look like that to traditionalists. Or at least, at least it WOULD look like that if any of this information were allowed to reach Chinese people unvarnished and  un-propegandized. But before this happens, methinks the Great Firewall of China (internet consorship) will be strengthened. I guess we'll see...

But aside from these horrifically nagging thoughts and images, I really ought to be happy. I'm not working, and that frees me up to watch the Tokyo Olympics which have been already postponed, and are in increasing danger of being shut right down due to Covid 19. Which reminds me of Hunan, China, which reminds me of Henan... and here we are again thinking about drowning in a smart-tunnel. Not to mention the fact that the next Olympics are supposed to be in China, possibly the least olympian country there is.

I gotta stop this post now and watch a full day of Olympics while I can. I want you to know, I still support Canada. After that post on Canada Day about not being proud, I still cheer for Canadian athletes. I don't feel proud of Canada when they win, but I do feel proud of the athletes for their dedication to their sports. 

I also want you to know that, with apologies to the individual athletes, I will be voting AGAINST China on account of their abysmal leadership that is a little bit worse than that of Canada.

Yay Canada, Boo China!

Addendum: I didn't get my full day of Olympic watching in after all. No real surprise. The diabolically devised bureaucratic busywork I predicted in the first paragraph was requested as predictably as predicted. I asked about attendance when Pyung Hwa, my old supervisor, told me about the July classes I'd be teaching, gave me my schedule and everything. She said I didn't need to worry about taking attendance. I had taken attendance during the regular semester using an Excel format (and I hate Excel) that Pyunghwa had given me before classes began, and she helped me with it when I ran into problems. I remember being relieved that I didn't have to struggle with the tedium of Excel attendance for the summer classes. That was why. They're just summer classes. Nobody takes them very seriously.

Well today I was requested to submit attendance for the classes that had finished yesterday. You read that right. Even though I know it's not important to the administration, even though I had not been told to do it or given any format in which to do it, now, the day after classes, "Please give us your attendance." 

Now in the hands of a lesser teacher, this would have been a problem. But I'm a seasoned vet and I've come across situations before that have made me realize that it's just always good to take attendance and even take notes on every class. People can't try to con you into changing their attendance to get the required number of hours in class to pass if you know they just weren't there. And even though I know attendance was not a big deal for these summer classes, I recorded stuff for every class. Notes on grammar and pronunciation mistakes made; little bits of info they told me about themselves like kids, hometowns, etc.; what we talked about; and who was in class.  

So I went into work (which I think was the ultimate motive here) and made my attendance using the info from my class notes. I had been given an Excel file by my NEW supervisor, Hyo Jeong, attached to the email requesting my attendance, but I downloaded it and immediately noticed some things that I did not know how to do. I needed to write Korean, which I can't do because of the keyboard. and some of the attendance symbols, like a check mark, were things I'd have to hunt for and research and I just couldn't be arsed to do it. So I made an MS Word file and put all the info in a FAR more organized way on a table. Then I submitted my attendance and went to town, bought some new glasses (my eyes have changed AGAIN) got some ointment for the obligatory sweat rash that is setting in during this crazy heat wave, and then went home to sit under my air con, watch some Olympics and drink some beer. 

When I got home, I had been sent the message, not an email from Hyo Jeong mind you, but a Facebook message from one of the international students, that I need to submit my attendance in the format provided. Well my computer doesn't even HAVE Excel cuz I hate it. I really don't want to get all sweaty walking in the 35 degree weather back to work for a second time to do something I'd gone above and beyond to do in the first place. I mean, honestly, if you don't ask for attendance and provide the format for it BEFORE the classes, I think you should be very happy with whatever you get. No?

So I have told the international student that I "didn't receive his Facebook message." It's now 6 PM and technically, I'm off and my holidays begin at 7:00. If I'm asked again to re-submit, I'll just say, "Geez, sorry, I didn't get the message. Now I'm on my vacation without my computer. Wish I could help!"

We'll see how that works... Playing Korean games again. It's a living!

Happy (but not proud) Canada Day

 July 1st here in Korea. It's not yet July 1st in Canada, but I'm already seeing posts that people are "proud" Canadians. These posts once gave me a warm feeling of tribal fealty, but I've overcome that. Now I look at them as evidence of why Canada hasn't yet become a country Canadians should be proud of. It's a country people are unconditionally proud of and that is not a good thing, it's a scary thing.

I've probably posted this before, probably on Canada Day, but it's so perfect, I'll post it again:

National pride and ethnic pride. Pride should be reserved for something you've achieved or attained on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth. Being Canadian isn't a skill. It's a fuckin' genetic accident. You wouldn't say I'm proud to be 5'11. I'm proud to have a predisposition for colon cancer. So why the fuck would you be proud to be Canadian. If you're happy about it that's fine. Do that, put that on your car. 'Happy to be Canadian.' Be happy, don't be proud. Too much pride as it is. Pride goeth before a fall. Never forget Proverbs. 

The above paragraph is almost a direct quote from George Carlin. YES! George Carlin quoting the Bible! It's a gem! But it's also blatantly true. Yet every Canada Day people disregard or ignore this sense, logic and reasonableness and talk about how they're "PROUD" to be Canadian. They announce it to other Canadians... proudly. They get a Molson raised to them or clinked against their own Molson for having a common, but unsubstantiated pride. Now I'm generalizing. It could be two people who have worked and saved their whole lives, in other countries, with dreams to one day become Canadians, and they were successful through great struggle and difficulty. THAT right there is some substantiated pride in being Canadian! But for the majority of us, our fireworks popping, anthem singing and champagne toasting are but sounding brass and tinkling cymbals to use another Biblical reference. That's from 1 Corinthians 13, the "love chapter." For that reason, it bears repetition in its entirety, or at least paraphrasing. It says that a person can speak in languages of man and even angels, but if that man has no love, his words are... Sounding brass and tinkling cymbals is just a Biblical way to say "yada yada yada."

Love for Canada. I think George would agree with me when I say, I can understand that too. I love Canada. I could make a lengthy list of reasons. Clean air, good beer, beautiful scenery, the people (in general), hockey, fishing, health care, social net, education (even though it's deteriorating), multiculturalism, pushing strangers' cars when they're stuck, hitching strangers' bumpers when they're not, rye whiskey, wildlife, mountains, water, as I said, I could make a lengthy list. These are things people remind each other of every Canada Day, then falsely associate them with pride. Love, happiness, fine. Pride, no. 

Another lengthy list I could make is a list of things NOT to be proud of. The most obvious is the unmarked graves of all those native kids at residential schools. Also the way an inferior culture of greed, violence and inequality forced itself onto a far superior culture when the Indigenous people of Canada were overwhelmed by the Europeans. Not something to be proud of. I believe I linked this very same article in my blogpost on Canada's 150th birthday. 

The way Canada's government levied a small, temporary tax on Canadians intended to help the war effort and has continued collecting and increasing it for over 100 years. You know those places where you go to eat and they don't demand a tip, but you know they expect it? Or those shows that don't list a price, but are "by donation?" That's Canada's income tax. For a century!

Generosity exploited to the absolute maximum. Like the indigenous beliefs in sharing everything and owning nothing. Let's just take it all!!! Not a source of pride. 

Our standing as preferred trading partners with China, a country that practices genocide and has detained at least 13 Canadians on trumped up charges as revenge for Canada obeying US extradition law in regards to Meng Wanzhou who violated sanctions against Iran and stole trade secrets for Huawei, her Daddy's company. Canada won't use Huawei for 5G (good), but can't overtly say so for fear of losing its share of the huge Chinese market and that sweet, sweet Chinese slave labour. (bad) 

There hasn't been a candidate worthy of my vote in Canada in my lifetime and the "democracy" that may have once existed, is hanging by a thread. I could go on with this list too, but I won't. I'll just feel angry, sad and I won't like any of these things, but I'm not going to feel ashamed of them. 

Here's something I saw posted on Facebook today. Do you see the clever rhetoric? First of all, if the bad moments far outnumber the good moments, then, YES, we should define Canada by them. This is that hyperpositivity, the toxic positivity that I believe is one of the biggest problems in the world. If you really look beyond the positive, cuddly feeling this post can give, and think about it, it's absurd! We should define our country the way we define our families? Oh, right, because I dated Canada for years, fell in love with Canada, got down on one knee and gave Canada a big diamond, got married to Canada and am Canada's husband! First of all, polygamy? Secondly, if so, I want a divorce and I want half of Canada's money. Thirdly, although businesses have been declared people for evil intentions, and although Canada is run exactly like a business, it's NOT a person. 

I also didn't contribute in any way to the conception, gestation or birth of Canada, so it's a bit different than a child of mine. I did not raise it, teach it manners, give it a whack on the arse when it needed it or a hug when it deserved it. I am not paying for its university (especially at Canadian rates!) and I won't be doing any parental duties at all, especially showing unconditional love and concentrating on the good things while forgetting the bad. I'm not even sure I'd do that if Canada WAS my kid! I don't know because I haven't had one. But I KNOW I'm not gonna do that for Canada. Canada is my country, not my kid. The difference should be obvious, shouldn't it?

This is an obvious attempt to get Canadians to overlook the bad things about Canada, in a time when one of the worst things EVER is still increasing in degree day by day, and drum up PRIDE to take the place of sadness we are rightfully feeling. Here's another one:

Are you starting to see the silliness? Unless you were manning the backhoe when those lakes were being made, you just happened to be born in a place where they had existed a long time before you. How can this make you proud? Look, I understand the feelings of regional attachment. I like the Kia Tigers because I lived in Gwangju, and they're the team from that city. And when they won the championship, I was happy! But I wasn't proud. And this year they're in last place. I don't even live in Gwangju any more, but they're still my favourite team. So should I be ashamed of them? Should I be embarrassed to talk about baseball? No and no. What I should do is complain! And as you most definitely could imagine, I do.

This is why I complain about Canada. I love it and I'm happy to be from there, but I'm not proud of it. I would like to work together with all of Canada to make it the country it should be. An egalitarian society that leads the world in forward thinking, clean industry, environmentalism, equality, democracy, and happiness. Something it's far from right now. I think this is not only possible, but necessary. I think Canadians SHOULD define Canada by its worst moments because we can't fix what we don't define. Ignoring the problems and concentrating on only the good will make things worse. The bastards who made all the bad stuff will see this as national apathy and encouragement to do more bad shit. But if Canadians united to take action and make our country the way I KNOW almost all Canadians want it to be, then and only then would I be "Canada proud."

Best post script ever: 

Could there be a more apropos canvas than our currency to display the portraits of such thinkers?