I live in a love motel. Wanna make out?

For my upcoming job in Seoul, I was scared and worried about many things. How will I deal with a classroom situation? Will I have enough money to live? Will I be able to adapt to Korean culture? (Will I eventually learn how to play Starcraft, get addicted and spend 3 straight days in a PC bang (PC방: internet/online gaming cafe) before passing out and dying?) Interestingly, one of the things that never entered my mind was the housing situation because it is provided by the employer. The contract with SMOE (Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education) specifies:

제12조 (주거)
1. 고용자는 피고용자에게 고용자가 선정한 주거를 제공한다. 주거 형태는 서울교육연
수원 내의 숙소동, 임대주택, 원룸, 아파트를 포함하나 이에 한정되지 않는다. 주거의
사용에 따른 제세공과금은 피고용자의 부담으로 한다. 주거의 형태를 일단 결정한
이후에는 고용기간 동안 이를 피고용자 임의로 변경할 수 없다.

Article 12 (Housing)
1. Employer shall provide Employee with housing selected by Employer. Housing selected by Employer may be, including but not limited to, an apartment of faculty residence in Seoul Education Training Institute, a studio-type room, or an apartment. Any and all fees, charges, costs, taxes, expenses, etc. incurred in using the housing shall be borne by Employee. Once housing is decided, it shall not be changed at Employee’s discretion during the term of Employment.

I've lived in the smallest bedroom in the house for so many years now, and I am usually pretty apathetic to the quality of living quarters as long as the neighborhood is safe enough and not out in the middle of nowhere, and as long as I have everything I need.

However, I came across something that was rather concerning regarding the specific treatment of the housing clause by SMOE: apparently it is possible that they will stick you in a "love motel" co-op kind of place. You know, the place that guys take their mistresses to and make love next door, which you can then hear through the paper-thin walls. Of course, the doors are no better so you can hear absolutely everything that goes on outside. By the sounds of it, even hardened veterans (ie. people who have been on the job in Seoul for years) can't handle more than two months of this.

And this is essentially a hotel, not a proper suite, which means that staff can enter the suite, which they can do without knocking and at any time. This is particularly concerning because it indicates that safety may be a concern; I'd have to make sure to keep any valuables (and non-valuables) well-hidden from view, in case greed takes over a staff member. I'd hate to leave my DSLR lying around and then come home to find it gone!

A lot of amenities are also shared among multiple guests, including laundry machines. The cost for utilities is apparently as much as what a proper apartment would cost -- for a huge difference in quality and piece of mind. Not to mention the reported size of the hotel co-op suite is something like 3 meters by 3.5 meters. There seems to be something strange about cost for utilities; from what others (with actual apartments) have reported, the hotel co-op utility costs seem to be quite inflated (which indicates that there's some shady business going on).

The advice is basically this -- if SMOE tries to put you in such a place, ask them to find you another place. If they don't (and you can't afford to threaten to find another job), then just take the ₩500,000-per-month rent subsidy (the contract specifies that if they can't find a place for you and you must look for your own place, the rent subsidy must be provided to you) and pay a little more out-of-pocket for security and piece of mind. Or, if you can't afford it, suck it up for a few months and then rent your own place elsewhere.

From what I've seen, even something that costs an additional ₩200,000 out-of-pocket looks more desirable to what was described. From the descriptions of the rooms themselves and the neighborhood around them (which can be quite seedy), it sounds just slightly better than the Downtown Eastside here in Vancouver, minus the drug addicts.

I know I shouldn't be complaining about housing that's provided to you, but that there's a difference between complying with the contract outlines and taking advantage of unsaid and unwritten loopholes in the thing to work it to your advantage (and compromise the safety and security of the employee and his/her possessions in the process).

Mind you, this apparently doesn't happen to a lot of SMOE teachers -- but it happens to some and the possibility is still there. That window of possibility is pretty disheartening by itself. I just hope it doesn't come down to that.

Air ticket madness

It was a zoo yesterday trying to get the plane tickets to Seoul's Incheon International Airport. Direct flights are all either pretty expensive or fully booked -- precisely on the date that I need to get there by. A day later or a day before is a huge difference -- lots of available seats and a $200 price difference. Go figure. (This is a chance for me to blame the school kids for messing everything up, so I will take that chance. Damn kids.)

One of the scenarios that came up was leaving over a week early and spending a week with relatives in Hong Kong before taking the short flight to Seoul from there. That would've been ideal, if not for the possibility that the South Korean customs officials might not let a Canadian in on a teaching visa after such a stay in Hong Kong. Too bad, because that would've been ideal (since I was planning to make a trip to Hong Kong at some point anyway).

Since it'd be quite a commute from Seoul to the orientation venue in the southwestern part of South Korea (a shuttle will be provided) and because of any possible travel delays, I really want to land in Seoul before the evening, which isn't really possible via direct flights. And from the prices of those direct flights, it doesn't seem like that would be a good way to go either.

We hatched plenty of scenarios (one of which had me going from Vancouver to Los Angeles to San Francisco to Singapore to Seoul), and finally found one that would work -- Vancouver to Shanghai to Seoul, for just under $600 on a smaller airline. That would be a lot better. The downside is that I'll arrive at night in Seoul and will do an overnighter, but I'd rather be early than late. I can always sleep on the plane and then take a nap at the airport terminal until the first shuttle to the orientation venue arrives in the morning.

However, now there's the issue of the visa. I was told that the head office in Seoul will send me some documents to take to the consulate in "two to four weeks." It's now past four weeks, and I haven't heard a peep yet. I zapped off an e-mail to my recruiter to see what's up, and they said that the last time they asked, the Seoul office didn't get my documents yet, and that they "should" have gotten them by now. I'm quite anxious about that, as you can expect, since it's now about a month to my departure from Canada.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Kim Jong Il's worldwide personality cult

Last night, it was reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has pancreatic cancer. While there are no official sources confirming this (and, as always, the news sources are citing "unidentified" officials from South Korea and the People's Republic of China), it wouldn't surprise me one bit considering the state of his appearances and health as of late. As well, this would obviously set off an interesting situation for the country's leadership, as it is expected that Kim's son, Kim Jong Un, will take over in the future.

There. One paragraph. That is pretty much all there is to say about this. So that's why it's interesting to me that some news reports not only go on longer than that, but continue to describe in detail Kim's history, actions, personality cult, and so forth -- there's even a bit of tabloid-like speculation mixed in there that may or may not be true.

People keep talking about the Kim personality cult in that country, about how they have gigantic statues of Kim Il Sung (Kim Jong Il's father and original leader) and like to have portraits of either/both of the Kim leaders everywhere. People are aware that there is a worship-like thing going on surrounding the Kims and that every aspects of the North Koreans' lives are supposedly centered around Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

However, sometimes I think that the cult personality covers most of the outside world as well.

Now, I'm not saying that people all over the world do things according to the wishes of Kim Jong Il or that people see the Kims as saviors. Hell, most people don't even like Kim Jong Il. But despite his rather strange way of doing things, he has somehow achieved near-celebrity status in the parts of the world that he does not control. Obviously this is in part because of his never-ending threats to destroy the US and take over the world (despite the fact that he can't even take over the Korean peninsula at this point). But the bigger reason for this is how the world just eats up everything he does and reports on it like he's some sort of celebrity.

Out of all the people to get celebrity-like coverage, he might have the smallest fan base out of everyone; his fan base's size makes George W. Bush's fan base look gigantic in comparison. Besides a handful of visits (mostly summits with Japan and South Korea, and some meetings with the People's Republic of China), Kim Jong Il hasn't really ventured outside his own little nuclear-laden hermit kingdom.

Yet, everything he does or declares gets reported, no matter how idiotic it may be. Hell, he could release a statement declaring that he has nuclear missiles aimed at Springfield and will wipe out Evergreen Terrace next week, and it'd be reported and posted all over the major news networks.

Sure, he's making himself an easy target for the butt of jokes, but sometimes with all the media obsession over whatever he does makes me wonder if his personality cult covers most of the world rather than only in North Korea. Yes, it's handy to know what the hell goes on in his country and what the hell he's up to, but the extent of coverage that he gets is just incredible compared to some of the people who are just as bad, like Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden. We seem to know a hell of a lot more about Kim Jong Il than either of those two guys; hence, the cult of personality seems to cover us too.

Canada Line goodness

After many years of political red tape, the long-awaited rapid transit rail line between Richmond, Vancouver International Airport and Vancouver will become a reality in the form of the Canada Line. It was originally announced that it will open on Labor Day, but by the sounds of it, it might open as early as the BC Day long weekend, which is at the start of August.

That means for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, visitors coming from the airport will be able to avoid having to cram into a small taxi cab and use a train line instead.

While I love the fact that the line is finally here, I do have some nitpicks with its construction and planning. The station and train lengths are a mere 40 meters and there is no room for further expansion. This is an alarming lack of long-term thinking by the private company that had the construction contract for the line.

Also, all Richmond, Delta, South Surrey and White Rock buses that normally run as express buses to downtown Vancouver will instead terminate at Bridgeport Station of the line. As a regular passenger on the Richmond routes to downtown Vancouver, I can say with certainty that despite the line's and the local buses' increased capacities, there will be a serious overcrowding issue. My peak-hour bus from Vancouver is already bursting at the seams at 15-minute frequencies. The local route (which will be the only option after the line opens) will run at 12-minute frequencies. Now, if a 15-minute frequency can't handle the Vancouver-Richmond passengers alone, how do you expect a 3-minute increase to make any difference when you add local Richmond riders to the scenario as well? It will not work.

Above: A Canada Line train during practice runs, as seen from No. 3 Road at Alderbridge Way in Richmond.

Also, for some areas in Richmond's western parts, such as my house, the commute time will actually increase as a result of the new routings. Besides those living within a kilometer of No. 3 Road (where the line runs), there is no benefit. There will be no other alternatives for Vancouver-bound commuters.

For the Delta, South Surrey and White Rock routes, the extra transfer will end up with little to no savings in commuting time. While the impact is minimal for them, it seems a bit unnecessary. However, I'm hesitant to say anything beyond that because I don't take those buses during peak hours.

If the line opens early (as planned), the route changes won't be in effect until the next schedule rotation, which will be in September. By then, I'll be far away from here and will avoid the circus that will be Vancouver public transit commuting. Hopefully all the problems will be rectified by the time I return. But knowing the local transportation agency around here, I wouldn't be surprised if they remain clueless.

Anyways, here are some related videos, pics and links:

My photo gallery of the Canada Line.

Videos courtesy of the Buzzer Blog:

Approaching Vancouver City Centre Station:



Leaving downtown Vancouver:



Transition from underground portion to above-ground, at Marine Drive Station:



Crossing the bridge to Richmond:



Arriving at Richmond-Brighouse Station, the terminus in Richmond:



Arriving at Vancouver International Airport's YVR-Airport Station:



Projected ridership situation:



Okay, I was kidding about the last one. I think. Actually, I don't know if I'm joking about that.

Planes like crashing near my house

It is past 2:00am and I am sitting here at my computer, drinking some hot cocoa. Sometimes you feel so jittery that you try to drink something that usually makes you even more jittery (like hot cocoa) in an attempt to make yourself less jittery. I don't know how the hell that works, but it's worth a try.

Why am I so jittery? Well, the thought of two planes crashing within two years within biking distance from my house seems like a good reason to be nervous, does it not?

Around 10:06pm tonight (I guess it'd be last night on July 9, since we're past 12:00am now), a small plane bound for Vancouver International Airport crashed here in Richmond, resulting in a huge fireball and at least one large explosion. (News story: [Vancouver Province].)

The crash site is about 15-20 minutes from my house, and less than 300 meters from the Summer Night Market, a large weekend attraction that would've been open to thousands of people had it been Friday or a weekend rather than a Thursday (as it's closed from Mondays to Thursdays).



By the looks of it, what happened was that the pilot of the small plane that crashed was following too closely behind a large Airbus plane, thus getting caught in the wake turbulence behind it. That caused the pilot to lose control of the plane, and the aircraft eventually hit the ground nose-first in an industrial zone in northern Richmond.

Above: the plane's last approximate position before disappearing from the flight tracking map; it likely hit the wake turbulence of the large Airbus on the left. (Courtesy: WebTrak for Vancouver International Airport.)

While that area is well known for being one of Vancouver International Airport's flight paths and while the cause of the crash appears to be an error by the pilot, this is certainly unnerving. Just two years ago, in the fall of 2007, Richmond was also hit by a plane crash. Unlike the one tonight, which hit an unoccupied industrial zone in the middle of the night, the one in 2007 hit a residential complex in downtown Richmond (just 10 minutes from my house) during rush hour, narrowly missing the popular Richmond Public Market. (News story: [CTV].)

From 2007's crash:



While both of these are completely different types of crashes (except for the fact that they both occurred here in Richmond and they both involved small planes), this still feels scary. Richmond is home to the airport, and most of the residents live on the west end of Richmond; surprise, surprise, the airport is also located on the west end of the city. It makes me wonder if we're all a bunch of dumbasses for setting up our city like this.

But then again, at least we're not Hong Kong yet (despite our huge Chinese population):



Let's just hope that in the future, flights landing and departing Vancouver International Airport get less exciting. "No news is good news," as they say.

"Unendable" movies, part 3

In a previous entry, I started a list of "unendable" movies. The first four films I listed were Good Bye Lenin!, The Parent Trap, Speak and Juno. In this entry, I will continue with the final 2 titles on the list. (Obviously, if I think of more titles, it won't be the "final" list. But it's the final list for now.)

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5. Saved!

Above: Left to right, Roland (played by Macaulay Culkin), Cassandra (played by Eva Amurri) and Mary (played by Jena Malone) as pious and not-so-pious students at a Christian school in Saved!.

Hilary Faye: Mary, turn away from Satan. Jesus, he loves you.
Mary: You don't know the first thing about love.
Hilary Faye: [throws a Bible at Mary] I am FILLED with Christ's love! You are just jealous of my success in the Lord.
Mary: [picks up the Bible and gestures at it] This is not a weapon... You idiot!

Starring Jena Malone and Mandy Moore, this movie does something that you don't see very often -- it critiques Christianity without being anti-Christian and without offending people. As most of you know, whenever you dip into arguments about politics or religion, things tend to get nasty. But in this film, it doesn't.

The plot involves students at a Christian high school (filmed at Clayton Heights Secondary School in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver) whose lives revolve around Jesus Christ. And I do mean that in the strongest sense. For the first part of the movie, their piousness is exaggerated so much that every sentence seems to contain one of the following words: God, Christ, Jesus, Lord.

The main character, Mary (played by Malone), finds out that her boyfriend is gay while swimming in his pool. Immediately after the revelation, she hits her head while underwater and hallucinates an image of Jesus (actually the poolboy who dove in to save her from drowning) telling her that she must help him overcome his homosexuality.

After doing some research (including typing "gay" on a search engine and finding a pornographic site), she comes to the conclusion that having sex with him (and having her virginity "restored") is the only way to save him. Unfortunately, she doesn't realize that sex can often lead to pregnancy because the Christian school didn't feel it was necessary to teach sexual education until the last minute.

While this has the makings of a farce, this movie is far from one. It could've easily turned into the stereotypical teen movie focused solely on Mary's whoopsie-doodles through unplanned teenage pregnancy. But what this movie does for me that is "unendable" involves not only Mary but practically the whole cast of characters.

Every character is extremely multi-dimensional, from the hero Mary to the villainous Hilary Faye (played by Moore) to the outcast characters of Roland and Cassandra. One quality that all my "unendable" movies have is that the characters have so much depth to them that you wish you can learn more about them. After the pregnancy causes her to question her faith in God, I want to see how Mary copes with "real life." I want to see how Hilary Faye rebounds from committing some rather heinous sins. I want to see how Roland and Cassandra's relationship blossoms despite their differences. I want to see how Tia deals with her newfound courage after standing up to Hilary Faye at the prom.

There's just so much more that you want to see that cannot be condensed within the plotline presented by the movie. Had Saved! not been a movie, it would have made for an interesting television series; it certainly has enough material to be one. And if that kind of movie can impress me, a self-described "agnostic bastard," then it has certainly done something right.

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6. Home Room

Above: Busy Philipps as Alicia, left, and Erika Christensen as Deanna, right, play binary opposite characters dealing with a school shooting in Home Room.

Alicia: WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? You think you can come in here and you can spend ten minutes and come out with all the FUCKING ANSWERS? Hey, I've got one: kids pick up guns and THEY KILL OTHER KIDS. That's it! And if that answer isn't good enough, then maybe you should see a doctor or a priest and you can ask THEM why. And they'll feed you all the psycho babble you can stand or they'll tell you that God has some "greater plan" for everyone. And when you keep pressing and those answers aren't good enough, all they'll have left to tell you is the unholy truth, that KIDS JUST DIE.

Home Room is a movie that isn't very well known. It's about a school shooting and was coincidentally made around the time of the Columbine shooting. The film was already a work in progress when the Columbine shooting occurred but instead of backing off from the project, director and writer Paul Ryan modified and re-worked the movie according to what people seemed to overlook at the time -- what happens to such a community when the television cameras and the reporters go away.

The premise is quite simple -- there was a school shooting in which Deanna (played by Erika Christensen) was shot in the head but miraculously survives and Alicia (played by Busy Philipps) was also in the same room as the shooter but somehow escapes injury of any kind, effectively becoming a top witness and suspect in the shooting. The principal, in an effort to make things better, suggests (somewhat coercively) that she visit Deanna in the hospital.

What results between Alicia, a makeup and black-clad loner, and Deanna, a popular student with a bright future, is an unlikely friendship. But perhaps "friendship" is too strong a word -- it is more of a mutual understanding more than anything, and they end up helping each other through the grieving process.

I love awkward "friendships" in movies. I just do. This friendship between Alicia and Deanna has so many subtle signs to it that you feel that they have more in common than one would think, considering their polar oppposite appearances and personalities. What makes this movie "unendable" for me lies in the premise itself -- what does happen when a community experiences such a tragedy, after the news crews go away? Using Columbine as an example, everyone knows what happened. But how many follow-up reports do we get? One per year, if we're lucky?

A lot of people across the country came together when it happened, but that caring seems to have an expiry date; after that, the people in that community are left to fend for themselves before the scars even heal. Instead of treating a school shooting like a spectacle, what this movie does right is treat the human aspects of the event and show that its repercussions stretch far beyond what is covered by the media.

Best bus driver in the world?

As much as I love having an excellent bus driver, even a stunt like this would be too much for me to handle as a passenger.



It could be worse, I guess. We could have the polar opposite of safety: