#12 Diaspora

Diaspora basically means spread of idea, people, objects, culture etc. from one place to another. One of the most significant diasporas in the history is the African diaspora. For almost four centuries, millions of Africans were transported to North America and the Caribbean Islands through the Atlantic slave trade. The Africans were moved away from the home by force, and were enslaved on a “unfamiliar” environment.  Yet, many fought to retain their traditions and reform their identities in a new world. Parts of the culture, including religion, language, and folklore endured as the link to their history and tradition. Africans worked together to form another culture known as Afro-Americans or Creoles. Those surviving descents of African slaves gradually mingled with different cultures, for example by marrying non-blacks. Not only were they transported to new countries, but also many different civilizations colonized them.

African slaves being forced to aboard the ship

The diaspora within “Things Fall Apart” is evident in the religion of Christianity. The white missionaries carried the beliefs of God to Ibo people. Eventually, many of the villagers joined the church and worshipped the God rather than keeping their traditional religion, the ancestral spirits. This maybe because in former society of “Things Fall Apart,” only minority of people held all the power and most people had lack of freedom, especially women. The white missionaries lured them by saying that in front of God, everyone is equal and special. For example efulefu, meaning titleless and worthless men or the osu, outcasts had to suffer against criticism because of the class division they were born in. Not long after the white missionaries came, many of them converted to Chrisitians and went to church, where the people treated them equally as any other people in higher class division. After the white missionaries arrived, many aspects of the society have changed. First of all church was built in the Evil Forest, and when whites survived for twenty-eight days, it ironically called in more converts. Also, the whites built schools to teach people to read and understand Christian writings. By building hospitals and treating people, whites won more converts. Finally, judicial system and courts were also set by the whites. Near the end of the chapter, the District Commissioner and court messengers overpowers the clan people by arresting them until the village provides with certain number of coweries. Here, we can see how whites are slowly dominating the Ibo people.

A cover page of a magazine for Asians living in America

I am also part of a big diaspora. As technology developed and communication between countries increased, it was easier for people to travel from one place to another. These days, many of students in Korea move to America in pursuit of a better future. I’ll be part of this diaspora soon when I move to America to go to a college. It is increasing problem that all the talented Koreans are moving to America. Another diaspora is foreigners moving into Korea. The word “foreigner” already puts a connotation that these people are not part of our society, but a different kind of person from different part of the word. Many of the Americans who have moved into Korea are called by “banana”. This means that they are yellow outside, but inside they are actually white. The opposite word of banana would be a “fob,” which refers to people who tries to blend in with the American culture. Here is another diaspora. We, Koreans, tend to have hatred toward to the Japanese people because of diaspora of ideas. In the history, Koreans were brutally murdered by Japan, when they colonized Korea. The idea of Japanese people as “murderes” have descended from one generation to the next. That is why some kind of strong rivalry still exists between Korean and China.                                     Below is a film from Armenian, who collected quotes from foreigners that have settled in her country. It shows how different people from differnt countries have moved to Armenia, which is basically an example of diaspora.

#11 The Second Coming

William Butler Yeats wrote “The Second Coming” in 1921, in the aftermath of World War I when communism and facism was emerging as the prominent government systems. At that time, Yeats was greatly attracted to “spiritual” world, thus, used mythology to explain human experience. Through this poem, he tried to foreshadow inhuman world that would come when communism and facism are substituted into people’s minds. He wanted to inform people that things will eventually fall if people follow beliefs of communism or facism. He wanted to warn that these government systems would take away people’s rights and freedom. Yeats wanted to head people toward Republicancism, especially that of Ireland.

Second Coming referring to return of Jesus

The original meaning of Second Coming is the return of Jesus from Heaven to the earth to judge the living and the dead, based on the belief that the good will always win over the bad. As mentioned below, Second Coming definitely has a biblical context.

“In the New Testament the second Parousia, or coming of Christ as Judge of the world, is an oft-repeated doctrine. The Saviour Himself not only foretells the event but graphically portrays its circumstances (Matthew 24:27)”

Yeat’s divided history into cycle of two thousand years. He believed that Jesus would come at the death of one era, just before new arrives. The end of era here can refer to Doomsday, or the end of the world. His predictions seemed to fit when the World War II started.

Within the poem, there were many symbolisms. For example, the word “gyres” in the poem was referring to conflicts that would happen at the end of one era. Also the falcon in the gyre is talking about how the world would become out of control. He also says that anarchy would bring about more violence and make the situation worse.

“The Second Coming” and “Things Fall Apart” share many similarities. Yeat’s poem’s main idea is that when anarchy becomes evident, the whole society begins to fall down. The nine villages in the book eventually began to break apart because citizens became less supportive of their traditional government and social beliefs,  especially religion. In the poem, “things fall apart; the center cannot hold” means that when there is no certain leaders within the power to enforce and organize the society, everyone would break apart. “The ceremony of innocence is drowned” refers to how people of Africa were willing to give in very easy and how they didn’t doubt the intentions of white missionaries. By the time villagers tried to “fix” the converters, they were too late. Talking of the cycle, both the poem and the book goes around a certain repetition. Whenever Okwonko gains hope that thing will work out better, another bad news approaches him. Also in the poem, there is replication of time of chaos and time of peace.

Strange Food

I have heard a lot about strange food around the world, especially in China. I am not sure if it is true or not, but I have seen a blurry a picture of a chinese men boiling a dead body of an infant and adding some other ingredients. That day, I couldn’t stop thinking about that picture the whole day. I personally don’t think people who eat “strange” food as inhumane and disgusting because I respect every country’s varied cultures and beliefs. However, what I care about is how much pain the food source, mostly animals, would receive when getting cooked. If an animal is properly and instantly killed, and cooked in the right way, I would say “normal” because that is how our ”common” food source such as cows or pigs are cooked.

A dog hanged on a tree, struggling to get freed

Yet, there are those heartless people who treat the animals brutally; for example, some people, when preparing for the dog soup “bo sin tang” beat the dog to death so that it has high quality of meat or it is hanged on a tree. This would give unbearable pain to the dog, which has done nothing wrong. People around the world has right to have differnt cultures, but I wish they would consider a little more about how these “food sources” are treated when cooking.

Severely sick or beaten dogs

Rest In Peace

A famous celebrity named Jae Hwan Ahn was found dead on September 8, 2008. A neighborhood suspected something weird about a black car, which had been parked in a same space for over few weeks. When she reported to the police, the police revealed the inside by breaking the window. There, the police found a severly rotten body, which was hard to recognize its identity. The official who investigated the scene said there were two briquet and a letter of will with the body. This will said how he had to suffer from private loan and that he feels really sorry for his wife.

 

Inside of Jae Hwan Ahn’s Car

His wife is a famous comedian named Sun Hi Jung and they just got married last year. Later, after autopsy, doctors concluded that Jung Hwan had died from briquet gas-poisoning, meaning he commited suicide. Many people reported that Jung Hwan commited suicide because he wasn’t able to pay debt, which was about five hundred million won, and because he wasn’t able withstand threats and violence from private money lender. This case cleary shows how celebrities might look all wealthy and happy on the outside, many of them are actually suffering from various difficulties.

Sun Hi Jung being carried outside after fainting again

North Korean SPY

A few days ago, South Korean government arrested a woman as a spy from North Korea. The woman, who asserted herself as just one of the defectors from Korea, was found of gathering military intelligence in the South for the North Korean communists for several years. To cover up her true identity, the woman married a South Korean in China before coming to South Korea and than got divorced. Not after long, she came closely connected with some of the military officers. South Korean government attributed the cause of this spying to the loosened restricitons in South Korean intelligence service, in effort to improve relationship between the South and the North. The National Intelligence Service and the Defense Security Command stated that they would have stricter restrictinos.

“No Avril Lavigne!”

     

Avril Lavigne at a Concert

Malaysia’s conservative Islamic party, called Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), asserted that they would protest against a concert by a Canadian singer, Avril Lavigne. Islam, who strongly abide with fasting month of Ramadan, argued that a concert is considered an insult because Ramadan is about to start. A party member of PAS commented that a concert is “not conducive to teach the younger generation to become good citizens” and that if the concert is not cancelled, the whole Muslim youth would be invovled in the protest. Avril Lavigne’s concert is scheduled on Friday, in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. At first, the request of the concert was rejected, but later it was reaccpeted by the Malaysia officials. Last year, Beyonce cancelled a concert, lest protests might happen. Another singer Gwen Stefani was forced to cover herself because of “inappropriate” outfit on stage. This shows how Islam population still has severe restrictions and has stereotype that concerts of foreigners are harmful to the younger generation.

Avril Lavigne with concert clothes

Are gadgets helpful to young children?

 

Various colors of MP3

As Jean Piaget summarized, it is important that whatever the toy is, it should be suitable to child’s developing stage; a 0-2 years old baby, in his/her “sensorimotor” stage, shouldn’t use any electronic devices because they don’t have the ability to perceive things on computers or other flat objects. However, a 6-11 years old child, in his/her “concrete operationas” stage, is capable of learning and exploring with electronic devices.  In my opinion, gadgets can be both harmful and helpful for young children. It can be hurtful because a child might be confused between the reality and the world on computers or TVs. Not only that, by excessive access to gadgets, a child’s eye and ears would be deteriorated faster than others. But on the other side, different computer games can help a child learn about a subject in a more enjoyable way. Also, parents can feel more comfortable when their child carries around a cellphone;

A popular cellphone

parents can contact them easier, and confiscate it as a punishment.

“In Grand Olympic show, Some sleight of voice”

The fact that Chinese government staged a “cute” girl instead of the talented one shows the world how physical appearances are above skills. This performance could cause quiet a controversy over whether it was a “right” decision or if it was unfair. Not only Yang Peiyi would have been hurt by this news, but many other Chinese children who consider themselves not “adorable” would think looking attractive on the cover is the most important. Another issue is that both of these children didn’t know their role in the performance until few hours before the show. Lin Miaoke believed she was going to sing, and Yang Peiyi thought she was also going to come out on TV. The Chinese government should make an official apology to both of them.

Dokdo Island, not a “undesignated sovereignty”

Beautiful View of Dokdo Island

In the middle of dispute over sovereignty of Dokdo Island, George W. Bush ordered the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to classify the island as a “undesignated sovereignty.” After a week of complaint and protests from Koreans, Bush decided to re-name the islets as “South Korea sovereignty.” Japanese political leaders asserted that Bush had changed the name just because of the tight relationshipt between South Korea and US. On the other hand, South Korea has plentiful evidence to prove that Dokdo is, for sure, South Korea’s sovereignty. One of the proof includes 1999 Fisheries Agreement, which Japanese Government argues is abrogated. In addition, officials who didn’t prevent the dokdo being renamed will be punished for their mishandling.

Dokdo Island with the Korean Flag

Tae-Hwan Park

Smiling after winning the race

Tae-Hwan Park, one of my favorite athletes, has a bright future. Park, who was born on September 27,1989, started swimming since he was 5 years-old to treat asthma. Later, he joined the national team and consistently gained medals. At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, he got three gold, one silver, three bronzes, and 2 Asian records; he was alos named the “Athlete of the Games”. Not only that, in 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, he earned another two gold and one silver medals, beating his idol, Grant Hackett. After this game Tae-Hwan Park has moved around Australia, Malaysia, and Guam to train for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Park is currently planning to compete in 200m, 400, and 1500m freestyles with the world’s most outstanding swimmers: Grant Hackett, Michael Phelps, Larsen Jensen, and Peter Vanderkaay. I can’t wait to see all of his races.

Park Tae Hwan swimming at the Olympics