The Accidental Potty Mouths

This week, in phonics, we are working on the long e sound. This can be difficult for my kindergarten class. A lot of the time, their long e sounds more like a short i. For example, when they say "EAT" it sounds more like "IT." One of our vocabulary words is "SHEET." I laughed a lot today.

American Beef

There is a huge uproar in South Korea right now because the new president has agreed to import American Beef from cattle more than 30 months old. Apparently the United States is sending beef that we would NEVER eat and are trying to kill off the population of South Korean with Mad Cow infected beef. Now, I'm not one to blindly trust the Government. Nobody should do that. However, I do believe it's worse to always assume the Government is trying to infect their people to make a few extra bucks. I don't usually use my blog to talk about politics, but this has become such a huge issue over here that I couldn't just ignore it so here are some facts about American Beef that most of the Koreans protesting probably don't know...

FACTS ABOUT AMERICAN BEEF
June 12, 2008

*Do Americans eat U.S. beef?
You bet. Ninety-five percent of the beef that is consumed in the United States is U.S. beef. We eat U.S beef and we eat it a lot.

*Is the U.S. beef exported to Korea different from the beef that is consumed domestically in the United States?
No. U.S. consumers eat the same beef that is exported to Korea and every other country. The United States only has one food-safety inspection system for all beef, domestic and exports. By law, plants that do not meet these standards can not produce beef at all.

*Do Americans eat beef from cattle older than 30 months?
Yes we do. About 20 percent of all the beef we consume in the United States comes from animals over 30 months of age. U.S. consumers eat beef and products from all cattle of all ages. Processed products and ground beef can be made from cattle of any age.

*Does the U.S. export low-grade beef and dangerous beef parts to Korea that it does not sell domestically?
No. The United States would not export any product anywhere for human consumption that is not deemed by U.S. authorities to be safe, wholesome, and fit for human consumption in the United States. All beef that is exported to Korea is also consumed in the United States. It is the same beef.

*Is beef from cattle older than 30 months dangerous?
No. Tissues that could potentially carry BSE are removed from cattle prior to processing and are not allowed in the food supply. Once these tissues are removed, meat from cattle over 30 months of age is perfectly safe.

*Do Americans feed U.S. beef to their children?
Yes they do. In fact, most Americans believe it is very important for children to consume protein and significant portion of our protein comes from beef.

*How many U.S. cattle are tested for BSE?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been looking for BSE for over 20 years. In 2007 alone, we tested over 40,000 animals. This current testing rate is 10 times the standard testing rate established by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

*Are many patients with Alzheimer's disease in the United States actually variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) patients?
No. Symptoms for the human variant of BSE are clearly different from the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

*Have there been any cases of vCJD cases contracted in the United States?
No. There have been about 200 cases of vCJD in the world (most of these in the U.K.), but zero cases associated with beef consumption in the United States.

*Are Koreans more susceptible to vCJD?
Over 2 million Koreans live in the United States and are eating U.S. beef, and there has never been a single case of a Korean diagnosed with vCJD.

...Okay. That's my two cents.

(The facts above were taken from the website of the U.S.A. Embassy in Seoul, Korea seoul.usembassy.gov/ )

Back to School

I'm taking my first organized class in 4 years. I've been attending a Korean Language night class once a week. I'm actually doing pretty well. I'm still just learning the basics, but I'm really grasping it. Every month we're required to take a test to move onto the next level. I just finished Beginner Korean 1 and got a 96% on the test. I only had one wrong answer, and that's because there was a word I didn't know. I feel pretty good about that and am looking forward to starting Beginner Korean 2 in two weeks :)

Dangerous in All the Right Ways

Last weekend, Demerit, a punk rock band from Beijing, China came to Seoul. They were really cool guys and put on a great show. My friends and I got to hang out with them all weekend and into the beginning of this week.

I have to say, some people (cough...Fat Mike...cough) always talk about how punk rock used to be dangerous. They say so much of it isn't dangerous anymore, but that they are. I mean, they have a point. So much punk rock is just fluff and image and doesn't stand for anything anymore. But even when it was "dangerous" to be a punk in the USA, that usually meant you'd get angry looks, denied service somewhere or in a fight. Yes, the US Government tried to censor punk rock. It's a FACT that Jimmy Carter gave tax breaks to any record label that agreed not to sign punk rock bands. It's a bit ridiculous, but this is far from life threatening.

Being punk rock in the last great, oppressive Communist power in the world has the potential DANGEROUS. Okay, so Tienanmen Square happened almost 20 years ago, but has much changed? China will snuff out any movement they think is too big. Being one of the internationally well-known Chinese punk rock bands and singing songs with lyrics like, "Voice of the people. We can't find a reason," and, "Beijing is NOT my home," you're bound to get some looks. Punks in the US hate the government, and it's far from perfect, but these guys really have good reason to hate their government, and speaking out against it takes big.....well, you know. All that to say, the guys in Demerit were really great and I really respected a lot about them.

Of course, it helped that they put on a great show. They had amazing stage presence and played a great set. The ending was incredible. They did a nice long medley near the end. It started with "Voice of the People" and then they broke into the intro of "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden followed by "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones and "Breakin' the Law" by Judas Priest. Of course, you can't end your international show with covers so they capped it off with some more originals. It was a great time, and I look forward to seeing them again.

Check out Demerit at: www.myspace.com/demeritamry

*I want to add that I know the Chinese Government is not out there hunting down these guys because they're punks, but I think you understand my point.