Baby P and the triumph of mob attitudes

So I frequently read the UK newspaper websites during my breaks. I find it especially amusing to see different slants put on the same story. So, seeing as they're political (and quality) opposites, I read the Guardian and the Daily Mail's pages. The story that has dominated the news the last few days has been the lifting of the identities of the killers of a certain Peter Connelly (or Baby P during the trial), who was subject to a frankly horrific experience at the hands of his mother, her partner and their lodger (revealed to be his older brother). The reason given by the presiding judge was that the move would "restore faith in the legal system". The vitriol raised at the case is partially understandable, as it is part of our nature to be protective of the very young, regardless of relation. It's a survival instinct. This is not the issue. The issue is that the legal system should not be subject to the whims of easily riled up emotional people. And my two sources are interesting opposites of the reactionary spectrum.

The Daily Mail reverts to its Modus Operandi of using emotionally charged language, bandying about words such as "evil", "helpless", "inept" etc. in order to stir up a burgeoning e-mob. And by and large, they have succeeded-Facebook and comment boards the world over are sharpening knives and pitchforks and preparing a mobile gallows. It's not their reaction that peturbs me; as I outlined before, it's a human instinct to be protective of the young. However, what riles me is that this mob will die down as soon as Russell Brand gets back onto primetime radio. Like most things in life, it reminds me of the Simpsons. At a moment's notice, and for no real reason, the citizens of Springfield turn into an angry mob and then disperse just as quickly. The same is true of cases like this; no less than 30 children have died in similar circumstances to Connelly since his death-where were the moral watchmen then?

The Guardian, in its inimitably reasonable style attempts to appeal for calm. It calls for restraint and an attempt to understand the nature of the crime so that future crimes of this magnitude can be avoided. It's a noble idea, to be sure, but at the same time far-fetched. Any attempt to persuade the mob that this is an important and worthwhile practice (it is, in my book) is the equivalent of a gerbil standing up to a steamroller. People think it is akin to locking the stable door after the horse has bolted. Without remembering, to stretch the analogy to ucomfortable levels, that there are a multitude of horses left in the stable. Unfortunately, this baser instinct permeates through decision-making bodies who are scared witless of the tabloid press. So rather than letting the seeds be sown to intercept and cut down on cases of this type in future, they're stuck on reviewing the events of the past. This is the problem with the Guardian-until its contributors can incorporate gut human instinct into their solutions, it will forever be dismissed as a pretentious liberal paper which wipes the arse of Twitter on a weekly basis.

As for where I stand, whilst I believe that anonymity should be awarded for all suspected criminals during high-profile trials (after all, being acquitted on paper is one thing but recovering one's reputation is quite another). After conviction, well, that's up to people more qualified than I. It certainly shouldn't be influenced by a group of armchair NIMBYs whose actions are informed by hypocritical, emotionally charged articles about "the hunt for Maddy" or "How the wonder drug that we promoted several months ago may now actually KILL YOUR CHILDREN AND PETS". But at the same time, it shouldn't be left in the hands of people who are intrinsically incapable of offering realistic solutions.

Fuck it, I'm going to read Al-Jazeera.

List #1: 10 Things to do in Korea

So, in spite of a lack of contributions, I have decided on my 10. In no particular order:

1) Nude up at a Korean Sauna-just like home, except I'd have a bunch of Koreans staring at me. Somewhat off-putting. Did this in Samcheok.

2) Go to the DMZ- Well, duh. It's the only place where the Cold War is still hot anywhere in the world and it's on my doorstep.

3) Take up Taekwondo again-probably the one that's least likely to happen to be honest-I have issues about being beaten up by small children.

4) Step up my Korean- I want to be able to have a rudimentary conversation by the time I go.

5) Teach my kids 10 outdated slang words-Gadzooks, Egads, Ahoy-Hoy, Contraption, What-What, Tally Ho!, Spiffing, Top Hole, Salutations and what the Dickens?

6) Get beaten by a Korean kid at Starcraft-not too hard. Go to a PC Room, boot up Starcraft and find an opponent. I could probably do that now.

7) Buy a midrange camera and use it ALL THE TIME-with the extra scratch I'll make from intensives, this will happen pretty definitely.

8) Chat Up a Korean girl (in Korean)-loosely connected to number 4. Did this at Global Gathering.

9) Do a temple-stay- like a sleepover, but in a temple. Give a bit to the monks for the upkeep and its apparently OK.

10) Go to Jeju Island-my window for this is fast closing.

The 5 Month Mark is closing in.

Yup, 5 months. Feels like only yesterday that I was wandering around the British Museum with Hugo, embarrassing the shit out of him by taking a boatload of pictures. Or sitting in Bar T'At sipping on a pint of Warsteiner while Tom drinks a strawberry smoothie. Or meeting Dave at the Starbucks outside St. James' Tube station 10 hours before my flight.

So, what have I achieved while I'm here? A small checklist:

1) I've drunk a lot.

2) I dove head first into a culture that, besides reading the lonely planet, I knew nothing about.

3) I've made good friends.

4) I persuaded Alex to buy some converse that were at least 1 size too small.

5) I now know that I want to teach for the forseeable future.

6) I'm trying out a new hairstyle.

7) I'm learning a new language.

8) I danced like a retard on a nightclub stage.

9) I now know the reason why Soju is unheard of outside these lands.

And yet, I want MORE.

This could be cabin fever brought about by being hungover on my first real day of holiday with nothing planned or booked, but dammit, I need to do more. Which is why I'm giving into cliche and drawing up my very own lists: 10 things to do while in Korea (only 7 months left now), and a slightly grander "50 things to do before I'm 50". Seeing as I'm over 2/5th of the way there, I'd better get cracking.

I forgot!

In the midst of my other rantings and ravings, I never mentioned one of the most surreal experiences of my life: A Korean first Birthday party.

One of my co-teachers invited us all to her kid's first birthday. Now, I assumed that it was a thing mainly for the parents and their friends to chat and drink at whilst the babies played in the corner. Nuh-uh. The baby was definitely the star of the show.

We arrived at about 12 (after being told to dress up) at a Wedding Hall (A set of reception halls that can hold multiple weddings/functions at the same time) style place in Migeum and went downstairs. The baby, and mum and dad were all dressed up to the nines and welcoming people in. We sit down, talk to some of our co-workers (hierarchy is such that mingling at formal gatherings is frowned upon; you stick to your group unless someone formally introduces you) and get some buffet food. Then the lights go off and an announcer comes in and starts heaping praise (according to the front-desk girl who translated for me) on the baby, before a little slide show comes on.

So far, so normal. But then, spotlights up, techno music on, and in come 2 Korean waitresses wearing fairy wings and things on their heads, who proceed to do a 10 minute dance with sparklers for the baby!

It was most bizarre. And now I want a similar party for any of my children because it looked friggin hilarious.

In other news, the topic of what I want to do in "the real world" has reared its ugly head. Part of me still wants to qualify as a teacher, but at the same time I have a nagging feeling that if I were to choose teaching, that I would be shutting down all my other options. And I don't want that.

Time to walk a tightrope: Religion.

Before I start this out, I should probably share my own religion with you guys: I would say that I am an agnostic; I have no strong feelings one way or the other to any one faith.

But in Korea, the word agnostic is as alien as gadzooks or antidisestablishmentarianism. And here's why: Korea is one of the only countries in the world to "self-evangelise"i.e.: to convert itself to Christianity without outside help. And now that they've done it they're hellbent on getting everyone else to do the same.

So what does this mean in the real world? Well, there are hordes of Ajummas and Ajussis in the subways and streets handing out free packs of tissues to foreigners with directions and a little map to the nearest church. Not so different from home, I hear you cry. And you'd be right-many was the time in Newcastle where I would be stopped by Mormons. The only problem is that these guys are far, FAR more determined to get you to sign up, and exploit the fact that you probably don't know enough Korea to tell them to go away in a respectful manner. They will follow you through the subway, through the streets and occasionally to your building.

And it hasn't stopped since I moved to my new town. Last week, I was accosted 3 times by Koreans with a very impressive grasp of English who deduced that I worked in a hagwon and proceeded to tell me how evil and sinful the Korean education system is. Normally, I'd agree-the amount of pressure put on my students is epic-but the fact they were using this as a springboard for their own ideas, and not as a cause in itself, was what turned me off. Not to mention the irony that it is the self-same system which allows them to be bilingual; an impressive talent in anyone's book. I eventually gave them my old phone number and caught the bus.

This week at work I have been bouncing between schools to cover other classes in my break periods. Meaning I'm working my classes, and 40% of another teacher's (the other 60% is covered by her campus-frankly I don't know how they manage), whilst trying to juggle phone calls to my students. This makes me a saaaaaaaad panda.

Tired, hungry, bored, thirsty, hungry and tired.

So I'm approaching the end of my fourth month in Korea, and I can't help but feel that I've been wasting my free time.

Sure, I've been to fortresses, palaces and Korea's answer to Blackpool, but I feel as if there is so much more that I could be doing than just sleeping in, teaching and drinking on the weekend. Which is part of the reason that I have decided to stay in Korea when my summer break rocks around at the end of next month. The fact that all my friends will be in a booze induced haze in the Phillippines because they have their holiday a week before is also a major factor.

But the fact remains, I need to get the flock out of the cities. Hopefully my upcoming white water rafting trip will give me an opportunity to see some of Korea's apparently beautiful countryside.

The BNP and other animals.

So I know I decided to keep this blog to document my ramblings on Korea, but there's something a bit closer to home that I feel needs to be discussed. That's right: Elections.

Before I continue, I should point out that I was born too late to register in 2005 and I haven't voted in the recent European elections for obvious, geographical reasons. Now I'm not sure why, but England seems to have a track record of political apathy. People are of the mind that "my vote can't make a difference". However, the rise of the neo-fascist BNP should hopefully put that dangerous thinking to bed. I don't care how they package themselves: THE BNP ARE RACISTS AND NO AMOUNT OF "NICE LANGUAGE" WILL CHANGE THAT. They are a party who seek to maintain the purity of the white race and see minorities as sub-human. They exploit the fears of the silent majority to their own bigoted ends.

And, thanks to those who stayed at home in protest at the expenses hooha (Nice protest guys!), their leader has been elected to the European Parliament with just 10% of the popular vote. 10%. And to add insult to injury, this has happened in the county which I call home. For the first time ever, I am ashamed to say that I come from Yorkshire.

I don't know, maybe this is a blessing in disguise, and we've given Nick Griffin enough rope to hang himself. Hopefully he'll expose himself as the hate-monger he is.

Back to domestic news-one week into work and it's going fairly well. I am teaching three out of four slots every day, but I don't have to prep the lessons like I did back at the old place. The new teachers are all pretty cool too-my boss is English so I don't feel quite so "special" anymore. We have a new teacher who is currently under isolation and should be joining us at the end of the month.

North Korea have finally shut their noise holes, foreign teachers are still treated with total suspicion after the government singled us out as modern day Typhoid Marys, and I sent home 1,000,000 won (at least I sent it-if it makes it into my bank account is another story) so now I feel better about my finances at home.