ms_minerva

When I was home in the US, the local office supply store was having a blowout sale on Kindle Fire tablets—only $27! I picked up the very last one and downloaded the Hoopla app through my local library’s subscription. We have a great collection! Right now I’m on a Classical Studies kick and reading Lavinia by Ursula K. LeGuin and The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. I also got an audiobook of To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. I’m hoping to keep reading more books!

Hi everyone,

I'm so, so sorry I haven't been updating! I've been super busy. The school year is winding down. I've been making travel plans for the summer (Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos, woo!) and for my return home. I officially moved out of my apartment. I got my history teaching license and hope to pass an additional content exam so I can get an English teaching license, too. I started writing a novel and might actually complete the NaNoWriMo challenge, albeit in the wrong month. I'm working on some new medieval Latin translations that I might be able to publish someday. I started putting together my portfolio website, and it's pretty beautiful, if I do say so myself!

AND, I got into my first choice MLIS program! I'll be in the UK (which is cheaper than US programs even though I have to pay higher fees than locals). If you're from the UK or continental Europe and have recommendations or advice for me, please hit me up!

If there are any potential librarians reading this post: I'm able to get a British degree because I plan to work in international schools, which accept American and UK degrees. If you're an American who wants to work in the US, this might not be advisable, depending on your field. I would do your research first.

 

I’ve been sporadically reading through Anna Karenina on my Kindle this past year and finally finished it! Something that’s grabbed my attention throughout the book is how the Russian characters alternate between languages as a class signifier. Implicitly, French—in particular, good French—is an indicator of high rank, while the vernacular Russian is treated as vulgar. 

 

This reminds me of the language politics in the Philippines, or at least in Manila (I can’t speak for the rest of the country because I haven’t spent much time there). I have students who can’t speak any Filipino dialects because their parents raised them to speak English exclusively and sent them to American/British private schools. Of course, these are wealthy sorts who think they can “transcend” their ethnicity in this way and use English as a class signifier. I think this is the epitome of colonial mentality, but as a Filipino-American who continues to be terrible at spoken Tagalog even though my comprehension is pretty good, it’s probably not my place to say that? Minor tangent, but it really bothers me when people insist that Tagalog is an “easy” language, because it really isn’t if you’re learning it from scratch and I think viewing it as simple or lesser is just another facet of colonial mentality. Back on point, there’s the added complication that English is necessary in the global workforce, especially with many Filipinos scattering around the world. There has to be a way to balance native dialects with English and be practical while still maintaining our heritage.

 

Joy Luck Club: I don’t have the energy to write the full-length review this book deserves, but I will say that I loved the way Amy Tan treated the language divide between the daughters and their parents. The mothers’ narrations are incredibly eloquent, but when they speak in their daughters’ chapters their grasp on English is shaky and can’t capture the depths of their thoughts and emotions. For me, one of the most powerful moments in the novel is towards the end, when June’s father starts telling a story in English and she stops him and asks him to speak in Chinese instead. 

 

At my last job one of my co-teachers brought up the idea that there’s this sort of tragedy in the language barrier we have with our students. Even if they reach English proficiency, we’ll never know how they fully express themselves. There will always be an extra layer filtering their full realization of who they are as people so we don’t get the total experience. I feel it when I try speaking other languages and the humor and intelligence I like to think I have doesn’t express themselves in the same way.

So I was watching the 4-hour Kenneth Branagh Hamlet film (as one does), and I noticed something! At the end of Act 1, Hamlet says "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in our philosophy." In most versions of the text he says "your philosophy." The best explanation I could find online is that the "our" variant was only in the quarto 2 version of Hamlet.

I'm geeking out! This is so cute!

 

Here, have a 1921 silent film of genderbent!Hamlet
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz7aoVcRI58

 

I procrastinated on posting this because I was nervous!

I want to start by saying that the Harry Potter series was deeply important to me growing up, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s a masterwork of storytelling and world building and taught me a lot about how to be a good person in a dark world. That said, it’s important to be critical of the media you consume; you can love something but still want it to be better and call out its flaws.( Read more... )

Taking my teaching license exams this week! Wish me luck! 

I"m taking two exams this week--pedagogy and US history. I'm reviewing for the latter by reading an APUSH review book. What a throwback. On a related note, is US history rpf a thing? Because I keep thinking up ridiculous plot lines as I'm reading this...

Assuming I pass these exams, my next step is to take a world history exam. I wonder if reviewing for that will give me story ideas, too.

I also have So. Many. Unfinished. Posts for this blog. I have a bunch of article round-ups for Star Trek: TOS (on race, politics, Judaism, etc.), a reflection on heteronormativity in the Harry Potter universe (especially in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), a mini-essay on language in Anna Karenina and The Joy Luck Club, and a Static Shock review/excited gushing post. I'm not sure what to finish first. I'm out of control!!

 

I disappeared for a while, huh? Well, I’m still alive! Barely. I just got back from spending my school break in Cambodia with my sister. I was glad to visit and see the sights, but I’ve learned that I’m much more suited to traveling by myself. Booking everything to be to someone else’s liking is so much more difficult! I'll post more about that when I have the energy--I got food poisoning during the trip and haven't been able to eat properly for the past few days :( I'm recovering but still pretty weak. I still managed to go to work today (and spent most of it just sitting around covering for a physics class).

Also, I didn't get into a PhD program. I knew that this was highly probable when I sent in my applications, but I'm still disappointed. Now I'm set on the international teacher librarian track I guess. I know that I need to be mature and realistic and that this is above and beyond the best path for me given my background and what I want in life, but I'm still scared of the loneliness I'll definitely face along the way. I'm also facing parental pressure right now--I went to a prestigious university for undergrad and now that I'm not getting a PhD they've decided that it would be a waste of my degree to be a librarian so I should be a corporate lawyer(???). Are they right? Am I throwing away my shot? But what's wrong with being a teacher librarian? There's a part of me left over from my overachiever high school days that wants the recognition of conventional success, but the part of me from before that, when what I valued was a combination of adventure and making the world a better place, has been gaining traction in the past couple of years. If anyone has any wisdom they can share with me or wants to commiserate about being a family disappointment, my inbox is open.

On a happier note, I've been distracted from Dreamwidth because I've been consuming unhealthy amounts of the Static Shock animated series. I used to watch it on occasion when I was very young and don't remember it (or the rest of the DCAU) well. I love it!!! I want a reboot! I have a tendency to fall into dead or extremely tiny fandoms, but please please please let there still be fans out there I can talk to! For those of you who aren't familiar with the series, it's about Virgil Hawkins aka Static, a nerdy teenage black superhero with electromagnetic powers who uses his intelligence and scientific know-how to channel them in creative ways. His best friend and sidekick is a gay white gadgeteer genius inventor. What's not to like?? I'm going to write a post about Static Shock when I have more energy. I'm so happy when I watch it!!

 

I watched Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse after Christmas with my elderly Uncle Ben (who didn’t know enough about Spider-Man to understand why that’s funny). The movie is AMAZING. It felt like being inside of a comic book, except better somehow. It totally redefined what a superhero movie can be. 

 

Highlights:

• Miles being a street artist
• Miles designing his own costume
• Miles wearing the costume with his regular clothes
• His relationship with his dad (THE HUG)(also their reconciliation when he offers a wall at the police station for Miles to legally paint!)
• His relationship with Aaron Davis in this movie. Uncle Aaron actually cares about him a lot and is the only family member supportive of Miles's art. That made his arc all the more tragic.
• Miles in general
• Gwen in general
• Peter the hobo
• Other spider-characters
• Visuals
• Music
• Peter pretending to be asleep so Miles and Gwen could bond (awww)
• The leap of faith
• THE LEAP OF FAITH
• The entire final battle
• The credits
• The Christmas album (“I have a degree in chemical engineeeeeering”)

Was there anything I didn’t like? I wish Miles could have gotten more screen time, but I understand their decision to make this an ensemble movie. I want future movies focusing on his own adventures and a solo Gwen adventure. I hope the MCU doesn’t mess Miles up when they finally introduce him as a hero. If they introduce him as a hero—what if the Miles mention in Homecoming was just an Easter egg? 

 

The past days have been crazy! I finally activated my 24-hr Discover Seoul Pass. My card cost $30, and the total cost of all of the attractions I visited with it was $76!! So if you visit Seoul, you should definitely pick up one of these passes!

 

Day 1

 

I started at noon on Thursday and went to Hanboknam to try on a fancy hanbok. I got to wander around in it for two hours! I visited Gyeongbokgung Palace and took a bunch of pretty photos. 

 

Tip: If you’re wearing a hanbok, you get into the palaces and shrines for free!

 

After Gyeongbokgung, I returned the hanbok and then headed to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, but as the cashier was scanning my card I discovered that people under 24 get in for free, so I didn’t need my Discover Seoul Pass! I decided to put off visiting the museum for Saturday when my pass had already expired and to visit more attractions. I walked to Changdeokgung Palace and Changyeonggung Palace as the sun began to set—beautiful! From there I walked down to Jongmyo Shrine, but it was already closed. Admission is only 1000 won (less than $1), so I decided that I could save it for Saturday as well. 

 

I took the subway from Jongmyo to Namsangol Hanok Village. I had some stone pot bibimbap for dinner at a little restaurant tucked among the shops there (6500won). 

 

I wanted to cap off my night by visiting the observatory at N Seoul Tower, but I didn’t know how to get there; I just knew that it was at the top of the Namsan mountain. I couldn’t get my phone onto wifi, but I looked at my map and realized that none of the trains went there. I knew some tour buses did, but it was too late for me to join one of those. I looked at my map, and then looked up to the tower on the mountain. As long as I walked in the direction of the tower I would eventually reach it, right? 

 

It turned out that I was right, but it took FOREVER. At least I can cross impulsive mountain-hiking off of my bucket list now.

 

I got back to the hostel exhausted after getting lost on my way down from the mountain and ending up all the way at Myeongdong Station. I got ready for bed and a good night’s sleep.

 

Day 2

 

I woke up at 8 and ate breakfast at my hostel, and then headed out. I had until noon before my pass would expire. First, I took the subway to Dongdaemun History and Culture Park and used my Discover Seoul Pass to get a wristband for Seoul City Tour Double-Decker Tour Bus Traditional Culture Course, a hop-on-hop-off bus. I took it to Euljiro 1-ga and visited Deoksugung Palace, just in time for the changing of the guards! From there I walked to the Koreana Hotel and used my Discover Seoul Pass to get a Seoul City Tour Bus Panorama Course ticket just as my pass was about to expire. Now it was past noon but I already had my bus tickets! I spent the rest of the afternoon riding both buses around the city, wind blowing on the rooftop as I took lots of amazing photos. 

 

At night I rode the Hanggang River Ferry. I booked the ticket for about $15 online. It was very beautiful. We were in a heated cafe area surrounded by large glass windows, and two musicians played jazz renditions of Christmas carols on keyboard and flute. Lovely! 

 

Day 3

 

My Discover Seoul Pass included a 24-hour bike rental that could be activated at any time. I used that on my last day to bike to Jongmyo Shrine and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

 

 

This has been a really wonderful trip. I didn’t know what to expect when I got here, and I hadn’t even originally planned on coming to Korea. The starts and my grandma’s unused airline miles aligned to bring me here, though. I love Seoul! It’s such a beautiful city framed by mountains. The food is delicious and affordable, the history and culture are amazing, and I had so much fun shopping here! It’s also very easy to navigate via public transportation, unlike some cities *cough* Tokyo *cough* I don’t know where my future will take me yet, but I could see myself living here.  

 

Now I’m sitting in the airport just chilling and mooching off their WiFi. My flight is in ten hours, and I have a whole bench to sleep on!