On Friday we were able to see Bobby McFerrin at the Seoul Arts Center. We had an absolutely amazing time, and The Boy enjoyed every moment that he was awake to see and hear. Unfortunately he is six, and the concert started at eight pm, and it was warm and dark and filled with the music which plays as he heads to bed each night.

So when we got home at 10 we popped in the DVD of the concert from 1986. Most of the songs were different, but the idea was the same, and The Boy was transfixed. What a great way to end the evening.

Yeah, yeah, this is where someone says "Oh, the Don't Worry Be Happy guy." Please don't. Watch this instead.






This is closer to what we saw. He did not speak much, because he doesn't speak Korean, but this is one of the songs he performed. So is this-





It was an amazing show,and I'm so glad we were able to go. It was the third time I've seen him perform, but was out of the country the last time, so it was a first for him.

80's Hair!

80's Hair!, originally uploaded by allysther.

It seems I've turned into Martin Gore. Wendall says he never wanted to marry Martin. I say I wanted to marry him so badly that this is what happened. Wendall has asked me to please go comb my hair.

Can you guess the song?

In case you can't tell, I'm bored and just trying to keep myself awake.

This was pretty neat, though.

The author of "The Stinky Cheese Man" and a slew of other books written specifically for boys has just been named a "reading ambassador".

A 'Stinky' ambassador

Fri Jan 11, 12:20 AM ET

When the co-author of a book titled The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales wins a Library of Congress appointment as a "reading ambassador," you know there's more to the story. Indeed, there is.

For years, writer Jon Scieszka has been a lonely voice warning that young people, especially boys, are falling behind in literacy skills. His website, guysread.com, serves as a beacon of advice for teachers and parents desperate to keep boys reading.

His message: Don't think of reading as just the classics. Young boys celebrate the gross and the weird, so why not exploit that to get them hooked on reading? Books scoffed at by purists, such as Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants series, have a place in classrooms.

What Scieszka saw coming for years — a growing gender divide in reading ability — others are only now discovering. In Illinois this fall, state reading tests revealed broad gender gaps in reading. At one Cook County elementary school, girls' scores topped boys' by up to 55 percentage points.

Once boys fall behind in reading skills, it carries through the rest of their academic careers. Diminished literacy makes it harder for them to earn college degrees or compete in today's economy.

Scieszka's two-year appointment this month by Librarian of Congress James Billington was intended to boost reading by both boys and girls. The Stinky Cheese co-author (the book pokes fun at traditional fairy tales) will visit schools and draw publicity to children's books. That's appropriate, but Billington would be wise to allow Scieszka to focus his efforts where they are most needed.

With Scieszka's encouragement, maybe more teachers will allow Captain Underpants and other fairly stupid stories to roam elementary school classrooms. Lots of boys will love it. And some girls, too.

link is here

Almost Home

Almost Home, originally uploaded by allysther.

Back from the trip

It was good to be in the US, and three weeks was just about right. Three weeks allowed me to see almost everyone and to give the boy a big dose of the culture. There were a few sad moments, as well as a bunch of tense long minutes, but all in all it was a positive visit.

A few wonderful memories:

The boy was able to see all but one of his six grandparents. We had not seen zanla's mother since 2002, so having her fly in for a weekend was truly amazing. She lives in the Virgin Islands, so this trip meant so much to her. She was able, for the first time ever, to have all four of her grandchildren in one place. Wonderful to see, and sadly not likely to happen again anytime soon.

Flying in to see my sister-in-law sing. She is a member of two groups, and she just happened to be performing with both of them in the same weekend. We arranged our flights so that we had a weekend layover in San Francisco, and we were able to attend both concerts. I felt oh so decadent when I told people that we ad flown in just for the concerts, but it was true! I have quite a collection of her music, and play it often for the boy, so he was familiar with a few of the songs he heard. Hanging out with the sibs was a fantastic side benefit. Next time we are in SF I plan to see some of the city, but this time it was all about the family time.

Watching the boy play with his cousins. He does not have many, but the few he has and knows he loves. The last time he saw them was in 2005, but he was able to spend New Year's Eve playing hard with them. He was a very happy boy that night, and was so tired the next day that he fell asleep at the table during lunch.

Commercials. We did not have commercials in Germany, and the only tv channel we watch here is the Disney Channel, which only advertises Disney products. The boy watched endless hours of the Cartoon Network and walked away being able to quote the commercials. At one point he told me that it was very important that we call the number and order Life Alert for ourselves. He was crushed when I explained that it would not work in Korea. He is also desperate for a Chia Pet, some Blendy Pens, and a set of Zoobooks.

The Liberty Bell. We were able to spend a few short hours in Philadelphia, so we ran to visit the bell. The new museum is beautiful, and was filled with people reading and talking about what they saw. The boy and I discussed the bell as an important national symbol, and he asked if it was as important as the Eiffel Tower. He told me that a tower was cooler than a bell, and showed me that we have to work a bit harder on giving him information about US History. Particularly amusing (for me) was trying to explain what a black person was. He was confused by the discussion of the bell as a symbol for freed slaves, which led to a discussion of slavery, which led to the question "What is a black person?" I still have not figured out the best way to answer those questions.

That's it for now. I hope to upload photos later today.

Photos