A Bottle of Tequila and a New Pack of Cigarettes

  “We’ve bought into the idea that education is about training and “success”, defined monetarily, rather than learning to think critically and to challenge. We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers. A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, which fails to understand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speed or ability to consume, condemns itself to death.” ―  Chris Hedges,  Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle I believe it was just yesterday I said, "It seems like the whole world is busy turning all the schools into hagwons." I don't know how many times I've said it but two of the educational patterns I've seen in my travels throughout Asia are the abject commercialization of education that has become the norm in Asia and the adoption of this backward strategy by the west. And I&

 Ever heard that Genesis song called Illegal Alien? Talkin' 'bout how it's no fun being an illegal alien. Well, I just might be one and I'm having a blast!   As the gods of irony would have it, it all started on July 4th. I flew from Calgary to Denver where I was supposed to have a layover of about 2 or 3 hours but since my flight was late I just proceeded to the next gate, (B-53, I missed B-52 by ONE gate!) waited a short time, and boarded my flight to DC. Dulles airport. I deplaned and followed the procession of passengers to this moon mobile/glacier bus - looking airport shuttle to the main terminal. I got outta the shuttle and walked to the other side of the airport to baggage carousel #1 where I found my luggage immediately. Then I looked for immigration, customs, or maybe some other person to stamp my passport and/or ask me questions about my entry into the United States. None were immediately evident but there were exits every hundred yards or so. I had a heavy b