Transposing Plato into a New Key

Here's a translation I attempted of a passage from Plato's Republic (which I came across on a forum). The passage had previously been translated into Korean, so I was essentially taking the text even further from the original. Anyway, read my attempt below, and then compare it with an English version I found online.

[My Translation]
Music and art education are of great importance because it is rhythm and melody, more than anything else, that go down deep into the soul and give the soul firm guidance. Anyone who learns music properly can achieve gracefulness; otherwise, the exact opposite will result. In addition to this, let us consider someone who has been properly instructed in music. Presuming nothing has gone wrong in his education, he will be able to instantly recognize what is not beautiful. Naturally, such things will be unpleasant for him, but he will also be able to praise the beautiful. As he willingly accepts beauty into his soul, he will be nurtured by it and will himself become beautiful and good.
(Plato's Republic)

[A Translation from the Greek, NOT mine]
"...Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace, and making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful, or of him who is ill-educated ungraceful; and also because he who has received this true education of the inner being will most shrewdly perceive omissions or faults in art and nature, and with a true taste, while he praises and rejoices over and receives into his soul the good, and becomes noble and good..."
(http://www.galileolibrary.com/ebooks/eu05/platorepublic_page_39.htm)



Me outside the Van Gogh Exhibit at the Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art

All Words, No Action

I'm well into my second week of level 5 at Sogang University. Maybe I should explain what the program is like for those of you who, um, aren't within driving distance of Korea. Which, presumably, is all of you.

1) Location - The tenth story of the highest building on the Sogang University campus. I'm not technically a student of Sogang, since I'm attending the affiliated language program, but I do have a student card and have access to the various facilities there, including the gym and the library.

2) Schedule - I take classes four hours a day, five days a week, making it a pretty intense schedule. This doesn't take into account the homework, of which there's a considerable amount. There are also additional classes available to those who are interested and ambitious (I suppose I may fall into category) like a pronunciation class that I took today.

3) Material - The first hour of the day is a writing class. We review the material covered in the other classes and implement it in our own free writing assignments. Next is a video class, which focuses on improving our listening skills. Right now we're watching a movie called "Christmas in August." Finally is two hours of reading and speaking, which is where we get most of the new material, including vocab and grammar. Perhaps needless to say, all these classes are taught in Korean. Since I'm in level 5 out of 6, this isn't surprising, but even level 1 is taught entirely in Korean. I really can't imagine how that works...!

I'll add some more topics when they occur to me. For now, another picture - pretty good looking, huh?

A Taste of Translation

Some of you may not know this, but I'm quite interested in translation and am currently exploring the possibility of this as a career. Incidentally, if any of you have any ideas or suggestions about graduate programs or translation services for me, please share them!

Following is a translation exercise I did this morning. I took an interview included among the reading assignments in my textbook and did my best to translate it into relatively faithful, relatively readable English. Of course, you can't compare it with the original unless you're pretty proficient in Korean, but... you may be interested anyway to learn a little about alcohol in Korean culture!

Well, here goes:

---

Park Chan Hui (abbr. Park): We have Professor Choe In Cheol with us today to look into the Korean attitude toward alcohol. Professor Choe, Koreans are pretty big drinkers of alcohol, aren't they?

Choe In Cheol (abbr. Choe): That's right. In a study of alcohol consumption among countries around the world, Korea ranked as one of the highest.

Park: So why is it that Koreans drink so much?

Choe: It appears that there is a connection to certain characteristics of the Korean mentality. In Korean society, compared to most other societies, people tend to place a high value on personal relationships (인간 관계), so even at the workplace it's common for personal relationships to come first, not work. Additionally, since fostering solidarity among workers is so important, employees often go out for dinner together (회식) after work. It's only natural for there to be a lot more chances to drink together when people spend so much time together.

Park: So Koreans don't necessarily drink a lot because they enjoy it.

Choe: Exactly. Of course, there are also people who drink a lot simply because they enjoy it. But even people who don't enjoy alcohol end up drinking because of the Korean custom of "pressuring people to drink" (술을 권하는). As a result, when you ask people why they drink, you'll frequently hear that it's not because they want to drink. Others say that they drink not because they like alcohol but rather because they like people.

Park: (laughing) Yes, it's the same for me. When I make plans to see someone, I say, "Why don't we get a drink or something." The thing I'm curious about though, Professor, is why Koreans think they have to drink to maintain their personal relationships.

Choe: In Korean society, there are a lot of rules you have to keep based on your age, your gender, and your status. These rules mean that even though you want to get closer to someone, it's hard to speak freely, and, what's more, even when you have some complaints that you'd like to share, it's ordinarily quite hard to do so. Since drinking tends to reduce that kind of difficulty, it becomes easier to have relaxed conversation.

Park: When you talk to people who enjoy drinking, it seems like they've got nothing negative to say about it. (laughter) In actuality, though, there are quite a few downsides as well. For instance, it's bad for your health.

Choe: Absolutely. As a matter of fact Korean society is gradually starting to place a higher value on the worth and happiness of the individual. Instead of going out for a drink with other people, the number of people pursuing their own private hobbies is increasing. Furthermore, the transition to a five day workweek has resulted in a decrease in the number of days for drinking.

Park: So you're saying that Korean society is changing from one that thinks of the 'group' first ('우리') to one that thinks of the individual ('개인'). Okay, today we looked into "a society that pressures people to drink" (술 권하는 사회) with Professor Choe In Cheol. Thank you for your time, Professor.

Choi: Thank you!

Some alcohol in Korea

What I've Come to Realize

I'm very rarely satisfied with what I do, who I am.

I'm always making plans and never implementing them.

I hate saying no to people.

---

In light of all this, I am very self-consciously planning to set aside some time to think about all of the things I'm dissatisfied with in my life and find a way to resolve them.

Faces and Names

Lots of things have happened here since I wrote last. In fact, lots of things happened before I wrote last, things that I never wrote about for lack of time or energy or creativity or some such excuse, easy enough to find.

One of these recent happenings is a good one, both for my happiness here as a student in Korea and for your happiness there as my earnest, faithful readers. (Yes, that's me flattering you, even if you are neither earnest nor faithful, nor a reader.)

To cut to the chase - I finally broke down and got internet at my boarding house. This will cost me about $35 a month, not bad, considering the installation was free, the first month bill is waived, and I get a free MP3 player to boot.

(Another little something I didn't get around to mentioning was me losing my MP3 player.)

And now, allow me to recapture your wandering attention with a few PICTURES!



Some of my classmates from level 4 at Sogang University's Korean program.
(Another milestone: passed the class, moving up to level 5, as well as bigger and better things, one hopes, starting in December.)


I like her, and she...?


잘 있어! Chal issoyo! (Take care!)

David

Admittedly, Pictures Can't Express the Grave Insolence of Jazz

Last week, I did a big presentation for my class on a topic of my choice. The topic, as the title of this post and the three pictures may suggest, was jazz. It's actually been a while since I've thought about jazz at length, even though I spent a lot of time listening (and playing) the music a few years back. But seeing as there are a couple of good jazz clubs in Seoul, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and hear some good jazz while preparing for my presentation. Here are a couple of shots from a place called "All That Jazz." The music, in case the pictures don't make it especially clear, was fantastic.

-David

They Say I'm Well Connected

I can see your cynical expressions right now--I can even read your thoughts. "He's in Korea, and he said he'd blog. Right... That'll be the day. David? Actually following through on a resolution?"

Well, here I am, posting again! There's a good reason for the change, too. Don't worry, though: there haven't been any emergencies and I haven't made any huge life decisions lately. I'm still relatively intact, and I'm still unmarried.

But I've gotten my computer configured to work with Sogang university's wireless network, which means that

1) I don't have to shell out the extra 30 bucks a month to get internet at home
2) since I can use the free wireless here.*

Oh, and there's a third consequence:

3) You'll see me online a lot more often. Maybe get more emails from me, too!

Next time, I promise it'll be a little more substantive than this.

David

*You are welcome to infer, if you wish, that I am both lazy and a cheapskate. I won't deny it.