Korea Life Blog - Sure, I'll Stop and Have an OB!



Sexy dancers promoting the opening of a new bar in Seoul, an ingenious method of attracting men. I'm not sure what the appeal is for women, though, but who cares! I've even seen these kind of dancers at the opening of regular restaurants, norae bangs, grocery stores, and elsewhere. I love opening day!


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written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Attention: Does Your Anus Feel Strange?



Seeing www.women.co.kr, I naturally became interested in this sign. Perhaps it's an announcement for a fantastic new place to meet Korean girls on the web, I thought. I couldn't understand the hangul, so later I typed it into Babelfish and this is what came up: Anus surgery, anus hemorrhoids, gynecology formation. Hmm, not quite what I expected. Does it sound as bad in Korean as it does in English? If I saw this kind of blunt sign in the states, I would be surprised and probably laugh while doing impressions of Beavis and Butthead. By the way, I had no idea there is such thing a gynecology formation surgery, especially in Korea. It sounds...well, interesting anyway. I'll have to do some research.



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written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Stray Days



This cat had been hanging around my apartment building off and on for some time. On Chuseok, she looked as lonely as I did. I set her out a plate of tuna. She wouldn't come near me and so I left it and a few minutes later I watched through the window as she gobbled it down. Ever since then I often spot her outside my window lounging around and taking naps, walking around noncholantly or sometimes fighting off promiscuous male cats. Many times I've tried to pet her, but as soon as I get too close she runs and hides. I think it's better that way, as she needs to be wary of people here. Most Koreans dislike cats and kids love to taunt and throw rocks at them. I love cats, as do the majority of western people. Now instead of throwing away my leftovers, I throw them out to her and sometimes give her tuna. She's become a sort of natural pet, I guess, living in her natural environment, retaining her freedom yet making me smile.



Here's a picture of another neighborhood cat in Seoul keeping guard over one of those crane games rigged with the crane game jerk of despair.


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Korea Life Blog - Megaton Hagwon in Ulsan


Do not work for the Megaton Hagwon franchise in Ulsan. They are liars and cheaters and will steal your money and all your documents. Please, listen to me. That franchise is notorious for ripping people off.




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Korea Life Blog - Out of the Way! - Bundaegi Coming Through!


A man on a motorcyle zips his way through a crowded sidewalk desperate to deliver frozen silkworm from China to an ajumma in Seoul waiting to boil them up and serve them on the street.

Phew! They arrived just in time. The ajumma cooked them up and is ready to serve them. Look here.


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Korea Life Blog - Let's Get Out of Here

I was surprised by this study reported in the Korea Herald today:

Seven out of every 10 adults in their 20s and 30s want to emigrate to another country, according to a recent study conducted by the marriage information company Piery.

After surveying 572 clients over the phone, it found that 72.1 percent are thinking of relocating.

When asked to explain their motivation, 42.3 percent said it would be for their children's education, 31.4 percent cited the present unemployment problems in Korea, and 19.7 percent are fed up with the political and social turmoil, results showed.

In addition, 32.7 percent said they would like to move to Canada, 30.5 percent wanted to immigrate to the United States, 23.9 percent named Australia, and 8.9 percent hope to live in Central or South America.

Canada proved a popular destination because of its favorable living conditions and lenient immigration policies, representatives said.

However, only 10.1 percent of the 380 people who named Canada said they are thinking of moving within the next year. One quarter said they are considering immigrating within the next three years, 30.8 percent answered between the next three to five years, and the largest number of correspondents or 33.3 percent said they are considering relocating more than five years from now.

"More and more singles who are thinking of immigrating are looking to marry someone who is also considering relocating because they want to get married in Korea before moving to another country," a representative from Piery said.

I would expect those kind of numbers from some other countries like the Philippines or Indonesia, not South Korea. Then again, there's a big difference between being Korean in Korea and being a foreign teacher in Korea. I teach 4 hours a day, get full time pay and a free apartment, people go out of their way to talk to me, girls go bananas over me, etc.

If I were Korean, I would be still living home with my family under enormous pressure to get married, working 10 hours a day or more, trying desperately to save enough money to buy an apartment in a highrise someday, and contemplating jumping off the roof.

The biggest reason I would want to leave would be the 26 month mandatory military service required for all men. That really must be hell.


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written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Chicken Crazy


I live in a tiny town outside of Suwon where there is pretty much one or two of everything. There's one small hospital, one pharmacy, one video store, one bakery, one dry cleaner, one room salon, one no rae bang, one church, two PC rooms, a few small grocery stores, etc. However, to my amazement, there's a whopping 8 fried chicken restaurants! - not to mention the fried chicken stand in the grocery store, and the fried chicken restaurant coming soon.

I've talked about this before, but it still amazes me. I thought America was famous for fried chicken until I came to Korea. While not well known for it, Koreans are chicken eating fanatics. One of their (and my) favorite things to do is to eat friend chicken over a couple of cold frosty mugs of beer. You might not notice if you haven't learned to read Korean, but there is literally a place to get fried chicken on every corner. Here is part of the collection from around my town:


This one is open into the wee hours of the morning. I'm not sure if it ever closes, actually. Many nights I've come home late to see people stumbling out of this place. The chicken is just OK. I hate the places that include the chicken's fried neck and other peculiar pieces.



There's the lone pharmacy conveniently located next to the lone hospital. What better place than above a pharmacy for a fried chicken/beer restaurant! Right after you chow down you can stop downstairs for some indigestion pills and some aspirin for tomorrow's hangover. The name this chicken restaurant is a little strange. In case you can't read Korean it's called: Hand Down Bake Chicken. I'm not sure about their baked chicken, but they really do have the best fried chicken around, hands down.



Here is Bobos chicken and beer restaurant. It's located right next to the other two mentioned above - (all three of these are within a 20 second walk of each other). Bobo means kiss in Korean. I agree, nothing more romantic than fried chicken and beer! Too bad the chicken here is awful and the fried neck is included.


Well, that's all the pics I took. I think part of the reason there are so many chicken restaurants is because Koreans love to drink, as everybody knows. And when they drink, they always have some kind of food. Fried chicken and beer go perfectly together. I'd like to see some cool places like these back home...


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written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - The Korean English Teachers' Lessons (2) - Dirty Boy


I snuck a peak at what the Korean English teachers are teaching today. This is what I saw. Seeing a cartoon of a boy pooping may seem shocking to anyone who hasn't lived here, but it's actually quite normal. There's seems to be a fascination with ddong here...the kids always draw pictures of it. And in my favorite Korean movie The Way Home, (click on the name to see a review of the movie, it's really worth seeing and is available in the states) there's a couple of scenes of the grandmother watching the boy poop like this when he gets sick. But what is shocking to me about this cartoon, however, is that the medicine apparently was not absorbed into the boy's body, yet has miraculously made him feel better (yet didn't stop the ever runny nose, of course). Now what's even more shocking is that the boy's poop is powerful enough to knock out flies, worms and even rats instantly.


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Korea Life Blog - Drunk'n 'n Punch'n


I was walking down the street in Sinchon, Seoul when I heard someone shout at me, "Mol chobada? Saule?!" (What are you looking at? Wanna fight?) I turned to see the voice was coming from this machine guy, yet another drunk'n 'n punch'n game. The idea is he insults you. You put in a few coins and bash his face in. If you don't hit him hard enough he yells out more insults. Then you get so angry your start kicking him and knock his nose plum off, I guess. I didn't notice it at the time, but the guy looks suspiciously more like a crazed U.S soldier than a instigating, insulting Korean...


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Korea Life Blog - Fame?



Huge banners with my name on them are popping up in my town! I guess my boss is trying hard to make more money from my adult class, which currently has only 2 students. It would have been nice if he asked my permission before he started hanging these things all over the place, though. Now everywhere I go, people know exactly who the white guy is, where he works, and his boss's phone number (blocked out in the photo). I just don't see how my name is that much of an attraction. Couldn't he just use the words foreigner or American. Living in such a small town, I have to watch what I do enough as it is. Thanks boss! Now I'm famous!


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Korea Life Blog - A Load of Garbage

I still have no idea where to put my trash. Nobody does. I used to put it outside of my building next to everyone elses trash, but the landlord cracked down. The respected older man was outside the building one night - drunk as a hanguk skunk as usual - and lectured me for about an hour in Korean about not putting my garbage outside (then made me go to his restaurant and drink bek se ju and eat side dishes while he lectured me some more while his wife told me how smart her sons are and how one is going to Stanford next year or something...)

When I asked the landlord where to put the trash, he shrugged and pointed somewhere down the main street where a small pile had formed on the sidewalk in front of a random pole. So now, along with my other neighbors, in the late hours of the night, I am forced to put on dark clothes and sneak away to shamefully toss my garbage on the heap.


Here is a photo of that pile now, several weeks later. It continues to grow and grow with no sign of abating, as far as I can see. Perhaps someday it will grow so large that it will replace of the entire sidewalk. The only good side is that the stray cats and dogs don't go hungry. Hmm, I think I can use that umbrella....


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written by shawn matthews    -|link