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10/30/2003
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Korea Life Blog - At the Hagwon (4) - Halloween
Well, tomorrow is Halloween. Our school doesn't do anything special for it, thank God. At the nightmare Wonderland school I first worked at in Geoje-do, we spent weeks (mostly in our break time) making decorations, costumes, a cheesy haunted house in a classroom, and planning real trick-or-treating at the parents' high rise apartments. Here I take it upon myself as yet another chance to have the kids draw and color while I sit back, relax, write in my journal or read the newspaper secretly tucked inside my "lessons" folder. First I passed out a sheet of Halloween monsters and then had them draw what they wanted. Let's have a look at what Class 2 from today came up with. (Sorry about the poor picture quality again...not sure what happened).
This one is pretty cute. I love the red and blue theme and smeared (drunk ajumma?) lipstick. Is it me or does it look like the witch was stabbed with the broom instead of riding on it?
Here's the Grim Reaper. I love the blue face and green sickle. Best yet, his evil? smile. If the Grim Reaper exists, I hope he looks like this.
Here's what Fiona drew. That's supposed to be me there hanging out in the graveyard, I guess, as I normally do on Halloween. I look pretty terrified of that angry ghost - and with good reason! In the next scene I've been reduced to 3 bleeding body parts! Thanks a lot, Fiona. (Note the Korean style graves. Those aren't tombstones, they are mounds of earth and grass.)
Hmm, I've yet to see a vampire that looks like this. I've yet to see a yellow pumpkin wearing an orange dress either.
Not a bad looking Zombie. I'm not sure if it's vomiting or if its insides are showing. Pretty gruesome either way.
If this were America, this kid would be taking a trip to the school psychologist. I'm not exactly sure what's going on in this scene, but it's pretty bloody. Apparently, while the helicopter pilot sprays water on the ghosts, a superhero? swoops down, takes off his clothes and throws a gernade on a grave, causing blood to erupt like a volcano and a severed head to appear.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Strange Conglomerations (3)
Things that I can see in this conglomeration are:
1. a 24 hour spa/sauna on the top floor
2. a wedding hall below the sauna
3. a "Mi-shee-gan" language school, I guess referring to Michigan?
4. some kind of Lego center (hard to see but that's the Lego symbol beneath the wedding hall)
5. a dentist clinic
6. a bank
7. a couple of restaurants
8. a 24 hour convenient store in between two handphone stores.
9. a bakery
10. a bunch of other places I can't make out
The funniest part about this building in my opinion is the wedding hall. Can you imagine having your $25,000 Korean wedding in this place, right under a 24 hour Spa/Sauna and right above a Lego center?
Here's Homeplus. I guess Samsung and Tesco are also in on the deal. It's basically another shopping center like a Walmart Super Center back home but with more groceries. There's also a KFC, Lotteria, and Korean food court in this one. I like the electronics floor. They have everything from electric stoves on up to high-end flat-screen TVs (mostly Samsung go-figure) and notebook computers (Samsung, of course). I bought a couple of shirts and some boxer shorts. I don't like going in these places because they are usually very noisy, jammed pack with people and you have to wait 10 minutes to check-out. The upside is the salespeople leave you alone a lot more than in a small shop. I actually had to go find somebody when I had a question.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/29/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Ode to Chongak
Chongak: the name I gave to an orange and white cat with half a tail, one blind eye, a dirty, scruffy face and a loud, yearning meow that called out to anyone who would listen for a little kindness, a few minutes of attention and a scrap of food. Despite his obviously rough life and handicaps, he had a wonderful little spirit. For months I spotted him trotting all over town, biting through garbage bags for scraps of fish, meowing at the wind, chasing insects in the weeds, ducking rocks thrown by heartless kids, rolling around playfully in the dirt, and chasing after a cat called Agashi, who consistently rejected him, hissed and scratched at him. To see his face when she went into one of these rants always made me laugh. It was if he were thinking, "Oh no! not this routine again. Give it up and let's make a little Chongak." Eventually, poor thing, she had a kitten with another cat.
Along with the others, he grew to enjoy hanging around my backyard, a small, quiet safe-haven where the sun shines all morning and afternoon. That's when I started to give him tuna. At first, when I went out, he would hide until I had gone. But one night I went out late and he came out of the bushes meowing so happily, surprising me. I figured he was just extremely hungry, but when I dumped the tuna on a plate, he ignored it and jumped on my lap. Unlike the other strays around who are afraid of people and will take a scrap of food but claw your hand if you get too close, Chongak began to trust me. He had a very loud and affectionate purr and kneaded my leg with his paws. After a while he got up to eat the tuna. The mosquitos were biting, so I started back inside, but Chongak followed me - once again potentially giving up a delicious tuna dinner in return for more attention. When I went inside he meowed in the hallway for five minutes as if to say, "Hey come back, please, hey come on!" before eventually returning to the food. That's when I knew he was a special cat, and that's why I flew into a rage when I saw some kids taunting him outside my hagwon as he meowed for the kind Chinese food ajushi. If you could have seen the way he approached those students with his loveable meow, his little trot, his half a tail, his blind eye - you would have felt the same. If they had been my age, I would have been deported for throwing punches.
Well, as you know Chongak came back to my house that night and I let him in, fed him a delicious meal, brushed him for 20 minutes and let him sleep under my bed on the warm floor for an hour before he meowed to be let out. A part of me contemplated keeping the little guy, but my place is much too small, the nearest cat supplies are an hour away, and I have no idea where a veterinarian is. Also, it wouldn't be fair to pent up a little cat who is used to wandering about - especially when I don't know how long I'll be here.
As you may have guessed by now, Chongak died today. He was run over by a car. I was walking back to my apartment from my hagwon and saw his dead body in the road, a flat black spot with orange and white fur and the outline of a stumpy tail. While I had feared it would happen, it shocked me nonetheless. I wish I hadn't seen it. After a few days or weeks I could have thought he had been taken in or run off to some other part of town for the winter. But now I know he's gone.
For me, the little guy made Nowhere-dong a little more cozy and familiar. His presence gave me something to look forward to each day and night and I will truly miss him. The only comfort I can find is that for once in his miserable life, somebody really cared about him, gave him a little love and a few good meals. Briefly he experienced that and his purr showed me he appreciated it and was happy for that short time.
I'm sorry Chongak. I wish I could have done more for you little guy, and you will truly be missed. Rest in peace in cat heaven. I hope there you have fresh fish everyday, a new girlfriend, two good eyes and a full tail.
Sadly, I don't have any new pictures to show you. I kept thinking that sooner or later I'd take more. I wish you could see his dirty yet adorable face. For now I will go on feeding Agashi and the kitten, even though they don't let me pet them and don't have anywhere near the personality of Chongak.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/28/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Wonderland
Yet one more reason not to work at Wonderland. Read this article:
Koreans jail Canadian on dubious ground
You can also read the discussion thread here: ESL Cafe Thread
This article reminds me of the time my friend John quit his job at Megaton hagwon in Ulsan (don't ever work there!). The owner was outraged and I believe spiteful (they never got on well because they treated John differently as he was Australian - paid him less, made him work more hours, and encouraged him to speak American English). The boss claimed he found drugs at John's apartment while cleaning it and called the police. I'm not sure what he found, but my friend John did not take drugs and if he did, he was far too smart to leave anything behind like that. Luckily for John, he had already left the country for Thailand. However, when I informed him online of the situation he realized he could never come back to Korea for fear of being arrested and locked up. He ended up staying in Thailand and becoming a professor there. As for me, I ended up getting tested for drugs by the police for the simple reason I was his good friend. Needless to say I passed, but I was sweating bullets for the entire way through realizing how easy it would be for them to frame me.
OK, I just got a referral to this article:
Canadians caught in drug crackdown, not job scam
No matter what the outcome is, I advise anyone not to work at Wonderland (especially in Geoje-do) and more importantly I advise everyone not to even think about doing drugs in Korea. Nothing has changed about that.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Summer and Winter
In Korea there are four seasons - technically. However, having lived here for several years, I can attest that there are really two seasons: summer and winter. Just about a month ago I was coming home in sweat, wearing a T-shirt. Fall came and just as quickly fall went. There were about 4 weeks of ideal weather. Starting last week the temperature has dropped day by day. Tonight I'm wearing a heavy sweater and a jacket, the wind is whipping, it's plain cold.
I snapped this picture outside my window today. Actually, that's a total lie. I stole this picture off the net. It hasn't started snowing. And when it does, it won't be anything like back in New York. But it gets equally as cold here. Good thing my apartment is warm. However, we only have space heaters in the school which is a real drag and my boss is a stickler about not using them until it's absolutely necessary. It was cold all day.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/27/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Adultery
When I was looking for the article in the paper today about 10 more foreign teachers here being arrested on drug charges, I came across an EFL Korea law website. One of the specific crimes to be aware of is adultery:
Korea is one of the few countries on earth that has adultery laws on the books that are enforced. I have only known of foreign men to be prosecuted for this, not women. If you are caught sleeping with someone's wife, you may have to pay the outraged husband thousands of dollars to prevent him from taking you to court. If he does choose to prosecute, article 241 of Korean law states you can face a jail term of up to two years.
Under Korean law, adultery is a serious criminal act and carries a serious consequences. If one spouse is caught having an adulterous affair with let's say an unmarried 25-year, single person, the other spouse can press a criminal charge against the adulterous spouse and put the spouse in jail, in addition to seeking civil damages. In addition, the spouse can press criminal charge against the person who knowingly had an affair with the adulterous spouse. (Therefore, if you are a single, you should avoid sexual relations with a married person at all costs.) A majority of Korean women favor keeping this law on adultery precisely because they perceive that this law could be used as a weapon against their husbands in divorce
I guess I'm doing the right thing avoiding the ajumma who misses the touch of warm hands and a hard body.
I'm not exactly sure how foreigners have gotten caught doing this? Are they caught red handed in the act? I wonder if one can get arrested based on accusation alone. It's best to avoid getting in any trouble in a foreign country. Based on what my friend told me about being in jail here, that's the last place on Earth anyone wants to be. My advice for the day: don't get overly friendly with any married women in Korea...and don't even think about taking drugs.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/26/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Decorative Tissue Box (1)
I just love the artwork on some of the tissue boxes here. You can buy American Kleenex here as well, but why would you want to.
A pretty scene of a small country cottage decorates this tissue box. There's something about it that makes me long to have a runny nose.
That reminds me of the joke:
Me: Is your nose running?
Victim: Yes, it is.
Me: (cackling with insane laughter) Well you'd better catch it before it runs out the door.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/25/2003
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Korea Life Blog - At the Store (1)
After posting the grocery ad, I got the idea to take my camera to the store when I go. This time I got off a measly five shots before running out of room on the memory card once again. That's becoming very annoying. I'm running out of old pictures that I feel OK about deleting. Pretty soon I'll be back to stealing pics off the internet or begging readers for more send-ins. In the meantime, enjoy this first post in the exciting new series: At the Store.
Well, if you didn't believe me before, here it is: SPAM. A whole heap of it too - with quite a lot already sold. The cans go 3 for 8,800 won. That's about $7.50...comparable to back home? I have no idea. I've never actually tried this stuff. There's something about meat packed in a can that's a turn off. However, I used to love Dinty Moore Beef Stew in can. Now where can I get some of that? I think I've seen it in Seoul before, but I can't remember.
Here's Tony the Tiger and his frosted corn flakes on sale in Nowhere-dong Korea. I just noticed that the Korean name is not Corn Flakes, it Corn Frost. Huk!
In the back of the store are several more American cereals. There's a few kinds here I've never seen before. Now that I've become like a Korean ajushi and eat rice and kimchi for breakfast, I don't buy cereals. Chocolate Chex looks pretty good, although I'd prefer to see the original kind. One cereal I just thought about and really would like to eat again is Cinnamon Life. That kid Mikey liked it and so do I.
Not the best picture, but here it is nonetheless. No. 1 Spirits in the World: Soju! And now available in lunchbox packable container! The only thing that's missing is the plastic straw to go with it. I often wonder who buys soju in a box. I've never actually seen anyone drinking from one. I placed it tantalizingly in front of the glass bottles and stood around for awhile ready to sneak a photo from the shadows of an unsuspecting alcoholic. But while bottle after bottle flew off the shelf, unfortunately nobody took the box. Dang!
Also flying off the shelves is Cass beer in a can. The Hite, while tasting pretty similar, just can't keep up. Usually cans are sold individually in this manner and they're not cheap. One small can like this is 1,800 Won, or about $1.50. However, you can get a slight discount if you can find a six pack.
Well that's it for now. I'll get more pics for this series sooner or later. Stay tuned...
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - A Hearty Meal
The students and I went out for bulgogi last night. They had just gotten a fresh cow in that day and gave us extra "service" in the form of raw cow heart and liver. It grossed me out. Harry gobbled down the liver but it wasn't long before the other students put him to the ultimate test: eating a piece of the heart. At first he refused but eventually caved under mounting pressure.
In disbelief, I made him wait while I got out my camera. I didn't have enough space left to shoot a video, but I managed to snap the sequence and "gif" them together. It actually came out pretty good. Here it goes: first he picks up a piece and examines it, then he sets it in the salt sauce. After a preparatory shot of soju he gobbles down the red and bloody chunk. The ensuing expression on his face says it all: "Mmm, now that's damn good cow heart."
Here are a few more mouth watering pictures from the dinner:
This is called bulgogi jeon gol. Basically it means bulgogi boiled in water, spices, and vegetables. I prefer regular ole bulgogi, but this was pretty delicious too. There was a bit of an argument during dinner as to whether this style is traditional or modern.
The ajumma volunteered to have her picture taken while tending the meal. I'm not sure she would have volunteered so eagerly had she known she would end up on this website, however. I feel bad for these ajummas that have to bend over like this all day. Their backs must really feel awful by closing time.
Here are the side dishes. There certainly is no shortage of food in this country. In front of the lettuce salad on the left is stingray and go chu jang (thick soypaste mixed with red pepper). I felt a little disgusted after trying the yellow dish. I found out those are jelly fish. Yuck!
Another shot of the side dishes. The flat green things are bu chim gae, which some people call Korean pizza, although it has absolutely no resemblance in any form to pizza. It tastes delicious though and I ate most of it. That salad has entirely too much mayonnaise on it. I ate a lot of the two kimchis, coleslaw, and greens. All in all, a hearty meal indeed.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/24/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Eyesore (1)
No matter which city you live in the world, you have the good, the bad, and the plain ugly. Korea, of course, is no exception.
An example of a real eyesore sent in by one of my field reporters. It's not uncommon to see sites such as these. There's not a lot of space to work when taking down a building and clean-up is sometimes left unfinished until the next building goes up. Not a lot to look at outside those windows. This kind of view on a daily basis would make me a little depressed. And when the new building goes up, the neighbors will be subjected to construction noises all day and night for the next few months. Looking again at this picture, I can't help but think how dangerous it is to have so many gas tanks clustered about like that. They are sitting right next to central air-conditioning units and an assortment of other electrical wires. Perhaps a few "no smoking" and "danger" signs would be useful here. Yikes!
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written by shawn matthews
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10/23/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Grocery Store Ad
An ad for the local grocery store came in my mailbox box today. I thought I'd share it with you. It may be interesting for people thinking about coming here to see it, or for Koreans living in America to compare the prices of their favorite items. Shopping in Korea is still difficult for me as I don't know exactly what to cook. I should invest in a Korean cookbook in English, or print out some recipes from online. If any of my Korean readers have some good recipes for simple Korean dishes, send them along. I plan on making a lot of Korean meals now that I have my new rice cooker. Today I bought kimchi, dwen jang paste, soy sauce, ko chu jang, kim, garlic, tofu, onion, sam gyeop sal, mi yuk guk, and a bunch of canned fish for "my" cats. I really felt Korean checking out with that assortment of goods. When in Rome do as they do.
There's quite a lot of stuff going on sale this week. The store is pretty small...it looks like there's a sale on pretty much everything. There's a few American things here: Del Monte Orange juice, Coke (of course), Maxwell House coffee, and Kellog's Frosted Flakes. There's also Spam but it's hard to see. Believe it or not, Spam is very popular here. They even sell huge Spam gift sets (a must get photo for a future post.) Sorry about the glare on these pics. I didn't notice it until now. Other things here are rice, cooking oils, mayonnaise, eggs (brown eggs are just as good as white eggs don't worry) ramyon, cold coffee drinks, dry cream, milk, yogurt drink (yum!) etc....
Another part of the ad. Dove Soap and Pringles are the only American products on this page. Korean versions of what you need are just as good and sometimes better. I remember how stupid I was when I first got here. I had my family send me soap and toothpaste for awhile. Now I think Korean soap is actually better and I found a great LG made toothpaste that has some kind of gritty substance in it that makes my teeth clean and bright. However, I have yet to see any razor or shaving cream that even remotely compares to Gillette. You can find Mach 3 and Gillette shaving cream pretty much anywhere here at equally outrageous prices as back home.
There's no shortage of vegetables or meat here, don't worry. Vegetables are abundant but meat is just not in the same shape and form you would find at home and is understandably more expensive. Don't fret - bulgogi and sam gyeop sal are reasonable and wonderfully delicious. You won't see T-bone, NYS prime rib, or Filet Mingion so forget it. On a real down side, you can't buy fresh deli meats in Korea and I have yet to come across a turkey. Now that I think about it, I really miss cold cut sandwiches and deli pickles. Good thing there are several Subway franchises in Seoul! Now, what cracks me up is the middle section of this page. I'm not sure why, but the fish and fruit are listed side by side. Nothing goes better with an apple than some fish. Also, notice the tomatoes there in the same row. In Korea tomatoes are considered a fruit.
Tonight when I went shopping, they were having some kind of no rae bang contest in the store. Right next to the vegetables people were lined up to sing their favorite song. An ajumma, carrying a full basket of groceries, sang Korean country music so passionately that other ajummas applauded loudly and practically broke into tears. I wish I had my camera with me.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - KLB Stats
Page views today: 751
This week: 3036
This month: 10827
I hit a record high of 751 hits today. That's far beyond what I ever imagined. I remember being happy when I got 20 hits for the first time. I'm not sure though how many hits are from individual readers and how many are coming from people checking back for updates frequently. Blogger stats doesn't keep track of that and I'm too lazy to sign up for another sitemeter. Anyway, thanks everyone for reading my blog. More updates to come soon.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/22/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Sushi
Another delightful food I never once even considered trying back in the states is sushi. Now I love it. It's a little expensive even here. Luckily I've never actually paid anything the times I've had it. My bosses have taken me out before and two of my adult students took me to have it on Friday. A new restaurant just opened up across the street from my home (next to the new stationery store in a quickly built but functional building). Here are a few pictures I took. Unfortunately I ran out of room on my camera's memory card (must get computer soon) before the main sushi dish came out. These are just the side dishes:
I tried everything here except the one that is most to the front. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but it was still moving! I tried to take a video of it with my camera, but there was not enough space left on the memory card, drat! In the back to the far left is a sushi salad. That was one of my favorites. You can also see the two raw shrimp. Those tasted pretty good too.
Within a few minutes the waitress came back with yet more side dishes. Keep in mind I thought all this was the main meal, but it wasn't. On the left is a bowl of clam soup. The clams were cooked and the soup hot. You can see the mandu next to that. Next to the mandu is some breaded sushi, raw salmon. That was delicious. I forgot the name of that cooked fish there. Regardless, the site of that thing would have grossed me out a few years ago, but now I eat things like that without flinching. It tastes absolutely delicious - just be careful of the bones. Meanwhile those dark red things in the front are still squirming. To my disgust, one of the students ate a bunch.
Another shot now a little to the right. Notice the corn - it's sizzling on a hot plate. Mmmm...There's some raw salmon in front of that, sliced a little thick, but it tasted great. It's probably my favorite raw fish. To the front are the sauces. I've heard people say that the sauce can make or break a sushi meal. They tasted fine to me. The dark one is ordinary soy sauce. More cooked fish can be seen to the right. You're not going to believe this, but I are two of those whole. Yum! Again, I forgot the name. A bit later the waitress brought out caviar dor sot bim im bap (rice and vegetables served sizzling in a hot bowl). It was the first time I have tried caviar...not bad, but I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.
Another angle. I'm not sure why I'm including this...just to show you how much food there is...and these are just the side dishes! Whoa!
Well, I'm disappointed I was unable to take a picture of the main course. I should have deleted the picture above instead. Oh well...I wasn't thinking straight after awhile. The three of us went through 5 bottles of soju and I was clearly off my rocker.
The two students:
Harry. He has a brand new Tusconi or Tiburon as it's known elsewhere. It's a really nice little sports car that is quite popular here. All the female Korean teachers fancy him. He's 32 and still living single with his family. Where is his perfect bride? he wonders. After a lot of soju he confesses he's a little lonely.
Harvey. He's my oldest student, close to 50. At first I was nervous when he joined the class. But he is very nice and speaks English quite well. He lives in Nowhere-dong but his wife and kids live in Pusan. He goes home every weekend. In tonight's class he told me how his son and daughter, high school students, go to various private schools and receive private tutoring until 12 AM, after which time they go to a study room until 2 AM and finally return home at 2:30 AM. He pays 1,300,000 won a month, or about $1,050 for their combined after-school studies. Not only that, but I was surprised to find out Korean parents have to pay 500,000 won, quarterly for public high school education as well. No wonder families are shipping off to other countries by the thousands. Anyway, in the photo he's gearing up for another piece of that dark red seafood that's still moving. Notice the omnipresent bottle of Coca-Cola. Yes, it's everywhere - even at this small sushi restaurant in Nowhere-dong, Korea.
Well, the main dish came out, one gigantic dish full of more sushi. The meal and soju came to a total of about 100,000 won, or nearly 85 dollars. I tried to chip in, but they seemed almost insulted by the idea. We all got wonderful? free gifts: a dish towel and a lighter with the restaurant's name and phone number on them. I took a bag of leftovers for Chongak and Gang, including the fish carcass - all of which was gone by the morning.
Poor Harvey. After paying, he discovered his shoes were gone. (In sit-on-the-floor restaurants you take off your shoes near the entrance). The owner gave him a pair of sandals to wear home, but offered no discount or resolution beyond a business card and telling him to call back in a few days. After spending 100,000 won on dinner we all found this ridiculous. I guess we won't be going back...
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Peeping Wangs
I accidentally deleted this post. Here are a bunch of guys in China oggling at a promotion girl. One of my reader's found this and sent it to me. Before I had commented that while Korea also has promotion girls like this, you don't see people staring at them as obviously as in this picture. I said some other things too, wonderfully amazing, hilarious things that I have now forgotten...fate is sometimes cruel.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/20/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Bap Sot
Well, here it is. My brand new Cuckoo rice cooker. It cost me a mere 50,000 won at E-mart. (Is it me, or does E-mart sound quite similar to K-mart?) It really is a wise investment and sure to save me money from eating out all the time. I cooked up a batch (right word?) of rice the same night I got it. These things are amazing. They cook the rice to a perfect texture and then keep it warm and moist with steam for almost 2 days. When the batch I made started to get a little hard I mixed up the remainder with some tuna and put it out for the cats in a big bowl. The next day it was all gone. Now I'm eating rice for breakfast, something a few years ago would have sounded preposterous to me. The other morning I made mi yuk guk (sea weed soup) and ate it with kimchi and tomatoes. A wonderfully healthy breakfast. Again, the thought of eating sea weed soup and rice for breakfast would have made me laugh before...but now it seems, well, quite natural. Skeptics may cringe, but it's true.
I'm excited at all the new dishes I can now cook up. Last night I made sam gyeop sal, and tonight I made plain rice and ate it with processed seaweed, kimchi, spicy leaves, and tater tots. Tomorrow or the next day I may make some kimchi chigae of dwen jang chigae.
As for kimchi, I've become highly addicted. For the past 3 months, I've been consuming about 1 KG per week, which doesn't include what I munch down at the restaurants. (By the way, I also find myself thinking in the metric system more and more. It just makes better sense.) Until I got the rice machine I was eating the red delight with french fries, ramyon noodles, mandu, eggs, or whatever else was in the fridge. I even put it on my hamburgers in place of cheese. It goes well with everything, in my opinion. I eat it with breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've even woken up in the middle of the night to gobble down a few pieces. It's absolutely delicious. Yes, you may think I've been in Korea too long, but it sure beats everything else I used to consider appealing in terms of healthiness. The only thing I worry about is whether I'm consuming too much salt now.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - In the Interim
I uploaded a bunch of new pics today but won't have time to post and comment until later or maybe tomorrow. In the meantime you can check out this new blog called Lost Seouls. I found a link there to this funny game that will also keep you busy for hours un-end. Swiss James dug it up in his noble, unbridled quest to bring the truth to the world about Korea.
Click here to play the Ddong Chim Game!
You can also read this story which I posted recently on a Korean discussion board:
I went to get my haircut, something I always dread here. I picked a new place near my home, a salon. The ajumma was completely taken off guard by me, same with her assistant. They crowded around me and spent more time asking me questions in Korean than cutting my hair. Finally, my limited Korean ran out. But no matter how many times I said "I hae moteyo," ( I don't understand) they continued to ask me again and again and again... Finally the owner ajumma called her friend who could speak English. This new woman, English name Stella, came running from across town to meet me. Huffing and puffing she sat down next to me and asked me 4,000 questions in English while my hair was being cut - painfully slowly. Finally the haircut ended with a good wash and rinse. This is where the story turns.
I wanted to leave and badly. I had already been there almost 2 hours. But Stella, who is married and has 2 sons, wanted me to eat with her and drink beer. I said no, as I wanted to go to the health club. "Oh," she said. "You use health club?" She followed me out to the hallway and asked for my number. I gave her it out of politeness and tried to go. She followed me all the way to the health club, and then to my amazement, she actually joined the health club, paying for a 3 month membership! Fortunately she didn't have any clothes with her to exercise in and finally left. That night she sent me a text message saying how happy she was to meet me. 9:00 AM next day, she's calling me. I didn't answer. She called me 3 times. Finally I answered and she asked if we could eat together that night.
That night came and she called. I tried to make a story. I said I had to go to E-mart to get a rice cooker. What a lame story, she offered to drive (which was actually convenient for me). During the ride she told me about her boring husband who is overly religious and sings gospels songs every night for 1-2 hours. She told me she wore a slip and did a salsa dance for him and he just looked at her strangely and shrugged...more stories like this followed.
Finally we got back. I got my new Cookoo Rice cooker from the trunk and other things. I shook her hand to say thanks, and she gasped, clasping my hand between hers. "I miss the feel of warm hands - and a hard body," she said looking at my chest. Then she blushed, "I sang hae?" (Is it strange?)
I chuckled and said goodbye and went home. She's called me several more times, but I live in a small town and don't want to start a scandal amongst the neighborhood. I haven't answered her calls since. I'm not sure if I'm over reacting, or if she's really flirting with me. Hmm...
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written by shawn matthews
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10/19/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Self Contained Stores
I've seen hundreds of self contained mini-stores before; they usually sell drinks, newspapers, and cigarettes, but I've never seen one that services and shines shoes and also makes duplicate keys. The exclamation in the window reads chin jul! I think meaning kindess, but I may be wrong. I wonder if these shops are legal. Can anyone set one up in an open space? Do you need a permit? Do you pay a bribe? If it were legal to teach privately, I'd consider opening a self contained English school and give private lessons to passers-by for 35,000 won/hour. "English to Go", that's what I'd call it. I'd even sell "English to Go" books and "English to Go" T-shirts (featuring my happy face). Perhaps I'd also serve up some "English to Go" o-daeng to boot.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/17/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Cosmetic Obsession (1) - Bigger Eyes
In Korea, appearance is everything. Korean women are famous for their cosmetic obession. They are amongst the largest consumers of makeup in the world. Plastic surgery is also extremely big business here. Even the Ophthamologist is in on it:
Apparently the eye doctor can make you as beautiful as the girl in the ad. One of his specialties (the last one listed in the green circle) is eyelid alteration to make the eyes bigger, a popular cosmetic surgery here that costs about 1,000,000 won. Now look closely at the yellow circle. The doctor has included a special message for you. Hmm, perhaps God will love you more if you have bigger eyes.
Now take a look at this poignant story:
Park Sang Mi's parents were against plastic surgery until her older sister came home one day with bigger eyes. Park followed suit last year, her parents approved, and she took a part-time job at Baskin Robbins to help them foot the bill. "Now I know nobody will laugh at me for being ugly," Park says gratefully. Her boyfriend knows her eyelids are altered, she adds, but he absolutely loves them. Park, now 20, doesn't have plans to return to the clinic immediately, but wants liposuction performed on her thighs some day. Meanwhile, she's considering her friends' advice to trash her old photographs.
(Perhaps one of these girls is Sang Mi?)
I find her friend's advice to trash her old photographs especially humorous. Get rid of the evidence that you were once an ugly nobody with small eyes.
(If anyone has any photos of ajummas wearing obssessive amounts of makeup, please send me them to assakorea10@yahoo.com).
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written by shawn matthews
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10/16/2003
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Korea Life Blog - In the News (2)
Another bit of scandalous news. Take a look at this piece from today's JoongAng Daily:
Police investigate swinging set of doctors, executives, professors
[Lee Chul-jae] Seoul police are investigating a spouse-swapping sex ring, but they have not been able to press charges against the high-income swingers because no law exists against couples exchanging sexual favors.
Seven middle-aged couples gathered Oct. 5 in the evening at a home in Icheon, Gyeonggi province, southeast of Seoul, according to the police. They started the evening with a barbecue and drinks, and afterward they undressed and began dancing while exchanging partners. They retired in pairs to separate bedrooms with someone other than their spouse. The people, who were members of a swingers club, included physicians, executives of medium-size businesses, public servants and college professors.
The couples got to know one another by way of an Internet site. They exchanged personal information and photographs by email. To ensure that the couples were actually married, wedding photos or a copy of the family registry were also presented.
The Web site was operated by a man who told police of another get-together that took place a year ago when four couples met at a karaoke bar in the Gangnam district in Seoul to swap spouses, he said.
The operator of the Web site said he had introduced more than 30 married couples, and most of them had advanced degrees. They seemed to be attracted to swinging out of curiosity, but some appeared to become obsessed with swapping after five or six encounters, he said. ��But I have not heard of one couple who broke up because of the experience,�� he told police.
The chief executive of a trading company, who was a member of a swingers group, said his wife first said the idea was ��sick�� but eventually she had herself talked into encounters with a college professor and a school teacher.
A police officer said there are about 10 Internet sites catering to swingers and about 6,000 people are believed to be members. Most of the sites operate on servers based in other countries, he said.
by Lee Chul-jae jackkim@joongang.co.kr
2003-10-16
Similar coverage appeared in today's Korea Herald that focused more on the couples who did their swapping at the no rae bang (first singing and drinking, then going to different rooms to have sex with their new partners).
I can understand the no rae bang owner being arrested for promoting sexual intercourse at his business, but why are the police arresting the website operators? They weren't showing pornography on their sites, which would be illegal here - they just provided a means for married people with peculiar yet mutual desires to meet others who have the same interest. What's wrong with that?
On the cover of several Korean newspapers, there were pictures taken by hidden cameras showing the swingers getting undressed. If any of my diligent Korean speaking readers could dig up the links to these photos, a lot of readers here would probably appreciate it.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/15/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Obvious Imitations (1)
When I first came to Korea, I was very naive. I had little knowledge about fake brand name items. When I saw a pair of "Timberland" shoes in a shop for 20,000 won, I thought, wow! What a great deal. I bought them and the first time they got wet, they turned yellowish orange. I also had purchased a "Levis" belt for 5,000 won that broke a week later. While not as rampant as in countries like China, Thailand, and the Philippines, imitation brand name goods are still available here by-and-large. Some items are so well crafted that you'd never know the difference. Others are really obvious, even intentionally so. Take a look at this nicely put together collection of "Puma" T-shirts sent in my one of my readers:
I just love these. I'd like to get that Tuna shirt with the ? symbol as the trademark. Most of these are obvious copies done so intentionally, but I'm not so sure about Fuma. I bet someone just made an error when making that one.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Dog Cruelty
A Horrible Photo of Animal Cruelty
Well, I decided against actually posting the picture here, but if you want to see the other extreme of dog treatment, click on the link. You can figure out where these dogs are headed. Be prepared, the photo will (and should) break your heart. While there is a tremendous amount of affection giving to special small dogs, other kinds of dogs aren't so lucky. I thought it appropriate to show both sides.
While not as cruel as the treatment in the photo, of course, another thing I can't stand is the way some people (and this is true anywhere in the world) tie their dogs to a pole or put them in small cages and leave them there all day and night. You see this often in Seoul and elsewhere in front of or behind restaurants and shops especially. The owners tend to work all day everyday and their poor pets have to wait, bored out of their minds, whimpering, unable to sleep because of the noises and distractions of the hustle and bustle of city life.
Stay tuned for more upbeat posts.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/14/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Puppy Love (1)
Small dogs are extremely popular pets in Korea. This is, I assume, because a: in general Korean people don't like cats much, and b: apartments are usually too small to house bigger dogs. One thing is for sure, Koreans love to pamper their little pets. They take them everywhere, buy them all sorts of toys and dress them in trendy puppy clothes. I think that owning one of the cute little things would be a definite plus in getting the attention of Korean girls. Hmm...
While it was more popular a few years back, but you still may find some poor poodles with shaved bodies and/or dyed ears. Seeing this, you can't help but feel sympathy for the little creatures, running about with pink ears, helpless to articulate in words the overwhelming shame and embarrassment they must feel in front of their ordinary peers.
Always a crowd stopper, puppy dogs for sale on a busy street. There's a girl who's obviously interested. She is completely focused on them. Certainly the quickest way to attract a lovely Korean girl, perhaps 2 or 3 lovely Korean girls, is to pick yourself up one of these cute little things. Arf! arf!
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Zip! Zip! Zoom!
Zip! Zip! Zoom! There's another way to get there faster and easier: motorized skateboards. As if the busy sidewalks aren't chaotic enough. There's nothing like walking down the sidewalk and getting bumped out of the way by some kid on one of these in a hurry to get to the PC bang or deokboki and o-daeng stand. Luckily these motorized hazards aren't too popular yet. Another noisy nuisance you sometimes see are motorized mini-scooters. They actually look a little fun, but if I'm going a short distance, I prefer to walk. I don't need something to make me anymore lazy than I already am.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Great News!
I just got a surprise e-mail. Blogger managed to upgrade my account to 100MB from the previous 25MB which I had just reached. I'm not sure if I'll be getting charged more or not. Since Blogger was taken over by Google, I haven't been charged the usual $5 a month anyway, but they are still offering the pay plan for new signups to Blogspot. I'm so happy! There is no shortage of space and updates will continue uninterrupted!
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written by shawn matthews
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10/13/2003
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Korea Life Blog - A Decorative Bathroom Entrance
From automatic faucets and flushing to Etiquette Bells, public bathrooms in the subway stations are getting more and more fancy. Look at the entrance to this one, decorative and shiny. You'd think you were entering some kind of museum or an art exhibition. Also, slowly but surely, most restrooms are becoming handicap accessible. I've noticed that the nicer the bathroom the more people follow the "no smoking" rule as well. I'm not sure if this is the case in the women's room though. While they can smoke inside, it's culturally prohibited for females to smoke outside in public.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/11/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Copy Cats in the Land of Sameness
I wouldn't recognize this myself because my Korean is not so good. I'm actually surprised this kind of blatant copying exists. I wonder how many more examples are out there.
In the words of the reader who sent these photos to me:
"A lot of Korean store signs really cracked me up. Even two stores side by side on the very same street tried to copy-cat each other. The difference is very subtle and it is really obvious that one tried to copy-cat the other's sign.
If you look at the first pic, you will see the two signs, 'Eating galbi while standing' and 'Eating galbi while sitting'. The second and third pics should have been taken together, but I couldn't capture them in one picture because of the distance. Anyhow, one says, 'brother, it is me!' and the other says, 'sister, it is me'. Both of the restaurants serve pork galbi."
I have to wonder if these restaurants are owned by the same family. You would think that the people being copied would be outraged otherwise.
Today, by coincidence, I happened to notice the name of the new apartments being built in my town is Shin Han. The old apartments next door are called Han Shin.
I always wonder why they build the same kind of stores and restaurants right next to each other. As I've said before, there are chicken restaurants in my town side by side. A stationery store recently opened up directly across the street from another. It's not uncommon to see entire streets lined the same style restaurants. Right in Suwon there is a street where every restaurant serves sam gyeop sal. Even ajummas set up their deokboki and o-daeng stands inches away from one another. The same cellphone stores selling the exact same phones are literally on every corner. Unfortunately there is all together a pervasive lack of creativity in Korea. Most architecture looks alike, which most people agree is a disappointment when traveling from city to city. Even way down in Geoje-do everything looks like it does everywhere else. Oh well, I guess this is also becoming true in America. There used to be a lot of diversity between cities and towns before the onslaught of fast food and shopping franchises.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/10/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Comments
I really appreciate when people leave comments. I was disappointed to go back through some of the old posts and discover that all comments up until September have suddenly vanished. I apologize to the people that took the time to comment back then. I don't know what happened. The more things like this happen the more discouraged I become. Maybe it's time to just give it up and stop updating.
Well, I am honestly surprised to see all the comments being left urging me to continue. Thanks everybody! What a nice treat to see 20+ comments today. The more people leave comments, the more I'm encouraged to work on my site.
I found out what happened to the old comments. Haloscan, the free commenting service I started using for my blog back in June or July, is in the process of archiving old comments on a different server. They were running out of resources with over 4,000,000 old comments. If I want them to be available on my blog for readers to see, I will have to pay a donation of $10 to be upgraded to premium service, at which time they will return them to the current server. This is not a bad price, I admit.
I am also facing a real dilemma. When I started this blog, I thought 25 MB of server space would be enough. That was before I bought a digital camera, back when I was writing the Geoje-do stories. Now I'm rapidly approaching my limit. I contacted Blogger, but there is no way to upgrade to more space. This means I either have to delete old posts and pictures or start a new blog soon, which I will probably do when I get my own computer. For now, I'll keep updating here while considering my options, until I'm out of space.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - World Cup Reminiscence
Long after the Word Cup, decorations such as these still remain - and probably will for years to come. Just looking at the picture brings back memories of hoards of fans wearing "Be the Reds" T-shirts chanting "Dae Han Min Guk!" (clap clap clapclap clap!), "Oh Pilsung Korea," and "We are the Champions." I was fortunate enough to be here during that time. Although I didn't see a game first hand. I was part of the massive crowds watching the games on big screen TVs. It was a wonderful time to be a foreigner here. Xenophobia ceased to exist, strangers hugged me and took my picture, girls who would never have looked twice at me before had a sudden, overwhelming interest in me. A far cry from the Apolo Anton Ohno incident at which time songs of "Fucking USA" and other anti-American sentiment swept the land , everybody hated me and I had to say I was from Canada.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/9/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Parking Agashis
While retail employees are all together more numbersome and formal at shopping centers here than in America, they also have duties not found back home. In America parking lots at supermarkets are huge. It can actually take several minutes to walk to the entrance. In Korea, however, most parking is done inside. This of course is to save space. And in Korea, God bless this country, often times they have beautiful, neatly dressed agashis outside to greet you with a bow and direct your car into the parking garage. Inside, more agashis and/or young guys with radio sets direct you to an open space.
A decent example of a parking agashi directing the traffic in and out of some chain store or other. Notice the shorter than average skirt and knee high white boots which they're usually wearing. Some places will have two or three of these women out there. If you're really lucky, the store you're entering will have pretty, scantily clad, privately hired agashis (similar to these girls) promoting various products inside, a future post here for sure.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Subway Scenes (2)
One of my perverted readers sent this picture of an ajushi sitting comfortably on the subway. Judging by the angle of his arm, he's probably picking his teeth with a toothpick as well. If he just closed his legs a little, not only would everyone across from him feel better, but someone could probably squeeze in next to him. That person will definitely not be me, however.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/8/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Red Peppers (1)
They're red peppers and they're everywhere. You see them drying on the floor in the grocery store, in livingrooms, on rooftops, outside in someone's yard, and right on the streets. The ajumma at the small store near my home dries them on the floor. In order to get to the Ramyon you have to walk over the peppers. The ajushi at the stationery store dries his on the dirt next to his shop.
Here's a great example sent in by a reader of a bunch of red peppers drying on the sidewalk. Anybody and their dog may have walked on them. I know I've been tempted to stomp on them myself. Just another reason to wash your vegetables when you buy them.
Suddenly you find yourself in the Land of OW! Talk to the Mini-Pepper People and then follow the Red Pepper Brick Road. Then find the Wizard of OW! - he can give you the magical liquid able to quench the fire in your burning mouth.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/7/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Korean Jokes
There was this Spanish guy, this Korean guy and this Russian guy all working for the same construction company. At the beginning of the day the boss comes out and says to the Spanish guy, "You're in charge of the cement."
Then he said to the Russian guy, "You're in charge of the dirt."
Then he said to the Korean guy, "You're in charge of the supplies."
Then he said, "I'm gonna be back at the end of the day to check on your work. It better be good or you're fired."
So they all go off to go get their work done.
At the end of the day, the boss comes back to check on their work. He looks at the big pile of cement and goes, "Good work," to the Spanish guy. Then he looks at the big pile of dirt and says, "Good work," to the Russian guy. Then he couldn't find the Korean guy so he asks, "Where the heck is the Korean guy??"
All of a sudden, the Korean guy jumps out from behind the big pile of dirt and yells, " SUPPLIES!"
This is an obvious poke at the difficulties in which some Koreans have with the differentiation of the English L and R sounds. Of course, I should point out that I can't pronounce the Korean L/R letter and I must sound completely silly. I'm not sure how funny the rest of these jokes are, but you can check them out here: Jokes and humor about Korean people. I looked at a few of them and they seem as harmless as the one above. I was hoping to find more Korean jokes translated into English, not jokes that target Koreans. Any Korean person have a good joke to translate here? Dun' go, Mung is a pretty good one.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Park it Here - No Problem! (2)
Trucks and motorcycles line the sidewalk - a classic example of thoughtless parking sent to me by one of my inspiring fans. How am I supposed to navigate my way through this? I guess I'll have to walk out into traffic. It just may be safer than using the sidewalk. Any moment some crazy delivery guy will likely zip out of the mess and run me over.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - In the News (2)
While Anti-Americanism has swept the country over the past year, in other news taken from today's Korea Herald:
50% of students prefer U.S. citizenship
Nearly half of local college students would opt to become U.S. citizens if they held dual citizenship and were required to make the choice, a university newspaper said yesterday.
The survey of 244 students conducted by the Korea University News showed 44.8 percent favored U.S. citizenship while 55.2 percent said they would retain South Korean nationality.
The survey result contradicts the common belief that many members of the younger generation, especially college students, abhor the United States, as indicated by a series of anti-U.S. demonstrations led by radical college students.
2003.10.07
While the results of the survey are still surprising, there are definitely some unanswered questions here. Were there any other countries to choose from in the survey such as Canada or Australia? Also, what percentage of those who would choose U.S. citizenship are males? If given the choice to avoid 26 months or more in the military, I would also choose to leave. Also, how many of the students have actually visited America before or have relatives there? And finally, a survey of only 244 students is hardly a conclusive study.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Geoje-do Wonderland
I still get e-mails asking me if I know about the Wonderland in Geoje-do. It seems they are in need of teachers again. Yes, I do know about that place. In my Geoje-do stories, I changed the name to Wonder School. I strongly advise anyone to seek employment elsewhere. The school was horrendous and still is. Here are recent e-mails I've gotten:
I don't know how the
school is going to operate when I leave Saturday. They have about 180
students. The school is open until 9.05 mon, weds, fri. Nightmare schedule.
Normally they would have three Korean teachers, two foreigners. At the
moment she has two foreigners, a Korean university student (illegal)
and a part timer for the mornings. We are doing loads of overtime.
Another:
One Korean English teacher handed in her notice to leave today (P driving her crazy). Another one told me she's going to leave in August. The other teacher (of 3) had a massive row with P [owner's wife] today. I don't think he will last much longer. He offered to be replaced today. She avoided a situation there. He was pissed off because she said his lessons are generally boring. He went mad . She's not talking to me at the moment. Don't know what I've done this time . P hasn't mellowed, that's for sure. We got hit with an electricity bill for 124,000 each today . What can one do? Rip-off man. We didn't use the heating, and we haven't seen the Korean bill either.
I'd like another job in Korea when this one finishes, but where is there anything half-decent? Apart from Wonder land, what other schools are best avoided? (I gave you website address to the teacher who is leaving, she said she would like to leave a message on it)
I will blacklist this school when i leave, that's a certainty.
I'm posting this so that people can avoid what others including me have gone through. So many teachers end up quitting there after a few months and returning to their home country convinced that Korea is awful. Korea can be a wonderful place if you have a decent job, but it can be a nightmare if you get the wrong one. Make sure you do your research beforehand.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/6/2003
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Korea Life Blog - At the Hagwon (4) - Talent Market
Last Friday at the Hagwon was "Talent Market Day". This is when the students redeem their good performance stickers for fake dollars to buy things at the "market". We hold it once every two months and the students love it. There are no regular classes that day, so I love it too. It was a good chance to snap some pics.
Samson, an overweight, annoying yet somehow cute boy shows off his purchases. Gloria is to the right, obviously thinking "what a dork!"
One of the classrooms. Thought I'd throw it in case you were wondering what they look like. The letters on the right spell out "EVERYDAY NEW FESTIVAL EASTER" whatever that means.
A cute shot of three girls. There's happy little Fiona on the left. The girl on the right, Bonnie, is a new student. She's totally adorable. I forgot who that is in the middle...oops.
Some more girls who demanded I take their picture. They're kind of cute too but a little annoying in class.
Here's Gloria again with her toy and handful of loot. Pretty darn cute, I must confess.
Check this out, lucky kids. For 9 talent dollars they can get a cool Matchbox Car. Maybe I'll steal one when nobody is looking...muhahah!
This is Julie, my biggest fan. She follows me around constantly, jumps on me, punches me, grabs my ddonk-bae(pot belly), and otherwise annoys me to no end.
Here's a cute kid. His name is Peter. All the Korean teachers love him. He's quite a comedian in the classroom. Personally I'd like to throw him out the window, but that's me. Check out his cool Digiman shirt.
More goods for sale at the Talent Market. Hey when is the Talent Market for Teachers Day? I'm jealous. I'm not sure if I would earn that much talent though...
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written by shawn matthews
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10/3/2003
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Korea Life Blog - A Healthy Evening
Being the only foreigner there, the regular guys at the health club frequently try to talk to me. They speak English about as much as I speak Korean, which makes for some interesting conversation with Konglish and body language. I used to think it was nice, somewhat funny, and kind of them to give me so much attention. When I go to the health club, though, I just want to be left alone, really - to do my exercises in an efficient routine, wham wham wham, finished. It takes me about one hour or a little less. Now that everyone knows me, it's become a little too personal. When I arrive the regulars greet me, often updating me on Korean baseball, and wondering if I told the Korean teachers at my school about them yet (they're all single, desperately single). That is fine, I feel like I'm part of something and appreciated. However, these days, some of them act like I'm their best friend. They practically follow me around the health club, correcting my "bad" exercise form (how annoying that is as everyone has a different technique) asking me questions in the middle of bench pressing, or just staring at me in general. Sometimes it's as if they've only come because of me, not to exercise themselves. Several times they asked me to go out with them drinking, which I put off as I felt the language barrier would make it awkward. Well, they asked me so many times that I had no other choice really. One of the bad things about being the lone foreigner is that I have to be overly polite because everyone knows me and watches me. Most likely their entire view of foreigners is based upon my behavior. Anyway, after a lot of pressure, I finally accepted.
Well, here we are at a small sam gyeop sal restaurant. (Is that really me? Oh God.) It started off pretty badly. Everyone was speaking Korean while I just sat there smiling dumbly. Then the restaurant owner, the guy on the left sat down. His face was dark red undoubtedly from years of drinking, and he was dead drunk. Despite that, by Korean tradition, everyone was very polite and respectful. He talked and talked and talked and talked while everyone listened attentively, occasionally turning their heads away from him to smoke or down a shot of soju, which I kept forgetting to do. The guy with the blond hair scolded me left and right for not following the Korean social rules, which I honestly tried to do, but it can become quite confusing in a group setting like this when you're an unaccustomed foreigner. He was genuinely insulted when clanking glasses for a cheers, my glass was higher than his. (It was difficult for me to remember who was older and who was younger.) Also, I forgot to use the "yo" ending on a few of my Korean sentences, which he promptly informed me of. And he was shocked that my camera was a Japanese Minolta, not a Korean Samsung.
At one point I contemplated leaving. But as the soju went around things began to change. Gradually everyone began to ignore the restaurant ajushi and engage in their own conversations. After a series of "one shots", a few of them loosened up and spoke in broken English to me as best they could. Before long I was a hero again and shouts of "Shawn is best man!" and "My friend - my best friend is Shawn," and "I love Shawn!" resonated around the room as the sam gyeop sal, searing on the grill, sizzled and smoked. Even the ajushi lightened up, calling his wife over to cut up the meat, bring us more soju, and provide us with extra "service" slabs of other, peculiar looking meats. The man on the right, one of the trainers who is 87 kilograms of beef, told about his desire to fall in love with someone special. He is very lonely, he confessed, and enjoys poetry and romantic songs. At one point he broke into song, singing, "Careless Whisper," by George Michael. Everyone applauded and cheered him on. The partying and drinking continued for several hours.
Despite that it was a Thursday night, nobody cared. All of them had to be up by 6 or 7 in the morning except for me. I wouldn't start work until 2:30. The trainer was smashed and stumbled off his seat at which time everyone decided it was enough. There was the inevitable contemplation about going to no rae bang which was decided against when the trainer fell down again. We helped him up back up and he went into song again, this time "Take a Look at me Now," by Phil Collins. After I attempted to contribute to the bill, which was scoffed at as almost an insult, the merry health club gang staggered of into the Nowhere-dong night. I can't imagine how they could have gone to work in the morning. As for me, I slept until 1:30 and felt awful the rest of the day.
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written by shawn matthews
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10/1/2003
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Korea Life Blog - A New Poll (3)
There's a new, exciting poll to vote on. Here are the results of the last pole, now moved to the nostalgic Geoje-do (part 2) - welcome to korea page.
What makes you the angriest?
relentless horn honking! 6 (5%)
loud construction at 6AM 10 (9%)
the vegetable man at 6AM 3 (2%)
idiot foreigners 7 (6%)
idiot foreigners w/hot babes 15 (14%)
no breakfast at McDonald's 13 (12%)
sunshine after a night of soju 3 (2%)
a classroom of screaming kids 8 (7%)
xenophobia 5 (4%)
korea life blog not updated 32 (31%)
With a startling 31% of the votes, "korea life blog not updated" takes the top spot. On one hand, I'm happy people aren't angry much about other things; on the other hand, I'm feeling a little pressure here. Phew, it's getting so I'm afraid to leave the PC bang! Personally I voted for "loud construction at 6AM," but I was tempted to vote for "korea life blog not updated" as well.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Plop Plop Fizz Fizz Obseoyo!
While some bathrooms seem as if they've come from the last dynasty, other bathrooms feature cutting edge toilet technology. One of my endearing female readers sent this shot to me of a device sometimes found in the girls' stalls. It's called the Etiquette Bell.
Is it a bell that when pushed summons an expert on the art of wiping properly in a public restroom? No. In fact, it's not a bell at all. What is it? you're dying to know. Well, just sit down and push the button. You will hear the gentle, soothing sound of trickling water while you relieve yourself and no one in the restroom will hear what you're doing. It's a brand new world out there these days. Actually I want one of these for my bathroom. My apartment is so small, the bathroom is practically part of the livingroom. How embarrassing when I have someone over and need to make room for more kimchi, so to speak. I'm not sure if this device is enough to drone out that sound though...perhaps my etiquette bell should play the sounds of thunder or volcanoes...
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - In the News (1)
I've decided to make a regular series out of strange stories in the newspaper. Take a look at this piece from today's Korea Herald:
Adult site offers evening at a posh bar
A popular Internet movie site for adults is bidding a night out for two at a posh room salon in Gangnam, southern Seoul, inviting both public criticism and apprehension.
For the grand prize of an event they are hosting as part of their one-year anniversary celebrations.
According to the Web site, one adult who watches a pay-per-view clip by the end of October will be chosen at random and given an all-expenses-paid night out worth over 2 million won, according to the website
The night, dubbed "enjoy sensual pleasures," will include expensive foreign liquor, live bands, complimentary food and women who will entertain at will, the Internet site advertises.
First and second runners-up will each receive a bottle of liquor, while the third runner-up will get a DVD, the fourth a box of soju and the fifth a box of condoms.
"If the prize winner is a woman, we plan to give a gift certificate of equal monetary value to another nightspot if she does not care for the room salon," Yonhap News Agency quoted an unnamed organizer as saying.
Of its 500,000 members, 80 percent are between the ages of 25 and 45, reports showed.
"Although some criticize our event as being crude, none of our members have opposed it," another official at the site was quoted as saying. "Instead, the feedback we have received from our members is that the event is original and fresh."
(shong@heraldm.com)
This story cracks me up. The winner will get an all expenses paid trip to a room salon including women who will entertain at will. Trust me, that entertainment will not include juggling apples, at least not literally. Room salons, a most certain future topic here, are basically very expensive brothels (some debate going on about this: see comments) that generally cater to businessmen often at company expense (and who's says Korean jobs don't have any perks?) When I lived in Ulsan, headquarters of Hyundai, there was an entire room salon section of the city with hundreds of the places. For a long time I wondered about what they were as the buildings were really fancy, everyone was going in and out wearing business suits, and at night that part of town resembled Las Vegas with all the lights. A girl I knew lived in the area. She didn't know what they were either - she just thought her neighborhood was so nice and clean and modern. She was abhorred when she discovered the truth, that she basically lived in a prostitution town.
I love the title of the event: Enjoy Sensual Pleasures. More than that though are the runner up prizes. What a jip! A bottle of liquor? A DVD? A box of soju? And poor 5th place: one measly box of condoms.
I'm sure the majority of the sites whopping 500,000 members are not women, but if a woman does win, her prize is apparently a 2,000,000 Won gift certificate to a regular night club. I can just see her walking into the club to redeem her certificate which basically says to everyone, "Yeah, I'm the woman that won the porn site prize."
Finally, that last quote kills me. What a big surprise that none of the members objected to the event.
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written by shawn matthews
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