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12/30/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Jongro Cinecore Trip 1
Over the next few days I will show the pictures I took last Sunday when Julie and I went Jongro. We went to see Silmido, a new Korean movie, at Cinecore theater. This theater, to my delight, is experimenting with showing new Korean movies with English subtitles. Overall we had a great time. Grab a cup of coffee and come along with us.
I met Julie in Sadang station, as usual. Amazingly a bus goes right there from Nowhere-dong, the tiny town I live in outside of Suwon. I love the public transportation system in Korea. The bus comes every half-hour and the trip only takes between 45 minutes and an hour. The longer the better - I usually read a book. On this trip I read a few chapters of the classic Blue Highways, by William Least Heat Moon. Julie is looking good and fashionable as usual with her new coat, fresh haircut, and red bag. Too bad she walks away when she sees my camera.
The Korean subway system always amazes me. The trains come every couple of minutes and if you have to wait you can check out advertisements on these flat-panel screens. As if on cue, there's one now showing the movie we're going to see.
Before jumping on the train I whipped out the camera to take a pic. This foreigner snickered at me, as if to say, "Chi, look at this new guy taking pics of the subway." To spite him I'm posting this picture of his bald head. Muhahah! Take that, Mr. Experienced Goonball!
Once in Jongro, we walked around a bit and then stopped off to eat. Here's a shot of the menu.
I bet your just drooling right now. Look at this wonderful dish. It's kimchi U-dong, or kimchi and Japanese style noodle soup. Damn I love Korean food. My eyes practically popped out of their sockets when I saw this, the dish boiling hot, the delicious aroma, the warm steam on a cold day.
And here she is, my gal. She ordered a Japanese styled pork cutlet, don cass. It was delicious; I know this, because we shared our meals. The only thing I don't like about eating with Julie is that she gets full very quickly. When she finishes she sits and watches me, making me feel like a complete pig. Look at her skinny body. Even though I exercise regularly and she doesn't, I just can't compete. And she likes to remind me a little to frequently that my stomach has been getting bigger. Thanks, Julie!
The delicious meal cost a meager 11,000 won. That's just under $10. There's no tax or tipping either, which still amazes me. I hoped you enjoyed the meal as much as I did. Stay tuned for the next part.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/29/2003
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Korea Life Blog - BBQ Chicken
Here's a nice combo set from the BBQ Chicken franchise. In my opinion they make the best fast food fried chicken in the world. In Korea pizza is served with pickles and chicken comes with sweet radishes. I guess they take the place of kimchi, which of course is served with most everything. This reminds me of the time my boss took us all out to dinner to a place of my choice. I chose the new fried chicken restaurant nearby. My boss wondered where the kimchi was and near the end of the meal he tried unsuccessfully to order rice. The sweet radishes shown here on the left are delicious and provides a nice balance to the greasy chicken. Notice the convenient refrigerator magnet with the beautiful woman and the BBQ phone number. Can she deliver my food please? By the way, those magnets also double as bottle openers. I just love all this packaging.
OK, enough of the boxes, here's the goods. I ordered the fried chicken and Julie the yang nyeom, barbecue sauce chicken. I prefer the fried dipped in the mustard sauce. The yang nyeom is also good, but that's a lot of sauce and, while delicious, it's messy and makes the chicken slimy. You can ask for the sauce on the side though. This set costs only 11,000 won , about $10, and comes with a free bottle of Pepsi. I love how tax is included and there's no tipping the delivery goonball.
As an added bonus for Christmas (yes, that was my Christmas dinner) the order came with a BBQ sponsored calendar. I have no idea what this garble means on the cover: "west coast call greg at the studio 310 east coast call carol chislosky in newyork"...sounds like some kind of secret message for hiphop gangsters. Then to the right is the Purina symbol and "samstago 20 hermanos patchekos" whatever that means. Who comes up with this stuff? I can do better! My BBQ calendar would read: "number 1 chicken, han guk bbq. dream the chicken. magic chicken."
I need a calendar, but I don't want to look at these cheese puff teeny boppers each month - although the girl band Jewlry is looking pretty damn good for August. I guess I'll put it away in a drawer for reference until August when I'll hang it up.
Stay tuned this week for pics about my exciting trip with Julie to the Cinecore theater in Jongro where we saw Silmido with English subtitles.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/27/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Updated Non-update
My Christmas present to myself has been to take 4 days off from everything including going to the health club (I can almost see my stomach getting bigger as I sit here doing nothing), writing, and updating my blog (well, I guess this is technically an update). Check back soon, maybe tomorrow evening. I plan on going to Jongro in Seoul to watch the new Korean movie Silmido after reading this article in the Korea Herald:
Cinecore to screen Korean films with English subtitles
Foreigners residing in Korea who wanted to view Korean films had to wait for the release of a DVD with English subtitles. If an experiment by Cinecore theater and Seoul Selection bookstore is a success, they may no longer have to wait.
Cinecore theater plans to regularly screen Korean films with English subtitles to enable expatriates to enjoy them like Korean audiences do: on the big screen when they are released.
"Silmido," directed by Kang Woo-suk, will kick off the program tomorrow with one English-subtitled screening per day on weekends and holidays until Jan. 11. The screening time will be 4 p.m. on Sundays and holidays, and 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays and days immediately preceding holidays.
The theater is also currently in negotiations to bring "Maljukgeori Janhoksa," set for release on Jan. 16, and "Taegukki," set for release on Feb. 6, as the next titles to follow "Silmido."
In the past, Korean films such as "Oasis," "Wonderful Days" and "Untold Scandal" have screened with English subtitles, but this is the first time for a theater to commit to a long-term arrangement.
"Screening Korean films with English subtitles will not only be a good opportunity to introduce Korean culture to foreigners, but also a good chance to gauge the possibility of Korean films venturing overseas by getting an early response," said Hank Kim, owner of Seoul Selection bookstore, which specializes in introducing Korean culture to expatriates through books and multimedia products.
Cinecore theater is located near Jongno 3-ga Subway Station on Line No. 1, 3 or 5, exit No. 15.
This is why I read the newspaper everyday. I always wished they would and wondered why they didn't provide a venue to see new Korean movies with English subtitles. Because there is an extremely limited selection of DVDs at the rental shop in Nowhere-dong, I have seen very few Korean films. I could watch them more often at the DVD bangs, where I did see these three: Classic, The Way Home, And Stray Dog, but usually that's where I catch up on American movies that I missed in the theaters (not to mention I'm not always watching the screen). While I'm not sure exactly what this theater is like, I'm pretty excited. I hope they get a good turnout and continue to screen new titles. If you're reading this and your in Korea, be sure to check it out and show your support.
As for the film, Silmido, it has gotten mixed reviews. The Korea Herald has called it one of the best films of the year (although I'm not sure how much of a compliment this really is) This review in the Korea Times cuts that down a little. However, compared to most Korean movie reviews (I can't remember ever reading a positive one), the movie doesn't sound too bad and the plot is based on a very interesting true story. Click the link if you're curious. There's a little more information on this blog.
What was supposed to be a couple of sentences has now become an official blog update. And as an added bonus here is a picture of what Julie gave me for Christmas:
Ah, a nice striped sky-blue sweater and a bottle of Vaseline moisturizer, the perfect, well thought-out combination. Thanks, Julie, and I especially liked the other "gifts!" :D
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written by shawn matthews
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12/25/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Merry Christmas
Saek-Chil Gongbu Santa wishes all Korea Life Blog readers a very merry Christmas.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/24/2003
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Korea Life Blog - It's the Check Out My Ass Restaurant and a KFC History Lesson
On this restaurant sign I see Korean men in their underwear. Look closey at those guys - they're pulling down their tighty whiteys. How appetizing. Also, the girl in the back seems a little too happy about that one guy's ass. Does it smell like kalbi tang? And who's the guy on the right next to the Chinese characters? Is that Bruce Lee?
I guess I'll head over to Kentucky Fried Chicken. In case you don't know it, and many Koreans don't, they shortened the original name Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC to eliminate the word "fried" from people's minds. KFC, along with Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, used to be owned by Pepsi Co. until it sold its holdings to Yum! Brands who also owns Long John Silvers (fast and greasy fish/fries) and A&W; (old style hamburger restaurant). These are the few fast food places where you can still order Pepsi (except for KFC who later reverted to Coke, at least in Korea).
The enduring Colonel Sanders stands outside greeting Koreans in Sadang, Seoul. I think it's time for a new tie, Colonel.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/23/2003
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Korea Life Blog - At the Arcade (2)
After shopping at E-mart we stopped at the arcade.
Here's another shot of a typical row of miscellaneous fighting and sports games. The last time I posted a shot like this I got a lot of e-mail from people who thanked me for bringing back the memory. Back then the games were 100 won each. Now prices have gone up to around 300 won per credit, depending on the arcade. Whenever I play these it just feels that I'm not even controlling the players, especially baseball and tennis.
Here's an odd game. You use a plastic crab to catch small lolli-pops that aren't worth the hassle or the money to play.
Power up, baby hero! I guess you're a Korean caveman baby and you have to win the race. Nothing special except it's got some pretty good retro boombox type speakers.
Another drum game. I wish I knew how to play this. I saw some kid wailing away ringing up perfects left and right, but I just don't get it. Also, the music is pretty lame...I think it was Westlife. Where's the heavy metal?
At last, I got a shot for you of the popular dancing game. You have to step on the right arrows that pop up on the screen. Watching these girls boggled my mind. The arrows were everywhere moving so quickly yet the girls were practically flawless. My mind and body are just not the coordinated. I thought maybe Koreans just naturally understand these kinds of games. However, Julie was equally as clueless.
I tried to get Julie to sing a song with me, but she refused. I thought I would sing one anyway, but sitting there in the small booth so close to Julie watching me, I chickened out.
I tried to get Julie to take some sticker pictures with me, but again she refused. She's really not much fun at the arcade. Oh well.
When I was younger the arcade was my favorite hangout. Perhaps that's why I always feel an urge to go in them. However, every time I do I end up leaving disappointed. It seems every game falls under the same categories: fighting, shooting, sports, or virtual. The machines have gotten so big there's just not enough room for variety. And what happened to the idea of the arcade being a place for kids without much money. Most games now cost from 50 cents to over a dollar to play. In my opinion arcade games have become too big, too flashy, too complicated. While the graphics and sounds have improved, I feel arcade games and arcades themselves have lost their magic. Console and computer games on the other have taken incredible leaps forward. I'm highly addicted to a game called Dungeon Siege and its expansion pack Legends of Aranna. The game is not available for some reason in Korea, despite the fact it puts the dated Diablo 2 to shame. I downloaded the set off Overnet. Check out these two screen shots:
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written by shawn matthews
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12/21/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Dongdaemun
The same day we went to Haehwa-dong, we looked around Dongdaemun. The idea was to buy an imitation brand name backpack, but I was unable to find a decent one and ended up getting a real Puma bag later.
Here's Migliore. The bottom floor is totally made up of fake name brand items. There's one of these places in Suwon where I got my new US 55 winter coat for a mere 60,000 Won. However, in Suwon the salespeople seem much more desperate. One lady annoyed me so badly that I pulled out my wallet and said "FBI, imitation Nike!" I swear she almost passed out cold. I'm not sure how a franchise like this can get away with selling so many bogus goods. There must be some payoffs going on.
Ah, Christmas is in the air. Look at all the decorations. Look at all the people!
I'm not sure what all these people are in line for. What, is Iron Maiden getting back together for a reunion tour? I want tickets too!
Across the street is Dongdaemun stadium. I really don't have anything to say about it except that it reminds me of the World Cup. It also makes me think about all the expensive new stadiums they built in 2002 that have no purpose anymore. Do they even use them at all?
People were literally everywhere bumping and pushing. We decided to leave before we got crushed to death by shopping crazy ajummas. I just noticed another Starbucks style coffee shop sign there: Sugar Happy Espresso. No wonder why everyone is moving so quickly.
By the way, Julie is here. We're both to lazy to cook so we ordered pizza again. This happens every time. I think I need to hire a part time ajumma.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/20/2003
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Korea Life Blog - The Cook
One of my adult students gave me a cookbook which she stole from her office. I want to learn how to cook more Korean foods so I was thankful.
Here's a shot. The book is all in Korean, but it's not hard with all the photos to figure out most of the recipes. I guess the book is devoted entirely to chigaes, Korean soups. The book is huge. I didn't know there were that many different kinds of chigae.
This simple dish is one of my favorites. I don't know what to call it in English - I guess just bean sprout soup. I don't think I ever ate bean sprouts before I came to Korea. I don't know why not. They are really delicious and now one of my favorite vegetables.
Julie is coming over later tonight. We're supposed to cook kimchi chigae. Hopefully I'll get some pictures for you, but I think she's still a little shocked about the previous ones I posted. At least I should be able to photograph the food...I hope.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/19/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Haehwa Conclusion
Here are the last of the pictures I took last weekend in Haehwa-dong:
There are some monstrous coffee shops here. Look at this place. It looks more like a Hollywood mansion than a cafe. I can't believe they could sell enough coffee and "fusion" food to pay for it, considering the sky-high cost of property in Seoul.
I thought that was some kind of weird Osama bin Laden information tent, but I guess that's a drawing of some famous psychic Chinese guy from the past. Check out the hangul written in black. It's called the Psychic Department Store, hahaha. If you look closely you can see someone getting their palm read. "This line here is too short. You will die next year. That'll be 10,000 won, please." I once visited a psychic when I was in Geoje-do. She told me I would travel and have many adventures and then write about them. Man, was she way off. What a scam!
Here's the outside of another booth. It's typical for Koreans to set up identical businesses right next to each other. I guess it's to make it more convenient to get service without waiting, but there was hardly anyone around here. Anyway, this place has a huge poster outlining the various psychic points on the body and what they mean. I guess there's really no point going in now.
There are a few other booths where you can get you portrait drawn. I don't know how anyone can draw this well. I can barely draw stick figures. The picture on top is making me wonder. For some reason I just can't imagine a Korean woman flying an airplane and especially then stopping off for a quick self portrait. Hmm... The women on the bottom however looks more realistic and damn good.
You know, a few years ago this would have surprised me, but nowadays things like this seem to blend into the scenery. I wouldn't have noticed it if Julie hadn't pointed it out. What it is (a toaster van?) and why it's here is anyone's guess.
I thought these people were singing Christmas songs and sharing the joy of the season until I looked closely. It's yet another anti-war demonstration with gory war photos on display.
I guess these are The Christmas Trees United Against the War in Iraq. Apparently if your against the war, you sign a decoration and hang it up. I'm not really sure how that helps anything, but if it makes people feel better then carry on. Ironically I took this picture just a few hours before it was revealed Saddam was captured. I'm not a proponent of the war, I'd rather see all that money used to help the millions of people suffering in our own country, but I must say I am happy that guy won't be putting anymore people feet first through a wood-chipper. By the way, for Christmas I want one of those Captured Saddam Dolls or any of the other overpriced villain dolls for that matter. (Play the Talking Baghdad Bob audio clip, hahaha.) Please feel free to send me one anytime. :D
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Busy
I was busy tonight ordering Christmas gifts online for my sister and her darling little girl, my niece, so I didn't have time to update here. I got $30 worth of free stuff when I signed up for the Amazon.com credit card, so I was able to save the shipping costs and a couple of books for free. What did I get Sierra? A Strawberry Shortcake set! And for my sister an Oprah Club best seller, a copy of my favorite book, Quiet Days in Clichy by Henry Miller, and a newbie user guide to Windows XP.
Here she is, my niece, back in NY, being a mischief maker by playing with the computer when she knows better. Her smile says it all.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/17/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Plays and Musicals in Haehwa
Julie informed me that Haehwa is famous for its many theaters which feature a variety of plays and musicals. As we walked around many people handed us flyers depicting what was playing that night, a brief synopsis and show times.
Let's see what's playing here. Wow! Grease! I loved that musical as did most American people. It made John Travolta a mega-star. I wonder if here they sing all the songs in Korean? That I'd like to see. I thought the poster was pretty funny until I saw the one next to it. Vagina Monologues. Hmm, maybe I'll skip Grease and check this one out instead. It sounds pretty interesting. Down below there's a poster for Twelfth Night...definitely not going to that.
The other side of the display. Nothing special here. What's going on with this Tupac show? Is Tupac really here? Or is some Korean guy going to play him? Either way, forget it.
We didn't have time to catch a show but I'd like to go back there and see one someday. Anyone been there? Seen a show? What did you see and what was it like?
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Happy Rambling
I have not been living for the future, I've been living now. I don't base my life around a job and career, a spouse, a lover. You never know what's going to happen, whether you'll be here tomorrow or a cripple from a car accident, a victim of anti-Americanism, or facing the reality of cancer. It's hard to follow through on, but try your best to enjoy each moment...I don't even do this as much as I wish I could.
A fine wine, a delicious meal, a joyous bleep, what better way to pass the day - this is what life should be.
I never once felt bad about not living up to career expectations. I'm the guy that didn't show up to work one day, took a different exit and wound up in the mountains eating breakfast at a Mom's diner. I ate eggs and suasage, watched the deer prancing about, the snow covered pine trees, chipmunks gathering acorns. Things you usually don't noitice on the commute to work and back. That morning was one of the defining moments of my life. I never felt guilty or regret. Now here I am thousands of miles away on the other side of the planet and really enjoying my life.
I made a vow - I will always try to take the path less taken and hope to be lively, open, free and carefree. I appreciate the education I received - the professors that interested me, enlightened me, opened my mind to far other possibilities. And thank you Robert Frost, Emerson, Whitman, Kerouac, Miller...and every other writer that had the courage to do what they wanted, the opposite of what was pushed into their brains day after day...I listened to you.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/16/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Nolboo Chib
Julie wanted to take me here: Nolboo Chib, a traditional style restaurant in Haehwa. She said it was delicious and cheap.
You sit on the floor without a table. Then suddenly a couple of traditionally dressed young guys come out with your table full of food.
Wow! Look at all of this wonderful food! I almost peed my pants. I want to eat all of this again right now. If any girl out there can cook all of these, I will marry you instantly.
I thought I'd throw in this picture of a regular modern family enjoying their traditional dinner.
The meal really was delicious. However, it wasn't cheap. Julie had been here before but she didn't pay so she really didn't know. It cost 25,000 won for the two of us. While I really enjoyed the meal, I ate almost everything, I wouldn't pay that much again when I can get eat almost as well for half the price at most local places. Still, it was worth it this one time to taste some of the unusual side dishes and to learn about how people used to dine out in Korea. I feel sorry for those previous ajummas that had to make all that food day in and day out.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/15/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Board Game Cafe
This week I will feature pictures from my brief visit to Dongdae-mun and Haehwa-dong, Seoul, on Sunday. First up is the board game cafe. I heard these places are getting popular, but this is the first time I saw one. Unfortunately it takes a while for things to filter down through to Nowhere-dong.
Here it is, the Jumanji Board Game Cafe entrance in Haehwa. The place doesn't look like much on the outside, and we almost walked right by it. I happened to read the Korean and got excited. My friend "Julie" (name changed to protect the innocent) looked pretty skeptical, but I convinced her to check it out with me.
Hard to believe how big the place actually is. I don't understand how they made it. What, did they dig up the parking lot, put this place in like a subway station, then redo the lot and stick that entrance on top? I sometimes imagine that in the future there will be a whole world built underground.
I thought this was a good idea. I'm not sure if it would go over at PC bangs, but that's a small enclosed smoking room over there. If you smoke, you can get your fix without smoking up the joint.
Cool! Here's the "menu". They have about a hundred games to choose from and a selection of coffee. I wanted to play Monopoly but it's not that fun with two people and that game has been known to go on for ages. (But I could have played banker and cheated...why didn't I think of that before?) The cost is 2,000 won/person per hour, same as the Playstation bangs.
We're going to try Jenga. Here is the board game agashi teaching Julie how to play. Come on, it's not hard to figure out! Notice the plastic hammer. Loser gets whacked!
Here we are in the middle of a game. Julie was feeling the pressure and needed to take a break. The coffee here is pretty good, by the way.
I guess her time-out didn't help much. A few turns later she made the dolorous stroke. Crash! Assa! Where's that hammer? Muhahah!
Come on now, fork it over. Whack! bam! pop! squeak! Come on! Come on! Who's your daddy?
She vows revenge. I suggest UNO, a quick, easy-to-learn game, a favorite from my childhood. I don't know why it's taking two agashis to explain the rules. The one in the photo was shocked when I snapped this picture, and now I can see why!
Once we got started the agashi brought this politically incorrect wig over for the loser to wear.
There's no way I'm going to lose this game! I'm not going to wear that wig! I'm already wearing a hat to cover up the butcher shop haircut I got yesterday.
As if she rigged the deck, Julie won before I even had a chance to play a card. Man, I look like an idiot!
What goes around comes around. Julie lost the next hand. She's not as sportive about having her picture taken looking like a ghetto baby.
We played a few more games and headed off. I think it would be even better to go with three or four people but it was still a damn fun experience. You know, I could really spend all day going from one kind of bang/cafe to another. They're one of the best parts of the culture. I don't know why we don't have these kind of hangouts back home.
The Jumanji Board Game Cafe has its own website.
Bonus Picture!
check out number 42 in the gallery here
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written by shawn matthews
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12/14/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Sweet Motel
Here's the Sweet Motel. I thought I'd show you yet another example of a love motel, in case you haven't seen enough. I love these places actually. I didn't go in this one, but I've been to many in my three years in Korea. Sometimes they have heart shaped beds, mirrors on the ceilings, etc. Perhaps you can stay here after visiting the Roasanne Club nearby.
This motel even has a hair shop attached to it. Perhaps if you don't find your girl all that attractive you can bring her here for a little fix-up before you "sleep." Notice the car in the driveway, undoubtedly the motel owner's. It looks like the Hyundai version of a Mercedes. I swear every motel owner has a car like this. They get rich off the fact people live at home until they're married and have no place to shuck and jive.
I went up to Seoul today to Sadang, Dongdae-mun and Haewha and got a great load of new pictures to comment on this week. Stay tuned! Also check the Geoje-do part 5 section - things are moving along slowly but surely there.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/12/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Rosanna Club
Here's a shot of one of those "red light rooms." I stealthily took out my camera and snapped it and trotted off before any thugs came out to smash me. It's not such an exciting picture as you can't actually see the girls, but you get the idea. Those doors are transparent so when you walk by you can see them all hanging out in there. There were at least ten behind each door. Usually you see these red light "clubs" clustered in certain areas, not just in a random location. This one is between a bar and a restaurant, something I found fairly amusing. Have some dinner, grab a few beers at the pub, then head on over to the Rosanna club. I just reread that sentence - sounds like some kind of lame country music lyric. Where's my banjo, Goober?
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written by shawn matthews
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12/10/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Oh boy! They're Going to Cook Me! Oink Oink!
Here are some more restaurant signs featuring the "happy" animals served on the menu. I took all of these in Gumjeong. While the concept works in Korea, it would never go over back in the states or any western country for that matter.
A cow and a pig. First, why are they yellow? And second, why do they look so happy? I know! - they're excited about being able to make you happy while you eat them.
Here's a sign for an eel restaurant. There seems to be a lot of these restaurants around. Does that creature on the sign really look appetizing? Does it even look like an eel?
Great, you can eat the 3 little pigs in this restaurant. Are they actually wearing aprons? Are they going to cook themselves?
Those pigs look surprisingly happy to be cooking alive inside that pot. Seems a little peculiar, the design. I think that's a blue Chinese character on the pot, but it looks like the pigs have blue arms and legs and are hugging each other.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Vote for Me
I don't know how credible or popular this site is, I came across it in my referrer log. I don't know how it got there, but my blog is listed on the site in a couple of categories, Korea and Asian photo blogs. Unfortunately it's not getting many votes. You can stop by and vote or check out many of the other cool blogs listed there for Korea and all of Asia. I spent a good hour checking some of the best ones. If you vote for me, I promise to lower taxes and create more jobs.
vote for best korea blog here
vote for best photo blog here
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - I'm Angry!
I heard someone yelling outside my window tonight. My idiot neighbor was outside, smoking a cigarette, holding a bottle of beer, and obviously angry. What could he be doing? Well, guess! He was chasing away the kitten that sleeps everyday/night under our building. How could he be that angry at a kitten? And what the hell could he be yelling? "How dare you helpless kitten sleep under my home? I will make sure you suffer even more than you do now!" He even took the full cat food dish I use to feed the strays with and dumped it out. I really got pissed off at that. I came close to going outside. At times like this I hate being a foreigner. If I were to start a fight, I'd risk losing everything, probably end up in jail and then deported. I really wanted to kill that guy. The poor kitten ran away through the snow and into some cold bushes. It's utterly freezing outside here. Well, I didn't start a fight but as soon as my drunk neighbor retired, I went right outside, picked up the dish and filled it with more tuna. If he does it again, I'll find a way to get even...trust me.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/9/2003
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Korea Life Blog - New Poll (5)
There's a new poll to take. Here are the results of the previous poll:
what should I change about KLB?
the picture on the top right 11 (10%)
the overall layout 2 (1%)
a better links section 1 (0%)
smaller pictures 1 (0%)
less pictures, more stories 0 (0%)
finish philippines section 9 (8%)
finish geoje-do story 48 (46%)
more frequent updates 9 (8%)
i don't like anything here 1 (0%)
i like it all the way it is 21 (20%)
Well, it seems most of you want me to finish the Geoje-do section. I started last night by adding my first update in quite awhile. I promise to work on it more frequently. Be sure to vote on the newest poll.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - TESall.com
Found this cool website in my referrer log.
TESall.com is the Web's first vertical search portal for ESL/EFL job seekers. Our spider crawls job boards across the Internet, indexing their postings and making them searchable. The result is a one-stop search that gives you access to thousands of vacancies posted on multiple job boards. Where do you want to teach today?
Not only that but they implemented a FARK.com type of headline system for interesting ESL related stories. Readers submit the links and can leave comments. I used to read Fark.com on a regular basis before so I was surprised and excited to see this. Someone sent in a link to a post from my blog. I hope the site gets more and more popular so they get a lot of good submissions. I love it already.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/8/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Snow!
UPDATE:
Be sure to check here for a long awaited update to the Goeje-do story. It's a short update, but at least it's a (re)start. I need to rewrite the rest from my notebook. Look for more updates there on a somewhat irregular basis. Sorry for the aged delay. I'll finish it sooner or later.
I was shocked to look out my window late last night and see this. While I've been in Korea most of the past 3 years, I've only seen snow here twice before. Even though it get cold, damn cold, it doesn't snow often in the southern half of the country where I used to live. The time I saw it in Pusan, they were reporting it to be the first snowfall in 15 years. People were all over taking pictures, making snowmen, snow-angels, throwing snowballs at deokboki ajummas, etc. I guess it's nothing special in the north. Nobody even said anything about it today. Wasn't that just about the best feeling you ever had as a kid - hearing on the radio that your school district was closed for a snowday. A part of me hoped to see it scroll across the screen here in Nowhere-dong: All Hagwons Closed. Hah, yeah right. Even if they got snow like back home, I find it hard to conceive of them shutting down a school for the day, especially a hagwon. Even if only one kid showed up, there would be class.
I feel bad for the cats. It's damn cold. How can they live out there? You can see their dish is full of snow. Yum! (Later I went out, emptied it, and filled it with tuna, don't worry.)
Well, I got excited by the first snowfall, what can I say. I ran outside and took some pics. To my surprise my camera takes pretty nice pictures of falling snow. Had I known, I would have walked around and gotten better ones than these, but it was late and I was tired. Coming from NY this is nothing, but I still liked it. I also just saw on the news the entire North East in the US has gotten hit hard by a heavy snowstorm, so I'm sure these pictures look kind of pathetic.
Another shot out front. If I had stood a little more to the right and centered on that old-style roof and left out the vehicle, this would have been a nice picture. Damn. Oh well, next time.
One last exciting shot for you. The funny part is how the cars are all double parked. There's 3 in the row on the left. Must be fun in the morning or having to get out in the night. It's hard to tell from this shot, but the driveway is to the left and it's extremely narrow between the buildings. Most Koreans are accustomed to these situations however. I was surprised before to see how relatively easy it was for one of my friends to maneuver her car through here.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Sweet Buns
One thing I really miss about America is pulling into virtually any mini mart and buying a huge cup of fairly decent, piping hot coffee. I don't know what all this Starbucks phenomena is all about. I guess it's the comfortable and trendy atmosphere more than anything. I just don't like paying over $3.00 for a cup of coffee. This tiny cup of Cappuccino was 2,000 won here, but at least it tasted OK.
I'm not exactly sure why this place is called Sweet Buns. They only served coffee and ice cream. (The name Sweet Buns, reminds me of a girlfriend I used to have in college...)
Here's the ice-cream freezers. Not copying Baskin and Robins are they?
Sorry for the blurry picture but I wanted to show this. Starbucks must have one of the most copied logos of any franchise. So many knockoffs use the green circle. I don't know - the name of this place makes me imagine a bunch of hot girls lined up a bar drinking expresso. Unfortuantely we were the only customers here.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/6/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Bar Names
I went to Gumjeong tonight to meet my friend. We went to a video room. There wasn't much of a selection. After looking for a while I gave up and let my friend pic the movie for a change. She picked one called 28 Days Later. It was really awful, boring, ridiculous. Perhaps it was decent for the genre, but I just can't take scary movies seriously and found myself laughing at how stupid the plot was. (Almost everybody in England has fled or been infected with the "Rage" virus which came from some monkeys that were being used for laboratory tests. Only a handful of normal people are left, on the run, trying to escape the "Rage" victims from biting them. Can they do it? - this is their story).
Gumjeong is a very small downtownish area 5 stations north of Suwon. At first I looked around for things to take pictures of and saw nothing. Then suddenly it seemed there was something funny everywhere. All in all I got a decent load of shots which I'll post over the next few days. First off, check out these strangely named bars:
Here's the Lotto bar. Maybe if you go here you'll get "lucky" hahah! Damn, I'm good.
It isn't the No. 1 bar. It's the No. 10 bar! It's not the first, it's the last! The ajushi at the health club I used to go to in Ulsan called me "number 10" all the while. I never knew what he was talking about. It turns out he meant number 10 as in the last person to finish the race. Huk!
If you're poor, don't go here. You're simply not welcome.
Now come on. Is this really a good name for your business? Do they mean the bar is ugly? Or is this a place to meet ugly people?
This one was my favorite, I bust out laughing when I saw it. Guus Hiddink, the ever beloved coach of the Korea soccer team during the World Cup in 2002 (if you don't already know that you are very new to Korea), has become a cultural icon. He was given honorary citizenship and for awhile there was talk tht he should run for president. No doubt he would hve won. They still use his name and likeness everywhere. This is the Hiddink No-rae-bang, or the Hiddink Karaoke club. Stop in and relive the magic. "Oh, Pilsung Korea." I never want to hear that cheer again in my life.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/5/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Lucky Guy
I edited this a bit today, but I didn't want to delete as it kind of cracked me up. (Note to self: Don't post things online after drinking soju with co-workers, post them after you proofread in the morning).
As I sat here thinking about what to update, it occurred to me once again what a lucky person I am to be here in Korea. Unlike when I lived in America and was on my own after graduating from a University, twenty-one years old, shuffling from job to job, searching, always searching, endlessly searching for some non-existent ideal, I have no cares now, no worries, no dread, no paranoia, no disillusion. Not only do I wake up without that sickening feeling of facing another day of work, I wake up full of enthusiasm. I bounce out of bed as if I were a kid on a Saturday morning and the Smurfs were coming on TV. Everyday has the potential of being THE day. I wake up like a light being switched on, like a wild creature awaken by the scent of prey, hungry, yes, but not for food - hungry for life. Hungry to feast on the sun that pours through my little window. I have nothing to hold me back from whatever it is I choose to do. No commitment, no struggles, no endless endlessness.
I say all this because at one time I was so close to becoming part of the societal ball and chain that everybody else was choosing to become attached to that it scares me even in retrospect. Once I was so in love with a girl that the Earth was not the Earth anymore but only a place for my lover's feet to walk upon. What a relief that she broke my heart, left me cold, left me newer, left me stronger. Stronger than I ever was. I can't imagine waking up day in and day out, after the passion had worn out, to only the comfort of knowing that I have somebody that will bail me out of jail or be by my side in the hospital if need be. I don't need it, I don't want it, I will never exchange it for the open ended future I am still blessed to look forward to now.
A few years ago waking up was like starting the engine of a long unused tractor. I had nothing, no longing, no inspiration, no field of corn ready to harvest. What I had was a couple of cats, a divorced neighbor cursing in his apartment, and a mailbox full of bills, always a bill, more bills, every bill one can imagine: rent, cable, car, telephone, heat, hot water, credit card, student loan, you name it. And I had a broken heart, not broken all at once, but slowly, girl by girl, job by job, interview by interview. I felt I was looking at a dead end and I had no prospects. My friends were getting married, having kids, buying houses. Were they happy? At that time maybe yes. Now, I don't know - maybe they are, maybe they aren't. They're too busy to get online. But me, I am glad I have no wife and kids, no ex-wife and a custody dispute, no alimony, no child support, no anything that could keep me from taking off tomorrow for an excursion to the country of my choice, let's say New Zealand, if I were to choose. I wake up knowing that I could go to work or go to China, if that be my wish. I wake up full of life again. The struggles I endured to get to this point were hard, I didn't think I'd ever get here, but in retrospect they were well worth the price of admission.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/4/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Help
If you would like to contribute some pictures and funny comments about them, please e-mail me at assakorea10@yahoo.com (I set this up so as not to crowd my regular e-mail). I just checked and realized I have absolutely no new pictures to post and not sure when I'll get out of Nowhere-dong again. In the meantime I guess I will update the Geoje-do story finally. I've rewritten most of what I lost, but in my notebook. I'll try to get online soon the rest of the part where I went to Japan on my first E-2 visa run and met the strange Canadian guy.
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written by shawn matthews
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12/3/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Architectural Wish
I'm not sure what this building is, perhaps one of my readers will know. What strikes me about the design is that it's a perfect rendition of how I imagine apartment buildings should look like in Korea. Picture a landscape filled with architecture of this style rather than the dull, plain highrises that monopolize the scenery. I suppose construction of this style is much more costly, but it certainly would make the cities more pleasant to see. Undoubtedly there are those who would pay more to live in such a stylish place. In fact, why not make every building this style, even small houses and businesses. Yeah!
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written by shawn matthews
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12/2/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Vending Machines and Cider?
I've grown quite accustomed to buying those little cups of coffee from vending machines such as the one here to the right. I enjoy them now, especially in the winter. I dig the picture of the happy foreigners sharing a good time, perhaps after having had a coffee themselves. The machine to the left disperses soda with ice also in little paper cups, cost: 400 won, usually. I've only used those machines a handful of times. I'd rather pay 100 won more for a whole can. Korean "cider" is not made from apples. It's pretty much the same thing as ginger ale. (Click the link to see a rather odd recipe using Canada Dry, a popular brand of ginger ale, that's not looking too appealing.)
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written by shawn matthews
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12/1/2003
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Korea Life Blog - Final Philippines Update
Well, some of you will be happy to see that I finally updated the Philippines section as promised. Others will be disappointed that it took me so long and now I don't feel like updating the Korea section tonight. Oh well, can't please everyone all the time.
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Stats Update and More
Stats from main blog:
Page views today: 718
This hour: 20
This week: 4467
This month: 18527 (full stats for Novmeber)
In addition to getting a lot of hits on the main blog, I realized bstats hasn't been recording hits to the other pages such as Philippines, Fukuoka, Geoje-do links, Seoul 1, 2, etc. as part of the whole. I never bothered to think about it; I just figured nobody was reading them anymore. The previous stats, including what I posted now, have been just for the main page and archives. Last week I went in and added bstats to the other pages individually. I was really surprised to find hundred of more hits are coming in daily on those links. Lots of people are searching for "Geoje-do, Philippines Blog, and Fukuoka Blog," all of which show those pages first on Google, I discovered. Thanks everybody and I'll finish the Philippines section tonight or this week, I promise. Also I got a new writing notebook and, while at "work," have rewritten some of what I lost on the Geoje-do section. Stay tuned!
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written by shawn matthews
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Korea Life Blog - Subway Entertainment
One thing I enjoy about taking the subway in Korea is that you come across some unusual things. Whether it's an old woman pushing people of of her way to get an open seat or a subway salesman attempting to sell you shoe shiner, there's something to rouse your attention. The subway stations can also be interesting. You can get a lot of bargains at some of the makeshift shops, see various events for a new product or even watch live music.
I caught this performance briefly in the Sadang subway station in Seoul. The music was a little old, but it was still nice to hear while I was waiting. There was quite a crowd gathered, about 100 people. Not bad. Perhaps I should have my mom send me my electric guitar and jam out some Iron Maiden tunes. I bet people would enjoy that!
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written by shawn matthews
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