tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81985349794731419052024-02-08T13:32:41.355+09:00Adventures in the 4077thSuicide is painless.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.comBlogger320125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-3505916201446539672017-09-25T17:34:00.000+09:002017-09-25T17:34:14.211+09:00North Korea<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/14/we-can-stop-north-korea-from-attacking-us-all-we-have-to-do-is-not-attack-them/" target="_blank">The Intercept has the best take I've read on the whole situation.</a>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-52357601784105754462016-12-29T00:19:00.000+09:002016-12-29T00:40:00.350+09:00Analogue: A Hate Story (Or, Joseon Korea in Space!)It seems that Korea and Koreans are represented pretty well in the indie game market. <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust:_An_Elysian_Tail" target="_blank">Dust: An Elysian Tail</a>, </i>by half-Korean developer Dean Dodrill, incorporates a number of Korean elements in the story and design and has sold over a million copies. On a smaller scale, the visual novel <a href="http://ahatestory.com/" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Analogue: A Hate Story</a> from <a href="http://loveconquersallgam.es/" target="_blank">Love Conquers All Games</a> is explicitly based on Korean history. In case the hanbok and Hangul on the box art didn't clue you in:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0rLdu3X_cJs/WGPJdmVndHI/AAAAAAAAGRY/1DRZL9fx-lAA86-Um3JV00E2pcZzSsSEACLcB/s1600/analogue_boxart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0rLdu3X_cJs/WGPJdmVndHI/AAAAAAAAGRY/1DRZL9fx-lAA86-Um3JV00E2pcZzSsSEACLcB/s320/analogue_boxart.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy Raide and <a href="http://loveconquersallgam.es/" target="_blank">Love Conquers All Games</a></td></tr>
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The idea is that you are some kind of cyberpunk data hunter. For this job, you've been tasked with fishing out information from a long-abandoned space colonizing vessel, the <i><a href="http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=75126" target="_blank">Mugunghwa</a></i>, which was originally launched in some unknown year by the (obviously fictional) United Korea Space Federation.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYCUT9fzVEab0yKVsIdgWm5At2rIbgSX2ydxS-56r07kcqs2aAUXUHFbbsLzwjATKJH0_Y7i8rn3S16u2H5tbApuV2G_rYp6UyPB2hmwPEhmgduBjIvNWpVKsZO-tZKOI9HuaEsiSP5yc/s1600/100_3651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYCUT9fzVEab0yKVsIdgWm5At2rIbgSX2ydxS-56r07kcqs2aAUXUHFbbsLzwjATKJH0_Y7i8rn3S16u2H5tbApuV2G_rYp6UyPB2hmwPEhmgduBjIvNWpVKsZO-tZKOI9HuaEsiSP5yc/s400/100_3651.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mugungwha at a grave site in Uijeongbu, South Korea</td></tr>
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As you work with the computer's AI system and access the ship's logs from high-ranking passengers, the science fiction background quickly takes shape: Joseon Korea in space! A cool conceit, but I would have loved to see it explored more in depth. I appreciate that Love tried, however, and it's pretty obvious that she is deeply interested in the topic—the game is available in Korean as well as English, so it might be a fun way to get in some language practice? Even though Love isn't Korean, she obviously did her research (and very helpfully names it in the credits!). But there are Korean scholars out there who are better equipped than I am to comment on the accuracy of her portrayal. Anyway, on to the game itself!<br />
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During the job you interact with two different AIs, who show you different logs from the long-dead residents of the <i>Mugunghwa.</i> Those logs comprise the story of <i>Analogue. </i>There are also dating sim overtones, as your dialogue choices with the AIs determine if you leave the job with none, one, or both of them downloaded to your own computer. More importantly, your choices dictate which logs they decide to show you. The easiest way to "hack" the game is to remember to show every log to both AIs. (You can't talk to the AIs directly; the game's conceit is that you communicate by answering their yes/no questions and showing them log entries you want to know more about.)<br />
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There's also a small but significant element of the story that takes place in a faux-*nix command line, which tickles me to no end (as a Linux user myself). This is where the game's one and only puzzle comes up, and it's a bit of a doozy. I thought it was, anyway; I had to look up a solution online.<br />
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<i>Analogue</i> is generally pretty forgiving. You can't really die—I guess maybe only if you don't solve the puzzle you can, but that's it. Your choices aren't so critical, either. This isn't to say that none of them matter. If you're too rude to Hyun-ae (the main AI), or too disinterested in her, she'll disconnect and you'll lose the game. If you neglect to talk to the AIs (by showing them certain logs), you won't unlock all of the content, and you certainly won't be able to finish the game. But otherwise, you can't really lose.<br />
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As the story is presented achronistically (achronologically?), it's hard to tell what's happening at first. This is a point in the game's favor, as it makes repeated play-throughs more rewarding. I don't think I really understood things until I unlocked my third or fourth ending (out of seven total).<br />
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It's important to save! There comes a point in the story, maybe like halfway or two-thirds in, where you're railroaded into finishing the game with whatever AI you're engaging with at the moment; if you want to get the other AI's ending(s) and you <i>haven't</i> saved in good time, you'll have to start from the beginning.<br />
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Overall it's cute. I don't think it's quite as <i>holy shit!!</i> as some of the breathless reviews on the website make it out to be, but I think it's a mildly interesting story presented in a really clever and creative way. I would have loved to see more backstory and less dating sim, but maybe she tackles that in the sequel, <a href="http://hateplus.com/" target="_blank">Hate Plus</a>.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-14676931655122711852016-10-30T01:34:00.004+09:002016-10-30T01:34:49.973+09:00Park Geun Hye's DownfallDamn, y'all. <a href="https://askakorean.blogspot.se/2016/10/the-irrational-downfall-of-park-geun-hye.html" target="_blank">What a time to not be in South Korea</a>. This is the kind of thing I would have loved to talk about with my students, at least to hear their perspective.<br />
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When you're the first minority anything (or at least the first in an official capacity—black people were playing baseball before Jackie Robinson, and so on), the burden is on you to not fuck it up. Beyond that, the burden is on you to be unbelievably good at what you're doing. Twice as good for half the credit, as the expression goes.<br />
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As the US is on the brink of its first woman president (knock on wood, get out the vote, etc.), and as I left the country almost four years ago (where does the time go?!), it's a little shitty of me to sit high and mighty and talk about Korea's patriarchal society and its relationship with Park. From a distance, her presidency has looked a little troubled, but I don't know the details. But it's not the details I'm interested in at this point (or well, I am, but you know), but the ramifications.<br />
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The next woman to run for office in South Korea is going to have to contend with this shitshow. It doesn't matter which party she's in, or her career up to that point, or how long it's been—the pundits will all bring up Park Geun Hye. Whether it's a favorable or unfavorable comparison doesn't matter; thanks to this scandal, it'll be hard work to come out of the shadow of Park's legacy.<br />
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<br />Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-332892277823287422015-10-27T07:52:00.000+09:002015-10-27T07:52:19.413+09:00PSAWow, let me dust off the ol' K-blog for the first time in a long while!<br />
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I wish I were posting here again to relay some positive news—a vacation or even a new job in South Korea, a friend's new blog, some great news out of the peninsula—but that isn't the case.<br />
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I want to tell you about my friend Bob. Bob, a gay ex-Navy man, and his husband, Hoon. Both of them were some of the warmest, most open, most generous people I met while I was in Korea. This is out of an amazing group of coworkers and friends I managed to accrue—I honestly had a wonderful time in Korea due in large part to the fantastic people I met, Korean and foreigners alike, and even among those examples they stand out. (The "hell is other foreigners" tag notwithstanding; it's my default "other foreigners" tag and I wouldn't have much use for a new one.)<br />
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Bob is quite a few years older than most of my Korean and NEST contemporaries; the draw of retirement and the beginnings of failing health prompted him to leave the Korean ESL world after a solid decade in the field. Hoon was unable to come with him at the time, so he remained in Korea.<br />
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Unfortunately, Bob's been facing an uphill battle since coming back home. He is unable to work much these days (aforementioned failing health), but receives no additional disability support to supplement his $500 / month Social Security stipend. And it takes money to bring someone permanently overseas.<br />
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All of this is not helped by the fact that, during the entirety of Bob's tenure in South Korea, the Korean government did not recognize same-sex marriage (and continues to fight this losing cultural battle, even today); we all knew Hoon as Bob's husband and vice versa, but the title was nothing more than a social nicety. Likewise, national, federal-level same-sex marriage was not established in the US until after Bob had already moved home, so the US embassy couldn't have done much to help.<br />
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Would being legally-recognized partners help? I don't know, it might have. But that's water under the bridge.<br />
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I know the Internet is full of a lot of tales of woe, or ridiculous potato salad kickstarters, or anything else, but I can assure you that the couple involved with this are among the kindest and most generous people I've had the pleasure to meet. Do I understand entirely the reasoning or legality behind all of the obstacles, both American and South Korean? No. Hopefully it will actually be easier than this for them to be together; hopefully it won't take as much as Bob is expecting it to take. But do I think for a moment that this GoFundMe is a graft, a fraud, a pity party? <b>No</b>. Never in a thousand years. Bob was always the giving one: having dinners, thoughtful gifts, good advice, even job openings. He would never ask other people to give if he didn't have to.<br />
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If you have the means, please donate. If you have the audience, please signal boost. If you have the legal connections and advice, please get in touch. These are two sweet people who deserve to be able to live out their lives together.<br />
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<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="338" title="Click Here to donate!" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="258"><param name="movie" value="//funds.gofundme.com/Widgetflex.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="flashvars" value="page=u26u9uy4&template=0" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed allowScriptAccess="always" src="//funds.gofundme.com/Widgetflex.swf" quality="high" flashVars="page=u26u9uy4&template=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="258" height="338"></embed></object>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-62537801844031387652014-07-25T19:49:00.003+09:002014-07-25T19:49:54.798+09:00Andrei Lankov's AMA<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/NorthKoreaNews/comments/296ryd/i_am_dr_andrei_lankov_i_studied_in_north_korea/" target="_blank">Andrei Lankov had an AMA on reddit.</a> I'm reading it right now; you should, too.<br />
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I just can't bear to let this little blog of mine completely go, I suppose.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-64021447818966777122014-02-05T21:38:00.000+09:002014-02-06T18:37:37.522+09:00Uijeongbu Time CapsuleSomeone shared this photo in the Uijeongbu Crew Facebook group (which I can never bring myself to leave, ever):<br />
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<img height="275" src="https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31/1622421_670560029654550_2108626247_o.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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Main street Uijeongbu, 1966.<br />
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Googling to find the original online (in case the Facebook image link ever breaks), I came across this page. It's mind-blowing how much Uijeongbu changed in nearly 50 years and how quickly.<br />
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http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/crc1a.htm<br />
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Now Uijeongbu looks like this:<br />
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<img height="300" src="https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1/561211_610065022686_264496900_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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<img height="300" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1/419991_599416297816_2044961205_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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If that photo up there is taken where I THINK It is, then these two right here are just a few blocks down from that location.<br />
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This fresh on the heels of news that the THC9, beloved downtown movie theater, has finally been crushed under the heel of the CGV that opened when they put in the Shinsegae right at Uijeongbu Station. And that one of my favorite places downtown, Birdland, has gone from a cool jazz club with regular performers who recognized me and my friends to "Birdland 7080," which means no more live jazz in Uijeongbu and probably yet another loud, obnoxious 7080 bar.<br />
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Nothing is permanent except change. But when you leave a place, you like to pretend that you're leaving it in a state of suspended animation. That the things you loved will continue on after you forever and in some way that part of your life will, too; that you can come back whenever you want to and it'll be like you never left.<br />
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Womp womp womp.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-8313623242369242972014-01-26T23:06:00.002+09:002015-10-27T17:51:53.642+09:00Self-Published Wacky Expat Shenanigans in South Korea NovelsI found something the other day that prompted me to crawl out of the woodwork, something I can best describe as the aborted fetus of a literary movement: the lost in Korea generation.<br />
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An overwhelming number of EFL teachers in South Korea end up writing blogs. Only natural: the majority of them are the first among their peer group to teach in Korea, and it's easier to share longform updates and photo essays via Wordpress or Blogger than it is via email or Facebook. Plus, I think you'd find that many of them majored in English at university, to some extent—straight up English, or Creative Writing (guilty), or Journalism, and so on. I'd argue that crowd represents a disproportionately large number of EFL teachers in Korea. Not as many as Education, perhaps, but a close second.</div>
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Naturally, then, when you have people with a passion for words on what may be the biggest adventure of their lives, away from their friends and family for maybe the first time in their lives, a blog becomes a tempting, even an inevitable, step to take. Add a few words of encouragement in the comments, and you know what seems like an even better idea?</div>
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A <i style="font-weight: bold;">novel</i>. </div>
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Full disclosure: I wouldn't have bothered digging these specimens up if I weren't up to tricks myself. I'm guilty of having literary aspirations, too. </div>
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That's besides the point of this entry. I have some amount of high-falutin' critical literary thoughts on what a novel about teaching in South Korea should and shouldn't be, but that can come later. For now, I just want to float these links to self-published "wacky expat shenanigans in South Korea!" novels out into the world for your amusement, since they are pretty awful. If you want to write a novel about EFL teachers in South Korea, don't write one like these. <b>Please.</b></div>
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Out of courtesy to the authors who, as far as I can Google, have moved on into careers unrelated to teaching English or creative writing, I won't include their names or links to their Facebook/LinkedIn profiles, all of which I was able to find rather easily. Which brings me to a piece of advice: when writing a book based on your own real life experiences, do yourself a favor and use a pen name. </div>
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<a href="http://books.google.se/books?id=-2BvJq2I9jsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Prisoner of Wonderland...an ESL Misadventure</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/097607480X/1stopkoreacom" target="_blank">American English: A Teacher's Journey in Seoul, South Korea</a></div>
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<a href="http://books.google.se/books?id=FEepoOkDB3IC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">English Toss on Planet Andong</a> by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dave-Franklin/e/B004JRLURM/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0" target="_blank">Dave Franklin</a> (exception made because he is a writer by trade)</div>
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<a href="http://books.google.se/books?id=Ni20Mlop8CQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Island of Fantasy: A Memoir of an English Teacher in South Korea</a></div>
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The granddaddy of all of these, though, is unusual in that it's mostly about being in jail: the infamous <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brother-One-Cell-Cullen-Thomas/dp/0143113119" target="_blank">Brother One Cell</a> by <a href="http://cullenthomas.com/" target="_blank">Cullen Thomas</a> (who still seems to make bank on this book, so he gets named here, too). This one is maybe worth reading, but the reviews seem mixed, so it'll have to wait for a slow book day, after I've filled in the gaps of my English literature history.</div>
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Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-78320033190792152172014-01-04T05:09:00.000+09:002014-02-06T18:44:02.951+09:00Blog RecI've been meaning to come out of my semi-retirement to talk about all of the insanity going on back on the peninsula: traitorous legislators in the south, power consolidation in the north, it's all crazytown! But—more competent people than myself are talking about it, so I'll just remain quiet. (Though, an interesting theory I came across: Uncle Jang was executed for setting KJU up with an ex porn star, and also maybe sleeping with her himself. Enjoy that one.)<br />
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(Also, news sources are reporting that he was fed to wild dogs? Fucking really? God, American media is stupid.)<br />
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Anyway, I'm not talking about that. What IS bringing me out of my retirement is a new blog on Korean history, written by one of my friends back in Korea (I almost typed "back home" there). It's called <a href="http://figuresofkorea.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Figures of Korean History</a>, and while there's only one entry now, there will be more in the future. Subscribe now!Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-90763659481204264292013-10-08T03:44:00.000+09:002013-10-08T03:48:06.682+09:00The Queen's Classroom: The Only K-Drama Worth WatchingOkay, maybe not entirely true, but never before has television moved me to tears. To tears!<br />
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I usually dislike television and that goes double for K-dramas. The last K-drama I tried to watch was 꽃보다 남자 (which just goes to show how often I could be roused to give a shit), and I couldn't even finish. 여왕의 교실, though, I would marathon until the wee hours of the morning. Here is what is good about it:</div>
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1. The kid actors actually look like real people instead of Botox'd and plastic surgery'd automatons.</div>
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2. The kid actors also aren't awful and awkward in their acting (but maybe I couldn't tell because I was too busy reading subtitles).</div>
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3. The kid characters are well-developed and a lot like actual kids. Anyone who's been in the kiddie hagwon business will recognize a few of their own students in the show. I know I did.</div>
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4. Satisfying character arcs for everyone, kids as well as adults.</div>
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All 16 episodes are available (with subtitles) here:<br />
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<a href="http://www.viki.com/tv/11843c-the-queens-classroom">http://www.viki.com/tv/11843c-the-queens-classroom</a>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-87314676771370640522013-09-01T13:49:00.003+09:002013-09-01T13:49:45.237+09:00Rep. Lee Seok-ki (UPP) to be arrested for conspiracy, treason.<a href="http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/08/31/0301000000AEN20130831001900315.html" target="_blank">Parliament to handle arrest request for Rep. Lee Seok-ki next week.</a> From the article:<br />
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Lee and some members of the Unified Progressive Party (UPP) have been accused by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of planning an armed revolt if war breaks out with North Korea. The country's spy agency said the people under investigation hatched a plot to attack key infrastructure in the South to aid the North if conflict occurs.</blockquote>
I haven't seen this story surface in any of the blogs I still read or in any news; I guess because Syria is the big international story at the moment. One of my buddies back in Korea has been feeding me the story piecemeal. This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-32216841722141444802013-07-03T14:12:00.002+09:002013-07-03T14:12:49.541+09:00When Worlds Collide<div class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/pgmain/img/warren-photos/photo/2013/07/-c23cdaf9e8d4f77a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/pgmain/img/warren-photos/photo/2013/07/-c23cdaf9e8d4f77a.jpg" width="200" /></a>I love and miss you all. Have a weird news story involving a South Korean serviceman and a nearby high school. Apparently this went down while I was still in SK, but they didn't crack the case until now.</div>
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For reference, this (Hackettstown) is about 50 minutes away from my house. It's only 20 minutes away from one of my good college friends.<br />
<a href="http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2013/07/man_who_called_from_south_kore.html">http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2013/07/man_who_called_from_south_kore.html</a><br />
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For the link phobic:<br />
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HACKETTSTOWN, NJ — Online chat rooms appear to be the link between a 19-year-old serving in the South Korean military and phone calls that led to the lockdown of four Hackettstown schools in 2012. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke and Hackettstown Police explained in a press conference today how Dae Woong Lee, a 19-year-old serving in the South Korean military, was charged in his country for a call threatening Hackettstown High School students that led to the lockdown on March, 26, 2012. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Dae Woong Lee made two phone calls to the Warren County 911 Center, indicating he was in possession of an AK-47 in the woods behind Hackettstown High School, officials said. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Lee spoke with the 911 dispatcher for an hour, threatening to kill students including one particular girl who Burke said Lee was previously communicating with in online chat rooms. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The Procecutor's Office would not specify which website chat room was used to make contact. Burke indicated that it was not Facebook, but another form of social media.<br />Hackettstown High School, Hackettstown Middle School, Hatchery Hill School, Willow Grove School, St Mary’s school and Centenary College were placed on lockdown after Hackettstown Police responded, secured the area and contacted the Warren County Tactical Team. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Law enforcement eventually determined there was no imminent threat to students, and the lockdown was lifted. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"This is why we take these drills seriously," said Hackettstown High School Superintendent David Mango. "There is no incident that you can ever be fully prepared for." </blockquote>
<blockquote>
According to Principal Roy Huchel, the lockdown lasted for more than three hours and involved 955 students. He said that after the incident, the school's Child Study Team and guidance counselors were made available to students to discuss the emotional toll of the event. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
During the call to the 911 center, Lee identified himself as Kevin McGowan, 19, and spoke to the dispatcher about his girlfriend, his broken heart and rap songs he liked.<br />"We're not going to allow threats to our community and children to go unpunished," Burke said. "We could have walked away (from the investigation), but we're not going to do that; we're not going to tolerate this in Warren County," he said. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Authorities were not immediately able to trace the call because it was made from a voice-over-IP address app that masks the phone number and makes it harder to trace, according to the Warren County 911 Center. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
This information was relayed to the Prosecutor's Office, which sought assistance from the N.J. State Police Electronic Surveillance Unit and the Attorney General's Office's Division of Criminal Justice and Electronic Surveillance Unit. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Burke said that the 15-month "manpower intensive" investigation involved leads outside of New Jersey. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"There were a lot of leads and one of them was in Wisconsin," Burke said. "There was a lot of investigation and a lot of man hours." </blockquote>
<blockquote>
They then acquired assistance from Middle Atlantic-Great Lakes Oraganized Crime Law Enforcement Network, the U.S. Marshall Service, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"It was determined that the target of the investigation was outside of the United States, and specifically located in South Korea," Burke said. "Without the coordination of all efforts this was not possible." </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Homeland Security continued the investigation along with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which was able to locate and interview Lee on Jan. 27. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
On Monday, June 3, Lee was charged with obstruction of business in Korea and faces up to five years in prison and a fine up to the equivalent of $15,000. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Burke said Lee is currently not in jail, and will remain serving in the South Korean military until the matter is resolved. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"We have no intention of extraditing," Burke said, adding that the punishment is equivalent in the United States and the costs to extradite would be large. He added that he believes "their process is quicker than ours." </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Warren County Freeholder Director Jason Sarnoski concluded the press conference by congratulating everyone involved for their hard work. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"There is no such thing as a small county or a small town anymore. We live in a global society," he said, "and we can be affected by anyone. We need to be constantly alert." </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Michael McDonald, first assistant prosecutor for Warren County, hopes that resolving this will deter others from making threats in the future. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
"There is no way to know if a person is serious," McDonald said in an interview after the conference. "It scares you what's out there on the internet."</blockquote>
Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-26256325016382735882013-04-14T04:05:00.000+09:002013-04-14T04:09:07.237+09:00Gentleman, Or: PSY Trolls EveryoneThe video for PSY's new single is hilarious, and the song is damn catchy. It definitely made me a bit homesick for the sketchy bar districts in Seoul, even if I have decided I'm officially too old for that shit.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ASO_zypdnsQ" width="400"></iframe><br />
</div><br />
For those of you who want the Korean lyrics to this new earworm, here they are (courtesy of <a href="http://jumpersjump.blogspot.com/2013/04/lyric-psy-gentleman-lyric-hangul.html#.UWmqq8Vk60w" target="_blank">jumpersjump</a>). It took me longer than it should have to find proper Hangul lyrics instead of awful romanized crap, so I'm doing my part to signal boost:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">젠틀맨</span></div><br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">알랑가몰라</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">왜</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">화끈해야</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">하는건지</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">알랑가몰라</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">왜</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">말끔해야</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">하는건지</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">알랑가몰라</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">아리까리하면</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">까리해</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">알랑가몰라</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> We Like We We We Like Party </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">해</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> ~<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">있잖아</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">말이야</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">이사람으로</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">말씀드리자면</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">말이야</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">용기</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">패기</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">똘끼</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">멋쟁이</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">말이야</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">너가</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">듣고픈말</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">하고픈게</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">난데</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">말이야</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Damn! Girl! You so freakin sexy!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah Ah Ah Ah~ I’m a…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah Ah Ah Ah~ I’m a…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah Ah Ah Ah~ I’m a mother father gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah I’m a<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I'm a mother father gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah I’m a<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a mother father gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">알랑가몰라</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">왜</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">미끈해야하는건지</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">알랑가몰라</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">왜</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">쌔끈해야하는건지</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">알랑가몰라</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">달링</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">빨리와서</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">난리해</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">알랑가몰라</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">난리난리</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">났어</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">빨리해</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">있잖아</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">말이야</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">너의</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">머리</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">허리</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">다리</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">종아리</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">말이야</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Good! feeling feeling? Good! </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">부드럽게</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">말이야</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">아주</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">그냥</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">헉소리나게</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">악소리</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">나게</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif;">말이야</span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Damn! Girl! I’m a party mafia!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah Ah Ah Ah~ I’m a…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah Ah Ah Ah~ I’m a…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah Ah Ah Ah~ I’m a mother father gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah I’m a<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a mother father gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah I’m a<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a mother father gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Gonna make you sweat.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Gonna make you wet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> You know who I am~ Wet PSY!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Gonna make you sweat.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Gonna make you wet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> You know who I am~ Wet PSY!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;">Wet PSY! Wet PSY! Wet PSY! PSY! PSY! PSY!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah I’m a mother father gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah I’m a<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a mother father gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Ah I’m a<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> I’m a mother father gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Mother father gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Georgia Serif'; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;"> Mother father gentleman</span></div>Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-50023398250197975332013-04-07T02:32:00.001+09:002013-04-07T02:32:27.775+09:00More Koreaboo Pique<a href="http://roboseyo.blogspot.com/2013/04/war-with-north-korea-ermahgerd.html" target="_blank">Roboseyo breaks his blogging silence for a rational and sane discussion on the situation in North Korea.</a><br />
<br />
Also, The Korean translated North Korean defector <a href="http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2013/03/just-how-formidable-is-north-koreas.html" target="_blank">Joo Seong-ha's article on North Korea's "hacker army."</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-948965" target="_blank">Some thoughts on the situation on the peninsula by another defector.</a> In other words, the only time I'll ever link to CNN with a straight face.<br />
<br />
And finally, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/04/04/sorry-anonymous-probably-didnt-hack-north-koreas-intranet/" target="_blank">Anonymous done goofed.</a><br />
<br />
I'm still sitting on some student profiles; I've just been busy working a job and a half. I hope everyone enjoyed their semi-annual candy binge!Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-18535252990326070382013-03-15T08:49:00.003+09:002013-09-01T13:55:44.593+09:00A Fit of Koreaboo Pique<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<a href="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/05/29/north_korea_myanmar_two_nations_emerge_11931787_custom-8242bad3badbddd02f4c129cff433e1e341e16f8-s6-c10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/05/29/north_korea_myanmar_two_nations_emerge_11931787_custom-8242bad3badbddd02f4c129cff433e1e341e16f8-s6-c10.jpg" width="200" /></a>American news reporting on North Korea continues to astound me, and I mean that in the <b><i>least </i></b>generous way possible. Maybe in another life I would have been an international correspondent or writer covering the situation on the Korean peninsula, but—oh well. Despite the fact that I am probably preaching to the choir, I am still irritated enough that I feel compelled to provide you, dear faithful blog reader/Internet searcher who has stumbled across my blog/family member, with the means to educate yourselves if you so please! Here are Internet things dealing with the Koreas that I like:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://askakorean.blogspot.com/">Ask A Korean!</a> - This is the best English language blog on South Korea, for fairly obvious reasons. (Those reasons are: it's written by a Korean who writes well.) If you are an expat blogger you probably follow him already (and if you don't, you should). While The Korean currently resides in Virginia, he keeps abreast of news and I see stories on his blog that I don't see anywhere else in English. He's also written a few well-researched and extensive series on assorted issues in South Korea: the presidents, the suicide rate, the financial crisis, etc.<br />
<br />
The downside is that The Korean is a lawyer, so he can get called away from blogging for long periods of time. He also is a bit of a food and language snob, so once in a while there are rants about the purity of Korean food or language or whatever that makes me roll my eyes, but he seems to know that he's being irrational.<br />
<br />
For those of you that care, The Korean also does not apologize or care about being flamingly, staunchly liberal.<br />
<br />
If you are at all curious about Korea, this is <i>the</i> blog to add to your feed.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.nknews.org/">NK News</a> - I don't follow this one but I read it occasionally<lj user="enkiae">. Any article here will certainly provide more depth and insight than most American news programs.</lj></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.dailynk.com/english/">Daily NK</a> -<lj user="enkiae"> What makes this news site exceptional is that it's run by North Korean defectors who still have ties back home. The result is not only real information instead of meaningless echo chamber speculation, but a more nuanced look into the country beyond the international image of one crazy (or corrupt, or both) leader and a vague notion of hungry citizens. If you follow nothing else from this list, follow this one. The link here is to their English page; they publish in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese as well.</lj></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/justicefornorthkorea">Justice for North Korea</a> - The Facebook page for the charity my friend Breda works at. She's a grad student in international relations at Korea University, with a focus on North Korea and reunification, so Breda is not a stupid ignorant American when it comes to the issues. She (and maybe some of the other JFNK volunteers) maintain the Facebook page and regularly post links to assorted articles that are usually insightful and nuanced interpretations of events. (I say "usually" only because I will skim past articles now and then and not read them, so I can't vouch for EVERY SINGLE THING posted.) It's always in English, no worries.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Despite recent shenanigans with Dennis Rodman and the Harlem Globetrotters (I'm still undecided on if that was good, bad, both, or neither), VICE magazine has a few (mostly) good series on North Korea:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.vice.com/the-vice-guide-to-travel/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-3">The original VICE Guide to North Korea</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.vice.com/vice-news/north-korean-labor-camps-part-1">The North Korean Logging Camps</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.vice.com/the-vice-guide-to-film/north-korean-film-madness-1">The North Korean Movie Industry</a><br />
<br />
Sometimes it kind of becomes more of a "check out this insane country" rubber-necking spectacle than actual journalism, but not so bad it's distracting or obnoxious or whatever.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Also there are some books that are good. Here are ones that I like:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Under-Loving-Care-Fatherly-Leader/dp/0312323220/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363061007&sr=8-1&keywords=under+the+loving+care+of+the+fatherly+leader"><i>Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader</i></a> - It is definitely a bit outdated (last updated in 2010), but holy shit this tome on North Korea is fairly exhaustive and great and I will definitely be re-reading it in the near future to re-absorb things I missed the first time.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Koreas-Place-Sun-History-Updated/dp/0393327027/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363061173&sr=1-1&keywords=bruce+cummings"><i>Korea's Place in the Sun</i></a> - Bruce Cumings is basically the senior White Expat Expert on Korea, though not without controversy. This book was banned in South Korea for a while (I think by Chun Doo-hwan?) and at least one other Korean specialist has accused him of being a North Korean apologist, so there you go. I haven't read this one, but I did read his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Korean-War-History-Library-Chronicles/dp/081297896X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363061173&sr=1-2&keywords=bruce+cummings">history of the Korean war</a>, which I felt was very thorough and as impartial as possible.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/This-Is-Paradise-Korean-Childhood/dp/0316729663/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363061522&sr=8-1&keywords=this+is+paradise"><i>This is Paradise! My North Korean Childhood</i></a> - This one is a short, easy read that sometimes suffers from language clunkiness (translated from Korean to French to English, as I recall) but is invaluable as a firsthand account of living in North Korea written by a North Korean. It's not <i>Escape From Camp 14</i> which I can't bring myself to read, despite my interest in North Korea, because I KNOW it'll be depressing. If you feel the same way, this one is a good substitute.</li>
</ul>
Happy Pi Day! And to my friends still in Korea, happy white day!Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-87495698797253912632013-03-11T09:11:00.000+09:002013-03-11T09:11:00.481+09:00Multimedia Monday: Big Buck BunnyMy boyfriend just made me aware of this very cute open source animated short. I regret that he didn't show me earlier because I'm sure my kids would have loved it! So I'm sharing it now, in case it may be useful for my teacher friends who are still teaching.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XSGBVzeBUbk" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
You could use it for so much! Season vocabulary (since it's obviously springtime), animals, simple past, sequencing, and descriptions, just to name a few.<br />
<br />
For other videos I've found, check the <a href="http://kobarea.blogspot.com/search/label/multimedia%20monday" target="_blank">Multimedia Monday tag</a>. If you don't have Internet access in your classroom (but you DO have a computer), I recommend using <a href="http://youtubedownloaderhd.com/" target="_blank">YouTubeDownloaderHD</a> to save the movies to a thumb drive.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-77814272015808369192013-03-05T00:31:00.000+09:002013-03-05T01:52:57.053+09:00Satire: Korea, Ben Folds, and Asian AmericansOh hey, I'm still here. I've been meaning to do some student profiles, before they slip out of my memory (I had so many good kids at my last hagwon), but I guess I can't bring myself to do it.<br />
<br />
What I CAN bring myself to do, though, is bitter, incompetent parody. I started working on this—a parody of <i>Rockin' the Suburbs</i> changed to reflect some of the worst foreigners I ever met in Korea—a couple years ago and, inspired by Douglas Kim's "I'm Asian American," decided to finish it today. First, enjoy Kim's version, because it's great:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/M9KsAw97oZY" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
That said, here's my own <i>Rockin' the Suburbs</i> parody. It'd be my dream if someone recorded this. Maybe I'll record it myself when I have the time. (Hah! Fat chance.)<br />
<br />
<b>Rockin' Korea</b><br />
<b>(White Whine Anthem)</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>With apologies to Ben Folds</i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
Let me tell y'all what it's like<br />
Being male, middle class, and white.<br />
Despite my privileges I still believe<br />
I'm an oppressed minority.<br />
Sham on!<br />
<br />
I got shit posted on my blog<br />
It's so hip, please follow along<br />
While I drink in Itaewon<br />
And sing Journey in the noraebang.<br />
<br />
I'm rockin' Korea,<br />
Just like Doug MacArthur did.<br />
I'm rockin' Korea;<br />
Only care when it's me that's exploited.<br />
I'm rockin' Korea!<br />
Cash the checks and drink the booze.<br />
After all, I'm not Korean, why should I follow all their rules?<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm pissed off, it's because I'm white<br />
That people push on the subway line.<br />
Ajosshis, you make me so uptight<br />
Gonna rant in the bar tonight.<br />
All I do is piss and moan<br />
But never, ever go back home.<br />
<br />
I'm rockin' in Korea,<br />
Just like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Bird">Bella Bishop</a> did.<br />
I'm rockin' Korea;<br />
Only care when it's me that's exploited.<br />
I'm rockin' Korea!<br />
Cash the check and drink the booze.<br />
After all, I'm not Korean, why should I follow all their rules?<br />
<br />
In a haze today,<br />
What the fuck did I do last night?<br />
I can feel that something's not right<br />
I can feel that someone's next to me<br />
in bed! I'm dead,<br />
I don't want a K-girlfriend!<br />
'Cause all the guys who post on Dave's place<br />
Have well assured me that Korean girls are cray.<br />
It wasn't my idea,<br />
It wasn't my idea,<br />
It never was my idea.<br />
I just went to Hongdae<br />
For some soju stress relief.<br />
<br />
Ya'll don't know what it's like<br />
Being male, middle class and white.<br />
<br />
Y'all don't know what it's like,<br />
being male, middle class, and white.<br />
<br />
Y'all don't know what it's like,<br />
being male, middle class and white.<br />
<br />
Y'all don't know what it's like,<br />
being male, middle class, and white.<br />
<br />
It gets me real pissed off and it makes me wanna say<br />
It gets me real pissed off and it makes me wanna say<br />
It gets me real pissed off and it makes me wanna say<br />
<br />
<b>씨 발~~~~!</b><br />
<br />
<br />
Just like Alan Alda did.<br />
I'm rockin' Korea;<br />
Only care when it's me that's exploited.<br />
I'm rockin' Korea,<br />
Cash the checks and drink the booze.<br />
After all, I'm not Korean, why should I follow all their rules?<br />
Fuck this place~<br />
<br />
Yeah, yeah!<br />
<br />
I'm rockin' Korea,<br />
yeah, yeah!<br />
<br />
I'm rockin' Korea,<br />
yeah, yeah!<br />
<br />
You better watch out, because I'm gonna say 씨 발.<br />
You better watch out, because I'm gonna say 씨 발.<br />
You better watch out, because I'm gonna say 씨 발.<br />
You better watch out, because I'm gonna say 씨 발.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-73580021425280014602012-12-05T01:06:00.002+09:002012-12-05T01:06:51.242+09:00Uijeongbu Pension NonsenseFor posterity, allow me to document my experience with the Uijeongbu Pension Office.<br />
<br />
It went about as smoothly as the Internet would indicate; however, either there's been a slight rules change or the official I talked to was a jerk. When I went, the clerk refused to take any of my bank information (SWFT code, address, account number) from me. She would only take it from a receipt from the bank...even though the bank receipt would be based on the same information she <i>wouldn't</i> accept from me. Uh, what?<br />
<br />
She also refused to just let me cash it out; I could either wire it home, wire it to a Korean account, or set up a new bank account in the bank downstairs and transfer it there.<br />
<br />
So I just sucked it up, went to the bank to send my money home, and came back with the bank receipt, and it was all good.<br />
<br />
And icing on the bad service cake: despite working at the FOR FOREIGNERS desk, seeing my American passport, and hearing me fail miserably at Korean (stress + my crappy Korean = crappier Korean), she didn't use English with me at all until I broke down and gave a sad, "I don't know, I just need to send this money home," in English. And then perfectly fluent English. What.<br />
<br />
It was not a pleasant experience at all, but I suspect it was mostly due to this particular government worker being kind of a bitch.<br />
<br />
<b><u>WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE UIJEONGBU PENSION OFFICE</u></b><br />
(as of 11/2012)<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Passport</li>
<li>ARC</li>
<li>Proof of leaving (printed flight itinerary works just fine)</li>
<li>Receipt from a wire transfer at your bank with: SWFT code, bank name, bank address, account number, and bank branch number</li>
</ul>
<br /><br />
<b><u>HOW TO FIND THE UIJEONGBU PENSION OFFICE</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
From the new Uijeongbu Station/Shinsegae department store, take exit 2, towards City Hall. Go past the building with the THC 9 theater. Cross the street; "Wedding Palace" will be on your left. The Uijeongbu Pension Office is in the next building, "Samseong Sang Myeong." (NB: The name is only in Hangul: 삼성생명 or something similar.) Don't make any turns at all once you leave the station, just make a beeline out of exit 2. The Pension Office is on the second floor; you can take the elevators dead ahead or take the curving staircase to your left.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-26040976587132236742012-11-28T09:16:00.000+09:002012-11-28T09:16:04.132+09:00On Saying Goodbyes: Foreign vs KoreanAs I leave the country on Friday(!!), I've been saying goodbye to a lot of people. I've never been very good at goodbyes, in that I am kind of resistant to any kind huge change at all ever, so it's been rough (but I'm glad I took a month off to do it). There is definitely a different attitude, on my end, between saying goodbye to my other foreign friends and to my Korean friends.<br />
<br />
My foreign friends here are all ~*~free spirits~*~, as in they put stock in traveling and seeing the world and so forth. They know there's a couch in Stockholm for them; it's not goodbye, it's see you later, as the saying goes. <br />
<br />
My Korean friends, though, are mostly of an age where that traveling is more or less behind them. They <i>have</i> already traveled and done all of that and now it's time to find a career. Either that or they're of the aggressive and ambitious type who intend to get into a career as soon as they can; forget taking time off to travel. Those goodbyes are <i>goodbyes</i>. They sting. And while I <i>intend</i> to come back to Korea, who knows if I will. Who knows if time won't diminish our friendships.<br />
<br />
I've been singing a lot of this recently. It definitely makes it on to my "Korea: Round Two" soundtrack. It keeps me sane to insist to myself that we <i>will</i> meet again.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/cHcunREYzNY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-7970750573999964982012-11-21T02:45:00.003+09:002012-11-21T02:45:35.461+09:00Birdland IncidentThere's a jazz club in downtown Uijeongbu. I had walked by it loads of times but never screwed up the nerve to go in until I had scant few months remaining in Korea. We all make mistakes; this was one I wish I hadn't made. I will miss it dearly when I leave.<br />
<br />
I went last night with a few friends, two guys and one other girl. The guys and I are somewhat regulars, and in a country full of Koreans it's pretty easy to remember the weiguk sarams that keep coming back. The musicians always chat with us a bit, or say hello if they see us on the street. The girl with us, on the other hand, had never been before.<br />
<br />
At the end of the night, I complimented the singer on her rendition of "Fever," a song I had requested a few months ago but that they didn't have.<br />
<br />
"Thank you, I did it for you!"<br />
<br />
Which warmed my heart.<br />
<br />
Then she turned to the other girl. "You, I think you must be a good singer. Your face is so beautiful!"<br />
<br />
Heart dimmed, just a bit.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-5698544907694730522012-11-16T10:43:00.002+09:002012-11-16T10:47:30.217+09:00Glorious Vacation: Day 4<br />
Day 4 was Friday, which was when I was leaving Gwangju to see a friend in Busan. I had to do at least one May 18th related thing while I was in Gwangju (see my reason for choosing to visit it at all), so I decided the best one would be the May 18th National Cemetery. I kind of wish I had done something for the April 19th protest as well, but truth be told there wasn't that much.<br />
<br />
The bus that goes to the cemetery (and the surrounding cemeteries where I think other victims of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Democratization_Movement">May 18th massacre</a> are buried) is the number 518. 518. 5/18. I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.<br />
<br />
I totally spaced out on the bus and accidentally rode it to the end of the line, which is an old folks' home.<br />
<br />
Putting the old folks' home next to a shit load of cemeteries? <i>Really</i>?<br />
<br />
Anyway, I had an awkward little moment where I got out of the bus, sat at the bus stop and read for a few minutes, then got back on the same bus with the same driver, but whatever. Fortunately I hadn't overshot the cemetery by nearly as much as I thought I had, so it was all good.<br />
<br />
I kind of lost it at the cemetery, y'all. Maybe it's because I'm a big baby, but it was an awfully sobering couple hours. I've been to war memorials before (trips to Washington, D.C. much?) which are in the same vein, but none of them have been as serious and real to me as this. Everyone who died in the May 18th massacre were civilians, or students (at least, everyone buried in this cemetery; I don't think the police officers or paratroopers who died are buried in this cemetery), which to me makes it entirely different. Soldiers are expected (sadly) to die; students are not. Especially not at the hands of their own government. Plus, so many of them would be my parents' age, about, if they had survived: all of these people would have been someone's father or mother, if things had been different. They could have been the parents of someone who would have been my friend. Not to mention even younger casualties: small children inadvertently caught in the crossfire.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/8776_634116348636_1823859236_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<br />
<img height="300" src="http://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/305683_634116318696_2077997571_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
In case it's hard to read:<br />
<blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Here in the National Cemetery for the May 18th Democratic Uprising lie the meritorious persons who fought and sacrificed themselves during the Gwangju Uprising of 1980 and those laudable victims who died in the aftermath of the physical or mental injuries they sustained.<br />
<br />
The bodies of the victims were carried in garbage trucks and carts and buried without official reognition in the Old May 18 Cemetery (the 3rd graveyard of the Municipal Cemetery).<br />
<br />
With the completion of a 3-year conservation project (1994-1997), all bodies were moved and reburied together in this new cemetery. In accordance with the Act on the Honorable Treatment for Meritorious Persons of the May 18th Uprising, this cemetery, which had been managed by the Gwangju Municipal Administration, was promoted and renamed as the National Cemetery for the May 18th Democratic Uprising on July 27, 2002 by the Korean state.<br />
<br />
This cemetery will function as an education center, promoting the conviction that injustice and dictatorship should never return to this country, so that the spirit of the May 18th may be engraved on the hearts of all people making this a sacred place for democracy forever.</blockquote>
<br />
<img height="400" src="http://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/28004_634116303726_238470109_n.jpg" width="306" /><br />
Beyond the "gate" is the cemetery proper.<br />
<br />
<img height="300" src="http://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/486297_634116278776_398752207_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<br />
<img height="300" src="http://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/306881_634116253826_1901315705_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<br />
<img height="300" src="http://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/542875_634116243846_1738423693_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
English translation:<br />
<br />
<b>Oh, Gwangju! The Cross of Our Nation!</b> by Kim Jun-tae<br />
<br />
Oh, Gwangju! Mudeung Mountain!<br />
Our city of eternal youth<br />
that sheds blood tears<br />
between deaths!<br />
<br />
Where has our father gone?<br />
Where has our mother collapsed?<br />
Where has our Son died and been buried?<br />
And, where does our Daughter lie dead, her mouth gaping?<br />
Where have our soul and spirit<br />
gone, torn and broken into pieces?<br />
<br />
Gwangju, which both God and birds have left!<br />
Our blood-covered city<br />
where decent people<br />
are still alive, morning and evening,<br />
collapsing, falling down, and rising again!<br />
Ah, the phoenix, the phoenix, the phoenix<br />
of the South Province full of wailing<br />
that has tried to drive away death with death,<br />
and to seek life with death!<br />
<br />
When the sun and the moon nosedive<br />
and all the mountain ridges<br />
stand shamelessly high,<br />
ah, the flag of liberty<br />
that nobody can tear down<br />
or take away!<br />
The flag of humanity!<br />
The flag, hardened with flesh and bones!<br />
<br />
Oh, our city<br />
where at times our songs, dreams, and love<br />
roll like waves,<br />
and at other times we are hidden in graves.<br />
Oh, Gwangju, Gwangju<br />
who carries the cross of this nation,<br />
climbing over Mudeung Mountain,<br />
and walks over the hill of Golgotha!<br />
Oh, the son of God,<br />
whose whole body is covered with wounds,<br />
and who is the emblem of death!<br />
<br />
Are we really quite dead?<br />
Dead,<br />
unable to love this country any more,<br />
unable to love our children any more?<br />
Are we absolutely dead?<br />
<br />
On Chungjangro, on Kumnamro,<br />
At Hwajungdong, at Sansoodong, at Yongbongdong<br />
At Jisandong, at Yangdong, at Kyerimdong,<br />
And, and, and . . . .<br />
Ah, the wind that blows over,<br />
gobbling up our blood and flesh!<br />
The hopeless flow of time!<br />
<br />
Should we now<br />
just collapse, fall, and cry?<br />
Terrified of life, how should we<br />
breathe a breath?<br />
<br />
Oh, all those survive<br />
lower their heads like sinners.<br />
All those still alive have lost<br />
spirit, and they find it difficult<br />
even to face their rice bowls.<br />
Afraid, they don’t know what to do.<br />
<br />
(Dear, I was killed<br />
while I was waiting for you,<br />
waiting for you outside the door.<br />
Why did they take away my life?<br />
Though we lived in a rented room,<br />
we were quite happy.<br />
I wanted to live, loving you.<br />
Oh, my dear!<br />
But I was killed like this,<br />
pregnant with a child of yours.<br />
I am sorry, my dear!<br />
They took away my life from me,<br />
and I took away everything of yours,<br />
your youth, your love,<br />
your son, and all.<br />
Oh, my dear! In the end,<br />
did I kill you?)<br />
<br />
Oh, Gwangju! Mudeung Mountain!<br />
Our city of eternal youth<br />
who breaks through deaths<br />
and flutters the ends of white clothes!<br />
The phoenix, the phoenix, the phoenix!<br />
The son of God of this nation<br />
who climbs up the hill of Golgotha again,<br />
carrying the cross of this nation!<br />
<br />
Jesus is said to have died once<br />
and been resurrected,<br />
and to live till this day or rather forever.<br />
But our true love<br />
that would die hundreds of deaths<br />
and yet resurrects itself hundreds of times!<br />
Our light, glory, and pain.<br />
Now we will be revived ever more.<br />
Now we become ever stronger.<br />
Now we – ever more.<br />
<br />
Oh, now we,<br />
putting our shoulders to shoulders, bones to bones,<br />
climb the Mudeung Mountain of this nation.<br />
Oh, we rise up to the oddly blue sky<br />
to kiss the sun and the moon.<br />
<br />
Gwangju! Mudeung Mountain!<br />
Oh, our eternal flag!<br />
Our dream, our cross!<br />
The city of youth that will get younger<br />
as time goes by!<br />
Now we are firmly united,<br />
surely and surely,<br />
we hold each other’s hands tight<br />
and rise up.</blockquote>
<br />
<img height="300" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/521660_634116223886_1847954681_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<br />
<img height="300" src="http://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/68250_634116208916_795827411_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<br />
<img height="300" src="http://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/15074_634116198936_1079858793_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<br />
<img height="300" src="http://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/553713_634116183966_131844434_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<br />
To the one side there was an indoor photo memorial, with photos of everyone interred and either white or yellow artificial flowers. To the other was a "tree memorial," a rather nice, bright contrast to the dark and serious photo memorial. It's basically a nicely-manicured garden.<br />
<br />
On the same side as the tree memorial was the May 18th museum, one of the more modern museums I've seen in Korea. Since the cemetery was dedicated in the early 2000s, its modernity makes sense. I would have gotten more out of it if my Korean weren't terrible, as they had short documentaries playing at every exhibit, but I did absorb as much of the English signage as I could. (I have to say, I don't think I could stomach an old school Korean version of a May 18th museum: those would be the bloodiest, most upsetting dioramas of all time.)<br />
<br />
The one that stuck with me the most, for whatever reason, was a very small display containing wrist watches. These were the old fashioned kind that needed to be rewound, and since their owners were shot, no one rewound them after May 1980.<br />
<br />
The whole time I only saw a handful of other people, which made everything even more serious, somehow; loads of families and shrieking kids would have taken away from the atmosphere.<br />
<br />
That was the entirety of my day; after this I had a couple hours on buses before I got to my next destination: Kimhae/Busan.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-39820380960675319842012-11-13T10:44:00.003+09:002012-11-13T10:44:49.130+09:00Glorious Vacation: Day 3<br />
I got off my duff and went to Soswaewon Garden. It was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, but a bit smaller than I expected/hoped for. Nonetheless, I saw my first-ever bamboo grove! How cool! I've never seen bamboo in the wild before because I am a loser of a white person who lives in really urban Asia!<br />
<br />
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<br />
Then, it was a long bus ride back to Gwangju proper. Long. I figured out my bus wasn't going to the bus terminal near where I was staying, so once in Gwangju I got off at a stop to change to a bus that was, but it was still a nice ride. I like riding buses, I guess. I'm a weirdo.<br />
<br />
I tried to find a park afterwards, to enjoy the nice weather and people watch, but the one I tried to find COULD NOT BE FOUND. Signs had me wandering around a rather sad and poor-looking neighborhood, which isn't entirely weird because the entrance to Bukhansan Park is exactly the same thing, except there was never any entrance; the indicated street just dead-ended, so I looked like either a lost white person or a douchebag class tourist. Annoyed, I went back to the terminal, had Jeonju-style bibimbap for dinner, and had a nice long soak in the sauna (where I was promptly English bombed).<br />
<br />
It was kind of a dud of a day, but it was better than sitting in my motel room doing nothing, I suppose! And Soswaewon was really unbelievably lovely, an infinitely big version of it would be my idea of heaven. My pictures do not do it justice.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-21843461364368634062012-11-12T11:51:00.002+09:002012-11-12T11:51:59.976+09:00Glorious Vacation: Day 2 (Election Day)<br />
I stayed in my motel room until dinner to watch CNN (HILARIOUS!!!), the concession and acceptance speeches. Overall, I was rather pleased with the outcome.<br />
<br />
Buoyed by my smug liberal schadenfreude, I went across town to "Tteokgalbi Street" which is not as cohesive or as well-advertised as the Budae Jjigae Street in Uijeongbu. Frustrating! Nonetheless, I found a restaurant (not too skeezy, not too fancy) and gorged myself on tteokgalbi. It seems to be a regional specialty that I have also never heard of before! Before a few days ago, anyway, when I was casting about on the Internet to see what I should do/eat in Gwangju.<br />
<br />
It was a bit of a shenanigans situation to find the place, but I did! On the subway ride over, an ajumma decided to dote on me. She offered to hold my bag (which, despite reading in my "Rough Guide to Korea" that this is a thing that happens all the time, WAS THE FIRST TIME A STRANGER'S DONE THAT EVER), and then when the seat next to her opened up she pulled on my sleeve to let me know the seat was open. After the first couple stops she dug into her purse and forced some candies into my hand. I smiled and said thank you, and put them in my purse for later (I seriously was going to save them for after my planned calorie binge of a dinner). Right before her stop came up, she also handed me a bag full of tteok! Aw! If she had gotten off at my stop I would have asked her to come to dinner with me. I had a couple right then because I was hungry and I also wanted her to know that I appreciated her gifts of food.<br />
<br />
Gwangju is in Jeolla province, which is considered the bread basket of Korea. There is an astounding variety of food available and I will never get a chance to eat it all (especially because I hate going to restaurants alone and also because of my above seafood rule). Jong-min assured me I woud notice the difference if I ever went out to eat: "They'll have a lot more side dishes than they do in Seoul. They just have so much more food. They always have." At my tteok galbi dinner I had ten different banchan. TEN! The last time I'd had so many was when I got ssambap in Gyeongju. There were four kinds of kimchi alone, plus bean sprouts and daikon and anchovies (pass) and red beans in sesame oil. Not to mention a wide variety of greenery in which to wrap the meat, instead of just the usual romaine lettuce; the best was a very mild perilla leaf.<br />
<br />
After I had sated myself on minced rib meat and garlic, I went back to my motel room and enjoyed a bottle of makgeolli before turning in early. Things to do the next morning, after all!Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-11243556426015798722012-11-10T01:04:00.000+09:002012-11-10T01:04:44.400+09:00Glorious Vacation: Day 1<br />
I realized I should probably document my glorious vacation as well as I can, for posterity and all that jazz. So: a belated account of my first day in Gwangju!<br />
<br />
After an afternoon to rest up and dry off in my motel room, Day 1 of the Glorious Vacation was spent on a museum binge. The Gwangju Museum of Art, The Gwangju Folk Museum, and the Gwangju Biennale (some kind of international art exhibit; apparently there are Biennales in other cities but Gwangju is the first I've ever heard of one) are all next to each other, so I hit all three in one go!<br />
<br />
The first one was the Gwangju Museum of Art, which I think I accidentally snuck in without paying the 500 won entrance fee. My bad! The three main exhibits were: a variety of Chinese artists ranging from standard to kind of modern/avant garde; three kinda weirder Chinese artists; a Zainichi (Japanese of Korean descent) artist named Lee Ufan who is THE MOST BORING ARTIST WHO EVER ARTED. I still don't get modern art, you guys.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.artvalue.com/photos/auction/0/42/42294/lee-ufan-1936-korea-south-from-point-1746191.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<br />
A whole gallery full of that. I just...what? It would be neat wallpaper or fabric, but framed art? Seriously?<br />
<br />
The best part of that exhibit was the little biographical placque about the fellow who donated most of these <s>incredibly boring</s> pieces of art. The highlight: "Hopefully, his honorable and admirable spirit everlastingly continues to radiate."<br />
<br />
I LOVE KONGLISH, YOU GUYS. I love how dramatic and pseudo-poetic this sounds in English because I can pretty much guarantee this is a word-for-word translation, with only word order changed (for the sake of grammar). Occasionally when Jong-min translates snippets of Korean subtitles in American news stories back into English, they sound more or less like the above—and it's not because Jong-min speaks weirdo quasi-archaic English.<br />
<br />
There were some really cool art pieces too, that appealed to my more conservative, representationlist tastes. I really liked one that included a link to their blog right in the painting. How Andy Warhol of them!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://blog.sina.com.cn/mayart">Unfortunately, I'm going to have to get a Chinese-speaking friend to translate it for me.</a><br />
<br />
Here's the painting in particular that I liked:<br />
<br />
<img src="http://s9.sinaimg.cn/bmiddle/4d19c9d5t60f9ab07df58" width="400" /><br />
<br />
Someone can earn all of the gold stars by telling me what the character in the painting means/represents!<br />
<br />
Alas, finding anything else online seems to tax the limits of Google Image Search. They will just have to stay burned in my memory forever! (Because I forgot to put my memory card in my camera, d'oh!)<br />
<br />
I wandered outside the art museum and followed the signs to the Gwangju Folk Museum. I love the Folk Museums in Korea, they're kind of tacky (and frightening, if you include some of the badly-stuffed animals....somehow weasels get the worst of it) but they're still pretty neat. I love old school museum dioramas and a Folk Museum is always, basically, a giant diorama. The best part was a display of all the different traditional Jeolla dishes, which was adorable and also kind of redundant. If I had to summarize the provincial cuisine in four words, those words would be: PICKLE ALL THE THINGS.<br />
<br />
Also (and I'm glad I still had my notebook with me wherein I noted the most hilarious/interesting/appalling things) there was a mat made from human hair. I can't imagine reclining on a cushion lined with hair from my own head, but then people shed SO MUCH it would be a waste not to use it for something "back in the day."<br />
<br />
I still had plenty of time to kill before typical museum closing time, so I decided to cough up the 14,000 won (expensive, considering the last two museums were 500 won each) for the Biennale. It was a mix between really cool concepts and a bunch of hyper-academic nonsense. There were two installations in particular that I really liked.<br />
<br />
The first was by a Mexican artist named Pedro Reyes, called "Imagine." I guess it would qualify as performance art? He collected like 1,200 unused weapons and, working with a whole team of people, turned them into musical instruments, The installation had a couple of the instruments on display, as well as a couple movies running simultaneously: one being the construction of the instruments and the other being performances on the instruments. They did a pretty cool version of "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and, of course, "Imagine." Here's the guys just jamming out:<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/51739769">pedro reyes: imagine - musical performance</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/designboom">designboom</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
The other one was called "The Shoes Diary: Adidas Tragedy Series" by Agung Kurniawan, from Indonesia. He did a small series of reconstructing Adidas shoes (there's a pretty big Adidas factory in Indonesia, apparently?) to make them really uncomfortable (in addition to painting designs) and had people wear them. The discomfort was to remind the wearer of all the trials and tribulations that political/civil rights activists go through. He expanded it for the Biennale; his whole space was set up to look like a shoe store, and a TV in the corner played a video of his original demonstration of the piece back in whenever. There were a few different violent political activism incidents made into a different shoe (Gwangju, of course, was one of them; Libya, China, Egypt, and Cambodia were included as well). Both the shoes and their box were altered, ie the Chinese sneakers had the outline of a tank.<br />
<br />
<img height="240" src="http://www.theartnewspaper.com/imgart/asc-Gwangju-biennial-1.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br />
I GUESS I LIKE THE COMMODIZATION OF TRAGEDY AS WELL AS A CLEVER WAY TO REMIND US COMFORTABLE RICH PEOPLE WHAT THE COST OF OUR CHEAP DISPOSABLE GOODS IS. Or something.<br />
<br />
There were four massive galleries in all, so by the time I left it was near closing time and also definitely very dark. After a long, uncomfortable bus ride back to my motel, I scrubbed off in a jjimjilbang and had some ramen. Back at the motel, I had the worst time falling asleep because OMG ELECTION NIGHT OMG OMG, it was like going to bed on Christmas Eve except that you might end up with a whole truck full of coal instead of any presents. But hurrah, my anxiety was unfounded!Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-25063832660375388662012-11-05T20:12:00.000+09:002012-11-05T21:01:25.207+09:00Glorious VacationI am safely arrived in Gwangju. The gods of good timing have been on my side so far, as I have caught every bus and subway I needed with minimal rushing or waiting.<br />
<br />
It seems gauche to talk about miserable weather when many of my friends and family back home are still dealing with the aftermath of Sandy, but well, the weather has been miserable since Sunday. It seems the days I choose to stay in are nice, and the ones where I go out are rainy and cold. What's the deal, Korea? Do you not want my tourism money?<br />
<br />
Tonight is simple itinerary planning; tomorrow will be the Gwangju Art Museum (a good rainy day activity) and finding a good daenamu-tongbap restaurant. Wednesday and Thursday are outdoor activities (gardens and the May 18th Cemetery), and then Friday I'm off to Busan.<br />
<br />
Pictures will be forthcoming but probably long after my trip's over. I have a whole backlog already that needs to be fixed up; it's definitely going to be a while.<br />
<br />
I also learned (the easy way, thanks to the Internet) that the transit card of choice down here isn't Tmoney but Myb (or something like that).<br />
<br />Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8198534979473141905.post-59602662218012917592012-11-01T11:48:00.000+09:002012-11-01T11:48:31.419+09:00So It GoesYesterday was my last day. It was even more bittersweet than one would expect, because Halloween is a school-wide "Market Day" at my hagwon. Instead of teaching, I just get to sell the kids snacks and toys for fake money they earn by getting stickers in class. Playing with the kids and just goofing off with them is <i>always</i> more fun than teaching, no matter how good they are as students. The older kids had presentations to give, where they earned <i>real</i> money, so I really did jack-all. I "taught" one and a half classes (the second class was interrupted mid-way for more Market Day), which consisted of watching "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" and playing speed quiz.<br />
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I moved out yesterday morning, because I thought the new teacher would move in after Market Day was over (like I did a year ago). You guys, I legit had a tearing-up moment as I shouldered my travel bag and went out the door. Which is dumb, I mean it's an officetel like any other, but I <i>lived</i> there, man! It was the happiest year I had in Korea and that was my home for it all. It's weird how you get attached to a living space depending on how you feel about your life: I had some pretty big issues at Sherlock and so when I left didn't give the officetel much thought; my apartment in Bundang was by far the "nicest" but I was <i>so glad</i> to be out of there when I left. When I try to mentally picture my other two living spaces, there aren't any feelings that hit me in the gut. When I think about <i>this</i> officetel, it brings on a lot of warm fuzzies.<br />
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Now I'm back at the love motel I crashed at during the two week gap between my job at Cassandra (aka The Gates of Hell) and this job in Uijeongbu. I have some errands and things to do until Monday, at which point I will have a miniature White Liberal Guilt tour of Gwangju and then over to see a friend in Busan.<br />
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I heard that my neighborhood at home is without power for two weeks, though hopefully the power company is applying <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Scotty%20Principle" target="_blank">The Scotty Principle</a> to this one. I think that was the worst of it, though; unless we got some basement flooding or roof leakage.Katherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687248923547966231noreply@blogger.com0