Do you get used to Korea?

1. Yup. I know there's been a lot of talk about ATEK lately. I'll address it as soon as I'm able.

2.
http://imnopicasso.blogspot.com/2011/04/questions-are-you-getting-used-to-korea.html so I'm No Picasso wrote an interesting post about living in Korea, and all the things that start off mind-blowingly new aren't new after a while, and there comes a point where one has to just hit the "Zen" button when they get bumped on the subway, or get complimented on their chopstick use again or asked if they can eat spicy food again, because if they can't do that (at least most of the time - everybody has "bad Korea days" which are really just bad days with different ingredients than bad days back home), they're probably not going to make it.

The money shot, to me, is this:

...The S.O. knows all about my blogs.... He constantly bemoans the fact that I am too used to Korea, and that he can't explain anything, or guide me in anything, or show me anything new. Which isn't true at all. ...it confuses him that I'm still keeping the blog -- he says, "What else is there for you to write about? Haven't you written everything in nearly three years? What could you possibly still have to say about Korea?"

There's something I like to call "second year syndrome" which is the fallacy (common among certain groups of people) that once one's been here for a year or two, one is ready to hold forth as an expert on all aspects of Korea, the assumption, for example, that three years of blogging about Korea would be enough to explore every topic, or that a series of short declarative statements (here's a good sampling) would be all one needed to successfully navigate all of Korean culture and life, and I'd like to at least introduce that phrase today.  I'll talk about it more later...

But for now, I'd like to stand with INP and say that Korea, as a country, a culture, a people, and a history, is inexhaustible.  I've met people who, by the way they speak about Korea, have hedged their views of Korea in with so many shorthand conclusions about the country, the culture, and the people, that they've closed themselves off from finding anything interesting, fascinating, or new about the country, and I've even met Koreans who sell their own culture short, settling on the image of their country they learned in ethics class, and the places they like to visit, and the shows they watch on TV, and have their own set of shorthand conclusions about what the country, and the people are, such that they don't explore anymore.

And that's too bad, is all.

Anyway, I've been reading a lot (grad school, you know), and studying the language a lot (still slow going, that), and trying to find new ways to be re-amazed by Korea.

I'll keep you updated.

One place to start: http://koreanfilm.org/topten2000s.html KoreanFilm.Org.  Not all of them are, but Korean cinema has some pretty awesome films in its history.

I'm watching The Housemaid (the 1960 version) right now.  AWESOME movie... but the "Very Special Episode" ending was something else.

Between: The story of an Korean adoptee, opens April 8

Amy Mihyang from the Seoul Players, is staging a one-woman show about...

from the press release:

Combining adapted work by Asian and adoptee writers and Amy Mihyang's original writing, "between" encapsulates her experiences as a Korean American woman, a New Yorker, and most of all, a transracial adoptee. Bringing the audience with her on the plane en route from NYC to Korea, the author contrasts her journey with the echoes of other adoptees and those touched by the act of adoption. Mihyang makes us ask ourselves, “Do we need to know where we came from in order to know where we're going?”

The Press Release is here :

It's at "after mainstage" in Itaewon, and it runs from April 8-17.

Tickets are 15000 and funds raised go to KUMFA - Korean Unwed Mothers and Families Association, another issue I care a lot about.

There is a map to the venue included in the press photos, here.

Speaking of great singers... RIP Meat Loaf 1947-2011

RIP Meat Loaf: "I Would Do Anything For Love" was my favorite song like, in the world, ever, for a good year of my life.  I had the whole, 12 minute version memorized back in the day.



Never forget you, Meat.

And Paradise by the Dashboard Light ain't so bad, either.

(Great website for keeping up on who's dead, and who's not: http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.nsf/pages-nf/main)

And yeah. this IS an april fools hoax. Meat Loaf is still alive and rocking.

I Am A Singer 나는 가수다... A Ghastly Spectacle, or Survival in a Cutthroat Industry?

So with the success of "Superstar K" (which I wrote about) and the ridiculous glut of Kpop bands that, as their numbers (and surgeries) increase, are becoming more and more indistinguishable (if you can explain to me how Sistar is different from Dal Shabet, such that you couldn't switch out their music, costumes, and choreography, and have pretty much the same product, I'll be impressed.  Name for me all the members of Sistar, Dal Shabet, AND Rainbow, without searching, and you win a waffle iron). A few are popular enough that I can recognize them one from another, and a few have made some pretty good songs (and especially videos), and even carved out something of a personality...

But while these starlets are dominating the airwaves with dances and images that more mature and adult-oriented singers couldn't compete with if they wanted to...


You've got to wonder... what happened to the singers and vocalists who actually sing their songs, who made a living on having great voices rather than yummy bitty bits and chocolate sixpacks.

And sadly, I have your answer:
"I am a singer" or "나는 가수다"
is a program on MBC which takes some of the most successful singers of the 1990s and early 2000s, and puts them up against each other in an audience voting, elimination-style revolving door showcase, where the singer with the fewest votes each episode is eliminated from the roster of (seven?) singers, and some other former luminary replaces them in the next episode.

I have really mixed feelings about this one, folks.

On the one hand... it's nice to see their faces and hear their voices on TV again, throwbacks to a time when singers in Korea could generally carry a tune, and some even wrote their own music.  Wifeoseyo remembers them well, and it's a small nostalgia kick to see them on TV...

but when these people, who have paid their dues and then some, are in some trashy fan-voting spectacle, just to compete for ratings...

it comes across as tawdry to me.  And when a controversy springs up about not voting off the oldest (and male) singer, after what Wifeoseyo reported was a half-hearted performance... I wonder if the controversy was engineered to kick up ratings and help these artists cover their tabs or something.  And I don't like having to have cynical thoughts like that when some of these singers are onstage.

So I don't begrudge them the paycheck, but I guess it just saddens me that these people, who should be enjoying some kind of living legend status, who should be doing duets with younger artists at music award shows, are instead doing the Korean equivalent of "Dancing With The Stars."

Lee Sora (whom I first heard about from The Korean), contributing. (the AAK link)  I can't imagine what's going through these singers' heads, but I sure wish there were something better for them than this, at the ends of their long careers.

So... some good voices and stuff.  Enjoy it.  If you can.


[Update]
For the record...
Wifeoseyo disagrees with me that this show is trotting Korea's dignified old legends out for display.  She says, first of all, that the show treats its singers with respect, and secondly, that the singers themselves have shown a great deal of pride in their craft, and lived up to their status, while sometimes expanding their range.  She said the singers are approaching the show as if it's their duty to reintroduce real songcraft in a landscape of manufactured plastic bands with interchangeable members, dances, and so-so singing talents overshadowed by sexydance.

(And The Korean is right in the comments: there's pretty much no chance many of Korea's living legends would put themselves through this elimination challenge: I doubt we'll be seeing demigods 이문세 [song by him, another - MAN he's good - and true proof he's a legend: a cover by Big Bang] or 신중현, who had a tribute guitar made for him by Fender [song by him] or 조용필 [song] on the show.)

Wifeoseyo also said Kim Geon Mo's performance on the latest show was really impressive, that he was nervous (for the first time in a long time I'm sure) after all the controversy about him being on the show, and you can see his hand fidgeting on the microphone: out of character for him, who's usually a very confident singer.

(more on Kim Geon Mo leaving the show from the K-gossip blogs)

Wifeoseyo also says his hand was shaking during this performance... out of character for him.
He certainly sings the lights out, though.  Attaboy, Kim Gun Mo.

One more thing before the weekend...

I have another magic pair I want to see in a movie together:

I want to see William Shatner and David Hasselhoff in a movie together.

Can you imagine this guy


and this guy


in a movie together?

They'd shatter the unintentional comedy scale.


And now, here's another one.

I want to see Stephen Segal and Kristen Stewart in a movie together, because...

(sources: here (stephen segal) and here (Kristen Stewart))

A Really Annoying Kind of Awesome

I'm sitting in the lounge of my grad school, trying to finish this week's readings before the weekend, and there are two people speaking in Korean behind me, and my ears keep perking up because of the stuff they're saying in their conversation.

Now be it understood that one thing I've historically loved about living in Korea, is being able to sit in a coffee shop where, because everybody around me's speaking a language I can't follow, it's easy to totally tune out the voices around me.  The conversation around me is like ocean sounds: it's noise, meaningless, and it creates a backdrop where I can usually be pretty productive.

But today, I'm catching enough of the conversation, and understanding enough of the words, that I can't tune it out.

And that's awesome news in terms of my efforts to learn Korean...

but in terms of trying to get that damn reading done, it sucks butt.

But mostly, it's awesome.

Back to my reading now, and have a good weekend, readers.

Here's a song to make you happy:

Big Dipper, by Built to Spill

Old-timey Expats Old-timey complaining

In the midst of copious amounts of reading, I haven't updated the blog in about a week...

so to begin, I'd like to draw your attention to Matt from Popular Gusts, who, during his research, has discovered a fantastic dialogue that appeared in letters to the editor of The Korea Times, way back in 1975, which looks like an iteration of the discussion I had here on Roboseyo, of "Why do Expats Complain So Much" -- my most popular post, and one that still ranks in the top twenty most visited posts each month.  (Whatever that's worth: that and 2200 won will get you a crappy coffee at the chain coffeeshop nearest my Cultural History class.)

To save the time of reading the full, long-winded blogger version, I recommend checking out the economy with which Matt's four letters to the editor cover the topic.

(footnote: it's been great reading up on the topics in my class readings: I'm finding a lot of the ideas about cultural development and identity issues similar to what I've discussed, in my own fragmented diffuse way, on the blog.  And that and 900 won will buy you a tiny can of mountain dew.)

Update:
More Matt has posted more old letters to the editor, regarding the back-and-forth on the topic of expats criticizing Korea.  All the classic positions have been voiced at this point.  Very interesting to me.

Comfort Women with Words of Encouragement for Japan; Rob with words of encouragement about Korea

Soundtrack: Bobby Kim.
Wifeoseyo LOVES Bobby Kim, and once took me to a concert of his.  I actually like him quite a bit too... this is one of the songs on his latest; not my favorite, but I couldn't find that one on youtube.



Well, others have discussed the idiots claiming Japan deserved this disaster. To sum up... natural disasters aren't personal, and it might happen in your home state next month, and that's enough about that.  By the way: http://godhatesjapan.com/ don't judge the URL till you click on it.

However, here's something really cool that I wanted to share: Wifeoseyo first mentioned it - a news story that brought tears to her eyes.

Many of my readers already know who the "Comfort women" are -- during the colonial period, and through World War II, young Korean women (and women from other Asian nations) were brought along with Japanese armies, to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers.  It is alleged that some, maybe all, of them, were kidnapped from their homes.  They were called "comfort women" - which is the gentlest way you can say "sex slave."  More at Wikipedia.  (Warning: don't take the Wikipedia as gospel truth: Wikipedia has become a battleground for competing national narratives in Asian historical controversies... but it should give you the broad strokes well enough.)

The days, a few of Korea's former sex-slaves are still alive, some of them living in a group home in Hyehwa.  Many lived tough lives, as their history as sex slaves left a mark on them that made it hard for their families, or society at large, to accept them, and what had happened to them.

Every Wednesday, these women stage a small demonstration in downtown Seoul, demanding Japan's leaders apologize, take full responsibility for the things done to them when they were young, and pay reparations to them -- a kind of blood money for the shitty lives some of them have lived.

The Comfort Women were out again on Wednesday... but instead of spouting some ass-hattery about Japan deserving what it got, (The head pastor of Yeouido Full Gospel Church, one of the largest Protestant churches the world, made an ass of himself that way), they came out strong in sympathy and support of the innocent people afflicted in this disaster.

This lady's holding a sign that says "Koreans in Japan, and Japanese citizens: All of you be strong!" (image from here)

If anyone had the right to talk shit about Japan, it was these women -- not the nationalist demagogues who like playing historical guilt cards to gain political points -- but rather than come out in bitterness at the things done to them, these women had grace and class.


Talking about Japan, here in Korea, can be tricky, and I'll share two reasons why today:

1. Even as Koreans love Japanese comic books and cartoons and cute toys, there are a few historical grievances, which translate into modern-day controversies and problems involving a few territories and history textbooks.  These topics can be really emotional - I even once wrote a blog post (way back when nobody read me) titled, "Do not talk about Dokdo"

Many of us expats have stories about a student, or a friend, taking a few minutes to tell us how much all Koreans hate all Japanese... and sometimes something really sad pops up, like these "hate Japan" pictures that were drawn by elementary school kids, and posted in a Korean subway station, during a wave of particularly strong Anti-Japanese sentiment... I also once had a student write "When I grow up, I want to be a general like Lee Sunshin and kill Japanese like him."  Editorials like this cast Korea in an ugly, vengeful, ungracious light.

And it can be hard to have an honest discussion about these topics, when there are so many emotions on a hair-trigger.  I've had conversations before where midway in, I figured out that the person I was talking with didn't really want to hear my opinions.  He wanted to hear his opinions about Japan (which were disappointingly, stereotypically negative) coming out of a foreigner's mouth. I don't see the point in getting involved in conversations where my actual thoughts aren't welcome, and the purpose for starting into the topic is not communication but validation.

2. The other reason it's hard to talk about Japan (as an expat, with other expats) is the echo chamber effect.

Lately, I've been looking at a lot of the memes that have been circulating in the K-blogosphere for a while... (most of which were thoughtfully collected by Kushibo here -- in a post that made an impression on me when it was satirized at Dokdo Is Ours)...

and at DIO, the phrase "echo chamber" comes up -- see, I've been noticing lately that a lot of K-blogs go over similar territory.  Nothing wrong with that, especially as many of them are documenting similar experiences (what percentage of the Korea Blog List do you think is comprised of blogs about the first two years of teaching English in Korea? At least a quarter.  Maybe more than half).  Nothing wrong with that at all... but anybody who doesn't think it gets a little self-referential from time to time is fooling themselves, especially when these bloggers start addressing each other, or an expat audience, rather than their folks back home.

And when people are gathering their information from other blogs, and when those blogs are getting their information from older sources, and especially when commenters come in and bring out the same set talking points whenever a particular topic comes up... impressions and ideas tend to crystallize... and as you and I both know, comment boards aren't conducive to nuance.

Mix in a little confirmation bias...

And you get some crystallized stereotypes and ideas about Korea and Koreans that either aren't accurate, or that used to be accurate, but are no longer... or that might still be partly true, but to a much lesser degree, or true of a much smaller proportion of Koreans, than they used to be.

A perfect example of this is the stereotype of the Dokdo finger-chopper -- that happened ONE time, but how often does the finger-chopper, or bee man, or the pheasant chuckers (all of which date back to 2005), come up, when Dokdo is on the blogs?  Pretty much every time, right? What happened outside the Japanese embassy, regarding Dokdo, last month, or the month before? Finger chopping makes a great story, but it doesn't reflect on the current state of a country that changes as quickly as Korea does, to dredge up something that happened in 2005.

All that to say sometimes the echo chamber needs to revisit some of these tropes, and update them, and some people commenting within the echo chamber, when their own information sources are mostly hearsay, and they don't have the language chops to get across the barrier themselves... they'd do well to qualify a bit.

I haven't heard somebody actually try to tell me there are no gays in Korea since 2004.  Why are people still bringing that up?  And there are lots of Koreans who can think creatively, too.

And another big one?  In my own experience, attitudes toward Japan over the last few years have become a lot more thoughtful, balanced, rational, and positive.  I don't doubt public opinion surveys would bear that out.  Koreans still think Dokdo's an important issue, but there's less "let's cut off the heads of pigeons" and more "let's be strategic about this," and I've heard less open, unqualified hostility toward Japan lately than I used to.  Hopefully this means fewer people are teaching their children to hate Japan, too.

And now, Koreans have come out overwhelmingly on the generous, gracious, sympathetic, and supportive side in this earthquake tragedy, and I'm happy, thrilled to see that. (how about this article, and this one, and this one.  Yep. Korea's treating Japan as a friend, folks.)

I'm just one dude, but this gives me hope.  This post is just one snapshot... but it's a heartening one, so put that in your pipe and smoke it, and if you're one of the ones making blanket statements about all Koreans hating Japan... maybe revisit that. Sure, there are some Koreans whose minds remain closed, and always will.  The same can be said of expats.

Prayers for Japan, and everyone connected to those struggling with this unimaginable tragedy.

Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

Some of you might be curious or concerned what's going on after the huge earthquake in Japan.

If you're worried about someone, Google People Finder Japan is helping people track down the missing ones they love: if you're worried about someone, you can post a note, and people who have been disconnected from the people they love can leave a note there saying they're OK.

Here in Korea, we're OK.  Japan's mainland blocked us from the tsunami, and even if it didn't, Seoul, where I live, is far, far from the east coast, where such a tsunami would hit.

BBC's coverage has been awesome so far.  Go here for to the second updates on the feed, and video as they have it.

You can also follow http://twitter.com/BBCBreaking, BBC's breaking news twitter feed.

This website includes updates, along with info about shelters.

And if you live in Japan, don't forget to leave a note on your Facebook wall, and send a note to the people closest to you, so that they know you're OK.

This is the video clip that blew my mind: look how fast the water sweeps across the farmland.

And in about an hour, the tsunami reaches Hawaii.

Prayers, if you pray, are in order.  And hope that Hawaii's building codes and engineering hold up as admirably as Japan's have.


When I went to the Maldives with Wifeoseyo for our honeymoon, our tourguide in Male (the capital of the maldives), told us that a handful of islands vanished completely because of the 2007 tsunami in the Indian Ocean.  I hope the folks in the South Pacific and Hawaii are OK.

North Korean Kids Playing Instruments

I'm not sure the exact purpose for making and circulating these kinds of videos... but they're quite something to see.

Facebook pal David put this up on his page...


which reminded me of these videos of North Korean kids kicking ass on other instruments.

This kid's a Xylophone prodigy... look at her go...


And this one's of two kids rocking their drumsets... I love the little girl's posture.


This one never went viral like the xylophone playing girl and the drumming kids, but it's impressive as well.


Take THAT, Sungha Jung!

Make of it what you will.
http://www.youtube.com/user/rodrigorojo1#p/u there are more videos like this at Rodrigorojo1's youtube account... but be careful, lest you be North Korean Propagandized.  The channel's mostly clips from North Korea's TV station.

by the way...
When North Korea showed video of the four defectors' families, probably in an attempt to blackmail the four people who blew into South Korean waters in a boat, and decided not to return to North Korea... (ABC news link) (which seriously does suck, because North Korea has been known to punish treason to the third generation - that is, if I spray-paint "Kim Jong-il licks donkey balls" on a wall, me, my family, my parents, and my kids will go to a death "reeducation" camp.

Did anybody else think of this: