You should all go read Ms. Lee To Be's thoughtful blog post about tradition, in light of the picture of a pizza on a jesa table, that made the rounds on Korea's internet recently:
the main gist: we preserve dead things. To make preservation (rather than practice) a goal is also, in part, to surrender the belief that tradition remains relevant to our lives.
The Korean from Ask a Korean! wrote about how to do a Jesa a while ago, and has a (short) response to the pizza jesa here.
I wrote about Jesa once, a long time ago, too, upon reflecting on my mother's death of cancer.
one expat's life in Korea
Friday, September 16, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Chuseok Weekend, Gae-eun Park, Meetups and A Scare
Music soundtrack: EMA - Anteroom. If Elliot Smith were reincarnated as an emo girl, here's what it would sound like: Hit play, and then start reading.
Did a few things over the weekend.
Among them:
Ate at Table 34 in the Grand Intercontinental Hotel at Coex with wifeoseyo... and that food was obscenely good.
Met some lovely lovely people on Tuesday, and had a few drinks and a nice walk and talk, near my home. Included in that crew were some of my favorite former coworkers, a few bloggers who shall go unnamed, and one irascible scoundrel who shall not be named, but whose face shall be shown here for the internet to see his shame.
Now that the baby's coming soon, I have a feeling a lot of my hangout events will likely be somewhere near home, like this one was. Fortunately, I live somewhere AWESOME.
Met some OTHER lovely lovely people on Sunday night and had a picnic on an overpass. And some OTHER other lovely people on Friday night.
Ever meet a person who's just a cool-person magnet? Some people, somehow, always have lots of very smart, or interesting, or funny people around them. My best friend Matt, who left Korea, was like that, too -- you could count on people recommended by him, to be worth the time to get to know them. I'm happy to say I know another person like that.
But I won't tell you who, or you'll all want to hang out with him/her too, and then s/he won't have time to hang out with ME.
Another weekend highlight, though, was visiting 개운산공원 - Gae-eun Mountain Park - on the smallish mountain behind Korea University. It's a park that's not that easy to reach, shows evidence of being fairly recently built, or at least improved, and has a lot of open spaces where you can see some great views of the city, or let your kid run, without losing sight of them.
Spacious. Nice view. Not crowded. Noice.
Because it's not that easy to reach, it isn't crowded, either, the way Han River park, or the Cheonggyecheon always are when the weather's nice, and because there are trees on the mountainsides all around the park (as well as some trails through woods), despite being in the middle of the city, the air's fresher than you find in most places.
There's not quite enough there for an entire date, but it'd be a decent place to take the kids, or bring your camera, or just to chill with your buds. Maybe bring some bottles of wine and get talky. It's big and sprawling enough that a decent game of capture the flag could probably be played. Or, bring picnic materials, a frisbee, a soccer ball/football and badminton rackets and a very, very nice time could be had.
By foot: Go to Korea University subway station, exit 2. Go straight until you pass the GS 칼텍스 gas station, and take your first right. Head down that road until you see a a fork in the road, with one fork going up the hill. Follow road up hill around a bunch of curves until you reach a three way intersection. Go right, and you can't miss the park area. It'll about 35-30 minutes by foot, unless you're slow.
Or (if Daum Maps isn't lying), once you pass the gas station, across the street from the corner where you should turn right, take the small green bus "성북 20" and get off at "개운중학교" stop, and backtrack a little to find the three-way intersection that leads to the park.
The park has most of the trappings of other parks where seniors are fond of hanging out - and the demographic there definitely skewed older - so there are exercise machines (including some fairly new, and quite nice equipment in one corner - I tried it), but because it's up a hill, again, it's not as crowded with the seniors as Jongmyo Park is.
Instead, it looked like this: even on the Saturday of a Chuseok holiday.
There was also a health center, but I didn't really explore that.
Wifeoseyo was very impressed with big rocks that had beautiful Korean poetry carved into them: they're some of her favorite poems, she says.
One little corner of the park even had a little book booth.
The books are multipurpose.
Either this sign indicates there are speed bumps ahead, or there's a suntanning area nearby, too.
This was not the view from Gaeeun Park. It's the view from Bukak Skyway's little lookout point.
But I went there, too, and it was nice.
I also climbed a mountain with a group of people, and had a bit of a scare. I had a crappy breakfast, didn't do warmup stretches, and went too fast at the beginning, leading to a lightheaded spell the likes of which I haven't had before. The other hikers were kind enough to wait for me, and once I took it a little easier, I was OK for the rest of the hike... but that's never happened to me before, and it put a mini-scare into me. After all, when the zombies come, I want to be sure I have the endurance to protect my family, and keep going until they've all been beheaded, you know? A sharp machete is important, but so is a good cardio regimen.
As I pushed, and then passed 30 years old, I discovered that I can maintain the level of health/body type that I had in the 20s (which was pretty low-effort when I was in my 20s)... but it just takes me a little more work each year than it did the year before, and a hardcore dizzy spell on the entry slopes of Bukhan Mountain was a pretty clear sign it's time for me to put a little cardio into my regular routine. And that I'm not 22 anymore.
Dammit!
But other than that little scare, I had a great weekend. How about you?
Did a few things over the weekend.
Among them:
Ate at Table 34 in the Grand Intercontinental Hotel at Coex with wifeoseyo... and that food was obscenely good.
Met some lovely lovely people on Tuesday, and had a few drinks and a nice walk and talk, near my home. Included in that crew were some of my favorite former coworkers, a few bloggers who shall go unnamed, and one irascible scoundrel who shall not be named, but whose face shall be shown here for the internet to see his shame.
Now that the baby's coming soon, I have a feeling a lot of my hangout events will likely be somewhere near home, like this one was. Fortunately, I live somewhere AWESOME.
Met some OTHER lovely lovely people on Sunday night and had a picnic on an overpass. And some OTHER other lovely people on Friday night.
Ever meet a person who's just a cool-person magnet? Some people, somehow, always have lots of very smart, or interesting, or funny people around them. My best friend Matt, who left Korea, was like that, too -- you could count on people recommended by him, to be worth the time to get to know them. I'm happy to say I know another person like that.
But I won't tell you who, or you'll all want to hang out with him/her too, and then s/he won't have time to hang out with ME.
Another weekend highlight, though, was visiting 개운산공원 - Gae-eun Mountain Park - on the smallish mountain behind Korea University. It's a park that's not that easy to reach, shows evidence of being fairly recently built, or at least improved, and has a lot of open spaces where you can see some great views of the city, or let your kid run, without losing sight of them.
Spacious. Nice view. Not crowded. Noice.
Because it's not that easy to reach, it isn't crowded, either, the way Han River park, or the Cheonggyecheon always are when the weather's nice, and because there are trees on the mountainsides all around the park (as well as some trails through woods), despite being in the middle of the city, the air's fresher than you find in most places.
There's not quite enough there for an entire date, but it'd be a decent place to take the kids, or bring your camera, or just to chill with your buds. Maybe bring some bottles of wine and get talky. It's big and sprawling enough that a decent game of capture the flag could probably be played. Or, bring picnic materials, a frisbee, a soccer ball/football and badminton rackets and a very, very nice time could be had.
By foot: Go to Korea University subway station, exit 2. Go straight until you pass the GS 칼텍스 gas station, and take your first right. Head down that road until you see a a fork in the road, with one fork going up the hill. Follow road up hill around a bunch of curves until you reach a three way intersection. Go right, and you can't miss the park area. It'll about 35-30 minutes by foot, unless you're slow.
Or (if Daum Maps isn't lying), once you pass the gas station, across the street from the corner where you should turn right, take the small green bus "성북 20" and get off at "개운중학교" stop, and backtrack a little to find the three-way intersection that leads to the park.
The park has most of the trappings of other parks where seniors are fond of hanging out - and the demographic there definitely skewed older - so there are exercise machines (including some fairly new, and quite nice equipment in one corner - I tried it), but because it's up a hill, again, it's not as crowded with the seniors as Jongmyo Park is.
Instead, it looked like this: even on the Saturday of a Chuseok holiday.
There was also a health center, but I didn't really explore that.
Wifeoseyo was very impressed with big rocks that had beautiful Korean poetry carved into them: they're some of her favorite poems, she says.
One little corner of the park even had a little book booth.
The books are multipurpose.
Either this sign indicates there are speed bumps ahead, or there's a suntanning area nearby, too.
This was not the view from Gaeeun Park. It's the view from Bukak Skyway's little lookout point.
But I went there, too, and it was nice.
I also climbed a mountain with a group of people, and had a bit of a scare. I had a crappy breakfast, didn't do warmup stretches, and went too fast at the beginning, leading to a lightheaded spell the likes of which I haven't had before. The other hikers were kind enough to wait for me, and once I took it a little easier, I was OK for the rest of the hike... but that's never happened to me before, and it put a mini-scare into me. After all, when the zombies come, I want to be sure I have the endurance to protect my family, and keep going until they've all been beheaded, you know? A sharp machete is important, but so is a good cardio regimen.
As I pushed, and then passed 30 years old, I discovered that I can maintain the level of health/body type that I had in the 20s (which was pretty low-effort when I was in my 20s)... but it just takes me a little more work each year than it did the year before, and a hardcore dizzy spell on the entry slopes of Bukhan Mountain was a pretty clear sign it's time for me to put a little cardio into my regular routine. And that I'm not 22 anymore.
Dammit!
But other than that little scare, I had a great weekend. How about you?
Monday, September 05, 2011
Nice Galaxy Tab Ad...I Mean, Nice Patronizing Stereotype-filled "Visit Korea" ad...
Warning: there is one slightly NSFW image in this post. It's down where I'm talking about the Netherlands.
So there's this new ad that has been spotted in places like CNN.
Yeah. Soak it in.
I have a few problems with this ad:
First, it looks more like an ad for the Galaxy Tab (if that's what the guy's carrying) than an ad for Korea. Seriously. In fact, it would make more sense as a Galaxy Tab ad - "Samsung is supplying the whole world with tablet technology...um...except Germany" In that context, the ad would have made more sense.
Next, very few people wear their nation's traditional dress when traveling abroad. Even Texans usually leave their horses at home. And maybe even their Segways.
Also, who the hell asks THESE kinds of questions (in their own language) of a random stranger on the street? "Is it true that you're the 7th largest exporter?" (I don't know how google works.)
Anyway, what would Koreans do if somebody approached them, dressed like Napoleon,
and asked them a question in French?
Here's what they'd do:
(an ad aimed at Koreans - "don't act QUITE so scared when you see a foreigner, or they'll know Korean hospitality is only for non-strangers")
The ad ends with a whole line-up of stereotypes walking towards the camera in some sort of a xenophobe's nightmare.
I've got Dutch background, so should I be upset that there isn't someone dressed like this in the ad?
Should I dress like that (or at least the boy version) when I travel abroad?
Or maybe, like the Arabian belly dancer on the far right at the end of the ad (who almost certainly doesn't even dress that way on the street in her own blessed country)...
I should dress like one of the Netherlands' other famous identifiers. (the source)
Or a Canadian mountie -- after all, one of the Queen's Guard is there.
Other screen shots from the ad, in case it gets pulled from youtube:
Key message: "Even though we think you're all cowboys, we want you to visit our country, Americans."
To their credit, at least the cowboy doesn't have a Russian accent, like those "American" teachers in some of those trashy scapegoaty TV shows.
I wonder how many cowboys know what bibimbap is.
"Excuse me. I got lost on the way to the ballroom."
"Galaxy Tab: all the information you need to help random, oddly-dressed strangers"
Here's the whole crew of them in Gwanghwamun Square.
Including Connor MacLeod
A Hopak dancer (I think)
A flamenco dancer. (correct me if I'm wrong on any of these)
A... shaolin monk, perhaps? Because Koreans wear Taekwondo uniforms when they travel abroad.
Oh. And a tall African wearing a brightly-colored toga. He's in the back row, so I can't tell whether he's carrying a spear, or if there's a bone in his nose. (we've seen worse, but still...)
A mexican with a sombrero. (At least they couldn't find anyone who was mexican, or looked mexican, and was shameless enough to wear a sombrero for the camera)
By the way, the Cowboy's name...
is cowboy.
This brazilian lady was busy: she had to go straight from the parade float to the airport.
I can't quite tell who this guy's supposed to be.
So there's this new ad that has been spotted in places like CNN.
Yeah. Soak it in.
I have a few problems with this ad:
First, it looks more like an ad for the Galaxy Tab (if that's what the guy's carrying) than an ad for Korea. Seriously. In fact, it would make more sense as a Galaxy Tab ad - "Samsung is supplying the whole world with tablet technology...um...except Germany" In that context, the ad would have made more sense.
Next, very few people wear their nation's traditional dress when traveling abroad. Even Texans usually leave their horses at home. And maybe even their Segways.
Also, who the hell asks THESE kinds of questions (in their own language) of a random stranger on the street? "Is it true that you're the 7th largest exporter?" (I don't know how google works.)
Anyway, what would Koreans do if somebody approached them, dressed like Napoleon,
and asked them a question in French?
Here's what they'd do:
(an ad aimed at Koreans - "don't act QUITE so scared when you see a foreigner, or they'll know Korean hospitality is only for non-strangers")
The ad ends with a whole line-up of stereotypes walking towards the camera in some sort of a xenophobe's nightmare.
I've got Dutch background, so should I be upset that there isn't someone dressed like this in the ad?
Or maybe, like the Arabian belly dancer on the far right at the end of the ad (who almost certainly doesn't even dress that way on the street in her own blessed country)...
I should dress like one of the Netherlands' other famous identifiers. (the source)
Or a Canadian mountie -- after all, one of the Queen's Guard is there.
Other screen shots from the ad, in case it gets pulled from youtube:
Key message: "Even though we think you're all cowboys, we want you to visit our country, Americans."
I wonder how many cowboys know what bibimbap is.
Yes. In some middle-easternern countries, people do dress this way every day. When they travel abroad? Perhaps.
Seems a little elaborate for a travel outfit... then again, I passed a pair of harajuku girls on a street in Hongdae a few saturday nights ago.
"Excuse me. I got lost on the way to the ballroom."
"Galaxy Tab: all the information you need to help random, oddly-dressed strangers"
Here's the whole crew of them in Gwanghwamun Square.
A Hopak dancer (I think)
A... shaolin monk, perhaps? Because Koreans wear Taekwondo uniforms when they travel abroad.
A mexican with a sombrero. (At least they couldn't find anyone who was mexican, or looked mexican, and was shameless enough to wear a sombrero for the camera)
This brazilian lady was busy: she had to go straight from the parade float to the airport.
I can't quite tell who this guy's supposed to be.
Thankfully, the American Indian (complete with feather, facepaint and buckskin pants) DID end up on the cutting room floor. Barely.
Rest in peace, Iron Eyes Cody.
I think that if everybody else is wearing their national stereotyped clothes, they should put the Korean guy in a hanbok, or at least a taekwondo uniform, for one thing. I don't know how this ad is going to impress anyone enough to decide to come to Korea, when one of the messages it seems to communicate is "Hey. We don't know anything except the broadest stereotypes of your country. So why don't you broaden your horizons by coming to a country where our ad implies that people will expect you to wear a sombrero if you're from mexico." And if this ad were to reflect the actual flows of tourists to Korea, then the elephant in the room is, "Why so few South and Southeast Asian outfits?" Not even an Indian sari? Or one of those fantastic Thai headdresses?
There are other ways to have communicated that these people are from other countries, than dressing them like friggin' Napoleon - flags on backpacks, or you could even have a flag show up on the corner of the screen, or floating above their head like the character info on an online role play game, without diving into this "let's dress foreigners in silly costumes" mess.
I don't know if it quite heads into straight-up offensive territory, but it is definitely, definitely tone deaf. And if my sources are correct, and I'm pretty sure they are, the producers were told this ad was wrong-minded, patronizing and maybe a little racist, on no uncertain terms, and they ran it anyway. So... I guess they were keeping those westerners around to make their office feel international, and not because the people promoting Korea actually care what foreigners think about their "visit Korea" ads.
and yeah, this ad, seen by Koreans, will do a good job of making Koreans feel good about Korea.
But that's not the point of international Korean tourism promotions, is it? And it hardly requires buying ad space on CNN, when KBS or MBC will reach more Koreans anyway. Hell, why not just have the narration in Korean?
Saturday, September 03, 2011
Self-Deprecatoseyo!
Nothing like a joke at my own expense to end my week.
and I can only answer this:
Friday, September 02, 2011
Climbed Dobong Monain. Killed My Legs.
Turns out Dobong Mountain is a steep bastard of a mountain to climb. I was out of practice, so it took days before I could do things like stairs again.
But once you get to the top it's crunking beautiful.
Here's a panorama I took last wednesday. Click on the image for a full-size picture.
But once you get to the top it's crunking beautiful.
Here's a panorama I took last wednesday. Click on the image for a full-size picture.
Don't be a Dick
This came to my attention earlier this week... I think somebody linked it on twitter. Anyway, Phil Plait is a skeptic, but the stuff he says about the ways people try to persuade other people on the internet, are worth a good hard look. Especially if one often finds oneself butting heads with other people.
Summary, and these are as close to the "golden rules of internet commenting" as you can find:
1. it's not what you say, it's how you say it
2. don't be a dick -- back in my "complaining expats" days, I once wrote that "when you talk so harshly, even when you're right, you're wrong, and even if you win the argument, you still lose"
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Best line: "Is your goal to score cheap points, or is your goal to win the damn game?"
Summary, and these are as close to the "golden rules of internet commenting" as you can find:
1. it's not what you say, it's how you say it
2. don't be a dick -- back in my "complaining expats" days, I once wrote that "when you talk so harshly, even when you're right, you're wrong, and even if you win the argument, you still lose"
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Best line: "Is your goal to score cheap points, or is your goal to win the damn game?"
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Update on Babyseyo
last friday we went into the hospital for a pregnancy update, and...
And along the way, I've figured out that, at least in my opinion, there is one situation in which it's perfectly OK and non-controversial to show people a close-up picture of your son's willie:
when it's an ultrasound. Once that baby's out of his mom, it just ain't kosher anymore. (Sorry, Borat. No, I'm not including a link to the picture.)
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Random: Two Bots in Conversation
Somebody put two chatbots (computers that are programmed to chat online and attempt to simulate a human's chat responses) into a conversation with each other.
It's awesome -- it almost hangs together, but not quite. Kind of like listening to a four-year-old tell jokes.
It's awesome -- it almost hangs together, but not quite. Kind of like listening to a four-year-old tell jokes.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Learning Korean in Korea
Well, when I was with ATEK, one of the things I wanted to do was create an useful guide to Korea.
But that didn't happen.
So if you go to the top of my page and click where it says "Expat Life" you can see a (still in progress) page with some of the links I think are most useful to somebody trying to get themselves sorted in Korea.
One section I like is my "places to learn Korean" link list.
Learn Korean
Hangul (writing system)
Comparative reviews of "Study Korean" books
Learn Korean Online
Korean Class 101's Youtube Channel
Sogang's online Korean Course comes highly recommended
Recommended by I'm No Picasso: Learn Korean Now
Recommended by Roboseyo: Korean Class 101
More complete list of learning Korean resources
For the rest... if you run/know about a page you think deserves a link on my page, send me an e-mail at roboseyo at gmail, or put a link in the comment.
To the guy who's been getting his comments deleted: no. Links on where people can find an Indian wife (prefaced by a paragraph of shit-talking about western and Korean women) don't qualify.
But that didn't happen.
So if you go to the top of my page and click where it says "Expat Life" you can see a (still in progress) page with some of the links I think are most useful to somebody trying to get themselves sorted in Korea.
One section I like is my "places to learn Korean" link list.
Learn Korean
Hangul (writing system)
Comparative reviews of "Study Korean" books
Learn Korean Online
Korean Class 101's Youtube Channel
Sogang's online Korean Course comes highly recommended
Recommended by I'm No Picasso: Learn Korean Now
Recommended by Roboseyo: Korean Class 101
More complete list of learning Korean resources
For the rest... if you run/know about a page you think deserves a link on my page, send me an e-mail at roboseyo at gmail, or put a link in the comment.
To the guy who's been getting his comments deleted: no. Links on where people can find an Indian wife (prefaced by a paragraph of shit-talking about western and Korean women) don't qualify.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
10 Magazine Reboot
10 Magazine has been providing one of the best events calendars out there, and they're trying to reinvent their website so that users can submit their own events, which is really useful. Especially if there's a curator to be sure that "Dylan's birthday party" doesn't quite make it in (that's what facebook groups are for)...
to pay for reinventing their website, and making it more useful for you, the readers, they're trying to raise $3000. I like 10 Magazine: they're good people, and between 10 and Groove Magazine, we're on our way to defying Bethell's Law, which makes me happy.
Bethell's Law:
to pay for reinventing their website, and making it more useful for you, the readers, they're trying to raise $3000. I like 10 Magazine: they're good people, and between 10 and Groove Magazine, we're on our way to defying Bethell's Law, which makes me happy.
Bethell's Law:
the foreign community in Korea has always been much too fragmented, transient and diverse to broadly support any publications that fail to hew closely and safely to the proverbial lowest common denominator. That is as true today as it was a hundred years ago, if not more so.So... go forth. Support. They're two thirds of the way to their goal as of this writing, and you can get stuff if you help out.
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