Haiti Benefits in Seoul

Three ways to help out in Haiti. 2S2 Community has the details. If you know of other events or ways people can help out, send me an e-mail and I'll add your event to the list.

Traveling Korea: Will I Get Bugged? Plus, Blatant, Crass Self-Promotion

Got this question... usually answering questions is the realm of Ask the Expat, Ask A Korean, and sometimes Chris in SK does them, too, but this one came to me. I've made some changes, for brevity, privacy, and to make myself seem more awesome:

Hi Roboseyo the awesome

My name is Kyoposeyo - I'm such a fan of yours that I legally changed it, and your blog gives meaning to my life. As a second generation Korean/Canadian, I want to thank you on behalf of my race for being so awesome. Awesome. I'll say it twice. That's how awesome you are. Having been raised by first generation Korean parents (grew up in a Canadian city), I know a thing or two about Koreans, despite not having lived there, nor being as awesome as you.

I want to throw a question your way: hopefully this complete stranger's question will pierce your near-indestructible shell of awesome. It would help me a lot if it did, and you answered.

I am planning a trip to Japan and Korea in May; I'm going with my caucasian boyfriend. He wants to see Korea's natural beauty, and bask in the awesomeness of the place that inspired your awesome blog. Awesome. There's that word again.

I have been to Korea with my family before, but NEVER with my boyfriend. I speak Korean, but am wondering how Koreans will react to us being together. I thought I'd ask you since you are a foreigner, and I am assuming your girlfriend is Korean?

Your thoughts on this would really help me in planning my trip. I haven't booked a ticket yet, as I am figuring out how many days I want to spend there with my boyfriend.

Sincerely,
Kyoposeyo

p.s.: Awesome!

Hi, Kyoposeyo.

Thanks for the sweet letter. It's actually my policy only to answer letters that use the word "awesome" the exact number of times you did (ten, or twice per paragraph for longer letters), so you lucked out, I guess.

To answer your question:

First, a qualifier: I can't speak for how your family will react. Because family's closer, things are just different; your parents will be more useful in briefing you on introducing him to the family. If he's meeting your uncles, I bet they'll try to get him drunk, as my best friend's uncles-in-law did. For family, their impression will depend a lot on how they've been prepared for meeting him, but that's all I can really say about that.

Next, for people in Korea, once it's clear that you're not Korean born-and-raised, you often get a kind of a free pass here. Therefore, one thing you could do is simply pack clothes that are clearly Canadian, and noticeably different from the fashions Korean women wear. Wear very little make-up, which will set you apart from most Korean women, even in the summer. If you're going to Japan first, pick a few distinctively Japanese accessories you can wear, that'll set you apart for passersby looking from a distance. Then people will size you up as a tourist and the "rules" won't apply to you. You could even speak in more laboured Korean, as if you don't know it well, to make your disguise complete. Of course, if it doesn't sit well with you to deny your Korean background, don't do it; I sure wouldn't hold that against you.

Third: I think the reactions your boyfriend will get, being seen with a visibly Korean woman, really depend a lot on your boyfriend's appearance. Some people have a lot of trouble with negative attention from Koreans when they're out with their Korean girlfriends, but I never have, and I think it's because I do what I can to keep a well-groomed appearance, and try to make a positive first impression on the Koreans around me, especially when I'm with Girlfriendoseyo (who is Korean: you were right about that). I might be totally wrong here, but I bet you'd get more attention in general, if he looks like a bedraggled hippie with long hair, a grizzly adams beard, and torn clothes - just because NOBODY dresses or looks that way in Korea; once he's attracted all that attention, there's a greater chance some of the attention he attracts will turn negative, and that some individual will peg him into the stereotype of the ugly English teacher stealing "our" women or whatever. But if he dresses in a way that keeps a low profile, and fits in with the locals, there's a much much lower chance that he'll elicit that reaction. When in Rome, wear a toga. Those viking furs might be the heighth of fashion in Denmark, but they won't get you far at the Coliseum.

If he's groomed, smiling and polite, if you teach him a few Korean phrases and he says them with a friendly air, all those same people who'd otherwise mutter, will smile and tell you he's a handsome guy, and maybe offer him a shot of makkeolli or some extra side dishes. If you're out climbing mountains and in nature, which it sounds like you want to do, you're very likely to encounter the nicest side of Koreans, rather than the unsavory side: many of the most positive experiences I've had with Koreans, especially older Koreans, have been on the mountain. The same old lady who, in the city, would shove you to get onto the subway car before you, will share her lunch with you on the mountain-- the climbing culture is one of the friendliest aspects of Korea I've come across, personally, so you're probably in for a treat if you're heading for the hiking trails.

Of course, you can also just tell everybody you're married, too. These days, international marriages are nothing out of the ordinary in the countryside.

see also this post: Tips to Avoid Being Assaulted in Korea

So, dear readers... agree? Disagree? Am I totally out to lunch? What other advice should I give Kyoposeyo and her Caucasian boyfriend about having the best experience possible in Korea?

Do Stuff: Events and Ways to be a Good Person

I got a letter from a guy named Abhishek Joshi, an expat living in Suwon; he wanted to spread word about a program expats in Suwon have organized, to volunteer at a local orphanage there. He's looking for people who will join him and the others who are already part of the crew, and volunteer in Suwon - give back to the community where we live. Here's his site. I'm also writing about this at the 2S2 Community blog.

Hermit Hideaways, steadily winning more and more "hey, buddy: sweet blog!" points, has some upcoming concerts you can attend.

This is another live show you can attend. Carsick Cars - Chinese Post-Punk.

I have a ton of listings of events and things in my facebook inbox:

Guest speaker Lee Kyung Sook, from the Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea (JCMK), will be speaking at Amnesty International's meeting on Saturday, 06 February 2010, from 16:00 - 18:00. The facebook event page is here.

KISS - Korean International Salsa Social, has regular Thursday night events now. This one includes a salsa lesson. The Facebook event page has more info. Dancing is fun.

And Ka-Brew Korea is having a Beer River Cruise on Saturday, 06 February 2010, starting at 7pm at the Yeoinaru Docks and finishing in RMT Itaewon. You can read up on it here. The theme is pirates.

I heard from the Wild Women's Performing Arts Festival (WWPAF), is a bi-annual fundraising event that uses visual and aural performances in order to address the issue of gender equality in Korea as well throughout the world.

Proceeds from the Festival are given to the KWAU (Korea Women's Association United), an organization that advocates for women's issues in Korea, including the Korean Women’s Hotline, the Dashi Hamkke Anti-Trafficking Organization and agencies for disabled women.

The Festival will be at the Mong Hwan in Sinchon (Sinchon Station, Exit 2). The event will be held on Saturday, February 27 from 8pm-5am.

(all photos on this post are from last year's WWPAF festival) Yet again, there's more information about the event on Facebook.

Weekend Notes: Moving Day, and Movie Quote of the Decade

1. Korean moving companies, seriously, rock. Girlfriendoseyo moved to a new place: the place where we'll live together after the wedding in July (did I mention there are nuptials in my near future? I did. And the post where I announced it, and said:

I got engaged this year! If I don't get at least twenty comments of congratulations on this post, I'm shutting down the blog forever.

is squatting at 12 comments, and Roboseyo remains in danger. Come on, readers. It's not like I asked you to send money or something. Is it that only twelve of you read to the end of the post? Cripes.

Eight more congratulations and you can get back to lurking.

But Korean moving companies, comments or none, still rock. A swarm of people comes into your house, loads everything into baskets boxes and things, trucks them to your next place, and unloads them. The guy who did the bookshelves even had a system whereby he returned all the books in the same order on the shelves as they were when he boxed them. All Girlfriendoseyo had to do was point and say "put it in this room" or "that room" and all I had to do was stand around looking handsome (and that takes effort for me), and be tall once or twice.

2. Girlfriendoseyo's mom, Omonim, is cute, and I like her more and more. Today, we discovered that she likes bubble wrap: I grabbed some from the dishes box, and she, Girlfriendoseyo and I had a little moment together, popping bubble wrap. It was brilliant. She even stored some away for later.

3. OK, I was thinking about this, and I'd like to open the question for comments. What was the movie quote of the decade? I mean, a really memorable movie quote has to be usable, it has to be instantly recognizable as "from that movie" - "Frankly, dear, I don't give a damn" "make him an offer he can't refuse" and stuff. (AFI's 100 best movie quotes)... it also has to immediately evoke the movie in question - Saw's "I want to play a game" doesn't evoke the movies quite clearly enough. In fact, if I have to name the movie it's from, it doesn't belong on the list.

The '90s had some good quotes:

"FREEEDOOOOMMM"

"Does that make you horny, baby?"

"I know kung-fu"

"I see dead people"

"My momma always told me life is like a box of chocolates."

"I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti. FUPFUPFUPFUPFUP"

like, ALL of The Big Lebowski

and so forth... but what about the naughty oughties? This writer can't come up with anything, and when I tried to think of some good ones, I kept thinking of quotes from '90s movies. So, readers, what IS the quote of the oughties?

Here are the ones that come to mind; a few might have come from an article on this topic that I read a while ago... and I want to know what YOU think might be the movie quote of the decade.

Here are the ones that I think qualify: Immediately identifiable, evocative of important moments, and quotable - you know how to deliver the line:

"I drink your milkshake"

"This is sparta"

"My precioussss" and "YOU SHALL NOT PASS"

"I wish I knew how to quit you"

"Why so serious?"

"I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth."

What am I missing?

On the second tier: a lot of will ferrell

"Hey Honey! We're streaking!"

"I'm kind of a big deal" or "Stay classy, San Diego"

"He only has one face!... I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!" or "What is this? A school for ants?"

"Rock stars have kidnapped my son!"

Help me out here, readers. What are the other most memorable quotes from the '00s?

Back-blogged: last few pictures

1. why I'd rather go to Seoul's indoor skating rinks.

Look at that awful ice.


What self-respecting Canadian would choose to skate on that... except on a first-to-third date, with a legitimate shot at some smooching?



2. Girlfriendoseyo took this sweet picture of me at Morning Calm Garden: I like the question-mark shape I'm making. My fiance has a really good eye for photography.

Back-Blogged: Daegu

So I went to Daegu on December 30 and 31. That was nifty. I had two weeks off before winter sessions started, and I had to get out of town. I met up with a few pals, had the worst Guinness beer I ever tasted. I think it was some of that swill where they mix one part guinness with one part hite, but it was awful. Seriously, I just don't get the mixed drink thing. Cranberry vodka? Rum coke? Yeah, I get that. But pouring soju and coke into a pitcher of beer? What the yuck!

Had a nice long talk with a pal, and then slept in a jimjilbang for the night.

Then next morning, I met up again with my pal and Dann Gaymer, ATEK's public relations manager, and had a nice breakfast, and a little walk around the famous Korean traditional medicine market near Dongseongno, and then wandered almost all the way to Dongdaegu Station, the KTX terminal. I like the Daegu Downtown: because it's more centralized, it's a little less bewildering than Seoul, which has at least five legitimate, frantically busy downtown shopping/hangout areas, and a bunch more almost-there's - Hongdae, Jongno, Hyehwa, Kangnam, Apgujeiong, plush Shincheon, Konguk Univ., Yongsan, Itaewon and let's not forget the sweet downtown spots in some of the satellite cities.

Downtown Daegu.

Daegu's slogan is "Colorful Daegu" = which could be seen all over. I especially liked this shot, because of the colorful spill-stain on the tree-grate.


It was colorful, though.


The main road had no crosswalks, and underpasses instead. Nice for traffic. Bad for chronic knee pain.


Cars weren't allowed in the downtown area. This was another thing I really liked. I suggested to Girlfriendoseyo that Seoul should also ban cars in the downtown shopping areas. She replied "But there are too many assholes who like to show off their cars, who would stop it from happening in Seoul" ... and Girlfriendoseyo is so sweet and well-mannered, that her use of the word asshole really has meaning - I hear her say it less than once a month. But... well said.


The car-free downtown was also people-free, because it was a bloody cold day.








Shiny at night.


Daegu is up with the cheesy, stylish food crazes: don't be calling daegu-ites a bunch of rubes!


They got brand-name chains, too.


I crossed the Geumho river.




Along the way, I hit up some markets in Daegu. You can find this stuff in Seoul, too, but it was fun walking around the ones in there.




This market had some especially nifty stuff:



Coolest thing: I saw the rice poppers. You know those crunchy, rice-puffy things that you eat at a bar? Well this is how they make them.

I saw them making it. It was sweet. Then, while they were waiting for the rice to get hot enough to pop (it takes quite a while), the ajumma started doing one of those sweet bbong-chak dances that are the glory of old age in Korea. Her husband joined in, and it was one of those little moments when the world is awesome... and I got it on video. Sweet! Usually I can't get my camera out in time.


This was funny, too: this plastic surgery clinic was right in the middle of downtown Daegu - Daegu's aiming to be a medical tourism hub... or was that mecca? -- and it made me laugh that Korea's first playboy model, Lee Pani, was all over this clinic, promoting it. That a nude model was promoting a plastic surgery clinic was intriguing, and kind of funny: nude poses and lingerie promotions are one of the things "respectable" Korean female stars avoid like the plague, while vociferously denying that they had plastic surgery... so it seemed both appropriate and funny to see a nude model on a cosmetic surgery clinic.







And when I got back to Seoul Station (yay, KTX!) this was happening.

Back-Blogged: Christmas trip to Suncheon Bay and Boseong Lights Festival

So... my nemesis Dan Gray of Seoul Eats and I got together and planned a nemesis-themed Christmas party. It was great.

We got turkey from the army base near Itaewon.

There was way too much food for the size of the group (as Christmas dinners should be), so I got to take home a pumpkin pie. The world is a wonderful, wonderful place.

Joy was there with a hat she got from one of those places (Baskin Robbins, Paris Baguette, and I forget which others) that always have a dumb awesome hat contest.

Chris in SK was there, with his hilarious girlfriend, as were a bunch of Dan Grey's friends from the Seoul Eats meetups, and Kelly NameChangedForPrivacy made an appearance as well, as did an old coworker whom it was great to see.

Then, Girlfriendoseyo and I hopped in a car and started driving: we were heading down to Boseong, for the Tea Fields there, where every Christmas they string the tree plants up and put on a light show. We drove all day, stopping for an early dinner in Jeonju, home of the world's best bibimbap, where they threw more food at us than we could comprehend, and had the best yukhoe (raw, minced beef - traditionally not a favorite of mine, but I'll make exceptions) I've eaten in a long, long time.

The lights were nice. Strangely, the closer we got to the lights, the nicer they looked, and the were definitely the prettiest when we were right out there, walking around in the middle of the field.

Thanks to a botched reservation, courtesy of Roboseyo the dumb, whose Korean (lack of) skill still leads to the occasional snafu, and sometimes makes him feel like a noob, we got stuck out in Boseong with, literally (she checked) not a single room for hire within a forty kilometer drive. We drove to Suncheon, where there was one hotel room open in the entire town, and that thanks only to a cancellation (this is what happens when you travel inside Korea on holidays... especially on years when all the red letter days fall on Saturdays and Sundays)

(Here's a video of the lovely lights of Boseong, and Suncheon bay. Keep reading for more on Suncheon.)

But we found a place to crash. And you know how food tastes way better when you're starving, and there's a chance you won't eat the next day? Well dear readers, when you're worried that you'll have to spend the night in a skeezy 24 hour jimjilbang near Suncheon Bus Terminal, or crammed into reclined bucket seats in the car, waking up once an hour to run the engine and warm up the car... then even a simple room in a business hotel seems like a luxury suite. Oh, yes it does. And yeah. The irony was not lost on me, that we were driving around Jeollanamdo, and there was no room at the inns, on CHRISTMAS night. I'm also sad to report that we didn't see any shepherds, and no angels appeared.

On Saturday morning (the 26th), we woke up early enough to check the weather reports: it called for snow on Sunday, so we decided to drive as far as we could on Saturday, rather than do the lion's share of the driving in bad weather. Thanks to some sweet sleuthing, some good luck, and another cancellation, Girlfriendoseyo once again found us a place, one town over from Boryeong, and this one was pretty sweet. It was a beach condo, and it was an amazing, gorgeous place to say... except that whole below freezing thing. (it was cold and windy. Pretty, but bad beach weather).

However, before we headed out, we got a chance to meet up in Suncheon with Brian in Jeollanam-do, in Jeollanam-do. We had a nice hanjeongshik meal with Brian and his fiance, who's just wonderful, and I'm happy to report that Brian's a wonderful guy, and the in-Jeollanamdo's, as a couple, are adorable. Girlfriendoseyo liked them the first time she met them, last Christmas, and this year again, we had a grand old time. We'll look forward to the next opportunity to hang out with them.

After lunch, Girlfriendoseyo and I headed out to Suncheon Bay, which Girlfriendoseyo told me is spectacularly beautiful.

I concur.

It was crowded, crowded crowded (cf: famous places in Korea, Korean holidays)

And this poor girl was there. She'd dressed appropriately... give or take twenty degrees celsius.

I nearly froze my camera and my fingers taking pictures at first (it was beautiful bobbing in the breeze... but cold), and then, climbing the hill to the Suncheon Bay observatory, I was sweating in my winter gear....

but the photos were worth it. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, worth it.

from the observatory

The water reflected the amazing blue sky.

Kopi Luwak: The World's Rarest Coffee. Yep. roboseyo drank cat poo coffee

Kopi Luwak: it's not a myth.

it's a real coffee, made from beans that have passed through a civet cat who has a knack for picking only the best coffee beans on the entire plantation, to eat.

It's a really rare delicacy, but my buddy Bryan (you can see him in the video) knew a place in Hongdae where we could get some. So, of course, we had to get some. Bryan explains more. And hang on for the reactions after we make the coffee and try it.

And of course, we made a Youtube video about it.

If you want to try the amazing cat poo coffee for yourself, you can go to Kaldi Coffee Club, up and around the corner from exit 4 of Hongik University Subway station. Here's their website, and their phone number. 02 335 7770, and here's a map of how to find them.

Canadian Embassy Wants to hear from you, Canuckers

[Update]: The guest list is now full, but you're still welcome to contact Ms. Kim by e-mail (see below)

I got a message from Nicola Kim, a political officer working for Mr. Ted Lipman, the Canadian Ambassador to Korea himself. After a year of discussion about the English teaching experience in Korea, as well as Korean media representation of them, not only here on the blogs, but in Korean courts, and even in the international press (not to mention CBC Radio), the embassy is interested to hear feedback about life in Korea directly from Canadian English teachers.

The meeting will be at the Canadian Embassy in Seoul, from 2:30-4pm on Thursday, January 28th, and Nicola's looking for a one or two more voices to round out the discussion. They're especially looking for long-time teachers, who have been around the block a few times, and have a longer perspective, and even more, at this point, females are underrepresented on the guest list. If any of my readers, especially the female ones, are long-term English teachers in Korea, who hail from Canada, and you have a thing or two to tell, or ask the Canadian Embassy about life in Korea, here's your chance to put in your two bits.

If you aren't free at that time, but you can think of something you'd like to tell the Canadian Embassy, either a complaint or a request, or a "is there anything you can do about ___" or "you could help new incoming Canadian English teachers if you ___" kind of tidbit (or should I say timbit), you are invited to either leave your comments at the bottom of this post, at which point I'll be happy to relay them on to the Canadian Embassy when I go, or you're also invited to contact Nicola Kim directly by sending an e-mail to nicola.kim at gmail dot com

image source

I'm glad the Canadian embassy is doing this; it's a great gesture, and while it makes sense insofar as it will reduce the number of anguished calls they have to field from distraught English teachers, it is also a opportunity to open more communication between the community and the embassy.

So fire off that e-mail, if you can come to the meeting, or let Nicola know what you'd like to say, whether you can come to the meeting or not.

Periodic Table of Canada

I'm not a tech blogger, but memo to Korea: Germany thinks your browser sucks

The country of Germany has encouraged the whole country to stop using Internet Explorer, as it was the browser that made the hacker attacks on Google China possible. Microsoft itself has said that Internet Explorer might have been the weak link in those attacks.

Meanwhile, Internet Explorer six remains the most popular browser in Korea. Imagine building the greatest highway infrastructure in the world - a country full of Autobahns - and then allowing only horse and buggies on it. That's Korea's internet right now.

I really like that google's finally taking a stand against China's web censorship. The information age is making the great firewall of china more porous: it seems that it can be circumvented if people know how, easily enough. Meanwhile, it makes me nervous that the google accounts being attacked were those of Human Rights agitators living in China. I like that Youtube/Google Korea preferred to block uploads and comments from Youtube Korea, rather than require real names.

This is reminiscent of a little while ago, when hackers based in China took over a bunch of zombie computers, including that of the Dalai Lama, hacking into the computers and stealing access to their files, and even being able to take control of their webcams to snap photos ... later the Chinese government seemed to tip its hand, communicating to people who were scheduled to meet the Dalai Lama that such meetings would be ill-advised. (see here)

Ladies and gentlemen: the battlefield of the future, where ones and zeros will be more important than munitions and laser targeting systems.

The internet's an interesting place these days.