If you're in Korea. . . (Updated)

watch Arirang TV at 8pm today. If you can, you know.

More later.

-roboseyo

So now that they've edited the whole thing. . . I'm in there all right!

http://www.arirang.co.kr/Tv2/Tv_Video_On.asp?PROG_CODE=TVCR0290&code=Po5

You can click on this link, and watch the first segment -- it's more about two other Korea bloggers. . . but they show my face! And my voice is in there at one point. I show up about seven minutes in, and you can distinctly hear me say, "a lot of hits on my blog are. . . "

Too bad they edited out just about everything I said, you know, because now that it's on the cutting room floor, I'll swear to high heaven I have NEVER, repeat, NEVER been more clever, insightful, and entertaining than in all that stuff they edited out. Just boil down all the not-sucky parts of my blog into nine minutes of talking, and that's what it was like, I SWEAR.


snicker.


If you follow the link, you either have to sign up for the site, to get a login name and see the video on demand stuff, or if I know you personally, you can e-mail me at the address on the sidebar, and ask really nicely, and I'll e-mail you the username password I used to see it.


Zenkimchi kindly put the pertinent segment on Youtube. (Thanks, Joe.) So now you can see it here.

If you ONLY care about old Roboseyo, skip to the eight minute mark. . . but if you want to get a look at bloggers in Korea in GENERAL, watch the whole thing. Mike and Joe are worth knowing about, too.

Random Glee. . .

every once in a while, walking around Seoul, I spot the Korean twin of somebody I know back home.

My friend Anna pops up from time to time. Sarah W. does fairly often, actually, as well as a few of my friends' parents (the moms more than the dads).

Most recently, I had two doozies, though.





Yes, dear readers. I spotted Christopher Walken's Korean clone jogging the track at my new school, and Doogie Howser's Korean doppleganger (Doogie Howjoh?) was walking between two buildings when I spotted him. It's moments like these I wish I could just tug my ear and have whatever's hitting my eyes save as a JPG file on a USB card tucked snugly in my . . . (heh heh heh) . . . but because taking pictures require me to pull my camera case out of my shoulder-bag, pull my camera out of the case, turn it on, wait for the flash to charge, THEN point and click. . . I don't get to have pictures like that. ('cos how are you going to explain that, anyway? Can anybody translate "Hi. You look like a white person I know. Can you stay here and wait for me to get out a camera so I can put a picture of you on the internet? I SWEAR I'm a perfectly normal person and you have nothing to worry about!" into Korean for me?)

Korean clones are even more fun than Konglish restaurant menus, because they are much less common, so spotting one is proportionally more entertaining and rewarding.

Few more Night Pics

Now that I've figured out how to do night scene pictures on my camera, I thought I'd share a few I've taken so far.

The moon was bright, but the trees around were picking up orange light from the streetlights. That set up some cool contrasts between my flash, the moon, and the orange washes from the streetlights. These are all from my new neighbourhood in Imun-dong.

Hope you like'em. I enjoyed taking them.

Something I DIDN'T like about living in Downtown Seoul:

Walking home from work and seeing THIS every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night (it also happened, even more, on Saturdays and Sundays).

One More for the "Hire a Proofreader, Nimrod!" files:

From a really, really great dumpling restaurant in Insa-dong:




Delicious food. . . too bad they spent ALL their energy making the best dumpling soup I've tasted so far. Not that I begrudge them.

I'll be honest and say that running into a bit of Konglish is a tiny bit of extra joy in my day-to-day life -- you never know when it'll happen, you never know how bad or mild it'll be, but it's always good for a giggle, and sometimes a photo, if possible. I'd liken it to finding a fiver on the sidewalk -- uncommon, unpredictable, but always nice.

How to See The World the way Kim Jong-Il Does: (warning: a bit gross)

Step 1: Hire a hypnotist. Better find a good one.
Step 2: Have the hypnotist hypnotize you into believing your crap smells like roses and tastes like caviar.
Step 3: Stick out your tongue and grab it firmly.
Step 4: Pull your tongue until your head turns inside out.
Step 5: Punch your now-exposed brain until at least one lobe stops working.
Step 6: Take your inside-out-head and bruised brain, and stick it up your own butt (which you've been hypnotized to believe smells like roses and tastes like caviar)
Step 7: Start talking.

You'll look like this:



You'll say things like this (recent North Korean news release):

(Thanks, OneFreeKorea, for showing us JUST how delusional North Korean leadership has become.)

Explicitly speaking, there is no “human rights issue” much touted by the U.S. in the DPRK. The Korean people fully enjoy genuine freedom and rights under the socialist system where all people form a big family. It is the consistent popular policy of the DPRK government to fully guarantee the rights of the citizens in a responsible manner. In the DPRK based on the man-centered Juche idea all working people do labor according to their abilities and wishes and lead a genuine life, given ample opportunity of learning. It is absolutely illogical for the U.S. to talk about the “human rights issue” while ignoring such reality.

There is the most serious human rights issue in the U.S. as it is a rogue state that exterminated tens of millions of native Indians and accumulated wealth through slave trade and flesh traffic and a country where the almighty dollar principle and the fin de sickle lifestyle based on the law of the jungle prevail. The impoverishment of Americans in the mental and cultural lives is actively fostered institutionally, driving them into the abyss of corruption, despair and crimes. This is a true picture of the American society today.

The “human rights” piffle made by the U.S. high-ranking officials indicates that they have no stand to recognize and respect the dialogue partner. The U.S. is persisting in the politically motivated provocations as evidenced by the ruckus kicked up over the non-existent “human rights issue” in the DPRK, an indication of its deep-rooted hostility and inveterate enmity toward the DPRK.

This attitude leaves the DPRK and the countries concerned skeptical about the U.S. intention to implement the points of the October 3 agreement. Such provocative acts of the U.S. as slandering and pulling up its dialogue partner can never help the talks make any progress in the positive direction. [KCNA]

North Korea said on Wednesday it saw as “unjust” calls from global powers such as the United States for Pyongyang to verify claims it made in disarmament talks about producing arms-grade plutonium. The North’s KCNA news agency quoted an unnamed spokesman from its Foreign Ministry as also saying that South Korean-U.S. military exercises, which started on Monday, had spoiled the atmosphere for the disarmament discussions.

“This situation compels the DPRK (North Korea) to heighten vigilance against such unjust demands as the ‘verification in line with the international standard’ recently claimed by the U.S. as regards the nuclear issue,” the spokesman said. [Reuters]

North Korea “will increase its war deterrent in every way as long as the U.S. and its followers continue posing military threats to it,” a spokesman for the North’s Foreign Ministry said in comments carried by the country’s official Korean Central News Agency. The remarks came two days after South Korea and the U.S. launched Ulchi Freedom Guardian, an annual computer-simulated war game and follow daily criticisms of the exercises in North Korean media. The exercises come amid a dispute between the U.S. and North Korea over ways to verify the North’s declared nuclear programs under an aid-for disarmament deal. [AP, Kwang-Tae Kim]

In the North Korean vernacular, “war deterrent” means nukes.

How's the view from in there, Comrade Kim?

Sigh.

There's actually nothing funny about it. The best I can muster is bitter, angry derision. . . people are dying there, so as much fun as it is to laugh at "I'm Ronely" jokes, the dying people of North Korea deserve more.

Usain Bolt again. . . wow. 19.30

Thanks, Youtube, for letting me post this smackdown on the rest of the field:


(still no embedding allowed)
You can watch Bolt's run here. You knew. KNEW, that he was gonna break the record. Took a bit of work -- Michael Johnson's previous record was a gobsmacker of its own. . . but wow. Again, as I wrote before about the allure of sports and the potential of human ability. . . you just can't look away.

Here's Michael Johnson's previous World Record run. 19.32


By the way: a kinda naughty (unintentionally) but extremely funny picture that made me laugh out loud. HT to I, Foreigner. I can't quite bring myself to posting it, but I'll link it with giggling enthusiasm.

From "Quote of the Day," for flag-wavers these Olympics:

Thanks, Quote of the Day


A nation is a society united by delusions about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbors.
- William Ralph Inge


"Let them all go to hell, except Cave 17."
- Mel Brooks (From The Two-Thousand Year Old Man)

Haven't done a picture post in a while. . .

Which is odd, given that now I finally have a nice camera.  And even a flickr account.

A camera which takes pictures like this. . .

and (when I remember to use the "night landscape" setting). . . like this, too.

My step-mom MaryAnna and my Aunt Greta are in Korea now, travelling about after finishing an English camp.  They're both teachers in Canada, and spent five weeks in Naju, and now they're up in Seoul for a bit to see me and hang out downtown and make Girlfriendoseyo happy.

My Aunt Greta is the younger sister of my deceased mother, and Mary-Anna is my Dad's new wife. . . and the fact those two get along so darn well speaks volumes, about how open and loving my mom's family is, looking out for Poposeyo, and even welcoming his new wife into the fold, and also about how cool my step-mom is.

On Sunday, we walked around Jongno and Insadong, and Chunggyecheon with Girlfriendoseyo, and had a capitol time.

There was a big olympics thingy going on at the top of the Chunggyecheon.


I believe the sport of the day was table tennis, on the big screen.

We saw "Jump," the comedy martial arts show running in Jongno.  It was fun as anything, and you know how these comedy shows always pull some hapless schmuck up on stage. . .

well on Sunday, I was Schmuckoseyo.

MaryAnna snuck a few (contraband) pictures while I was up there, and Girlfriendoseyo laughed until she cried.

They made me do a somersault and some other silliness. . . but I don't want to give away their surprises or jokes, so I won't go into too much detail about what happened. . . but it was fun, all my old comedy improv experience from university rushed up to mind. . . as soon as I sat back down in my chair.  But yeah.  If I went there again, and they called me up on stage again, I would have gotten a few pretty good laughs, eh?

After Jump, we walked around a bit,

and then caught a cab down to this restaurant south of the river where they serve roast duck, and dear readers, this place is just ridiculously good.  They stuff the duck with all kinds of healthy beans and berries, and roast it for three hours or so in a brick oven and stuff, and when it comes out, it's tender as anything, and yummy as . . . uh. . . something really yummy.


here's the full spread:

And a bit closer up:



And here are Aunt Greta (left) and Mary-Anna (right) doing Korean poses for the camera.  They were both real gamers, ready to go and have adventures in Seoul, and all over.  They toured Busan and Seoul all by themselves during this trip, and had great old times.  Not too shabby, I say! 


After that, stuffed to the gills, we headed up and strolled around Hyehwa for a bit, because it's a pretty neighbourhood, but we were getting tired (stuffing up on duck will do that).

There's a park in Hyehwa that's one of my favourite sites to sit and people-watch; street performers turn up there a lot, and all of Hyehwa is a bit artsy and fun, loaded with Theatres big and small.  The park here was great until the wind shifted and carried garbagey smells to our schnozzes. . . but I played around with my camera's night scene setting and got these pictures, which I like.




And one of the ladies, lady-ing.

There were off-and-on spatters of rain from time to time, and every spot where  a rain droplet (barely larger than mist) spackled onto my black umbrella, the street-light shone through the droplet and through the the black umbrella, making the inside of the umbrella look like one of those Star-Trek night skies.  The picture here doesn't do it justice, but it was a little moment of beauty in keeping with the quote on my blog header, and bud, ya gotta pay attention to those, and write them down, or shoot them, or point them out to somebody -- not that you need to; you can stuff it in your pocket and keep it to yourself like a love-note from God just to you. . . but those gratuitously lovely morsels of universe taste better when shared (even clumsily, like this barely-even-manages-to-hint-at-it picture.)



The pictures catch about as much of the full day as a freeze-frame of a diver. . . but brothers and sisters, it was a lovely day indeed, and I thought I'd share it with you.

Holy Crap! Usain Bolt 9.69

(nbc keeps pulling down the ACTUAL Bolt world record run. . . but it looked SOMETHING like this)

Here's bolt on youtube.

How did they even do that?

Memo to 7-11: If you manage to get one of Korea's loveliest faces signed for a photo shoot. . .

Hire a makeup artist and a photo-shop guy, too.

And she comes to the set looking like she didn't sleep, or has a hang-over

Send her home to sleep, and reschedule.

They say she's probably had reams of surgery. . . and it's not that I'm suddenly approving of the whole male gaze/beauty image thing



. . . but if they dropped a lot of coin to get a silly-hot star to appear (and in case you doubt she is. . . here)

You'd think they'd have protected their investment a bit with an airbrush.

(they could have called the soju people and asked for tips:)

And these aren't even "X-star at home/taking out the trash in sweatpants" pics, in which I wouldn't criticize a star for being human -- these are for an ad campaign, so I'd have thought 7-11 would try to make their star look nicer -- I was just startled to see pics of a normally ridiculously pretty star looking so un-gorgeous.  (Gorgeless?)

  It took me five seconds to recognize the familiar-looking fifty-year-old as actually being the 20 (or so) year old 김 아중.

(more Kim A-Joong)

(or is that just how quickly plastic surgery faces age?)

In other "normally very very good-looking stars looking hung over, tired, or raggedy in an ad" news. . . from a while back. . . "Sorry I'm late for the photo shoot.  I was getting, ah, acquainted with your product last night until four."

remind you of anything?



oh yeah. also. something something olympics. something something bla bla blah, China something something lip synch something something TOTALLY UNSURPRISED.

For all your Olym-peccadilloes

You can't embed, but you can link:

http://www.youtube.com/beijing2008

As much as I stand by what I've said before about the Olympic organizers, the IOC, and the way China is using this olympics for their own nationalist propaganda. . . ya still gotta cheer for the athletes.

To know what TV is like in Korea right now, watch this clip. . . forty times in a row.

(P.S. Korea's going gold-medal bonkers right now. . . but it won't last, according to girlfriendoseyo, who tells me all Korea's strongest events are in the first few days of the Olympics -- Judo, archery, shooting)

From an Owlish Angel

From my dear friend Tamie's blog:

Last night I was talking to one of my best friends, someone I've come to trust deeply over years of being in the kind of conversation that is woven into our whole lives. . . .We were talking about self-perceptions, and how they compare to how others perceive us. I often perceive myself to be....all these negative things, but according to my friend, this is not how my friends perceive me. . . . I'm writing about how almost all of us do this very thing all the time, and how just sad it is, maybe more than anything.

If we knew that we were loved, it would change everything, wouldn't it? What if for one day you were granted some kind of supernatural power so that you could feel just how much people loved you? (I feel like I know what so many of us would fear--we wouldn't want to be granted that supernatural power because we'd be so afraid that people are secretly annoyed and disgusted by us. And this is precisely the point.) But people do love temporally and imperfectly. But if we knew that we were loved, absolutely and eternally, that we are always always inside endless love....well, yep, that would change everything.

Why, tell me why, is this so damn hard to really get a hold on? Why are we bumbling around in these illusions, so convinced that we're on the cusp of being cut off, when in fact we're fairly swimming in love? Jesus. In those brief moments when I know that I am loved, through and through and through, then I am completely free. And in those moments it becomes suddenly clear to me just how not-free I am most of the time. How I am missing the joys of my life, missing the glorious cosmic dance. Not because I'm not a part of it, but because I'm deaf to just how much of a part of it I am. I can't hear that the music is everywhere.

And even in this, in my deafness and illusions, I am loved. Oh, but how I wish that I could know it, live it, all the time. Know what I mean, dear readers? Know what I mean?

Okay, enough said for now. Time for yoga.

Thanks, Tamie.

A Few Must-Reads

First: ROK Drop has a piece on the ridicidonkonculous ass-backwardity of Korea's flip-floppy "Listen to what I mean, not what I say!" relationship with the USA that is, all at once, the best explanation I've read so far of why being President of Korea might be the hardest job in the galaxy, an excellent retrospective of the recent US Beef protests, and a great summary of Korea's tortured and conflicted "Why CAN'T we have it both ways?" relationship with the USA.

Second: SeoulLife got in on the complaining expat topic, and brought up the point that almost all the popular K-bloggers are male, and therefore created a site specifically for Korean and English speaking, expat and Korean national, women in the K-blogosphere.  Naked In The Sauna is the name.

Third: James Turnbull of The Grand Narrative (one of my favourite Korea blogs) dropped a few pearls on the expat topic. . . not a full, Grand Narrative Special (those get pretty involved), but worth a look.  Meanwhile, if you have connections with awesome non-teaching jobs in Seoul, or any kind of awesome jobs in Busan, keep your ear to the ground for our blog-buddy James: he's on the market.

Tongue twister I composed on Friday at Work:

re: the Asian delivery-boy who loves his job: I envy the Korean curry courier's career.

For all you indie music snobs, and all you who KNOW indie music snobs:http://xkcd.com/460/

I watch this video two or three times a day. (It's my niece and nephew.)

This pic: when you hand out a student needs survey, and a student just NEEDS to let you know "Hey.  Teacher.  I'm cute as heck, and you better know it."

Rising food prices are hitting the little guy now.  I bet every item on this menu is 500won more than before.

At coldstone creamery in Piano Street, they have mastered "Suggestive Selling" . . . I don't know what that is, but I'd like to see some.  I'm not quite clear on how one CAN sell ice cream suggestively.  Lollipops, sure.  Skin cream, heck yeah.  Ice cream . . . need to see it to believe it.

Two weekends ago, the candlegirl made an appearance at Jogyesa.  I wonder how many bows she made to keep mad cow disease out of Korea.

My favourite anti-government graffiti: (just down from piano street)

that's all for today, folks.

-roboseyo

Super-slo mo is super cool.

this shot of lightning striking is un beee leeee vable

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

ultraslomo.com will eat an hour of your life without even burping.

red drop of water


lighting a match


strawberry dropped into a bowl of milk (hey, whatever floats your boat)


another gorgeous water drop



squeezing an orange slice


and my favourite super-slow-motion: water balloons. From a Schweppes ad.


just weird: karate chopping a brick in super-slow motion.


and. . . the sexy one.

am i the only blogger in Korea who HASN'T seen dark knight yet?

Well. . . I just got a new university job, so I'll have to content myself with having a great job instead. Miles better than my old one. 'till the weekend, then. . .

here are some pictures I'm pretty sure are from the new movie. I won't know for sure until I've seen it, though.

Welcome, Korea Herald Readers!

Hi there. If you're a Korea Herald reader who decided to check out my page after reading the "Expat Living" article, 'You don't understand Korean culture', welcome!

The series of essays The Korean and I wrote about complaining expats and defensive Koreans are here, and they've started a very interesting conversation online, which I've tried to document with links and summaries:

First question:
Why do expats complain?
My thoughts (this is the article that was quoted). The Korean's thoughts.

some other responses from other pages
some e-mails I got
a wonderful, hilarious look at the history of complaining expats at the blog Popular Gusts

Why do Koreans take Criticism about Korea so Poorly?
My thoughts. The Korean's thoughts.

some other responses from other pages

If this topic really interests you, also take some time to read Gord Sellar's views on the topic:
"Who's Complaining In Korea"
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

and if you have something you want to say about it, go ahead and put it online, and send me the address where I can find it.  Or e-mail your thoughts to me at roboseyo [at] gmail [dot] com or write them in the comment board to this page.


To my regular readers: Wow! I was quoted in the Korea Herald! To see my article read 'You Don't Understand Korean Culture', at the Herald, or for posterity, it's here on my site, too.


(soundtrack: I Never Wanted To Be A Star, by Cat Stevens - snicker)



Highlights from the article:

(the first part of the article describes how Brian Deutsch was basically hung out to dry by his school, and the magazine he wrote for, when somebody tried to cyber-bully him for being too critical of Korea.)

Still, there a few prominent expatriate blogs in Korea that receive a lot of hits. The six we are interested in here are: The Marmot's Hole, Scribblings of the Metropolitician, The Grand Narrative, Ask a Korean!, Roboseyo and Deutsch's - Brian in Jeollanam-do.

The Marmot's Hole is run by Robert Koehler. . . .

"Our role is to offer commentary and criticism from a fresh, outside perspective," Koehler said. . . . "All countries are open for criticism. The question that really needs to be asked is whether anyone should take what we write seriously. For the most part, the answer to that would be no.

"Besides, generalizations are kind of fun - nationalistically hysterical Koreans, pot-smoking over-sexed English teachers, condescending expats - who doesn't love 'em. It's all a question of how seriously you take what you read."

Scribblings of the Metropolitician comes from Michael Hurt. The blog is a mishmash of social criticism, international politics, pop culture and comments on Korean media. 

Both Koehler and Hurt brought up Alexis de Tocqueville, a Frenchman who wrote "Democracy in America" in the first half of the 19th century. Both men consider this book a great commentary on the United States.

"The fact that we're foreigners shouldn't disqualify us. I look at American social commentary and social criticism and some of our sharpest and best social critics have been foreigners, people coming from a foreign perspective," Hurt said.

"Why would I put all this effort, why would I even care, or put myself out there, why would I do this if I didn't actually give a (expletive)?"

New Zealander James Turnbull runs The Grand Narrative. 

"I find the notion that only Koreans are 'permitted' to speak about Korean problems simply absurd," he said. "That isn't to say that all foreigners' opinions on them are equally valid, but if the roles were reversed then I'd be quite happy to hear the opinions of, say, a Korean person who had spent some time in New Zealand and who made an active effort to study and know New Zealand society and learn the language. In fact, probably more so than someone who was merely born there.

"The majority of netizens aside, I've actually found a significant number of Koreans to feel much the same way about the opinions of non-Koreans.

"Koreans are not unique in readily dismissing the opinions of foreigners, but they do seem more defensive about foreign criticism than most. For that reason, it is very important to use Korean sources as much as possible.

"Without any Korean ability, foreigners are usually forced to rely on either the limited English language media or books for the bulk of their information, and both have problems: the former for often presenting a rose-tinted version of Korea to the world, and the latter for being quickly out of date in a country as rapidly changing as Korea."

"[Criticize] in Korean, and in a major Korean newspaper," Koehler said.

Writing complaints in English may be "cathartic," he said, but it does no good.

Why do foreigners complain so much?

(and, like the guy who was an extra in a movie hauling all his friends to the cinema, and shouting, "Here it comes!" when the Cafe scene begins. . . here comes my quote!)

Another pair of bloggers, a Korean man living in America (Ask a Korean!) and a Canadian teacher in Seoul (Roboseyo) put together a two-part series dealing with foreigners' criticism and social commentary.

Ask a Korean! wrote, "many complaints from expats that the Korean has seen show a certain level of ignorance. This is not to say that complaining expats are dumb. It is only to say that were they more aware of certain things about themselves and about Korea, they would not be complaining as much, and the pitch of their complaints would not be as strident.

"Expats rarely venture out of large cities in Korea, and they only really interact with Koreans who are fluent in English. Do you know what makes a Korean fluent in English? Money, tons and tons of it. So not only are expats insulated from older Koreans, they are also insulated from younger Koreans who are poorer. What kind of understanding about Korea could an expat possibly have with this kind of limited exposure?"

About social critics, Roboseyo wrote, "Naming a problem is the first step to solving it, and maybe some of these critics are attempting to be a legitimate part of that process - that is, they're writing because they want to see Korea become a better place - in which case, Koreans who are upset about non-Koreans criticizing Korea need to stop and take a careful look at why that upsets them, because the problem does not lie in the complainers or their intentions.

"To be fair, sometimes the social critics' intentions are good, but their methods are poor: the sometimes bitter and mean tone of certain critics can be hurtful, and as I've said to some of my friends who complain about Korea with a rude or condescending tone: 'when you talk so harshly, even when you're right, you're wrong, and even if you win the argument, you still lose.'"

[Brian Deutsch, despite the cyber-attack will continue blogging about Korea.]

"I've also had to question how welcome those opinions are. My colleagues themselves told me that it was not my place to opine on what are called 'sensitive issues,' and a recent letter to the editor in the Gwangju News suggested that I, and foreigners, mind their own business and not worry about Korean internal affairs.

"But I think foreigners do have a right to speak about problems in Korea and to address sensitive issues from our own perspectives. At the most basic level we are invested in this society, even if for only a short time, and we pay taxes, function as consumers, participate in local communities, and teach local children.

"Moreover these issues are so prickly because they're not black and white. While it might be unpleasant for some Koreans to hear the other side of the story, I don't think it's inappropriate for it to be raised.

"Our opinions are often dismissed with a line about 'you don't understand Korean culture.' Often this comes when something unpleasant happens to a foreigner, or when a foreigner expresses an opinion disagreeable to the Korean listener. It's well beyond my abilities to explain why this happens, but it's patronizing and inappropriate. I do believe that although foreigners can sometimes dwell on the negative when writing or talking about Korea, I think taking a critical look shows an interest in the host culture that can be healthy if applied properly.

"I realize that a greater measure of tact is necessary when addressing sensitive issues and when trying to foster conversations across cultural boundaries, but even with a lot of coddling I remain cynical that people are ready to hear what we have to say just yet.

"I would love to have Koreans who disagree with me take the time to point out their objections, rather than simply railing against a foreigner who dares to publish something against the grain. And I would love to have Koreans spend more time trying to educate us about their culture and their views, then, since so much energy is spent telling us how wrong and misinformed our opinions are."

Deutsch said he was asked by his school to drop the case against Kim, and that his job was also placed in jeopardy because of what he has written.

And that last line is exactly why I think we need to talk about this, instead of letting things stay as they are.

Good news: this topic has more legs than even I thought it would, and I'm really happy that it's reaching more readers, and filling up more heads with thoughts.  Meanwhile, being listed in company like that is quite a thing on the K-blogosphere.  Kind of like being invited to K-Blogapalooza.

As always, if you want to tell me what you think about this topic, post it on your blog, and send me the link in the comments, or at roboseyo [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll print, or summarize, or link it here.

Have a great day, readers!



[full disclosure update]

I just got an e-mail from the editor of the magazine Brian wrote for, offering a few more details than I included in my summary of the Herald piece, when I hastily said, "the first part of the article describes how Brian Deutsch was basically hung out to dry by his school, and the magazine he wrote for"

a few quotes (with permission from the editor)

"The magazine has actually been very supportive of Brian. (personal details about the editor's involvement in the situation. . . ) The problem [Brian had with the magazine] is individuals not the organization.


The majority of the people who "work" for the magazine like Brian and myself are volunteers. This has it's pros and cons. In the July issue http://altair.chonnam.ac.kr/~gshin/gic/July%202008.pdf (pdf file) there was a letter to the editor. This writer was unhappy with two articles that were printed, one of them being Brian's most recent. Though myself and the acting editor had hesitations about what the author was saying in response to these articles, the letter was printed largely due to the fact that the man is a board member at the GIC and the non-profit magazine relies on their support. In the same issue though another article was printed, inspired by what had happened to Brian, explaining how though one might not agree with what had been previously written, it served a purpose and he had the right to do so.
 
Though I wasn't completely comfortable with the tone of the above mentioned "letter to the editor" the comments about the other author mentioned in it (not Brian) encouraged others who were not regular writers to submit pieces to the magazine. One is the letter to the editor in the August issue http://altair.chonnam.ac.kr/~gshin/gic/August%202008.pdf. The other will be an article in the upcoming September issue. 
 
Though what happened has created its fair share of stress and in some instances fear, there has been some good from it. People are talking. To be fair, some writers are feeling more hesitant to put "pen to paper" but others who were hesitant before are feeling inspired to have their voice heard.

The world's oldest joke. . .

is a dirty one. (Thanks for that, Reuters.)

And I owe my dad an apology for all the grief we kids used to give him over the jokes he used to tell us. Sorry pops. Love ya.

The phrasing is awkward, but the oldest recorded joke is (drumroll please):
"Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap" (something which I remember seeing one of my dear friends do to her husband --followed by her shoveling handfuls of stinky fart-air towards his face, much to the amusement of everyone in the room but her husband). There are a few others -- nothing about baked beans and surprise parties, traveling salesmen and wanton farmers' daughters, Moses, Elijah, and Mohammed at a golf course, or rabbis, priests and imams finding dead camels, though. Indeed, it seems most of the world's oldest jokes are dirty -- my favorite is the oldest Anglo-saxon joke: "What hangs at a man's waist, and likes to poke the hole it's poked many times before?"

"A key."

Article here.


Dirty jokes are a proud oral and even written tradition (hee hee. Oral). Even Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English Literature, took the time to put in a filthy scatological yarn in his Canterbury Tales (yay The Miller!)

and frankly, even though the language was as dense and bewildering as a jungle, I STILL laughed out loud at ""Tehee!" quod she, and clapte the wyndow to,"

(here, retold with lego: the Miller's Tale)



For more on funny jokes (no guarantee that they're sophomoric, though). . . according to the laughlab project, THIS is the world's funniest joke. (click on the link to read the runners-up, too.)

Two hunters were standing in the forest. One of the hunters suddenly collapses. The other takes out his cell phone and dials 911. The operator answers, "Hello, what is your emergency?" The hunter replies, "I was hunting with my friend and I think he's dead! What should I do?" The operator then tells him, "Make sure that he is dead." The man says, "Just a second." There is silence on the phone and suddenly a loud gunshot is heard. The man then asks the operator, "Okay, now what?"

and my over-under on the number of my readers who tell that joke sometime in the next 24 hours: 20%.

(more jokes here)

And the least funny:
"The most frequently submitted joke, at 300 times, was: "What's brown and sticky? A stick."

Researchers said no one ever found it funny. "

Final joke observation:

I used to like reading the jokes in each month's "Reader's Digest" and then either call out, or laugh in my sleeve at, all the people that month who used those jokes on their unwitting, non-digest-reading friends. Everybody knows you have to go into the BACK ISSUES to find material that people can hear without remembering the punchline.

A Few More Responses to The Ask A Korean! Teamup:

Update: discovered this response to the article, too. Don't forget: if you want me to link you, it's better to let me know where to find you! The Baekgom's Lair made me really happy, because of this quote:

"want to talk about an article which I read the other day, that really tipped me over the edge in terms of wanting to create a blog. This was a joint piece between The Korean of Ask a Korean! fame, and Roboseyo from his self-titled blog."

and then went on to make some good points. Wow! Thanks for the feedback Baekgom; that's really encouraging. Another great paragraph:

There are other things that get to me too, like sometimes just the tone of the criticism is enough for me to rebel against what is being said, even if I agree with it in principle. But I'm fairly happy for what I've already said to represent my feelings on the issue. Bottom line: the coolest ex-pats I meet here are the ones who take things as they see it, and don't let their good or bad experiences with the place taint their perspective on things. If they have mostly positive or negative things to say about the place, that's generally due more to their personality than anything. The others may as well stay out of my way, because I always do my utmost to stay out of theirs.

Now go read the rest!

[Update] Baekgom has also, just now, posted a response to the question, "Why do Koreans take Criticism of Korea Poorly?" by going in a totally different direction, and asking his middle-school students, "Is Korea the best country in the world?" The results are very interesting, and I like the conclusion a lot.

Again, Foreign/er Joy has posted a response to my second question: "Why Do Koreans Handle Criticism Poorly?" that's worth reading.

This post on Cheri Goes To Seoul, slipped my radar until just now.

Jennifer talks about "good Korea days" and "bad Korea days" -- something I TOTALLY understand (I also have good Korean days and bad Korean days, depending on the people I bump into that day.) She also breaks down the types of comments on the comment board of one particular post, in order to show that not ALL commentary about Korea is unfair, unjustified, and harsh criticism.

InMySeoul wrote a response to my "Why Do Koreans Get So Defensive" post: some of the highlights, but go read the whole thing over there:

As a response to Roboseyo:
For someone who has lived in Korea for such a long time, it seems that the a fundamental basis of Korean Society has been missed. . . .  "Saving Face" is perhaps the most important concept to understand when discussing Korean sociological issues and it seems to be missing or way too lightly considered in Roboseyo's post. . . . I don't think "outsiders" (myself included) can understand how serious Koreans take this and live by this concept. . . .I would have to say, to Koreans, criticizing their country is way more than dirty laundry when you are openly criticizing Korea. To put it into our severity, it would be like throwing feces on the American flag. It is impolite to openly criticize (whether constructive or destructive) openly in public.

If Korea has been able to do what it has in the last 50 years, (BTW. Korea is a top 10 major player in the world economy now), then why does it need to adjust? Why is it that western cultures think Progressive means westernizing? Think if the roles were reversed (which honestly I could see happening in the next 100 years, if you factor that China, Japan, and Korea are all "major" players in the world markets and still growing and soon to be added to that list India) how do you think you would react if other countries were telling the US and other western countries that they are "behind the times" and that Progression means "Easternizing" or conforming to the Asian cultures? It definitely would not be received well.

Just because you have stayed in a country for as long as you have, something to remember is your still a visitor. I was wondering, how do you give "constructive criticism" to a society/nation? Are your comments really going to change something and be useful/productive? if not, they are not constructive. . . . remember while, in Korea (no matter how long), you are still a visitor and certain boundaries shouldnt be crossed. Apparently you have found where that boundary is and my advice would be to stay clear from it. Korean society isnt like American society, its less forgiving of people who like to "stir things ups".

Here are some questions Roboseyo has asked of Koreans:
If criticism of Korea by non-Koreans upsets or offends you, why does it?
Yes. Because does anyone like being criticized? In the US people are used to open criticism, in Asian societies they are not. And to think that Korea has to "develop" and get used to this is frankly unacceptable in my opinion.

How could those views be expressed without upsetting you? Under what conditions ARE outsiders allowed to criticize Korea?
Frankly to be honest, I really don't want to hear what people dont like about Korea. Same with the US, I don't want to hear what people dont like about the US. There are no conditions in which I would openly be grateful to hear criticisms about either country from foreigners. However, What I find that works is you can discuss the differences between the visiting country and what your used too. But just because your used too it doesnt mean its better. 

Here are my last responses to the last set of questions Roboseyo poses:

Whence all the negativity on the K-blogosphere, from both sides?
Personally I try to stay out of it. Its not something I want to publicize because I think it detracts from the many great things Korea has to offer. Why focus on the negatives of various cultures. Its not like the Korean society is killing anyone or committing genocide. So why the "urgency" to degrade the society?

Why do YOU think expats complain about Korea?
Because expats complain about whatever country they live in anywhere in the world. . . . Expats tend to be ungrateful and compare everything that is happening to them to what they are used to and to their native country. . . . And frankly I agree with the philosophy that if you want to complain so much, then leave. . . .No one is forcing expats to stay in Korea. . . .

Why do you think critiques are often taken so poorly?
Does anyone take critiques gracefully? Again, you have to understand "Saving face" better to truely understand the how much this means to Koreans in this scenario which you are exploring.

Is it just that the internet makes everything seem more extreme than it really is?
Is there something I simply missed?
I think people post stuff on the internet a little bit too freely because they are behind a computer and not face to face. It would be real easy for me to critique you or anyone out there because of the internet barrier. I could post things that I would never say person to person..

Sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps Roboseyo.

Ksoje has also posted some interesting things at Ask A Korean!

A1) 95% of the reason, it is human nature. Geez, isn't it obvious? It happens everywhere. My wife complains a lot about her parents and other relatives, but if I say something slightly critical about them I know she will be upset. . . .  The other 5% can be accounted to the closer association Koreans have with their race and country. Any criticism to their country is a criticism to the people, to the race and ultimately, to themselves.

Q2) If Koreans are so sensitive about it, how would a non-Korean go about criticizing Korea without offending anybody?
A2) Like I complain here in USA, very carefully. Understand you are talking about a country and culture to which you don't belong. Try to throw in a couple of compliments in between complaints. For instance: "The USA are the least racist country in the world but I'd love if the media here didn't stereotype Asian men as martial artists or geeks". See? It's easy, I started with a compliment and then followed it with some criticism.

On comment boards, this one, and its responses, are interesting.
Talk amongst yourselves.