Soundtrack time: hit play and start reading. Mercy, by Duffy.
First: the random basket truck in Insadong. Like.
Next: two years ago, my favorite sandwich place in Korea, called Jenny's Cafe, rocked my world, and guaranteed my third date with Girlfriendoseyo, because we enjoyed it together so much. A few months after that, I brought some friends to Hongdae to eat at Jenny's with them, and my jaw hit the sidewalk when I saw that it was gone. I thought it was gone forever, I was seriously bummed. The bread they had there was so good, and the mushroom salad was just ridiculous, and I thought I'd never have it again. I was bummed enough that I've actually thought about writing a eulogy for it here at Blogoseyo.
But then on Saturday night, wandering around Hongdae with my buddy Evan, we saw a few things.
We saw these posters...for a band, I think.
Here's my handsome buddy Evan. Pay special attention to the shape of his chin. Evan was mad that nobody ever puts his picture up on their walls or their blogs. So now I have.
So Evan showed my where Flying Chicken was, which looks really good...but then we decided to try the other Okonomiyaki place, where there was a lineup out the door and down the stairs. Screw that! So instead, I said, "Well, let's walk around and see if a place calls out to us." Evan was cool with that, and I know that generally these days, if I follow my nose, it leads me somewhere cool. Well bum-chin wanted to go a block up and turn left, but I said, "Let's head down this side street here." We did, and what did my wondering eyes see, but...
Holy crap! It's Jenny's Cafe, Redux!
So we went in there, and ate. I would have fought Evan if he hadn't agreed to go in with me. Lucky guy.
and there it was. Back in style. with more seating than before. the bread was...some of the best bread I've had in Korea. Different kinds, each one a home run.I was especially fond of the ciabatta and the white rye.
The mushroom salad came out, and it was good enough that I'll remember it two years from now, just like last time. I had the jenny's spaghettini, which was gentle and well-balancedEvan never stopped raving about his Feta/olive penne. Neither of us were that hungry, but we totalled those dishes, in about seven minutes, in dead silence, because brothers and sisters, it was that good. Silly. Ridiculous.Here's how to find it. Go to the Hongik university main gate, and turn right, and follow the road. When you come to that little corner with the Ska club, where Route 66 used to be, where Rocky Mountain Tavern is now, turn left down that little alley where Halmoni club, Joker Red, and club FF are. Keep going until you come to that big street with cars parked in the middle of it. Across that intersection is a Joe's Sandwich And an "On the Grill" -- go down the small street between those two shops. You're on the right track. About 40 meters past, maybe less, theres a corner like this, where you turn left. You'll pass a few places that look really cool. As hard as it may be, pass them, and Jenny's will be on your right. That place is "Jenny's Cafe" where they serve entrees. It's great. If you remember, and miss, Jenny's amazing sandwiches, then you have to go to their OTHER location, Jenny's Bread.
For this one, stand facing Hongik University's main gate, and go left, instead. Walk down the right side of the road, around the bend (where their old location used to be). When you pass ssamzie market, take the nest left, and look for a sidestreet on your right. Jenny's Bread is down here, and they serve sandwiches. If they're even 80% as good as they used to be, it's worth the trip. Here's how it looks at 10pm.It's nice. Here's how to find them:So go there. Eat good bread. You'll realize how much you missed it, and be sad, but realize that you can eat some now, and be happy.
Roboseyo's nose never fails. It's led me to a number of the best places I've eaten over the last three years. Fortunately, friends have led me to the others.
Dang, my life is good.
Oh yeah. I also took these pictures this weekend.
It was hard to understand the meaning of this sign. This was my guess. Pukaksan, behind the Blue House and Gwanghwamun was great. I got lots of pictures, but some of them might be giving away locations of defense structures on the ultra-secure area, so some aren't going up here. There is an awesome wall behind the Blue House which surrounds downtown Seoul, which honestly deserves to be top three in Seoul's tourist promotional walks and things to do in Seoul, but is de-emphasized. Great views, an amazing look at Korea's history (it's a 600 year old wall), as well as Korea's modern history (ultra-secure, especially given the 1968 attack on the blue-house where the North Korean commandoes ran up this mountain to hide during their assault). On the way to the entrance to Bukak Mountain
On the way down to Daehangno. Air quality on Pukaksan was poor. Then, later, cherry blossoms at night.
K. So there's this thing called flash mobs, where a group of people plan some goofy prank in a public place, and then drop it on an unsuspecting public. Frankly, they're awesome: imagine having a flash mob interrupt your commonplace routine.
It started with universities, and a few guerilla videos from a group called Improv Everywhere,
See, as I look at the sidebar here at Roboseyo, I notice that the female bloggers listed are a tiny minority. On several of the comment boards of well-known K-blogs, as well, feminine voices very rarely assert themselves, and it is with great sadness that I acknowledge that the great-idea-too-bad-this-happened Naked In The Sauna is now largely defunct.
Now, not because I write this blog to pick up girls or anything: with girlfriendoseyo I'm covered on that front...but I'm worried that I might be letting down any guys who might be reading my blog to pick up girls. (We had an interesting talk in my conversation class about What's the best way to meet your soulmate, and reading strangers' blogs was third on the list, you know.) K. In all seriousness, though, I DO feel like I'm letting down any female readers who didn't give up on me completely with that last lame joke, in providing a place where they can find out about, and hopefully connect with, other female K-bloggers, and see that side of things here.
Fill me in, readers! Who else should I be reading?
It's debatable which would be worse: a rap ballad in a language you CAN understand, and have to deal with lyrics like "Girl I feel so sad, like I did something bad, don't be mad 'cause I'm sad... Now you're gone, can't get along, is our love really done, 'cause I thought you were the one"
or a rap ballad in a language you CAN'T understand, so that all attention is drawn to the awful music.
Now, you can hear him singing the girl parts in this song.
It must be a pretty good song, because the person who posted it wrote:
OMG JINWOON RAPPING IS HELLA HOT. Seul Ong's voice is awesome. Changmin's adlib is TO DIE FOR and Kwon as usual is hella amazing kdjhdfkhkfj 2AM YOU STEAL MY BREATH AWAY.
(PS: wouldn't it be awesome is Rolling Stone wrote reviews like that about the singers they loved? Those crusty music writers who still give five stars to anything Bruce Springsteen or Mick Jagger produces, because it reminds them of their twenties, saying "OMG! Thisz is The GR8EST Almum EVARRRR! The EAGLES are soooooooohotttt! I kan't beleeive tehy'r doin a reunion tour! I SOOOOOOO wanna goooooooooo!")
Personally, I have a special "Love to Hate" corner of my black, black heart for rap ballads that steal lines from the most beautiful pieces of classical music. "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" by Sweetbox in particular, because the interestingly titled, "Air on the G String" by JS Bach has a special place in my heart, too.
My other greatest "Love to Hate" song?
Eagles' Reunion Tour: Hotel California, the overwrought version of one of the most overplayed songs ever. Every single Korean bar with a projector screen owns the Eagles reunion tour DVD. Every. Single. One.
My other love to hate song, also because it was a great song ruined by overplay: Brown Eyed Girl, by Van Morrison
Well, folks, I made the survey, and the topic you chose was "Korean Movies You Should Track Down And See" -- now, before I go into the full list, I'd like to dedicate this special post to what I think is the BEST Korean movie.
Now, I know this is a kind of controversial choice, but I'm just asking you, my readers, to have an open mind, and hear me out. The movie begins with a camera scrolling over what looks like ancient Korean parchments covered with drawings that somehow, magically move, as if they are coming alive. A mysterious, disembodied voice begins, in a way similar to the prologue of the Lord of the Rings movies, movies I like to compare to this one.
"Everyone believes the time of dragons has passed, but the time of dragons has only just begun. Every 500 years, a young woman is born, a woman who possesses a spirit power that can turn a serpent into the mightiest dragon of all. A good serpent will use this mighty power to protect the universe. An evil serpent will use the mighty power to destroy the world. Now is the time for the spirit to be awakened. Now is the time for destiny to unfold." Is your stomach tingling? Mine is.
Yes. A few years ago, the great Korean director Hyung Rae Shim had a vision: an inspiration, if you will, to create the most spectacular, most expensive Korean movie ever: he planned to spread the amazing Korean wave to America by making the greatest Dragon movie in history.
Look out, Godzilla!
The movie is called Dragon Wars, or sometimes D-Wars, because the best movies have two titles. There are flashbacks where you can learn ancient Korean culture and study Korean language, and there's also Los Angeles, because Americans like movies with Los Angeles and white people. They thoughtfully put English subtitles in the flashback scenes, even though English wasn't invented yet during those scenes, so that we can understand it. They even use the word befall, to show it's old times.
The movie has suprising things never seen before in a Korean movie, for example, martial arts, battle scenes where evil people attack folk villages and violins play when little kids shout for their mommas, ancient palaces, love suicides, and music. But this movie is way better, because it doesn't just have old costumes and Korean traditional people having battles, it also has modern stuff, too, like when the dragon army attacks Los Angeles and the Nazgull have a war with helicopters, and a white-haired guy with a voice like Satan in the movie, "Legend". If you've ever wanted to see a dragon eat an ancient Korean peasant and a flying monster pterodactyl down a helicopter in the same movie, this one is for you!
It also has some really clever writing, like the heartbreaking scene in ancient times when the Korean special magic mark-bearer lady's father dies, and she says with deep sandess, "My father. My father. My father," to show Korea's unique family bond which is deeper than Americans.
Also, I like Dragon Wars because they even found American actors to act in the movie, including a guy named Ethan -- which shows advanced cultural knowledge of America by the filmmaker, because Ethan is hard for Koreans to prounounce, and a blonde girl named Sarah - the kind of unique name only a Korean could have come up with, as well as a black guy who says funny black things like "You're always making shit up, I swear." and "Do you really believe in all this crap, man?"
The acting is sincere and passionate, like when Sarah's friend makes her feel better by saying, "OK Look, why don't you get some rest, and we'll go out for a drink later." then, as if they were sisters, she says, "Come on, girl, when was the last time we went out" to show Americans' sincere culture of friendship. Later, the plot gets more exciting, and all kinds of crazy things happen and there's a funny fat zoo security guard. Or the really funny scene where Sarah's scared roommate is packing up to leave town, and her boyfriend picks up some of her panties, and we totally get to see some panties in a movie *^^*. And then the snake eats her. LOL! Also, they keep doing this awesome trick where something really scary happens, and then one of the stars wakes up and !! ^^ lol! It was just a dream, and I'm like, "WOW! I totally didn't expect that!"
Plus, the final scene is so awesome and sad and action packed you'll finally understand the true meaning of han and jung.
You should really see this movie! I couldn't believe this movie wasn't the most successful movie ever: it's obvious that Hollywood just isn't ready for Korean film. Critics said awful things about it, "lazy and amateurish script," "some of the most ambitious crap I've ever seen," " the recognizable ensemble cast gives collectively the worst performance of any film in all of their careers put together" but I think they missed the point: see, sometimes it's hard for American movie critics to accept a movie on its own terms, and also in terms of the culture that produced it (hence the low popularity of subtitled movies in American theaters). Really, before such cynics judge Korean films, they should learn more about Korea's unique film culture and Korean film's special circumstances. Most Korean filmmakers have lived a hard life, you know, so we should be more understanding. Other reviewers were, in my opinion, a little closer to the mark.
Will D-WAR defy any other description other than a "blockbuster" ? That question remains to be answered since the movie is set to be released this summer when we all get the chance to experience the absolute conquest of mankind. I figured most of the ATROX droids,clad in black armour were probably cheaper by the dozen to hire but as I found out later they were not hired extras but life size figures that were made from heavy metals and stored safely for future takes ! That was enough to convince me that there seemed to be a greater magnitude to this sci-fi flick than meets the eye.
And a commenter named "Shim Hyung Rae" wrote,
These movie is the almost movie in Korea and everybody can be impressive to the amazing digital movie and movie show! I think you can watch and action adventure is the happy fun time cutty Korean adventure. ^^ This movie will successful to Korea pride and world famous image of Korea to the Korean wave is our nation dream. Frankly speaking, D-War are the best good movie I look this year, or more years earlier until that. In fact ever. Teacher: did you like D-War? Yes or no?
So as soon as you get a chance, seriously, get out and track down a copy of D-War, and find out just how much you've been missing!
(cross-posted at The Hub of Sparkle: please leave your comments there.)
Applicable?
“We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship, for to undertake to wound offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy love for him. ”
Michel de Montaigne quotes (French Philosopher and Writer. 1533-1592)
Debatable.
You may have noticed the sudden spate of apoplectic K-Bloggers hating on Jon Huer's "out-of-touch" top ten list of things Foreigners like about Korea: a list which, admittedly, seems like it should have been titled, "The Top Ten Things THIS Foreigner Likes About Korea"
I don't really care to reprint the whole train-wreck here, ere Stafford's head explodes... but how about this.
If you don't like Jon Huer's list, let's do him one better. What are the top ten things actual foreigners, really living in Korea, like best about Korea? Instead of hating on Jon Huer, let's talk about the good stuff about Korea-- it feels better than smearing some old guy, anyway.
Here's Jon Huer's list.
Safe streets
The sweetness and charitable disposition of Korean women over 60.
Korea's countryside people's unique attitude to foreigners.
The famous Korean fighting spirit
Spontaneity
A group of songs called ``Lyrical Songs of Korea.''
Sense of humor and gaiety.
Pansori
Koreans are extraordinarily forgiving toward those less-fortunate than themselves.
Konglish
Now, if that list deserves the deluge of disdain it's been dished so far, let's write a better one. Post it on your blog and link it in the comments, or post your list in the comments for this post. If we have a strong enough response, I might even make it into a survey or something.
There's the gauntlet, folks. Now whatcha gonna do about it?
Delete application Delete application block application block application block friend block friend delete friend delete application NO MORE FRAWKING QUIZZES AND NO I DON'T CARE IF A NEW EPISODE OF BEWITCHED CAME OUT!
Soundtrack: Nouvelle Vague (recommendation from a friend): Dancing With Myself- startlingly, a cover of an old Billy Idol punk song.
Anyway, hit play, and start reading. I really like this song.
First: from Andong (yep, the Andong Writeup seems to have been swallowed in the mists of time... if there's a loud enough outcry I might try to revive it, but Joe Zen and Fatman Seoul both did such good jobs writing it up already. . .)
Here is one great picture of me and my bud Juhee, on the train, in some nice light. Girlfriendoseyo and I found this fantastic little tea room. The raspberry tea tasted like pulling off the road in the Okanagan valley and picking raspberries off a bush somewhere. So good. the owner had a green thumb, too. Girlfriendoseyo was impressed by the foliage. I was mostly just amazed at the perfectly balanced flavours in the teas.
Walked up and down Namsan this weekend. Flowers (jindalae) were blossoming, which have han, I'm told. These trees remind me of Dr. Seuss illustrations: I liked the lines of this step/fence combination.
I saw Gustav Klimt and Youssef Karsh this week. The Seoul National Art Center, by Nambu Bus Terminal, was in fine form.
The two artists were, too. You should go see these shows (find the place) at the Hangaram Art Museum, south of the Han River, but north of Gangnam. You'll know Klimt from these paintings mostly--however, let me remind you that the difference between seeing a JPG of a picture on your computer screen, and seeing the actual thing (especially when it comes to paintings), is kind of like the difference between reading a car's engine specifications in an auto magazine, and being hit by that car on the street. Judith, above, was there. The Kiss (below) was not: convincing Austria to give up The Kiss and send it overseas would be about the equivalent of asking America to send Abe Lincoln's log cabin on a world tour. National treasure, you know? However, the show was quite impressive (though the nude females were...uh...supercharged with...uh...not for children...energy). A recreation of the Beethoven Frieze was also there, and pretty amazing: basically a visual depiction of the Ninth Symphony, in a way. I learned a bunch about Klimt, and saw some amazing art, and was duly impressed. Next up, in the same building, no less, was Youssef Karsh, the ridiculously amazing photographer. Here's a game: think of somebody who was really famous between 1930 and 1970. Now think of their most iconic portrait photo. Odds are about 50-65% that photo was taken by Youssef Karsh.
You may recognize some of his work.
responsible not only for this photo: and this one,but also this one, and a whole host of others. Plus, he's Canadian. (Karsh, not Winston Churchill)
We got to take these pictures, too. the queen and grumposeyo Gimme back my damn cigar!
Then on Saturday I ate at one of my favorite restaurants in downtown seoul Where they cook the food on this great squared gas grill that's all loaded with spilled-over deliciousness.
Watching the lady cook is fun. The food is just amazing: the best dwenjang soup I've had by about a mile.
Took this picture while walking around Bukcheondong with Girlfriendoseyo: missed the Walkabout tour that happened on Sunday, but saw some nice stuff anyway.
Most ironic book in the world (right up there with, for a dollar on the discount rack, all the evangelical apocalyptic milennial Christian books about "50 reasons why the world will end in on New Year's Day, 2000AD, and How To Prepare for Christ's Return"): "The Roaring 2000s: Building the Wealth and Lifestyle You Desire in the Greatest Boom in History" spotted by Danielle. OK folks. that's it for now.
just one American white-guy who loves everything about Korea. . . I’ve never been to Korea, but that just makes me try to learn and understand harder (as Koreans would day, with a heart of passion - 열심).
And he runs this blog called "On My Way To Korea" -- see, he plans to come to Korea, and from here, it seems like he plans to be the most knowledgeable first-year ever to arrive in Korea.
He runs an interesting little blog, where he tries to post every day. The posts are usually short, which makes it easy to peek over and see whats up (unlike certain blogs I love, but don't dare visit unless I have ten minutes free) and Matt's Korean Culture reading list is pretty eclectic: he'll run anything from tips on doing business in Korea, to language mini-lessons or vocab, to whatever movie or music video floated across his radar: it gives the blog a fun "whatever he can get his hands on" feel wherein the song that filled up the Korean radiowaves back in 2002 might show up next to the latest song by Girls' Generation, and sandwiched between a Korean language vocabulary list, an article about negotiating with Koreans, and a brief report on an urban legend making its way through the Korean memeosphere.
At this point, Matt's still just using his blog to study and get to know Korea before he arrives; I hope he keeps working on his site, and look forward to seeing what happens to the blog once he arrives. Go check him out!
Here's that list...with convenient Korean translations of the names. And a lot of dumb names.
Here are some lists I made, back when I taught Kindergarten, and got tired having every darn parent name their kid Sam or Sally, or having kids choose their own names, and having classes go like this:
Me: Red Ranger! Sit down. Sam one: how many bears were there? Sam one: Three bears. Me: Tiger! What was the girl's name? Tiger: Goldilocks. Me: Sam two! Leave Batman alone! Sarah three! What did she do first? Sarah two: Teacher, Red Ranger took Cinderella's pencil. Me: What's the answer, Sarah two? Cinderella: Teacher I am the new name and my name now new name Goldilocks. Pikachu: Goldilocks is a stupid name. WisdomSong: I agree.
List one: overused boys names. Try to avoid choosing these names for boys: they are either too common, so they will be easy to forget, or much, much less common in English than in ESL classrooms. Alex Andy Brian David Eric Harry Jack Jake Jim/Jimmy Joe/Joey John Kevin Michael Ryan Sam Tom Tony
Try to avoid choosing these names for your girls: they are either too common, and will be easy forget, or much, much less common in English than in ESL classrooms. Amy Angie Annie Emily Jane Jennifer Jenny Jessie Jina Julia Julie Lisa Mary Meg Sally Sarah Sunny
If your son's Korean name is Jae-kyun, go ahead and choose the name "Jake", and if your daughter's Korean name is Soo-jin, choose the name "Susan," because similar sounds make a name feel more natural to a student. Otherwise, avoid them.
Here are some names from the top 100 most common names lists, either in England or North America, which are not overused by ESL students, and are also pretty easy for Koreans to say and spell.
Names that are fine both for boys and girls: Addison, Alexis, Ashton, Avery, Bailey, Cameron, Campbell, Carson, Casey, Dakota, Devon, Harley, Hayden, Jaden, Jamie, Jessie, Logan, Morgan, Parker, Payton, Phoenix, Quinn, Reese, Riley, Shea, Taylor, Teagan, Tyler
Names that are good for girls: Alexa Alexandra Alexis Allison Alyssa Amanda Amber Amelia Andrea Angelina Anna Ariana Ashley Audrey Autumn Ava Avery Bailey Bethany Brianna Brooke Caroline Chelsea Chloe Claire Daisy Destiny Diana Eleanor Elisabeth/Lisa/Beth Ella Emma Erin Evelyn Faith Gabriella Gabrielle Gemma Grace Haley Hannah Helen/Helena Isabel Jada Jasmine Jessica Jocelyn Jody Jordan Kaitlyn Katelyn/Kate Katherine Kayla Kaylee Kimberly/Kim Kylie Lauren Leah Leslie Lilian Lily Lydia Mackenzie Madeline Madison Makayla Maria Marissa Maya Megan Melanie/Mel Melissa Mia Michelle Molly Morgan Natalie Nicole Paige Phoebe Rachel Rebecca Rosie Ruby Samantha Savannah Sierra Sofia Sophia Sophie Stephanie Sydney Taylor Trinity Vanessa Victoria Zoe
Names that are good for boys: Aaron Adam Adrian Aidan Alexander (Alex) Andrew/Drew Archie Ashton Austin Benjamin/Ben Blake Bradley/Brad Brandon Caleb Callum Cameron Carter Chad Charles Chase Chris Christian/Chris Cody Cole Colin Connor Daniel Devin Dylan Ethan Evan Ewan Gavin Harrison Hayden Hunter Ian Isaac Isaiah Jackson Jacob James Jason Jayden Jeremiah Jesse Joel Jonathan Jordan Joseph Joshua/Josh Justin Kieran Kyle Landon Liam Logan Lucas Luke Mason Mitchell/Mitch Nathan Nathaniel Nicholas Noah Owen Patrick/Pat Richard/Rich/Rick Robert/Rob/Bert Ross Ryan Samuel Sean Sebastian Seth Steven/Steve Thomas Timothy/Tim Todd Tyler William/Will/Bill Zachary/Zach
OK. So there's this interesting subplot going on right now, where a Korean blogger named Minerva has been arrested... basically for being popular, and right. He wrote stuff that seemed to show access to inside information about Korea's economic policy, and his predictions were so uncannily accurate that some think his soothsaying turned into self-fulfilling prophecies (or so the prosecution claims) as his following began to use his posts to guide their financial decisions.
Now, he never claimed to be an insider...he just happened to be right, again and again and again, speaking as if he were one, until people assumed he WAS one, until one of his correct predictions supposedly led to a big drop in the Korean won, costing the government a bunch of money needed to restabilize it. (So sez the article.)
1. Foreign bloggers are nervous about Minerva being arrested basically for being popular, and right: a lot of us write stuff that might actually be illegal, naming names, saying bad things about public figures, and such. However, it would be a big black eye, and possibly cause an international incident for Korea if a foreign blogger is investigated for pure speech.
2. There are so many people writing material on blogs that might be construed as illegal, that the bigwigs pretty much get to pick who to prosecute and who to ignore. Unsurprisingly, they pick on people who disagree with them.
3. Free speech in Korea is not protected in the same way it is in the West. Korea's free speech laws balance freedom of speech against the limitation that "neither speech nor the press shall violate the honor or rights of other person nor undermine public morals or social ethics" (quoted from my shortened version, not the original article)... not to mention, rights may be restricted again as necessary "for national security, law and order, or [the public good]"
Now I'm not a lawyer, so I might be getting this all wrong. If I am, please correct me in regular English, not legalese. However, being a Westerner, it makes me nervous that such vaguely defined terms as "honor" "rights" "public morals" and "social ethics" are included in these laws, because terms like "public morals" can be twisted to fit pretty much any definition, if a clever enough sophist is involved.
Anyway, some interesting things came out of the discussion, which I brought into two different classes.
A few of the things I gathered:
1. In America, truth is the ultimate defense against libel: that is, if what you say is true, you're protected from charges of libel. Not so in Korea: as my friend Joe discovered when he got sued by his ex-boss for blogging his attempts to get his contractually-guaranteed severance payment, you can still be found liable for libel, even if you're telling the truth, if you damage someone's reputation, here in Korea. Calling his boss a crook got him in hot water, even though his boss WAS a crook!
2. Now, I'm not a lawyer, but what I gathered from the article and the conversations is basically that in Korea, freedom of speech is balanced against the public good, and social harmony, where in the West, generally truth is the final arbiter of freedom of speech, and other than hate speech or things like holocaust denial, you're pretty much free to say what you like.
3. We discussed the difference between bloggers and journalists, and whether the government just painted themselves as the bogeyman by picking on bloggers, making bloggers who disagreed with the government's policy into sympathetic figures. On the other hand, we also discussed who, if not the government, was to hold journalists to account for distortions, yellow journalism, or agenda-driven writing.
North Korea came up here: see, comparing the USA or Canada, which have enjoyed democracy and a free press just about forever, with Korea, enjoying democracy since 1987, is a case of apples and oranges. Sure, USA can have lots of free speech laws: they don't have an open enemy bordering it, sending spies across their borders with instructions to use whatever means possible to stir up civil unrest and destabilize the government.
4. We discussed some other aspects of what is and isn't discussed in Korea, and how it is or isn't discussed, and I came across this:
First of all, I mentioned how mocking our leadership is practically a national sport in Canada: one of the high points of my week back in high school was the weekly episode of the "Royal Canadian Air Farce," a comedy troupe that deliciously skewered the leaders of the day, and I asked, "I've watched some Korean comedy...do Korean comedians imitate politicians and laugh at them, or make fun of them?"
Blank stares.
Nope. No, they pretty much don't, according to my class.
I showed them this clip, as an example of just. how. far. people push free speech in America, and how these guys got away with giving instructions on how to kill the president (hence the post title: I seriously don't want to kill anyone except that mosquito in my room), under the banner of free speech, and the defense that "I was only kidding!"
One of my students found this video laugh-out-loud hilarious. One was visibly bothered, and several just glazed over with quizzical looks.
5. When harmony instead of truth is the main currency of discourse, identity suddenly becomes important again, doesn't it? After all, if words must be balanced against one's responsibility to play their part in a harmonious society, how is one to be held accountable? Well...maybe the way Koreans are required use their ID numbers to log onto web portals starts making sense then.
6. When I asked two of my students, "If a Korean blogger wrote a page that seemed anti-government, but was actually all a satirical piss-take (I didn't use the word piss-take, but you know)... if the police came to arrest that blogger, and he said, 'but it was all a joke' - what should we do?"
And I was floored by their response. Both my students agreed that the comic intent was beside the point when spreading dissension, even sarcastically, and wouldn't have a problem with that satirist being brought to account. Does this reveal a focus on the effects of one's words, rather than the intentions... I'm not enough of a sociologist to say, nor to fit that into a larger context, but it's something I'll be watching for in the future, and maybe also asking others to weigh in on. It should be noted, and even they mentioned, that they belonged to an older generation, and that it's possible "the young kids" wouldn't have a problem with that kind of satire, even though they, the fogeys, did.
7. In asking about a person's freedom to tell a joke about assassinating a world leader, one of my students spoke up quite passionately, saying that it's not fair -- apples and oranges (I provided that idiom) to compare Canada or America's tradition of free speech with modes of discourse in Korea, that comparing Korea with China or Japan, rather than the USA, gave a more fair context for comparison.
On the other hand, I responded, globalization is pulling societies out of their comfortable contexts, and shining spotlights into dark corners and unspoken social contracts that nobody wanted to mention, in all kinds of countries, and making things way more complex than they used to be, before the days of instant communication.
If a South-African is arrested on Korean soil for running a website through a British portal that uses satiric humor to mock the Korean president, and he says, "I was just kidding: don't you understand my quirky South-African sense of humor?"...which country's rules should we use to judge him?
Personally, I'm torn. Even for a Korean on Korean case, for example, if Jang Ja-yeon, the Korean actress who committed suicide, knew that the truth was an iron-clad protection against libel, she might still be alive and fighting against the bastards who mistreated her, instead of her dying, and her manager facing a libel lawsuit from the same @$$holes who (allegedly) abused her. On the other hand, is my hard-nosed "The truth will set you free" wish for such unflinching truthspeaking just a leftover of my upbringing, and an unfair judgement on a high-context culture I ought to judge from the inside instead of the outside? Ech. I don't know. I think I'm not against free speech being balanced against responsibility. As a blogger whose real name is on his blog and circulated out and about, I know that my words will be attached to me. And I'm OK with that. In a way, yeah, I think people shouldn't write stuff online that they wouldn't want attached to their real name. Unless, for example, you're getting information about police suppression of Tibetan citizens out to the world. But you know, if your idea of fun is to write the most offensive blog you possibly can (and no, I'm not linking it), well, that's being irresponsible with your right to speak freely, frankly, and while I suppose you're free to do what you like as anonymously as you wish, buddy, I have nothing but contempt for your cowardice and pettiness.
I have a much lower "delete comment forever" threshhold for comments left anonymously, compared to commenters who leave a name and a link.
Let it be known that my students are not stupid. They know that the system ain't perfect, that right now the person in power gets to define what "the social good" means -- I asked if they thought those Suncheon bloggers would be in trouble if the articles they'd cheated to promote were pro-Lee Myungbak, and I got the kinds of knowing smiles that said they knew who had the power, and exactly how it was being wielded. I also asked what they think the president should do instead of arresting bloggers, but didn't have much class time to tease that out.
But until next time..."I was only kidding" doesn't quite carry the water it did back home, so be careful and all.
Now that I think about it, it might be another step towards understanding why discussions with Koreans about hot topics are often fairly humorless: When I joked back in World Cup '06 that the winner of the next Korea-Japan soccer game should keep Dokdo, my Korean friend snarled, "But DOKDO belongs to KOREA!" failing completely to catch my attempt to make light of a hot topic. Even just last Saturday, a friend's offhand Dokdo quip got girlfriendoseyo's hackles up a bit, the topic had to be changed rather than things smoothed over. Sure, she was tired at the time...but still. This might well be a language gap, or a gap in types of humor...but might a cultural tendency not to make light of current affairs (at least not in a mocking way) play a part of it?
So the question of the post, after all that meandering, is: I've heard it said before that Korean comedy shows are pretty much devoid of political humour. What about conversations? Especially for those of you who are behind the language barrier (because Koreans who have learned English very well have adapted more to western modes of discourse, so as a sample group, they're spoiled): is there such thing as a Dokdo joke behind the language barrier? Are politics made light of, laughed about and mocked, or does the awful earnestness of Dokdo advertising campaigns, for example, or humourless political discussions in English conversation classes, carry right through into the Korean language discussions of the same?
Last time I talked with poposeyo, he mentioned that these days, the general feeling on blogoseyo is that Roboseyo is really busy. Oseyo. And popopseyo would be correct. Oseyo.
And when I'm busy, music makes me happy.
As I slowly reveal the awesome music I've found through recommendations by a few friends, as well as Metacritic.com's "30 Best Reviewed Albums of 2008" (an awesome bittorent I found), here is a video of a just lovely song I found.
Paavoharju is the name of the band, and all I know about them is that their album Laulu Laakson Kukista ranked 21st on the Metacritic top thirty. However, after two listens (because anything that makes a top thirty general critics' consensus list deserves at least a few listens), the music started growing on me fast. It's ethereal, and lovely, and why are you reading this when you could be listening to it?
Yeah. This song wasn't on Youtube, but the title, Tyttö Tanssii, means "Girl Dance" according to Google Translate (which is more infallible than the Pope, you know) so I put it up with video clips from various videos I found of...uh...dancing girls.
Here's my handsome buddy Evan. Pay special attention to the shape of his chin.
Evan was mad that nobody ever puts his picture up on their walls or their blogs. So now I have.
I was especially fond of the ciabatta and the white rye.
Evan never stopped raving about his Feta/olive penne.
Here's how to find it. Go to the Hongik university main gate, and turn right, and follow the road. When you come to that little corner with the Ska club, where Route 66 used to be, where Rocky Mountain Tavern is now, turn left down that little alley where Halmoni club, Joker Red, and club FF are. Keep going until you come to that big street with cars parked in the middle of it. Across that intersection is a Joe's Sandwich
About 40 meters past, maybe less, theres a corner like this, where you turn left.
You'll pass a few places that look really cool. As hard as it may be, pass them, and Jenny's will be on your right.
That place is "Jenny's Cafe" where they serve entrees. It's great. If you remember, and miss, Jenny's amazing sandwiches, then you have to go to their OTHER location, Jenny's Bread.
It's nice.
So go there. Eat good bread. You'll realize how much you missed it, and be sad, but realize that you can eat some now, and be happy.
Pukaksan, behind the Blue House and Gwanghwamun was great. I got lots of pictures, but some of them might be giving away locations of defense structures on the ultra-secure area, so some aren't going up here. There is an awesome wall behind the Blue House which surrounds downtown Seoul, which honestly deserves to be top three in Seoul's tourist promotional walks and things to do in Seoul, but is de-emphasized. Great views, an amazing look at Korea's history (it's a 600 year old wall), as well as Korea's modern history (ultra-secure, especially given the 1968 attack on the blue-house where the North Korean commandoes ran up this mountain to hide during their assault).
On the way to the entrance to Bukak Mountain
On the way down to Daehangno.
Air quality on Pukaksan was poor.
Then, later, cherry blossoms at night.
