On Ugly English Teachers and Racist Korean Journalists - Intro

On Ugly English Teachers and Racist Korean Journalists:
Let's not all crap our pants now. The intro.


My summer vacation was great, thanks very much, but it means that I didn't get the chance to write anything timely about Choi Hui-seon's string of racist smears on foreign English teachers; however, this is something that's been the subject of a bunch of blogs for a while now, particularly since Ben Wagner's report to the NHRCK drew renewed attention on the way English teachers have been scapegoated and stereotyped by Korea's media for years now, leading to a group of proposed laws that have no basis other than stereotypes and fear-mongering, as well as a number of somewhat connected comment-thread bloodbaths. That was a long sentence.

It's the kind of topic that gets everybody's hackles up, for sure, so I've subtitled the series "Let's not all crap our pants now" just to remind us all to step, not dive, into this thing with cool heads, because the last thing we need is another hate-thread where it devolves into expat vs. Korean, old-timer vs. new-timer, or whatever.

And because my sister asked me not to use bad words in blog post titles, now that my nephew and niece are old to read my post titles over her shoulder. I've wanted to write about this topic for a while now, but as I started brainstorming, it snowballed, and I realized just how much there is to say about it, so this is going to be a series instead of a single post. I'll publish them as I have time to write them up properly, and I'm sure I'll intersperse with my usual unfocused goofiness (aren't y'all glad I never committed to a single focus for this blog?). You know Blogoseyo well enough by now to know that I can't talk about God, culture, the science of catching bananas at optimum ripeness, or anything serious for too long before tossing in something about zombies (which ARE serious, too, if it turns out they're real), cats falling down stairs, or which Korean-made vehicle would transform into the scariest Decepticon.

So over the next little while (and isn't blogging great, because I don't have deadlines or word counts) I'll be approaching this topic from a few different angles, in an attempt to blow my whole stack, and say everything I have to say about ugly English Teachers and Racist Korean Journalists at once. So stay tuned to see what I've got! Some of it will be repeating or repackaging what you've heard before; hopefully at least a few of my points will be new, and hopefully most of it will make sense.

As I go, I'll put links to the different parts here.
On Ugly English Teachers and Racist English Teachers: Let's not all Crap our Pants Now: Intro
Part 1: But You're TEACHERS!
An Open Letter to new English Teachers in Korea
Part 2: Why, Yes, Korea DOES have a Batshit Media! Why do you ask?
Part 3: Yeah, Some Self-Reflection Is Called For, but not From You, Ms. Choi
Part 4: Racism, Culture-shock, Acclimation and Integration in Minjokland
Part 5: The PR Campaign: 'Seyo's Marching Orders

Two Great Blog Posts from Non-K-Bloggers

My dear friend Tamie writes one of the most thoughtful blogs I've every come across. Today, a guy named Jonathan contributed a guest-post about what it is like to work in a prison, even just for two hours a day, coaching inmates in a writing workshop.

You should read it. It will make you think about freedom and hope and awareness and, uh, good stuff.

Also: my sister wrote a sweet and touching reflection on the hard parts and the wonderful parts of being mom to a toddler during a heatwave. Go read it.

One of the strongest impressions I came home with after my vacation to Canada was how sweetly parenthood changed my siblings. Hearing my brother talk about wanting a better life for his son was... a side of my brother I'd never seen before, in a really neat way.

I've been telling my friends about this. Thought I'd share it with you.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, for an accent elimination spray.
Warning: bad words

Hey Remember Before You Got Jaded About Korea?

It's good to be reminded.

from Dave's, HT to Brian


These folks have put together a flippin' awesome trio of videos that pretty much upstages everything the Korean Tourism Organization has done in the last year.

Watch them. They catch the variety and fun of life here.

(this one includes a bit of footage from Tokyo though)


Dang! It makes me want to travel!

Attention GI Korea: (plus other stuff)

I'm still going through the mad stash of photos I took while in Canada, and I missed Tim Hortons' Boston Creme donuts for the first time today. And I'm renewing my visa today. And while I wait in line I'll do some writing.

But here's something ... has anybody else had trouble accessing ROK Drop? Being shut out of one of my top three favorite K-blogs is a bummer. Hope it gets fixed soon...it's happened before.

Until then, I'll entertain myself with David Bowie's tight pants and Jim Henson's genius. Pretty good combo if you ask me.



and OK: here're three pictures I took before I left for Canada. Rain on glass in a coffee shop window.

And, how's this for creepy: at the Prada store in Shinsegye department store, Namdaemun... see those two mannequins to the left? They are, for the record, the first anorexic mannequins I've seen.

seriously, though: look at those protruding ribs and collar-bones. Scary, is all. Just gross.
Either those mannequins' torsos were made out of some old, discarded xylophones, or Prada's got some serious self-reflection to do on their contribution to the hyper-thin anorexic body ideal that's still going around these days. I'd be happy if stuff like this never happens again.