Somebody must be studying for midterms...

'cause he keeps posting random weird stuff on his blog.



Seriously, though, it's intellectually dishonest of many Korean scholars reinterpret their colonial history through the false binaries of (Japanese) exploitation/ (Korean attempts at) development, Japan/Korea, Imperialist repression/Nationalist modernization.  The hegemonic strategies Japan deployed were not monolithic, but nuanced, changing over time, and a complex mix of different cultural forces, interactions, and negotiations, while Korean responses to colonization were likewise.

For everyone who's EVER played Tetris...

XKCD.com has another classic:

Even better: somebody actually made the game.

(if the game doesn't embed properly in your browser, click on "somebody" to play.)

I should be studying for midterms.


(update: let's not forget the counterpoint, also an XKCD comic: Tetris Hell)

Also playable. http://www.geekosystem.com/xkcd-tetris-hell-game/

Question of the Day: Chicken Pot Pie in Seoul?

Hello, dear readers.

The question of the day, from my fearless, small-faced friend Cynthia, is this:

Where the hell does one find a really tasty chicken pot pie in Seoul?

(image source)

I had a nice meat pie at Tartine in Itaewon, and an OK one at that Aussie bar up the hill between Itaewon and Noksapyeon.  Any other suggestions?

Do you get used to Korea?

1. Yup. I know there's been a lot of talk about ATEK lately. I'll address it as soon as I'm able.

2.
http://imnopicasso.blogspot.com/2011/04/questions-are-you-getting-used-to-korea.html so I'm No Picasso wrote an interesting post about living in Korea, and all the things that start off mind-blowingly new aren't new after a while, and there comes a point where one has to just hit the "Zen" button when they get bumped on the subway, or get complimented on their chopstick use again or asked if they can eat spicy food again, because if they can't do that (at least most of the time - everybody has "bad Korea days" which are really just bad days with different ingredients than bad days back home), they're probably not going to make it.

The money shot, to me, is this:

...The S.O. knows all about my blogs.... He constantly bemoans the fact that I am too used to Korea, and that he can't explain anything, or guide me in anything, or show me anything new. Which isn't true at all. ...it confuses him that I'm still keeping the blog -- he says, "What else is there for you to write about? Haven't you written everything in nearly three years? What could you possibly still have to say about Korea?"

There's something I like to call "second year syndrome" which is the fallacy (common among certain groups of people) that once one's been here for a year or two, one is ready to hold forth as an expert on all aspects of Korea, the assumption, for example, that three years of blogging about Korea would be enough to explore every topic, or that a series of short declarative statements (here's a good sampling) would be all one needed to successfully navigate all of Korean culture and life, and I'd like to at least introduce that phrase today.  I'll talk about it more later...

But for now, I'd like to stand with INP and say that Korea, as a country, a culture, a people, and a history, is inexhaustible.  I've met people who, by the way they speak about Korea, have hedged their views of Korea in with so many shorthand conclusions about the country, the culture, and the people, that they've closed themselves off from finding anything interesting, fascinating, or new about the country, and I've even met Koreans who sell their own culture short, settling on the image of their country they learned in ethics class, and the places they like to visit, and the shows they watch on TV, and have their own set of shorthand conclusions about what the country, and the people are, such that they don't explore anymore.

And that's too bad, is all.

Anyway, I've been reading a lot (grad school, you know), and studying the language a lot (still slow going, that), and trying to find new ways to be re-amazed by Korea.

I'll keep you updated.

One place to start: http://koreanfilm.org/topten2000s.html KoreanFilm.Org.  Not all of them are, but Korean cinema has some pretty awesome films in its history.

I'm watching The Housemaid (the 1960 version) right now.  AWESOME movie... but the "Very Special Episode" ending was something else.

Between: The story of an Korean adoptee, opens April 8

Amy Mihyang from the Seoul Players, is staging a one-woman show about...

from the press release:

Combining adapted work by Asian and adoptee writers and Amy Mihyang's original writing, "between" encapsulates her experiences as a Korean American woman, a New Yorker, and most of all, a transracial adoptee. Bringing the audience with her on the plane en route from NYC to Korea, the author contrasts her journey with the echoes of other adoptees and those touched by the act of adoption. Mihyang makes us ask ourselves, “Do we need to know where we came from in order to know where we're going?”

The Press Release is here :

It's at "after mainstage" in Itaewon, and it runs from April 8-17.

Tickets are 15000 and funds raised go to KUMFA - Korean Unwed Mothers and Families Association, another issue I care a lot about.

There is a map to the venue included in the press photos, here.