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“I hope the media improves its protrayal of foreigners”
2008-02-02 03:24:00 The New Zealander who took the pictures in the daycare naked punishment scandal is interviewed by Oh My News. Korea Beat has the translation, and it’s a good interview. Makes me proud to be a Kiwi. Okay, I’m not a Kiwi, but I have Kiwi friends. More About: Media , The Media , Hope , Foreigners
“Our” Xenophobia
2008-02-01 11:06:00 Korean blogger Seoul Searcher examines the Korean word uri 우리, meaning “our,” where it is used in place of “Korean” in many phrases. I had been intrigued by that for a while. I thought it sounded a bit self-centered on my HanaTV menu to have movies in yeong-eo 영어 (”English”) and uri-mal 우리말 (”Our Language”). More About: Phobia
Klogic
2008-02-01 03:55:00 Amanda of Amanda Takes Off has some fine moments of Klogic (Korean logic) about windows. Confused Foreigner (me): Mellanie, why is the floor heat on? Mellanie (very rude Korean co-teacher): Because it’s cold outside. Confused Foreigner: Then why are all the windows and doors wide open, and why is the air conditioning on? Mellanie: Because it’s hot inside.
“Dude, He Finally Did’ya”
2008-01-31 10:35:00 I love Amanda’s Korean lessons. More About: Dude , Finally
Whitey’s Last Minute Contract Signing
2008-01-31 10:31:00 This is so typical. Whitey , whom I’ve met and has been in Korea for a while, has had to deal with an experience that many of us go through–the last minute “Bballi! Bballi!” This one is particularly hilarious because he teaches for the government and worked out the details of his contract before Christmas. Today they called him after work and told him he needed to come back and sign his contract immediately. Urgent! No, it wasn’t urgent between Christmas and this afternoon. It wasn’t urgent this morning while he was at work. It was urgent after he had left work to go home. More About: Contract , Minute , Signing
One of Those Rare Good Teaching Jobs
2008-01-30 11:46:00 I’m reposting this because it’s gotten buried. We have a rare opening at our school because we’re expanding. The openings are rare because the teachers know it’s a good gig. Our school has a reputation in Anyang and among the ESL community as being one of the most desirable jobs in Korea. It’s Canadian-owned, and there are no BS politics to deal with. You won’t get screwed here. We’re posting this publicly because we have specific criteria, particularly we are only looking for F-series visas right now. To give you and idea of the types of projects we do that are mentioned in the ad, here are two of them: Here’s the job ad from my boss: CANADIAN ENGLISH ACADEMY Anyang, South Korea OVERVIEW Hi, my name is Chris Patch, and I am the owner of CEA. I am looking for someone with an F-series visa who has a good attitude and experience teaching (Korean experience preferred). Our current teaching hours are 2:30-8:30 M-F with ten minute... More About: Jobs , Teaching , Good , Rare
Amanda Puts on the “Hi” Defense
2008-01-30 01:31:00 Good on Amanda for taking a good tactic on annoying boy-turds who say “Hi” to whities behind their backs to impress their friends (not with their English skills, obviously). I do this a couple of times myself. It’s great to feel superior to children. The Apple Thief Ajumma story is funny too. More About: Defense
Say Hello to My Little Friend
2008-01-27 15:41:00 There are times that Korean news is just way more entertaining. [HT to Korea Beat] More About: Friend
English Subtitles in Korean Theaters
2008-01-25 06:05:00 Socius in Daejeon relates that more Korean films will have English subtitles in the theaters themselves. I remember once seeing a Korean film, Taegukgi, at the COEX theaters with English subtitles, but then again, Jackie Chan was the guest that day, and he sat in front of us. More About: Subtitles , Titles
Superbowl Fans in Korea
2008-01-24 11:45:00 It’s a surreal place to be. (And I wish I could join.) More About: Fans , Korea , Superbowl
YouTube Korea, Fighting!
2008-01-23 14:47:00 YouTube has come to Korea , and they featured our old friend Michael Hurt (Scribblings of the Metropolitician, Feetman Seoul) at the press conference, where he had made a welcome video. (That’s our camera shy Mike in the middle.) I also found out that the video I made with my students, Clash of the Superkids, is on the front page (as of this typing) and getting a lotta hits. What’s funny is that my students would likely care less. They just had fun making it. More About: Youtube , Fighting
Audition to be the New Korean Pop Star
2008-01-22 03:42:00 POPSEOUL! reports that uber-producer JYP held auditions at Seoul Arts High School on January 19th and 20th for four people he can mold into the next pop star. Apparently 3,000 people signed up for the audition. I’m a bit late in catching on to the news (and signing up for the audition). Yet I can imagine the karmic payback for JYP with likely 2,500 people auditioning with the “Tell Me” dance. More About: Korean , Star , Audition
When You Just Need a Pineapple
2008-01-22 03:35:00 Joshua at An American in Geoje observed an amusing emergency pineapple incident. More About: Pineapple
Seoul Survivors: Jennifer Goes to a Dog Market
2008-01-19 08:01:00 This is one of the funnier episodes of Seoul Survivors . More About: Market , Jennifer
“The Host” is on the List
2008-01-18 02:14:00 I again got suckered into reading one of those numbered list articles. This time it was Entertainment Weekly’s list of classic giant movie monsters. South Korea’s The Host makes the list. More About: List , The Host , The List
Korean Driving Lesson
2008-01-18 01:00:00 Korean blogger Seoul Searcher has some tongue-in-cheek advice for foreigners daring to drive in South Korea. More About: Driving , Korean , Lesson
Goodbye, Dongdaemun Stadium
2007-12-21 03:02:00 Matt at Gusts of Popular Feeling has a detailed post about the demolition of Dongdaemun Stadium , along with the history of migrating street vendors from the Chongyecheon project to Dongdaemun to now and how this is part of a long-planned redevelopment scheme (for better or worse). More About: History , Goodbye
G.I. Lee
2007-12-21 02:50:00 In case you haven’t heard, Korean actor Lee Byung-hun has been cast as Storm Shadow in the upcoming G.I. Joe movie. Supposedly, the plot revolves around the rivalry between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes, who will be played by Ray “Darth Maul” Park. More About: Entertainment
Dear Mr. Drunken Ajosshi?
2007-12-21 02:39:00 Gord Sellar writes a letter to the drunken middle-aged man who tried to assault him for not waving back to him at the subway station. Luckily, he has learned from the School of the Metropolitician to run, duck and cover. Oh, and we see that ZenKimchi’s bathtub cheese recipe is spreading. More About: Stories
Kiss My B-Boy
2007-12-21 02:28:00 PhoenixStorm at Kiss My Kimchi has a positive review of the show B-Boy Korea. More About: Entertainment
A Christmas Memory
2007-12-21 01:45:00 From Seoul Searcher. More About: Christmas , Stories , Memory
El Presidente
2007-12-20 06:18:00 This is the obligatory post that Lee Myung-bak has won the Korean presidency in a landslide. The Marmot has pretty much summed up my feelings on this. I’m not so sure what’s great about having a “CEO president.” Wasn’t George W. touted as the “CEO presdient” in 2000? We see how well that turned ... More About: News and Views
Darn Foreigners
2007-12-19 12:26:00 What is it with these foreigners getting drunk, being unruly and getting arrested? Well, at least they’re going to deport them for being “undesirable aliens.” More About: Foreigner , Foreigners
Unruliness #1
2007-12-18 12:23:00 Oh yes, another survey… Park Si-soo of The Korea Times reports on a survey done by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), where it asked foreigners and Koreans what the biggest factors that hurt Korea’s image in the world. It’s funny that foreign and Korean respondents agreed on the first three in order: public rudeness, xenophobia and social corruption. It also concluded from some other data that there is a shortage of Korean language institutes for foreigners.
33% Claim Virginity
2007-12-18 04:26:00 Korea Beat reports on an OnStyle TV channel survey of 512 single women between the ages of 20-34. Sixty-seven percent of them admit that they have had sex. Of course, my perverted Western male mind reads this as — 33% are claiming to be virgins? More About: Virginity
Gonzo Meets Star Wars
2007-12-18 03:55:00 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W ffwg7pA0t8] The worst Star Wars trumpet solo ever! And the choreography! I have no words… More About: Gonzo
Subway History
2007-12-18 02:44:00 Matt at Gusts of Popular Feeling has posted more on his continuing exploration of the development of the area near Gimpo Airport, particularly the gradual opening of the line 5 subway route in the mid to late 1990s. What I found the most interesting is the subway station on line 5 that was built 11 years ago in a field that has never been opened. More About: History , Subway
That Night Map
2007-12-17 12:27:00 This has made its rounds for years. Recently on Strange Maps. No matter how old it is, I’m a map freak, and stuff like this never gets old. Also check out these political cartoons of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, where the fate of Korea in the 20th century started its dark journey. Liliputian Chinese stand behind their wall and watch as Liliputian Japanese pull the boots off of the Russian Gulliver sleeping on the north end of the Korean Peninsula. More About: Night
The Robbyist
More articles from this author:2007-12-17 04:47:00 Oh, that was cold. But not nearly as cold as this show that the Marmot describes. You know, the intrigue and making the American intelligence services out to be the villains doesn’t bother me so much. We do it in our own TV shows and movies. Yet the whole thing about the American husband beating his wife and niece and attempting to rape the niece… that theme is becoming too common and more and more offensive. If you want to leave a comment on their site, follow this link (use Microsoft Internet Explorer, of course). You will have to sign up for an account. For some reason, I can’t get “Foreign in domestic” sign up to work, but “Foreign in overseas” led me to a sign up page in Korean and English. You have to create an ID with all lower case letters and upload a photo of your ID card. I’ll update when/if I hear back and get approval or not. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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