Blogging Hiatus

Hey ya'll.

If you're wondering when the hell I'm going to start blogging regularly, I'm sorry to disappoint! Actually, I have a bit of an online project on the go that's taking up a lot of my time... I'll tell you about it when it's finished ;)

Until next time...

Oh! I went to Busan this past weekend. It was lovely. I'll defs post about that as soon as I can. In the meantime: go to Busan. I love that city (it keeps me coming back...).

Suwon is so eighteenth century...

New cities are popping up all around Korea, and that's nothing new here. Imagine this happening in Canada!

"Oh, by the way, the government has decided to build a new city here... next to the old one."

It just doesn't register, right? I mean, let's not even go down the philosophical road of how exactly one builds an entire city... sure, you can build buildings- apartments, commercial areas, parks can be landscaped... but to build a city... one usually assumes that people would be the first necessity. But it's not. You're wrong. We're all wrong. Because Koreans build cities first, and then the people come. They rent buildings for their businesses, they decide to move there because it's sexier than the old city... it just works. I doubt this would have the same results in Canada.

I live in a relatively (relative in Western terms) new city. Sure, I live in Suwon. Suwon is really effing old. But I live in a new city in Suwon. I live in Yeongtong... Suwon. Are you confused? I was when it was first explained to me, as well. Yeongtong wasn't really around 20 years ago, and today it's the "coolest" place in Suwon (again, speaking relatively). It has the hippest bars and restaurants, the nicest apartment highrises, and the highest concentration of hagwons and other educational institutes, which also means lots of foreigners. Oh, and we house the majority of Samsung workers from the headquarters... which is located just down the road.

But Yeongtong can step aside- it is not the cool city it once was. People are getting bored. They need a little more pizazz. Enter new Gwanggyo City!

These cities always look cool in the blueprints, but they are pretty much the same as any "new " Korean city. In any case, I'm interested to see how this one turns out. I drive by the construction site every day on my way to work. The best thing about this new city, in my opinion, is that it might take over the area of Woncheon Amusement Park- a place I still have nightmares about.

Anyway, this new city will be located in Northern Suwon, near Ajou University and, of course, Gwanggyosan- every Suwonite's (?) Suwonian's (?) favourite hiking spot. Stay tuned...

Some of my Favourite Konglish Fails:

If you're a foreigner living in Korea, chances are you have enjoyed the Asian phenomena known as "Effed Up English". Am I right? I know I have...

As my time in Korea gets shorter and shorter, this blog has turned from a "gotta inform newcomers" kind of thing, to a "gotta make sure I don't forget this" kind of thing. Sorry, I'm being selfish. I'll make it up to you all later... maybe. If I feel like it.

One of my favourite things about Korea is the hilarious tee shirts you randomly find with botched English written all over it. Some are grammatically incorrect, but cute all the same, while some are just plain offensive. The best part of this whole genre is, usually, that the wearer has *no idea* what their tee shirts say. English is just plain sexy- does it even matter?

I have a few shirts myself, that I just couldn't resist buying. One has a picture of an angel and a cat holding hands- very cutesy- on top, and on the bottom it has explicit gangsta rap lyrics. Very explicit. Another has a picture of doughnuts on the front with the words "Who am very delicious" written on it. On the back it says "dognut poisoning".

This phenomena is not just limited to tee shirts, though- oh no. If you've read some of my earliest posts (back when I was sent into giggling fits by any kind of broken English) you'll see restaurant signs, bar signs, even boxes full of "cacktail napkins". It never stops being funny.

My favourite these days, though, is something I've noticed my entire time in Korea, but never blogged about it or even said anything until recently. It's so perfect, so fitting, so obviously true, I can't believe the Korean people have gone through with it. Of course, I'm talking about the names of their gas stations.

There are one or two with regular names- like SK or GS or whatever- but I'm not interested in those. The gas stations I'm talking about are called "EnClean" (unclean) and S-Oil (soil). Who thought of these names? Did someone from Greenpeace infiltrate the Korean gas companies and name them as some lame act of revenge? Like, "the joke's on you guys, your gas stations are dirty", etc. etc.?

I'm just not sure how they could have knowingly given themselves such names. It's hilarious. I chuckle every time I pass a gas station. It's actually one of the first things I noticed when I was driving to Suwon from the airport on my first day in Korea. "Why would they make themselves sound like dirt?", I remember thinking...

Maybe they just aren't in denial about what they're doing to the environment...

That's my weekly rant. Thanks for reading! Here's one of the worst tee shirts found yet. My friend Michelle found this guy at a palace in Seoul and he had no idea what it meant. Could a shirt possibly be more inherently racist? I think not.

Cute.

The girls at Yeongbok are always up to something, and my coworkers are always kept busy judging pieces of art or their school work (competitiveness is a huge asset in this country). This week the girls put homemade dolls on display! They will go to disadvantaged girls in poverty stricken countries, via UNICEF. Pretty nice of them, huh? Well, that's just how my students are...

I'm beginning to notice a trend here: students work and work, and I always end up reaping the benefits. They clean my coffee cup, empty my garbage basket, erase and wash my blackboards, set up the AV stuff for my computer... and make cute dolls for me to play with on my break. Hmmm.

Retirement Parties in Korea; I didn't get the "formal" memo.

Yesterday was the final day of work for the Principal of Yeongbok Girl's High School. A man who I have said "hello" to once, "nice to meet you" once and, now, I can add "congratulations" to that very short list of personal exchanges.

I was told there would be a dinner, but didn't think much of it. I thought it would be like every other staff party: held at a restaurant with lots of soju, speeches and noraebang, but I wasn't told exactly how important retirements in Korea are (depending on how important you are, of course).

First of all, it was not just the retirement party for our Principal, but also for our head librarian. The two men had worked together at Yeongbok for thirty years, but they had also gone to university together, so are quite close after all this time. The party was a joint party, held at a fancy wedding hall, and their wives were dressed to the nines in their hanbok. I was wearing what I wore to school, my hair was a mess, I wasn't wearing any make up... I basically looked a disaster. This didn't stop the Principal from wanting to be seen with me, though, and I stood, smile frozen on my lips, as the photographers snapped photo after photo.

I stayed for several speeches and then left early as I had prior engagements- again, I didn't think it was such a big deal...

In any case, thirty years of committed work in one school is something worth celebrating, right?

A Pretty Nice Little Saturday

Let me start by saying how much I enjoy Korean food. When I first arrived in Korea over two years ago, it took me longer than the average person to get used to Korean food. Maybe this is because I'm a country girl who comes from a place where the most exotic food you can get is Canadian Chinese buffet. Maybe because I had yet to wrap my mind around the concept of eating seaweed as a snack, or marinated roots (aside from the obvious root of choice in Canada, the potato). Or maybe, it's because I had never travelled abroad before coming to Korea. In any case, I think it took about six months for me to really begin to enjoy and look forward to eating Korean food- even galbi (a foreigner's lifeblood in Korea). You know what I really think it was? Sesame oil. We never use sesame oil in our food back home, so it took me awhile to get used to the strong aroma and flavour.

Anyway, what's past is past. I love Korean food. But that doesn't mean I don't miss food from home immensely. I missed lobster season for nearly the third time this year, which is a special time of year for any Cape Bretoner. My Mom's pizza has been calling my name for months now (I just can't get my dough to taste like hers, even though I use the same recipe), and during the summer I can't help but miss the nightly beer and BBQ on the deck with my Dad. Maybe I just miss my family...

I like to go to Itaewon to eat, sometimes, is the point I'm trying to get at. Sorry for going so off topic. Usually it's a Mexican food fix that needs delivering, but sometimes I like to go for some Italian or the fare at Wolfhound's Irish Pub. I knew that there was a Greek restaurant somewhere, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out exactly where it was. We tried to find it last year for my birthday dinner but never thought to venture out behind the Hamilton Hotel (where, duh, all the great restaurants are located) and it wasn't until I ventured out to Scrooge's Pub with the rugby people that I finally found it. Santorini's!

Alternately, I could have just gone to Seoul Eats and read their review. It would have told me exactly where to go. Such a great website; why am I always forgetting to check it out for restaurant reviews?

This tiny place can easily be missed, except for the massive sign and it's excellent reputation among foreigners and Koreans alike for fantastic and authentic Greek fare (did I mention Greek is my second favourite ethnic food? Right after Indian...). The prices are a bit high, with the average entree coming in at around 19,000 won, but the house wine is nice and they give you extremely large portions. You definitely get what you pay for. The souvlaki is pretty much heaven on a plate. And the tzatziki! Ohhhh, the tzatziki.

That was my Saturday, and it was bliss. After dinner we went to the Bungalow where we drank the equivalent of six drinks each... for free! They were having a bit of an anniversary, I think. After enjoying the cocktails we went home, full and happy. I could probably eat at Santorini's seven days a week and never tire of the place. The next time I go, I'm splurging for dessert, and I suggest you do the same...

If you don't like feminist rants, avoid this post.

There's something that's been burning away in my mind for ages now, and I think if I don't write about it I'll soon explode. There's been a lot of talk lately in the Korean expat blogosphere about the popular Korean TV show "Chatting with the Beauties". In this show, foreign women from all over the world converse in Korean with Korean men. They tend to talk about cultural differences between foreigners and Koreans and what it's like being a foreigner in Korea.

One episode in particular, where the girls were talking about their opinions of the way foreign men in Korea behave, has been blogged about by some male expats in Korea, who have complained about the unfairness of their accusations and the stereotypical views people have of foreign men living in Korea.

Some of the girls made comments referring to how men who aren't especially popular back home come to Korea and, suddenly being surrounded by beautiful Korean women, act like they're cock of the walk. Another few women discussed how tall foreign men, in Korea, were equivalent to gods in the eyes of Korean women.

Perhaps this is due to my feminist inclinations, and perhaps I'm just sad that the foreign expat blogoshpere in Korea in generally male dominated, but, while I don't necessarily feel that the women on this show need backing up, I do have a few things to say on the matter.

1. People have this view of foriegn men for a reason. It doesn't matter if you're the nicest guy in the world, or if you treat your Korean girlfriend like you would any girlfriend in your home country. The fact of the matter is, your predecessors (and a large portion of your peers) are the reason this stereotype exists, no matter how unfair you feel it is. I understand that the media has had a large hand in creating this stereotype. All I can say to this is, welcome to a woman's world. And buck up.

2. I know (not speculating- I know these people and hear them talk) so many guys who date Korean women like it's a sport. Guys think that Western women may simply be "jealous" that men from their own countries go for Korean women, but in general we simply feel bad for them. I have a great boyfriend. He's supportive and smart. I'm not jealous of a Korean woman who, usually unkowingly (either because of cultural differences or because they haven't- and won't- be dating for long), is dating a complete asshole. Again, this DOES NOT AT ALL MEAN that I think all Western men behave this way. I know plenty amazing guys who I've become close with- some of them have great Korean girlfriends or wives, some are single and some are dating other foreigners.

3. I think some men believe that they treat women equally, but just don't realize that they are still stereotyping women and generalizing them in the same way that they are complaining about being generalized themselves. It's very easy to say "I treat my girlfriend with respect" and "I treat my girlfriend much better than a Korean guy would", but even that doesn't change the fact that you're STILL grouping all Korean women (and all Western women, if you're listening to the likes of "Chatting with the Beauties") together.

4. In complete truth, I've experienced every stereotype that these women talked about on TV. They were asked for their opinion, and they gave it. Maybe my own answers wouldn't have been very different. Some of the blog posts I've read have been very hypocritical in the respect that they said very similar things about Western women when critiquing the episode. In truth, it all sounded chauvnistic to me.

5. Get over it, guys. It's no walk in the park being a foriegn woman in Korea, either. When you start getting asked if you're a Russian prostitute every time you get in a cab, or get dragged to a love motel by a Korean man you were chatting with at a club (because, to many Korean men, no really means yes), or you have dealt with rape or being assaulted (as several of my female friends were last year) then maybe I'll take your complaints seriously.

I know this is a touchy subject, but you brought it up first. Let's keep the criticisms tasteful, ok? My Mom reads this blog.

Love, Janine

It's Raining

And thundering... and today is my first day back at regular work hours (read: getting up at 6:30 AM instead of 9 AM). I don't like today. I don't like my students today or anybody, for that matter. I'm in a very bad mood (read: tired).