While I’ve kept out of the whole expat-blog scene lately — there are some good blogs out there, but there’s plenty of dross as well — I did get interested in a recent discussion over an article by Debito Arudou, titled, “Yes, I can use chopsticks: the everyday ‘microaggressions’ that grind us down,” published in the...
Read more →Earlier this semester, I noticed a senior student had signed up for an intro-level conversation course. I asked her what she was doing there, and she just kind of shrugged. When I told her that she and I both knew she didn’t need the course, she told me it was a requirement for graduation....
Read more →Update: Though I was busy getting some work done that had to get done tonight, I can happily say someone else looked into this: according to commenter Justin Choi (see below) the image I reposted is actually an altered image. Am I surprised? A little, I guess; but I’ve heard similarly ignorant things from people...
Read more →I have in the past written about negative things in my experience in Korea, and not as much (especially in recent years) about positive experiences. So I thought I’d talk about a positive one, and believe it or not, it was a class discussion of the recent blackface incident on MBC TV.
Read more →In the first week of May 2012, the New Zealand group Red Leap Theater (a dance company, by the looks of it) will be performing their rendition of Shaun Tan’s award-winning (and wonderful) wordless graphic novel The Arrival. I’m a huge fan of the book, and have tickets booked for Miss Jiwaku, myself, and...
Read more →Apparently, there has been an explosion online regarding an incident in which Korean performers donned blackface for a performance over the Lunar New Year: Yeah. And this isn’t all that rare in Korean media. In fact, Matt over at Gusts of Popular Feeling hits the highlights with an excellent and carefully-researched history of Three...
Read more →by Gord Sellar The thought of what Korea would be like If space opera had a wide circulation Troubles my sleep, The thought of what Korea, The thought of what Korea, The thought of what Korea would be like If space opera had a wide circulation Troubles my sleep. 빨리 나가라! Now lettest thou...
Read more →A funny memory hit me today, in the light of the comments to my post yesterday. I mentioned how there are rude people everywhere, but I feel I must give fair coverage to some Canadians I’ve known who were living as expats in Korea. It’s a memory from my first year in Korea. Now,...
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