I know it’s on the horizon now. It was brought up in the context of a goodbye party for my co-worker and friend Gwen, who will be leaving for the States soon. If it’s not at her party, it’s still bound to happen eventually — me and the profs I work with will eventually end up in a noraebang (a karaoke room). I don’t think they have songs by Cam’Ron at these places: [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/qbzYXQpdUfU” width=”425″ height=”344″ allowfullscreen=”true” fvars=”fs=1″ /] … so I suppose I’ll have to settle for a good old standby from my teenaged headbanger days: [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/IYRC4H64EFk” …
Category: PERSONAL
I Want to See You in Jakarta
If you’d told me in 1999 that a decade hence someone would be hugging me in an Indian restaurant in a suburb of Seoul, and then saying that sentence to me, “Please try… I want to see you in Jakarta…” I’d have laughed in your face and said, “What?!?” Well, ona good day I would have laughed. Isn’t life just wonderfully bizarre? And so it goes… another ex-student of mine (since turned friend) ventures out into the world, and I dare to nurture some small but bright nugget of faith in her ability to change it in some small but …
On Roh’s Death, Steve Reich, and the Tao of Imagining Sisyphus Happy
I’ve been saddened by what happened recently in regard to ex-President Roh’s suicide. Not the suicide itself, or all of the political wrangling related to it.I’m saddened because I fear suicides will worsen here, for the next while. Korea has a serious suicide problem. It’s the number one killer of people in their twenties, as many blogs are eager to state. It’s the kind of thing many people think about in their youth, of course. But suicide is tragically common here, and in recent days a number of people have talked about it with me. Korean people, I mean. Young …
In Jeju
That’s a touristy island in South Korea. So I’m not responding to comments much for a reasons. Having fun, even if it is raining like nobody’s business. Should clear up tomorrow, and in the meantime, I got some necessary work done. Two stories down, a few more to go. If I’m slow replying to emails, you know why. Feel free to call me if you like.
마력
Okay, universe. I got the message, loud and clear. I believe in magic again. Also, in Jpop. I was telling someone how my experience of Japanese pop culture media is something like what I’d expect a group of alien children might make if they were trying to fake their way through American pop culture production.Which, no, is not to call the Japanese children. It’s just that there’s a funny kind of sweetness, even innocence, in some of it that really surprises me. And which I find refreshing, as in this example (though sorry for the audio problems): [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/-WHkiaXE4ao” width=”425″ …
Seoul International Book Fair 2009, and Mike’s Visit
So my friend Mike was in town this weekend, and after he arrived (and I arrived at CoEx Mall pathetically late), our first stop (after food) was the Seoul International Book Fair. From the website, I thought it might be a little more trade/professional than it was, but we had a good time wandering, chatting with people occasionally, and checking out some of the art and books that were on display. I got some posters by a photographer named Choi Young Jin — stupid me, I should have gotten him to sign them — and Mike had a good chat …
Dad and the Ostensibly Zulu Floor Hockey Stick War Dance
Just because I’ve tweeted it (in much shorter form) doesn’t mean I won’t blog it. I’ve been thinking a lot about my Dad lately. He passed away in 2006, and some of the stuff I’m working through now has brought up old memories that I’d forgotten. One of them occurred to me on the way home from the coffeeshop tonight. When I was in the Cub Scouts — well, actually, it was Beaver Scouts, to be technical — in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, my father taught us a Zulu War Dance. At least, that’s what he claimed it was. Knowing him, …
Health Update: Neti & Workouts
After a couple of weeks off, due to a foot injury, a cold, and a root canal, I am finally back into exercising daily. I’ll be honest: I’m not going as hard as I was going before, but then, that doesn’t mean I’m not pushing myself: by the middle of April, I was going for at least three hours a day, and often four. (Usually it was two hours of hiking, about an hour on a stationary bike, and an hour pumping weights.) Now, I’m back down to a couple of hours a day at most — though I’m getting …
Home Again, Home Again
… jiggety jig. I was a busier this weekend than I have been in a while, in a social way. My friend James came up to Seoul and ended up crashing at my place in Bucheon on Friday night, and then on Saturday we headed into Seoul and met up with Roger Wellor Charles Montgomery and his lady (the BLF, as he calls her on his site), as well as the Korea/NZ scholar Stephen Epstein and a number of other interesting people. Now it’s Sunday, and I’m listening to the new Sofanauts podcast, which just came out the other day, …
Missed Call?
If you tried to call me just now? I dropped my phone while answering your call, and it shut off (because the battery is needing to be replaced.) I have no record of your call. Just in case. Try me again.