Except in Korea. FanDeath.net. Heh. And no, fans don’t kill people. They may make a room cold, or somehow set up conditions which bring on heart attacks or strokes or other things, but there’s no way in hell that fans kill people, any more than sex kills old men because it excites them enough to give them a heart attack. We don’t call that “Sex Death”, do we? Ah, well, maybe in Korean it is called Sex Death, I don’t know. In which case, if the cause of death is ascribed to the catalyst of the physical crisis—the stroke, heart …

Peemil at Where are my socks? encapsulates Korea in a descriiption of PC Rooms: Korean PC rooms are a world apart from anything else I have seen in the West. They are part of what makes this country what it is. A noisy, smoky environment with alot of people swearing at stuff that really doesn’t mean alot at the end of the day. Lovely.

If you’re living in Seoul, or spend a lot of time there, you may be interested in the KMC, a Korean movie screening club where you can watch Korean movies, subtitled in English, in a home cinema-like setting. As for me, I make do with my home player, or with the local DVD-bangs. I would probably think of going, though, if I were living in Seoul.

Antti and June blog on the recent moves to change legislation of the Household register system. There’s a while yet till this new legislation kicks in, but it will make some potentially big differences in the legal status of women and children. As June mentions, this is one system among many that need to be addressed, but nonetheless, it sounds (from their descriptions) like it could end up being a step in a good direction—I’m not sure I’m in a position to dictate the “right” direction, as an outsider, but it seems like a positive step towards nurturing of a …

Okay, don’t ask for more details on how I got into this conversation, but I learned a funny Korean joke today. I only know it in English, but unlike many jokes, it translates extremely well. I’m embellishing it below. One day, a man went out to the mountains, with wishes in his heart, and climbed to the peak. Sanshin-ryeong, the mountain god, was impressed with the man’s vigour and spirited climbing, and could feel the man moved by his hopes and dreams. So the mountain god showed himself to the man, in all his massive, imposing splendour, and declared, “Hey, …