I think it was the Marmot (linked in the last post, I’m feeling too lazy to dig up the link again) who recommended this worthwhile blog, titled Scribblings of the Metropolitician. The link I’ve provided is actually to an article on a topic I’ve posted about a few times, and which is important to me: the way prostitution in Korean society reflects and shapes the role of women here. Worth a read. Me, I’m adding this guy to my RSS feed and hoping I’m someday lucky enough to have a beer with ‘im… Oh, and another cool link from Marmot …

Anyone curious about what Korea looked like a century ago might wish to look through this post by the Marmot before stopping in and checking out these photos. Marmot translates a lot, providing context. It’s fascinating and coming in handy for me, as I plod on trying to get this ghost story to smell, feel, and taste more like old, old Korea… in parts, anyway. Marmot’s posting it is a great, wonderful thing.

One of the things I talked about last night with Sang Joon was Seoul. He was telling me about his experiences there, and I was asking about what the cultural scene is like, trying to see how valid my own views are. He said the area around Hong Ik University is really different from anywhere else, and described all kinds of things he’d experienced while living there for a few months. One of the most interesting things he described was one day seeing a pair of women in kisaeng outfits (the Korean form of the geisha, a kisaeng is), dancing …

Over at Marmot’s Hole is a semi-recent series of posts about the sex trade, to one of which — Prostitutes need to eat, too! And where have all the Japanese gone? Canada? — I have posted a lengthy comment on what I think (yes, as a foreigner) can be and should be done regarding the sex trade and the status of women in Korea. And GI Korea also has some good thoughts about prostitution and, well, GIs in Korea.