Thursday, July 29, 2004

A short one today.

Man, it's been busy lately. Out every night working (here that means having drinks with friends, clients, suppliers and partners (business partners, that is, I'm not into the girlfriend scene). Thus, all I've got today is a link to this other blog. Some funny scenes from the Seoul Subway system. Enjoy.

Oh, and as I reported earlier, Bricx Bar had a Bikini Party last Friday. I didn't make it there, but here are some pics taken at it: here and here.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Korea, Greece, The Philippines and Cayman Islands.

Ok, you're probably looking at that title and wondering what the heck the connection is. It's tenuous, but here goes. First, these are four countries I likely will not drive in (although I did drive in the Philippines, or Phil, but that was in my younger days) the first three because of the amount of nuttiness I've either witnessed or assumed is there and the last one because I don't think I'd spend much time away from the beach.

Ok, so about this Korean driving stuff. I've been here for almost 2 years and always get the question: "do you have a car?" My answer, I think, is pretty logical. No, because (i) the subway system here is cheap, easy and pretty fast (no traffic); (ii) the bus system is not prefect, but once you know which one to take it's quite nice; (iii) our firm has a driver and Hyundai Equus for visits on company business; (iv) taxis are everywhere in this city and are pretty inexpensive; (v) my work is like 20 meters from home; and (iv) driving here is not like in Canada (either I'd cause an accident here or get used to this way and cause one when I drive back home). Thus, no need for a car. Actually, I try to stay off the roads whenever possible here.

Perhaps this is for good reason, Korea has one of the highest traffic fatality and injury record in the developed/developing world. It's really quite amazing. Take a look at these articles (here and here) and you'll see what I mean. One reason is many Koreans do not use seatbelts (another article here). Even I don't, when I'm in the back seat--especially of a taxi. It's really quite odd (and scary) that I always buckle up at home but take my life into my own hands when I'm here...perhaps simply because everyone does it here.

People who do come here to drive have to get used to the rules of the road, as described in this article from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. And if you hit someone the driver is almost always at fault in some respect (more on that here).

So, what's the connection to Greece? Korean drivers licenses will be considered valid in Greece. I'm not sure why, it certainly isn't valid in Canada, you have to do a new test and everything there, but for some reason Greece has opened the doors for Koreans to take to its streets, probably because of the Olympics. (Apparently Greece is famous for some crazy driving as well.) But then, isn't that a brutal time for Koreans (or any foreigners) to be tooling around town in a rental? Oh well, I'm certainly not going to Greece anytime soon, and if I did I'd probably call George the Super-Cabbie.

So, on to Phil. I went there with a bud in December 1998 (most of this file is classified, so this'll be short). One of the highlights was driving from Cebu City (where Ferdinand Magellan was beheaded by King Lapu Lapu way back when) to Moalboal, the noted diving spot. It was about a 3 hours trip on provincial (read: rural, goat/dog/child/rickshaw-strewn) road and on the way back Carlo was at the wheel. For some reason a dog was on the road and Carlo tried to avoid it (really, he did swerve like 3 times, the thing just changed direction again!) but, in the end, it became one with the rubber. Also, a kid jumped on the road and pointed a gun at us (I hope it was a toy, but you never know). With that I started to really question why I'd be at or near the wheel of a vehicle in Phil or any other developing country.

Carlo and I returned to Canada safely and got back to work at RBC Dominion Securities where we worked (did I note that we started on the same day and had the same briefcase?) but within 2 years the both of us made moves to other firms. I was in Canada a while longer before coming here and Carlo went to first Turks & Caicos Islands then to Cayman Islands. He left then returned to RBC and, as you can see from the pics below, is an avid flagger, I mean flag football player. Ya, he goes long on the field and goes short in the office. (haha! a little finance/hedge fund humor there for ya!)


Watch out Carlo! Looks like that big dude's got your number! Good thing it's flag football.

Right now he's Player of the Week! Way to go Carlo! His profile is here and his league's site is here (Carlo, why is the domain dot K-Y??). Oh, and ladies, too late, he has a girlfriend and a baby on the way.


Lookin' a little rotund there, Carlo.

Well, that's the story, from crazy driving to driving to the end zone in one blog.

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Those crazy Swiss and those wired Koreans

I'd like to thank my bud Peter in Vancouver for the picture below. It shows me that it's not just Koreans that are into voyeurism (although the Swiss version has one-way glass so people can't see in, and the Korean versions have none such discretion, it seems).


Is it me? Or does she look like Martha Stewart? And doesn't that look like a prison cell loo?

I was out last night on a 회식 (hwi-shik), which basically means a bender with guys from the office. We went to my favorite local haunt, Outsider. It's called a 'playing bar' in English but in Korean they call it a 양주이밴트바 (yang-joo ee-ben-t-ba, whiskey event bar). Basically, it's not a room salon but it's nicer than a regular hof (or local Korean pub). There are girls pouring the drinks but they are ALWAYS on their side of the bar (which is just fine by me).

Of course that wasn't all that we did. We had 삼겹살 (3-layer fat pork, much like backbacon) first and went to WA Bar (when you say the name it sounds like the Korean for 'come here', very apt methinks) afterward. Man, I love living in Yeouido...at least I can get home within 50 steps instead of taking a bus or cab for 20-60 minutes to get home. Sometimes I think I'm a little spoiled here...but then I remember the pollution, long hours and compulsory drinking and I figure it about evens out.


Um, where's his other hand!??!

So, anyways, this morning I got out of bed at about 4am to do laundry (wild and crazy guy that I am). I was still drunk, obviously, and ended up not checking my shirt pocket for the namecard (that's what they call business cards here) of the new guy (the one on the left in the pic; the middle guy, Yoon, is our new recruit and the guy on the left is Jo-last name-by the way, I think Jo should have the English name of Danny or Daniel, what do you think?). So, it got washed...damn. Well, at least I know what he looks like. Him, Yoon and I are all born in the same year, but I am a few months older, so we can be friends. It's odd here, even a year or so difference and you're considered on a different plane in some respects. Jo is our junior...so we have to take care of him/get him plastered. The nice thing about being a little older is I can pull rank and make everyone drink. hahahaha! But as a 외국인 (way-gook-in, foreigner) I can also claim to be untouchable (in the good sense) if I don't want to do something. hahahaha! (But I usually do it because it's not a good idea to play the race card too much here.)

I had to get myself some coffee this morning, but felt cheap (as usual) as there is wonderful Maxim Mocha Gold sticks in the office. I'm sure these things are killing me slowly, but they're just sooo convenient! Also heard that Starbucks just opened their 100th store in Korea (in Itaewon, actually). Yesterday was it's 5th anniversary in Korea...and I remember when I first came here (about 5 years ago, actually) they were just starting. In typical Korean fashion they caught on like wild-fire (foreign, expensive, addictive...what's not to love?)

One last thing. Koreans have a special numbering system for counting things, but they can't do the same in English, it seems. They seem to think that 'th' comes after every number. My namecards say that we are on the 2th floor...well, we're not, the 치과 (chi-gwa, dentist) is on the first floor. Then today on T.V. I saw an electronic device that was labeled '2rd cable port'...at least they were trying on that one.


Monday, July 26, 2004

Dead Men Sentenced to Death Twice More

Last night I saw Silmido. Man, it reminded me of The Dirty Dozen. The (true) story is: the North sent a platoon (31 men) of commandos to Seoul in January 1968 to kill then-president/dictator Park Chung Hee (he was later assassinated by a cabinet member in 1979). Their plan was thwarted, but the South wanted revenge so they set up an ultra-secret crack team of 31 (always have copy, it seems) of their own. But, they didn't recruit from the general infantry or even the armed forces at all. The members of Unit 684, as it was called, were criminals on death row who (they found out afterwards) were already known as dead to the world and, thus, would not be missed if they failed (or if they succeeded).

The 31 went through extensive and brutal training on Silmido (Silmi Island) but 31 real special forces members plus a commander. For 2 years they prepared themselves physically and mentally to 'slit the throat of Kim Il-Sung' (the leader of NK at the time, and father of the current dictator, Kim Il-Jung). The time to leave and complete their mission came and they set out to Pyongyang...but at the last moment it was cancelled. The Minister of Intelligence had changed and relations had thawed between the two Koreas (I wonder what catastrophe would have befallen this place if they had succeeded). With no reason to be, Unit 684 was to be terminated.

The story goes on a ways from there, and everyone knows it..which may have been the point of the South Korean government. Imagine if a foreign power (and hated enemy) sent a team to kill President Bush or John Major...how could they just let it go. But, as in this case, how could they let it happen? This sacrificing of deathrow inmates makes sense from a political point of view. The South got to show that they were ready, willing and able to go after Kim Il-Sung, but, in the end, it would have probably put the Peninsula back in to a brutal and devastating war.


Silmido and The Dirty Dozen: the true story is more unreal than fiction.

At least The Dirty Dozen achieved their mission...but it was just a story, maybe based on Silmido, who knows?

Sunday, July 25, 2004

Reason to Celebrate--MTV Buzz Asia Concert

This was a good week...pretty much everything came together.

A friend of mine from Geoje-do (cool blog about teaching experiences on Geoje-do here) came up this weekend with a couple of buds from the Island. One (Andy) has a friend in concert promotion and they had 2 VIP tickets to the MTV Buzz Asia Concert (sponsored by the super-cool iriver company-article here) at Chamshil Indoor Stadium (which I think is the same as the Jamshil Auxiliary Stadium). Thanks Andy!

I had no idea it would be so packed. We got there just after 7PM, when it started. We read the part on the ticket about first come/first served, but missed the line about 'doors will be open at 4pm'. Whoops (Koreans probably made a day out of it and came at noon, knowing them). Well, the place was full, but our VIP friends were already in. The gal (Anne) came out and (owing to her sister who works with the Prince tours showing her the tricks of the trade) she not only got us into the stadium but into basically any seating area that wasn't already full. Thanks Anne!

The acts were pretty cool. We missed the first one, 보아/BoA but caught the rest. Take a look at the pics below of BoA, Jaurim and Shinhwa. For all the boy bands/acts I tried to get the most masculine pictures I could for my site, but if you want fruitier ones they're all over their sites. (I sometimes wonder about these guys, but at least the girls are hot.)


BoA, Jaurim and Shinhwa.

There were a few J-Pop and Taiwanese acts too: Namie Amuro, Vanness Wu and Wang Lee Hom. There were a couple of others, but the names were in Chinese and I'm feeling a little lazy now.


Namie Amuri, Vanness Wu and Wang Lee Hom.

So, as you know, Koreans love to get together and eat and drink, that's why the after-party was so cool. It was in the uber-tony area of Apkujungdong. It's home of the highest priced real estate (and women) in all of Korea. Yes, I'm sure I saw many genuine Fendi bags and plastic bodies. The best part was the 2 free drink tickets. Ah, there's the Scot in me speaking again. The next day we hung out in lovely Yeouido Park (another review here) where we fed the birds (below). It reminded me of the flocking to the afterparty/bar/dancefloor the night before...birds of a feather and all that.


The gatherings: concert, afterparty, in the park.


Here's another flocking...of Koreans to the beach in Pusan. I think the caption says there are 1,000,000 people there at the beach (about 2/3 of the population of the Vancouver area). I wouldn't put it past them.

And my final comment on this topic: credit cards. This article on how Koreans were lured by the notion of 'easy money/credit' (fanned somewhat by the card companies' desire for market share at any cost) and hwo it almost lead to suicide for these three individuals (sadly, many of also 'succeeded' in passing on their debts to their heirs, as happens here when a debtor dies).

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Fahrenheit 38 Degrees?

Just so you know, this blog isn't about being political. If anything, it's about as apolitical as you can get for blogging. However, there is something that I wanted to comment on: you can use it to form your views or not. Oh, and I talk about some of the important points in here, so if you're going to see the movie bookmark this and read it later.

Last night I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 (click for a local review and a trip to the warroom). It was a pretty good film. I had seen a few clips from it so I had an idea of what to expect, which was kind of unfortunate. Some said "you'll laugh, you'll cry" and I think knowing that dampened the mood a bit. It may have been better if I didn't know what to expect (and, sorry, now you know kind of what to expect so I opened a bit of Pandora's Box for you too).

When getting the required popcorn and drinks (5,000 won, 4.50USD for a large tub and 2 drinks!) I was greeted by this guy (below). I had to say, "That's quite a get-up you got there", knowing/hoping he wouldn't understand. At the door to the actual theatre a guy and a gal in the same costume did a little salute as everyone filed in. I didn't think about them again until the end of the movie.


Soon he'll be wearing a different uniform.

Fahrenheit 9/11 was a pretty interesting show. It tweaked a few memories I had from that day. When it happened I was in bed in Vancouver, just waking up. As a stockbroker I was wired to the daily news and had turned on my T.V. at 5:50AM. The news of the first plane was already broken and I was thinking, "What the heck? Some moron pilot slammed into one of the largest buildings in the world? Was it a terrorist?" When the second one hit I think we all knew that it was no accident.

I watched it all that morning. Waiting for the fires to be brought under control; or maybe for another plane to hit another tower. Who could tell what might happen? It was especially surreal for guys like me, I think (egotistical, eh?). My dream, as any guy in finance would have, was to be to be in Windows on the World (the posh restaurant at the top of one of the towers) giving a high-powered presentation to the money-men of New York and the world. That dream seemed more like a death sentence now. I don't know what the emotion was, but you might say I was relieved that I didn't go to Wharton or have a CEO dad who might get me into that room on that day. Of course you didn't have to be a financier to be there, many blue-collar people (firefighters and police) and 'regular Joes and Janes' were there as well.

The next day I went to work. It was quite odd. There was little to do and there was an eerie quiet as the sounds of the harbor-planes were absent. All I could think about was the day before. I still wonder why the heck they showed the towers getting hit and then crashing to Earth so many times in the weeks following. It sure didn't help my spirits.

Back to the movie. I knew what Michael Moore was up to when he made this film. His previous works included: Roger & Me (where he went looking for the CEO of GM (Roger Smith) for answers why his hometown of Flint, Michigan was laid waste by layoffs by the firm) and Bowling for Columbine (where he looked into the psychology of guns and violence that may have lead to the Columbine shootings). I saw a show or something with him as he went all over the country promoting his newest book and noting that the employees of the bookstores were basically getting shafted by their employers (part-timers with no benefits, low salaries, fired for small errors...hmmm sounds like Korea in some ways!). Now, I'm in finance, mostly of the idea that business is good, so even though I found the anecdotes he collected to be interesting and in some cases a little unsettling it didn't really change my thinking much. (I think most of us are pretty set in our ways unless we get overwhelming evidence over a long period of time.) I knew that Moore would be going after Bush, but I had no idea how much he had on him (or at least how bad he could make him look).

Moore's 9/11 was, as a documentary should be, presented as a well-researched, factual and intellectual piece. It went into the histories of the major participants (although not much on Saddam and I was worried about how he said that Iraq never hurt an American: some of it smelled of hyperbole) and presented the facts in logical sequence. Then he threw in a curveball. He had a gal in there (a wife and mother) who, in the beginning, loved the U.S. and the armed forces a lot. She carried her American flag out each day to hang on the front of her house--careful NEVER to let it touch the ground. Later, after her son died, she hated what had happened in her country. I'll tell you the worst part was how she was given the news--it was OVER THE PHONE! I remember in We Were Soldiers the Army sent the notices to the next of kin by taxicab (delivered by the drivers, no less) as there were so many dead they did not have enough officers to do the job. That, I thought was a low point, but this story plumbed the depths.

Clearly, Moore was not trying merely to make President Bush look bad (he made virtually everyone--Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice--look unprofessional, but he could have done that to any of us who have been in front of the camera). He could have easily made the soldiers in Iraq look like unfeeling grunts bent on discharging their weapons at anything and anyone (which, it seems, they did do at times, but that was chalked up to the adrenaline rush of being in a hot zone). No, he went at things on a bit of a different tact. He personified not only the soldiers, but something more identifiable not only for Americans but for anyone who had a loved one in any country's armed services--he made a poster child of those who are left behind (temporarily or permanently) when a service member heads off on assignment in this mother who lost her son.

The mother (pictured below) is the real story and storyteller here. President Bush is a major figure, Moore is the one who brought it all together, but its her story that hits home more than any other. No 9/11 inquiry or senate committee can take away from her and her family's loss. Her husband said it best, though, when he said, "We are very sad to lose our son in the war, but we are more sad to know that families all over America are having the same thing happen to them right now." (I'm paraphrasing from my fallible memory, but I think you get the point.) It's the families that suffer(ed) when 800+ troops were killed in Iraq. (We also can't forget the loss of those in WTC, a disaster that was foreshadowed specifically in Presidential Briefings.)  For some their will to support the President and perhaps America itself may have been broken. I thought of our popcorn-seller (above) and how his family would react if he were shipped of to war, trading one uniform for another. What if my son(s) were sent off without an imminent threat, as we had in WWII and other 'respected' wars? How could you be proud of a country that did that to its children?


Who is the main character in Fahrenheit 9/11? President George W. Bush? Michael Moore? or the mother of a fallen soldier?

So, what is next? Will there be a sequel in a few years? Perhaps Fahrenheit 38 Degrees? (Meaning the parallel of latitude that splits North and South Korea, and translated to Celsius that's just 3.3 degrees--close to freezing, kind of a cold war, which is what we have here: a war, but no open hostilities.) I doubt, after all this, that Bush (or any U.S. President for the next while) has the political muscle to go after North Korea, and that's just fine by me. Heck, if anything happens Seoul is within range of the North's artillery (!), to say nothing of any missiles they may have that could get airborne (and if the U.S. says they don't have the capabilities I'm inclined now to think that maybe they do).

Some things are different in Korea. For one, the two Koreas are still, technically, at war. Only an armistice (or cessation of open combat) was signed, not a peace treaty. I read the North signed it but the U.S. declined to sign it--hearkening to Moore's idea that the military-industrial-political complex needs a 'constant state of high alert and confusion' to reach its aims (which are, mainly, focused on money).

I'm going to digress for a little bit here, sorry. Much of what we know as culture can be traced back to war. For instance, the Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford that former President Bill Clinton received was founded by Cecil Rhodes: one of the wealthiest and most powerful men of his time (so much so that the country of Zimbabwe's former name is Rhodesia, named after him). He made him money from exploitation of South African diamond mines--a country which was finally conquered by the Boer Dutch in 1902, the same year Rhodes died. As well, the respected Nobel Prize was founded by Alfred Nobel who made his money from a little product he invented: dynamite/T.N.T. A technological triumph that is best known as 'the thing that makes things blow up', as an explosives expert might put it.

Back to Korea. Here there is really no question of whether the leaders are looking out for the people or themselves. A recent article reported that 74% of respondent to a survey of Koreans said they believe politicians are law-breakers. Maybe the same is true in the U.S., but 74% pretty much tells you that people here don't need a Michael Moore documentary to know what goes on behind closed doors. (I'm not sure if that is a good thing.)

The difference here, though, is the threat. As I said, there is still a war going on. South Korea has a mandatory term of military service for all male citizens with an 18-month jail sentence for those who do not comply (of course with a criminal record comes no chance of a job with the government or any larger company, so it's actually more of a life sentence). In the U.S. service is voluntary, it may be seem coerced given the salespitch of the recruiting officers, but it is, in the end, voluntary. Those who are in the service and do not want to be (re-)deployed to a place like Iraq are subject to court martial and possible imprisonment. Again, the difference here is North Korea has been saying for over 50 years that they are the real rulers of the Koreas and they will take back the South; while Iraq did not make (according to Moore, I'm not sure about this point) threats toward the U.S. North Korea also does not have any resources (something that can't make the economy in that non-trading country very viable).

Anyways, this is a record blog length for me, and I'm glad you came along for the ride. My last word is simply that after Moore's 9/11 movie I think many people, myself included, will start to ask more questions and make creating such wars (if I may go so far as that) harder to do in the future...and that, I imagine, was its intent.

Free drinks for wearing a bikini?!?

Korea is, as you may have guessed, a hyper-competitive place. Once a store, restaurant or whatever they always make a big deal of it. One of the best ways they have to get attention is dancing girls. Ya, you heard right. Girls in cheerleader-like outfits dancing up a storm to hiphop in front of a balloon arc and inflated animals of some sort. It's really quite a sight. When my cousin visited here last year we saw 2 or 3 of these things...his 20-year-old brain was probably about to overload. This display I saw in Namdaemoon as I did some light shopping (actually I needed more hankies as mine was soppign wet from the heat & humidity here these days). Have no idea what this store is, but I was sure tempted to take a look. (Guess the marketing works.)


Welcome to the Grand Opening of...um...I forget...where am I anyways?

Then we have Bricx, a little place I've walked past but didn't see a reason to enter...maybe now, however.


I'm not one for anime usually, but this one...

It took me a while to read it correctly. Usually they say things like 'free drinks (upon paying cover of 20,000 won)' or something. I know Ohoo/Hodge Podge has free drinks for ladies on Thursdays from 10-midnight, but this one is a little more interesting. All gals in bikini tops get free drinks at Bricx on that night...hmmmm. I wonder what they'd do if I showed up in my bro/manzeer.

Finally, take a look at Seoul Pub's video on 'Picking up in Seoul' on Seoul Scene's website. It's pretty corny...but mostly funny. The Aussie in the rugby jersey is a regular there (I mean like every night, which is probably why he's featured so prominently).  They've got another one called Bondaegi Challenge in which unsuspecting passer-bys are asked to eat....ready for this?...steamed silkworm larvae. It's actually quite well liked here.

UPDATE: I didn't make it to the Bikini Party, but here are some pics taken at it: here and here.

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Korean public toilets

I was going to hold off on writing this until I had a ton of pics of some of the public washrooms they have here, but I had a pretty brutal experience in one today so I figured that was a sign or something. Here's a restroom to avoid: near Line 4 at Seoul Station Subway...unreal. As soon as I walked in I noticed the floor was dirty, which is normally ok, a little dirt isn't the end of the world. Then I noticed a pungent odor...really brutal, actually. If I didn't have to go so bad (#1) I might have bolted, but instead I just let it go...man, did I regret that. I tried breathing through my hanky, but it didn't work, the smell permeated everything. I was getting light-headed from lack of oxygen and barely made it out of there. Man, I think they cleaned that place last when Park Chung Hee was in power (1961-1979). Ugh!

Below are some interesting shot. Take special note that they were all taken from the hallway of the building, not inside the restroom. Thus, anyone walking by could not only see the empty stalls (which is a faux pas in the West as it is) but also the user of it if it is occupied. Some also have a fantastic view from outside, just in case you want two audiences.


All of these pictures were from the hallway, not inside the actual bathroom!

The one below is interesting. This bar in Daehak-ro is the only place you can dance in the whole district (or so its sign says) but it's also the most interesting bathroom. There is a door/window right beside the urinal that opens out to the alley. It lets in a nice breeze, but makes one feel like a bit of an exhibitionist.


On the left: that's a door/window that looks into an alley...and anyone can look in. On the right: in Lotte Department Store there is a bathroom manager and worker...posh!

Many buildings have bathroom attendants but here they not only have a check-list sheet (as they have in the West in many places) but also the picture of the attendant that cleans it (I guess in case you want to pick them out of a crowd: "Hey, don't you clean my office's bathroom?") and in the one above there is a "manager" and attendant responsibile for the cleanliness of the washroom. If only they were at Seoul Station on Line 4's, I might not have almost lost my lunch.


Monday, July 19, 2004

The 'dog days' of summer

Ah, the monsoon season has ended and thus begins the dog days of summer on the peninsula. I promised myself that I'd never be in Korea (and especially in Seoul) for this, but it looks like I'll be here for about half of August. Oh...my....God! It will be so hot.

Many Koreans take this hot weather as an opportunity to take time off (what with the continued fazing in of the 5-day workweek here) and have some ice cream (there are so many awesome flavors here, priced from 500-1000 won, or just 0.45-0.90 USD!).

Of course Koreans have a penchant for doing the moderately illogical as well. Today the owner of a 한방삼계탕 (han-bang-sam-gye-tang, extra healthy ginseng chicken soup) place (not this one, but close) came by the office. I actually was able to use my pitiful Korean to confirm that his place is in the basement of some building and that the price was 8,000 won (7USD, not bad). Then a friend of mine said it must be because we are in 초복 (cho-bok) or the start of the dog days. Anyways, as you may know, Koreans have 2 things they need in life: to be warm and to be well fed. Samgyetang is served literally boiling hot (they even have special stoves to fire up the bowls) so you'd think it's best served in the winter...oh no...Koreans love it best in the summer (as if it's not hot enough!). Well, this is Korea, so I'll likely have a burning bowlfull at lunch with the throngs. (When I asked why Koreans like hot food in the summer the only response was: because it's good for your health.) It'll make the air conditioned office that much more inviting.

Oh, and another reason they call it the 'dog days' is they like to also have 보신탕 (boshintang) or dog soup. Yup, they eat dogs here (read story if you've got a strong stomach). It's the typical Korean food reasons: it's good for men's stamina (as in: stamina between the sheets, the only kind they care about) and for women's skin (gals here are a little preoccupied with good skin). Many guys, especially older ones, and 'talents' (which is what they call any celebrity, star, singer, actor) dine on dog in order to excel in bed or in front of the camera.

Camera phones can make a photographer out of anyone.

Samsung has a new phone...with a THREE megapixel camera. LG and Panitec/Curitel have similar ones out as well. The only problem is the things are about 700,000 won (600USD). So, I'll wait a bit until I get a new phone/dica (digital camera, as they abbreviate it here). For now, I'm having fun taking pictures of interesting things I see in this crazy place. Like this address plate. It says: 21, Yangmalsan, 5 gil or: building 21, sock mountain (area) 5th road.


Building address in Yeouido aka Sock Mountain.

I asked my boss (pictured below) about why the heck a road is called Sock Mountain...it didn't make much sense, even for this place. He told me that Yeouido use to be called Sock Mountain...why? No idea. Now the place is full of investment houses, the National Assembly (parliament/senate/capitol building) and (following the money) bars and brothels...no sock factories.


My boss mixing SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY and Korean beer.

The whole office went out last night for 오겹살 (oh-gyup-sal, or 5-layers-o'-fat-pork). We have a new company member and, true to Korean form, that's a great excuse to have food and (a lot of) drink. My boss, please forgive him, brought the bottle of 1950 Macallan single malt Scotch I got him on my last trip back and then (oh my God, I can hardly believe he did this!) proceeded to fill shot glasses with it and drop them in glasses of OB (Oriental Brewery, a local malt-maker) lager. Unreal. Now, my grandfather worked for Seagram's (and has Scottish heritage) and two of our suppliers are right from Scotland and if they saw such a travesty they probably would have throttled him--hence the pixelated face, a little taste of the witness protection program tactics he'll have to face for such an injustice to Scotsmen everywhere. (Oh, FYI, only single malt whisky from Scotland can call itself 'whisky' minus the 'e', all others are properly spelt 'whiskey'.)

Good thing I had my cameraphone at the ready to take these breathtaking shots, eh?

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Westerners in Asia and Seoul Subways

It's been a while. Been busy. Was entertaining a British friend of mine (originally from Manchester, now in K.L.-Kuala Lumpur) who has basically been ruined by Asia. You see, once a Western guy comes here he can hardly go back to life in the West...you'll know if you're here. Two other Aussie brothers I know had the same thing--they both work for investment banks in Seoul and Shanghai and speak the respective languages, to life is good for them, too. (Same effect for Korean women who go to places like Vancouver, they can't bear to leave that place either.) Anyways, his business partner (an Aussie) was in town with him too...first time...so we went out for a few nights. Also, some American and a Dutch friend of mine and some Koreans wanted to go out too...and then a couple of nights for business...like I said, been busy.

We went to DaeHak-ro and had 서피동파 (seo-pi-dong-pa; seo=west; pi=(pi)zza; dong=east; pa=(pa)-jun, a Korean kind of omlette; together they are western pizza/eastern omlette) and 동동주 (dong-dong-ju,a kind of immature makkoli, or rice booze). Man, was it goood. The dong-dong-ju, it looks like porridge but tastes light (the porridge look is actually ice crystals held in the mixture, no idea how they make it so consistent).

On the way out I almost invariably take the subway. It's fast, clean, convenient and is unaffected by the recent torrential downpours (it's monsoon/typhoon season here now). It's interesting, some stations are a little micro-city with shopping areas (some really large), links to office and apartment buildings, restaurants and almost everything else. They all have a few things in common: lockers (which I wondered about before, but now I've used them a few times to store things I bought--and at about $1 a day they're a pretty good deal), payphones (something you don't see a lot of overground), washrooms (some are better than others), a lotto booth and usually a little convenience store, gift shop, flower shop and/or food seller.


Amenities: lockers, PC bang, escalators.

I don't know why, but many of the subway stops here are spruced up a bit. They have things like (below) lighted signs on the air conditioner units, aquariums (they call them fishbanks here) and posters for the Seoul Subway Corp. that show scenes totally unrelated to subway travel.


Subway Art: an air conditioner, a fishbank and a Seoul Subway Corp. poster

There's also art shows sometimes. There was one for international children's art this weekend at Hyehwa station: I saw 2 good ones: one was from China and another one (aptly named Snow in Canada) was from my home country. Ahhh...a little piece of home.


World Children's Art: China and Canada

That's it for now...later.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

The Good Life, Hard Luck and BASE Jumping.

In any developing country (and I believe Korea is 'developing' and really only started on the road to a real economy with the onset of real elections in 1994) there can be trials and tribulations for those who lead (politicians, heads of business) and follow (workers, students). Don't get me wrong, Korea has made gigantic strides in the last 50 years (thanks mainly to the iron-grip of their president/dictator from 1961 to 1979, Park Chung Hee) and in the last 10 years (when Korea really started to open up to Western influences)--but things are still in a state of flux here. Business practices have changed (although they retain much of the old flavour), politics...well, politics seems to still be the same..., relationships between people has changed (albeit only a little, Koreans still follow Confucius tenets and defer to age, men and the learned) and even language has changed (as the Internet and chatting has lead to the truncation of many words).

With these changes comes inefficiencies. One can capitalize on them or be a victim. The lady in the BMW below may have done both. She is likely enjoying the ride in her Z4, but (according to this newspaper article she is also a victim of over-pricing--something that BMW, I assume, does not mind as they can have a higher profit. (One other part of this may be that BMW has certain 'import duties' over and above the government ones that need to be paid in order to sell their cars here, such is another inefficiency.)


The BMW Z4...a pricey car in this town.

But what about those who cannot afford a luxury car, a flat in Kangnam (the priciest district in Seoul) and an expense account at the local watering hole? Or worse, those who had it all and then lost it? What happens to them? Well, for some, the answer is suicide (hence my mention of BASE jumping (Buildings, Antennae, Spans and Earth) in the title. Since there are few guns in Korea (heck, many policemen do a Barney Fife and don't even walk around with a loaded gun, the bullets are in their pocket!) the next best thing is jumping. While inline skating one day near the river I saw police taking 2 jumpers from the water--ug,that was not cool. Sorry for the imagery.

One thing that irks me about Korea sometimes is the lack of discretion in some matters (one faux pas I probably just committed above). We know that reporting suicide can lead to more suicides, but they continue to report suicides as they happen. Some of the stories are truly heart-wrenching and I (yes, even I) weep a bit when I hear some of them--this is not something you get desensitized to. If you're of strong mind take a look at this article on recent suicides.

Of course, it's not just in Korea. In the U.S. military suicide is the #2 killer (I'm not sure if friendly fire or actual action are #1, you start to wonder sometimes).

The interesting thing I found from reading all of this (not that it makes me an expert by any means) is that Korea, although it may have the 4th highest suicide rate in the 29 OECD countries, it was waaaay down the list globally (Korea always wants to be #1 compared to the top nations, which is why they probably used this statistic). Countries in Eastern Europe (although some of these 'suicides' may be underworld related), Scandinavia, and even the US and Canada, Hong Kong and Japan had higher rates than Korea did in 1994. (From Table 1 in this paper/abstract
In true Korean fashion, the rates here went from 6.8 per 100,000 in 1998 to 16.5 in 2000 and 18.1 in 2002...man, does everything here have a logarithmic curve to it?

Some also turn to murder, such as happened 10 years ago and lately again (and I'm sure there were other cases in-between), but that's another story.

Perhaps this is just another part of living in a place where the past is meeting the future head on.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Canada Goose-Dad

Koreans have an interesting saying when referring to guys like me: 기러기아빠 (gi-reo-gi a-ppa, wild goose dad). Whenever I told Koreans that I was here and my wife and kids are in Vancouver they would call me this, and now I know why. My boss explained it to me quite well (although he called the bird a seagull, as many Koreans do).

It goes like this: a goose flies very high in the sky (so does a vulture, but I guess that's not as poetic, nor as flattering) and has very good eyesight. Therefore, it can see things waaaay in the distance--which is good, because that's where a 기러기아빠's family is...across the ocean. It is used for Koreans who go abroad to work, as many do in the Middle East on the many Korean-lead construction projects there, for the many families that have the wife and kids in a foreign place (especially Canada, especially Vancouver...there are so many there) and the dad stays in Seoul, and for guys like me who come to work but whose wife likes Vancouver soooo much she can't bear to live in Seoul and put the children through such torture as is living here.

It's just another part of Korea where things that don't make a lot of sense at first seem to be clearer once you get the whole story.


The majestic, beautiful Canada goose.

Monday, July 12, 2004

Mysteries of Korea...and how some things never change.

This Korea Times Business Section editorial speaks of Jwa Seung-hee's (president of an economic research institute for the Federation of Korean Industries) 10 mysteries of the Korean economy.

#1 Western-style economic reform has eroded the dynamism of the Korean economy.
#2 Seoul has become bigger and bigger despite the government's policy of balanced regional development.
#3 The rural community's life has become dismal despite the policy of promoting the balanced development of the rural and urban communities.
#4 Income disparity has widened despite the policy of promoting egalitarianism and redistributive policies.
#5 Competitiveness of small companies has weakened despite the policy of curbing chaebol.
#6 Economic concentration has deepened despite the policy to diffuse the concentration of economic power.
#7 The exodus of primary, middle and high school students for overseas study has increased as the government seeks to standardize schools.
#8 Government control of finance has deepened amid sloganeering for financial liberalization.
#9 The Roh administration seeks to scrap the Park Chung-hee’s economic development model, which created the Miracle on the Han River.
#10 The government has strengthened policies, which would erode corporate competitiveness.

To this business/economic list I'd like to add a cultural 10 mysteries of modern Korean culture, if I may.

#1 Koreans often speak of love for their children and the sanctity of marriage but many men (and women) have lovers on the side.
#2 Many Korean parents (or grandparents) insist that children marry Koreans, even though they send their kids overseas to study, or to hagwons (language academies) here. (N.I.M.F.T Not In My Family Tree)
#3 Everyone seems to like the promise that is living in a different country, but very few can make the move out of Korea.
#4 Koreans (especially the young) love the outdoors and clean air, but they hate to live in the country.
#5 Korean students hate learning English, but older ones seem to love taking English classes.
#6 Even after years of incredible progress Koreans always compare themselves to foreigners: the Rodeo Drive of Seoul, the Silicon Valley of Korea, the Harvard of Korea.
#7 Most Koreans seems to have a negative attitude toward U.S. soldiers here (especially those who served in KATUSA-Korean Army Training with U.S. Army) but they don't seem to want them to leave (and leave South Korea vulnerable).
#8 Koreans spend 10-16 hours a day (for years on end) studying for major exams but at the end of it all don't seem to have a stored library of knowledge to use in everyday life (or even at work!).
#9 Koreans are very (over) protective of their children, and yet they have few child restraint seats and no one uses seatbelts in the back seats.
#10 Many Koreans have dogs as pets, but many other Koreans eat dog!

Another interesting story came to me from a friend of mine. A group of 20 or so young people were on the subway when it came to a station with about 20 older folks waiting to get on. The kids were sitting down in the seats, but without a word or any signals they ALL stood up together and offered their seats to the older folks. Unreal. The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Koreans living in a dreamworld starting to wake up.


Paris Lovers...what a happy couple.

Looking at Korea one can see something of a Leave it to Beaver mindset when it comes to relationships--especially in the minds of 20-something girls here. One could compare it (as I will) to a monk living life in a temple and then having everything changed when he starts to see what happens over the hills where he makes his home.

Thankfully, some movies are starting to show that life may not be what we assume. Recently I watched Hi, Dharma! (a story about a gang of criminals that hides out in a monastery) and In-eo Gong-ju (literally means mermaid princess, but is translated to My Mother the Mermaid or Little Mermaid; a story about a daughter who somehow visits her parents when they first meet and fall in love).

Dharma is a comedy where the gangsters find out something about themselves within the (relative) purity of the monks and the monks gain a new perspective from their dichotic encounters. Both learned that their so-called 'pure' states (of peace or brutality) are not perfect and they can grow from knowing one another.

The daughter in Mermaid had a revelation as well. She hated her parents (her father seemed a dim-witted postal worker and her mother a cussing rubber/masseuse at a bathhouse). She wished she were an orphan like her boyfriend. An odd occurrence (I still don't know how this happened) put her back in time to when her parents met on Jeju-do where her mother was a diver (mermaid connection) and her father a postman. She comes to see them in their innocence and pure state--full of dreams and potential; not the broken and bitter people they became. A picture taken at that time shows the village in and around their first bus and her young father on his bicycle, smiling. The daughter asks her mother why he is smiling...and in the last scene her mother says, "Of course he is smiling, what else could he be doing?" (or words to that effect). Yes, the young have every reason to smile.


My Mother the Mermaid and Hi, Dharma!

Mermaid seems to show that the 'pure' state of youth and promise is a transient one and Dharma could be saying that moving from purity may actually be good (adding another dimension for growth). This is something that some young people here don't seem to grasp...they need to have perfect grades to get into the perfect university and get the perfect job and marry the perfect spouse and have the perfect family (which means grandsons for many parents and in-laws). Perhaps in the future less emphasis will be placed on keeping up with the Kims/Joneses but for now many still aspire to a pure and perfect dreamlife.

Of course, if they don't marry the perfect person Koreans can now get a divorce quite easily...which is another problem.

Saturday, July 10, 2004

Canada Day in Seoul

I must have been nuts. Every 2-3 months I take off to Canada for 1-3 weeks. My latest trip ended in late June, and I ended up getting into Incheon on Sunday (June 27th) evening...just missing the Canada Day party. (Canada Day is on July 1st, but they staged the party early so it'd land on a holiday.) Last year it apparently sucked and the beer was OB (local brew), not a Canadian lager so I thought I might not be missing much. Man, what a mistake that was (as you can see from the pic below).


Canadian guys chugging beer...Canadian gals striking a pose. Click to see larger version.

Here's your typical Canadian situation. The boys are gathered around the beer and the gals are lookin' fine. Hey! Why aren't the guys with the girls?!?! Crazy Canucks!

A Night in DaeHak-ro

A night out in Korea can seem pretty overwhelming, especially in HongDae, Kangnam Sinchon, Sincheon, Itaewon, Daehak-ro or any of the other major hotspots in town. Hongdae, Sinchon and Daehak-ro make a name for themselves by being close to the major universities; Kangnam is a place for lavishing high-priced liquors and girls on clients; Itaewon is near the US Army base, so it's a haven for GIs and other English-speakers (who seem to have more money than brains sometimes, myself included) and Sincheon is a teen district as well, in the well-to-do area of Songpa-gu.

My latest foray was to Daehak-ro (daehak/daehak-kyo means college/university, ro means street). We went to a ddak-kalbi (grilled chicken) place and saw a group of 3 guys whooping it up Korean style (copious amounts of soju and food and louder speaking). One was pretty funny. I don't know if he was doing it for my benefit or to show-off to the Koreans around him (Koreans sometimes show that they know English as a form of one-up-man-ship...it shows they are educated and studied a lot, no matter how brutal the usage). He was saying such things as "Excuse me, could you calm down?" (actually, he said that A LOT) and "I'm sorry" and "Okay!". I think he was practicing to be a bar bouncer or something. Anyways, these guys got pretty loaded. When one of them was away from the table it looked like the other two were a little amorous (Korean men sometimes hold hands or put their arms around each other, especially after a gallon of soju). I snapped the picture below before we left.


2 guys who really like each other (but they are not gay).

Then when we finished walking nature was calling me...but not #1. I took a look into the hwa-jang-shil (bathroom) in the restaurant, but it was a squat-type. Then we came across this theatre (below...oh, and Koreans usually pronounce theatre and Seattle the similarly). It was new so I took a look. Man, that bathroom was spotless--maybe it looked so good because I figured that all of the ones in the area were squatters or brutally dirty affairs, as they usually are in smaller, older buildings (man, how do these women do it?). Anyways, that's the tip. Look for the newest, hippest building (especially ones with Western food or themes inside) to find the best W.C. (another way Koreans denote watercloset).


Fantaseum

Since Korea has millions (ten of millions, likely) of cellphones (handphones, as they call them) you'll find public pay phones only in a few places: the airport, the train/bus stations, major hotels and the subways. (Well, I've seen them on the street sometimes, but not that often, and not when you need one.)


phones

Another instance of Korean marketing gone bonkers. Red Mango is a major bing-soo (shaved ice garnished with fruit and stuff and then topped with yogurt or ice cream). But the tagline for the firm is a little....well, weird "Start loving myself!". When I explain it to people they really get confused.


Red Mango
Another thing here that's funny is girls wear shirts that say "69", it's a brand here but they are oblivious to the hidden meaning (if you don't know I can't explain it here, this site is family-friendly). Or church-going girls will have a Playboy scrunchie in their hair...not knowing who "The Hef" is. Koreans also have no idea the multitude of words we have for a part of the male anatomy (so the scene in Austin Powers where they say "woody, Johnston, boner, balls, willi...) goes over most of their heads. They have one word here for it go-choo (hot pepper), and they're pretty surprised to learn that their word for 'ward' in a city (dong) is also another euphemism for gochoo.


And, to cap it off, in the subway there was a guy taking a snooze right on the floor.

Friday, July 09, 2004

Korea, the land of one-up-manship.

Some of you may remember my first article on oh-gyup-sal (five layers of fat pork). Oh-gyup-sal is a one-up on sam-gyup-sal (three layers of fat porl), so it only makes sense that this land of hyperbole would come up with chun-gyup-sal (1,000 layers of fat pork)--and it did. As amazing as it may seem, someone got the great idea of leap-frogging all of the competition and calling what is basically pork chop a name that denotes something a little more superlative. Why not trillion layers of fat pork (jo-gyup-sal)? I have no idea.


The sign says "1,000 layers of fat pork"...mmmmmmm.

Well, Korea isn't the only place where things get blown out of proportion sometimes, it's just that they do it so well here and we're not used to it. Who can forget the launch of the Gilette Mach 3? Yes, that's what I need! Three blades on my face! (Of course they had 'Excel' versions of their Sensor, Mach 3 and ladies' razors, too, as if we needed that little white strip to save from cutting our faces open.) Recently the Schick Quattro came out (for those of you who failed Latin, Italian, Audi or whatever language this is in: quattro means expensive). Now Gillette has a 'power' version of its razor. Now this is getting ridiculous! Here in Korea I get 10 good razors for 2,000 won (USD 1.75). (Yes, 17.5c each!) They're so cheap I only use them twice then throw them away. (Please no Greenpeace/eco-friendly group flamings.) And you know what? I get a pretty good shave out of it, too...similarly I only buy plain ol' pork chops at home.

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Morning! (and other surprises in Korea)

Sometimes this place really makes me think. So many things are so different here (language, expressions, people, culture, shopping, driving habits) but, yet, some things are just like home. Take my building, for instance, there are a few guards (we call them 아저씨, ajeosshi, or 'mister') in the lobby...well, they're no so much guards as they are greeters, like at Wal-Mart (neat article here). After they figured I was not a visitor, but a long term resident of Seoul they started saluting me, waving and saying "Morning". Huh, morning? Ok, I guess they learned that greeting somewhere. Many Koreans in lower-level jobs know absolutely no English and what they may have learned these old timers probably had long forgotten, so I appreciated the effort.

Then I was inline skating (rollerblading to those of us who can pronounce it easily) one lovely 4AM and another 아저씨 said "Morning!". Ok, that's two. Interesting.

Then I got to thinking (well, it came to me while watching a Kia ad) that Morning is everywhere in Korea. This morning (there I go again) I saw a give-away paper called 모닝 (Korean phonetic of morning) and then recalled the ad for Kia's sub-compact car. A simple search on Google Korea came up with more: an online bookstore, an online flowershop, a golf site and a news organization. Then there's Good Morning Shinhan, one of the largest secutities dealers in Korea--with its flagship building in Yeouido, one of the largest in town and flaunting its name, albeit in Hanguel/Korean text, for all to see. And, of course, this is the "Land of the Morning Calm". I could go on, but you get the point.

'Morning' is not without it's detractors, though. About a year ago there was a major scam where a real estate developer conned million from many small investors. One lady summed it up well saying, "Now I know what it is like to go from a rich person to a begger in one day." Definately not a good morning for her.

As an aside, apparently another Western idea is hamburgers, and in NORTH KOREA, no less. (JoongAng Article here.)

Here's your factoid for the day: although most words are pronounced and even used differently than the original, Korean has incorporated about 10,000 English words into its language; much like Tagalog/Filipino has a lot of Spanish and we Westerners are comfortable with Bon Appetit and Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto.

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Shopping in Seoul

A readers will know, shopping in Seoul is a little different from back home (assuming back home is a Western country like Canada, the US, UK...). For one thing (more things here), you can haggle at almost every 'store' (and some for sure at every place that is not a store, but like the picture below). This includes the 'department stores' like Migliore, Doota and Hello ampm that are in Dongdaemoon (each area actually stalls of independent sellers) but not such high class/price places like Shinsegae or Lotte Depart. There is also no haggling at Lotte Mart, LG Mart nor E-Mart, but in those places you're getting a bit better surroundings than the true discount stores.

Anyways, I find that haggling is a bit of an art...and it takes a little while to get the hang of it. After a while you'll wonder why you don't get a discount back home, though. (There is also no tax on purchases; it's either included in the price or just not paid--especially at street-sellers.) Like today, I went to Namdaemoon for some shopping, had to get a few undershirts and towels. I found a seller of both and asked the prices: 2,200 won for a shirt, 1,700 won for a towel...no discount. Huh, ya, right. I offered 16,000 (compared to the 16,800 total price...this is NOT a big discount, just 5%, but I was in a hurry and didn't have 5 minutes to haggle for $1.50 off). She said, "no discount" again, but I said (in Korean) "I'm buying 3 of these and 6 of these, discount!" and she relented. Oh, it helps if you can do simple math in your head (the seller sure as heck can) and if you know enough Korean to at least say the prices in Korean. Otherwise you're a bit of a mark.

Now for this picture. This 'store' popped up literally right on the street near my work and the sellers were luring the office girls to try on their lovely selection of shoes. No guarantee, but for $10 a pair and the way fashion trends have the life of a gnat here who cares?


Get your ladies shoes right here!

Monday, July 05, 2004

Phone Chargers and Other Things to Like About Korea

Recently I downloaded Go-Stop (a traditional Korean card game, played almost exclusively by men, Yahoo!'s version is here) to my phone. (There is one called Sexy-Go-Stop too, for those who are into Anime.) Well, I've been playing it (the clean version) so much that my battery dies sometimes when I'm out (is this an addiction?). The last time was out at the movie theatre (the MMC in Dongdaemoon is open 24 hours, if anyone is looking for a flick at 3AM). A friend of mine said they have chargers at convenience stores (I also remember them at some restaurants too). Then we found that they had them at the theatre, too. The young kids there knew how to hook up the battery...they were really helpful, actually. Koreans are so nice sometimes. Here's a pic of what to look for if you're in Korea and your phone goes dead.


You stick your battery in here for about 5-10 minutes and it's powered up (but the charge wears down more quickly, I think).

More things I like in Korea: delivery services. I ordered a few books from Seoul Selection (a great foreign bookstore that has an interesting newsletter that's worth subscribing to--it's free). Anyways I ordered online at 3:00PM. The order showed up at my door at 9:30 the next morning. This would not happen in Canada unless you paid extra for delivery, and even then it'd maybe be 2 nights as I ordered late in the day. Korea, though has a ubiquitous number of quick service delivery services (as they're called). This means it takes about 1-2 hours for a package to get across town because a motorbike courier takes it rather than taking it in a van to a sorting station then another van for delivery. (It's similar to the bike couriers that we have in the West, but no one bikes on the roads here.)

I also like the way Korea updates things. The pics below show one example. In the old days there was a rarefied breed of warrior who guarded the main palaces and nobles, today there is another (decidedly more leggy) version. (Um, this is a joke, for those who believe everything they read.)


Changing of the Guard and Twirling of the Rifles.

Sunday, July 04, 2004

New Bar in Yeouido

One of my favorite places in 여의도 (Yeouido) is Wingswing located on the second floor of the building behind the Lexington (formerly the New Manhattan) Hotel. It's run by the son-in-law of a Korean who spent 20 years in New York and Atlanta running similar places...and now the old man is here to revamp it. They added 2 bar counters and hard liquor (and recipes) as well as more to the menus (spaghetti, quesadillas). Last time I was there I had Crown Royal (oh, how I love it) and the time before they served us this Flaming Dr. Pepper which is a shot of Bacardi 151 in a glass of beer. It's not as tasty as the version I know (Amaretto shot in a 50/50 beer/Coke mix) but not bad. Probably one of the few places in Seoul you can get some of the booze this place has--and the only one in Yeouido.



Flaming Dr. Pepper at Wingswing

Cop Movies are Big in Korea (and Trend-Following)

Over the last few weeks I've been to a couple of Western movies (Troy and Spiderman 2) and a few Korean ones as well: 여친소 (Yeochinso/Windstruck); 올드보이 (Old Boy); 공공의적 (Gong-gong-ui Jock/Public Enemy; 와일드카드 (Wild Card); and 범죄의 재구성 (Beomjwi-ui Jaegooseong/The Big Swindle). I really liked all of the Korean movies (actually the Western ones seemed pretty predictable compared to the Korean fare) but found it interesting that 4 of the 5 (all but Old Boy) were cop movies. (To be fair, in The Big Swindle it was more about the robbers than the cops--still, the theme was intact.) Maybe this is typical to movies in general (going in phases, all of the movies are from the last year) or maybe it's just how (again) in Korea things are very much fads; where once a theme gets started it's difficult to stop it.


Public Enemy, WildCard, The Big Swindle and Old Boy

With that in mind, I think of my night out on Saturday. A group of friends and I had dinner and a movie in the 동대문 (Dongdaemoon) area then headed to 대학로 (pronounced Daehan-ro, but the Korean spelling is Dae-Hak-Ro: Daehak means university, ro is street, so (as you may have guessed) it is a street near universities--so, of course, there are tons of bars there). It was raining as a typhoon is in town (see the typhoon tracker page for updates of when one is on its way here) so there weren't many people out on the town. (I, however, didn't mind it as the rain here is pretty warm and I was in shorts a shirt and cut-away sneakers...really quite comfortable.) We went to about 5 places before finding one called 꾼 (Kkoon, an intersting name). The gal running the place said it was their first business day, but the place was empty. The music, however, was really good so I said, "Service.", as in: what will you give us to come in? She offered plates of snacks and such...sold! The prices were lower than I'm used to, too...a good place.

So, how does this connect? The ambiance. The bar was like many other ones out there with tables, low lighting, club music, and a table or two that has a trough in the middle for ice and imported beer and coolers (we had 8 different kinds). I guess this is a safe business strategy as it may be fatal to go out on a limb with a new concept in this town unless it does very well, in which case you'll have lots of imitators.

I wonder what the next trend will be? Whatever it is, it'll catch on fast. (JoongAng Ilbo article on this topic.)

Thursday, July 01, 2004

Update on the New Transit System

It seems everything is not all that smooth in Seoul concerning the recent changes. This makes sense because, as Koreans would, they decided not only to change the payment system but also all of the bus color-schemes, routes numbers and routes and even the structure of the roads in some areas of the city (see pic below of a fast lane for buses in one of the worst traffic areas of the city).

More in this Korea Times article.


Life in the fast lane.

Math Theory Meets Social Theory

This may be a long blog...got a lot of thoughts going through my head this last couple of days, not least because of my reading A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market--a very cool book and one that I wish I read before embarking on the CFA designation exams (wrote 2 of the 3 required exams already).

Anyhoo, went out for some drinks last night (yes, Thursday night, a school night, but I really wanted to break this jetlag and I find that going out is one of the most effective, and most fun, ways to do so) at a little place called Han's Sausages near Hong-Ik University (usually referred to as HongDae). So upon ordering the bratwurst and beer I noticed something interesting, the beer came in a special pitcher that has dry ice in a compartment in the bottom of it and passages that allow the vapor to flow to the top and escape. Pretty cool idea, and I had seen it before in another bar in Sinchon (another teen/bar district near HongDae).

While out on the town I started to think, "What are the odds that I know someone here in this bar or meet them on the street?" Likely pretty low, but then I remembered the last night I came here and got a call from an old co-worker who was basically 2 blocks from me and had just had 산낙지 (san-nak-ji, living octopus) in a little place that we almost went to (now that was interesting). Then I remembered that a friend of mine's former girlfriend is in Korea--not Seoul, in Pusan. But her sister-in-law's friend is engaged to a Korean girl in Daegu who often comes to Seoul (HongDae/Sinchon specifically) to see friends. So, what if one of the thousands of people I saw were one of those friends? How many degrees of separation is that? Two to the Pusan friend (or one, if you count that I know her now), plus three to the groom-to-be (or two as the Pusan friend already knows her sister-in-law) and two more to the friend(s) in Seoul. So that's 4 to 7 degrees, not bad. I could also suppose that the people on the street know my wife or one of her friends (as she went to school there) but we are older than these kids and it's not quite as interesting a story as going to Vancouver then Daegu then back to Seoul.

Another area: yesterday I met some guys from an asset management firm here (for business). One spoke quite good English, and when he found out I was from Vancouver he noted that his brother-in-law is living here. As well, the owner of the 삼계탕 (samgyetang, ginseng chicken soup) place across from my apartment has a home in a suburb of Vancouver. What are the odds of that?

Now let's deconstruct this a bit, and take a bit from my current reading (and suspend for a bit the idea that I have incredible selective memory and am merely drawing connections from random events).

On the beer: both restaurants were in the same relative are (more or less) and it makes sense that a seller of those dry-ice pitchers would service both of them.

For the people on the street: the university district is full of school kids, school kids are not (usually, especially in Korea) destitute poor and they are (by definition) educated (or nearso) and it is the well-to-do and educated that end up going to foreign countries and meet/marry foreigners (there are exceptions, just humor me for a bit). Thus, it makes some sense that I (who knows many educated people in Korea and Canada, as I am one myself) would have an ok chance to have some connection with similar people in another country, no matter the whereabouts. (This reminds me of when I spent a month in the Philippines with my bud Carlo who met a friend there who ended up being his distant relative. Especially in places where the economic/social strata is well-defined the 'top 1%' seem to flock together.)

Concerning the people who have ties in Vancouver. Proximity is one factor, and wealth is another. Vancouver is the closest airport to Seoul (one hour longer to go to San Francisco) and it also has an inviting climate and seems to attract the wealthy from many countries (including the U.S.). So it makes sense that these, again, well-to-do and educated people would have some connection to my other home.

What's my point and how does it lead to a better understanding of Korean culture? It's this: When you meet a Korean (or when they are on their first dates) they will always ask questions to figure out if they have some connection such as age and ethnicity or school ties or anysuch thing that could prove a connection. For foreigners this kind of questioning is sometimes seen as rude, but this is just a part of Korea: you get used to it. This is one reason that Koreans study their butts off to go to the best/largest schools such as Seoul National University, Korea University, Ewha Women's University and Yonsei University and then put themselves through incredible stress to get into major companies such as Samsung Group. It's because after all that study and hard work one will have instant camaraderie with fellow alumni and, thus, be able to move to Vancouver when they retire and not have to work selling dry-ice beer pitchers to every bar in Korea.