Chillin' in Jeju, Korea

Korea's Hawaii

2008-08-04T01:13:00.000-07:00

As the rainy season gave way to a typical hot and humid Korean summer, my students have started to look at me funny: “teacher, you’re black!”

I used to smile and reply, “I know! Getting’ my tan, pretty sweet eh!” but they’d start patting my skin saying “No… White is beautiful!”

As it turns out, Koreans and I have a very different definition of how to enjoy summer.

Ever since I was a little girl, my parents would take my brother, my sister and me on vacation in the US and Mexico. We would basically lie on the beach all day, frying up like a couple of eggs. It was heaven to play beach and pool volleyball, building sand castles, snorkeling for hours, braving huge waves and fighting under water.

We were exhausted at the end of the day. And of course I’d always be sunburn, red as a crab, while my mum would rub lotion on my back, mumbling something about sunscreen. No matter how hard she tried, I would always be running away every time she even mentioned sunblock. No way I would stand still for 5 minutes!

I also got head sunburns because I refused to wear a hat. My family still recalls me dancing on the kitchen table of the unit, whipping my crazy blond curly hair all over my red face. Those were the days…

If I could’ve walked around naked I would’ve… just because I wanted to be as free as possible! Worrying about losing my top while attempting some crazy back flip in the swimming pool was, in my tiny little being’s opinion, a waste of time.

As I am now older, I am much less active at the beach. But I still get sunburn from snorkeling for hours, cover myself in sand for no apparent reason, and simply love to swim around doing random stuff.

But average Koreans? Not so much.

One of my ajumma students told me the ideal time to go for a swim is around 5pm – when the sun is weaker. 5pm? I can spend a whole day at the beach! The only reason one might go before 5pm would be to pick up some seaweed or rare shellfish, like many ajummas do.

Or just for fishing, which is especially popular at night after a big day at work.

Korean beaches are PACKED in the summer. It’s not funny. It’s suffocating. The reverie of a deserted beach is so far away from reality. For crying out loud, every single beach is efficient – with lifeguards, boat security, restaurants and convenience stores, shower rooms, rental service, and of course parasols.

The Korea Times had a picture of Haeundae Beach (in Busan) covered with parasols as over 600 000people flocked there on a Sunday. You can’t see the beach. Only people and parasols. And they cost about 10$ to rent. Imagine the profit.

I’ve mentioned before how Koreans desperately love white skin, and how they even buy (though not as much as the Thais do) whitening body lotion. But did I mention they also swim with their clothes on?

Yes indeed.

A typical picture of a family at a Korean beach goes like this: everyone is wearing long shorts, a t-shirt, a big fat hat and sunglasses. A few hot chicks wear a bikini and a few hot guys go in a Speedo –but although it is getting more common, it’s still quite scarce.

Koreans don’t want to get tanned. They’re afraid of skin cancer, but they also just don’t want their skin to get darker. And a lot of them (especially women, even if they’re totally skinny) don’t feel comfortable showing their body to the opposite sex.

However two men can totally share a sweet moment together, having a snack under a parasol without even being gay. Back home they'd be chasing women to prove their masculinity but here, they even rub lotion on each other and it's perfectly normal.

As for swimming….!! Oh boy! About half of my students can’t swim. And all my ajumma students don’t swim at all.

Here’s a typical day at the beach for a Korean couple: the girl is sitting on a yellow tube (they’re all yellow) and her boyfriend/husband is softly pushing it around. He probably has water below his waist. He might try to gently wobble the tube, but not for long as his girlfriend/wife will start screaming and hitting him.

Last Saturday a group of, I don’t know, 6-8 Korean adults were playing volleyball in the sea… with their life vest on!!!!

Doug told me he once was surfing with a some people and Koreans started yelling at him. They ignored them and kept enjoying the (relatively calm) waves… until 3 tiny lifeguards started running toward them with a yellow tube around their waist…..!! They were blowing their whistle, screaming at Doug and his friends.

Doug said “Seriously dude… I was laughing so hard! If those guys got any closer to the waves WE would have had to rescue them!! So we came back to the shore and realized they had a whole emergency team waiting for us. It was insane!”

Every beach has lifeguard boats. At least one. Sometimes many more than necessary.

Jeju is considered Korea’s Hawaii thanks to its gorgeous beaches of white sand and clear blue water, but it’s definitely no surfer’s paradise, with hot chicks in bikinis and rhum/coconuts by the beach!

That being said, this island is definitely enjoyable, especially in the summer, thanks to its huge volcano/mt. Hallasan and countless things to do.

North of Jeju is Hamdeok beach – a 20-minute drive from City Hall, there’s a small hill to hike, tons of seafood restaurants, an amusement park and lots of green spaces around. Not really the spot for waves, but great for snorkeling.

A little farther there's Gimyeong beach - similar to Hamdeok, but a bit less crowded even though there's a huge field where festivals are often held. Water sports are very popular here.

West are Gwakji and Hyeopjae beaches – both gorgeous and always packed with Koreans. It’s in the countryside so less touristy but there are convenience stores and snackshops around. Anything can be rented there as well, including life vests, tubes and snorkeling equipment.

It’s a delight to gaze at Biyangdo Island while swimming at Hyeopjae. There are countless tents for everyone to enjoy, and they also offer boat/banana rides. Like at any beach, renting a parasol is about 10 000 won.

South is Jungmun – located in the big touristy area, you get easy access to world-class hotels like the Lotte or the Hyatt. The waves can get pretty wild and of course this beach also gets packed. Haenyos (women divers) sell fresh seafood, and you can have incredibly expensive western food at any hotel.

We like to hang out at the Hyatt swimming pool while sipping piña coladas because no one asks us any questions… too shy to speak English, ya know ;)

On the East side I’m not really sure what beaches are worth checking out, but if you head to sunrise peak, just catch the (15-minute) ferry to Udo island. The beach is gorgeous and you can also spend the day walking around, hiking to the little lighthouse, eating fresh seafood and riding a bicycle.

You can camp pretty much anywhere and even if you're at the beach for the day, you'll find that many Koreans bring "their home" (i.e. tent) with them. If you get a scooter you will definitely love the experience of driving around feeling free as a bird.

Iho beach is always crowded but it's not as nice as the other beaches and many people go there to drink, party or hangout. It's a bit dirty, and close to the village.

The countryside is still quite rustic so you’ll probably in awe every time you see half-bent 70-year-old women working the field, or men driving weird tractors from the 20’s.

Lava caves are all over the place and really cool to visit. Temples are also awesome and they sell incense, Buddhist stuff and delicious vegetarian food too. Museums are diverse – from peace, to sex, women divers and tea. Tea fields are green and gorgeous.

Horse fields are all around the island. So are waterfalls. The tourist map is probably the best one I’ve EVER seen because every little thing is on it; you can just look at it and randomly decide where to go. There are many small avenues but the main ones that cover the island are big, fast, efficient and easy to find.

Sex, meat, dogs and earthlings

2008-07-30T02:05:00.000-07:00

Westerners like to joke about Asian meat (especially Chinese) and presume that they could basically serve you cat or dog meat instead of what you ordered. Of course people automatically make a face. How could anyone eat man’s best friend?

In Korea, dog meat is called “poshintang” and yes, people eat it. It literally means "invigorating soup".

Poshintang is especially popular among old men, who believe such meat will boost their virility. They particularly dig (ha!ha!) it when the dog has been hung – because it is apparently tastier, but more importantly, packed with hormones. See, if the dog struggles for his life, the meat will be filled with testosterone. And that’s just as good as Viagra!

On top of that, dog meat is renowned to cure people suffering from a cold, and to be a great source of energy.

My boss says he eats poshingtang 3-4 times a month; he goes out with his male friends, drinks shitloads of soju, eats the soup, and goes home to his wife feeling more virile than ever!

When his 10-year-old son was feeling weak, he brought home dog meat and his wife made a soup. My boss says his son was much stronger afterwards!

It is a custom to eat poshintang during Chobok, Jungbok, and Malbok. Those are the divisions of the heat peak in summer; Chobok marks the beginning, Jungbok marks the middle, and Malbok marks the end. Yesterday was Chobok – i.e. very hot days ahead…

Koreans believe that one should defeat heat with heat! Since the hot weather makes people weaker, one must eat food rich in energy. That’s when poshingtang comes in! Samgyetang (chicken soup – the chicken being young and stuffed with ginseng, garlic, jujube and sweet rice) is also quite popular to defeat heat.

Eating dog meat is a Korean tradition that probably emerged when the country was poor and such food was cheap. Koreans have a way of bragging about their food with catch phrases like “it’s very very good for your health”

Once labeled as such, poshingtang remained trendy Korean food. Plus, if you tell a man he’ll be able to sexually fulfill his wife’s fantasies… what do you expect!

However this became a problem during the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the government, fearing that the country would suffer from bad publicity, banned dog meat. That’s when poshingtang became Gaegogi, gaejangguk, and so on – Koreans were not ready to stop eating their source of vitality so they just gave it other names.

Koreans also enjoy gaesoju - a fermented drink that is distilled by cooking the dog in a double boiler. Dog’s penis used to be added as a medicine to supplement energy…mmmm?

There are said to be more than 6,000 restaurants across the country selling poshintang, or dog meat soup, getting through about 8,500 tons per year. Another 93,600 tons is used annually to produce kaesoju.

Of course it seems cruel to eat dog meat – they are so cute and we have come to consider them man’s best friend. Always jovial, dogs keep us company, come with us for a run or a walk, and they love to cuddle. We dress them in outfits; some even wear four little boots and a hat. Women carry them in their purse.

We feel like we understand them, and they understand us. People say dogs have feelings – therefore it would be cruel to kill them and eat them.

I agree. But what about other animals we massively raise and nastily kill for the sole purpose of food? Don’t they feel pain? Don’t we hear them scream as the butcher slits they throat open? Aren’t they suffering when they are skinned ALIVE?

Ever since I was a child I’ve been enjoying delicious steaks, fried chicken and exquisite pork cutlet. Meat tastes so good!

And now that I’ve lived in Korea for 2 years, I understand how difficult (though very possible) it would be for someone to be a vegetarian here; social activities revolve around eating – work dinner usually consist of samgyeopsal (fat pork) or galbi (BBQ beef), and huge amounts of soju.

Moreover, when someone more important than you (older, or higher in the social hierarchy) offers you something, it would be rude to refuse. So if your boss says you’re all going out for poshingtang, you can only nod and tag along - no matter if your wife is waiting with the kids or if you’re a vegetarian.

I guess it’s natural to some extent for humans to eat and even crave meat. I really don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

But the way we raise and kill them….!? It is simply repulsing! Disgusting. Cruel. Appalling. Atrocious. Fucking sick!

So I thought I’d share this video Doug made me watch in an effort to raise a little bit of awareness. Though it is absolutely shocking, I think every single human being (particularly meat eaters) should watch this.

I’m definitely not a vegetarian, but I certainly will eat as less meat as possible. After all, we can live very well without it. And that’s not mentioning trendy delicacies such as monkey brain, snake blood, and so on.

My boss took us out to lunch today and we had shabu shabu (a broth with salad, mushrooms, chives and of course beef/duck/pork meat) and all I could think of was the miserable pig hung from the ceiling, bleeding to death while still struggling for his life…

Enjoy.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967

** The Bible: Peter Singer's "animal liberation"

References: my friends, co-workers, wikipedia, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/422338.stm, http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/1370_per_capita_consumption_of_meat_and.html

The simple maze

2008-07-28T19:08:00.001-07:00

It’s simple. The sun rises. The sun sets. Then, once in a while, it rains.

Crops grow, majestic trees and flowers embellish every single day, and then they die. They go back to earth, just like any “dead living” thing.

No matter what departs this life, it inevitably comes back. The flower I smell is the result of the sun, the rain, but mostly the earth – which is rich! So many departed carcasses of fish, cows, birds, humans, even leaves, have enriched it over the years.

My grandma is “living” in that tree and the grass next to her grave. Our ancestors are all around us, even in the air we breathe – the CO² transformed by the flora.

It’s complex yet so simple. Everything is taken care of by nature and all we have to do is live. Just be.

So why the fuck is everything so complicated? Why is the world so messed up?

Serial killers, drug addicts, mass murderers, suicide-bombers, politicians… what an ignominy. Not to mention brain-dead kids staring at the TV box, playing violent video games and growing fatter and lazier every day. And all that crap in our food, even water.

Complicated relationships, drinking, smoking, pretend friends and always keeping in mind this impassible façade. Even the Internet is too much. Too much information. Too much energy. Too addictive.

In such an immense, magnificent world, how come some of us are still stuck in a rut? Why seek destruction, control, power and hatred?

Naked in Korea

2008-07-27T01:45:00.000-07:00

This blog is about Jeju but anyone in Korea, including on Jeju island, could happen to lose their passport (or have it stolen...)

Believe me: it sucks big time.

So I thought i'd post some quick info in case anyone is wondering what to do in such case.

1) have some Korean co-worker call every possible place (airport, police station, the "national lost and found" office, your embassy, etc.)

2) Go to the nearest police station and get them to write a report. They'll probably say you don't need one but show them the embassy's checklist and they'll get their ass in gear

3) Get two passport pictures from any photographer. It would be worth to mention here that Korean passport photos are 5X5cm whereas the Canadian passport requires 5X7cm ones...

4) Download the application forms from the embassy's website

5) Get ready to pay something like 200$ for a round-trip flight to Seoul

6) Go to the embassy with all the documents and (reluctantly) give them the fee - 150$ Keep in mind that they're probably open only 2-3hours a DAY so don't go in the afternoon; they'll probably be chilling at the beach

7) Come back to Jeju with empty pockets and accept the fact that you won't be able to spend another dime for a few weeks because you were stupid enough to lose this precious document

8) 3 weeks later (or so), it SHOULD be mailed to you...

Young at heart

2008-07-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

Picture this. Sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the ships row in, and I watch them row away again… oh wait, I ain’t no Otis Redding!

Still, I was sitting by the ocean, loving the gorgeous view of fishermen boats quietly floating on the water, the sun shining through the clouds. The fresh salty smell of the sea was gently amusing my nostrils while the sound of the waves made me feel more peaceful than ever.

While this has been my daily stop on my way home for a while now, followed by the oh-so-awesome horse-petting a few minutes from home, I was pleasantly surprised to come across “the crew”.

Pickup trucks loaded with old people in tired clothes, ajummas (old women) slowly riding their bicycle with a basket full of seafood and crops, others riding on an old scooter, the exhaust spitting a giant black cloud of smoke. Petrol is so expensive now; I suspect they are using another form of carburant…

She looked so serious and tired. She had a frown on her wrinkled face and her aching legs were painfully pedaling. Like all the other ajummas, she was wearing a worn-out shirt and some dirty loose pants.

The socks she had on used to be white, and her plastic slippers looked like they once were pink. In the intent of protecting her old skin from the sizzling sun, she was wearing a big hat and an old piece of fabric was covering her ears and forehead.

She looked so small, yet so grand. Her half-bent posture and frail bone-structure contrasted with the respect and admiration she woke in me.

Probably 70 years old, she was coming back from a long day working the field or the ocean. They all were.

I greeted her and her face immediately lightened up. Her smile was gorgeous. She got off her bike and sat next to me. Without any words, I offered her a banana and she sunk her teeth right into it. She did worry that I might be hungry, but my appetite was nothing compared to this hard-working woman’s.

We heard someone yell and she turned around, shouting something back in Korean. Of course she didn’t speak English, but we managed to communicate for a little while. I learned that she is a haenyo (woman diver) and that she lives near my school. She learned that I’m a sangsengnim (teacher) from Canada and that I’m leaving in about a month.

Probably worried about her friend, another ajumma was slowing approaching on her bicycle. As soon as she reached us, my ajumma started yapping and gave her half the banana.

I searched for some kind of affection in their voice, but their actions spoke louder. At 70 years old, they were all diving together, day after day, looking through their old goggles to find some expensive seashell they’d later sell in order to make a living. They are tired, but they keep doing it. They don’t really have a choice. But they have each other.

Only women can be haenyos – thus the husbands work the field. I always find it quite endearing to see them pick up their wife on their scooter at the end of the day. It seems romantic to me – though Miss Lee says there’s nothing tender about it. She has never even seen her parents kiss, hug or cuddle.

Another ajumma yelled something our way and the two women shouted something back. They smiled at me, one of the bowed, and they hopped back on their bicycles. I could still hear them laughing “Ooooh! Canada!! Sangsengnim!”

The whole crew kept going and my heart felt so good. Boy, do I admire them ole ladies! They may have old bikes, old clothes, and they may be old people too, but they are so dynamic and young at heart.

Mum and dad in my world

2008-07-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

Last month my parents spent two weeks in Seoul and Jeju. It was quite fun and I took them places even I had never been! Aside from my dad’s “special” taste for food (i.e. only the familiar Western cooking...), I was glad to see their daily reaction to new Korean adventures.

Having lived in Seoul for a year, I took them to the usual tourist spots:

Changdeokgung palace – with its gorgeous secret garden, it offers a great anachronism with the big metropolis…

Insadong – the oh-so-lovely Buddhist/artsy neighborhood where they struggled to used chopsticks and mum tasted exquisite seafood pancakes.

It also where one can taste delicious traditional rice cakes prepared on the spot, as you can see on this picture. They beat the rice until it is a thick paste used to make the Korean delicacy.

Obviously the subway experience was one of a kind, surrounded by Koreans watching tv on their cell phones, playing video games, napping on each other’s shoulder… and of course random people selling random stuff such as wallets or socks.

For the first ever I visited the Korean traditional folk village – about an hour subway ride from downtown, and a half-hour bus ride. It’s definitely worth seeing, especially the seesaw and dancing shows. The traditional houses are also pretty cool.

Mum was going to the bathroom before hopping on the bus but she couldn’t… it was nearly impossible to go around those homeless napping. It’s really sad. Seoul station is particularly infamous for its drunk homeless.

We came across a very unusual event – that is, a horny horse trying to get it on with its significant other. Unfortunately it was show time and the crew beat the crap out of it.

A night visit at Cheonggyecheon after delicious samgyeopsal (fat pork) was the logical next step. The stream originally existed years ago and was then buried to make a street where street vendors sold local products. A few years ago, the mayor of Seoul decided to throw away the merchants and rebuild the stream. It is gorgeous at night.

Dad was quite impressed with the amount of police buses all around Gwanghwamun (downtown)... though it is because most embassies are located in the city center, the main reason is because of the recent (and still ongoing) protests against the US beef. Those protests have been held every night for over a month and, though quite peaceful (candle-light vigil), there have been some signs of violence.

My personal favorite was Seodaemun prison, where Koreans were tortured during the Japanese occupation.

Everything in there is VERY visual – from a Korean woman having her shirt ripped off while a Japanese soldier is laughing, to a very disturbing scene in which Japanese soldiers are torturing Koreans. They apparently used sharp objects under people’s nails.

The cells were tiny. It must have been hell.

Big time.

And while some nations try to forget, or forgive, Koreans obviously keep the sadistic memory alive. I really don’t get war. The Japanese were freaking torturing Koreans in their very own country. How sick is that.

Another tourist attraction I hadn’t seen yet is the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea) It’s definitely a must.

The following picture is a list of all the efforts for reunification. There are MANY eh!

The most impressive spots were the 3rd tunnel and Dorasan station. This train station was built after the South Korean government gave the North millions to reconnect both Koreas. It took years to even happen, and when it did Kim Jong-Il said he wasn’t ready to have “people” come. Only food. So the place is basically empty.

So even up to that day, the South keeps sending the North food supplies. And no one can catch a train to North Korea. It was such a big deal back then, even George W. Bush paid Dorasan a visit.

It’s incredibly sad to see how far away the North and South still are from each other, even though geographically they are so close.
Discovered in 1978, the 3rd tunnel is one of the many tunnels dug by the North to invade South Korea. Again, it is very, VERY disturbing to see. The South found them but they are afraid there are still more undiscovered.

We went in. 45 meters below the surface. It was humid, dark and narrow. Yet apparently the tunnel could allow the transit of some 30000 soldiers per HOUR. How scary is that? Of course the South considered this a sign of aggression, but the North said there was no proof that it isn’t, in fact, the South that built the tunnel to invade the North.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, I was the closest a normal citizen can get to North Korea. I didn’t see the “no pictures” sign until I was out. Sorry…

Another interesting spot in the DMZ is the freedom bridge. I almost cried when I saw the kids’ drawings, dreaming of reunification. 12.773 Korean war prisoners returned to South Korea, passing this bridge by foot. Thus the name.

The DMZ really is quite a spooky area. Yet I was very surprised to learn that there is a small village in the restricted area where South Korean farmers live, a few minutes away from North Korea. And the same is true on the other side. Whatever the South does (be it build a building, or accidentally shoot), the North always does twice bigger.

There is an observatory that allows people to “see” the North but the day we went we couldn’t see a thing because it was so foggy. It thought it was interesting that there is a line on the ground after which no one is allowed to take pictures. It’s like you can see that North Korea exists, but you can’t prove it ;)

Anyone visiting the DMZ can feel a very strong vibe there, the hope that the North will finally come to its senses and aim at reunification. South Korea has done heaps to help the North, and they only want peace. There are still countless families separated between the North and the South.

Once in a lifetime they get to meet in a mountain at the border, and they get 3 hours to “catch up” – i.e. cry into each other’s arms and wonder why the world is so fucked up.

Our next step was Dongadeamun and Namdeamun markets. Crucial. Anyone coming to Seoul has to see those. But beware: it will give you a hell of a headache because it is PACKED with people selling and buying all kinds of crap – food, clothes, hammers, drinks, shoes, bags, toys, TVs, jewelry, knives, sunglasses, etc.etc.etc.

I took my parents to a very "cozy" restaurant… it was dirty and quite cheap. I think they appreciated the experience, though they weren’t so fond of the ambiance…

Mum got this great shot of a kid peeing on the street, right in the middle of the very crowded Namdaemun market.

After 5 days we left the Sofitel and headed to Jeju. A sweet plane ride spiced up with turbulence and my parents headed to their hotel, the Hyatt, at Jungmun beach. A little piece of heaven, I tell ya.

Unfortunately the weather was crappy for the rest of their stay and they had to deal with rain a lot. I was very impressed with the quantity of things they have seen though! Waterfalls, caves, museums and, well, dad seemed to have a great time…

I slept at their hotel a few nights and enjoyed dinner in their company. It felt nice to eat Western food :) But it was so… surreal! My parents, in Korea! There they are with a haenyo (woman diver) at the Hyatt seafood buffet. Yummy.

They came to my school and mum was speechless when she saw all the kids running around, jumping on my back and yelling my name. Yet when class started everyone was quiet and they both attended my class with a big smile.

I took them to Hallim Park – a pretty great (and big!) tourist spot with plenty of cool flowers and plants and lava caves.

We also drove by cool green tea fields - which look even better on a sunny day :)
They also went to the Hallim 5-day market. Most towns on the island have a market every 5-day and sell local products – from fish, to fruit, vegetables, herbs, seeds, and even worms!

It was pretty sad to see them go. In the past three years, we’ve said goodbye so many times. But it was great having them here and now I only have a month and a half left in Korea. Though the sun, beaches, food, friends and fiestas are very, very (!) nice, I really look forward to going home!

Ingrid Betancourt

2008-07-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already heard: the French-Colombian politician was finally freed. Rumors of her death had been going on for the 6 years during which she was held captive by the Colombian Farc rebel group. More info on BBC News.

Cheater, jailer

2008-06-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

What would you do if you found your husband in bed with another woman?

Hit him?
Kill him?
Cry?
Forgive?
Divorce?

How about... sending him to jail?

As it turns out, adultery is a crime in Korea and someone found guilty of cheating can face up to two years of jail time.

But I wonder… where is the line? How far should we allow the government to interfere in our personal lives?

Rousseau’s social contract - in which each individual gives up some of his/her personal freedom for the good of the greater society - didn’t discuss adultery. Maybe he should have.

After all, is cheating on your lover really a public matter? Is adultery posing a threat to society? Sure it is a moral issue, but shouldn’t we let individuals solve the matter?

Ironically, Time magazine tells that about 65 percent of Korean married men have dated other women after they married and 41 percent of women have dated other men.

More shockingly, a survey on 3,857 adults nationwide on adultery issues by a local weekly magazine revealed that nearly 68 percent of men and 12 percent of women said they had sex out of marriage.

A recent scandal brought a new wave of raging debates over whether the law should be repealed.

South Korean actor Park Chul pressed charges against his wife, popular TV star Ok So-ri, of cheating on him with his close friend and an Italian chef who was giving her private cooking lessons.

Admitting she indeed had an affair with the friend (not the chef), Ok, 39, took the issue one step further: she filed a petition in court, challenging the constitutionality of the 55-year-old adultery statute.

While the Constitutional Court has already ruled three times in favor of the adultery law (the last time was in 2001), Ok might have a good chance of winning this case – not only is it high-profile, but Korean society is rapidly changing (not necessarily evolving) and this might be a long overdue change.

It is true that Korean culture was (and still is, though not as much) strongly influenced by Confucianism and that back in the days women were treated as inferior to men.

Forbidden to work outside the house, not earning any sort of income, and forbidden to even think about divorce, women probably needed an adultery law. It was their only recourse against a cheating husband.

And it was probably very avant-gardist at that time.

But is such a law still appropriate today?

Could the Korean adultery law actually have become an anachronism? Or is it a permanent response to the West’s free-sex culture? Does such a law even have an impact; does it deter cheaters from cheating? And more importantly, does the punishment even fit the “crime”?

Each year, more than 1,200 people are indicted under the law and about half are convicted.

An article published in the Economist reveals that up to one-fifth of South Korean men between the ages of 20 and 64 pay for sex up to four times each month.

People need sex. They hire escorts. They go to prostitutes. They masturbate. Some attend orgies. Others have affairs.

But it is your problem if you married a cheater, a town bicycle. You can either forgive them, or divorce them.

Some guys I have discussed this with have actually told me that divorce could in some cases feel like getting out of jail. They don't think it would be fair to take them to an actual jail after they've finally escaped the emotional confinement of marriage (!)

Society should not have to pay the price of adultery - how expensive do you think it is to have someone in jail for 2 years? That’s 3 meals a day, electricity, guards, etc? If you cheat on someone you love, you need help/counsel; not jail time.

Ref:
NY Times
Global Voices
The Economist

Rhymes with Jeju

2008-06-23T22:11:00.001-07:00

So i've been getting quite a lot of emails lately - mainly from people thinking about coming to Korea to teach English, gain a new experience and meet cool people.

If you've checked out the blog I used to write when I was in Seoul last year, you are probably already familiar with my views on some "losers" who escape their crappy life in America and come to Korea to feel better about themselves.

Pathetic guys who can't get a girl back home suddenly find themselves married to a gorgeous Korean woman. Socially awkward individuals are not bullied anymore - they in turn bully Koreans.

Average Joes become loud and wealthy (coz you make relatively good money here) idiots who think they own the world – getting wasted every week-end, initiating fights, desperately trying to get laid, insulting poor Koreans who have no clue what’s going on, and screaming stupid shit on the street at 5am.

That's of course a very small percentage of the foreign community in Korea and I reckon that anyone coming here will, like me, meet amazingly cool people. Actual travelers, free and open-minded citizens of the world!

The experience of coming to Korea is such a rich one because not only do you learn about Korean culture, but also you mature, grow and learn from really awesome people!

But still, I would suggest taking a look at this Yahoo group called "rhymes with jeju" because some serious immature discussions have been going on there (especially lately). And I am speechless; I just can't believe some of these people are actual teachers!

Australia

2008-06-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

I am always happy to fly back to Korea – though I am an alien in this country, it is a familiar environment that almost feels like “home”…that is, when home is out of question until my contract ends.

Over the past two years I have grown fond of this exceptional Korean culture and aside from a few (like in any country) annoyances, I always look forward to coming back to the land of the morning calm.

But not this time.

That week spent in Australia (Oz!) was probably one of the best in my life!

Not too far from Korea, it’s a 2-hour flight to Tokyo and then about 7 hours to Cairns (North East of Australia). I flew with Qantas Airways and I must say it was incredibly nice to see White people with breasts, a solid tush, hips and meat on the bones as opposed to tiny (often skinny) Korean flight attendants! Hearing English was just sweet music to my ears.

Australian customs was a slap in the face at 6am –dogs sniffing my bags as well as an officer searching me and threatening to fine me for bringing wood into the country. As it turns out, those old wood bracelets of mine are made of wood (ya don't say!)… Luckily the chick let me go with a warning and a brochure (in Italian!)

The 20-minute cab ride to the unit cost an exorbitant 42$ because Cairns is apparently some sort of tourist trap. Indeed, the sun was shining and we were staying about 2 minutes away from Trinity beach.

I forgot to take a picture of our unit, but that’s the place next door… pretty sweet eh!

I should mention here that many beaches have huge nets protecting the swimming areas from sharks a jellyfish. It’s quite impressive. Apparently there are countless stories of tourists being injured while swimming away from those nets.

The Australian scenery is breath taking, and the fauna and flora are just delightful. I liked seeing how road sign differ from any country I’ve been to – especially the Kangaroo in a yellow diamond telling drivers to be careful coz they might cross the highway anytime. Back home they’re deer. Oh and the legs at crosswalks haha In Canada we have a full person but in Oz it’s just floating pants and shoes!

To my delight, we basically ate cheese, crackers and drank wine the whole time! Though I did taste Australian classics such as fish burger (mmmm… two buns stuffed with fish, bacon, eggs, salad and sauce), fish and chips (deep fried fish with fries), and beer battered chips ("fries" are called "chips" over there).

If you get a chance to taste a Cooper, DO IT! It’s probably the best beer I’ve ever had! And if you get a chance to check out Chopper Reid on the web, DO IT!! Margeaux showed me a few episodes and it is a hilarious parody of an actual Australian criminal!

I stuffed myself with muesli (oh so expensive in Korea!), fruit, fruit and more fruit, and of course chicken kebab. I did try Vegemite (Kraft’s yeast jam from the 1920s that apparently fed the soldiers during the war) but it was too strong and salty for my taste. Margeaux would moan of pleasure every time she had it, which was basically every day.

We had a swimming pool downstairs so the first few days were spent sunbathing (or sunbaKing as they say) but we did a whole lot of stuff afterwards – a crocodile farm (where Doug actually used to work!), Port Douglas, the Esplanade in Cairns, the waterfall in Kuranda, shopping at the night markets, and a sweet-ass cruise to the great barrier reef.

Hatley’s Crocodile Farm is a great day excursion that can scare the shit out of ya, especially if you witness a crocodile fight – which we did. It was nothing like at the movies or what you see in books!

Crocs basically look like logs in a filthy river and the sounds they make are just surreal. Sometimes all you could see was their eyes and nose, the rest of their body was hidden under water. They are very patient creatures, as I realized when this croc had his jaw wide open for over 20 minutes, (i assume) waiting for a prey to come along.

Margeaux filmed a random fight we saw in a pond:

The zoo was filled with other animals including a funny-looking bird called Cassowary, lizards, birds and even a spider. We checked out the snake and crocodile shows – which were pretty wicked.

Here’s a video of the croc show taking place every day at 3pm – impressive (scary!) jaw sounds and you wouldn’t believe how close the guy gets to the croc!

I ended up having a tasty crocodile skew for only 5 bucks. Dipped in mango sauce, it tastes like chicken, only chewier.

We petted a few crocodiles and their back skin is indeed as rough as it seems, but their "belly" feels kinda soft. I also gave a snake a massage… again, you would be surprised how spongy those feel. I had forgotten how their shed their skin too, eeeeew!

As for Koalas, I thought they were pretty ugly until I saw this couple with a baby... aaaaaw! And the positions they sleep in is also something to see!

We rented a car so Margeaux (wildly! :D) took us through the windy roads along which were breath-taking sceneries or mountains, forests and of course the ocean. She tried showing me a gorge but it just really looked like any random lake back in Quebec… she was all in awe ;)

I personally liked the never-ending sugarcane fields... they are impressively tall but surprisingly untasty...

The Kuranda waterfalls on the other hand look very….dry! Australia’s been suffering from a drought for a while now, but you can tell those falls must be breathtaking after the rain. It was a nice walk through the forest too. I don’t think I had ever seen the rainforest… it smells so good, it’s gorgeous and grandiose!

We really had a lot of fun the whole week and I was excited to learn Aussie expressions! I got this slang dictionary and it’s priceless! Here are a few:

- Fried eggs = flat breasts
- Fair dinkum = true, genuine

- To be stoked = very pleased

- To stand out like dog's balls = obvious

- To drink with the flies = to drink alone

- Give it a burl = give it a try

- Spewin' = very angry

- Liquid laugh = vomit

- Mozzie = mosquito

- Piece of piss = easy task

- Reckon! = You bet!

- Ute = Utility vehicle

- To rubbish = to criticize

- To yabber = talk a lot

- He's got the wobbly boot on = he's drunk

...

I did find that Australians are not as… authentic and genuine as Quebecers, but they sure are nice and funny! I especially love watching "bogans" (equivalent to the American white trash) go about their business… there’s an Aussie show I completely love it’s called “Kath and Kim” , some Australian version of French Canadian parody “Le Coeur a ses raisons”…it’s just so funny and the word plays are hilarious!

Weird birds woke us up every morning with their sharp howling, except that day we took the cruise. Damn, we were up at 6:30am! But it was totally worth it!

If you ever want to check out one of the world’s greatest coral reef barrier, ‘Passions of Paradise’ is a pretty sweet cruise – the staff is very friendly, competent, the boat is cool, the buffet is delicious (Prawns! Prawns! Prawns!), and there’s a whole bunch of activities to do.

It takes about two hours to get to the reef, where we stopped to check out this gorgeous island and snorkel. They provide all the equipment. We even tried scuba diving for free, and Margeaux was so hooked she went for the whole dive! I on the other hand completely freaked out under water and didn’t get the certificate ;)

The clouds came in the afternoon and it was awesome to float on giant waves, witnessing really cool fish and coral. It was freezing when we got out of water though, and the boat was rocking like you wouldn’t believe! There was a whole bunch of people at the back of the boat holding on tight to their paper bag… others danced their way across the boat, anyway it was fun. I napped : )

And then I woke up Monday morning and it was all over.

Red flag for S. Korean President

2008-05-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

When former Korean President Roh Moo Hyun left office in February 2008, he was exceptionally unpopular and it is with great expectations that the Korean people elected current President Lee Myung Bak.

Former Seoul mayor and successful businessman as well as CEO, Lee Myung Bak won the December 2007 elections with 48.7% of the votes. Interestingly enough, he was at the time investigated for accusations related to fraud and “his” (sturdily debated) Korean now-defunct investment firm BBK.

Throughout his campaign, Lee emphasized the need for better cooperation with neighbor countries such as Japan, China and Russia.

As opposed to his predecessor Roh Moo Hyun, Lee implemented a tougher policy with North Korea. And unlike Roh – who had a rather dire relationship with the US – Lee turned out to be very pro-American.

He suggested that ALL teachers in public schools across Korea should learn English – be it a math, Korean, or even science teacher. He even hinted that Korean English teachers should be required to train in English-speaking countries such as the US, Canada, Australia and the UK.

Koreans are not very fond of that idea. Though they do already push their kids to learn English (sometimes way too hard, “for their own good”), they also understand that the survival of the Korean culture and language would be at stake should Lee’s plan succeed.

For that and the following reasons, Lee Myung Bak’s popularity took a dive in the past few months. When I mention him in class, students roll their eyes. When I discuss politics with the elderly, they immediately get critical of their President.

Though Koreans are a mix of Christians, Buddhists and Atheists, most Koreans think of themselves as fundamentally Buddhist (i.e. do no harm and love everything). The fact that Lee Myung Bak is Christian has led some to believe this might present a threat to Buddhism in Korea… (?)

Moreover, Koreans are very concerned with the currently fragile economy, and while Lee promised to address that issue during his political campaign, he still hasn’t shown satisfying results (well, numbers) to his people. One of his answers actually echoes US President’s discourse – that is, “people need to work harder.” Go tell a homeless that, or an unemployed mother supporting 3 kids, and see what they have to say (or spray!)
Not to mention that the price of gas has more than doubled over the past year... it is now 1 900won/litre. Massive protests (especially truck drivers) have been held all over Korea.

Lee has also ignored the agreements previously made by the North-South summit, preferring to pursue a hardline policy toward Kim Jong Il’s government. While Roh’s approach might have been wayyyy too soft and flexible, Lee’s is wayyy too strict. Most Koreans want a reunification, and considerable progress had been made under the former President’s reign. But with Lee’s hard-line policy, who knows what might even happen to the "sunshine policy"...
The import of US beef has also become an important issue - especially recently, since thousands of Koreans have held daily protests in Gwanghwamun. Most of them were peaceful (holding candles) but some have been quite violent as well. Koreans are protesting against an agreement with Washington to reopen South Korea to American beef, banned for most of the past 4 1/2 years over fears of mad cow disease.
Another hot issue is Lee's idea of building a canal that would go from Busan (Korea's main import/export harbour) all the way up to Seoul. He thinks it's a good alternative to carry commercial goods.
But most Koreans disagree. They think it will only cost them more money. Moreover, why build a canal when things are perfectly fine the way they are, using trucks, airplanes and trains? Plus, such a project would also greatly damage the environment.

Lee has mostly appointed very wealthy members in his cabinet, thus raising concern that his appointees will favor policies that protect the rich while failing to address the needs of the underprivileged.

Lee Myung Bak was elected by the Korean people because he is an example of what a little boy coming from a poor family can do. Him becoming a very successful businessman and politician certainly gave hope to the nation. Anyone can be a Lee Myung Bak!

But it seems like they didn’t expect him to bring his wealthy, strict and rather pro-American style into politics. Not that soon anyway. And now they’re not sure whether they like it or not.
refs: wikipedia, koreans, hani.co.kr, koreaherald.co.kr
pic: google images

Love my life

2008-05-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

Yo llevo en el cuerpo un motor
Que nunca deja de rolar
Yo llevo en el alma un camino
Destinado a nunca llegar
- Manu Chao "Desaparecido"

A fortune teller in Seoul told me that it is my destiny to travel around forever and simply be free. It could have been a wild guess, but he might be right.

Ever since Patrice arrived almost two weeks ago, I have been rediscovering Korea and realized that the daily life of an “explorer” is indeed out of the ordinary.

Be it the unique and tasty food, jawbone massagers (intended to pull back face fat…), 90-degree bent hard-working Korean ajummas in the countryside, breath-taking beaches, mellow sunsets, Korean customs, Korean language (which I understand more and more), walking around naked in saunas, my adorable Korean students, my crazy lovely foreign friends, life here is just another layover in this magnificent world.

May was quite a busy month with Korean holidays such as Buddha’s birthday and Children’s Day, as well as Parents’ Day and Teacher’s Day, not to mention the Western Mother’s Day, my brother’s birthday, my godmother’s birthday, Danila and Chantale’s birthdays, and my very own birthday. Phew.

A lot of great celebrations, a bump on my head and bruises all over my body, a memorable beach party and oh-so much exhaustion. I flew to Seoul to spend a few days with Patrice and bring him with me to Jeju in a hurly-burly charter in which I feared for my life at least twice.

Tiny little birds I’ve seen, lilacs I’ve smelled and gorgeous green leaves are coming out. It’s summer, I’m in love and happy! It freaks me out to realize that yet another year has almost gone by and my head is filled with colors, tastes, music and great memories. And “Hello!!” of course ;)

Only 3 months left – during which my parents are visiting and I’m taking diving lessons. The beach is calling though the water is not warm enough yet, and I don’t know what’s next… India? California? Banff? Australia? How could I ever settle when the world is so wonderful and full of surprises?

Speaking of which… has anyone heard of Loveland? It’s a big park on Jeju island where one can find sex shops and observe giant sex statues for only 7$. Priceless I swear, especially since sex appears to be such a taboo in Korean culture… NOT at Loveland though! We saw Korean couples with kids and strollers posing in front of giant boobies.

Warning: rather explicit pictures...!

They even had a parked car with inflatable dolls in it, a bra and some panties hanging off the rear mirror, the speaker playing sounds of a moaning woman while the car’s springs were going “couik couik” are the car was bouncing to the rhythm of a couple making love...

Miss Anna

2008-04-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

Everyone has an alter ego, but how far you take it, how real it is, certainly depends on who you are. Some of us are one, predictable, entity, while others are internally hosting both Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.

Imaginary friends like my brother’s buddy Gilles go away as we get older, but alter egos can follow us for the rest of our life. Lately I’ve come to wonder whether it’s a healthy pattern... or something resembling a mental disorder.

My alter ego is the real deal. More so ever since I’ve been living in Korea. Her name is Miss Anna and she is a superstar! For the sake of the argument, let’s take a look both personalities.

The real me is Anne-Marie, but my alter ego is Miss Anna. Through no fault of my own, I inherited this nickname because Koreans cannot pronounce my name correctly and the way my boss says “Aaaaaann” (sounds like “aaaaaand”) is extremely annoying. It’s just easier for everyone to call me Anna.

The real me is a sociology/polisci bachelor, but Miss Anna has been teaching English for 3 years now.

The real me speaks French. Yes, I’m francophone. But my alter ego speaks, thinks and even dreams in English 24/7.

The real me is average-looking for Western standards, but Miss Anna is a hot babe for Korean men and a role model for Korean kids. Nothing Miss Anna does goes unnoticed, and like a superstar she’s being photographed and stared at every single day.

The real me eats bananas and goat cheese, stuffs on big fat juicy steaks with mashed potatoes (salt and butter mmm) and starts the day with muesli/fruit/yoghurt, but my alter ego never eats breakfast and is constantly craving fermented spicy cabbage (kimchi) and rice. Nothing but kimchi and rice. And seaweed soup.

The real me doesn’t drive at all, except maybe a bicycle, but Miss Anna is a road warrior, driving for an hour to work every single day. Miss Anna is even learning to drive manual.

The real me is lazy as a cow on the beach, but my alter ego is freaking out of the house 12 hours a day, “working” 9-6 and trying to repress road rage for almost 2 hours a day.

The real me is awkward with kids cauz they look so fragile, I’m afraid I might… break them! But Miss Anna is a super teacher, a loving and caring one who gets hugged, massaged (Korean custom…), followed around, praised and even kissed all the time.

And the list goes on.

I know Miss Anna is probably a more mature Anne-Marie, but I like referring to her as my alter ego because she’s so much cooler than Anne-Marie! Hell, she’s living in Korea, traveling the world, she has tons of friends (and is a party animal…), she’s rock climbing, meditating, learning knitting and parading naked in saunas, she’s even gonna be a certified diver and she’s getting pretty good at the guitar!

But Anne-Marie is nothing like that in Canada. She has no career, and 3 years of living overseas have somehow estranged her from most of her friends and family. I guess Miss Anna is the price Anne-Marie is paying for to be a citizen of the world ;)

Maybe we should take the sidewalk?

2008-04-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

Spring has set innumerable smiles on my lips and I haven’t felt this happy in a long time. This is a picture i took at Hallim harbor, one day I was checking out the sunset.

The sun is shining, the wind is cool, the earth is awakening, the trees smell fantastic, the birds are singing, flowers are blooming, life is good! Even when it rains, there's a sweet perfume in the air and it makes me blissful.

I actually witnessed quite a few sunsets lately and… what a spectacle! I also try to stop by the horse field on my way home every nite cauz they’re so darn beautiful. Moreover, my friends and I have been cruising around the island and uncovered some hidden paradises and beaches. Stuck in my city life, I had forgotten all about the joys of the countryside.

Sasha and I rode our motorbikes down south yesterday, which was awesome just like that road trip with Lisa last week-end.

While sitting on the beach eating strawberries, we caught the high tide and the "hot-tub-like" in front of us turned into tiny waterwfalls!
We also hung out with the cows and enjoyed some quiet countryside peace, calm and silence. It's funny how you find Korean traditional graves right in the middle of a field. Good fertilizer?

The Cherry Blossom festival was quite nice, but I truly enjoyed the “off-spot” spectacle all over the island. Cherry Blossoms don’t smell anything at all, but they are beautiful as hell and their petals fly all around, just like some cute little snowstorm in winter. Very romantic too.

Danila, Alicia and Kyle got their hand waxed for only 5 bucks, which was totally cool. The whole area surrounding the stadium was quite festive and we spent the afternoon there, completely hungover and happy. I even won a tiny stuffed animal for my skills at arcade shooting (not something to be proud of, I know)

Meanwhile a horrible smell was floating on the streets, some apparently "delicious" Korean snack that repulses most foreigners to their very heart. I don’t know what it’s called, but eeeew!

A few of us were lucky enough to get free tickets to the “Nanta” premiere on Jeju island – a popular Korea show back in Seoul that revolves around making mind-blowing music with kitchen stuff. I was quickly told to turn off my camera, but you should check out the footage of one of their show posted on youtube. Mind-BLOWING.

I believe I've mentionned this before - when a Korean restaurant, show, or whatever, opens, friends send those big flower things with their name on it as a sign of support. The more flowers you get, the more friends you have - hence the more people should trust your product.

We then headed to Troy’s BBQ – he has this great place in the countryside, looks like a palace (check out the hall!) and I felt incredibly heartbroken by the sight of this gorgeous Labrador being stuck in a cage all day. It’s certainly not waiting to become the meat in some “energizing” Korean dog soup; it’s just there for no apparent reason. Why have a dog if you’re going to leave it in a cage all day? Troy takes it for a run once in a while, but the owner really doesn’t give a shit. And that’s sad.

Heading back to Shin-Jeju, we caught this great Korean band playing at Led Zepplin, very mellow music, kinda reminded me of Radiohead. And the bass player is a chick!

A week ago was Laurie’s bday celebration– loads of fun and partying until sunrise, actually 8am!! It was a crazy night (except when Sasha massaged my feet... that was just nice! :) especially that bit at the noreabang (karaoke)...

The night before we had gone out to GP for a few drinks and came across this drunken man completely passed out on a sidewalk. We tried waking him up but he didn’t move. Funny thing is that he wasn’t dressed like a hobo at all – which once again demonstrates how any, ANY, Korean man (except like one of two in the entire country) will get freaking wasted any chance he gets. Sometimes it’s work pressure, or peer pressure, but in this case the man was all alone. No friends in sight. Anyway, it blows my mind.

Any day of the week, in any restaurant, you can expect to find Korean men in work suit being pissed at like 8pm. We've seen it all... the red face drunk-dialing, staggering all over, yelling "i love you" to foreigners, trying to light up a cigarette from the wrong end, even sleeping on the table!

My motorbike finally got fixed and I’m quite relieved. Koreans drive according to their very own "standards"– which is safe as long as everyone does it, but with my bike stalling every 5 sec… I was a hazard! More so than cars parked on sidewalks, buses changing 2 lanes at a time, taxi drivers cutting you off and motorbikes driving on the sidewalk.

Which reminds of something funny my friend said as we were waiting for a red light. He turned to me and said “maybe we should take the sidewalk” and we did and avoided traffic. People would have killed us back home, but here it wasn’t a big deal, especially since we were driving carefully – as opposed to those countless delivery dude almost running over the elderly every single minute of the day!

And the "maybe" part of his question is so Korean! Koreans always say "mmmm, maybe you can have a seat?", "mmmm maybe we can stop here", etc. which is their way of being respectful. But even when they have the plane ticket to go to, say, Tokyo, even when they're flying off the next day, they'll be saying "mmmm, maybe I go to Tokyo tomorrow" hahaha

On my way to work I saw seaweed being dried on the side of the road. I thought it was cute until I realized how much pollution (car exhaust!) must be going into that seaweed, not to mention the pee and spit already laid on the concrete. So much for health standards.

Another week, only 4 months and a half left here, it’s crazy how time flies. I’m turning 25 in less than a month and that’s freaking me out. Gonna keep going to meditation and keep trying that rock climbing thing because I refuse not to be able to pull my own weight after living a quarter of a century on this planet!

Oh yeah, and I got Kyle this wicked "good bush, bad Bush" t-shirt in Bali, check it out hahaha

Shortage of Hellos

2008-04-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

Did you know that William Shakespeare used over 884 647 words altogether (works included), whereas an average contemporary person knows between 12 000 – 20 000 words? I wonder what happened to our brain.

Yet when a Korean sees a foreigner, the only English word that they seem to know is “Hello” It’s not their fault; it’s their brain. It’s their mom who told them to say “Hello” every time they see a weiguk (foreigner). It's a reflex.

But here’s the problem: I’m all out of “hello”s. It’s nothing personal really. The word just won’t come out anymore. I’m physically traumatized. I can’t say it anymore. My brain won’t let me.

I’d be glad to say “good morning”, “yes it is a beautiful day” or just smile. But even my beautiful smile is not enough. They need to hear me say "Hello"

I'm a tall girl with blond curly hair so of course I’m an easy target. And here are a few (real life) scenarios that might be why I’m all out of “hellos”:

Having a chat with my co-worker outside, some girls yelled “Hellooooo” to us. I smiled at them and kept talking with Bill. Unsatisfied, the girls yelled even louder “Helllllllooooo”. I thought they were rude so I ignored them (after all, I did smile at them even thought they interrupted us). That’s when they screamed their lungs out “HELLOOOOO”
Driving my scooter near City Hall, my curly hair was coming out of my helmet and some kids walking the opposite way noticed. They shouted “Hello, hello, hello” 3 times, as if what…? They expected me to stop the scooter and go talk to them? Maybe wave and get into a traffic accident?
Going to the supermarket, I keep my helmet on to ensure some privacy. Stupid idea, I know. Some little girl spotted me from afar and ran to the dairy section where I was just to say “Hello!!” Of course people turned around as soon as they heard the magic word and I saw parents telling their kids “go say hello to the weiguk”. Within a second, I was bombarded with “Helloooooo” Meanwhile, the parents were looking at my basket, trying to figure out what people like me eat, and they rushed to the cheese section to get the same.
On a raining day, at night, I’m walking with my hood on. I’m even wearing glasses and they’re so thick (I’m practically blind) that you can’t see my eyes. I’m looking down anyway. My hair is tied up, hidden under my hood, no visible sign that I’m a foreigner. Well guess what. A bunch of youngsters turn to me as soon as they hear me come and say “Hello!!”
It’s night. It’s dark. How do they do it!?
I’m in the countryside, speaking on the phone with my friend when this little boy comes up to me. He sees that I’m clearly having a conversation, but he doesn’t care. He stands in front of me and says “Hello, how are you, I’m good, my name is hae jeong, nice to meet you, bye” – as if all those words were in fact one very long word. Without even waiting for an answer he leaves.
That’s a daily one: I’m in my office, the window is next to my computer and I’m doing class prep. I swear: every single one of my students will come by, look inside, open the window and shout “helloooo”.
Sitting on the bus, completely lost in my thoughts and listening to my music, a group of teenagers get in and of course spot me right away! What do they say? “Helloooooooo” loud enough to interrupt my quiet reverie.
Aaaah my favorite: eating at the school cafeteria. Bill and I are like aliens. Koreans of all age look at our tray, wondering if we eat like them. If there’s a lot of kimchi, they laugh. If there’s not enough rice, they laugh. Everything we do is laughable. Then the bell rings and the students rush in. 50 girls yelling “Helloooooo”
Walking by the Middle School, there’s a gym class going on outside. Korean teachers are very strict and the kids must behave in class. Except when weiguks walk by. Jump ropes are put down and countless “Helloooo”s are being yelled. Sometimes the teacher will point his golf club and tell them to shut it, but most of the time he doesn’t.
Having a nice dinner out with friends, i barely have time to swallow my rice when a kid comes up to me and stares. then, he either leaves without a word, or says "Hellooo" before turning around.

And the list goes on. I probably say “Hello” and “Hi” at least 100 times a day. I just physically can’t do it anymore. But if I ignore them, they chase me. Or they scream, which is even worse. If I reply, they laugh, covering their mouth while giggling.

In theory, they are cute. They are really cute. Man, how many times have I said that people back home can be really anti-social?

But the thing is, I don’t think Koreans do it to be social. It’s like a dare game. And it’s freakin’ annoying.

What annoys me the most is that it seems like “Hello” is the only English word they know. We spend so much energy teaching them how to converse in English, and all they can say is “Helloooo”, and run away?

I think I like it better when ajummas satisfy their cultural curiosity by slapping my butt. It's totally inappropriate, but at least it's funny.

When I go back to Quebec next summer, I will try the following:
- I’ll slap a Japanese woman’s ass
- I’ll blatantly stare at a Korean child
- I’ll scream “Ni hao” to every Chinese person I see until they reply. Then, I’ll burst into laughter.

This is going to be fun.

Comfort women

2008-04-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

The name itself is degrading. Comfort women. Who gets the comfort? The soldier gets comfort from raping women.

But when you see those women, old and wrinkled, gray hair and teary eyes, reminding you of your grandmother, you just can’t stand it. It’s heartbreaking and sickening.

Comfort women were used as sexual slaves by the Japanese army during the Second World War. They were mainly from Korea and China (and other territories under Japanese occupation), and they were forced into prostitution. Numbers vary, but it is estimated that there were between 10 000 and 200 000 of them.

Some young women were kidnapped and directly taken to brothels, while others were offered some tempting work at a (fictive) factory, later to be forced into sexual slavery.

Aside from being raped by countless soldiers, day after day, those young women were also victims of torture, beatings and other physical abuse.

The Japanese government, in the hope that it would improve the morale and effectiveness of the soldiers, sponsored the brothels. Yes, forcing young women into sex does give a man enough strength to kill other men. It was like an orgy of good deeds eh! Seriously. You’ve got to be kidding me.

The testimonies found online are devastating – from young women being systematically beaten and raped day and night, to girls not old enough to be menstruated yet being kidnapped and raped into the so-called “comfort stations”

These young women are now elderly. Most of them live in some kind of shelter for Comfort Women and they’ve basically lost their life to this tragic experience. They are poor, hurten and helpless. They live together and try to forget, but they can’t. They can only forgive.

Only to forgive such a horrible experience, one needs an apology. And that’s what’s unbelievable: over 60 years later, the Japanese government still hasn’t apologized.

Worse: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe actually said (!!)"The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion."

Shinzo is basically saying that these Chinese and Korean women flew to Japan during wartime and prostituted themselves. That they agreed to have sex over and over and over and over, night and day, out of consent.
Did I mention many of them got pregnant too? Just like the Rwandan genocide (and oh so many others), a child, a beautiful being that should bring joy to this world, is nothing but a daily reminder of excruciating pain and sorrow. Bravo.

I just can’t imagine how these women, over 80 years old now, must feel. Hopeless. Helpless. What the hell is that matter with the world? It’s such a cruel and cold place.

From BBC News (and more on youtube.com):

Ref:
http://www.comfort-women.org/
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women
www.vday.org/contents/vcampaigns/spotlight/comfortwomen
Pics: google images

How long was I asleep?

2008-03-31T00:28:00.000-07:00

I woke up Sunday morning to the sound of clapping hands, tacky Korean songs, and some dude yelling in a mike. It felt as if someone was slowly bolting a screw in my brain. I hate Korean elections because they are LOUD.

Lee Myung-Bak was recently elected Korean President, and it is now time for the National Assembly. In any Korean election, each party is assigned a number (you vote for number 4, you talk about number 3, you discuss number 6’s recent scandal, names don’t really matter), and stands representing the candidates are set all over the country.

The stands display big screens showing the candidate doing community work, reaching out to minorities, shaking hands with the elderly… you name it. Right in front of it there are between 5 and 10 people wearing the party’s colors, dancing and singing the theme song (usually a pop song they’ve adapted the lyrics to), their hands up in the air. It’s just loud and funny to watch.

Thus I woke up Sunday morning to the sound of loudspeakers yelling a candidate’s name and I was pissed. Friday night Bill and I had been to La Vie for a few drinks, and met with Amanda, Danila, Julia, Woody and Arielle at Baghdad Café just to share a few laughs until 2am.

In the intent of being ready for the Blue Agave’s 80s night, I had planned to stay home all Saturday. However, Bill and Amanda showed up for some banana pancakes I had made with (incredibly expensive) organic flour and eggs. As I was about to nap, Mr. Lee called to say he couldn’t find my scooter.

Indeed, as I was riding home Friday night, my tire blew up on the highway. Yes, a flat tire at 100km/hour is scary. Fortunately, my co-worker wasn’t too far behind and he gave me a ride home. The problem is that the highway we were on is brand new and not even on the map so I had to get a cab to meet up with Mr. Lee and show him the way. 2 hours that took. 2 hours!

By the time I got home, I had to get ready to go to Kendra’s potluck and quickly cook my infamous shrimp/kimchi/chives pancakes. The potluck was relatively boring, but the food was alright. We ended up going to La Vie to see Joey, Hugh and Minyoung’s performance – all very entertaining (Minyoung has an amazing voice, especially when she sings Rufus Wainwright’s “Halleluiah”)- mainly Hugh’s song “shitting in the woods”.

A lot of fun, a lot of lovin’! It’s insane to walk into a place and know everyone there, all the hundred-something foreigners on the island. Blue Agave was packed and I can’t really say it felt like the 80s – except maybe for the music Jeremy played (he's my favorite (and only!) French-Canadian on the island), and a few people totally looking swell hehe

As I went home around 6am after disgusting McDonald’s with Tim, Isaac, Jeff and Candice, I just passed out.

And then I woke up.

It was already sunset , and by the time I stepped outside, the night had fallen. I was amazed with the fresh smell of the air and the sight of a cherry blossom fully bloomed right next to my apartment building. How long had I been sleeping? How come I had never noticed it before?

I walked to Mr. Lee’s bike shop to pick up my scooter and drove to the ocean. It was windy, it smelled salty and fishy and I loved it. I took a walk along the beach for a while, and then headed to a flower shop where I bought beautiful plants… and roses for me!

After weeks of walking like a zombie, with my eyes closed all the time (figuratively speaking of course), I was finally awake. Everything started making sense again, I stopped worrying about what others think about me, I stopped trying to please everyone, I stopped pretending to be someone I’m not, and I started feeling incredibly peaceful.

I only have 5 months left on the island, and I’m so excited about summer – taking diving lessons with Paul and Amanda, snorkeling on the beach, having beers by the sea with my people, driving around Jeju, hiking, hell even sailing!

This morning I even took the shore road to work, wondering why I don’t ever do this. Maybe it’s because I save half an hour if I take the highway. But what’s half an hour, compared to driving by the ocean, catching a glimpse of some women diving, listening to the waves breaking on the shore, and the familiar smell of the sea – which recently brought back memories of summer vacations with my family.

Got a busy week, with simlabs starting again, a soccer game Wednesday night (Jeju vs. Busan), meditation on Thursday, and Sunny coming over from Seoul for the week-end. It’s also the Cherry Blossom festival this Saturday! I’m going to start going to Korean classes next Monday (7-9pm) and keep knitting with Julia every Tuesday. I’m thinking about doing rock climbing with Dan if the class is not too advanced… I’m fully prep, doing weights in my classroom ;)

On a final note, here are some of my students playing dodge ball and Scrabble on game day… notice the boy on the right… yes, it’s a perm! And that’s little Joe doing his work while everyone else is playing :( He’s so adorable, always smiling, yelling “Yes teacher I understand!”, bringing me food, giving me hugs, but unfortunately he is also a very slow learner (or he just doesn’t give a damn about English!)…

Getting high, sexually aroused, and more just by drinking water!

2008-03-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

From DemocracyNow!

Totally freaks me out...

Anti-epileptics were found in the drinking water of Southern California;
a sex hormone was found in San Francisco’s water;
three medications and an antibiotic were found in the water supply of Tuscon, Arizona;
and a mood stabilizer was found in the water of New Jersey.

And that’s just to name a few. An exhaustive five-month investigation by Associated Press has found the drinking water in at least twenty-four major American cities across the country contains trace amounts of a wide array of pharmaceuticals. More info here.

7 months already!

2008-03-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

And...another amazing sunset on my way back from Hallim!
It's been almost three weeks since I came back from Bali and things have been pretty much the same - except that I spend more time with friends, i'm learning knitting, attending a meditation class and planning to take diving lessons.

Last week was Ahsleigh's birthday party at La Vie (delicious BLT!), Friday night was Alicia and Kyle's housewarming potluck, Saturday was Jamie's birthday party (at a house he rented for the occasion!), and Monday was work dinner - which turned into a late night at a hof with Amanda, Bill, and newbies Arielle and Tim. A whole lot of fun!

I was also happy to see my lovely students and start a new semester! That's my ABC class trying to line up the alphabet with both big and small letters ;)

I spent Sunday afternoon enjoying the sight of the ocean on a (very) gray day and hiking this small hill at Hamdeok - where there are a few graves at the top, one of them locked in some barbel wire...

Upon my return on Jeju island, I thought the next 5 months (yes, only 5 months left!) would suck because my experience in Bali had opened my eyes (more than ever) to a "new" reality - one of freedom, open-mindness and discoveries - which I thought could not take place in my world, where I have to work and can barely find time to spare.

In a way, I had escaped my everyday routine by going on this trip, and it sure caught up very quickly as soon as I step foot on the island. Luckily, Lisa lent me this book called "The Four Agreements". It's written by Miguel Ruiz and it's got great insights on life and how to simply be happy. I thought I'd share them:

Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Hindu New Year in Bali

2008-03-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

As I am writing this last post about my trip to Indonesia, reality has already sucked me back into my Jeju life, and sharing those stories definitely helps keep the memories alive.

My bad luck turned as I was on a ferry back from Lombok – indeed the cheap alternative (12$ including hotel pick-up and 5-hour ferry ride) to the 40$ airplane (which didn’t even include airport taxes!)

I met a peculiar Philippino who got his diving license drunk, and who is also known as a dentist in San Diego. Juan is a hilarious guy, and he’d always get out of the van every time we were picking somebody up. So of course it had to happen: everyone forgot about him and half an hour later we saw him from afar, riding on some Balinese guy’s motorbike.

It’s also on that boat that I met the most atypical French – a guy and his wife who have a tepee hostel on a farm back in Europe. He was playing a two-string mandolin and smoking his pipe, a real character!

We got off the boat and headed to the love of my life, Ubud. For only 2$, I sat on the front seat of a van, between the driver and some guy, while the transmission stick kept hitting my thighs. It smelled like gas and sweat (thanks to thecountless people sitting in the back) and lasted for a good two hours.

The search for a hotel wasn’t easy, but we finally ended up on Kajeng road, at a lovely hotel called Puri Bebengan – 5$ a night, breakfast and swimming pool included! Nearby, the monsters were still being built and they looked awesome!

The preparation for Hindu New Year had been going on for a while, and everyone including kids wore the traditional Balinese costume. During the few days Patrick and I had spent together, we had seen gatherings at temples, and women carrying offerings.

One thing to know about Hinduism is the belief in good and evil spirits. The Balinese believe that in order to rid the island of evil spirits, they must make offerings every single day. Thus it is no surprise to find everywhere (sidewalks, statues, doorsteps, stairways, etc.) little baskets made out of banana leaves, filled with flowers, rice, fruit and such things. There also usually is incense burning – which explains why it always smells good on the streets of Bali.

Dogs are also an interesting part of Balinese culture – countless dogs are all over the streets, even sleeping in the middle of the road at night. They eat the offerings too. Yet no one does anything about it because the theory is:

Dogs are eating the offerings so maybe they are evil spirits . But maybe they’re not, and maybe they’re just your reincarnated grandfather. So people decide not to take the chance of ruining their karma and let the dogs be. As a result, hundreds of dogs are running around all over the island, many carrying diseases and almost causing car accidents.

Animals are just all over the place!

Women in Bali always carry stuff on their head – which is sometimes quite impressive considering the huge load of vegetables or anything else they carry. They believe that it is good for one’s posture, and most of them do it without even holding the basket with their hands. Their spinalcord is straight as can be!

Before Hindu New Year, I spent a lot of time with Christian (Papillon is his nickname) and Christine, the French couple, and Amandine and Arnaud, another couple from France.

We would often go to Balina Langoon, this exquisite restaurant by our hotel on Kajeng Road, where the food is delicious and cheap! For instance, fried rice with vegetables and an egg for 1.40$, and a tasty avocado salad for only a buck.

We also went a few times to Bali Buddha, a candle-lit lounge where they serve health tonics, vegetarian meals, and the oh-so-good Minessota pizza – sundried tomatoes, basil and goat cheese! Downstairs there’s a market that sells fresh organic fruit and vegetables, as well as other organic stuff. Bali Buddha is east of the center.

We also witness some scary little shadow play in prepration for Hindu New Year – it was at a temple, near Ubud Palace, and even if you don’t understand Balinese, you can tell by the voice that it’s like one of those kids’ plays to teach them a lesson about evil. Check it out:

I walked around quite a lot and enjoyed the endless rice fields that surround Ubud. I felt incredible inner peace as I was strolling along rice paddies, in the silence of nature. It was beautiful and so cute to see flocks of ducks dandling across the fields.

The only sad sight was that of the cows – which cannot run free in the rice fields. Thus they are locked and tied in some tiny bamboo habitat and basically don’t move around at all. Some people say cows are stupid but whatever, it broke my heart.

North of Kajeng Road the rice fields were kind of upper-class, with gigantic properties rented to famous Westerners. One of them, in particular, had a very interesting statue at the entrance.

Once again I was stunned by the sight of some woman carrying a huge load on her head… without even holding it with her hands!

The waterfalls running in the forest near the rice field were exquisite. Unfortunately, some random dogs saw me from afar and chased me out of their territory. That happened quite often in those fields, as the dogs get very territorial. The only thing is that I had never felt such rage in a dog’s bark and was simply terrified.

On the other hand, I did see beautiful creatures…

… and something incredibly sad. Two ducks were stuck in this crappy little tent (don’t know much about farming so I’ve got no clue why), and their pals were outside, “couacking” and seeming quite confused.

Back in my hotel room, I also discovered another creature which I have come to love because it apparently feeds off mosquitoes. Geckos are harmless, but they do look scary when they’re that huge!

And this outstanding spider that scared the hell out of me as I was putting lotion on by the swimming pool...
Kajeng Road is paved with personalized tiles from hotels, restaurants, and even tourists – so imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this one which reads “Vive le Quebec Libre!” (Long live free Quebec) In Indonesia…!? Wtf!

Then came Hindu New Year, a glorious celebration full of cheers, dancing and partying.

Every city on the island had built giant paper monsters. The Baliene believe that by parading them on the street, they raise awareness among the crowds that evil spirit can take many forms, while flattering the actual evil spirits looking down on the island.

That night, after the celebrations, they take them back to where they built them, and leave them there for a day. The next day is called “silence day” – yes, a day of SILENCE!

No cars, motorcycles or even people are allowed on the street. And believe me, the Balienese are very serious about that. People stay home, meditate and catch up on their sleep.

The reson for silence day is that the Balinese believe that on that very day, evil spirits will hover around the island. When they see the big paper monsters, they’ll think “oh, my buddy’s already here!” and when they see the deserted streets, they’ll believe there is no one, no human, to bother. So according to the Balinese, the evil spirits will go away and leave the island in peace for another year.

How cute is that!?

That's what the evil spirits looked like at the parade (notice the ONLY woman and how sluddy she looks... some evil impersonification of Western women...?):

The cutest part was to see EVERYONE take part in the parade! Everyone, including children! Building a big monster takes between 1 and 3 months, and it may seem childish to some Westerners, but the Balinese are very serious about it.

I made quite a few videos, and as you can see on this one, the spirit of the crowd was incredibly strong!

The next day (silence day), we played pool volley-ball, got tanned and ate our take-outs (all the stores are closed so we had to think ahead about lunch and dinner). We also hung out with some odd French-British couple and played “trou de cul” (asshol card game) for hours.

I had planned to leave early on Saturday and go to a beach before leaving, but I changed my mind and stayed in Ubud (to experience, among other things, a mind-blowing massage!). JAL wouldn’t let me change my plane ticket, so I flew back to Jeju that very day, after a 7-hour flight, 4-hour layover in Seoul, as well as 3 hours waiting in Tokyo (where one can find massage chairs for 5 bucks/10 minutes!)

Lisa picked me up at the airport and we went for sushi. That’s when I heard “Hello!! Hello!!” and I knew I was definitely back in Korea…

Ticket to the moon

2008-03-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

Sanur was not exciting at all, except maybe for a spectacular sunrise over the ocean. And a cool kind of temple right by the sea.

We wanted pizza but they didn’t have any cheese. We wanted a walk on the beach but were harassed by locals. We wanted to admire the ocean but some 5 star hotels had floating chairs on it. That's my foot and Patrick wondering..."wtf"?!

After Patrick left, I felt insecure for a few hours – being used to traveling alone, I had gotten used to some company and suddenly wondered if I could make it on my own. Given, the place I was staying at didn’t help at all. And then I saw that painting...!!!

The day he left, we had drove to Jimbaran to try and see some white-sand beaches but all we found was a rotten dead dog (!), a dude fishing with a motorbike helmet on (!!), and some naked kid playing in the sand. The whole place was dirty and I couldn’t even walk barefoot because of all the crap in the sand.

The hotel was nice though, with two awesome swimming pools! But the room was too big, too marble, too white, too… asepticized. I was going out of my mind, so I decided to book a flight the very next day and spend a few nights in Lombok. while waiting at the airport, some woman stood behind me and another one quickly took a picture. I was shocked, but then I said "wait a second! I want tone too!" so they brought the kids over and we all had a good laugh.

Lombok is an island next to Bali. Unlike Bali, which is 90% Hindu, Lombok’s majority is Muslim, so it wasn’t a good idea for me to show up in a tank top, my curly blond hair just blowing in the wind. You should have seen the judgmental looks I got. The flight was 40 bucks and lasted about 30 minutes, full turbulence included.

Upon arrival at the airport, for security reasons I guess, people had to buy a “taxi ticket” from the counter - as opposed to hailing a cab like we usually do. It was funny to see horse transportation on the street (cheaper than buses or bemos), and trucks full of people. I headed to Bulan Baru guest house in Mangsit, north of Senggigi – nice place, tiny pool, old tired bed and reasonable food for 15$ a night (which in my opinion wasn’t really worth it).

The staff was nice and quite knowledgeable about stuff to do on the island. Upon my arrival, one of them informed me that I can get a “ticket to the moon” on the Gili islands… meaning it’s very easy to find drugs such as mush, hashish, marijuana and so on over there.

On the other hand, the Australian owner was not very sociable. In a place like that, I would expect some friendly chitchat but he ignored me. And when his staff told him the operator organizing my trip to Gili islands (which his staff had booked for me) had stood me up, he never even apologized or talked to me.

Anyway, I went for a quick walk on the street, looking for the beach, but I immediately got stared at by almost everyone, kids asking me for cigarettes, dog barking off my ass (I was totally scared they’d bite me!), men whispering “beautiful! Where you go?” as I walked by… I just went back to Bulan Baru to eat a disgustingly chewy and untasty steak that was advertised on the menu as tender or juicy Australian steak.

The next day as I learned the Gili island trip was off, I hired a driver to take me around Lombok and show me some local stuff. We drove by a fisherman village near Mataram, a Chinese cemetary - because apparently the Chinese have been living in Lombok for years, they even have their Chinatown. The landscape was simply beautiful, with green rice fields, mountains, and bamboo houses.

That how I ended up discovering a pottery warehouse where all piled up were the magnificent pieces rich people buy for thousands of dollars. Needless to say I got some sweet deals and I was pleased to experience this, chatting with them while eating bananas.

I also ended up in a very poor village where women have been weaving for generations and men work on the farm. Everyone was friendly, and I couldn’t believe how much work is involved in those masterpieces – women sitting down for 10 hours a day, making on average 10$ a month for clothes and blankets that, again, are incredibly expensive back in Western countries.

My guide knew his job quite well, saying how beautiful I am, how hard it is for him to find a wife, teaching me weaving, telling sad stories about locals, making me try clothes on, and then taking me to a store where he pressured me to buy stuff. I couldn’t say no. And even if it cost 45$, I thought what the hell, they’re poor. But when I left, he asked for a kiss and I said no so he replied “how about just on the cheek?” and I agreed. Oh my, it was the strangest thing… he smelled me!

Next, my driver took me to a quiet beach next to Kuta, Mawan beach. It felt good to find some peace and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he is a painter. We came across three naked little boys who had walked about an hour in the nude in order to come swim at this beach. They were so free and adorable!

Along the beach we stumbled across a fisherman village of about 50 people living in tiny houses, no electricity, no revenue aside from fishing. They built their own boats… well, they built everything, and women stayed at home all day, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the kids. I guess that’s why they had so many kids running around, keeping themselves busy.

I bought Malake dinner, and unlike our driver in Ubud who had taken us to a fancy restaurant and treated himself to a 10$ meal (that’s expensive for Indonesia!), Malake took me to a local joint and we enjoyed 2$ fried rice in silence. He is a simple man and I appreciated that.

The ride on the way back was quick and full of surprising sights – cows blocking the road, Muslim students coming back from school, a bemo (cheap bus) FILLED with people hanging at the back, and some abandoned car in which little kids were playing.

That night I went to a very friendly bar in Senggigi called Happy Café, where a live band was playing all kinds of music, from Shaggy’s “Angel”, to Santana “Black woman” and Bob Marley –that’s where the lead singer said: “Bob Marley sings ‘Get up, stand up for your rights’, but here in Lombok we sing ‘Get up, stand up for your rice!”

As more people walked in, many more drinks were sent to my table, especially from local guys winking at me from the bar, and that’s when the bar owner decided to get in the game and also send drinks to my table! Then the dancing came and some guy actually wouldn’t take no for an answer. Luckily, some former world champion dancer was entertaining the crowd and I said I couldn’t compete with that hehe. The man was hilarious, shaking his hips and gesturing toward his wife who was sitting at the bar, as you can (try to) see on that video. It was loud and vibrant so turn down the volume!

That night I found out my credit card wasn’t working anymore, and Visa was closed. I started freaking out and decided to head back to Bali, ready to sleep at the airport for the rest of the week.

Papa strong, mama happy

2008-03-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

Ubud is probably one of my favorite places on earth – at the heart of Balinese culture, right in the center of the island, this town glooms with rice fields, arts and vegetarian cuisine.

We stayed at Ketut’s Place, a surprising family-run hotel hidden in the lush gardens through which a little river flows. The swimming pool was a plus, and the staff simly charming. Though it was, again, a little expensive for Indonesia, we treated ourselves banana pancakes our terrace facing what looked like the amazon, and delectable massages to the sound of running water.

Waking around Ubud is astounding because the city is vibrant with colors, smells and contrasts. Terrazo was a nice spot for drinks and fruit, while Bu Oka served exquisite Babi Buling (spicy pork and rice, see the pig below). Ketut’s place also offered a Balinese fest (including the traditional smoked duck, fried tofu and satay, which is meat and coconut served on a stick)

Patrick and I burned off all those calories by walking around town for hours every single day. We ended up in the Monkey forest, an experience in itself as you can see on this video, with monkeys diving and playing in a little pond. It's upside down, i'm sorry but i'm trying to fix it without any image quality loss... still fun to watch...

My first encounter with a monkey was frightening. We had bought a whole bunch of bananas, and a macaque immediately saw them. I handed him one of them, but he stole the whole pack and ran away with it. I tried to steal them back but…well, he showed me big shiny teeth so I had to give up! Those were MY bananas...

Wink, wink...

Hahaha! It tickles...

Monkeys can smell bananas through your bag so it would be silly to try and hide them. Instead, the guards told us to lift our arms up, and the monkeys climbed on us to get them. Priceless!

I was astounded to realize how much humans have in common with macaques (not as much as with chimps but still). Check out this video, one of them is making sure his buddy is all clean. He looks a little nervous but you have to understand that there were like 20 Japanese around filming and taking pictures.

We had already seen some gigantic paper monsters back in Seminyak, but we had no idea what that was about. So when we saw some more in Ubud, we were told that they’re building them for Hindu New Year (which will be the topic of a whole other post!)

I told Patrick we needed to spend a whole day at the market, and we did (!) I had never seen so much crap, I mean so many things – incence, fruit, photo albums, pottery, clothes, phallic-shaped bottle openers, tiger balm, postcards, masks, paintings, Buddha statues, and so on.

You can imagine the "good price for you!", "yes, take a look" and the like going on under there... ;) I had fun bargaining too, the calculator being their main tool of communication hehe

As Ubud is incredibly culturally rich, it is no surprise that it is also quite famous for traditional dance shows. We caught little kids practicing at the palace one afternoon and it was shocking how those little girls looked and acted like grown women!

Another surprising experience was at the Elephant forest. We were greeted by Dennis, a hilarious guide who’s named all the elephants according to famous people – there was Ronald Reagan, Liz Taylor, and of course Tony Blair (whose 5th leg suggests my presence was a turn on…?)

It was incredibly sad to see them all chained, standing on concrete. Dennis said it’s so they don’t run away (I would understand if they did!) and he kept hitting them with a sharp stick. Broke my heart.

Yet they did give us a few fun times, and it was awesome to see and feel how strong their tusk is! And look at those teeth!

We decided to spend quite a few days in Ubud, and hired a driver on our last day to visit Batur, a beautiful volcano north of the island. Needless to say we didn’t stay long… street vendors got a hold of me as soon as I got out of the car, and they wouldn’t let me go! I understand they are poor, but man that was almost scary. I felt like crap.

On our way there we dropped by a small village called Taman, something like paradise on earth! There, they grow organic food, and I learned a lot about fruit trees.
That’s snake fruit

Vanilla

Cinnamon

Coffee

Avocados

Even a bee hive!

And our driver Imane who taught us an important lesson (referring to the importance and power of ginseng): “Papa strong, mama happy!”

Once again, nature was breathtaking, and I was pleasantly surprised to see little kids and chicken freely running around the place.

As it was almost time for Patrick to get back to France, we decided to head to Sanur.

Bali and Lombok

2008-03-10T00:38:00.000-07:00

Only 15 days traveling around both islands and I feel completely different. Of course the “high” will fade away as I get back to my life here in Korea.

But what I’ve seen, what I’ve experienced, what I’ve felt, tasted and even smelled in Indonesia really got to me in the most unexpected way – nothing like my previous journeys in Thailand, China, Japan, Europe or even Latin America.

In order to be somehow concise and keep those memories alive, I’ll post parts of my trip every day this week. It’s my way of not forgetting those souvenirs too soon, and y’all are welcome to join!

So. Jeju-Seoul was a one-hour flight. Then Seoul-Tokyo lasted 2 hours. Finally, Tokyo-Denpasar took 8 hours during which I chatted with a charming landscaper living in Hawaii.

At 11pm on a Saturday night, Denpasar airport was relatively quiet. The heat and humidity crushed us as we paid our $25US Visa fee, valid for a month. An airport sign warned us against infantile sexual tourism, a very sad reality over there.

Patrick’s plane landed an hour later and we quickly hopped on the car taking us to the airport. The greetings were warm, and we had lots of fun reminiscing of that year we met in France back in 2005.

The hotel was breathtaking – with a nice swimming pool, vast garden and stylish room. Villa Kresna was expensive for Indonesia, but totally worth it. They served us breakfast on our terrace (fruit, fruit, fruit!), the sun gently warming us as we listened to the sound of countless unknown animals.

Our first stroll in Seminyak, hip city north of Kuta, was full of surprises! Hindu culture was embedded in everything we saw, or heard, while the sound of a developing country kept shouting at us “Please come in! Good price for you!”, “Hello! Taxi?”

The streets were filled with designer boutiques and expensive stuff. It took us a while to get used to the local currency – 10 000 Rupiah (rph) is roughly $1US. Looking around me, I instantly decided to send back to Korea everything I had brought with me… what was I thinking!? My backpack was filled with clothes, and I knew damn well I’d be purchasing loads of them here! Those little kids sold me my first pair of fisherman pants.

It seems like God manifested himself that day; as we were walking on the street, I found 3 000rph on the sidewalk. Later, a phallus carved in wood was also lying on the street. Fun way to start the trip, I tell ya!

We got a divine foot massage for almost nothing, enjoying some fresh mango juice while discussing our itinerary and taking several short naps. Our next stop at the beach was surprising – with huge crowds of tourists surfing and walking in the sand, as well as Balinese youth playing soccer. Sunset came a few minutes later while I was struggling with the strong waves and it was magnificent!

Dinner at Gado Gado was enough to make us believe that we were in heaven – set right on the beach, with the sight and sound of waves, Patrick and I enjoyed (among other things) delicious garlic prawns and chilly white wine. We talked for hours, trying to remake the world just like in those good days back in France.

We didn’t learn much about Balinese culture in Semyniak because, well, it is quite touristy and aristocratic. We were barely getting used to the sights of the architecture, the heavy heat and humidity, the constant sounds of cars, motorcycles, barking dogs and blabbering locals.

I was mostly impressed with the colorful and diverse Hindu statues all over the place, temples are on every street corner, and even funny ads like the one of a well-equipped man that read “Not for everyone” – along the line of the wooden penis found on the street, a reminder that sex here is not taboo at all!

Next we headed to Ubud and what would be my favorite place in Bali! Stucked in traffic in Depnasar, newspaper sellers would look trough the car’s tainted windows and offer us “Le Monde”… how did they know we were French just by looking at us!? I bought it to get rid of the guy, but another one came and when he saw we had already that one, he pressed against the window a copy of “Le Canard Enchaine”, right there, in the middle of Indonesia! What the...!?

Meanwhile an old man was braving traffic as usual with his little portable stand…

Soccer time!

2008-02-21T21:27:00.001-08:00

The weather got warmer lately, and the sun finally came out so Bill and I took the kids outside yesterday to play soccer.

We threw in 3 soccer balls so needless to say that they were completely exhausted after 40 minutes of running around.

Of course my team won ;) It was so nice to look at them, so careless and happy. So spontaneous yet focused on winning.

It was like nothing else mattered, and it reminded me of my childhood, when I used to run around and get excited whenever I was allowed to play outside. Recess was my greatest joy and gym class made me the happiest kid on earth! I couldn’t stay still and I had so much energy in me! (Of course it could’ve been all the chocolate and candy hehe)

And now i'm 24 and i'm quite sure the child I used to be would be ashamed of what i've become. Little Anne-Marie would have been thrilled to run outside and play silly games. Now, I’m just glad to watch a movie or just chill out. I’ve become so lazy… where has all my energy gone?

I’m leaving for Bali in 12 hours, that’s really exciting! Who knows, maybe I’ll reconnect with my inner child over there? One thing for sure, I’ll be swimming in the ocean all day long! And getting massaged! Patrick is meeting me there for a week; this is going to be great!

Salamat tinggal =D

Imagine

2008-02-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

Sunset was breathtaking on Monday, and it was even more spectacular yesterday – a big ball of fire, slowly moving to later meet the moon in a solar eclipse. That's the view from my apartment.

For two nights in a row, I’ve been woken up by the glow of an almost perfectly shaped moon, and last night there it was, full moon in a starry sky. Be-au-ti-ful!

Sitting on the rooftop of my 10-storey apartment building, I couldn’t find the peace and silence such a spectacle deserves; the city, at all times noisy, stinky and busy, kept distracting my wandering thoughts.

Yet in the glaze of such beauty in the sky, I couldn’t help but feel incredibly sad for those who are so caught up in their robot life that they never even look up to admire the magnificence of what lays above us, some light-years away from earth.

I was disgusted with evil.

So the next day my students and I listened to John Lennon’s “Imagine” and discussed it for a while. It turns out the:

Imagine there are no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or
die for
And no religion too

Was way too unrealistic for them. Even the

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can

Didn’t make any sense for them in this materialistic world.

You see, my students are from Hallim and nearby areas, in the countryside, where Christian religion is deeply engrained. The thought that

There’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us
only sky

Was somehow grotesque… For them, there is a God, and good people go to heaven while bad ones go to hell. And Korea is a country – truth that should remain that way because their forefathers worked so hard to build it and make it theirs… how could they give it up for some strange “no boundaries/borders world”?

Maybe Lennon was right – a world with no possessions, no countries, nor religion might bring about some sort of world peace, a brotherhood of man. But according to my students, he was nothing but a dreamer.

Lunar new year

2008-02-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

설날 (Seolnal or Chinese/Lunar New year) is a big deal in Korea. Most people take this occasion to return to their hometowns and worship their ancestors. People gather with relatives whom they haven’t seen for a while, make a pilgrimage to their ancestor’s grave, followed by a big dinner and lotsa calories. Food is very important on Seolnal.

Children love this holiday because they bow to their grandparents and, in return, get some money. The traditional food served for Seolnal is called “Dokguk” – some sort of rice cake soup.

While January 1st is the one and only New Year in Occident, it is barely celebrated over here. Even Christmas doesn’t really matter – we only got a day off for both holidays.

But Lunar New Year on the other hand is heavenly, as it lasts for 3 days. This year, it took place right before the weekend so we were blessed with 5 marvelous days of freedom!

It started on Tuesday night with Bill's birthday dinner at VIPS. Koreans don't usually eat a big fat steak with mashed potatoes... the meat is usually either cooked in a stew, or on a grill and wrapped in salad leaves (cute, I know). But VIPS offers big fat steaks and 12 of us tried it out - it was undercooked, incredibly expensive, but alright.

As most foreigners, I enjoyed a lot of partying in good company – we went out quite a lot, had dinners and of course we did some dancing! We hung out at Led Zepplin and Blue Agave, went out for some Macally, and even played darts at Bull’s. Saturday night was brutal since we all went home at 6am, right after a big egg muffin and endless blabbering at McDicks. That' Alicia and Jun.

But I did I discover some pretty good drinks, “White Russian” and “Don’t go home alone”. I also pretended to punch Brett, Kat was eating my shoe and Misha, the Russian kangaroo boxer (no kidding!) was showing off.

I’ve always said that the bar scene isn’t my thing, yet somehow when I find myself out there with a drink, the entertainment (and entertaining!) starts and it’s a lot of fun until the morning comes. But the next day… oh the next day! Still, when I’m old I’ll look back on those years and think I really had a freakin’ blast! Like that picture I took, where they all look like my gynecologists haha

I also slept like a baby – thanks to my neighbors who suddenly decided to move out (out of the blue eh!) – and I did quite a lot of hiking. Jeju is a volcanic island; Hallasan is the big volcano in the middle, and there are hundreds of “orums” (small mountains) over the island.

In desperate need for some alone time in nature, I bought crampons and hiked hallasan! It was wonderful, with tons of snow and the fresh smell of winter. I didn’t get to be quite alone though, as most Koreans do everything together.

I must have seen over 100 military guys doing their workout hike I guess, and countless families as well as couples. Each one of them would stare at me as I walked by, saying “hiiiii” with a big smile.

It was also a slow walk down because kids and adults were using plastic bags to slide downhill. I even saw a grandmother, soooo excited that she would always try to slide down every chance she got. Her husband was giving her a push with his stick and the daughter was running behind, so completely worried. Funny scene.

I hiked a few times this nice little orum about 15 minutes from our apartment building Doug once took me to. I like going there because it’s so perfect – it has two peaks, a great cliff by the ocean, and at night we can see the stars, the boat lights from the port, and the airplanes flying in and out of the island. It’s very peaceful.

Jeju is quite convenient – the main cities do not really have any snow, but drive 20 minutes towards the countryside and there it is!

I think I must have hibernated, just like a bear, and now I’m waking up and life is pretty nice. I can’t wait to see my students. And I can’t wait to go to Bali next week-end for 2 weeks!

The devil came on horseback

2008-02-14T04:21:00.000-08:00

When I talked about volunteering for a year in Haiti, a country worn out by civil war, my Godfather, who has fought in the Algerian war, asked me two questions:

1. Why would you teaching them English help make any difference?
2. Does one really need to experience war in order to fully understand it?

I had my very own answer to the first one – being that speaking the language of the empowered might in turn help empower them.

But the second question left me puzzled. I could see in his eyes that the atrocities he had witnessed, the dead bodies, the cruelty of so-called humans, were too much of a memory to bear. He could probably still hear the shrill sounds and smell the filthy perfume of death. I knew he wish he hadn’t.

I thought maybe it is necessary to go through such a horrifying experience in order to realize its full extent. In order to be so shocked that one would fight heart and soul to put an end, and even prevent, ANY sort of armed conflict.

I thought world leaders would behave very differently should they actually have to fear for their lives, seeing the woman they love being raped by 10 soldiers. Seeing their 6-year-old son tortured in front of their eyes, helpless and hopeless.

Maybe it would. But what good would it do? And what kind of human being would need to go through such length when the sight of a photograph of a decapitated child should be enough? When the macabre account of an eyewitness should revolt any decent human being?

I still don’t understand why there is war. Of course I know about politics, thirst for power and territorial expansion. I know some cultures or religions have been repressed for so long that they now seek what they believe to be well-deserved retaliation. And I know the power of brainwashing mixed with strong drugs and alcohol…

I am aware of a demon that quietly sleeps in each and every one of us. I believe we have both good and evil in our soul. Most of us choose to be good and peaceful because it is the right thing to do. We are moral human beings. And we believe nothing can morally justify the death of anyone – not one person, not one child, and certainly not millions of them.

When I watched “The Devil Came on Horseback”, I was obviously stunned.

Former U.S. Marine Captain Brian Steidle has what most journalists lack in Darfur: visual account. Because indeed one horrible picture is not enough; people need thousands of them. And even then, they soon forget.

Some people know more about Britney Spears’ breakdown than about the conflict in Myanmar that’s being going on for over 30 years and has killed thousands and thousands of people. And why wouldn’t they? All the media attention if focused on celebrities; you don’t see any paparazzi in a country at war. It’s much easier to numb our brain with stories we have no control over. Stories that leave us guilt-free.

Steidle exposes the situation and atrocities of an Arab run government systematically executing a plan to rid the province of its black African citizens. He shows pictures as well as footage. It’s true. It’s fact. People are being killed. Tortured. Decapitated. Raped.

The interesting and rather disgusting thing in the movie is how governments, the international community and even regular citizens react to Steidle’s account of what he’s seen.

There’s a never-ending debate as to whether the situation in Darfur should qualify as genocide or not. I understand that under the Geneva Convention, the international community has to intervene in case of genocide. But… does that mean nothing can be done even if thousands of lives are lost for no significant reason?

Who cares how we call it?

I remember a part in the movie where Steidle is speaking in front of an audience, showing pictures and describing what he’s seen. Then comes the question-answer portion of the conference where diplomats and even Sudanese QUESTION whether or not what Steidle is saying is true. They question whether it is genocide or not.

I was disgusted.

The conflict in Darfur is still going on as I am writing this. And when (if?) it ends, it will take years to rebuild a country devastated by war. And how can one ever forgive? Because forgetting is out of question.

At this very instant, I can see the city through my window, vibrant with night life. A city that never sleeps. And I wonder what can be done. We are all robots going about our business, lost in our personal drama. Isn’t that enough, even sometimes too much?

On a smaller scale, if two of my friends have a conflict, is it my place to interfere in their business? Maybe. They might be so lost in the heat of the moment that they forget any sense of morality and try to harm each other. They might need me to meditate.

On a larger scale, this is what the international community should be doing. Intervening. But:
1. Is it their responsibility?
2. Isn’t that too much of a burden?
3. Shouldn’t they let those countries resolve their own problems?

The dilemma here is so complicated that there is no right answer. Most countries at war were left with social division by their colonizers. Some are funded by powerful government who profit from internal division, from selling arms and hoping to gain control over a territory rich in natural resources. Hello hypocrisy.

But armed conflicts have been going on as long as there have been humans on earth. We would like to think that the world has evolved to a point where we are civil enough to talk rather than resorting to violence. That’s what they teach us in school. That’s what most of us do.

But war is on a totally different level.

And “the Devil Came on Horseback” simply is a reminder of how many people profit from it. Steidle was even saying how he got phone call of US officials ordering him to stop showing those pictures.

A friend of mine once asked me why people spend so much energy trying to make things right everywhere when there is so much to do at home, with the homeless, juvenile delinquency, child abuse and even domestic violence. Maybe she was right.. I don’t know.

But one thing I know, one thing everyone knows deep deep down, is that war isn’t right. I dream of a world at peace, but I doubt it will even happen. Call me pessimistic, call me a realist, war is too profitable to ever be defeated.

I guess all we can do is triumph over our own demons and try to make our immediate environment a peaceful place to live. And who knows, maybe microcosms of immediate peaceful environments will one day spread throughout the world. I certainly hope so.

My funny Valentine

2008-02-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

Ah love! Along with happiness, love has been the never-ending quest as long as there have been humans. Well, that and territorial expansion I guess...

Koreans are all about love. In America, V-Day (Gosh it sounds like a STD...) is a one day thing where you show your love to the dear ones - be it your lover, your family or close friends.

But in Korea, "love day" has a gender. As it turns out, Valentine's Day occurs four times a year:

1. Pepero Day: big commercial scam during which everyone can get chocolate, just like Valentine's day back home. Usually that's when students give their teacher Peperos to show their love. Lotte is the company making everything in Korea (even hotels!), including Peperos - which are stick biscuits wrapped in chocolate. It's on November 11 (11/11), just like 4 Pepero sticks.

2. Valentine's Day: Only girls/women are allowed to give the boy/man they like or love some chocolate (or something significant). February 14th.

3. White Day: boys/men who got something on Valentine's Day give the girl/woman something in return. March 14th.

4. Black Day: those who did not get anything (men and women) celebrate this day by going to the restaurant and eating black noodles. While it sounds depressing, it's a good way to meet single people ("oh she's having black noodles...' ;) April 14th.

Being a true Canadian who wants to spread the love, I brought chocolates to work today. Oh and not anything; they're a perfect replica of Ferrero Rocher (see pic... don't they look the same!?) but they're called "Free Romance" hehe

Anyway, our staff is quite small so I told Miss. Lee, Bill and Mr. Lee to help themselves. Miss Lee was quite shocked. She looked at me and said "Actually, this is just for Bill and Mr. Lee. Only men receive chocolate on Valentine's Day!"

Miss Lee is in her early thrities, very liberal, she just spent 2 weeks in India by herself... if that kind of tradition is so deeply ingrained in her, don't try to argue!

My kids brought me all sorts of chocolate, which I shared with them (oh their eyes were wide open!! :) Usually students bring their teacher peperos on pepero day but white day works for me!!

So to everyone out there, 즐거운 발레타인되세오, Happy Valentine's Day!! Love love love, kiss kiss kiss!

Little Miss Sunshine

2008-02-08T05:55:00.000-08:00

I'm still warm-hearted, eyes filled with tears coupled with stomach cramps from too much laughing after watching this great movie, "Little Miss Sunshine". No big Hollywood gun fireworks a la John Wayne. No stupid teenager or college movie. No predictable love story. None of this.

In fact, it was nice to see yet another inspired movie, and I quickly went online to find out which country it's from. France, I thought? Maybe Spain? But then with Greg Kinnear in it, it had to be American. And it is.

The casting is perfect and the balance between laughter, tears and life lessons makes the movie flow through your heart. Quite a few scenes are hilarious, and the ending is probably one of the most... well, I want to say honnest, I have seen in a long time.

"Little miss sunshine" is basically delivering the message that most people's lives are like a child beauty pageant; fake, inappropriately disturbing, and with a big fat spotlight on everything that doesn't really matter.

We take our lives and dress them up with our screwed-up, self-centered ideas of perfection, creating some sort of personal freak show.

But in reality, we ought to be real about our not so perfect lives, because, let's face it, problems are part of everybody's lives.

The conclusion "Little Miss sunshine" seems to be drawing is that instead of trying so hard to pretend and save face, instead of devoting all our energy trying to control every parcel of what others see of us, we should celebrate our troubled lives, without any emphasis on fixing the trouble. Just be ourselves. Go with the feeling. And be willing to laugh at ourselves.

Lovesick

2008-02-04T18:16:00.001-08:00

Shine and I got together at a book café last Saturday afternoon. That girl is amazing: her mom wants her to get a teaching degree (very popular job in Korea) but Shine wants to work in tourism. Hence she’s got 3 majors (education, tourism and English) on top of a part-time job as a tutor and another job in the University’s English department. She’s now planning to join a gym – where she would have time to workout from 11pm-12am on weeknights. Hello social life?

As we were chatting over green tea and pastries, I noticed a Korean couple behind her – early twenties, both kind of cute. They were sitting next to each other on the sofa and he had his arm around her shoulders. He was in awe, completely into her.

She, on the other hand, was fixing her make-up, staring at her precious face in her purse mirror. And of course, her boyfriend was looking at her reflection, totally lost in admiration. She was acting as if she didn’t care.

When she was finally done, he whispered something in her ear. Like any normal Korean girl, she looked offended and gently pushed him away. They both laughed. He then started kissing her in the neck, and she kept drinking her strawberry smoothie, looking away and pretending he wasn’t there. He grabbed a straw and they both drank the smoothie together, looking in each other’s eyes.

That little performance went on for about 20 minutes – after which some sort of fight broke out between the two lovers. She was pushing him away (but not really) and he looked like a poor victim, so sorry and miserable. She let him have it for about 10 minutes, after which she pretended to leave. He grabbed her, she pushed him away. He left. She followed him.

They ended up coming back a few minutes later, him carrying her purse (most men carry their girlfriend’s purse here) and the whole love scene started again.

If you’re thinking this sounds like a bad movie, you’re totally right.

One could spend hours at cafes in Korea and just be entertained with the love scenes going on between young couples. It’s like a turn-on I guess – girls hit guys, insult them, and act all girlie, and the men are head over heels in love.

The typical scenario involves:
1. Cute couple behavior (i.e. sharing a smoothie and whispering into each other’s ear), the girl giggles covering her mouth with her hand (it’s an Asian thing)
2. The girl then ignores her man (i.e. purse mirror),
3. The guy looking for more attention (i.e. more kissing in the neck)
4. and the girl acting annoyed. She not really annoyed, she simply pretends to be, usually saying “hajima!” (don’t do it) as she pushes him away.
5. The man then apologizes, but the girl doesn’t let it go until she sees that the man gets upset and ready to leave.
6. Then she runs after him, he acts irritated and she begs for forgiveness.
7. Finally, they make up.

It’s quite amusing. Koreans love the drama. Any Korean soap opera will make you laugh your ass off… there’s sooooo much tragedy! And someone always ends up dying. Yet Korean housewives are crazy about those shows, passionately discussing the plot twist over coffee.

You can find tons of dramatic Korean music videos on youtube:
There’s one where the Korean guy gives his girlfriend his eyes… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rexUdNhPFVI
Another one where the guy dies to save his love…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRp-Bl_46HU

And here’s my personal favorite. The song originally lasts 4 minutes, but they’ve turned it into some sort of short film (as they do with most Korean songs) for more dramatic effect.

On a cultural note: notice the school uniform, the bowing, the teacher beating the student, etc.
Enjoy! :D

Who shot John F. Kennedy?

2008-02-03T23:46:00.001-08:00

I remember writing a paper about John F. Kennedy back in high school. I described his life, his passionate struggles, his love affairs, and his death; Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy, and Jack Ruby shot Oswald. Weird, but simple.

But a few days ago I came across this video of JFK’s assassination and I thought I’d share. You can clearly see one of the bodyguards ordering the other bodyguards to withdraw from the presidential car a few seconds before the US President got shot. Why!?

I’m not going to get into conspiracy theories here because the debate would be endless and mainly speculative, but the video is a fact. And it creeps me out.

Tall grandfather or giant penis?

2008-01-31T20:50:00.001-08:00

A student back in Seoul gave me a key chain from Jeju Island – with Jeju’s symbol, Dol hareubang (돌 하르방). I thought this little man looked cute, and kinda like a mushroom.

But when I visited Jeju for the first time, I was stunned by the sight of those giant stone Dol Hareubang; yes, they look like big phallic shaped rocks!

Literally translated, Dol Hareubang means “stone grandfather”. There are many (oh so many!) theories as to how it became Jeju’s main icon, but the most credible one is that it was spread with shamanic mushroom culture.

They are believed to provide people with both protection and fertility. In the past, the statues were placed outside of gates for protection against demons traveling between realities. They are made of the volcanic stone coming from Halla mountain (the big inactive volcano in the center of the island).

Dol Hareubangs are all over the island, and replicas of various sizes and shapes can be bought everywhere - even on top of Halla mountain! The small ones are sometimes given to women with fertility problems.

Whatever its meaning is, Korean culture keeps surprising me. You’ve seen nothing until you see Jeju’s big stone penes, with their grinning expressions and bulging eyes without pupils, a long, broad nose, and slight smile and their hands rest on their “bellies”…

Pavlov's dogs

2008-01-30T12:03:00.000-08:00

It's 5AM and I have been awake for an hour now, listening to the sound of my neighbor strolling across the room. Boom. Boom. Boom. Dropping boxes. Bang. Doing laundry. And walking again. She sounds fat, but i've seen her before... she's tiny.

Have you ever heard of Pavlov's dogs? Pavlov was a researcher in the early 1900s who desmonstrated that animals, just like humans, can be trained to respond in a certain way to a particular stimulus. Right before feeding the dogs, Pavlov would ring a bell. The dogs then associated the ringing of the bell with food. Whenever they heard the bell, they would salivate. He then rang the bell, but without giving the dogs any food. The dogs were salivating. That's what he called a conditioned reflex/response.

At first, it was the heavy noises from upstairs that woke me up - some nights it would, when it was incredibly loud, and some nights it wouldn't because it was more quiet. But as time went by, I started associating 4am with being woken up and feeling angry. I started being anxious around that time. I now wake up every night at 4am, and of course the noise starts a few moments later.

Last night Amanda kindly offered me again to sleep on her floor. She is the best. But two problems occured: one, the heating floor becomes bumpy when the heat is on so small bugs and spiders crawl out and bite me all night. And second, I was wide awake at 4am, unconsciously waiting for the noise to start. At that time I realized I was angry, without even anything having happened... I am now conditioned. I respond to the 4am stimulus.

This is insane. I am going insane. I told people at work I need to move out. It's been going on for 2 months now. They are so slow. And I know why: they get a good night sleep. I haven't had a decent one in a long time. You can imagine how it impacts on my emotions and my attitude towards life. I get to work late. It makes me look bad. I get impatient, more than before. And even the kids - whom I love, who usually make my day, who make me smile and bring me back to life, even the kids get me upset for no real reason.

I just knocked on their door. There was a man and a girl. You should have seen the place, filled with clothes and boxes all over the place. She owns a clothing store. She seems nice. She said "Sorri. Sorri. Bery bery sorri.' That's Korean for very sorry. That's the thing: she's just doing her thing and she has nothing against me.

But this is not right. I didn't sign up for this. If things don't get better after I get back from Bali in a month, I quit. I'm out of here. I used to sleep way too much. But now 5 hours and the stress and anxiety just aren't worth it. I'm not a dog.

Emerging

2008-01-28T18:35:00.000-08:00

I met Jun at the gym on a Tuesday night, around 10pm. While sweating my ass off, a Korean guy came up to me and started speaking English, excited as a little boy. You will understand that I am on the spot every single day in Korea, so I don’t really respond positively when a random stranger starts talking to me while I’m covered in sweat, grinning my teeth as I am lifting weights. It’s just me I guess ;)

Nonetheless, he was so thrilled and energetic that I soon let my guard down and we became good friends. That’s about when I started emerging.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been feeling… bleh. Just the crappy weather, raining every day, my neighbors waking me up at 4am and other personal issues made me the crankiest French-Canadian on Jeju Island.

Last Friday night Jun met me in front of City Hall – where I discovered that the painting on the wall represents Samsunghyeol legend, the three Gods who emerged from holes in the ground and procreated with the only three women in Jeju.

We met up with Alicia, Kyle, Lisa and Amanda at GP for some delicious White Russian and the usual chatting. It was really nice. Then we headed to a bowling alley and that was just hilarious.

The night ended up at Led Zepplin, with a deep discussion with Autumn about false pretense and fake friends. The next day, I was painfully nursing my hangover when I heard that two foreigners had hit Jun.

As it turns out, he was leaving the bar and wished two white guys a Happy New Year. Without apparent reason, the guys started a fight. Seriously. That’s what’s wrong with stupid hammered foreigners in any given country. It’s pathetic. I’ve seen it too many times in Seoul, not to mention Thailand. I can’t say that I’m the classiest girl when I’ve had one-too-many drinks, but at least I’m fun!

Sunday morning a couple of friends came over for brunch and it was great! I didn’t expect everyone to show up, but they did and 10 of us fought over pancakes with maple syrup/honey/whipped cream/strawberries, cream cheese and toasts, bacon, fruit, and fresh juice.

Then we rode our scooters to the horse field near Halla mountain and got a glimpse of what winter should look like: snow! It actually felt like March back home, in spring, when it’s getting warmer and the snow is melting. The ground is all wet and slippery. That’s basically what we were so excited about!

Doug was so cute… he said with his Australian accent “did you know you can make a snowball and then roll it in snow and it gets bigger? You can make a snowman with that!” All of us Canadians laughed.

We took a nice walk, threw snowballs at each other, and rode the sleigh downhill. There was a Korean family there too and they seemed to have a blast. I had to leave early to meet up with my Korean friend Shine at a book café. It was a nice day. Lisa came over while I was cooking dinner (pasta with garlic, olive oil, black olives and cheese… miam!) and we chatted for a while.

Yup, it was a good week-end and I felt like I was finally emerging; I’m going to Indonesia in less than a month, and when I get back it’ll almost be summer. Mom and dad will visit, so will Josiane, and before we know it this whole year will be over.

But then again, I had a bite of reality-check with the pain of what seems like a crack in my root-canal treatment, as well as two wisdom teeth coming out and some strange pain in my chest and shoulder. For weeks, my neighbors have been waking me up at 4am and this morning they didn’t stop until 7:30am. I think I’ll be sleeping at Amanda’s tonight.

The truth is, I wonder why I look forward to this year being over. Is it just because of the crappy weather, the commute to work, and my lack of sleep? I’ve got good friends here, and I wonder if my life would be any different (culturally yes, but personally?) if I was back in Quebec.

Ugh. What happened to my plan of being zen? I guess it’s sometimes hard to let it go and just “be”.

Korean Breakdancing

2008-01-22T18:59:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwq7zIV2z2o

Y'all must watch this video! They're Korean breakdancers doing those mind-blowing moves... I can barely do one push-up and there they are, flying around!
Korean B-Boys are really famous for their upper-body strength. Enjoy!

Winter blues

2008-01-22T17:51:00.000-08:00

Ouch! My head! It’s been raining for 4 days now and, while I enjoy the smell of wet earth, I’m feeling quite tired. There’s something great about rain: no pressure to be happy. When it’s all sunny and clear sky, you can’t be depressed. But when it’s raining, who cares?

Hallim is where I work. It’s a small village about an hour from where I live. I ride the bus every day. Though Jeju is an island, it’s too big to see the ocean from everywhere. But in Hallim, the ocean is right there. This morning the weather was cold, the sky was gray, and it smelled like fish. Salt water and fish. I liked it.

My Korean friend booked my flight to Indonesia this week and I’m really excited! Two full weeks of resting, beaching, sleeping, not working, eating, swimming, discovering, relaxing and celebrating… I love those “ings” ;) 32 more days to go!

Last weekend was quite fun – Isaac’s band played at “Led Zepplin” and a huge crowd turned in. That’s when I realized one of the benefits of living abroad in an Alien country: we know a lot of people! In a sense, it’s like being a celebrity – a whole lotta lovin’ everywhere you go! And let’s not forget the Koreans as well, who wave at you, touch you, shout “hello! Hello!” (even while you’re driving) and take pictures of you even though they have no idea who you are.

It gets annoying after a while, and that’s why I was very happy to hang out with “my people” last weekend! The night ended in the morning again and the hangover was brutal. But to be fair, I hadn't been out in two weeks, slowly recovering from the holidays oh-too-many celebrations...

A couple of friends also invited me to the movies, which was a big mistake! “Todd Sweeney” (with Johnny Depp) grossed me out with all the blood and violence. It just wasn’t my kind of movie – though the underlying idea is pretty good and Johnny is hot! Laurie and I had popcorn and chocolate… delightful mix I hadn’t enjoyed in a long time! Somehow we're the only ones who enjoy the sweet and salty mix ;)

This week is going by very slowly and I am still plotting the murder of my neighbors upstairs. They still wake me up around 4am and keep going until morning comes. Mr. Lee finally got in touch with them after I caught them red-handed – their door was open at 3:30am and they were moving boxes.

Turns out the lady owns a clothing store and she unpacks her stuff at night to be ready in the morning. Apparently that’s the only time she can do that. So uuuuuugh! What can I do? She said she’ll try to be more quiet – blessing which lasted for a week but now she’s back to being a big fat Korean bitch. I never thought I could hate so bad someone I don’t even know.

On the other hand I’m trying to be zen. The city will never shut up, nor will my neighbors so I just have to learn to live with the noise. I wish I had an actual bubble I could dive in every time I need quiet, but I don’t.

Lisa just got back from Thailand, and so did Gabriel and Danila. They’re all tanned and happy! It’s great to have them back, but I’m just so jealous! I also met new people at the gym and the University so it’s nice to have new people to hang out with. There’s over a hundred foreigners on the island, and we all know each other. But after a while (and that’s just my personality), I need a change of scenery! Meeting new people, going to new places, doing new stuff and getting out of this rot!

It’s funny because there’s a whole bunch of newbies coming in March and everyone on the island can’t wait to meet them! It’s like anyone who’s not in a relationship hopes someone better (than those already living on the island) will come along. I have this mental image of sharks haha

I want to go home so bad! I love Korea, but I need to speak French, see my friends and family, roll over in snow and eat poutine. I want to hold the dog, have dinner with my parents. I want to have a beer with my sister and my brother, and talk until the morning comes. I wanna play guitar with Dave and laugh my head out with Pete! I want to cook with Aurelie and go to a concert! I miss home! Can I handle 7 more months?

Mom and dad are thinking about visiting in June - after my brother's girlfriend gives birth. Josiane also wants to come and see me in the summer. I’ve got friends from Seoul who are definitely coming down in the summer too. I guess everything will be alrite once winter (how can this be winter? It’s raining but not snowing, cold but not freezing) is over.

I did (re)discover some great Jazz musicians - especially

Red Garland

(great pianist!),

Ben Webster

(great saxophonist!),

Diana Krall

(duh! but i'm really digging her style) and of course

Duke Ellington

(piano),

Stan Getz

(saxophone) as well as

Art Tatum

(prodigious pianist, sometimes too fast but simply mind-blowing!)

As for movies, i've watched quite a few in the past weeks:

September

is another great Woody Allen movie (and the jazzy soundtrack is beautiful! I especially love "On a slow boat to China" and "Out of nowhere"), while

Mighty aphrodite

is a really funny Woody Allen movie starring Mira Sorvino.

I also highly recommend

The brave one

, a great movie about a woman who gets robbed and beaten on the street. Her husband dies in the hospital and she becomes a kind of vigilente. With Jodie Foster, who is excellent for the part!

Fracture

is alright: with Anthony Hopkins, good thriller, good setup, good plotline. Ryan Gosling is great and perfect for the role of an arrogant lawyer.

And finally,

The bucket list

with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman is a nice and light movie about two men who meet in the hospital and decide to spend their last days on earth enjoying life. It's cute.

A good documentary about Cuban leader is "Fidel: The untold story". And if you haven't seen "Buena Vista Social Club", you oughta run to the movie store because it's a must. Ruben Gonzales and Ibrahim Ferrer are simply adorable, and the music as well as their story are all groovy/interesting.

Alpha male?

2008-01-20T18:11:00.000-08:00

I was watching him through the window as he was casually smoking a cigarette in the schoolyard. A little kid came up to him. This was just another ordinary day in Korea.

A year earlier, she was walking down the street, having her morning cigarette. It was a beautiful summer day and she looked serene. That is, until an old woman, a stranger, slapped her behind the head, took the smoke off her hands and threw it on the ground, looking annoyed and offended.

Later that day, she would experience further confusion as her students would put her on (gender) trial for having a disgusting habit. The next day, the whole school was still in shock and, under the disapproving look of the moms, she had to promise to never smoke again in front of the kids.

She liked having a drink once in a while, and so did he. But he always had to get hammered. In his world, it was inconceivable for a man not to get drunk when the boss or even friends invited him out to dinner.

Every restaurant in the country had (at least) one smoky room filled with loud drunken men. Every singing room (noraebong) hostesses had to clean the mess left behind by the inebriated male costumers – who had almost certainly felt like Frank Sinatra for a few hours.

At 2:00am on a Tuesday night, he was waking up the neighborhood as he laughed and vociferated on the street. Sometimes he would throw up in an alley, his co-worker kindly padding his back. Sometimes he could barely stand on his feet, a glassy stare in his eyes. He would yell atrocities as his friends were holding him up.

When she had one too many drinks, her safety was at stake. Her smile was taken to mean: “I want you”, and he understood her staggering as a chance for easy sex. Even though they had never met, he thought it was okay to boldly grab her boobs, her butt, or even try to kiss her.

If she said “no”, she was a tease. If she said “yes”, she was a slut. Sipping her Martini at the bar, she would catch his glare and feel like a piece of meat.

He wore a necktie – symbol that she never really understood. Though it made him look neat and important, why suffocate oneself? For him, being dressed up meant wearing clothes from head to toe (i.e. a suit).

She, on the other hand, was expected to reveal her legs in an ensemble that also exposed her cleavage. Other women would stare at her feet if she didn’t wear those high heels that killed her back.

He had had many lovers and repeatedly cheated on his wife. He was a man! Yet when he found out she was having an affair, he treated her like a prostitute and he never let it go.

Though society was evolving, she was still expected to be (or at least act) naïve, quiet and submissive. And even if she felt good about herself, she was aware of the disapproving look of others. Given, she wasn’t skinny but she was pretty. But even at job interviews, she was quickly shown the door – what costumer would want to deal with a curvy woman? They never used that many words, but that’s obviously what they meant.

28 years old and a career, she was still living with her parents. Her only escape was marriage. He, on the other hand, was living a bachelor’s life, his mom closely watching his finances, bringing him home-cooked meals and cleaning his apartment.

Hanging out with her foreign friends on a Friday night, she couldn’t help but wonder why she wasn’t born in America…

Nazi Korea?

2008-01-16T17:27:00.000-08:00

There’s something shocking and extremely disturbing about a Swastika – the indisputable memory of fascism, racism, World War II, and the Holocaust.

The to eye of many people, a Swastika is reminiscent of Hitler’s death machine – which was responsible for the death of millions and millions of people. Torture, Auschwitz, the “showers” and concentration camps. Eugenics, Aryan supremacism, anti-homosexuality, the extermination of the Jewish race… Yep, that’s what used to come to mind when I saw a Swastika.

Thus you can imagine my surprise when I first step foot in South Korea last year - where flags of Swastikas are all over the country. On tourist maps, you can find several swastikas as well. And, get this; Buddhists proudly display Swastikas on their pamphlet, books and temples.

Really? Those little monks who shave their head and seek harmony between men and nature?

The explanation was quite simple: Korea is not nazi. Nor is India, China or any other country where the Swastika is proudly displayed.

The Nazis appropriated themselves with what they believed to prove their theory of a supremacist Aryan race. Even long before Hitler, German volkisch nationalist movements were using the Swastika.

The Swastika has been a religious sign of life and good luck for thousands of years – in Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism and even Native American traditions. It is originally the counter-clockwise version.

The Nazi Swastika, on the other hand, is the clockwise one, slightly inclined to the left. Its meaning is the complete opposite – that is, one of death and hate.

More info here, here and online.

French President dates supermodel

2008-01-11T23:58:00.000-08:00

While the very conservative United States of America would by no means tolerate their head of state divorcing during his presidential term, France has taken a new turn with President Nicolas Sarkozy, 6 months only after the election.

In October 2007, the presidential office announced that Sarkozy had filed for divorce from his wife Cecilia Ciganer-Albeliz - a former supermodel whom he had met when he was mayor of Neuilly in the 1980's... when he had actually officiated her wedding.

In January 2008, Sarkozy publicly announced his "serious relationship" with Carla Bruni - a supermodel and musician. They were photographed at EuroDisney, and taking a vacation in Egypt.

It has been all over the news for quite a while now, and lots of people see this as regular jetset material. But it is quite a unique event since Sarkozy's predecessors have had countless lovers, and yet they never publicly discussed it (Mitterand, Chirac...)

Moreover, such a public outlet of a President's private life is not new. But the fact that it is discussed and acknowledged by the President himself is quite unusual. Is Sarko trying to gain the population's trust by stating the obvious? Well it is true that he does always say what he means (e.g. referring to urban vandals as "rabble" (racaille) during the Paris riots)

Anyway, quoting French comedian Anne Roumanoff:
"It would be alright if she (Carla Bruni) became the First Lady. But what if Hilary (Clinton) got elected? You know, Sarko would visit her, and during the official presidential meetings the spouses would keep each other company.... and knowing Bill (Clinton) and Carla.... it might provoke serious tension between France and the US." (see youtube clip here)

Roumanoff is of course referring to the fact that Bruni is infamous for dating Donald Trump and breaking up Mick Jagger's marriage. While Bill... well, you remember Monica Lewinsky ;)

You will of course understand that i'm French-Canadian and everything our big sister France does is of interest ;) On a related note, Patrick called me tonight to let me know that he has booked his flight to Bali - meaning I will meet a very good French friend in Indonesia in about a month! That's something to look forward to !!

In a Seoul state of mind

2008-01-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

서울. Seoul. Population: 10.3 million souls wandering in the big Korean metropolis.

When you first set foot on the street of the South Korean capital, it feels as though you are at the very heart of technology – huge skyscrapers competing with each other for the (gray) sky, while gigantic TVs posted on the buildings throw music and publicity at you. It is simply fascinating and vibrant!

The subway system is one of the cheapest, cleanest and most efficient in the world. In the center of the city stands large and proud Bukhansan, one of Korea’s tallest mountains (can you believe I took that picture with my cell phone while on top of it?!)

Department stores offer the best technology there is, while Burger King has TV on their cash registers so you don’t get bored during the 2 minute-wait. Handsome businessmen proudly walk to their Mercedes while half-bent women in their sixties are selling gum on the street (they came from the countryside, where they used to work in the rice fields).

Most public parks are equipped with free workout equipment, while greasy Korean food is sold on the street. I once bought a copy of "DreamGirls" for 3 dollars at a stand in a subway station where the movie theater was premiering that very movie.

Medicine in Korea is cheap and overrated – Korea is a society highly geared toward productivity and doctors are very aware of this. Thus when sick, one receives small bags in which shocking amounts of pills ensure that you will be knocked out for a few days, but good to go to work earlier than expected. They’re divided into daily doses, as opposed to back home. Needles can also be bought at any good street market….

At times, being in Seoul is like being in a developing country – that is, the old women pushing a huge wheelbarrow full of recycling that they will later sell. Or the strange insects and seafood sold by street vendors.

Korean food is very healthy (lots of fish and vegetables), and Koreans are very open-minded when it comes to eating – fish eye, cow stomach, raw horse, and all sorts of viscous fish including live octopus. Cabbage (used to make kimchi) is piled up in Kia trucks while ajummas (older women) sun-dry red pepper and carry bags of rice on their back.

In the countryside, ajummas sell anything they can on the street, but how can you make a living out of chives? In Seoul, some roast hazelnuts while others give away free hugs.

Buddhist temples are everywhere, and churches are as present if not more. Red neon crosses illuminate the city at night… it’s spooky.

And if Seoul is blessed with Cheonggyecheon (downtown stream, totally magic at night with all the lights), it also exhibits interesting art, and it promotes shameless pooping, thanks to the “Etiquette Bell” installed in most bathroom and which makes a flushing sound when you’re going for number two.

Starbucks cohabits with cardboard stands selling stolen jackets for 5 or 10 bucks. Taxis are cheap and all over the place, with the latest technology including T-Money (magnetic subway pass), navigator, TV, and credit/debit card machine. But being a cab driver is an easy job to get so reports of rape and mugging are quite disturbing.

Breathing in Seoul is not an easy task. People wear masks for a good reason: air pollution is terrible. While most Koreans blame it on China and its yellow dust, the eternal rush hour (most of the day) doesn’t help either. Fortunately, recycling and composting are mandatory, and the unemployed elderly is hired to clean the sidewalks and subway stations. The city’s streets are almost immaculate.

Impressingly enough, planes are brushing the city as they fly low to a nearby airport. In Seoul, both Gimpo and Incheon airports are less than an hour from the city, and the same is true on Jeju island.

Seoul is advanced and traditional. It is polluted, yet environmentally friendly. It is at times slow, but highly efficient. It’s safe and unsafe.

After living in Seoul for a year, I was fed up – traffic jam, air pollution and the hecticness… I had to look really hard in order to get a glimpse of the moon. I wanted out. I wanted the countryside.

But after spending 4 months on Jeju Island, at a crappy job, with a crappy schedule, no time for myself, making less money than I used to while working more hours, stuck in a rot, being woken up in the middle of the night by either dogs barking, noisy neighbors or drunk men blabbering down the street, I needed a “Seoul fix”.

So I went to Seoul for New Year’s. I couldn’t wipe that smile off my face as I was sitting on the plane, thinking about the 3 days to come: nice hotel with bathtub, catching up with friends, eating at ethnic food restaurants, shopping like there’s no tomorrow, feeling the city vibe while going out, and most of all, being anonymous. No more “hello! Hello!” on the street. Plus, Jeju city is as packed as Seoul, but without the conveninence so...

I got my hair done, bought mittens made in India (not made in China!), shopped all over town, ate French food, bought maple syrup, had a chai latte at the coffee bean, and some fun time out with my friends. We even had fireworks on the rooftop of a bar as the snow was slowly enchanting the city.

It turned out to bequite enjoyable, but I felt somehow incomplete as I was going through the customs at Gimpo Airport on my way back. I didn’t feel like I belonged in Seoul anymore, yet Jeju Island didn’t thrill me as much, and Quebec was just too far away. Suddenly, existential questions clustered my poor weary brain and I panicked.

As we grow to be citizens of the world, don’t we come to feel like we both belong everywhere and nowhere?

즐거운 성탄! Merry Xmas a la Korean

2007-12-26T17:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a big scam and we love it! It’s like smoking a cigarette: it’s not good for you (or your wallet), but you are totally addicted and the thought of it is actually perfect (in reality, of course, it’s not).

The more gifts you get, or the more expensive gifts you receive, the happier you feel – people love you! Only a few of us don't even care about presents.

There’s also the “giving rush”; when you are shopping for everyone, feeling all excited about offering your friends and family presents you bought. For sure, they will think you are a giving person and you will revel in their joy.

In Korea, Christmas is growing. And I mean: it is GROWING! Not so long ago, this was just a religious holiday – as opposed to a commercial rip-off that lasts for 2 weeks in Occident.

But now, even on Jeju Island, there are Christmas trees, and palm trees are decorated as well. Department stores sell ornaments and stockings, while Santa is never too far away. Even Korean versions of our traditional Christmas Carols put you in the mood as you browse for more stuff to buy.

Nonetheless, most people only get a day off (25th) and the 26th is brutal. A lot of Koreans actually take a vacation around that time and try to escape the holiday madness – trading it for some quiet family time somewhere on a beach.

“Merry Christmas” is the same in Korean, and all the kids scream it as they expect their foreign teacher to give them more candy, and maybe a game day? They go “iiiiiiiiiouhhhhhh!!” as I tell them that people back home kiss under the mistletoe, and they make fun of the elves. They think Santa is FAT!

Santa’s beard is passed around, and I refuse to wear it after they have all drooled on it. We write a letter to Santa and they all ask for sweets and “give me big money”! As I look at them, so tiny, with their little feet not even touching the ground as they are sitting and trying to make a paper snowflake, my heart is just warm and I’m happy.

That night my friends and I go for Indian food (one of the only two ethnic restaurants on the island), and end up at the Blue Agave for a wild night during which alcohol both makes us happy, and amnesiac – we don’t want to think about what we’re missing back home, we just want to have fun.

It all ends with McDonald’s at 4am – sombrero, Corona and a ring? Christmas a la Mexican at the American embassy in Korea? Does it get any better than this? Where are my turkey, meat pie and stuffing? Where are the cranberries, mashed potatoes, red wine and dessert?

The next day is brutal – that is, nursing a hangover and wondering what the hell you’re doing on the other side of the planet?

The family calls and everyone’s happy; my sister is pregnant with twins, and my brother’s girlfriend is also with child. It’s a shock – feelings of joy and dire take over as you realized that you’re still just a kid and they’re all grown-up!

I won’t even be there to see their belly get bigger, bear the mood swings and bring them ice at the hospital. Last year I missed my grandma’s last days on earth. I also missed my sister’s wedding in Cuba.

How much more am I willing to miss on? If I went home in a few years, we probably wouldn’t even recognize each other!

I’m howling as we hang up – right after Dave tells me they’ve poured me a glass of wine, and mom says my picture is on the Christmas tree. Maybe the thought of home is better than actually being there, but I just want to be with them.

Christmas breakfast at my place – scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and fruit juice. My friend gives me a portable speaker for my computer. I cancel on the potluck i'm supposed to attend and try to get some rest. I need to think about all this.

My upstairs neighbors are strolling across the room. Bang. Bang. Bang. Are they fat? I have to wake up the next day at 7am and teach. Christmas sucks.

Ido Apartment Nightmare

2007-12-25T22:15:00.000-08:00

Native English teachers in Korea pretty much all get the same deal: paid round-trip airfare, rent-free apartment and a big bonus at the end of the year-contract.

I recall my first few nights last year in Seoul, in a crappy dirty little apartment in Sinjeongnegori – a ghetto that would soon be demolished in order to get rid of the filthy buildings that had been erected there for way too many years. To be sure, the neighborhood was poor but homey, and it felt “traditional” with its street vendors, fruit markets and loudspeakers on trucks selling junk at 6am.

When the owner of my hagwon (academy) became aware of the situation, I was immediately moved into another apartment and my living condition was just perfect.

Unfortunately, my current experience in Jeju-do is far from being all right. I tell ya: Ido apartments (left) are a living hell!

It started when I first set foot in my flat – 25 hours of toddling between airports and airplanes in Canada and Korea, exhausted from my trip, I immediately felt sickened by the smell emanating from the thick wallpaper.

A month later and mold had already grown on most walls and the ceiling. It stunk really badly, and my health became an issue, as I was constantly sick for over 3 weeks. Many other of my friends also have that problem and hey are getting sicker.

After countless emails and phone calls to my employer, I finally sent an official letter to the big boss and I was immediately moved out of my apartment. Ironically, I was sent to Myle’s old place – the man who had stabbed my co-worker in the neck.

While the place is mold-free, it turns out it’s also impossible to get a good night sleep over there.

When it’s not the dogs barking in the middle of the night, it’s drunken Korean chicks coming home and hanging out in the hallway at 3am.

But the worst part is my upstairs neighbors. Oh. Seriously. I haven’t had such violent thoughts in years.

It usually starts around 3 or 4am. What are they doing? No idea. All I hear someone walking in high heals. Then the high heals are off and the person walks heavy across the room. Boom. Boom. Then they drop something, like a big box. They start walking again, strolling across the room. Boom. Boom. Boom. Something else is dropped.

It goes on and on until about 6am. That leaves me an hour of sleep before I have to get ready for work. Oh sweet Lord.

You can imagine that I’ve tried everything. Knocking on the ceiling with a broom? They don’t even care. Knocking on their door? They won’t answer. Banging their door for 5 minutes? No big deal – the door is still shut, the noises keep going, and I am angrier than ever.

But last night was even worse. Indeed, we’ve had quite a few celebrations for Christmas and I need sleep so bad.

I went to bed at 9pm. My upstairs neighbors were already noisy. It lasted until 6am this morning. I tried wearing earplugs … didn’t work. I put headphones on top of my earplugs, with some classical music on. Nothing. I could still hear it. Boom. Boom. Boom.

I dropped by my friend’s apartment around 3am and slept on his floor.

He snores.

By 5am I was back in my apartment, crying like a baby. If am I deprived of sleep, it’s not good. But if I am deprived of sleep on December 25th, when I also have to deal with kids the day after Christmas …. It’s fucking bad.

I talked to my boss at the center about it, and he called the building manager. But the building manager can’t get a hold of them. They won’t even answer the door.

Aside from banging on their door at 4am, I also went during the day with a Korean friend. The lady wouldn’t even open the door – she only spoke in the speakerphone, denied everything and hung up on us.

If this were back in Canada, I would just call the cops in the middle of the night.

Here in Korea, I feel like an alien, and I feel incredibly powerless. I don’t speak Korean so I can’t call the cops. My Korean co-workers are sound asleep with their family at that time. And nothing I do seems to get across my neighbors’ tiny little brain that I’m trying to sleep.

I’m going insane. I don’t want to move out again. And I can’t afford to be so tired at work. Even if I go to bed at 9pm, they wake me up in the middle of the night. I’m in hell. Ido apartments are hell.

Goodbye Oscar Peterson

2007-12-25T21:20:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ebo12xg4ws

Observe his flying fingers, it's beautiful! Jazz pianist born in Montreal, Peterson died a day before Christmas (last Monday), at age 82. He is one of my favorite jazz musicians and he's played alongside the giants of jazz including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Roy Eldridge, Nat King Cole, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.

This clip is entitled "goodbye" - both a very appropriate and intense piece.

New Korean President!

2007-12-19T18:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a day off for lots of people since it was election day. Guess who won with 48% of the votes? That's right: Grand National Party (GNP) Lee Myung-Bak, former Seoul mayor and successful businessman.

Lee was recently under investigation for stock manipulation and embezzlement schemes in the BBK company. He stated he knew nothing about that company - claim which was under the spot this week after the opposition party revealed a tape in which Lee states that he is proud of his achievements with BBK. Go figure!

The two previous Korean governments have put a lot of stress on Korean society - as economy and North Korea were hot issues. Koreans trust that with his business background and political experience, Lee will improve the country's economic health.

Car accidents: your phone number on a pillow

2007-12-17T00:27:00.000-08:00

It’s part of the Korean culture shock one experiences upon arriving on the land of the morning calm: driving.

Koreans drive like crazy – yet if everyone drove this crazy it would be safe (order in chaos). But they don’t. Thus, very often, accidents occur.

In Seoul, traffic is not nearly as bad as in Mexico City, but it’s quite similar. Countless motorbikes try to make their way among the long lines of cars, often cutting in front of vehicles. And cars changing lanes, cutting off each other...

In Korea, cars park on the sidewalk. Motorcycles also drive on the sidewalk. I drive on the sidewalk. We all do it.

And if most Koreans know how to handle a stick even in the worst rush hour, a lot of them (just like back home) are slower, older or simply more careful. And accidents take place.

Another cause of car accidents in Korea (again, like in many other countries) is alcohol. As mentioned in a previous post, drinking here is incredibly cheap and accessible. You can get beer and soju from convenience stores at 2am. There’s no “11pm limit” like we have back in Quebec.

So I’ve seen a lot of car accidents here, but it’s never really affected me. That is, until last Friday.

That's Lisa's car getting towed.

My friend Lisa and I were at the teachers’ workshop and she said something about mailing some postcards later that day. I told her not to procrastinate and, after hesitating for a few minutes, she finally agreed and grabbed her car keys.

When we got to the parking lot, she said, “That’s odd. I don’t remember parking sideways.”

There was a Korean lady next to Lisa’s car and she looked mortified. Her gray sports car had two huge red scratches, some tree branches on the hood and a broken light. She looked at us with teary eyes mumbling “mianeyo” (“I’m sorry”).

We soon understood that instead of hitting the breaks when she was parking the car, she had hit the accelerator, smashed Lisa’s car, and went crashing into a tree. Was she drunk? I don’t think so. On her car it said “beginner”.

Long story short, she was driving someone else’s car so we had to wait for her friend to come over. We froze our ass outside as they called the insurance company. Indeed, in Korea you don’t call the police unless someone is injured; just call the insurance company and they will come and see for themselves.

But the lady's insurance had expired. She offered to pay for the reparation and a rental car. It took over 2 hours but finally got settled.

What I learned from this is quite simple: always leave your phone number on the dashboard inside your car.

If I hadn’t told Lisa not to procrastinate, we wouldn’t have gone to the parking lot and caught the lady a few minutes after the accident had happened. Instead, we would have been at the workshop for another 5 hours… the lady wouldn’t have waited that long. She would have just left and Lisa would have been stuck with all the reparation costs.

That’s why Koreans leave their phone number plain visible inside the car. If anyone scratches their car when no one’s inside, they can get in touch with them. It makes you wonder how often such incidents happen over here, eh!

I was told that those are very popular gifts in Korea: a boyfriend will give his girlfriend a little pillow with her phone number sewed on it. She then puts it on the dashboard and they’re both happy.

Funny thing is that I wonder: how many people will actually call the owner of a Jaguar whose car they crashed with their El Camino?

death, oranges, insomnia and the carpenters

2007-12-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

What a day! First of all, it's December 11th - which means it's my grandmother's death anniversary. She died last year while I was in Seoul, and it's been quite a tough row to hoe.

I know it's a fact that she's not "here" anymore, but her memory remains and sometimes I want to share a funny thought with her, or just listen to her never-ending stories but... I can't. And it sucks.

There’s also this tremendous amount of guilt… you know, the “I should have…” and “I could have…”. Especially as a kid, I was so greedy and selfish, and she was all about loving and giving. She used to say she loves me as much as the universe. So did I. And let's face it, she was really funny! I miss her really badly.

Thanks to my upstairs neighbors, I am even more emotional today. Indeed, they walked in in high heels at 2am and of course that woke me up. As if this wasn’t enough, I heard them walking heavy at 4am (banging their heels as they were strolling across the room), opening and closing closets.

It lasted for almost an hour when I finally decided to go upstairs and knock on their door. No answer. I knocked louder. Nothing. I rang the doorbell. Still no one. I was so pissed by then, I just gave the door a big slap and went back to my room. It was silent for a second, and it started again.

Around 6:30am it finally stopped and I was able to get half an hour sleep before getting ready for work and hopping on the bus. I was fulminating!

As I got to school, grumpy as hell, I remembered that my ajumma class (adult women) wanted to do the Carpenters’ song “Top of the world”. Thank God that was funny cauz the music video is soooooo old and cheesy, and the women were all trying to sing along with their Korean accent!

As they were leaving, one of them gave me this huuuuge bag of gimchi and a big basket filled with oranges. The gimchi is a year-old, which means it’s simply delicious and I’m incredibly excited about it! As for the oranges, it’s the peak season now on the island so they are cheap and they are everywhere! You can get 10kg for 5 bucks!!

Oh and yesterday I sent a massive box full of Christmas gifts back home, and a small one to France, for only 40$… not even surface mail; express! Oh sweet Korea! Did I mention I froze my ass for 2 hours in a Korean cemetery last Saturday for a Kim Oksun photo shooting? The photographer is Korean and she takes pictures of foreigners in Korean settings. Her exhibit will be in Seoul this coming June. She's quite talented.

Gota go, lunch time! Yet another day on earth, hoping grandma’s in a better place indeed. Did you know that Koreans bury the dead and then add some lump of earth on top of it? If you look closely, it has some sort of human shape…

3 months already

2007-12-09T22:14:00.000-08:00

I woke up today wondering "what’s the point of life"? Every day I get up, ride the bus for an hour, work, take the bus for another hour and finally get home around 8pm.

Then I have the choice: gym, dinner with friends or spending some time alone. I do prefer the last option since I must go to bed early in order to get up at 7am the next day. Or I go for a quick meal like delicious "modem gimbap" (vegetables, rice, beef, tuna and cheese rolled in seaweed) - which Kyle, Alicia's boyfriend, introduced me to.

But in the end, what’s the point?!

Well, hopefully my teaching English will reach some of my 60 students. Hopefully they’ll remember a few things. Hopefully they’ll speak English and be able to communicate with other human beings. That’s the beauty of such a universal language – no matter where you go, almost everyone knows a little bit of English.

But is this really the whole purpose of life? Me, teaching English? I do enjoy my week-ends – when I usually have dinner with friends on Friday nights, coupled with beers, chatting and playing pool (usually lasts until the next morning ;)

Then Saturdays I nurse my hangover, play tennis with Doug, Woody, Laurie, Amanda and cie, and teach. Sundays I generally clean my place and explore a new part of the island. Hiking is often involved - although last week-end I went Christmas shopping!

And then Monday comes again.

Maybe I’m not skilled at entertaining myself. But that’s not the point; I’m never bored! I am happy with my guitar (although I’d like to find a piano), my movies, my books and mother nature. I’ve traveled quite a bit, and I’m looking forward to going to Indonesia in February. But again, is that all there is? Maybe I’m expecting too much. Maybe I’m expecting the wrong thing.

Maybe I’m not learning when I should. Of course there are many things I should read about and become skilled at.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m super thankful I’m not a factory worker in China, but… the more we can get, the more our expectations grow, right?

I’ve been back in Korea for 3 months now and everything’s just fine. I miss home. But when I’m home I miss the world. And when I’m somewhere around the world I miss other parts of this world. We’re all eternally unsatisfied to some extend I guess.

It's all fun, but I just feel useless. And pointless.

Today the sky is gray and it’s raining a little. I wish I were outside because it smells so good. I wish I were hiking. Instead I’m trapped in this office. At least i've got a cute wooden artifact from my parents and that necklace my sister sent me from Quebec...

Dear Mr. President

2007-12-09T20:58:00.001-08:00

Powerlessness. It is something that truly scares me– being tortured, witnessing genocide, being a passive observer as people hurt the ones you love, being trapped in a plane that is doomed to crash, having your house bombed while you’re peacefully asleep, dying in a tsunami, being homeless and a drug addict, being sentenced to death penalty for a crime you didn’t commit, and the list goes on.

I often feel deeply sad and upset while watching the news (or studying history for that matter). This world is so cruel yet so beautiful.

We all feel like we have the answer (especially when re-making the world with friends over a few beers) – yet atrocities still happen on a daily basis. And we are helpless as individuals. But we are strong as an entity.

I recently heard the song “Dear Mr. President” and thought I’d share the music clip. I personally don’t like Pink, but this one is a really good one and it features the “Indigo Girls”. Carefully listen to the lyrics.

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you?

**Had to repost this due to some prob with utube**

Korean Presidential Elections: uuuh?

2007-12-04T18:15:00.000-08:00

Korean Presidential elections will be held this December 19th and it is anticipated that for the first time since 1989, the winner will have support of less than 40 percent of the population. This means that Korea will see a weak president who will be elected with more than 60 percent of voters opposed to him.

A very crowded race indeed.

Furthermore, allegations of corruption, bribery as well as internal division account for the public’s hesitation. Moreover, there has been an impressive roller coaster of belief – that is, all three candidates have been contradicting themselves a great deal of times over the course of the campaign.

Has it really come to that? Opting for the lesser of three evils?

As the number undecided voters recently rose from 25% to 37% only 2 weeks before the election, polls indicate that GNP (Grand National Party) candidate Lee Myung-Bak maintains a comfortable lead (37-40 percent), followed by independent Lee Hoi-chang with about 20 percent and UNDP Chung Dong-Young with about 14 percent.

Lee Myung-Bak is a brilliant businessman and Seoul’s former mayor. He is seen as a key figure for a change of government (actual President Roh Mun-Hyun is far from being a superstar…) Lee made economy one of his top priorities and his corporate experience makes his a convincing candidate.

However, Lee was at the center of a controversy when he was accused of profiting from real estate speculation from land that he allegedly owned in an expensive area in Seoul.

Moreover, people have become critical of him as many of his comments portray him as a sexist lacking compassion for the poor. When he was mayor he displaced loads of street vendors in order to restore Cheonggyecheon– a buried stream that is now a very popular spot in Gwanghwamun.

Lee recently came under fire for saying that mothers carrying mentally disabled babies should have them aborted. He also was criticized for stating that “when you go to a massage girl (prostitute), be sure to pick up an ugly one because too many men have used the pretty ones. And the ugly girl will be grateful to you and do her best to please you." (!!!)

Lee Hoi-chang breached his promise to retire from politics and that tickled the public. It’s the third time he’s running for presidency.

Nonetheless, he is an experienced politician (former prime minister, chief justice, chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection and chairman of the National Election Commission), known as a man of integrity and principles.

Lee bolted from the opposition party (GNP) at the final stage of the election and now presents himself and an independent candidate. He does not have a well-prepared campaign platform since his primary campaign strategy is to snatch conservative support from the candidate of the party he represented. He basically makes himself a hard-line conservative and has further alienated many moderate voters.

Finally, he’s 72 years old. Old news?

Chung Dong-Young is a television-anchor-turned politician who benefits from the support of current President Roh Mun-Yun’s followers. Chung promises to establish a transparent and corruption-free society, apparently targeting the frontrunner, who is allegedly involved in several wrongdoings.

But many people associate Chung with President Roh – who disappointed and failed a lot of supporters. Some people believe he and his party are largely responsible for the failures of the current administration. Moreover, Chung’s platform is very incoherent, or at least inconsequent and many worry about the possible burgeoning budget deficits arising out of welfare spending and massive North Korea investment plans.

Elected candidate will have to deal with hot key issues such as North Korea, but the most important one on the agenda is the economy. Koreans are getting worried about unemployment and rising prices. Moreover, reunification with North Korea would (will?) be very expensive.

Political observers have said that candidates have focused too much attention on negative campaigns in an effort to boost their popularity and this has resulted in the voters' lack of understanding of their policy visions and pledges.

So… who will you be voting for?

refs: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/, www.koreaherald.com, www.wikipedia.com

Woody Allen

2007-12-02T23:00:00.006-08:00

(you oughta check out the movie clips too!)
I used to think of Woody Allen as an awkward freak who married his adopted daughter. It turns out he is a brilliant film director, writer, actor, playwright and jazz musician (he doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs by the way) who did marry his ex-wife Mia Farrow’s adopted child. She’s Korean and 35 years younger than Allen.

Somehow I got drawn to his work with a movie that is VERY different from his usual style – 2005 Woody Allen directed movie “Match Point”, a love thriller starring Scarlett Johansson. It's a surprising, engrossing, entertaining, elegant and wicked masterpiece.

That same year, a friend met in Seoul turned out to be one of Allen’s biggest fans, and he (re) introduced me to “Annie Hall” – romantic comedy starring Diane Keaton and in which both characters are neurotic and explore relationship themes. I find the bed scene simply brilliant – when he is making love to her and he says “that’s what I call removed” as Annie’s mind (literally) goes to sit in a chair, talking about doing laundry while her body is lying in bed.

Other famous quotes from that movie include:
~ "honey there's a spider in your bathroom the size of a buick!"
~"you're polymorphously perverse!" and
~"now we can go about our business here and even develop photographs if we want to"

After reflecting upon this movie for a while, I saw Manhattan and once again loved the movie! Allen masters the art of deconstructing men/women relationships in a cerebral yet amusing way. “Play it again, sam” is probably one of my favorites! It (again) stars Diane Keaton and is greatly influenced by 1940s“Casablanca”. Allen explores the dating psychology - where people try so hard to please others that they end up losing track of themselves and messing everything up. Here again, I don’t know much about filmmaking, but he definitely brings about a whole new style (characters talking to the camera, visual effects, etc.)

Another great example of Allen's ingenuity is the 70s movie “Everything you always wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask” – some sort of parody of the (then) very popular 1969 David Reuben’s sex manual. Combining the absurd with psychology and irony, those 7 segments are simply hilarious (especially the big tit, what happens during ejaculation, but especially the sheep scene!!)

Here are a few quotes/scenes from that movie:

~Victor Shakapopulis: I don't know if you've read my book, "Advanced Sexual Positions: How to Achieve Them Without Laughing."

~[Dr. Ross's wife has caught him in bed with a sheep wearing sexy black garters]
Mrs. Ross: [upset] How could you?
Dr. Doug Ross: This is Mrs. Bencours, one of my patients. She... she thinks she's a sheep.

~Dr. Bernardo: In here I have twenty scouts. I want to measure your respiration when they gang-bang you.

All of Allen’s movies include some social criticism, but “Zelig” and “Sleeper” definitely are at the top of my list. The first one portrays Allen as a psychotic chameleon who acts and LOOKS like whoever is around him – his skin gets darker around Blacks, he talks like a doctor around physicians, at some point he thinks he’s the pope and the next minute he is a Nazi! The movie is like a documentary, in which Mia Farrow plays the psychologist. It’s an amazing critic of contemporary society, which still applies 30 years later.

As for “Sleeper”, the style and the ideas are simply genius. While using ridicule, Allen tries to portray an ironic future in which sex is replaced with orgasm machines called Orgasmatron booths (everyone is frigid in the future…), people think smoking is actually good for you, and genetically modified food are the size of humans! Starring Keaton as some sort of futuristic poet, this movie will crack you up I swear!

The one I recently saw is "Deconstructing Harry", a kind of Freudian movie about a writer who tries understand his 3 ex-wives who simply hate him, as well as his addiction to whores and pills. Once again the topic is serious and Allen invited humour to his social criticism - I was laughing my head off when he arrives to the honor ceremony from the college that expelled him with a black prostitute, his kidnapped son, and a dead man!!

The only movie (so far) i'm not a big fan of is "anything else" starring Jason Biggs, Christina Ricci and Danny DeVito. The script is good and the ideas are interesting, but the actors aren't even believable. It all sounds so fake.

I've posted a few movie clips, enjoy!

'Everything ... about sex' (1972) - the sheep scene

2007-12-02T23:00:00.001-08:00

Sleeper - Banana Skin

2007-12-02T22:59:00.005-08:00

Gert Zelig

2007-12-02T22:59:00.003-08:00

Annie Hall Scenes

2007-12-02T22:59:00.001-08:00

Morning gym at Korean schools

2007-12-02T18:44:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDCnQnlv2DY

I shot this video from the roof of the school I work at, around 9am. Old fashion music and some good old gym moves :) The man sounds angry but he isn't... that's just the way Koreans talk! Enjoy!

Good morning heartache

2007-11-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I learned about Hobbes and instantly related to his quote that life in the state of nature is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short". My teacher translated this as man being a wolf for man.

My understanding was that human nature is basically bad and that we must fight natural urges in order to co-exist peacefully in society. We also need things to numb our mind – with things such as ridiculous TV shows, drugs or beer. I had heated existentialist debates over the subject and still thought I was right. Everyone is capable of hurting someone else - be it physical or emotional.

Looking at the world, this idea seemed to make a lot of sense – with corruption, war, ethnic cleansing, poverty, and child soldiers. Who in their right mind would witness this all and let it happen?

I was young and radical. To me, everything was either black or white. My Godfather told me nothing is either black or white; there’s a gray segment one must learn to find and accept. There’s good and bad in this world, and both co-exist in each one of us.

I know I’ve done bad things in the past. I’ve hurt people’s feelings while trying to spare mine, and I’ve said and done things that I regret. As it turns out, I hurt someone’s feelings last weekend, someone I really cared about. As the song goes, “blame it on my youth”…

It’s just daunting to keep seeing that not only am I capable of hurting others, but that I actually do it. It means there’s a dark side to me and no matter how hard I try, I obviously can’t control it all the time.

Why can’t I be one of these people who are always doing the right thing, always being nice and authentic, and never having a bad thought or even a mood swing?

This world is so beautiful. On Sunday we went to the beach, yongyeon lake and checked out a university. Then I hung out in the countryside by myself and had tea at a temple. It felt so great, away from the city… the serenity of knowing that I couldn’t do harm there.

Pictures: Me, me! Field passed Jeju National University, Iho beach, countryside, yongyeon and Halla mountain

Korean food, drinks and bars

2007-11-21T23:48:00.000-08:00

Well i'm no expert, but I've received a few emails regarding food, drinking and going out in Jeju so I thought I would give some info here.

FOOD
First of all you must know that Gimchi is a traditional Korean kind of food: it’s spicy, fermented cabbage and it is always served as a side dish. It can be fried too, and it’s often integrated in many meals (fried rice, soups, etc.)

In Korea, eating out is cheaper than cooking at home.

On every corner, you'll find some snack shop that offers a decent meal for less than 5$ (usually a broth, meat, rice and vegetables). There's also gimbap for a dollar or more (it's Korean sushi but without fish; the typical one is rice, vegetables, eggs and ham rolled in seaweed, but there are many other kinds with, for instance, cheese, ground beef, tuna, and so on.) It’s good and it’s cheap.

There's also other great and nutritious meals such as bibimbap - a mix of vegetables, rice, red pepper sauce and ground beef. Also delicious and unexpensive.

Average restaurants, as well as hofs (where they serve beer) offer communal meals – meaning they bring a portable stove to your table, where the meal you chose cooks in a giant pot and people help themselves. That’s usually for kimchi jiggae (kimchi soup with beef and tofu), and every other meat (chicken, pork, etc.) in a stew (usually quite spicy). It’s cheap when there’s at least four people, like 3$ per person.

While table and chairs is getting more popular, most restaurants usually give you the option of either sitting on the (heated!) floor, or at a table with chairs. I prefer sitting on the floor… this way you feel it instantly when you’re full (even before starting to eat ;) Just know that there will be tons of side dishes and it's not unusual - sauces, marinated vegetables, all sorts of gimchi, eggs, fish, broth, garlic, etc.

The thing I find genius in Korea is the BBQ at your table. That’s awesome! Many restaurants have a big hole at the center of the table, where the grill is set. They bring you meat and vegetables on a plate, and cook it for you. It’s your own BBQ, and you have something to do while waiting for your food to be ready!

The way to eat meat is also very special here. Beef and pork are the most popular and they are often marinated (I personally love samgyeopsal (fat pork!). So you grill the meat, then with scissors cut it into small pieces. You pick one piece with your chopsticks, dip it in sauce (bean paste or whatever), put it in a salad leaf, top it with fried kimchi or marinated onions, and eat it! It’s delicious and healthy.

There are also street vendors, who offer Korean junk food for as cheap as 50 cents - deep fried sausage on a stick, deep fried noodles and seaweed, deep-fried fish crap on a stick (it's like a fish sausage... don't ask what's in it), fries in a cup, some boiled rice pasta in spicy sauce, etc.

Finally, Jeju is an island. It’s by the sea. So of course, seafood is a specialty. Take a walk along any beach and you will come across countless seafood restaurants. There are usually a few fish tanks at the front, where you chose one. They kill it and prepare it in front of you. It’s cruel and delicious. It’s called sashimi.

In Jeju in the summer you get to see many women sun drying squid.

DRINKS
Like everywhere, there’s beer and sodas. What’s specific to Korea, however, is how cheap alcoholic drinks (and cigarettes) are! You can get a big bottle of Macally (cold rice liquor) for 2 dollars, and for 3$ you get a bottle of Soju (sweet potatoe liquor about 20% alcohol).

Soju is to Korean culture what Sake is to the Japanese, or wine is to the French. Macally is more the countryside drink – it’s cheap and refreshing. Both give you the WORST hangover ever. Yet most Korean men get drunk on it at least once a week and they seem perfectly fine the next day (a mystery…) You can get a liter bottle of soju (looks like bottled water!) for 7 bucks…

That's Wookyung and Stacey when we had dinner before I left Seoul... we had over 7 bottles of soju and headed to a noreabong (singing room). Needless to say it was a rather fun night, especially since a friend was visiting from China too!

There’s wine in Korea but it’s sweet. The first time I’ve ever tasted it I really liked it – especially the raspberry one and the plum wine too. But with a heavy meal such as galbi (marinated BBQ meat), it just sickened me so bad that I can’t handle it anymore.

There’s Australian, French and African wine at most convenience stores but they’re either cheap and bad, or decent and incredibly expensive.

As for beer, the main choices are Hite and Cass – they are cheap and alright. Cafri is my favorite… I know it’s oriental but I’m not sure if it’s Korean.

That's Sion back in Seoul: a bottle of Hite and dried octopus! Beh!

SOME NICE SPOTS
Food is everywhere so there isn’t much to say. But if you look for ethnic food, there’s Baghdad Café (Indian food) and a Mexican restaurant in Gu-Jeju. Baghdad has a really nice atmosphere and a nice terrace.

Nicer restaurants include the buffet a KAL hotel and an Italian “log house” on the costal road (on the way to Hallim). But really, why pay for an expensive meal? Food is one of Korea’s specialty! Nonetheless, I would recommend going to Jungmun beach since there are plenty of 5 star hotels where you can enjoy ridiculously pricy fine cuisine

This is the Hyatt's swimming pool where we hung out this summer. The hotel restaurant has an impressive ocean view and fancy food. So do all the other hotels around, especially the Lotte Hotel!

If you’re in the mood for junk food, there’s of course McDonald’s and Lotteria (Korean version of McDicks). Baskin n Robins and Dunkin Donuts are also on the island, but you have to go to the mainland for Starbucks.

That's Misha (a Russian friend working in a Korean circus) making fun of those 2 Korean teenagers sleeping at McDonald's around 4am on a Friday (well, Saturday)...

As for going out, I know a few places that have a great ambiance. Of course there’s the Blue Agave in Gu-Jeju – a bar with a pool table, sofas and a DJ. It’s homey, and you can get food there too. A lot of foreigners hang out there.

I believe that shot was taken a few weeks ago... we were playing them and his friend missed a shot!

The Doors and Led Zepplin in Gu-Jeju are nice spots to hang out. The music collection is impressive at both places, and drinks are average price. Bands sometimes play at both places and it gets pretty packed. The DJs are cool and they always play my Hendrix/Joplin requests ;)

GP in Gu-Jeju is small and cramped, but also very popular. Last week a friend of mine almost fell in a coma at 4am after having had a few drinks. Drinks at GP are extremely STRONG… and cheap! They put an ounce of Coke and fill the rest of your glass with rhum. I always have a beer there, otherwise it gets to my head way too fast.

The first bar I ever went to in Gu-Jeju is Angel’s sin. You know, same as any other bar – pool table, tables and chairs. Mostly Koreans hang out there, but foreigners too. The name is cute and it’s close to where teachers live.

Modern Times is a brewery in Shin Jeju. It’s one of our favorite hangout spots because the beer is really good, the seats are comfy, and it’s not a loud place. They also serve food, but I wouldn’t really eat it…

La Vie is a nice bar too in Shin Jeju. Nothing special except its name is French ;)

I'm still exploring but that should get you started =)

Pictures: taken by me on Jejudo and Seoul, and a few taken by annabella when she visited me in Seoul in 2007

Drop the plastic bag!

2007-11-20T21:15:00.000-08:00

In Korea (as in all over the world), plastic bags are everywhere. Buying fruit or vegetables? You need a plastic bag to stick the price on. Buying tofu? Put it in a plastic bag. Food to go? Plastic bag. Buying goods? Plastic bag.

Even when you’re buying a bag, they give you a plastic bag.

And in Korea, many cashiers INSIST that you take one. I remember saying “no, it’s ok” five times while a lady kept smiling and saying “service!” (it’s free) Me taking the plastic bag was part of being a satisfied costumer and she wouldn’t let me go without it.

While the plastic bag issue has been a serious concern in every single country for quite a while now, some nations have made a great effort at minimizing its use.

After all, it takes hundreds of years for one plastic bag to decompose.

In France, for instance, grocery stores don’t even have plastic bags. You forgot to bring a bag? You must buy one for a few cents. Back in Quebec, some grocery stores give you a discount when you bring your re-use your plastic bag. I've also seen bio-degradable ones, that still take a while to vanish though.

In Korea, they charge you for it. And while it’s a good initiative, 5 cents really doesn’t matter when you buy 200$ worth of food…

Meanwhile animals are choking on plastic bags. Plastic bags all everywhere you look, strewing the ground, stuck in trees, hiding in dark alleys and floating in the ocean. Yet plastic bags are still produced every single day.

The same could be said of plastic/glass bottles, ridiculously thick plastic packing, and everything else we consume for that matter. Dumps are overloaded with our trash, and the space is getting scarce.

Just a thought: drop the damn plastic bag!
10 cents for one of those? No way. How about 10$ for every plastic bag? Then we’ll think about it twice before taking it...

Pictures: Google images

Jazz me real nice!

2007-11-13T22:21:00.001-08:00

Nina Simone improv on the piano with her musicians... totally made my day!

Pepero

2007-11-13T00:02:00.000-08:00

In Korea, November 11 (11/11, like four Pepero sticks) is as important as February 14th in Western countries - it's what they call "Pepero Day"!

It's a day when you give to the one you love. But you don't just give any kind of chocolate. You don't give flowers. You don't give a heart-shaped gift. No.

You give Peperos!

Peperos are candy sticks from the oh so famous Korean/Japanese (conglomerate) brand LOTTE - from Lotte World (theme park) and Lotte hotels, to Lotteria (fast-food restaurant), Lotte mart, Lotte gum, Lotte candy and Lotte Giants baseball team.

Thus Pepero day is really Lotte day. It all started in 1983, the year I was born. A real commercial scam, but kids love it and Lotte gets wealthier. Everbody wins.

Picture: Google Images

Chunks of life

2007-11-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

Halloween was last week and I had totally forgotten about it. Fortunately Mr. Lee gave me a bag full of crap, I put up a powerpoint with witches and ghosts, and it turned out to be quite fun!

Koreans don't celebrate Halloween like we do, but it's growing on them. And they know that this holiday means "candy! candy! candy!" So I gave them oranges :)

The next week-end I went to Dongmun market - a huge place where they sell everything, from cheap clothes to weird fish and pig heads.

The weather here is still warm (around 20 celcius) and, as you may know, it's now the oranges season in Jeju. They are all over the place... tasty and cheap.

On Sunday we went to Samsunghyeol- a freakish place near my place. It's like an outdoor museum with three giant holes in the ground. Koreans believe that three Gods emerged from those holes many many years ago, and they built Jeju. Each year a ceremony takes place at Samsunghyeol to give thanks to those Gods.

We also visited one of Jeju island's number one spot: Yongduam! It's a big rock shaped like a dragon's head and... you really have to want to see it because it's not that obvious! According to the legend, a dragon envoy of the Dragon King was sent to Mt. Halla to pick a herb which would give eternal youth. But a mountain god shut into the sea, and only the head protruded above the sea. And it became Yongduam.

As you can see, smart Korean women took over the area around the rock in order to do business. They mainly sell sashimi (raw fish).

On an unrelated topic, I'm finally moving out of my moldy apartment! Will post pictures soon, especially for those of you thinking about visiting. Looking forward to this week-end cauz i'll be hiking halla mountain and teaching my dentist some French (he asked me!)

I'm also about to book my flight for Bali en February!! Bali baby! :)

Oh and here's the building where I work out: can you see the door?!?! Looks suicidal...

More of my pics: http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/261498

Going under the knife for a better life?

2007-11-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

As I walked down one of the main streets in Gu-Jeju, I started fearing for my own safety after 3 people passed by, one after the other, with a bandage on their left eye. It looked as if they had been victims of some physical assault and, worst of all, they were all coming from the direction I was heading to.

As I ran into my friend Amanda, I saw 4 more of them coming our way. “That’s 7 in not even 10 minutes,” I thought. Most of them looked relatively young (under 30) and seemed alright – no bruises, hair perfectly in place, no ripped off clothes… they appeared to be peaceful.

We turned around the corner and there it was, written in gigantic letters, in both Korean and English: PLASTIC SURGERY!

As it turns out, plastic surgery (especially nose and eyelid) is huge in Korea. If you haven’t noticed, Asian features differ from Occidental’s and that apparently isn’t something to be proud of.

Moreover, Koreans tend to be very superficial (i.e.: women go hiking in their high heels with make up on!) and a lot of them idealize American culture. So plastic surgery is just the way to go.

Most Koreans also undergo a very restrictive diet at least once a year in order to stay thin or skinny. There’s actually a skeletal Korean woman working out at my gym and she spends over an hour pedaling on the stationary. Most Korean women I know complain about their size.

And as if this wasn’t enough, they believe that men are judged more on their ability than women are. So even if a female student at a famous school has graduated at the top of her class, if she is considered unattractive, the chances of her finding a good job are slim. So instead of attending classes that might enhance her skills, she is busy improving her appearance with cosmetic surgery appointments and visits to the gym.

Believe me, I’ve seen it. Especially in Seoul.

A Korean friend of mine got her degree in English lit from a well-known University but she is a little overweight. She had problems finding a job and her entire family said it was because of her size. Indeed, what company would want an average woman to interact with its costumers when they can get miss skinny who just underwent surgery?

Well get this: her parents ordered her to come home in order to lose weight. They wanted her to stay with them, be on a diet and exercise every day. You probably all know that in Korea parents are always right.

Fortunately for my friend, she got hired in a company 2 days before she was supposed to go back home!

Koreans get perms, undergo nose and eyelid surgery, going as far as liposuction. They believe that if your face is beautiful, then your heart also becomes beautiful (!!)

The rate of the general public going under the knife is currently at about 13 percent in Korea, while that in the United States is less than 3 percent. Plastic surgery has become so popular that the government even introduced a "reasonable" bill last year to reissue national registration cards to those whose appearance has changed as a result of plastic surgery!

Koreans can now reshape their ears with an octoplasty; eliminate wrinkles, blemishes and unevenly pigmented or sun-damaged skin with a chemical peel, change the shape of their face with facial implants; or go for a rhytidectomy - the classic facelift - in which the sagging facial skin is tightened and redraped over retoned facial muscles.

Today the typical Korean face (small, slanted eyes, round face and high cheekbones) can be dramatically altered to achieve the preferred Western look: all you need is 1-1.5 million won for the eye job, and 4-5 million won for bone shaving.

What's scary is that younger teenagers are going under the knife - often a gift from their parents who want "the best" for their children.

Koreans can also smooth out forehead wrinkles for 4-5 million won, enhance lips for 1 million won, augment breasts for 5 million won or have liposuction done on the stomach, thighs and calves for 2-3 million won.

While more than half of the surgeries performed involve the eyes (57 percent) and removing wrinkles (30 percent), the most popular procedure in Korea is the double-eyelid operation - the creation of a fold on the eyelid!!

But plastic surgery can be addictive and a lot of Koreans now crave it like I used to crave Nutella back in college.

Plastic surgery also enhances one’s chances of becoming a celebrity. According to a recent survey of 200 entertainers by Seoul-based plastic surgeon Lee Kang-won, 38.5 percent acknowledged that their looks had been artificially changed at an average of 1.42 operations.

And to think that when we die, all that flesh just rots in the ground.

PS: you might want to check out the very lame Korean movie "200 pounds of beauty" - in which a fat girl undergoes surgery and subsequently becomes famous. In the end she tells everyone she used to be fat and they all love her and, you know, she cries. Classic. The actress is perfect for both roles haha

source: internet but mainly http://www2.law.columbia.edu
pics: google

Toxic china

2007-10-31T21:50:00.000-07:00

a.k.a. why fair trade matters to you ;)

Ah China! A quarter of the world’s population. A cool language that’s tattooed on people’s arm. Martial arts, Confucianism, Chinese food! But when we think of China, the most famous icon is “Made in China”.

Look at your Nike shoes. Your dishes. You coffee mug. Your DVD player. Your pencil sharpener. Your car. It seems like everything is made in China – from ridiculously cheap goods, to the most classy and expensive ones.

I guess this is one of the things human beings have in common: “Made in China”.

But why not all switch to “made from a clean place with basic standards and where human rights are respected”?

Here’s a list of recent Chinese exports that have been re-called because they were safety hazards:

1. Lead Toys

1.5 million toys recalled because the surface paint contains lead, a toxin that's dangerous if swallowed (can damage brain cells). Toys were sold at Fisher Price, Toy’r’us, Mattel, Barbie, etc.

2. Kerosene eyeball toys
In June 2007 in the US a ghoulish fake eyeball toy made in China was recalled after it was found to be filled with kerosene (!!??)

3. Toxic toothpaste
FDA has identified several brands of toothpaste from China that have been found to contain a poisonous chemical called diethylene glycol (DEG). The products typically are sold at low-cost, “bargain” retail outlets.

4. Tires that split
In New Jersey 450,000 tires were recalled after the company disclosed that its Chinese supplier had stopped including a safety feature that prevented the tires from separating.

5. Scooters’ handlebars falling off
In L.A. 20,000 electric scooters because of fears welding work could cause the handlebars to fall off.

6. Kids choking on Starbucks cups
Starbucks children's plastic cups made in China reportedly fracture easily, leaving sharp edges and broken pieces that pose a choking or laceration hazard to children.

7. Crayons and paint
Toys R Us have recalled 27,000 Chinese-made paint and crayon sets after the wooden box packaging was found to contain lead.

8. Cribs where kids die
1 million Chinese-made cribs were recalled following reports of three infant deaths and entrapment; suffocation concerns.

9. Logger boots?
Electrocute yourself!9,500 pair of Caterpillar Logger Boots were recalled because they were improperly labeled as resistant to electricity - they aren’t.

10. Kill your adored pet with Chinese animal food!
More than 60 million cans of cat and dog food were recalled after the deaths of 14 animals. Wheat gluten — an ingredient in commercial pet foods — was contaminated with the chemical melamine, as well as rat poison.

11. Kill your baby with counterfeit formula!
Chinese consumers have also suffered from contaminated food products, including the death of infants fed with counterfeit formula.

12. Even spinach!
Frozen Chinese spinach was recalled after exceeding levels of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide, were found in the vegetable.

13. Chinese honey = cancer?
Chinese honey revealed traces of an antibiotic called chloramphenicol in ten out of 16 samples. In larger doses chloramphenicol can cause cancer. It is also considered a contributory factor in developing aplastic anaemia, a rare but serious blood disorder that affects 50 to 100 people a year in the UK.

14. Fake labeling
Up to 2,228 tons (nearly 4.5 million pounds) of Chinese honey was shipped to Australia and then re-exported to the United States in the 2001-02 financial year at a time when the U.S. had banned Chinese honey.

15. Genetically Enginerred rice
Greenpeace announced that non-approved genetically-engineered (GE) rice has been detected in Heinz's Baby Rice Cereal and the environmental group called for an immediate recall of all the contaminated products.

16. Dyed egg yolks, really!?
Some farmers in China injected an industrial dye, suspected of causing cancer, into eggs to make the yolks look fresher. Farmers also injected chemicals into mangos to have them ripen sooner or into strawberries and apples to make them more reddish; fishermen used malachite green, a suspected carcinogen, to treat freshwater fish to make them appear fresher.

17. Flammable pajamas
New Zealand launched an investigation into Chinese garment imports after children's clothes from China were found to contain dangerous levels of formaldehyde concentrations - up to 900 times above the safe level in woolen and cotton clothes.
Formaldehyde — a chemical preservative that gives a permanent press effect to clothes and is also used as an embalming fluid — can cause problems ranging from skin rashes to cancer.

18. Toxic syrup
Toxic syrup from China is responsible for causing over 300 deaths.

19. Contaminated bibs
Winnie The Pooh (sold at Toys’R’Us) vinyl baby bibs appear to be contaminated with lead.

20. Even leukaemia drugs are not safe!
Chinese authorities have ordered the recall of two contaminated leukaemia drugs blamed for adverse reactions among child patients. Several child leukaemia patients experienced difficulties in walking after being injected with them. The drugs had also caused urine retention among some leukaemia patients.

21. Toxic exports to Thailand
About 10 percent of 11,500 Chinese food products entering Thailand's northern border have been rejected or destroyed because they were contaminated with hazardous toxins. The products rejected at the Thai border included dried shark fins, seasoned seaweed and artificial sweeteners.

22. Contaminated seafood
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is detaining imports of farm-raised seafood from China because they have repeatedly been found to contain residues of drugs not approved in the US for farm-raised aquatic animals.The products affected are catfish, basa, shrimp, dace (a relative of the carp) and eel imported from China.

23. Toxic rice in everything?
Illegal Genetically Engineered rice has contaminated food in France, Germany and the UK. Greenpeace offices and Friends of the Earth in the UK tested samples of rice products such as vermicelli, rice sticks and other processed foods. Five positive samples were found containing an illegal GE organism not approved anywhere in the world. However this may only be the tip of the iceberg. Rice products are included in everything from baby food to yoghurt.

24. Green tea…
Green tea from China found to be contaminated with alarming levels of pesticides.

25. Chinese medicine… not the cure?
A toxic herb that can cause kidney failure has been found in commonly-used traditional Chinese herbal medicines, the government has revealed.

26. and the list goes on…

I browsed the web for a few hours to find all this stuff out (refs. are at the end) and a lot of articles questionnned whether China is trying to poison America. But as it turns out (that would call for a whole other entry) China is also poisoning its very own population with the same/similar problems.

And let’s not get into the air pollution issue – which, by the way, brings yellow dust in Seoul in spring, making it hard to breathe, leading to throat problems and itchy eyes. I know, I was there last year!

About 75% of U.S. toys are now made in China. Today China is responsible for about 60 percent of all product recalls from the US, compared with 36 percent in 2000. Should they be scared?

The owner of a Chinese toy factory identified by Mattel as the maker of the lead-tainted toys involved in a million unit recall committed suicide inside his factory. According to the article on BBC, dishonored officials commonly commit suicide.

~refs:
www.silentscourge.com
www.nytimes.com
www.acbnews.go.com
www.consumerist.com
www.fda.gov
www.bloggingstocks.com
www.blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/
www.forbes.com
www.bbcnews.com
www.money.cnn.com
www.usatoday.com
www.epochtimes.com
www.alertnet.org

One

2007-10-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well I have been sick for over two weeks now, and I’ve been feeling quite down lately. As it turns out, mold has been growing in my apartment and it’s getting pretty gross. And I’m afraid this might be one of the reasons why I’m still sick. I googled mold-related health problems and it’s not pretty!

So anyway, last week-end I decided not to go out and I even missed the Halloween party at the Blue Agave. Instead, I cruised around the island and spotted amazingly cool and beautiful places.

It felt incredibly good to get out of the city and gaze at cows and horses chilling out in the countryside. I can’t tell you how great I felt as I wandered in some forest (just like back when I was living in France!) and looked at the sun shine on fields, grass and everything that’s beautiful down here on earth.

And then I made it right. Then turned left. And straight up a hill. That’s when I saw this gigantic cemetery – some sort of ancestral memorial park filled with countless graves. It was both impressive and scary. The silence was heavy yet refreshing, and the vastness made me feel dizzy but also incredibly free.

I wandered in the graveyard for a while, captivated by its atmosphere and grandeur. Meanwhile a friend texted me, inviting me to a Korean body-building competition, and I thought that was an amusing coincidence – people investing so much effort and energy on the body that’s merely a way of carrying their soul, when in the end, this body… this “temple”, will end up decomposing somewhere in a cemetery, with worms feeding off it.

That’s when it hit me: the perfect unity of everything that exists! The cycle of water, the cycle of life. How we become mere compost and bug food once we’re dead – which in turn nourishes the earth that grows the food that we eat. We are all connected and that’s beautiful.

Everything else just seemed so irrelevant at the moment; glitziness, materialism and cupidity… I just wanted to be surrounded by nothing but nature for as long as I would remember. Ironically, the view from the mountain was on Jeju city and the light brown skyscrapers never looked so hideous.

I thought about pesticides, GMO, computers, TVs, alcoholics and drug addicts. I thought about plastic bottles, trash and the lead in plastic toys “made in China”. I thought about candy, greed and the horrible smells coming from the exhaust of the cars in front of me when I’m driving my scooter in traffic. I felt nauseous. I felt sick of myself. I felt like we’ve lost sight of what’s important, of what’s GOOD. Long time ago.

I went back home to my mold and couldn’t sleep that night. I spent an hour meditating at a Buddhist temple but it didn’t help. I feel so little. So helpless. So corrupted and so sick of whining in vain.

The next day Doug gave me this book about Greenpeace and I got even more depressed – it related the history of nuclear energy/weapons, including the “gadget” Einstein warned Franklin against, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and too many other nuclear “tests”.

Well you know what? History can be pretty sad but in the end, I really do feel like we are all connected –hurting one of us (humans, animals, plants) is like hurting us all. The illusion of invulnerability is a dangerous one that has corrupted very ambitious men and women who blindly act without thinking about the impact/consequences of their actions. We’re like robots living in a crazy world and when I stop and think about it, it scares me.

Enough with the pain and suffering. What is wrong with us? And enough with the mold in my apartment dammit!

More of my pics: http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/255329