Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

For anyone who reads this blog regularly, there should already be a realization that "individuality" is a recurring theme in its long ranting passages. From fighting for my personal freedom at work to seeking the most unique personalities I can find during my travels , I have spent a large portion of my free time looking for sparks of rebellion against meek collectivism in some of the world's most collectivist societies . And, in all honesty, Korea, like Japan, definitely belong in the ranks of brutal collectivism despite improving political and economic individuality over decades of opening up the countries for Western-style reforms. The resulting social bipolarity, appearing in the form of never-ending conflicts between institutional needs for absolute obedience and the economic glorification of individual materialism, has been a matter of great interest for me as I walk about the streets of the Korean metropolis dissecting its human side. Recently, the concept of fa

Working within Korean society can bring surprising findings at random moments. The other day, we the teachers came across a gel-tipped highlighter that is unlike anything we have ever seen. Soft and smooth when it touches paper, it actually does to make any marks when slashed across the skin. The Korean students must have been quite amused by a bunch of foreign teachers being amazed by a piece of stationery so commonly used and seen in this country. And this is not the only time I have been amazed by highly practical and technically sophisticated products found on this side of the Pacific. From heated-up toilet seats in Japan to cheap yet extremely multi-functional pirated goods in China, the Asian economic miracle based on strong manufacturing sector has in essence created societies with strong materialistic convenience. The unique products are further complemented by increasingly polite and respectful services when the products are sold or repaired. Certainly beyond anything the

Another weekend, another round of random adventures in Seoul, with random musings, random meet-ups, and random places....senses overflows with brand-new knowledge, no matter how trivial, and the body overflows with more and more alcohol under random conditions leading to random consequences. For just another foreigner living in the massive metropolis, no experience is really off-limits and no activity really deserves to be set aside as off-limits for any reason. But increasingly, as a foreigner living in a foreign country, not just here in Korea but Japan and pretty soon in the future, England, I am increasingly an inner split between two different kinds of foreignness , battling inside of me for supremacy in every situation I get into. As an Asian-American, the side of me that exemplifies the “Asian” natures of humbleness and respect for authority clashes with the “Western” natures of individuality and spontaneity at every opportunity I get. Without a doubt, these are the clashes

"How do I get my kids into Ivy League schools?" Working in the hagwon business , it is THE fundamental question teachers and consultants must be held answerable to their clients. The inquiring looks of the students and their parents are surely never to be satisfied by any explanation, no matter how long, sophisticated, detailed they are...but the question still had to be answered. Amid the non-ending competition for clients among different hagwons, the standard answers about extracurricular activities, SAT scores, and essays, at some point many many years ago, have became nowhere near sufficient.... In a market where anyone who lived and went to school in the States can claim (and often do so shamelessly) him or herself to be an "expert in American education system," the shadowy arts of "unconventional persuasion" becomes not only handy but also completely necessary and required for the very economic survival of the so-called "experts" in the

I have said to many people many times in the past, and I will say it again, "every spot in Korea, if not specifically designated as another function, can be and is a dating spot." Strolling through malls, parks, and random streets, the sights of couples with locked hands and loving conversations are something that cannot be avoided by any means. As if to declare to the entire world that they are in love and with complete disregard for the (supposedly) Confucian tradition of toning things a bit down in public spaces, the young couples have made the streets of the metropolis dissipate invisible pink hearts at any corner and at any time of the day. Pardon the completely overused and cliched "soul=Seoul" pun, but for the past days, I have been trying to track down exactly where all these energy for romance are generated...and gets dissipated. In a society known for social conservatism based a strong sense of different social groupings , it is always a wonder how peop

Walking through the little lobby of my service apartment here in a neighborhood frequented by high-end foreign visitors, I would commonly find the newest brochures for English-language tours of Korea. The familiar Seoul city tours, the Korean drama tours, the historical Korean culture tours...but even in this day and age, the most prominent and most used tour packages are still the "Korea divided" tours headed up to the northern border. DMZ tour is a crowd favorite and commonly acknowledged must-do in Korea, and wait it minute, can it be? NLL tours?! NLL, for those who are unfamiliar, is short for the "Northern Limit Line," a highly disputed "maritime border" between the two Koreas extending west from the land border that we call DMZ. And the biggest military news of the last few months, namely the alleged bombing of a Southern frigate by a Northern torpedo, and the deadly bombardment of the nearby Southern island by Northern artillery, both occurred n