Posts

Finding the Romantic Soul of Seoul

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

Danger as Entertainment and Near-Death as Adrenaline Rush

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

Reconsidering the Role of An Educator outside the Normal School Environment

Class, prep for class, sleep, class, prep for class, sleep...the normal cycle of being an "educator" in an "intensive" summer SAT program seemed to finally come back to me. Even though it has been more than a year and a half since I taught similar programs, it seems that I am having much easier time getting used to the life of an English teacher this time compared to the last few times. Perhaps it is really because that my discipline and worldview changed much since I went through my full-time job in Japan ... Perhaps, just perhaps...but what is interesting is that I can confidently say that I worked harder and had a much broader view of the world back when I was a Yale student ( even though I am in many ways quite dissatisfied with it ) and will certainly do when I start another tough year at LSE . My Japan experience should not play that big of a factor. So, I took a few minutes out of my prep time to rethink about exactly what is making my few days of teachin

Realizing Once Again Why I DO NOT Work in Korea Full-time

People always question me why don't I just work in Korea full-time when I seem to love the country so much even though I do not even speak the language properly. No knowing the language, they argue, only works in my favor here because I can truly pretend to be completely oblivious to the "social rules" here and play the "foreign card" literally 100% of the time . No need to be like in Japan, where I still try to do as the Japanese salary-men do (occasionally) to score some brownie points and "increase friendships ." But my answer has always been the line about how the every "social rule" that exist in Japanese workplace definitely exists in Korea, and they are enforced more strictly here than over in Japan. After having a night-long conversation with a Korean friend that works in a government financial agency, such "harsh" opinion of mine just got reinforced, much more strongly...the stories of a bottom-rung Korean white collar w

...And Annyeong Seoul...Again

...Well, the streets of Gangnam welcomed me back almost exactly the same way as I left it almost three years ago. The familiar convenience stores, Karaoke parlors, little restaurants, and of course, that gigantic COEX Mall across the street...the energetic, vibrant feel of the town is on full display for my first weekend in Korea since 2008. A few more happy businessmen having afternoon beers in a few more Western-style bars, a few more stylish cute girls walking through a few more luxury shops, and a few more sales ladies peddling to a few more happy customers...beneath the physical sameness was a country gradually moving forward... To be honest, the fact that I am walking down the streets of Seoul still has not really settled in my mind just yet. Having been told by a straight-faced, no-mercy immigration official that my work visa to Japan was officially cancelled and my Alien Registration Card (外国人登録書) need to be confiscated on the spot, I was still reeling from the sense of sudd

Sayonara Tokyo…for Now

...And then, there was an empty one-room apartment, in the exact same condition as exactly 8 months ago, when I set sights on it for the first time, full of anticipation and newfound exhilaration . Under the unusually crisp, fresh, and not-raining early summer sunshine, the room, to me, shined just as brightly as it did in chilly October. It remains, in my view, that serene safe haven for the tired sailor, coming back to her warm embrace after another day of battling the constant storms that is Japanese society . Yet, at the same time, the room was not, and cannot possibly be, in the same condition. What is unseen, floating in the still air and absorbed in her walls and furniture, are memories, thoughts, and endless self-reflections , stemming from so many observations, experiences, and occasionally, lonely nights looking up at the stars. The room, even devoid of all her material possessions, cannot hold all my random thoughts. They threaten to overwhelm her and escape her contain