It was a blog about my life and adventures as an expat in Seoul, South Korea. I've been back in the USA for over ten years. However, I still get alerts. I'll respond to comments and deep-six spam comments as needed.
It looks like after the disastrous Korea Sparkling madness of last year, they've truly listened to the feedback and got it right.
Now, you still have to know who Rain is to care, but you might get curious.
This has what others lacked. A taste of Korea - you hear Korean language and you have English subtitles. Then you get a bit of English at the end. I felt a little bit of homesickness because I'd made Seoul my home for a few years. So a lot of those lights and sights I've walked past at night. I can't say I feel half as safe here in Manhattan, but I did in Seoul and had a blast most of the time too. (Don't take that as a put down of NYC. You probably have to be slightly crazy to feel safe in NYC...)
I got the video link to this yesterday. Someone asked me if I knew about it. Outside of my first year in South Korea, I never got in the habit of watching Korean TV shows. Plus, when this was all getting stirred up I was getting ready to move and when she was on the show I was back in the States.
This is the background story. There is a San Francisco based singer songwriter who goes by the name of PumaShock. Her real name is Natalie White. She's also a black American. She started putting up videos of her singing some of her favorite Korean pop songs: Natalie's YouTube Channel. Koreans took notice. There was a scandal when Taeyeon from a group called Girls' Generation said something like Ms. White was pretty for a black girl. (video link) Oooops! I'm not even going to touch that because after years of living in it I will get angry if I dwell on it. Plus, it's hard to get into someone's head. Maybe it was an innocent faux pas or maybe she is a blockhead. Either way, Ms. White is the focus here.
Anyway, it worked out for Ms. White that she got on Star King and seems to be on a marvelous PR junket in Seoul. She's meeting people in entertainment and, since that's what she wants to do, I say good on her. Here are the videos of her appearance on Star King.
I'm finally recovering from the worst jet lag ever.
I think it has a lot to do with the crazy travel schedule I had.
Basically, I went from Seoul, to L.A., to Miami, to the Bahamas, to NYC, back to L.A. and then up to San Francisco in three weeks. I adjusted to the time zone in California just fine and spent most of my time there, but, for some reason, adjusting back has been just brutal. I think this is the first day where I've not napped. However, beyond that I've not gotten much done.
In the useless cycle of web surfing that I was doing I did notice that I'm on another podcast over at the Metropolitician's blog and I didn't link it here.
Update: June 11, 2007 @ 5:47pm (yes, I should be studying but I'm taking a break!)
Ruh roh! I knew that some wouldn't get this and would come out swinging.
And so they have. A blogger called Javabeans, who mostly blogs about Kdrama (Korean dramas) has a nice summary and analysis on why this is NOT racism but satire: Korea, Calm Down. Stephen Colbert Doesn’t Hate Rain.
One problem I've found living here is my generation's type of humor, very biting and sarcastic, depends a lot on word play and irony. In a country where the English language is studied but not really understood and study of the culture is pretty much neglected means I don't crack a lot of jokes with Koreans unless they're close to fluent and know a bit about Western culture. My jokes run the risk of being taken literally and that means I could (and have) gotten in trouble.
While I get Korean comedy shows I find that they're very slapstick and physical. Not that it's not funny, it is. However, I don't understand Korean sarcasm and irony yet (these guys are funny but I know I don't get the depth of why it's funny), so I can see why they're taking this literally. Don't y'all, don't. He's spoofing the far right.
For those vexxed by Colbert's Rain segment, click over, read and learn.
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This is funny! I found it on the Metropolitician who found it on the Marmot's Hole, and it's blowing up on Korea centric blogs. It's a nexus of Korean culture and American culture, so count me in. Let's get some more folks interested in Korean culture!
Now, for those of you who need a primer, I'm going to explain bibimbap, 비빔밥, and Bi (Rain), 비 (well, actually I'm using Wikipedia, but why write it when someone else already has?) Then go and watch the video.
Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with sauteed and seasoned vegetables, beef, a fried egg, and gochujang (chili pepper paste). The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating. It can be served either cold or hot.
Bi (Rain), 비 (from Wikipedia). Yes, I admit I coo over him with my female students:
Rain (Real name: Jung Ji-Hoon, Hangul(한글): 정지훈, Hanja(한자): 鄭智薰, born on 25 June 1982 in Seoul) is a male Korean R&B and pop singer.
He has become well-known throughout East Asia -- including Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Mainland China, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand -- as a leading star of the Korean wave, otherwise known as Hallyu.
In April 2006, Time named him as one of the "100 Most Influential People Who Shape Our World."[1][2] In 2007, Rain was voted by Time Magazine's online user poll as the most influential person in 2007, although he was not in the magazine's actual list. He also made it into People's 2007 list of the "Most Beautiful People" in the world.
Steven Colbert takes Bi on in Korean. It's funny. Enjoy!
I've been in a hovel regarding current events. However, there is a controversy in Korea right now regarding a show that featured "foreign beauty" and lapsed into offensive tomfoolery and stereotyping.
Korean media tries to get away with this from time to time claiming that it was just "a joke." Well, it's nothing more than buffonery and distaste at the expense of the image of another race of people.
I'm sure Koreans would scream bloody murder if it was the other way around with somoene making fun of them. In fact, I know they have in the past. When Jay Leno made a joke about dog meat, Koreans freaked out. So when it happens to them, it's bad. But they're free to do it to others. It's nothing more than hypocrisy.
I think the Korean Wave is absolutely one of the greatest things South Korea has going. The United States is a great example of the reach and impact of exporting culture. We've fine-tuned our ability to export our pop culture worldwide. Now the South Koreans have the chance to do the same thing.
I love seeing Japanese tourists running around Seoul with the same enthusiasm that I've seen them running around with at UCLA, my alma mater. As annoying as they were taking pictures of anything and everything we knew they were providing the school and the city of L.A. with revenue. The same is happening now in Korea.
In Japanese Women Catch the 'Korean Wave' they say that a lot of Japanese women now believe that Korean men are the ideal partner and are seeking out Korean husbands.
Thin and gorgeous in a slinky black dress, Mikimoto pearls and a low-slung diamond Tiffany pendant, 26-year-old Kazumi Yoshimura already has looks, cash and accessories. There's only one more thing this single Japanese woman says she needs to find eternal bliss -- a Korean man.
She may just have to take a number and get in line. In recent years, the wild success of male celebrities from South Korea -- sensitive men but totally ripped -- has redefined what Asian women want, from Bangkok to Beijing, from Taipei to Tokyo. Gone are the martial arts movie heroes and the stereotypical macho men of mainstream Asian television. Today, South Korea's trend-setting screen stars and singers dictate everything from what hair gels people use in Vietnam to what jeans are bought in China.
Yet for thousands of smitten Japanese women like Yoshimura, collecting the odd poster or DVD is no longer enough. They've set their sights far higher -- settling for nothing less than a real Seoulmate.
I'm incredibly interested in this perspective on Korean men. Maybe it's because I grew up in L.A., but I know that what is shown on the big screen and on TV isn't necessarily reality. In fact, more often than not it's the complete opposite of reality. However, based on these characters Asian women have now pegged Korean men as their ideal suitors.
I would say that some are as I've had a crush or two since I've been here, but well, as for the majority most seem to prefer smoking and soju to sonatas and long walks in the park. However, I do agree that a good number of young Korean men are tall, good-looking and are in great, head-turning shape.
Entertainment industry leaders in Seoul credit the phenomenon to good marketing coupled with an uncanny response throughout Asia to the expressive nature of the South Koreans -- long dubbed the Italians of Asia. A hearty diet and two years of forced military duty, industry leaders and fans insist, have also made young South Korean men among the buffest in Asia. Most important, however, has been the South Korean entertainment industry's perfection of the strong, silent type on screen -- typically rich, kind men with coincidentally striking looks and a tendency to shower women with unconditional love.
"It's a type of character that doesn't exist much in Asian movies and television, and now it's what Asian women think Korean men are like," said Kim Ok Hyun, director of Star M, a major star management company in Seoul.
"But to tell you the truth," she said. "I still haven't met a real one who fits that description."
I think Kim Ok-hyun is right, but I wish all these Japanese ladies the best of luck in their search.
Okay, I've been updating and my latest John Mayer post constantly just because new stuff and new gossip keeps coming up. The new gossip is, nightmare inducing, but nonetheless hilarious.
However, it's taken my focus off of South Korea which is unfortunate because Westerners, the bulk of my audience it seems, really need to learn more about the rest of the world. Since I'm here, I'll try to help you out with South Korea and northeast Asia. While I can't promise that I won't update that John Mayer post any further, I will share a bit of information on a Korean musician who is making waves onYoutube.com.
I found this post on The Marmot's Hole: The Real Korean Wave Hits the Internet. For you who don't know what the "Korean Wave" or, 한류, hallyu. 한류 is a cultural phenomena that has swept through Asia. Due to the popularity of certain Korean movies and television shows there has been a huge increase in the interest in Korean pop culture in other Asian countries. That, of course, is good for Korea in many ways as it drives people to purchase Korean made merchandise, makes people want to visit the country and learn the language.
I've experienced the impact of 한류 first hand when I took a Korean language course at my university which was mostly made up of Japanese students. We lunched together frequently and on the last day they all HAD to go to a restaurant nearby that was featured in a Korean movie called 엽기적인 그녀(warning, the link has a spoiler) which although it literally means "My Bizarre Girl" I guess they figured "My Sassy Girl" would generate more interest in the English-speaking market.
I saw the movie and thought it was okay, but the Japanese and others in Asia loved it. That's probably because the cultures are similar in many ways. While I thought the female lead character was annoying, needed counseling and a stint at the Betty Ford Clinic, she was endearing to Korean and Asian audiences who aren't used to feisty female characters. Anyway, that's just to point out that Korean artists are making significant inroads to other cultures.
Which leads me to the linked video. It seems that Youtube has spawned a group of neoclassical musicians who upload their performances for the purpose of learning through feedback. There is one that was uploaded eight months ago which features a guitar virtuoso performing the complex Pachabel Canon. This quote from Web Guitar Wizard Revealed at Last published in the New York Times sums it up fairly well.
...the video drew hordes of seekers with diverse interests and attitudes. Guitar sites, MySpace pages and a Polish video site called Smog linked to it, and viewers thundered to YouTube to watch it. If individual viewings were shipped records, “guitar” would have gone gold almost instantly. Now, with nearly 7.35 million views — and a spot in the site’s 10 most-viewed videos of all time — funtwo’s performance would be platinum many times over. From the perch it’s occupied for months on YouTube's "most discussed" list, it generates a seemingly endless stream of praise (riveting, sick, better than Hendrix), exegesis, criticism, footnotes, skepticism, anger and awe.
The most basic comment is a question: Who is this guy?
Well, here he is: Mr. Jeong-hyun Lim What I thought was interesting about the New York Times article was this passage.
That educational imperative is a big part of the“Canon Rock” phenomenon. When guitarists upload their renditions, they often ask that viewers be blunt: What are they doing wrong? How can they improve? When I asked Mr. Lim the reason he didn't show his face on his video, he wrote, “Main purpose of my recording is to hear the other’s suggestions about my playing.” He added, “I think play is more significant than appearance. Therefore I want the others to focus on my fingering and sound. Furthermore I know I'm not that handsome.”
Online guitar performances seem to carry a modesty clause, in the same way that hip-hop comes with a boast. Many of the guitarists, like Mr. Chang and Mr. Lim, exhibit a kind of anti-showmanship that seems distinctly Asian. They often praise other musicians, denigrate their own skills and talk about how much more they have to practice. Sometimes an element of flat-out abjection even enters into this act, as though the chief reason to play guitar is to be excoriated by others. As Mr. Lim said, “I am always thinking that I'm not that good player and must improve more than now.”
What interests me about it is the contrast in attitude. I recently participated in a thread on a forum where someone asked about lessons African immigrants could teach African-Americans. I jumped into the thread with the best of intentions saying that was a great idea. I then went on to suggest that we could also stand to learn from other cultures, especially Korean immigrants as the histories are similar. I also added that maybe we ought to acknowledge that African-Americans could stand to maybe step back, be humble and learn from others.
Well, you could have sworn I stepped out and called someone a bitch. I got a reply saying that Koreans aren't humble, they believe they're this or that. I actually thought that was interesting as I've lived here for over half a decade, so unless the person replying has similar experiences I highly doubt that she knows the cultural characteristics of Koreans. I don't claim to have a handle on all the intricacies of Korean culture but I do know that boasting and arrogance isn't seen much here except in select situations. It was bullheaded bitterness on a level I just couldn't handle.
With that said, Mr. Lim awesome job, and I hope that you learned a lot from posting your performance on the web.
I'm an L.A. native who lived in the Land of the Morning Calm, South Korea, for a bit too long. I had a great time while I was there. I have a B.A. and law degree, but I earned a master's in international studies at Ewha Womans University. It was then I discovered that I love writing, thanks to this blog, and the things that grew out of writing it. For those who need to know where Korea is located. Korea is a peninsula that is split into two countries (North Korea and South Korea). It's located in NE Asia between Japan and Taiwan. It's below the eastern coast of China and Russia.
I moved back from NYC in 2011. It was exciting but definitely challenging. I "made" it in NYC and well, as the song says.
I'm back in the SF Bay area now. I have led the charge organizing SFTech4Good Meetup since 2011 and working in the tech industry specializing in community management and customer advocacy.
Leave a comment to contact me. Remember you have to include your email for a reply. (I screen my comments, so I won't publish it to the world, don't worry.)
Spotlight: Kevin Nealon's Charity Work
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Nealon donated an auction item to Save the Chimps.
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