Korean Punk

This is just a short post, and again features fairly little about what I'm up to, as it's largely the same thing as it was last time I posted, and will be for the next 16 months or so. It might however be of some interest to some people.

It's not often that I get to dip my head under the surface of Korean mainstream culture. I'm making this comment with a degree of ignorance, but there doesn't seem to be the same depth of alternative and sub-cultures as there is in the UK; at the very least they don't have the same pervasive influence on the mainstream as indie and rock culture. Still, such cultures do exist, and when I got sent an advert for a show about a fictional North Korean punk hero it seemed like it was worth going to take a look.

Flyer

The gig was part of an exhibition which imagined "What if there was a punk rock club in Pyongyang?" and tracked the possible rise and fall of its hero, Rhee Sung Woong. It featured four bands, but sadly I only got to see three of them.

I walked in to hear the sounds of a guitar, drums and Korean traditional percussion being mangled underneath a wall of shrieking. Almost exactly what I wanted to hear actually - but a little surprising to actually discover. Not knowing all that much about punk I can't really tell you who they sound like, or even if they do sound like anyone else. They certainly didn't look like anyone else I've ever seen, as peering over the heads of the crowd I could dimly ascertain what seemed to be two haystacks with instruments playing in a tent. Fortunately, someone with a better camera than I was at the gig - check out daehanmindecline's excellent photos of all of the bands.  It just leaves me to show you what Mookiemookiemanmansu, for that is their name, sound like:

Next up were Pavlov, who I thought were just a bit too needy for my tastes, but I think that the gaggles of young girls at the front may have been more the target audience. A word of advice to the singer though - if you're not Steven Tyler you shouldn't really be taking your shirt off, and it might be better to leave the crotch dampening to said gaggles:

And the final band that I got to see were probably my favourite of the evening. Named Paryumchiakdan, they had a Western indie-ish sound that was still firmly rooted in Korean traditional music, especially Trot. They also looked like a proper indie outfit - floppy haired keyboard player with excellent economy of movement, moody girl on bass and a drummer convinced he was the coolest man in the room. The singer was the real star though, with a great voice and awesome presence. I'd actually make an effort to see these guys again:

After that I left, partly because I didn't realize that the final band hadn't played yet, and partly because the poncy pizza restaurant my language exchange partner (who had dutifully accompanied me) wanted to go to was closing. Perhaps not my punkest exit ever, but never mind. I'll leave you with a parting gift, a video of some real North Korean musical footage that was being played at the exhibition.:

I'll keep you up to date with any further musical adventures soon.

Until then,

A

News & Photos

Hi all. I've managed to find a spare hour in my weekend to write a blog post. I'm fine, in case you were wondering. This semester is now well underway, and things seem much less stressful and rushed than last semester, mostly because I simply have less classes, but also because the second semester is a couple of weeks shorter, and contains the Korean thanksgiving holiday, and so compares favourably to the relentless drudgery of the spring semester.

I'm currently mulling over a fairly difficult decision with regards to next year. I'm (almost) definitely staying in Korea, but I am considering changing jobs. I'd really like to work at a university if I can, but the big problem is that that requires not renewing my contract, and then searching for a university position. Obviously, were I not to get one, that would leave me in the proverbial. There's also the problem that I'd have to take a sizeable pay cut to go and work at a university. However, university work would be a lot more satisfying, I'd get to see my students more often, and teach at a bit of a higher level. On the other hand, I know I have a really good job here, with a school that is great, and good friends in my town and staying wouldn't be a bad thing at all. As you can see from this paragraph, it's not an easy decision. I'll let you know how it goes.

One pleasing bit of news is that I received a distinction for the first module of my MA course. It's always worrying waiting for work back, especially as my project was a little out there, and so carried the risk of being completely wrong. Thankfully, it wasn't, and I'm glad the hours of transcribing my conversations with students weren't in vain.

Anyway, that's pretty much all my news. I haven't been up to much since my last post, so below is a collection of photos from stuff I've done this year that I haven't had time to post about.

Before the summer break I had to say goodbye to my third grade classes. This made me really sad, as a nicer, more enthusiastic bunch of students you couldn't hope to meet. Really. Even the naughty kids were great. I already miss these guys an awful lot. One advantage of getting a uni job would be getting to teach some of them again!

LG Twins vs Samsung Lions baseball game in Seoul

Linda and an upside-down seal at COEX acquarium.

Zip-lining in Jumunjin.

What the Koreans really think of us.

The alchemy of dakkgalbi: a magical transformation of cabbage, chicken and pepper paste into the greatest dish in Korea. This was taken at the Chuncheon Dakkgalbi festival, where it was so good we ate it twice.

Making and eating spicy cold noodles (way, way better than it sounds), also at the Dakkgalbi festival.

That's it for another post. More news when I have time, but with my next MA module starting, it might be a couple of weeks.

A

Bits and Pieces

Digging through my camera's memory card in search of blogging material, of which there is plenty to come, I came upon some interesting photos that don't quite deserve a space of their own, but might be interesting to you nonetheless.

What are you eating?

Yes, this might not look too appetising, but I promise you it's good. This is Doenjang Jiggae. This is one of the most traditional Korean dishes. You can put almost anything in it (I used vegetables and tofu here) and then just add soy bean paste, garlic and an anchovy and you're more or less good to go. Serve with rice, and a selection of kimchi (four types above, all provided by my co-teacher).

The real beauty of this dish is the dish (sigh). The ceramic pot that this is in goes on the stove, and you cook the stew in it. Once it's ready you just pop it on a wooden block and carry it to the table. Your food stays hot for longer, and it halves the amount of washing up you have to do. Beauty.

What are you up to with your kids?

These are my kids in grades 1 to 4 of one of my elementary schools. I realise there aren't many of them, but there are only 30 kids in the entire school. We spent a couple of after school classes translating their Korean names into the Roman alphabet, and then making them into masks. I took these photos to help me remember their names. Not my greatest brainwave, given that none of their faces are visible.

How's the weather?

Right now the temperature is plummeting, as we head towards the bitter mountain winter. Apparently last year it got down to -27C here. Chilly. I bought a pair of tights the other day to wear under my trousers when it gets really cold. I somehow feel like less of a man, though probably still more of a man than I would if I didn't have the tights and certain important parts of my anatomy froze off on the ride to school.

The phot's above were from a couple of months back, when a few days of biblical deluges turned the trickle that passes through Jinbu into a raging torrent. This is maybe 6 times the size it normally is.

How about Korean aesthetics?

Bewildering. My friend Stacy and I went for a walk in the buckwheat fields, and came upon a gaudy bench and a plastic pillar box. Beats me who put them there, and why.

Probably about to throw in some awesome fall scenery then?

Yup.

What were you saying about Korean aesthetics?

That they're mental. Feature this London bus sitting in the grounds of the Kensington Stars Hotel in Seoraksan. Complete with all original signage. Almost made me pine for Willesden, but not quite. Quite why a country with such a beautiful natural landscape has stuff like this dotted about is still beyond me.

Get to Seoul much?

Not if I can help it, but with a girlfriend living just the other side of it it's getting more difficult to avoid. This sunset almost makes it look nice though, and I did feel good at this point. Mostly because I was going home.

Adios,

A

Me Update

Usually I prefer to use this dank corner of the internet to write about (semi) interesting stuff that I've been up to. There's enough wasted terabytes of mouth-breathers writing about their deepest feelings on the internet already I think. However, I do have some bits and pieces of personal news that may interest you. If not, feel free to vent in the comments section below, and be thankful I'm not shoehorning smug travel stories directly into your inbox.

Next Year

I'm now into my tenth week of semester two at Jinbu High School and things couldn't be going better. I sat down and worked out how to make my lessons a bit more interesting and relevant to my students, with pretty decent results. We've done a month of music videos, in which I got to play Arcade Fire to my kids, and have them finish the lines to Summertime by Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. Now we're just coming to the end of a series of lessons based on Up (best movie ever), culminating in my students writing and performing an alternative script, one of which morphed into a musical, and will probably walk off with the prize of some cinema vouchers.

Things are going well at my elementary schools too. I've equipped my older ones with grammar textbooks, and they're now au fait with the intricacies of present simple vs present progressive. With the younger ones I'm working on pronunciation and basic spelling. This involves a lot of singing, running around and making letter shapes with our bodies.

All in all things are going really well, but I feel like my work is only just beginning, rather than entering it's final stages. Given that I seem to work in one of the most relaxed schools in South Korea, it seemed senseless not to renew my contract, so I will now officially be staying in Jinbu for another year starting March 2011.

Holiday

The good news is my contract renewal gives me a 5 week break during the winter vacation, so I will be coming home on January 24th, and staying until February 21st. This is at least good news for me, as it means I'll get a little respite from temperatures of -27C, and it may be good news for you, assuming you want to see me. I'll sort out some kind of schedule nearer the time, but keep some space free, yeah?

Educating Grev

I've been trying to do a bit of professional development of late, which has included joining KOTESOL, the association for English teachers here. I headed up to their International Conference in Seoul a few weekends ago, and was convinced that doing a masters would be a good idea. Having spent the weeks since researching various programs, I'm now in the process of applying to the University of Birmingham (The Midlands, not Alabama) to start an MA in Applied Linguistics in April. It's a distance learning course, so I can do it while I continue to work, without ever having to leave Korea and go to Birmingham, which is definitely a boon.

All that means that I'll most likely be spending a fair proportion of the coming years outside of the UK. I'm sorry if this is disappointing to anyone, but at least you'll always have an interesting holiday destination.

Soppy Romance Bit

Finally, after ten or so months of not doing so, Linda and I live on the same continent again. We've even managed to wind up in the same country. OK, she's over the other side (Incheon) but we are at least within commuting distance, and can see each other most weekends. I won't bore you any further, but expect the odd mushy photo in the coming weeks.

And that's all my news for now. I'll pop some photos up in the next couple of days from stuff that didn't really merit it's own post. I'll try to keep writing as often as I can, though my days seem to be getting busier and busier. I'm doing ok on 6 hours sleep a night, but I'm not experimenting with 5 for you lot's sake.

Sorry about that,

A

Final Summer Holiday Pictures: Seoul

More than three months after I took them, here, finally, are the last photos from my summer travelling with Nick. We finished up in Gyeongju, and jumped on a 4 hour bus back to the capital to finish off our 9 day tour with a bit of partying.

We based ourselves in Hongdae, what everyone calls the area around Hongik University. It boasts a lively concentration of clubs, bars, restaurants and shops and even midweek had one of the best atmospheres for going out that I've ever sampled, not least owing to swathe after swathe of pretty Korean students wandering past you. We arrived late, and installed ourselves at the rather swanky Hotel Bobo (Korean for kiss), taking advantage of the rather fetching robes on offer there.

After a day wandering in Insadong and Myeongdong, we were alerted to the presence of proper beer. Well, not ale, but at least German micro-brew, in the extremely Germanically named Queen's Head. Before that we took on some Dakgalbi flavoured ballast, before heading to the pub. The beer was actually pretty good, though not a patch on Harveys Best, naturally.

Following this we wandered for a while, and had a couple of beers in bars where everyone was partitioned off from each other, which didn't exactly help us in our quest to meet some Korean people to talk to. Finally we gave in to the shame of visiting an establishment called "Ho Bar 4" (There are 7 or them in Hongdae alone). This was however, more conducive to meeting people, and we soon found ourselves chatting to "The Crossroads Guitar Project", a bunch of four Korean guitarists who were consoling their friend over his broken heart. Stories were swapped, homes looked at on Gmaps, vodka was drunk, Jaegerbombs were introduced to the Korean element, and generally an excellent time was had by all, especially when Nick and one of the guitarists discovered a mutual admiration for Django Reinhardt. They were also the second group of Koreans to compare him to David Duchonvy, which I thought was hilarious.

Once we'd polished off their bottle of vodka, the musicians decided it was time to call it quits, but delivered Nick and I to a club called M2 to continue drinking, and perhaps even do some "eye-shopping", as it's known here. M2 turned out to play some pretty excellent electro, which was being largely ignored by the few Koreans in there, except for three of four spread around the dancefloor moving stiltedly. It later transpired that these were actually members of staff, obviously trying to encourage people to join them, but really making the club look like the formative stages of a line dance. We had a few drinks, and were talking to some students by the bar. Things were going nicely until the electro DJ finished his set, and was replaced by some-one who was apparently in possession of a Now Dance 1998 CD. The final straw was the dropping of "Horny" by Mousse T. Nick and I fled the club and headed back out into the night air.

By now and was 2am, and Nick and I were lightly toasted, but we thought we could probably do with one more beer. Finding a bar proved to be a problem, until a group of girls asked us to take their picture. We did, and ended up going with them to Noise Basement, a hip-hop club. This is, I believe, the first time I've ever been to more than one club in a night. We stayed in noise basement for another hour and half, and I remember getting some free tequila somewhere, but the details are a bit sketchy. I do remember leaving and getting into a taxi, only for the taxi driver to refuse to take us, given that our hotel was around 100 yards down the road. We stumbled home and crashed out.

The following day took us to the clothing markets of Dongdaemun, and Apgujeong, "The Korean Beverly Hills", where the women all have surgically altered noses, and BMW delaerships have unfortunate names (see picture below). We popped over for dinner and a drink in Itaewon, but got disturbed by Americans far too fond of their own voices, and skipped back to Hongdae for one more club experience.

We'd been told about a small indie club, which had previously played host to Xiu Xiu and Do Make Say Think in it's lifetime. Sadly, no underground indie luminaries were in evidence, just some Korean businessmen doing karaoke. Undeterred, and likeing the shabby surroundings, we sat down for a beer. The barman handed us the karaoke book, and we flicked through with interest. I was mostly looking to see if "Monday Morning 5:19" by Rialto was there, as I had previously found it in the Yeongwol noraebang (Karaoke room) way out in Gangwon-do. On my flick through, I couldn't help but notice a version of "Mack the Knife" winking cheerfully at me from the page, and decided to give it a shot. It actually went pretty well, to the extent that I was high-fived off stage, and so Nick and I spent the rest of the evening singing. I can't remember what else we did, but I do have flashbacks of Wonderwall, With or Without You and Come Together (The Beatles, not Spiritualized).

After that there was just time for a sandwich and a beer outside a convenience store (my favourite Korean drinking location) before retiring again. And that was it, the following morning Nick and I said goodbye at the tube station, and he headed off back to the UK, and I to Jinbu. It was a great holiday all around though, marked by some bizzare sights, excellent food and drink and extremely kind and helpful people. I'm looking forward to the next chance I get to travel in Korea now.

A