Ansan Street Arts Festival / Cross-posting

Hi everyone,

As usual I've been really busy, and also pretty uninspired in terms of stuff to write about on here. I have the sum total of zero news, unless you like hearing about how I haven't been outside the building for 3 or 4 days at a stretch. I am fine though, and continuing to drag myself reasonably successfully through my new job and my MA. I've also been hard at work on my other blog, and while I tend to keep the two separate normally, my latest post reveals a bit about ex-pat life and Korea in general which might be interesting to you, particularly if you have a passing interest in sociolinguistics or discourse analysis, particularly where race is concerned. If you have 5 minutes, take a look here:

http://breathyvowel.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/microagressions-and-difference/

In one of my rare forays into the sunshine, I did pop over to the Ansan Festival of Street Arts on Saturday, seemingly to watch people hooking themselves up to cranes and do stuff they could just as easily have done on the ground. Never doubt the importance of a crane in making shit look cool though:

Credit for this photo goes to my amazing, creative, multi-talented and generally all round wonderful language exchange partner and friend Bo Yeon Kim. (Is that credit enough? ^^)

Not content with swinging from cranes, the final act was something called Project Nalda (프로젝트 날다, meaning Project Flight), a rather novel combination of breakdancing, abseiling, light suits and fireworks. My camera wouldn't cope in the dark, but this Youtube video gives you an idea of what it was all about. I thought it was pretty awesome.

That's more or less it, but there is a promise of slightly more exciting stuff on the way. I'm off to Jeju with work this weekend, and then in two weeks I have the biggest presentation of my life at the KOTESOL National Conference. It's fair to say I'm bricking it a bit, but I'm pretty sure all will be fine. I'll try to post some photos or videos after the event.

Until then,

A

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

A walk around my 'hood

As I've already mentioned on here, there's been a bit of a change in my surroundings recently - a change for the more urban to say the least. I've spent many a megabyte cataloging some of the more beautiful parts of korea on this blog, so I thought for this post, I'd show of one of the less scenic locations - Siheung City's Jeongwang-dong.

One of my colleagues, upon looking out of her 18th floor window at endless batteries of apartments, remarked that "It all looks like it's been copy-pasted." She was right too, and not just in Jeongwang, but all over Korea. One of the things that I enjoy about London is the diversity of its architecture. Korea of course doesn't have the advantage of historic buildings, being a very recently developed country, and having had almost everything historic flattened in the Korean war. Even so, modern buildings are not so much function over form, as built to be as ugly as possible, though this may be a cultural thing I'm missing.

However, looking into wider Korean culture it becomes clear how important image and appearance is here. I don't know if there's ever been a study done, but I'd be willing to bet that korea has one if the highest mirrors per person figures in the world, and you only need to pop into a korean restaurant to see how well food is presented here. Another confusing point is that most of my students are excellent and creative artists. Maybe it gets drummed out of them in architect school. Whatever happens, urban korea can be a pretty miserable place sometimes, and I wonder if it's urban centers have anything to do with the fact that South Korea often ranks among the unhappiest countries on earth. I'm sure that having some of the longest working hours on earth is a pretty big factor, but doing it in some of the least inspiring buildings on earth can't help either.

As a language teacher you come to learn that showing is often better than telling, so without further ado, I present a walk through Jeongwang-dong from my university to the subway station:

 We start with a walk through campus, past the 6-a-side pitch...

...and the climbing wall.

 Casting a glance back at the Techno Innovation 'Park' (TIP, where I live work, work out, shop, eat etc.). My room is on the right hand side of the top floor as you look at it in this photo.

There is an attempt to put some green on campus... 

...but the buildings are still pretty horrible.

Leaving university grounds, we head into the entertainments district. 

At night, this is all neon. 

Two staples of Korean urban nightlife, the barbecue restaurant... 

...and the chicken and beer shop. 

 See, this says 'pub' but I guarantee you'll rarely have been in less pub-like places.

My unofficial study suggests that there are three mobile phone stores for every person in Korea. 

Following his banning from the USA, Pororo fell on hard times.

 Looking back through the entertainment district.

 And around from on the bridge.

 Inspiring, huh?

 An attempt to tip the scales?

... 

... 

...

The local high school. 

 ...

And finally, the subway station.

The strange thing is, I'm feeling remarkably positive about my new living situation, and life in general. It's always tough changing teaching contexts, and getting used to new students, guidelines and routines, but I'm definitely feeling more like I've cracked it recently. My Korean's improving since I moved to the big city too - turns out there's more people to talk to here - who knew? I might also be flexing some old indie muscles occasionally: I'm going to see a story about a mythical North Korean punk rock icon performed by SK punk bands on Friday - I have no idea what to expect, but may try to report back sometime soon.

Until then,

A

University Life

Hello again,

At the end of my last post I promised to write again and share something of my new life at university. Here goes then.

The building that I live in is pretty amazing. It's an 18 floor orange monster that towers over pretty much everything around it, even in a society as keen on high-rise living as Korea. I actually live on the 18th floor, the penthouse if you like, and work on the 9th. Throw in the fact that the gym and the screen golf are on the 6th floor, a pool hall on the 3rd, a bunch of restaurants and cafes on the first two floors, along with a convenience store, a bookshop, a hairdressers, a laundrette and a doctor's surgery, and there's very little reason to leave. In fact, I managed to stay inside for 72 hours straight last week without ever really noticing. If this sounds unhealthy, I'd point out that going outside involves gulping down great lungfuls of industrial smog, and probably isn't really a good idea.

I'm very definitely going to get lazy living here. Not only can I get three meals a day cooked for me in the canteen for a minimal price if I want, I also just have to hang a sign on my door if my room's getting dirty, and a lady comes and cleans it. Plus, all my utilities including internet are thrown in. Not a bad deal really.

The area around the university really doesn't have that much to offer. We're essentially perched between two of the larger industrial estates in korea and a container port. There's the usual collection of fried chicken shops, barbecue restaurants, bars and singing rooms that will be depressingly familiar to anyone with exclusive of urban Korea. I am however in a golden triangle of E-Mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus (Tesco), meaning that most of my ex-pat specific shopping needs can be quickly and easily taken care of.

Professionally things are going quite well so far. I teach 18 class hours a week (in actuality these are only 40 our 50 minutes each) to three classes of 20 students. In addition, there are up to 8 "cafe hours" a week, where students can come and have one on one conversation practice. The difference in teaching is huge here; I am able to do things that I am learning about on my MA course in the classroom, that I was unable to do with large public school classes because of student levels, motivation, our simply the dynamics of a class of 30 students. I'm able to follow a proper conversation driven methodology, and it's heartening to see most of my new students enjoying taking to each other in English. Let's hope it continues.

There's not a whole lot of news really. University starts again tomorrow - sociolinguistics, which doesn't greatly inspire me, but maybe will if I read enough. I've also found a football team to play for, which is definitely the most international I've ever played for. Current playing staff include Americans, Canadians, Guatemalans, Mexicans, a Spaniard, a Moroccan and a Korean who lived in Tunbridge Wells for a year. Mental.

Will try to post some nice pictures of something next time. Until then...

A

Leaving

Hi again,

This is the first blog post that I've written from my new home. Most of you know this already, but I've moved from my little town and little schools in the mountains of Gangwon-do, to the industrial suburbs south-west of Seoul to teach at a university here.

This of course, meant saying goodbye to friends and colleagues that I've made over the past two years in my little town, which was of course a tremendously sad, and incredibly drunken experience. It all started with an overnight teacher trip down the east coast of Korean, visiting caves, fish museums, and finishing up in a crab restaurant with a lot of soju and a whole crab each.

If you're wondering, this is a rock formation in the cave. 

Note the pretend microphone fashioned from two soju bottles and a pair of spoons. Classy. 

Following this was a "little" party back in Jinbu, at the marvellous Bar Cello. I have to say thanks to everyone (foreign and Korean) who came and made it an unforgettable night, that is at the same time very difficult to remember. Possibly the strangest part was fancy dress gear appearing at about 2am, as evidenced below. It wound up with an 8.30am walk home, and perhaps the worst Monday I have ever experienced. Worth it though.

After I stopped alternately shivering and sweating, began to be able to eat again, and the endless looping of Take A Look Around by Limp Bizkit in my head subsided a little (this was about Wednesday) I decided to get drunk again. Well, I say I decided; in actual fact my friends decided for me my inviting me to a barbecue in a carpenter's workshop. This did afford me one of those uniquely Korean experiences though - cleaning a barbecue using meat and booze. The procedure is as follows: light the charcoal (with a blowtorch, of course), and then put the grill top on. Once it gets nice and hot, choose some fatty bits of meat, and rub them all over the top of it, until you have a nice paste of dirt and hot fat. Then, throw a bottle of the local spirit over the top to wash this paste off and sterilize the grill. If you're lucky, you'll get a nice lungful or two of boozy steam as well (nb. I'm almost certain that this is not good for you). Korea, I think you should be worried when your national beverage is cheap and strong enough to be used as barbecue cleaner. Just saying.

Cleaning in process.

After we'd cooked the meat, we then engaged in some proper man cooking - making fried rice. This involves throwing rice, any leftover meat, and pretty much anything else that's lying around on the grill and mashing it all up (using what looked suspiciously like a plastering tool). It actually turned out surprisingly well, too.

Men at work. 

And then, sadly, it was time to say goodbye to my apartment, which while a little bit tatty, will be by far the biggest place I will have to myself for a while. It's also been the scene of a lot of happy memories - I'll always remember 성원APT 1동 1002호, it's name will always send shivers down my spine.

On the way out :(

Still, on to bigger and, err, smaller things. As with most jobs in Korea, my new one provides accommodation, though this time it's in the dormitory. Still, I've actually been pleasantly surprised by the size of the room. It's about 18 feet by 9 feet, and is well enough designed to squeeze in a bed, desk, dressing table, sofa, a wardrobe and large cupboard as well as a bathroom. All of my stuff fits comfortably in (although I threw a lot out before I left). I've also gone up in the world, moving from the 10th to the 18th floor.

Night view. 

Day view. 

 View from the door.

Bathroom. 

Sofa, bed, and as yet undisposed of moving boxes.

Dresser. 

Desk.

Right, that's all for now. I'll write another post about teaching and work fairly soon. Until then...

A