(halfway) Around the World

PixDix Sucks

2011-09-27T11:50:00.003+09:00

In case you were wondering, PixDix sucks. PixDix is a truly awful place to buy electronics in Korea. From the customer service to the prices, PixDix fails on many levels.

Support Doctors without Borders in Haiti

2010-01-15T15:34:00.000+09:00

Click Here

Autumn is a great time of year in Korea

2009-11-11T14:41:00.001+09:00

Pil-dong, Seoul. At the base of Namsan.

Blogger Beware! New FTC rules go into effect December 1

2009-11-11T14:37:00.003+09:00

I posted on my company blog about the potential impact of the FTC's new guidelines on third-party endorsers. Please give it a read, along with any other posts you find interesting (especially if you read Korean).

Korea's Green Growth (CNN Video)

2009-10-19T10:23:00.002+09:00

Here's an interesting look at "green growth" in Koera. Why the quotes? Well, it's not entirely clear how green this actually is.

Anecdotally, I have heard a lot more people talking about the importance of environmentalism.

I dream therefore, what?

2009-05-04T11:36:00.002+09:00

My dreams typically come out of real life. A few nights ago, for instance, I dreamed that the buildings across the street from me were being bombarded with North Korean rockets. Given that I live in Seoul and tensions on the peninsula are now as high as Kim Jong-il’s bouffant, my brain wasn’t taking a great leap to conjure this scenario. Ignore the fact that the rockets were flying slowly enough for me to see them clearly and that they were only a couple of meters long and the dream reaches the threshold of possibility, though not probability.

There are also dreams that are stranger, but fill a certain longing. There is no Wendy’s in Korea and I’ve more than once dreamed of visiting one. These dreams have ranged from the ordinary – driving across town and picking up a burger from the drive-thru window – to the absolutely absurd – visiting non-existent friends in Reykjavík and taking their spaceship to the city’s ice-stalagmite center, parking at Wendy’s and being astounded to find lutefisk on the menu.
Occasionally my dreams seem so real, yet so infeasible, that I wake up wondering if the convenience store ice cream cone that found its way into my stomach a couple hours before bed used psychotropic mushrooms as a flavor enhancer.

Last night I fell asleep and found that Metallica had invited me to become their new bassist. Little did it matter that I’ve neither listened to that band nor played bass since high school. I walked on stage, took my place under the lights and rocked the crowd. What’s more, I was playing the bass so well it was surprising to me, even in my dream.

So, what does it mean? Is it time to shed the suit and tie routine? Should I walk over to 낙원 at lunch time and pick up a new Yamaha BB 1500A?

To quote Cake’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle:

Aging black leather and hospital bills,
Tattoo removal and dozens of pills.
Your liver pays dearly now for youthful magic moments,
But rock on completely with some brand new components.

Lots to think about, but no action to take. At least with my dreams there’s always an escape.

Step back or I'll shoot you with my ICBM!

2009-04-08T11:20:00.000+09:00

Oh how the media loves a story about a reclusive, diva-like dictator with really big weapons. The South Korean media, just like the Japanese and international media, has been covering North Korea's missile launch from every angle - even the implausable ones.

A scientist actually said on Korean TV the other day that an ICBM in North Korea could be used against South Korea if fired at the proper trajectory. While he's technically correct, why even bring this up? It would never happen. Before you say that I'm discounting the remote possibility of North Korea launching an attack against the South, let me explain very simply: North Korea has much more effective weapons that it could use against the South.

That's right. Remember those mid-range SCUD missiles that Sadam blasted Kuwait with in the first Gulf War? North Korea has SCUDs too (of the Rodong variety, not the SCUD-D variety). Why on earth would Kim Jong-Il use the Daepodong-2 ICBM, with a range of thousands of kilometers and a reputation for fizzling out in stage two, to hit a target a few hundred kilometers away? Oh, and did I mention that SCUDs, being originally developed in the 1950s, are pretty cheap to make? Sunday's ~~satellite launch~~ missile test, on the other hand, is estimated to have cost half a billion dollars.

Why do I point this out? Well, mostly because a vast majority of the people spewing opinions about North Korea might as well be spewing opinions about Madeupland. They don't have a clue what they're talking about. There are people who have written books - thick books - that still don't get it.

If you want a realistic view of North Korea, I'd recommend reading Kim Il-Sung University graduate Andrei Lankov and North Korean literature expert B.R. Myers.

The New Apartment

2009-04-07T22:25:00.004+09:00

to I've gotten a lot of questions from friends and family as to whether or not I actually moved into the new apartment I'd talked about. Well, yes. I have. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Living room

Living room - reverse angle

Kitchen

Bedroom

Balcony

Hallway... and bathroom

a moving list

2009-03-01T21:05:00.000+09:00

13 boxes
3 suitcases
4 houseplants
dishes, which may or may not make it in their completeness
2 closets full of neatly hung shirts, suits, coats and other miscellanea
1 coffee table with folding legs
1 coffee maker, small
1 bed, fit for a queen
1 desk with a missing drawer front
1 office chair sans wheels
1 TV, just 1
1 curio
3 pillows
1 microwave
1 toaster oven
bathroom items, some too private to reveal
pictures
1 half-eaten bag of chicken nuggets
the small Christmas wreath I forgot to take off the door even though its now March

Obama's Elf

2009-02-18T15:45:00.000+09:00

Excellent mondegreen. Laughed out loud.

Korean Unemployment - Government Needs to Act Quickly, Manage Public Perception

2009-02-18T13:08:00.004+09:00

Yesterday I read an interesting research article about Korea's Green New Deal, published by the Samsung Economic Research Institute. (Link - Free registration required.) It provides a chart comparing Korea's official unemployment rate to the unemployment rates of other countries. Korea's statistics, like those in the U.S. only count people actively looking for jobs,

According to SERI, Korea's unemployment rate stayed steady at 3.2% from 2007 to 2008. Compare this to a rise from 4.7% to 6.7% in the U.S. or 8.6% to 13.4% in Spain.

It made me wonder how many people in Korea had simply given up looking for jobs and were thus not counted. Today the Chosun Ilbo reported this number to be 3.5 million people, or approximately 8.9% of Korea's working-age population. This makes Korea's total jobless rate about 12.1%. In the U.S., for the sake of comparison only, the number of people who've given up looking for work stands at just 2.1 million, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

I worry about how Korea's large jobless population will affect and be affected by the economic downturn. Family is largely the only social safety net in Korea and if enough people in the same family or region lose their jobs or see their wages cut, it could lead to far greater social unrest than Korea has experienced in many years. This summer's protests could dwarf last year's beef protests.

To prevent this, the government needs to act swiftly to enact programs, like the Green New Deal, which will not only create short-term jobs during the recession, but also improve infrastructure and technical capabilities, which are needed for long-term growth.

This is going to require a great deal of perception management by the government. The LMB administration has already made a major misstep by putting a plan to clean up rivers at the forefront of its initiatives. Detractors have been quick to accuse the administration of trying to use this as a catalyst to revive the now defunct canal project.

My advice is for the government to embark on a public relations campaign to inform the public about the greater cost of not taking action. Korea receives much of its rainfall during the summer, causing seasonal flooding and droughts. Small dams and better reservoirs could fix both of these problems, save money and provide additional recreation areas, which are quite lacking in the countryside.

The government should also promote more strongly other projects like adding green transportation options, which would not only reduce pollution but also save people from the extreme weekend traffic on Korea's highway network.

For this to be successful and for Korea to recover and move forward, opposition politicians are going to need to cooperate with the majority, no matter how much it hurts. Teachers will need to promote the ideas in their classrooms, rather than calling the current government a dictatorship. People will need to focus their energy on constructive endeavors and projects, rather than massive street protests. Labor unions will need to encourage members to continue doing productive work. And companies will need to adapt, investing in new growth areas and industries while keeping employees in place, even at the risk of smaller profit margins in the short term.

I guess we'll just have to watch and see what happens, fingers crossed.

I cooked this

2009-02-10T21:18:00.002+09:00

Actually, I cooked three of them.

Marinated in olive oil with cumin, black pepper and a pinch of salt.
Cooked on a George Foreman Grill for about 10 minutes.

How to get ripped off buying IKEA imports in Korea

2009-02-06T23:58:00.004+09:00

I'm moving into a new apartment soon and wanted to add a couple of new things that would make it look nicer. Specifically, I was looking for a rug and a floor lamp. I found a couple of nice imported IKEA ones on an online shopping site specifically targeting expats in Korea, but the prices seemed high. Off to the IKEA USA site I went and my hunch was correct. Check out these price differences. Double the price I could understand, but charging four to five times the cost is just unconscionable.

In case anyone is wondering, I'm not mentioning the name of the Korean online retailer because I don't want to get sued under Korea's ridiculous libel laws.

Singed a new lease

2009-02-03T10:38:00.003+09:00

Last night I signed a lease on a new apartment. It should be quite a bit better than where I am now, as an enclosed balcony separates the bedroom and living room from the street, making it far quieter. The layout feels more open and airy, and unlike in my old place, I won't feel like I'm living in a long, narrow tunnel.

The floorplan is below. Pictures will follow after I move in, sometime on or before March 7 - it all depends on how quickly the realtor can find someone to move into my current place. According to the official documents, it's about 49 sq. meters or 527 sq. feet.

The living room and kitchen are pink, the bedroom is orange, the bathroom purple and the balcony puke yellow. Thankfully the actual apartment is not this same color scheme.

I'd like to give a big thanks to my realtor, Gilbert, who is awesome. I recommend him to any expat in Seoul who is looking for an apartment.

The City Where I live

2009-02-01T21:16:00.003+09:00

I took a couple pictures of Seoul from Glenn's roof last night. Enjoy.

New Toys

2009-01-26T11:18:00.002+09:00

I traded in my Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 and got these instead:

Tokina 12-24mm f/4 and Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8.

Good Job Nashville!

2009-01-23T13:38:00.003+09:00

According to the Associated Press, voters in my home city of Nashville just defeated a ballot measure that would have limited all government transactions in the city to English. There was a minor exception for health and public safety.

As an expat living in Korea, I think that people who have never lived in a second-language environment often fail to realize how difficult it is to learn a new language fluently. I get around Korea just fine, but I'm quite grateful that most forms are available in English.

Proponents of English-only measures typically cite economic benefits. It does, after all, cost money to translate forms into other languages, although there usually isn't any cost associated with interpreting the data, as addresses are the same in English and (the oft attacked) Spanish. What these people fail to realize is the indirect economic cost of excluding people who could otherwise contribute to their communities.

As I strive to learn Korean, it is very helpful to be able to fill in forms in English in the meantime. Because I was invited to work here, these forms make me feel more welcome. Imagine if a major Nashville firm invited a foreign expert to work for them, but immediately the person experienced hostility because of limited language faculties. That business would probably lose their expert and substantial money.

I love this quote from one supporter, Glenda Paul: ''If I moved to France to start a business, I would be expected to speak French and that doesn't mean that I am not welcome there. It just means I need to respect the language.''

In reality, Ms. Paul would find a substantial expat community in France, of which a sizable minority speaks only basic French.

If you live in a city considering a similar bill, keep in mind that the region working hardest to make life easier for immigrants is Asia. This is helping Asian countries with low birth rates attract the manpower and expertise they need to keep their economies booming, even amid this economic downturn.

When your blog gets too serious

2009-01-14T15:18:00.001+09:00

Just think about marshmallow bunnies from Japan:

Latest Minerva Madness

2009-01-13T09:15:00.003+09:00

From the Korea Herald:

Minerva, an unemployed 30-year-old whose real name is Park Dae-sung, wrote on Dec. 29 that the government ordered financial institutions and major corporations to stop buying dollars in order to curb the won's fall against the greenback. In his July 30 posting, Park said the government was to stop the exchange of its foreign currency reserves starting Aug. 1.

There's really no way to verify whether or not the government sent the letter, but given the strength of their denial...

"It turned out that the dollar purchase level on Dec. 29 reached as high as 39.5 percent of the usual daily transactions in just 30 minutes after Minerva uploaded his writing on the internet," said a prosecution official.

The next day, the official said demand reached around $6 billion, which was $2.2 million higher than the average daily figure, seriously shaking the stability of the local foreign exchange market.

And this could ONLY have been because of what some regular dude wrote on a forum? I'm not denying the power of the internet for organizing people and for disseminating information, but this totally discounts the likelihood that there are real economic reasons behind the increase in dollar trades. If, for example, I was a currency trader who received a letter from the government instructing me not to buy dollars, I might be more inclined to buy them. This presented a very good arbitrage opportunity. I would say that the government is using faulty reasoning based on post hoc ergo propter hoc, but in all honesty I think they're doing this on purpose to make up for a loss of face.

"He was well-aware that he would cause the dollar demand to soar, and that the government would have to spend a large proportion of the foreign currency reserve to stabilize the market," the official said. "He thus had the intention to hurt public interests through his writings."

The prosecution also accused Park of damaging the reputation of the government in the world financial market, in addition to the $2 billion in foreign currency loss caused to stabilize the foreign currency market.

Yeah, that pretty much backs up my "loss of face" argument.

For another very good view of this case, please read Evan Ramstad's latest article in the Wall Street Journal, in which he observes:

The arrest of Mr. Park highlights two facets of Seoul's response to the economic crisis that worry analysts: a currency policy that isn't transparent enough for traders and an intolerance of criticism of public policy.

Chosun Ilbo Editors Fascists?

2009-01-12T11:54:00.002+09:00

Editorials with comments like this make me wonder:

Freedom of expression cannot include false information that causes
tremendous chaos and damage to society, and the Internet cannot be considered
hallowed ground.

Read the rest here.

It seems that they've conveniently forgotten that Park Dae-sung's predictions came true. I think that the paper is trying to protect its own status as the main purveyor of the news, while at the same time protecting the Lee Myoung-bak administration, which it supports.

Even more on Korea being undemocratic

2009-01-12T09:02:00.005+09:00

When S. Korean president Lee Myoung-bak came into office there was great hope that he would be the pragmatic leader that this country needed, but now I'm increasingly convinced that he's trying to realized veiled dreams of being a near absolute leader along the lines of Park Chung-hee.

Late last week, prosecutors arrested a (formerly) anonymous online commentator who wrote under the handle of Minerva. This man, now revealed to be 30-year-old, self-taught financial expert, Park Dae-sung, is accused of publicly spreading false information, a crime under Korea's egregiously outdated telecomm laws. These laws were originally written to stamp out dissent and are still being used to much the same effect.

Read more below about how S. Korea is becoming more like it's northern neighbor, or perhaps China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Korea Herald
IHT
AP/MSNBC
AFP

Korea's Green Stimulus Package will Fail

2009-01-07T09:01:00.004+09:00

In another brilliant move the Lee Myoung-Bak administration announced yesterday that it would invest KRW 50 trillion ($38 billion at current exchange rates) in what is being ridiculously called a "Green New Deal." Its aim is to create 960,000 new jobs related to the environment.

Surely, these will be high-tech jobs developing green technologies right? I mean, that would help create a future growth engine for Korea's primarily export-based economy.

Well, actually, no. According to the Korea Herald:

Plans consist mostly of supporting a controversial project for reviving the nation's four largest rivers, creating more green areas and introducing environmentally healthy economic growth engines.

That's right. The largest chunk of money, KRW 18 trillion, will go toward cleaning up rivers. It's not that I think environmental cleanup efforts aren't important, it's that it will bring little positive economic effect for Korea. You see, most Koreans don't want to be construction workers. This country has a large population of unemployed college grads who are not eager to do manual labor. Korean construction companies like Daewoo, Hyundai and GS are some of the world's largest, but mostly because of their chaebol backing and international projects. While Koreans may have flocked to the Middle East to do construction jobs back in the 1980s, the flow has now reversed. The country has such a labor shortage for manual jobs that it instituted an industrial trainee program to bring in workers from less developed countries all the way back in 1991.

Korea should focus on creating jobs in engineering and high-tech industries where it excels and where its citizens are actually willing to work.

What to do in Seoul?

2008-12-31T08:59:00.006+09:00

Some guy from Shanghai aksed my Flickr in Seoul group what do do on a three day trip to Seoul. He's staying at the Palace Hotel near Express Bus Terminal and he's a(n amateur) photographer. Here was my rather lengthly reply:

Coming to Seoul in January? I hope you're bringing a coat... it's going to be cold. That being said, it should help keep the crowds down a bit.

I'll be busy on all of those days, but based on the location of your hotel and looking quickly at your photostream, here's what I recommend:

Day 1: Is this Korea?
Get checked into your hotel and then head over to the nearest subway station, Express Bus Terminal, and go downstairs. You can walk through the shops and find a few interesting things to shoot. Bring a fast lens for this one.

After that, head north on line number 3 to Shinsa Stn. The entire area is nice, but Garoosogil (가로수길) - a very nice tree lined street a few meters from the station - is especially good. It boasts great cafes and restaurants, along with some unique shops. Think Xintiandi, but less contrived. The streets nearby offer Korean menu choices at less expensive prices than on Garoosogil itself.

Next stop is one subway station north to Apgujeong to go look at all the pretty people fresh out of the plastic surgery clinics on their way to buy overpriced designer clothes, overpriced designer food and party at overpriced designer clubs. This is also a good place to spot celebrities and nice cars.

Day 2: Ah this IS Korea
First, get breakfast in Soraemaeul (Sorae Village/서래마을). This is considered the French part of town, offers a number of great restaurants and, best of all, is 10 minutes walk from your hotel.

Once well fed, go north on the subway for about 25 minutes to Anguk Station and tour Kyoungbok Palace. It’s big, but far more manageable than the Forbidden City. Some would also argue that it’s prettier.

Leave the palace when you get hungry and make your way into Insadong, a traditional but touristy area. (The north end of the street is at Anguk Stn.) There will be lots of people and souvenirs here, but best of all there’s a great tofu restaurant in the basement of Ssamzie Space. Order the haemul pajeon. (It's kind of like a pancake with vegetables and seafood cooked into it.) Ssamzie Space is the large multi-floor shopping center on the east side of the street. Ask if you can’t find it.

From the southern end of Insadong Street, continue walking south two blocks. You’ll come to a stream that runs through the center of downtown, called Cheonggyechon. You can follow it west, against the flow of water, until you reach its mouth.

Now, turn south again and walk to City Hall. The building is being torn down, but in front there’s an ice rink set up at City Hall Plaza and you can get some great shots
of people skating. If you didn’t get your fill of palaces with Kyoungbok, Deoksam Palace is very close to City Hall.

After this, I’d recommend walking or taking a taxi to Namdaemun Market. This is a great traditional market with lots to see and tons of delicious snacks. It’s also, in my opinion, the best place in Seoul to shop for camera gear.

After you’re all shopped out, get in a cab and head to Itaewon, a very foreigner-heavy district, for dinner, drinks and perhaps dancing. Most types of cuisine are represented, so take your pick or ask for a recommendation on a type of food.

Head back to your hotel; you’ll need some sleep by this point.

Day 3: Wake up!
That’s right. On day three you should wake up early and go back to Shinsa Station, but this time take a cab and have the hotel concierge tell the driver to go to the riverside park near Hyundai High School. The sun starts coming up around 6:45 or 7:00 and this would be a great spot to catch one of the first sunrises of the new year in a great city.

Afterwards, you can grab breakfast on Garoosogil and run back to your hotel in time to get everything ready to go to the airport.

Korea: Hub of Confusing Requirements for Visas that are Nearly Impossible to Get

2008-12-29T17:19:00.002+09:00

Korea always talks about becoming a business and finance hub for NE Asia. Could it be the egregiously difficult and xenophobic visa requirements holding it back?

Well, not entirely, but the visa procedure is a good reflection of how Korea views foreigners. For white collar jobs, visa applicants must be in a position that directly contributes to the success of the nation or its biggest companies.

Once acquired, the company, not the employee, owns the visa. This makes it impossible for workers to change jobs and is totally different than the systems in other countries competing to be business hubs in Asia. In Singapore, Hong Kong and even the relatively protectionist Japan, long terms expats can become such because they own their visas.

In Korea, the only way to become a permanent resident is to a.) marry a Korean, b.) invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in Korea or c.) be an ethnic Korean. Good luck creating a long-term life here if you don't meet those criteria.

Of course, if you're interested in getting a visa, let me direct you to this page:
http://www.moj.go.kr/HP/ENG/eng_03/eng_306030.jsp

It is quite possibly the worst guide to anything ever assembled.

Here's a helpful graphic as well:

More Evidence that Korea is Not a Functioning Democracy

2008-12-19T10:49:00.003+09:00

From the NY Times:

The parliamentary battle over a contentious free trade deal in South Korea led to a confrontation on Thursday in which opposition lawmakers used a
sledgehammer to knock down the doors of a blockaded room where a committee was
discussing the agreement.

And it gets better:

Television reports showed fire extinguishers being sprayed at the opposition
lawmakers who were trying to get into the room. At least one person was shown
bleeding from the face.

Now, I was under the impression that Korea's liberals were the ones who stood up against Park ChangHee's dictatorial rule and worked to spread democracy across the country. Ooops, guess I was wrong.

After using fearmongering earlier this year to whip the public into a panic about the safety of U.S. beef, now they're using violence to impede the legislative process. Granted, this is nothing new in Korea (or Taiwan for that matter) but it is always disappointing.

I am a liberal. I voted for Barack Obama. I worked for the Democratic Party. I believe in universal health care.

Unlike Korea's liberals, however, I believe that the democratic process must be allowed to function for true freedom to exist.

Oh well, I guess I shouldn't expect too much out of politicians. You know, with guys like Blagojevich in my own country.

The embargo is dead. This is a good thing.

2008-12-18T16:50:00.004+09:00

Michael Arrington, editor of influential technology blog TechCrunch, vowed today that he would break embargoes on almost any press release sent to him. This is part of a much larger trend across the blogosphere and underscores some of the growing pains that the PR industry is facing as people increasingly look to new media for news and information.

Arrington is not the first to take action against overzealous or lazy PR practitioners. Earlier in the year Chris Anderson of Wired magazine and Gina Trapani of Lifehacker put together blacklists of people who sent them unsolicited press releases. But Arrington is the first to take such a broad step. Why did he do it?

Gone are the days of polite pitches and actual relationship building. Today, PR firms email a story to us as many as 20 times, and call every TechCrunch writer on their cell phones repeatedly. If we say we won’t write a story (which is most of the time), things often turn nasty. (link)

Arrington goes on to say that he believes most people in the PR industry will not be very happy about his new policy. I agree; most PR people will not be happy.

But wait. Didn’t I say in the headline for this post that the death of the embargo was a good thing? Well, it is… at least for some people in the PR industry. You see, the smart people in the PR industry are not the ones spamming TechCrunch writers. The smart people in the PR industry already know how to properly reach out to bloggers.

The death of the embargo will help cut through the clutter and ultimately benefit companies that take time to build relationships with bloggers. Burson-Marsteller has been telling our clients for several years that they have to reach out to bloggers differently than they would to journalists. With bloggers it’s all about one-on-one interaction and relationships.

So, how can you be a smart PR person and reach out to blogs effectively?

Read the blog and make sure what you have is relevant to the bloggers interest. In other words, don’t waste a blogger’s time.
Then, get involved in the blog. Start commenting on relevant topics.
But, when you comment, be transparent. If you’re working for a tech company and commenting about your company’s product on Engadget, make sure to mention that you work for the company.
Never spam or demand coverage. You’ll just make the bloggers angry and they are more likely than journalists to strike back.
Personalize your pitches, but be straightforward. Bloggers are very savvy, so don’t try to trick them.
Give bloggers something they want. (Access to product or executives, free trials, etc.)

Getting Viral Marketing Wrong: Pizza Hut

2008-12-15T08:44:00.003+09:00

So, I came across this new "viral" video from Pizza Hut on AdAge. Yeah, I've embedded the clip below, but I'm not happy about possibly driving more traffic to it.

What is the purpose of this video? What does this say about Pizza Hut and its brand?

I think the answer to the first question is probably "to get hits." But what does that really do for the company? What is the value of merely getting hits, especially with something as juvenile as this?

Take a look at the video. We have two grown men acting like middle school students, going into mom and pop pizza parlors and ordering pies from the big guys. Great message Pizza Hut. Nothing says "We care about the communities in which we operate" quite like this.

This video is a great example of why it is important to be strategic when you're developing online programs. It shows the importance of developing online programs are aligned with business goals and are based on the company's larger marketing plans.

The video's current hit count is at 178,000. What kind of impression do you think these people now have of the company? My guess is that most people who see this will not be all that impressed. Is it possible that videos like this actually hurt a company's brand image? Would it not be more valuable to produce a video that had fewer hits but created a positive image for the company? Or perhaps to spend some extra time thinking of how to create a high hit count video that says something good about the company. Why must companies sink to such a low level online?

Online video, and online marketing in general, are areas that are still devleoping, but that doesn't excuse the lack of common sense that so many companies demonstrate in this area.

A very strange dream

2008-12-11T12:03:00.001+09:00

My dream began in the office.

Immediately I knew things were different, but it took several minutes for me acclimate and figure out exactly what made this office unlike the real one. The cubicles were still neatly laid out, as always, arranged into four clusters. At the end of each cluster, however, stood an ugly brown file cabinet, atop which stood an old-style CRT computer monitor or TV, all of different brands. While I’m still not entirely sure what purpose these served, I do remember thinking that they were to help us deliver presentations to our coworkers.

The office walls were not the whitewashed drywall of real life, but instead rich wood paneling. At the far end of the office was an alcove that housed a Korean style air conditioner and heater – an amenity that would be quite welcome given the building management’s stinginess when in comes to indoor climate control.

Without having done any real work and only having spoken to a couple of colleagues, I left for lunch, but I have no idea how I exited. I walked around a Seoul neighborhood - far more residential than the one where my office is located – searching for a restaurant.

For reasons unknown, I turned a corner around a standard Korean apartment building and suddenly it was night. A pretty Korean mother walked by hand in hand with her child who called out pleasant hellos to me. Now I stepped onto the sidewalk, and continued walking toward a set of rusty green dumpsters, something I’ve actually never seen in Korea. The sidewalk somehow took me three or four meters above the apartment complex parking lot. The night was so dark that I couldn’t tell how far up I was until I decided to jump off of the sidewalk into the parking lot. For several seconds I fell, concerned or perhaps just curious about what would happen, but certainly not panicked. I landed safely, feet firmly planted on the pavement. Now I turned and walked back out of the parking lot back toward the street where daylight greeted me once more.

Walking a short distance I found my boss, Phillip, waiting for me in front of the somewhat rundown police station, with cracking cream-colored plaster on the outside walls. He recommended that we go eat together at a Chinese buffet that served Peking duck, a delicacy that we also ate on a recent real life training trip to China. Inside I met some other friends as well, but the only one I remember is my friend Charlie, a teacher here in Seoul.

The restaurant was not extravagantly decorated, with long communal-style wooden tables coated in thick epoxy that made made them slick and sticky at the same time. What the restaurant lacked in aesthetics it made up for in the quality of its food. Chinese dishes from far-flung regions of the country were laid out on a long buffet. The Peking duck, cooked perfectly and sliced far larger than seemed possible for even the most rotund of birds, was strangely positioned by the door.

Part way through my meal, a friend received a phone call for me. On the line was Ayn Rand, the conservative author whose writing style I admire but whose philosophy I abhor. While I don’t remember the subject of our conversation, it did not last long.

The call over, it was time to return to the office. I arrived at the same time as the two men who founded our office but no longer live in Korea, Bryan Matthews and Bill Rylance. After some congenial back slapping, the British gents busied themselves preparing decorations and other paraphernalia ahead of a party to celebrate my company’s twentieth anniversary in Korea.

At this point I also realized that the office was a joint venture between Burson-Marsteller and my college employer, the law firm of Byrd and Associates, PLC. My former boss, Rebecca Byrd invited me into her beautifully decorated office, full of old books and expensive wood and leather furnishings.

Then, the alarm went off and I woke up.

12-car wreck from 6 stories up

2008-12-09T22:37:00.002+09:00

Winter has arrived, along with the ice that accompanies it.

This was actually the second wreck (or set of wrecks) in front of my apartment on Sunday night.

It started with one taxi hitting another and spinning it around at about 10:40 p.m. Then another car further up the bridge tried to do a 3-point turn to avoid the glass in the road from the taxis. This car, of course, was hit by another five cars in the process of pulling off this maneuver. Then came the ambulance. Another car changed lanes in front of it, clipping the front corner and sending it into the guard rail. Two more cars then hit the ambulance.

While I live less than half a kilometer from the Korea National Police Agency, somehow the wreckers arrived first. Even after the police did get to the accident, they didn't block traffic from the bridge, even though there are lanes (albeit with stoplights and a railroad crossing) on both sides.

Cold Weekend in Seoul!

2008-12-05T13:44:00.004+09:00

Why do the forecasters always have to be right when they say it's going to be cold here? They're wrong about everything else.

UPDATE: Ah, my faith is restored... they were wrong. It didn't get down to 14˚F, it got down to 10˚F!

Out in the reeds

2008-12-02T22:01:00.003+09:00

Two weekends ago JiYeon and I went out to a park in Ansan (안산) that is famous as a haven for reeds. It's a pretty nice place and there are bridges zig-zagging throughout the grounds so you get get right into the middle of things without needing to wear waders.

We followed the whole thing up with a trip to Nolbu Galbi (놀부 갈비) in Beomgye (범계) on our way home.

I'm HUGE in Korea

2008-12-02T14:21:00.007+09:00

Here is the result of my interview with Korean travel reporter Seo DaHee of JoongAng's Friday Comma magazine, mentioned on 838079 a few weeks back. I guess she does a pretty good job of encapsulating my experiences roaming around the country. There are a few facts wrong - for instance, she says I've been in Seoul for about a year, when actually I've been here for almost four - but the article seems fine overall. On the positive side, this helps promote my company and Flickr in Seoul... I just wish they hadn't photoshopped me three shades whiter than I already am.

Sometimes a sunset is more than just a sunset

2008-10-26T23:20:00.000+09:00

A Lesson for Wall Street

2008-09-17T10:33:00.004+09:00

The always astute Joe Nocera wrote an article about our recent economic woes in a Sept. 15 New York Times article headlined On Wall Street as on Main Street, a Problem of Denial. It's worth a read, if you have the time.

Last summer, as the credit crisis first gripped Wall Street, Mr. Fuld's Firm, [Lehman Brothers], which was fundamentally a bond-trading firm, concluded that the problems would be short-lived — and that those firms willing to take big risks would be the ones that would reap the big rewards once things calmed down. So Lehman doubled down on mortgage-backed derivatives — not unlike a Florida condo owner buying a second one to flip 18 months ago.

While Mr. Nocera attributes Wall Street's problem primarily to denial, I see a deeper problem. Wall Street seems to have forgotten the meaning of the word risk.

I thought I'd help out by providing it here, courtesy of the American Heritage Dictionary:

Risk (n.)

The possibility of suffering harm or loss; danger.
A factor, thing, element, or course involving uncertain danger; a hazard: "the usual risks of the desert: rattlesnakes, the heat, and lack of water" (Frank Clancy). The danger or probability of loss to an insurer.
The amount that an insurance company stands to lose.
a. The variability of returns from an investment.
b. The chance of nonpayment of a debt.
c. The variability of returns from an investment.
d. The chance of nonpayment of a debt.
One considered with respect to the possibility of loss: a poor risk.

Expiraments in Black and White

2008-09-16T21:44:00.002+09:00

A few night ago I met a photographer whose work I've admired for a while. I knew he lived here in Korea, but up to this point hadn't yet met him. As we sat, drank, talked, enjoyed, I realized how truly deep this man is. His photographic style is not always pleasant, but it always speaks, and usually the words bypass your eyes, ears and mind completely, going straight to the Seoul.

Check out the work of Billy Gomez here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/billygomez/

And here are a few of the more artistic of my photos from the past weekend. I'm trying to get better at telling stories with my photos. There's so much more to learn.

Korean Cars: More Dangerous than American Beef

2008-09-11T08:42:00.003+09:00

Koreans recently took to the streets to protest the importation of US beef, due to the fact that every bit of it is tainted with Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis. What? Don't Believe me? Ask a Korean blogger!

Given this concern for health and safety, I now expect equal outrage toward Korean car makers who announced that advanced airbags, which are more effective than older types, will only go into cars bound for the land of the crazy cow. Non-export models from Hyundai, Kia and Daewoo will continue to use the same airbags.

What reason did the car makers give?

Hyundai Motor said it would cost W300,000 to W400,000 (US$1=W1,100) to put an advanced airbag in a car, which means an increase of about W1 million per car in consumer price. The firm said it is therefore not considering putting advanced airbags in cars sold here. (Chosun Ilbo)

That's right, it all comes down to money. The car makers would pass along the cost of the airbags, along with a hefty margin, directly to the customers. Keep in mind that Koreans already pay more for similarly equipped Korean cars than do Americans because of protectionist tariffs that keep out competition coupled with high domestic taxes . Some people are actually worried that a Korea-US FTA would hurt Korea's auto industry because Koreans would import Hyundais from the US. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Korea export a whole lot more cars to the US than vice-versa? Who really stands to gain?

From a PR perspective, wouldn't it be great if the car makers either absorbed the added cost into their already inflated prices or offered the airbags as an option without charging a markup? Think of how valuable this would be as a selling point. I'm sure eventually Korean companies will learn the value of CSR... I'm just not sure when.

Then again, this is the country where mothers hold babies in their arms in the front seat rather than strapping them into child safety seats.

Awesome

2008-09-02T22:22:00.001+09:00

I finally watched this. It's great and I'm truly hopeful that this man will be the next president of the United States of America.

Korean vs. American

2008-08-05T23:23:00.003+09:00

Mandoogook (만두국)
Taken with my cell phone

Hamburger (햄버거)
Taken with my Nikon

How are these the same? Both taste great. They each cost about $4.00. They can also be on your table within minutes of ordering.

Only one will put you at significantly higher risk of a heart attack if you eat it often.

Getting Real (Estate) in Seoul

2008-08-04T16:28:00.003+09:00

As time ticks by I increasingly see friends back in the US buying their first homes. I’m still in the renting world here in Seoul and that is mostly because housing here is completely unaffordable, banks treat foreign residents like criminals and mortgage rules only allow buyers to borrow up to 50% of the value of a home.

I’ve seen a wide range of different numbers given for the average price of apartments in Seoul, but an article in the Korea Times today had it listed at KRW 390 million (approx. $390,000).

So how, you might ask, do people afford to live here? Good question. Here’s how:

Most people borrow money for the down payment from their parents
They cover the difference with an interest-only adjustable rate mortgage. (The kind that got so many people in trouble in the USA recently.)

If your parents can’t give you the money, it’s possible to get a cheonse loan. Cheonse is a lease system that, to my knowledge, is unique to Korea. The lessee pays the landlord half to two-thirds of the home’s value in a lump sum. This secures the home for a contracted period, usually two years, after which the money is returned to the lessee, without interest. The landlords usually invest this money in additional properties and with housing prices leveling off or decreasing, I don’t see the system being sustainable for much longer.

As I cannot get a loan, despite the fact that I make more than the average Korean, I am stuck renting. Usually the only units for rent are relatively small and relatively expensive. Under a system called wolse, the lessee provides the landlord a sizable security deposit and then makes monthly payments as well. The minimum deposit (called key money) for most apartments is between KRW 5 – 10 million. Some landlords will allow lessees to put down additional key money for a reduction in monthly rent. Every KRW 5 million you put down usually brings the monthly rent down by about KRW 50,000.

To use my case as an example, I put down KRW 15 million ($15,000) in key money and pay KRW 800,000 per month. In addition to that I pay about KRW 200,000 ($200) in monthly maintenance and utility bills. And what does all this get me? A 430-square foot studio in downtown Seoul.

Possible next steps:

Figure out how to save substantially more toward an apartment. (Not likely, I already save between 25 and 35% of my salary each month.
Not sure
Resign myself to the fact that without substantially more income, winning the lottery or finding buried treasure, I’ll be renting for the foreseeable future if I remain in Seoul.

Real estate resources:

Nearsubway.com: http://www.nearsubway.com/ (My personal realtor, Gilbert)
Room 114: http://www.r114.co.kr/ (Decent listing of apartments, but you have to be able to read Korean and expect that prices will be 10-20% higher than advertised in some cases)

Why not bike?

2008-07-17T08:37:00.004+09:00

The Chosun Ilbo has a too short story today about the prospect of cycling to work, or at least to the subway station, rather than driving.

As my apartment is less than 100 meters from the Chungjeongno Station I wouldn't want to bike there, but I would certainly consider biking to work. What's stopping me? It's not Seoul's insane traffic, nor a lack of showers (we have a company membership to the gym in the basement of our building), its simply a lack of any place to safely keep a bike once I get here. Yes, that's right, parking.

Says the Chosun:

But cyclists say parking their bikes and keeping them safe is a problem. Bicycle parking pads near stations lack enough spaces to park and are packed with decrepit bikes that appear owner-less with no one managing the premises. In Japan, where many travel by bicycle, it is a common sight to see multi-level bicycle parking lots that are protected by barbed-wire and looked after by a management office.

Well, I guess Japan hasn't been so busy laying claim to Dokdo that they haven't been able to do at least a few things right.

Boy Meets Girl

2008-07-15T22:05:00.001+09:00

I'll hit you if you disagree with me

2008-07-07T23:33:00.002+09:00

Ah, yes, the old theme of Korean education comes back again. The system is highly effective at teaching multiplication tables, English grammar rules and full compliance with authority.

Today the Chosun Ilbo published an editorial under the headline: The Ordeals of a Truth-Telling Teacher.

Intrigued I decided I had to read.

Writings and photographs posted on the Internet claimed that a teacher... had punished a student for participating in a candlelight vigil. Lee became the target of an online witch-hunt... Lee, who is a member of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union, had been laid off for 12 years for his liberal ideology. Now he has been asked by the union to give up his membership.

Oh my. What a poor fellow. But the plot thickens.

A probe by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education found that the student, known only by his family name Chung, had not been punished for participating in the candlelight vigils. Rather, he was punished because he refused to change his biased view on U.S. beef and challenged his teacher and continued arguing in support of his view, making it impossible to conduct class.

That's right. If a student disagrees with the teacher class surely cannot go on. But, being such and experienced teacher, I'm sure Lee found a constructive way to deal with the problem and engaged the student in a meaningful debate! Oh WAIT! I almost forgot. This is Korea!

Lee took Chung outside of the classroom and reprimanded him, and hit him twice on the thigh while he knelt in punishment.

Now, I don't know what sickens me more - that the "teacher" beat his student with a stick for disagreeing with him on a political issue or that the Chosun Ilbo's editors thought that this "teacher" was justified in his actions.

Lee had a perfectly good opportunity to teach his students critical thinking skills and engage them in a debate on the issue, but that is not a skill valued in the neoconfucian Korean educational system. But, it is a skill that is of vital need to Korean companies if they are to succeed in a global economy. Someday somebody more important than me is going to say this and get elected president (and then see his popularity drop to 7% in the first months of his tenure.)

Who's impeding democracy?

2008-07-02T20:00:00.004+09:00

There's a great blog/news translation service called Korea Beat. I recommend checking it out. One recently translated story is about an American injured at the beef protests. I responded to the story saying:

Nowhere does it say if he was just a regular guy or a reporter. Though asserted by the protest organizer, how can we be sure that he was there to protest and not just watch the insanity.

This whole thing has just turned into theatre of the absurd. While I was out taking pictures of the protest the other day a guy came up to me and explained that democracy had ended in Korea because the police would not allow citizens to rally in the streets. He didn’t seem to understand that Lee won the popular vote and was simply trying to keep order.

Some happy fellow going by trachys responded to me:

ecorn you do know how incredibly arrogant you sound? “I know what’s going on in Korea better than this guy does.”

I suppose you approve of stuff like this too? http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Free_speech_zone

Perhaps I went a bit overboard on my counter, but oh do I love recounting history:

Trachys, at the risk of sounding even more arrogant, perhaps I do know better than the gentleman I encountered on the street what is going on.

His assertion was that there was no more democracy in Korea. This simply isn’t true. Under Park Chang Hee Koreans weren’t allowed to protest peacefully, were watched by secret police and newspapers like the Hankyoreh were not allowed to exist. There also weren’t real elections. When citizens rose up in Gwangju in 1981 the police didn’t stand there and take beatings, they fired into the crowds.

Now we have a president, Lee Myung Bak, who, for all his faults, was fairly elected and is trying to keep his country together. He has not infringed on the rights of the media and the government continues to approve permits for peaceful protests. While some violent protesters have been hurt - as well as innocent bystanders who were in the wrong place - overall the police have shown more restraint in their response than most cops from my country, the US, do during traffic stops.

In what way has democracy been impeded? Honestly, when I was down at City Hall taking pictures of the buses with protesters standing on top waving flags, it had a far scarier feel to it than did being in Thailand the week after the most recent coup d’etat. If anyone is hurting democracy it isn’t Lee Myung Bak but rather the extremist protesters who will not rest until Lee is out and a socialist government is in place.

The aforementioned gentleman, by the way, was standing right next to me when I took this:

Koreans DO like US beef

2008-07-02T09:44:00.002+09:00

Just after reading an article about Catholic Priests for Social Justice hodling a public mass and late night march to denounce the importation of US beef (sorry, no link - Korea Herald), it seems that another religous group is going almost to the point of endorsing US beef. More from the Marmot's Hole:

Sales of US beef have begun, with one beef distributor in Siheung-dong selling his entire 200kg supply of poison US death meat unfit for even animal consumption in just six hours. Most of it was purchased by ordinary consumers, although the biggest buyer was some church in Sinchon, which bought 35kg of killer meat for a church outing.

Need I comment further?

Twitter

2008-07-01T13:54:00.002+09:00

I've been Twittering about work-related topics for a little while now. My updates have been sporadic at best, partly because I can't update it from my cell phone in Korea and party because the system seems to be down half the time.

http://twitter.com/erik_bm

Korean Unions Are INSANE

2008-07-01T13:05:00.003+09:00

When last I checked the purpose of a labor union was to protect the rights of its workers and keep as many as possible employed at decent wages.

The Korean metal worker's Union, according to the Chosun Ilbo, is about to launch a strike if its employers don't stop advertising in three newspapers (The Chosun Ilbo, JoonAng Ilbo and DongA Ilbo) that the union sees as too conservative.

Now let me get this straight - I work in marketing, but I could be totally wrong here:

Ads drive sales. Sales drive production. Production requires workers. Workers are union members.

So basically, the union is asking management to take steps that could lower sales, cause a drop in production and thus lead to layoffs. I don't think my reasoning is a stretch by any means.

INSANE!

Oh yeah, and it's also a great time for a strike as the country heads toward a recession.

This reminds me of last year when the Hyundai union decided to go on strike because management didn't pay them the bonuses they were promised if they made their profitability goals. Why didn't management pay up, you might ask? Well, it seems that the workers were on strike too much and couldn't make up for the lost productivity.

The Hyundai union had finally started to catch on to how things work, voting against a strike for the first time in its 21-year existance. But all good things must come to an end. Korean media reported today that the union would, in fact, hold a partial walk-out over the resumption of U.S. beef imports. Because, um... U.S. beef imports has a lot to do with automobile manufacturing!

Seoul Protest

2008-06-22T15:39:00.003+09:00

Yesterday afternoon I picked up a secondhand Nikon 35mm f/2.0 lens and wanted to put it through its paces in a low-light situation.

While on my way home from dinner with JiYeon, I quickly realized that the anti-goverment/anti US beef protests were on once again. Now, I've already detailed how greatly I disagree with these guys, but that that doesn't mean that they don't make good photographic subjects - quite the opposite actually. So, enjoy the show.

These are a few of the pictures that tell the story the best, but there are lots more on Flickr.

Protesters climbed atop police busses busses intended to keep them from reaching the Blue House, Korea's presidential residence.

Student protester

Candles lined up all the way from City Hall to Gwanghwamun.

Man lining up candles carefully. I got this shot when he was posing for a picture his friend was taking.

More protesters on busses. The flags represent various political parties and groups.

A woman calling for President Lee's ouster. I think the sign underneath is calling for withdrawal of the law school reform act.

Maliciousness for the sake of maliciousness

2008-06-20T11:58:00.003+09:00

Here’s an excerpt from a story I came across in the Chosun Ilbo:

Korea’s five business organizations, including the Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, sent an official letter to the country’s top five Internet portals on Wednesday urging them to prevent certain users from inciting others to intimidate businesses that advertise on the Chosun, Dong-A and JoongAng daily newspapers.

The methods include people calling in on the phone to hurl curses and threats at company employees. A surge in the number of such phone calls has paralyzed business operations, while some of the small companies that have been affected
are facing closure. This is the result of the actions of a few netizen, who posted on the Internet plans of attack and contact numbers of businesses that advertise in leading newspapers which have rubbed the anti-U.S. beef activists up the wrong way.

These tactics are really quite juvenile and only a fool would think that they’ll actually affect the ability of these – the top three newspapers in Korea – to operate. The businesses, which are owned and staffed by people in the same basic social demographic as the protesters, are just trying to reach out to potential customers by advertising. The adverts are not political and I don’t see how advertising in the three most-read papers in Korea equates to taking a political stance, even if the newspapers’ opinion pages tend to be slightly right of center.

Unfortunately this sort of “if you’re not with me, you’re against me” thinking is far too common in Korea and is one of the factors holding the country back from achieving greater economic success and having a higher quality of life. If people talked more and did less back stabbing this country would be a far better place.

Vacation

2008-05-23T22:54:00.000+09:00

Heading back to the U.S. for two weeks, starting tomorrow.

Korean Urinals

2008-05-15T20:50:00.002+09:00

Korea is generally quite advanced in terms of bathrooms. Yes, there are some that still have the old-style squatters, but these aren't common anymore, especially in Seoul. Most of the bathrooms are quite clean, smell pleasant enough and even have nice little paintings attached to the wall with caulk.

But there's on aspect of Korean bathrooms I don't understand. In the men's room the auto-flush urinals always flush twice: once when you first approach and again when you walk away. I have no idea what purpose this serves. All that I can come up with is that perhaps before automatic systems became common men would flush before they began and again after. The double-flushing automatic urinals could be a cultural carryover.

What's your beef?

2008-05-09T21:09:00.004+09:00

Thus far I've resisted writing about the contentious American beef importation issue currently gripping Korea. For those of you who haven't been following the story, here are the basics:

Before the US congress will ratify the Korea-US FTA, Korea must agree to open importation of US beef. During his recent trip to Washington, President Lee agreed to this.
Lee's opponents in Korea have seized on the issue and spread unfounded rumors about American beef through the news media, over the internet and by text message.
Rumors include: A great deal of American beef is infected with BSE, Koreans are more susceptible than non-Asians to the human variant of BSE, eating less than 1 gram of American beef can be deadly, products made using beef byproducts - including cosmetics and wet naps - can spread BSE, not even Americans eat American beef for fear of getting sick, the first Korean victim of mad cow disease died on May 2
Koreans, especially middle and high school students, have taken to the streets in several massive protest rallies involving thousands of people. The protests have taken on a distinctly anti-American feel

The American Chamber of Commerce was ~~kind~~ concerned enough to send out an e-mail with talking points:

The U.S. takes food safety very seriously - for Americans and Koreans alike. When concerns arose about BSE, the U.S. instituted measures in 1997 that have been highly effective: there has been NO case of BSE detected in cows born in the U.S. since the feed ban was instituted in 1997.
There has not been a single case of the human form of BSE (vCJD - variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) among the 300 million Americans who have been consuming the same beef that is being exported to Korea.
No person anywhere in the world where U.S. beef is sold and eaten has contracted the human form of BSE as a result of eating American beef.
U.S. consumers eat the same beef that is exported to Korea and every other country. [Bloggers note: in fact, the Wall Street Journal reported that according to wholesale receipts 96% of American produced beef is purchased in... America!]

Links here:

Front and back

2008-05-07T15:34:00.005+09:00

This question came to me while at work today. With increasing digital convergence, do devices still have a distinct front and back? It used to be easy. Take LG's Chocolate phone for example.

It's pretty clear that the image on the left is the front and the image on the right is the back.

The same is true of the Panasonic EX-Z50, below.

As with traditional cameras, the front is the part you point at other people, the back is where where the viewfinder or LCD is.

But there seem to be more and more exceptions to this rule.

I think that this, the LG Viewty is the best example. It is both a camera and a phone. So, which side is the front and which is the back? Does it have a front and back? Is the answer dependant on what the user is doing (i.e. making a phone call or taking a picture)

Intense Concentration

2008-05-06T21:28:00.002+09:00

Work's busy these day's and I'm feelin' the heat. I think I need to learn how to concentrate like this guy and that will solve some of the problem.

I guess on the bright side, I've blogged two days in a row.

Blogging again... I promise

2008-05-05T21:43:00.004+09:00

Forgive me readers for I have lapsed. It has been two years since my last blog post.

And really, I'm OK with that. So much has happened in the meantime and I've still kept people up to date on my life through social networking and Flickr. Oi vey, it's an unrepentant blogger who started this post with a taste of Catholicism and quickly began using Yiddish expressions.

So for the basics:

I still live in Korea
Life is wonderful
I'm an associate, managing accounts at Burson-Marsteller's Seoul office
The weather is pleasant, though on my evening walk there were two many bugs
That was OK because I had excellent company during my walk
My teeth hurt because the permanent retainer affixed to the back of my lower teeth has come detached in the middle, placing pressure on my lower canines; I need to make a dental appointment quickly

Lantern Festival

2006-04-30T23:53:00.000+09:00

Every year, around the time of Buddha's Birthday, Seoul holds the Lantern Festival. It's a huge cultural event, and I think every foreigner in the city turns out. There are culural activities during the day, and a huge parade at night. I'm kind of tired now, but below are some pictures from the day.

Sigh... In case you were wondering

2006-04-28T23:56:00.000+09:00

So, I guess it's time to update your blog when friends from high school send you messages randomly telling you that they have no idea what's going on in your life.

So, here's the short version:

I'm still happily living in Seoul. As you can see from the pictures, my apartment situation has improved a great deal over last year. I don't have all the furniture I want quite yet, and the walls are a bit bare, but I'm sure upon seeing this everyone will send me additional furniture and priceless works of art. I do have some priorities straight though, note the rather sexy computer and the HDTV. Of course, I spend a significant amount of time in a cubicle that is smaller but better decorated than my apartment.

Perhaps now you're wondering where I'm working. I've taken a position at Burson-Marsteller Korea. B-M is a ginormous PR firm with offices in 37 billion countries on 12 planets. I'm enjoying the work. The people are great. And, I don't feel like working for a multinational corporation conflicts in any way with my whacked out uber-liberal agenda. (Please note, "whacked out" and "uber" are added for your enjoyment. I'm actually just plain liberal.)

I'll have to cut this shorter than many of my dear readers might like, as I have to get up far earlier than I'd like tomorrow, in order to go to a wedding. It is not my wedding, mind you. I'll be sure to update my blog again prior to making any wedding plans. Considering that I'm currently in the "single but dating" category, I think I'm off the hook for a while.

I leave you with a lovely picture taken on my trip to Hong Kong last week. I'm the one in the foreground.

Night Market

2005-06-19T20:04:00.000+09:00

Shopping in Korea seems to be one of the major national past times. To facilitate this obsession vendors and stores in some areas of town stay open all night, or close to it. The best shopping in some places actually doesn't start until around midnight. Ben and I took a trip to Dongdemun on Thursday to look for some "high quality" clothing at rock bottom prices. We both walked away (took a cab actually) happy.

Here's a few shots from the night.

Here's my look of confusion in the midst of one of the maze-like indoor shopping areas. It's kind of like a department store, but vendors rent out small spaces to show their wares.

At some point I may do a whole series on Korean T-shirts on which the English makes no sense.
In case you can't read this one all that well it says:

narcotic
too much medicine breeds contempt.
graphical double clothing for human being.
many funny graphic elements from the narcotic mountains.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
General NARCOTIC Products from Graphical Doublet clathing. Of the people , By the people , For the people" Limited Edition forpublication come death Graphics coliaboration with NARCOTIC(tm)
NARCOTIC(tm)

All that shopping and walking around can work up an appetite. I settled on sundae... Sundae is um, well, uh, it's blood sausage stuffed back into the pig intestines, and then sprinkled with salt. Just to clarify, You aren't necessarily what you eat.

That was a weekend.

2005-06-07T22:51:00.000+09:00

It was Memorial Day this past Monday here in Korea, thus creating a much needed three day weekend. Work's been busy, although it doesn't quite compare to my DC experience. Basically I just needed a slightly extended break to recharge. So, what did I do to recharge? Let me assure you that sitting around and doing nothing was not part of it. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera the whole time, but I did manage to get a couple pictures.

Friday night I went out to 궝워문 (Gwangwamun) to watch Koreans watch soccer. People go to this area of town to watch soccer because many of the buildings have giant TVs on them. It was the Korea vs. Uzbekistan game and a World Cup qualifier. Not a huge deal, but still pretty big. Oh, and did I mention that Koreans love soccer? I arrived after the game had already started, and needed to get to where my friends were. This is a picture of people watching the game from the steps of the subway. It kind of makes it hard to get where you want to go when you can barely move through the crowd.

Eventually (although I won't disclose the exact process I used) I got to where my friends were. Since, to me, it didn't matter very much how the game turned out I mostly watched the huge crowd and their reactions. I wish I could post some of the video I took. No pictures could give you an idea of the amount of noise, the rowdiness of the crowd, and the actual number of people. The game came out as a 1-1 tie, which most people were OK with, since it was an away game.

On Saturday I got up and headed over to Ben's place. He decided to have a Star Wars marathon. That's right all six movies. I got there late on purpose, because I didn't really care to listen to the annoying din of Jar Jar Binks for two hours. I did watch the rest of the movies, including the newest, although the procurement of this episode will necessarily remain a mystery. I've been told that I fell asleep before episode 6 was over. I don't really know... my mind was mush by that point. TV really does rot your brain. I chose not to photographically document the experience.

Sunday seemed like a good day to go out for brunch in (이태원) Itaewon, so I went. I ended up sticking around Rocky Mountain Tavern for a while up on the rooftop deck. It was a nice day, so why not?

Here's a shot of Ben and James soakin' up the sun.

Eventually I went out walking around with some friends who wanted to shop some. I then went home to shower and eat. Somehow later that night I found myself back at Rocky Mountain again... No idea how that could have happened.

Wonderfully, Monday was actually a holiday. Every once in a while I'm afraid that someone in the Korean government will switch things around at the last minute and rescind the holiday-status. Next year there will be something like 10 fewer holidays because the government believes it will significantly increase worker productivity. I'm somewhat skeptical about the idea that workers will work better if they have less rest.

Anyway, back to Monday. I have now officially seen my first Korean baseball game in person. There are eight teams here, and I happened to go to a SK Wyverns vs. LG Twins game. That's right, these were both corporate sponsored teams. We sat on the Wyverns' side, where there were significantly fewer people. But "my team" won none the less. I got a few hours of entertainment, a new experience, and slightly sunburned arms out of the deal.

So, yeah, busy weekend.

Oh the mysteries of Korea

2005-04-24T21:24:00.000+09:00

Honestly, when I got here, I didn't really experience culture shock. That being said, some things do still surprise me quite a bit. Some good, some bad, some just interesting. Here's a few examples.

I went out with Ben last night, then went back to his apartment and crashed on the couch. It was past midnight, so the subway wasn't running, and it's always cheaper to split a cab then to take two separate ones in two separate directions. Anyway, when I got back to his place, this was the view from outside the front door of his apartment. I think it's both eerie and beautiful, or just perhaps eerily beautiful.

I'd been meaning for a while to take a picture of what is across the street from Ben's apartment. There's no word I know of for it, but it's basically an interconnected system of tent-covered trampolines with a giant blow-up trampoline in the middle. I don't know if the picture actually does it justice.

Last but not least for today, I give you the Rodius from Ssang Yong Motor. When Pontiac released the Aztec in the US I didn't think anyone could create a more hideous car. It turns out I was wrong. I'm pretty sure that this car is actually some sort of social experiment to to root out closet masochists. What's really strange is that many other things about this car seem to be excellent. It has a Mercedes engine and transmission, a cavernous interior with seating for nine, and generally gets good reviews.

Right now I'm working on compiling pictures for a post I want to do called, "Korean cars you just can't buy in North America."

Getting Nice

2005-04-17T17:18:00.000+09:00

It's finally starting to get really nice outside, so to celebrate I bought a new camera yesterday.

Unfortunately, when I got it home, the battery that came with it wouldn't hold a charge. So today I trekked back out to Youngsan to ameliorate the problem. The wonderful people at "Inno Flash" dutifully exchanged the battery making me quite happy.

It is a shame though that I didn't have the camera last night. I went with friends to the best fusion restaurant I've ever been to. Kate knew the owner, an artist by the name of 이승호 (Lee Sung Ho), and he sat with us for most of the night, then proceeded to go to the bar with us afterwards. The food was exquisite in both taste and presentation, and a few pictures might have made everyone reading this even more jealous. Not a big deal though, I guess it's a good excuse to go back -- as if I need an excuse.

Maybe I should bring things back around to the title of this post "Getting Nice." It was an amazing 66°F (19° C) outside today, the cherry blossoms are blooming, and it's just all around "nice." The only bad thing I suppose is that in April there also happens to be a significant amount of yellow dust blowing in from the Gobi desert in China. This causes the sky to be even more hazy and less clear than usual. It's supposed to rain on Tuesday, so maybe that'll help things a little bit. Anyway, here's a lovely shot of a cherry blossom tree against a less than wonderful sky.

Between my apartment and 신두림 (Shindorim) station there is a major street that you have to cross. Separating the two directions of traffic is a huge median that's also a park. Right now it's filled with all of these cherry blossoms. Luckily I also walk in that general direction to go to work, so I'll be seeing cherry blossoms at least twice a day for a while. Woo hoo.

Western Style Breakfast

2005-03-20T19:04:00.000+09:00

Shhhhhh! Don't tell anybody buy Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon has just started a Western style brunch from 11 - 1 on Saturday and Sunday. I went with Kate, Heather, Mark, and Charlie this morning. Instead of describing it further, I'll let the pictures do the talking. I also know that pictures while eating will make my grandmother, who is fond of taking such pictures, very happy.

I'm not quite sure what was going on with Mark's face here, but I assure you it had nothing to do with the quality of the food.

Detail of food.

Weekend trip to Gwangju (광주)

2005-03-14T00:50:00.000+09:00

About three and a half hours south of Seoul by bus lies the quaint little city of Gwangju. By quaint I mean it has a mere two million residents. It's know for being a blue collar type of place with a history of rebellion. In the early 1980s a large protest broke out. The people wanted government reform, and the government was unwilling to comply. They instead -- with the permission of the US military -- sent in troops to quash the uprising, and killed thousands of civilians. Since this time the government has changed dramatically, and there was a memorial park built in Gwangju to honor the dead. I knew all of this before heading out to Gwangju... before heading to Korea actually. So you'd think I might actually try to see some of the historical sites while in Gwangju. To make my book learning more real. Well... um... I didn't.

I had a good time. I breathed the clean~~er than Seoul~~ air. I said goodbye to a friend who is moving to Australia... And I took a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Our journey began on the "Excellence" version of the express bus. Here you can see Kate demonstrating just how comfortable those seats really are. It's amazing what W20,900 will buy.

Here's a small "farming village" as seen out the window of the bus.

Downtown Gwangju

More of Downtown Gwangju

I'm rather fond of this shot of some grains in the market.

It was in 1989 I believe that Gwangju was host to the World Cup. Unfortunately it was snowing when I was trying to take pictures, and this is the best shot of got of the stadium

From high atop Mount Somethingorother I give you an arial view of Gwangju. (Actually Gwangju is geographically separated into four districts because it was built among the mountains.)

This side of the lake looks rather nice but on the other side of the bridge I was standing on there was an unfortunate amount of trash floating in the water.

Well, that's my trip to Gwangju in a nutshell. I have a few more pictures to post, but haven't had time to get them ready yet. (Please note: You should be impressed by my quick turn-around. My bus got in at 10:30 p.m., I was home by 11:30 p.m., and it is now 12:47 a.m.) It is now time for me to crawl into my bed, so I can get up in the morning and be a fully capable English teacher.

An interesting day

2005-03-01T14:23:00.000+09:00

Today's been interesting so far. Not because anything was out of the ordinary but more because nothing was out of the ordinary.

It's a Korean holiday, so I have the day off work. It's beautiful outside so I decided to go out for a walk. I started out on a path I knew -- I needed some food, so I headed toward the street vendors near 대림 Station. Once I'd eaten my spicy chicken on a stick I kept on walking. I walked all around my neighborhood, and a bit beyond. What was really astounding though is that for the first time, it kind of felt like home. It didn't seem odd to see a whole bunch of people who don't look, talk, or act like me. I didn't see any other foreigners on my trek, and it didn't occur to me to think "am I OK with this." I simply was OK with it -- more than OK actually.

Just thought it was interesting. I should start putting some pictures up again soon. I have a couple great ones from an arts and crafts class I taught Monday.

Bennigan's

2005-02-12T17:44:00.000+09:00

So, they have Bennigan's here. (They also have Outback, TGI Friday's, Dunkin' Doughnuts, Baskin Robbins, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and a few other western chain restaurants.) On Thursday I went with some friends to Bennigan's to give it a try, and have some western food. It wasn't so great. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but for the prices you pay for it, you could definately expect better. But anyway, here's a few lovely photos from the event.

Placemat

Being dumb

Not being dumb

The restaurant downstairs

2005-02-08T16:04:00.000+09:00

Just how cheaply can one eat in Seoul? A bottle of Coke is still about a buck, and beef runs about $4.50 a pound. Isn't the food here supposed to be cheap? A trip to KFC or Burger King can set you back about as much as it does in the U.S.

Oh wait. What's that you say? Eat Korean food from small restaurants in the neighborhood? Brilliant!

The following are pictures taken outside the restaurant on the first floor of my building. To get a pretty good idea of how many Won there are per Dollar knock off three zeros. (Actually, stick a decimal point three places in — otherwise the missing numbers might feel left out. W2500=$2.50 )

Although I'm not sure I want to eat the one with the whole fish sitting there staring up at me, the most expensive thing pictured is about three bucks. That's right. Three lousy bucks.

More on my apartment

2005-02-08T15:42:00.000+09:00

Since people seem to want to know more about my accomodations, here's some more pictures, and info on my apartment.

Here's a shot of the building from the outside. It's a modest 10 story structure. How is it that when I lived in a 10 story building in Arlington it was considered tall?

Now, getting to my apartment once you're in the building is fun. The elevators in the building only stop between floors, thus eliminating the need for actual 1st floor and 10th floor stops. Efficient, yes. Would it pass ADA guidelines? I think not.

I've already posted one picture of my apartment, but that was pre-rearrangement (wow mom, look at the double prefix). So, here's another picture post-rearrangement. I'll be picking up a coffee/sitting on the floor and eating the Korean way table this week.

Do you like the giant orange chairs? They came with the place.

Now, on to what I suppose is my least favorite part of the apartment... the bathroom sink. I'm pretty sure it was salvaged from a sunken WWII submarine. The white hose runs to the shower; showering is a process I'll leave to explain another day.

I guess that the other big change is trying to use appliances with Korean buttons. For example, here's the control panel for my microwave. The 10분 and 1분 buttons are for minutes, the 10초 button is for seconds. The gray-shaded button is start; the white button outlined in red is stop/cancel.

I can still read the Washington Post on Sunday

2005-02-06T14:59:00.000+09:00

Well, that being said, the Sunday post isn't out yet, but I did find a very interesting article in the Sunday Post online.

I've long found it interesting that evangelical Christians didn't pick up the banner of environmentalism. Many oppose such corruptions of the "temples of our bodies" as tattoos and piercings. Why isn't there more talk about the greatest "temple" provided to us by a creator? Although I'm largely a secularist who has Christian leanings, and fit pretty comfortably into liberal Protestantism I still find issues of Christian faith across the spectrum of doctrinal and non doctrinal beliefs quite interesting.

All that being said, I highly recommend this article: The Greening of Evangelicals

Settling in

2005-02-05T17:21:00.000+09:00

I finally moved into my new apartment last night. It didn't take much, I only have a few suitcases and my messanger bag. You can see from the picture below that I haven't had much chance to personalize it yet, but that will come before too long. I have a week off of work, so I don't think I'll have any problem finding time. Does anyone care to start a pool on how many times I'll rearrange it before deciding how I like it? The space is nice, and the heater works well; these are two things I'm very happy about. I also found that the cable and internet were still functioning when I moved in, so another definate plus.

And also for your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of me in front of my lovely, circa 1973, green refridgerator. I think it qualifies as "vintage."

Many thanks to my fellow teacher, and new friend Kate for taking that one.

Also, no one panic, the kitchen isn't in the picture because it was behind me when I took it. THERE IS A KITCHEN, albeit a small one. Look for such themes as "Erik Tries to Cook Korean" and "Improvised Western Food" in future posts.

Also, also, as soon as I figure out how to change this template up a bit, I'll be able to post bigger pictures.

One Day Down

2005-01-31T18:31:00.000+09:00

I now officially have one day of teaching under my belt. The kids are generally very good. None of them are really bad, they just have seemingly boundless energy, which sometimes is directed at driving the teacher nuts.

In personal news, it was great to see Ben on Saturday night. We went out and had a good time, and I was able to meet some of his friends... and friend's friends... etc. It looks like I should be able to move into my new apartment this coming weekend, so I'll be within walking distance of work, have a nice big bed (not twin-size with Winnie the Poo blankets), and have a internet connection whenever I want it. Once that happens I can start posting pictures, and hook up my internet phone as well.

Here, safe, and doing well.

2005-01-29T08:49:00.000+09:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. I did arrive safely in Seoul, albeit a day late. I'll post the whole travel fiasco before too long.

Right now I'm living with a family (the owner of the school) and I don't have stable internet access. It looks like I'll be moving into my own place next weekend. It's a modest studio, but the window faces out toward a street, not a building two feet away. I'll have pictures posted as soon as they are available.

Last night I went out with some friends from my school and tonight I'm meeting Ben in Itaewon... I'm settling right in.

Delayed

2005-01-23T11:36:00.000+09:00

I'm still in the U.S.A. somehow.

Yesterday was the travel day from Hell. (Actually, as cold as it is right now, I'm pretty sure that Hell has actually frozen over. It's time for people to make good on some of those promises now!)

I'll have more info on why it took me 12 hours to fly from Nashville to Detroit when I'm not at a $20/hour internet cafe in the Detroit airport.

Difficult Choices

2005-01-19T22:17:00.000+09:00

So, I'm kind of faced with a dilemma involving Korea...

I have too many pairs of shoes, and there's no way I can take all of them. Yes, I probably sound like a woman right now, talking about shoes, but honestly they all serve a purpose.

My tally:

2 pair black dress shoes
1 pair brown dress shoes
1 pair black casual shoes (waterproof)
2 pair brown casual shoes
1 pair really expensive running shoes
3 pair sandals

Oh no! What do I do? I can wear only one pair on the plane. Can I fit 3 pair in my luggage? That's only 4/10 pair. 2/5 of my normal selection. Oi vey. Any advice?

* I am not actually this shallow, and provided this post simply for the humor value of a very small decision I have to make.

My travel plans...

2005-01-19T00:25:00.000+09:00

Thursday January 20, 2005: Drive a rented SUV from DC to Nashville
Friday January 21, 2005: Remain in Nashville
Saturday january 22, 2005:
- 7:45 a.m.: Depart Nashville Int'l airport for Minneapolis
- 1:40 p.m.: Depart Minneapolis for Tokyo, Japan
Sunday January 23, 2005 - 6:20 p.m.: Depart Tokyo for Seoul, South Korea

Total Flight time: 18:35

Wish me luck.

Updated Schedule

2005-01-18T14:58:00.000+09:00

This just in:

I'm leaving DC on Thursday morning in a rented SUV. Driving it from DC to Nashville will probably use enough petrolium products that another war in the middle east will quickly become necessary. Don't ask me how on earth I was able to rent a car on the day of the innaguration.

It looks like I'll probably fly out for Korea on Saturday. I will therefore get to Korea on Sunday. Crazy... I actually loose an entire day flying out there. I'm sure it's worth it though.

On a less exciting note, I was just using my cell phone, and after the call, it turned itself off. No worries, it's done crazy stuff like this since I bought it. (Don't get an LG 4500.) This time, however, the phone deleted all of my contacts. This is bad on several levels. There are lots of people I need to call before I leave, and whose numbers I would like to have while I'm in Korea. Some numbers I have backed up on my computer and on my old phone. Some, I do not. So, just in case I don't have your info, make sure to e-mail to me. eacornelius(at)gmail.com

I'm Rich! I'm Rich!

2005-01-12T16:05:00.000+09:00

Well, I'm not really rich, but it almost felt like it today. I went over and did a bit of business with the money changers and picked up 500,000 Won. It seems like a good idea to have some travel money to use while I'm still getting established in Seoul. The mid market value for the Won at this moment is somewhere around 1042 Won per US Dollar. I did not, of course, get this rate, but I'd rather spend a bit now to have a safety net upon arrival.

What was that? What does W500,000 look like? Well since the largest bill they have is W10,000, it looks about like this:

In other news, I'm still waiting for my visa issuance letter. It's a bit frustrating since I can't do anything to speed up the process, and I like to feel like I affect the processes that dictate what's going on in my life. Oh well.

visas. Not quite priceless.

2005-01-04T21:05:00.000+09:00

I talked to my recruiter tonight about my visa status. They have all the necessary documents now, and are going to take them to the immigration office today. This is good but...

It'll still take a while to get the visa issuance letter, and have it mailed to me. Once I have the letter I have to take it to a Korean conulate so they can issue my visa. This means that I've got to stay in DC until I get my visa. Basically this is because I live 5 blocks from the Korean consulate in DC, but the closest consulate to Nashville is in Atlanta, four hours away.

Thankfully though this is my last week at the DSCC. I've been there a year now, and I'm ready for a change. It was a good job that taught me a whole helluva lot. I'm glad I worked there. Now I'll have a little time to do all the things I never had time to do when I was working. There are museums I haven't visited, monuments I haven't seen, etc. I suppose I should probably spend some time with friends too.

Thus it begins

2004-12-15T23:16:00.000+09:00

Here I sit waiting. For what I wait I do not entirely know. But still I wait.

Sunday night I had my second interview with Kid's Herald in Youngdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Minutes after the interview my recruiter e-mailed me a few details about the job they're offering me. Now I'm waiting for the full contract, so I can look over it and make my decision.

I'm excited about this place. The first school I interviewed with didn't seem to be the right place for me, and I wasn't disappointed when they didn't offer me a job. I had immediate repiore with the director of Kid's Herald though. I was also impressed by their business model, and the fact that they're owned by the Korea Herald.

The initial offer is pretty good, and there's also room for moving up to an administrative type position as well.

I've spent a good deal of time tonight looking over my book on the Korean language (한곡말). I want to at least be able to communicate in some rudimentary way with cab drivers, and be able to figure out what kind of food different restaurants serve before I get to Seoul.

So now I sit and wait for more information about my ~~potential~~ job to carnivorously devour.