home, sweet home

happy fourth of july, everyone!

america’s celebration of independence day hadn’t even crossed my mind until a few minutes ago, and it’s already july 5th in korea. i suppose without the fireworks and constant flashes of red, white & blue i can’t remember the US’s birthday. bad american!

speaking of bad american, i have a gnawing feeling that several of my friends back home think me a bit of a benedict arnold for not only leaving the US for this long a time, but for speaking ill of the ‘beautiful country’ once in a while.

make no mistake, i totally think many aspects of the united states of america is bullshit. but i also think many aspects of the republic of south korea is bullshit. but i love both countries, too. and without bullshit, i’d be living in a colorless world with climate control and no sex. on a related note, have you heard about the short film titled 2081, based on vonnegut’s “harrison bergeron” (which i taught this year to the gifted middle school students)? trailer below:

i am privileged that i get to travel as an american (that blue passport has an aura about it), and i am privileged to have had experienced a variety of cultures; china, taiwan, korea, texas, iowa, new york are places that i’ve stayed in for extended periods of time.

though i gripe about the discomfort traveling gives me, i am grateful to be able to say, “oh, i’ve been here and here and here,” especially when there are so many people, like the significant other, who have never stepped foot on foreign soil.

so friends, fear not. my stay in korea has been long (and will be at least one year longer), but part of my heart (and loyalty) still lies within the US. below are the things i dearly miss about the united states of america, my bastard of a homeland.

♥ central air-conditioning. i love the popularity of individual units in korea (you can take your a/c with you when you move, maintenance is a cinch, it can be easily replaced, etc.) but i really miss setting the temperature on a thermostat and letting the gigantic a/c unit do its work. our unit at home in houston is on all the time (because it’s houston, y’all) and it’s like another family member: it works hard (especially during the summer), it takes breaks when needed, and we love it.

♥ driving. i’m okay with not having to drive, ever, but i do miss sitting behind the wheel of a car and going where i want to go when i want to go.

♥ food. houston doesn’t have many spectacular tourist attractions, but the city’s cuisine is definitely a standout. the US’s fourth largest city offers the best of tex-mex, chinese, vietnamese, indian, mediterranean, korean, italian, french, and so on. what i wouldn’t do for a taco or a morning kolache or a friggin’ orange creamslush from sonic at this very moment…

♥ entertainment weekly. i miss receiving my entertainment weekly in the mail every friday and reading it cover to cover. hell, i’d settle for a GQ or DETAILS right now to get me through this magazine withdrawal. bookstores here sell publications from the US and UK and wherever, but they are hella-expensive.  

♥ wal-mart and target and malls. i am aware that wal-mart is an evil corporation. and i think malls in general are soul-sucking (i would know; i used to work in one). i do not feel the same way about target. however, i have no qualms about grouping them together because what i miss about them is this one thing—they all provide luxurious, air-conditioned, hiking trails fantastic for strolls on lazy afternoons.

you got nothin’ better to do? take a walk through the wal-mart supercenter (which is ginormous). you got nothin’ to buy? take a hike through the local mall. feelin’ kinda blue? visit the red-centric target. it is too hot in houston to walk in mosquito-infested parks (really), so we houstonians have found this alternative method for exercise. i know, it’s kinda sad.

♥ english. yesterday an old korean acquaintance called me out of the blue. i hadn’t talked to him in a year or so. in the middle of the conversation he said to me, “why are you talking so slow?” i realized that since he was korean, my brain automatically switched to ”speaking to a korean” mode, which consists of me using simple words and paired-down sentence structures in a controlled mannger. the dude speaks english fluently. i miss speaking english at a normal rate. that is assuming that i can still do it.

♥ suburbia. fresh-cut lawns. cars parked in driveways. little boxes not made of ticky tacky. crickets chirping at night. street lamps. water sprinklers. joggers at 5am. dogs pulling kids on bikes. lawnchairs. community pool. yellow school buses. these are the things i grew up with. and i am sick of movies telling me that these things amount to complacency or dissatisfaction.

♥ friends and family. period.

 

lovers in paris

the title of the sbs drama lovers in paris (파리의 연인, 2004) lets us know that there will be two things: paris and love. expectations are set, and episode one does not disappoint; it hooks you right into the 20-episode series.

we first meet kang tae-young, a hopeless romantic who loves artsy, bohemian lifestyle of paris. perhaps tae-young is not the most beautiful or the smartest woman in the world, but she’s forever an optimist. “a-ja (아자)!” is the motto she lives by, and though life has dealt her some tough cards, she looks at the world “through rose-colored glasses.” kim jung-eun (김정은) plays tae-young as the most earnest, honest, hard-working, wide-eyed girl you will never know, and we too become seduced by her charms. there are two reasons why tae-young is in paris: she wants to study film (her deceased father was an independent filmmaker) and she hopes to fall in love. and just like that, fate sends her two perfect men to choose from.

han ki-joo, the president of a korean car company, is in paris on a 2-year leave to land important european accounts (i think?). yes, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and yes, at first glance he is an exceedingly direct, meticulous, no-nonsense business man, but slowly, our opinion of him changes. there is a term in korean that means any one of the following english counterparts: cool, aloof, stylish, handsome, good-looking. methinks the phrase ”멋있다” was invented to describe park shin-yang (박신양), who made countless korean women fall in love with him at series’ end. there were many paula abdul, drug-induced clapping sessions (accompanied by girlish squeals) as i, too, became entranced by han ki-joo’s, well, manliness.

but hold on there, hoss, look who we have here; han ki-joo’s nephew suddenly walks into tae-young’s life. played by the singer / model / actor lee dong-gun (이동건), yoon soo-hyuk is the opposite of his uncle in many ways: he is tall, lanky, sensitive and wildly romantic. soo-hyuk falls in love with tae-young at first sight and confesses his feelings to her (in the most awesomely mushy scene in the whole universe): he takes her hand, places it on his chest, his beating heart, and says, “이 안에…너 있다 (you are in here).” round two of crazy clapping and squeals followed (as i imagine the millions of korean women reacting the same way when they watched that scene for the first time). my neighbors probably think i’m a 12-year-old schoolgirl.

i watched the entirety of lovers in paris in a week and thought to myself—this is a perfect drama—even more perfect than the perfect my name is kim samsoon. and the love triangle is an actual love triangle (unlike in beethoven virus). any woman in kang tae-young’s shoes would seriously have to lock herself up in a closet and weigh the positives and negatives of the situation. should i go with the powerful, fearless ki-joo or the slightly younger, passionate, good-natured soo-hyuk? it’s the dilemma of all dilemmas.

however, there’s more to the drama series than just the love triangle. i’ve left off the villainous congressman’s daughter who has her sight set on marrying the rich uncle. i’ve left off the deep, dark secret of the han family that’s itching to be exposed. i’ve left off the competing car company that tries to sabotage han ki-joo’s reputation. and many other plotlines and minor characters. much like my attitude toward the way we were (that barbra streisand weepie), i’d like to remember this drama solely for the love. not for the bullshit, but only for the love between the main characters.

i mentioned that as i was watching, i thought it was the most perfect drama. it is certainly close to perfection, but there are definite flaws. there is an enormous amount of joy in the first two-thirds of the show, but it gradually deflates, leaving the last third heavy and melodramatic (with no comic relief). true, the setting is changed from paris to seoul, but that doesn’t mean the levity of the first episodes should be abandoned, right? and let’s not even talk about the last ten minutes of the final episode, which left me confused and bitter (i will pretend it never happened).

but!

there is more positive than negative. there’s a reason lovers in paris is one of the best-renowned korean dramas (it is in the all-time top 15; at one point, almost 60% of households were tuning in). the show catapulted the three leading actors to superstardom and swept all the major awards that year. not only that, but numerous scenes became iconic for their ability to make viewers swoon. the best best best scene is definitely this one:

아!!!!!!!!!!!!! 멋있다!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[note: my name is kim samsoon still ranks 1st in my book.]

 

friday feelings

♦ tomorrow (saturday) is the last day of exams! except, i don’t have to go to school on saturdays (because i am an american—we don’t work on saturdays) so i can say today was the last day of exams! minus the few periods that i had to monitor students taking tests, i had large clusters of free time. i used them to get all my grades in (perfect) order.

also, diana and i started preparing for the following two things: our school’s theater festival (next wednesday-thursday) and the citywide english play competition. a lot of extra work we created for ourselves, but whatev. i like to work.

♦ yesterday, after two periods of final exams, the entire faculty boarded two limousine buses for yet another 친목회 (social gathering). last time, we went to mungyeong, which was surprisingly fun. this time, the majority of the votes went to muju, which is known for its ski resorts. on the 2-hour bus ride, ms. shin and i just chatted with two of the chinese language teachers; i got to practice speaking chinese, so the long trip wasn’t an entire bust.

the purpose of the visit to muju was to take the cable cars to the top of the mountains, but since the weather was especially wet, the cable cars weren’t running (something about lightning posing a danger or some bullshit like that). detoured, we ended up at a nearby national park (i think mt. deokyu national park); it had rather stunning scenery.

♦ i got my medical report back. negative for all diseases. relieved about that (not that there was an inkling of being positive for anything).

♦ the significant other wants to see transformers 2 this weekend. i was hesitant about the idea of seeing such a mainstream, poorly-reviewed movie. i asked if i needed to see the first film to understand the second one. i was told yes, so tonight, we’re going to watch the first film on my computer. and maybe tomorrow, we’re going to see the second film. i must really love this person to put myself through junk film (yes, i just made that term up).

♦ i haven’t gone to the gym in two weeks. it is not looking good, folks.

♦ on a related note, i found a delivery menu from mcdonald’s on my door the other day. so we ordered mcdonald’s by phone and had it delivered. it was fantastic! no delivery fee, no tip, no walking. i remember when i was in new york, some of the mcdonald’s stores advertised home delivery (nelda tells me that that service is only granted to the handicapped (i smell discrimination)). mcdonald’s home delivery—so dangerous.

 

wanna be on top?

it’s no secret that i love america’s next top model. created and hosted by former supermodel tyra banks, the reality series premiered in the summer of 2003 on flailing network upn and eventually became that network’s #1 program. i’ve watched antm since its humble beginnings (seriously, that first season looks pretty “jank”) and even followed its seventh-cycle move to the cw, where it continues to anchor each spring/fall lineup. the show’s popularity is made evident by the 50+ international versions, and, though korea has yet to produce its own version of the program, america’s next top model is (along with sex & the city) broadcast almost every day of the week on onstyle. furthermore, has anyone noticed that the show’s only been on since 2003 and it’s already in its thirteenth cycle? insanity.

insanity—that’s a good word to describe the often ridiculous show. the premise is simple: a bunch of female model wannabes go through a series of tests, challenges and eliminations (not to mention drama) to become america’s. next. top. model. tyra banks’s brand of crazy totally works for this reality television program (it fails to work on her talk show, i’m afraid to say): she is over-the-top, finger-waggin’ fieeeeerce, and, at times, just plain cuckoo.

flanked left and right by her posse of crazies throughout the years—”noted fashion photographer nigel barker,” “runway diva coach extraordinaire miss jay,” “legendary supermodel paulina porizkova,” “fashion icon twiggy,” “janice dickinson, one of the world’s first supermodels,” “nolé marin, prominent fashion editor and stylist,” and of course, bleach-blonde jay manuel (aka “mr. jay”), the art director of all the photo shoots—tyra banks puts the aspiring models through the ultimate model boot camp, which features weekly photo shoots, commercials, runway coaching, acting sessions, make-overs and individual evaluations. it may be the gayest show on earth.

do i sound like a fan? yes. yes, i do. whenever there’s a top model marathon on tv, i am there. and even though i’ve seen each cycle like, a gazillion times, i will still plop myself in front of the tube and rewatch, and rewatch, and rewatch. it’s so easy to get distracted by the show because it’s always on. example: currently, cycles 8, 11 and 12 of antm are airing on onstyle in their respective time slots. when one cycle ends, another begins. just like life.

since i think myself a sort of expert on top model, below i wish to rank the cycles in order from worst to best, and i also want to spotlight some of each cycle’s most memorable moments.

cycle 12

•standout cast members: tall-ass aminat, fashionista celia, face in a wind-tunnel teyona, nosebleed-obsessed allison
•winner: teyona (two words: ghet-to)
•villain: sandra (who is actually more clueless than evil)
•best photo: sandra and celia as nannies on the upper east side
•memorable photo shoots: models as birds (shot by tyra) and…::crickets::
•in short: the worst cycle in antm history; it is not even worth a second look; god-awful girls and god-awful shoots / challenges

cycle 10

•standout cast members: plus-size fake whitney, soccer mom dominique, what is she saying anya, “neutrogena” katarzyna, little iman fatima
•winner: bottom two-dweller whitney
•villain: dominique (who got knocked around by her ex-boyfriend, as well as the producers)
•best photo: girlfriend may look a bit drag-ish but give it up ladies and gents, this picture is fieeeeerce
•memorable photo shoots: homeless shelter, “fuerzabruta” body in water
•in short: a lot of catty bitches (including the winner) and a few good, but bland, girls; it’s just aiight, folks

cycle 5

•standout cast members: pee in a diaper lisa, lesbian kim, granola bar bre
•winner: whiny brat nicole
•villain: bre (who poured nicole’s energy drinks down the drain)
•best photo: slim pickings, but i guess this one with boring nik and her extreme hair extensions
•memorable photo shoots: reinterpreting artwork, plastic surgeries gone wrong
•in short: unlikeable group of girls doing very uninteresting things; a mediocre cycle

cycle 4

•standout cast members: carmen kass look-alike kahlen, bread-loving keenyah, faux hawk naima, she got told tiffany
•winner: self-hater naima (really, tyra? really??)
•villain: keenyah (who didn’t even know who nelson mandela was)
•best photo: chameleon kahlen as a springbok
•memorable photo shoots: astrological signs, african animals, different ethnicity, seven deadly sins
•in short: a dark group of girls (really, besides kahlen, where are the blonde-haired blue-eyed beauties?); not a lot of fun

cycle 7

•standout cast members: goofball caridee, perfectionist melrose, quirky twins michelle and amanda
•winner: a deserving caridee (very photogenic)
•villain: monique (who, thank god, went home early)
•best photo: scary caridee, shot by tyra
•memorable photo shoots: circus freaks, hair show, model stereotypes
•in short: a great-looking group of girls + creative photo shoot ideas = pleasing season

cycle 9

•standout cast members: sarcastic jenah, the face of asperger’s heather, sunny chantal, wicked bianca
•winner: highly commercial saleisha
•villain: bianca (”check your thighs in the mirror—and i’m done.”)
•best photo: jenah, who took divine photo after divine photo (this may be my favorite antm photo of all time)
•memorable photo shoots: types of plants, smoking side-effects, recyclable materials, the great wall of china
•in short: modelesque girls with distinct personalities, doing cool photo shoots (plus, there’s china!)

cycle 11

•standout cast members: tomboy mckey, awkward marjorie, sassy sheena, actress analeigh, stoic elina, transgendered isis
•winner: mckey (duh!)
•villain: elina (who could never just let go)
•best photo: analeigh in front of dutch windmills
•memorable photo shoots: fierce eyes above water, hot air balloon
•in short: a group of beautiful girls in the most high-fashion cycle of top model

cycle 8

•standout cast members: cha-cha diva jaslene, car salesman natasha, nasty renee
•winner: jaslene (there really wasn’t ever a doubt)
•villain: renee (who picked fights wherever she went)
•best photo: jaslene as a good-looking nautical fella
•memorable photo shoots: high school clichés, crime scenes, gender-swapper
•in short: a mixed bag of girls, amazing photo-models (this cycle probably has the strongest set of photo shoot concepts)

cycle 6

•standout cast members: amazonian danielle, snaggle toothed joanie, crazy jade, praying mantis furonda, front-runner nnenna, vacuous gina
•winner: danielle (”shut yo’ mouth and say it ain’t so!”)
•villain: jade (who picked on poor little korean-american gina (well…the girl had it comin’))
•best photo: best photo-taker (ever!) joanie straddling a friggin’ elephant
•memorable photo shoots: going bald, fairy tale characters, dream career, krumping, riding an elephant
•in short: a fierce battle between gorgeous danielle and photogenic joanie—the closest match in top model finale history

cycle 1

•standout cast members: intelligent elyse, chicagoan adrianne, virginal shannon, beauty queen robin
•winner: adrianne (she wanted it the most, for sure)
•villain: robin (who gave elyse a hard time about being an atheist—”foolish is the man who says there is no god”)
•best photo: elyse with a snake (one of the best photos we’ve seen on top model)
•memorable photo shoots: posing with a snake, showing movement with a football player, the naked one
•in short: the cycle that started it all—the first overseas trip, the first nude shoot, the first commercial, the first catfights—it’s all raw and unplanned and fabulous

cycle 3

•standout cast members: eva diva, blind amanda, haughty yaya, walking wet dream ann, “big, black, beautiful and lovin’ it” toccara
•winner: bad girl gone good eva
•villain: um, was there one? we’ll go with 50% eva, 50% yaya
•best photo: eva overcame her fear of spiders and ended up with this stunning picture
•memorable photo shoots: tarantula, geishas in kimonos, harajuku girls
•in short: probably the loudest group of contestants, all quite distinct; it’s probably the cycle that is most fun to watch

cycle 2

•standout cast members: fashion-obsessed yoanna, cheating shandi, lupus patient mercedes, control freak april, “black bitch” camille
•winner: yoanna (a face like hers “doesn’t come around very often”)
•villain: camille (miss cruella deville, yoanna calls her)
•best photo: a toss-up between yoanna’s and mercedes’s high-fashion pictures, with the edge to yoanna (not everyone can pull off a helmet)
•memorable photo shoots: underwater couture, garden of eden, hanging from wires, famous celebrities
•in short: this season has it all—crying (catie), fear of heights (catie), sex (um, shandi?), chronic illness (mercedes), fainting (shandi), refusing to do nudity (anna), a girl who is late to a photo shoot (jenascia), high fashion (milan!) and let’s not forget the world premiere of tyra banks’s first music video, “shake ya body.” the question remains—was mercedes robbed of the title?

agree? disagree? are we looking forward to cycle 13, america’s next short model? i’m not (because models should be tall)…but, i’d really like to see the girls come to korea. think korea, people.

 

쏘리 쏘리 (sorry, sorry)

i hadn’t seen ms. seo since late august of last year, when she helped me move apartments. she was my co-teacher for two years at a private middle school on the east side of town (that’s the good side of daegu, in case you were wondering), and she was very helpful in and outside of school. i was sorry to leave the middle school because i did like the students and my co-workers and the school itself. however, i was seriously bothered by the lack of support in my co-teaching classes and i was fed up with the middle school curriculum. and quite frankly, i got a gig that suited me better.

yesterday, i met her in downtown in front of daegu department store. as my phone plan was under her name, i needed ms. seo’s signature in order to be released from KTF’s annoying grasps (so much spam!). subsequently, i was able to sign up with another cell phone carrier under my significant other’s name. for most of the hour we spent together, we talked about work.

a redheaded aussie, oh, let’s call him ‘drake,’ took my place at the middle school last fall. too often i hear horror stories about native english-speaking teachers who don’t prepare for class, and are lazy, and come to school hung over, and call in sick all the time and whatnot. i’ve never met ‘drake,’ but what ms. seo told me about him leaves me to think that he’s one of those native english-speaking teachers. here are the bits and pieces of our conversation:

‘drake’ doesn’t prepare for class. he stands in front of the classroom and reads the textbook out loud. in a period, he’ll stand there and read, out loud, two whole units of the book (there are only 12 units in the entire textbook). furthermore, he doesn’t explain the contents in detail or provide examples. sometimes the students will do a word find for the entire 45 minutes of class. when ‘drake’ is done ‘teaching,’ he gives the students free-talking time. “in english”? i asked. “no,” ms. seo answered, “the students speak in korean. we have many free-talking sessions.”

i shook my head in disbelief. it unsettles me to hear that such a person is ‘teaching’ at such a good school. well, it’s not entirely his fault. i know the english teachers at that school; they don’t fully participate in the art of ‘co-teaching.’ they could make the lesson plans and use ‘drake’ only as a human phonograph. they could take the initiative and be the lead teachers. they could force him to co-teach in class. but they don’t. it’s not all his fault, i know that.

the crazy thing is, i saw him at the re-signing meeting friday afternoon, which indicates the education center’s decision to renew his contract. “did you guys give him a good review?” i asked ms. seo. “no, we told the education center that we don’t want him to be at our school. we said that even if we don’t have a native english teacher next semester, we don’t want him. the principal and vice-principal agreed to that,” she answered.

amazing, i thought. most principals will do anything to get a native english teacher at their schools; it gives the school more clout. schools that have mediocre foreign teachers will still most likely allow the teachers to stay…it’s not very common to hear schools not wanting a foreign teacher (only the really bad ones get bad evaluations).

“but i saw him at the re-signing meeting,” i mentioned to her. “because of the lowered value of the korean won to the US dollar, not many americans want to come to korea at the moment. there are fewer native english teachers coming into korea from the US this year. so, the education center decided to renew his contract,” she explained. “and he doesn’t know that we don’t want him. he doesn’t know that he might be re-assigned to another school.” i nodded.

not the nicest thing to do to ‘drake,’ i think. but i can see why no one bothered to tell him about the negative evaluation. suppose he is assigned to the same middle school again…there might be awful tension between him and the english teachers if he knows that they gave him a bad evaluation. but it does anger me (a little) that the sole reason for his renewal was so that he could fulfill a quota. this allows him to continue being dead weight, a waste of time, a waste of money. it’s gross.

“and he wants to move into an apartment next year. because he wants to buy an LCD screen tv and there’s no room to put it on the wall of his studio right now. and he has a korean girlfriend.”

during the hour i spent with ms. seo in the cell phone shop, numerous tiny explosions went off in my brain. i know that i’m not a licensed educator with a teaching certificate or a masters degree or anything, but gosh darn it, i know i do a decent job at my school. i show up. i work hard. i learn. i teach. i’m not lazy. i don’t settle for mediocrity.

i’m not saying it’s any one party’s fault. it’s the aussie’s fault for being crappy (it’s not his fault for being hired). it’s the middle school’s fault for not being more proactive about co-teaching. it’s the education center’s fault for not upping the criteria for hiring native english teachers (sure, i’d be out of a job, but i’d leave willingly, knowing that i’d be leaving on fair conditions). it’s the korean education system’s fault for many many many things.

i didn’t really know how to reply to ms. seo’s matter-of-fact narration of the events at my old school. i just said, “i’m sorry.”

 

lolli lolli lollipop

i promised myself i wouldn’t spend more than ₩50,000 (≈$50.00) on a new cell phone. i should’ve promised myself i wouldn’t spend money—period—on a new cell phone.

saturday morning, we woke up early and went to the red cross hospital downtown so i could get my yearly physical check-up (it’s really more of a drug screen than anything else). though there was no wait and the paperwork was easy and i was finished in less than fifteen minutes, the bill came out to ₩90,000 (≈$90.00). i do not remember paying that much for my check-up last year. yep, i just double-checked. i paid ₩58,000 last year; true, it was at a different hospital, but why the huge difference?

maybe the red cross hospital thinks it can charge an inordinately large fee because foreigners will pay anything blindly (a lot of the foreigners in daegu go there for their medical needs). well, i wasn’t in the mood to argue or storm out in a huff (i need the paperwork done by next week). yes, that hospital is fast, easy and convenient (located in the heart of downtown and all), but i will not go there again.

the significant and i had lunch together and headed towards cell phone street (everyone in daegu knows where that is). cell phone street is a long avenue that is lined with over thirty cell phone stores, one after another, on both sides. each store has the latest pop hits blaring through their speakers and out front, young men in business casualwear gently pester passersby.

we went to a small, unassuming shop run by two young ladies who are very good at their jobs. we filled out all the paperwork to put me under the better half’s name and shopped for phones. because i am ridiculous, i zoned in on cyon’s new-ish, very stylish lollipop. for months, the commercials (CFs) for the lollipop phone (video above) have been dominating the airwaves. obviously, there is an almost shameless product tie-in between the phone and korean pop groups big bang and 2NE1’s single, “lollipop.” clever of them to do that.

originally priced at ₩534,000 (yeah, it’s like a $500 phone), i got a brand new blue lollipop for ₩79,000 because i signed a one-year contract with SK telecom, korea’s #1 cell phone company (there are three big ones in korea: SK, KTF and the worst, LG (ironically, LG makes the best-looking cell phones)). korean students all have their own phones, and the lollipop is one of the most desired products because of its sleek look, ’secret light’ function and connection to the hottest boy group, big bang.

so why did i, a 28-year-old man, who uses his phone strictly for brief calls and texts, need a sharp, new phone for? the same reason women wear jewelry and high heels. vanity. i couldn’t resist pulling out the electric blue contraption out of my murse and having envious eyes aimed in my direction. as i’ve said before, cell phones in korea aren’t just accessories; they are also status symbols.

the machine is popular among teenagers because when a call comes in, you can simply flip the phone over onto its belly and the ringing will stop. great for avoiding calls. another thing i love are the little lights that sparkle and shine upon every incoming call (in neat designs, too!). also, the edge (picture, left) of the phone contains what is called ’secret lighting.’ i can customize the color of bulbs that light up to each individual in my phone book. for example, when the significant other calls, red lights light up. when ms. shin calls, purple lights. and so on…

here i am, going on and on about a silly little phone. such a korean thing to do. and i love it. i also loved the service i got at the phone shop. through some kind of wireless magic (maybe bluetooth?) the lady at the store transferred all media and phone numbers from my old phone into the new one. she also managed to let me keep my original number and showed me how to use all the neat functions of my lollipop (does that sound dirrty?). so easy, so clean, so efficient.

in the states, when i was with sprint pcs, i got no such service. all the departments were separated and i had to wait in line for this, wait in another line for that, etc. the thing with korean cell phone stores is that they work with all three phone companies, so they can switch you from one carrier to another quickly. you don’t have to go to specific branches of the company if you don’t wish to. and you don’t have to wait. point for korean service. [note: perhaps things have changed in the states. i wouldn't know, i haven't had to deal with cell phone companies in the states in three years. i hope things have improved.]

i am recalling something. ah, yes. one of the projects the students had the option of choosing for the stargirl project was the ‘peter sinkowitz’ scrapbook. for that project, you had to follow a friend for a month and note down daily routines, special habits, etc. and create a scrapbook focusing on your friend. these two girls created amazing scrapbooks about their friends and on the profile pages, they listed information like name, height, weight, hair color, star sign, birthday, cell phone. i did a double-take as they were presenting. cell phone? really? is it that important? as important as birthday? apparently so. and i should know…’tis the reason i got myself a lollipop in place of the no-name piece of metal i carried around for a year.

 

friday feelings

♦ i can be addictive at times. last weekend, i started lovers in paris (파리의 연인) to counterbalance the stress from work. i got totally hooked, which explains the lack of posting this past week (finished all 20 episodes in six days—review to come). apologies. i promise i’ll be more consistent with the entries.

♦ attended a meeting for native english teachers planning to renew their contract. rediscovered my reasons for avoiding foreigners in general because of the way they behave. there was this older gentleman at the meeting who kept heckling the speaker; the jerk lacked the ability to understand, well, anything that was written explicitly on the contract. i signed my contract; another year in korea.

♦ this past week, we finished all of the stargirl project presentations and all of the theatre project performances. am pretty much done with teaching this semester, even if it officially ends in mid-july. final exams are next week. smooth sailing from here on out.

♦ am planning to get a new cell phone this weekend. my current phone plan is under ms. seo’s name (co-teacher from my previous place of work) and i think it’s a bit of a burden on her sometimes. she’s meeting me saturday afternoon so that we can cancel the phone plan and have it be put under my significant other’s name.

♦ met ros wednesday evening for a long dinner at maya, an indian restaurant near kyungpook national university. the food was great, as usual, and i had a good talk with ros. she’s very calm and together, so i like that. she’ll be in australia for two months and she’s decided to come back to korea (albeit in another city) to teach. yay!

♦ tristan, who left korea ‘for good’ last year, returned this week. she’s working in seoul, but we’re in the same country now. my text-messaging buddy is back!

♦ ms. shin and i watched a couple of episodes of lovers in paris at my house thursday evening and gorged ourselves on pizza from mr. pizza. i should’ve taken a picture of the pie; there were crab meat and baked shrimp on top and sweet potato filling stuffed in the crusts. completely divine, yet completely decadent. i don’t have houseguests that often, so that was refreshing.

♦ called my dad sunday night for father’s day. we did not have one of our forced, awkward conversations. he thanked me for the sun hat i purchased online for him. i mostly talked to my mother, who, at the time, seemed to be in a good mood. i hope to spend lots of time at home during my vacation. sure, i’d like to see friends as well (nelda is visiting me all the way from new york city!), but mostly, i’d like to stay at home.

 

beethoven virus

beethoven virus (베토벤 바이러스) premiered on september 10, 2008 and ended it’s 18-episode engagement on november 12, 2008. the drama consistently stayed in the number two spot in its time slot throughout its run, and even introduced a new term, ‘kang mae syndrome (강마에 신드롬),’ into the korean vernacular.

the story takes place in the fictional city of seokran, led by a mayor intent on making his hometown a mecca for classical music. he invites the world-renowned conductor kang gun-woo, whose nickname is ‘orchestra killer,’ and gives him full artistic freedom with a state-run orchestra to call his own. problem is, the orchestra is a hodgepodge of amateurs, has-beens and misfits, and maestro kang, we find out early on, is a perfectionist.

played brilliantly by kim myung-min (korea’s acting guru), maestro kang is a hot-tempered, elitist son of a bitch with one goal in mind: to make the original intents of the composers come to life. he takes no prisoners with his harsh insults and uncompromising standards (a cello player is reduced to nothingness within the first couple of weeks of rehearsal). but a character who doesn’t change is a static character. so, who can reach the heart of the demanding conductor?

du ru-mi (lee ji-ah) is first violin in the orchestra. she is sweet and effervescent and, at times, foolish. her one dream is to play in a concert on a big stage; the man who guides her to her dream is maestro kang, who is so hard-hearted, yet so charismatic. does she develop feelings for him? just a student crushing on her middle-aged mentor, perhaps.

the autumn-spring romance in the series is complicated by the third main character, kang gun-woo (yes, he has the same name as the maestro). the baby-faced singer/actor jang geun-seok plays gun-woo, a musical prodigy who is still wet behind the ears when it comes to classical music. he has perfect pitch and can memorize entire pieces with one listening, but he lacks discipline. maestro kang sees gun-woo’s talents and takes him on as a student.

these three characters—a conductor, a violinist and a trumpeter—round out the love triangle in beethoven virus. behind this love story, though, are plotlines that involve the supporting orchestra members (a timid housewife, an aging oboist, a rude flautist, a cantankerous bass player, etc.), a shift in power in seokran politics, a chronic illness that plagues one of the leads and various auditions and tests and competitions.

beethoven virus is the first korean drama to center on the lives of classical musicians, and the viewers’ response was highly favorable. not only were the ratings strong, but the series garnered numerous prizes at year-end awards shows (including the coveted daesang (’grand prize’) for actor kim myung-min). the aforementioned ‘kang mae syndrome’ took over korea: classical music was hip again and so were the stuffy, crisp suits worn by maestro kang, and commercials sprouted up here and there featuring actors from the series. in short, the show was a big hit.

i saw the first seven or so episodes this past winter but stopped for some reason. recently, i viewed the remaining episodes and found myself (re)captivated by the show’s music, romance and acting. lovers of classical music will go nuts over the behind-the-scenes drama of a city-owned orchestra, and lovers of romance will go nuts over the relationship between du ru-mi and kang gun-woo (the older one).

the third point of the triangle is the weak aspect of the series. jang geun-seok, while very adorable, cannot stand up to kim myung-min in acting or in stature; the student is unable to trump the formidible teacher in the duel for the girl. therefore, he is never a threat to the mr. rochester-jane eyre relationship of maestro kang and du ru-mi. he kind of just sulks through many parts of the drama.

additionally, conflict seems to fall on top of the characters, rather than be created by them. when obstacles are presented to characters, it makes the story contrived. i found myself thinking more than once, “jesus, another mountain to climb over? really? these orchestra members just don’t seem to get a break.” and we certainly don’t get a break from the writers with the last episode of beethoven virus, which falls short of expectation.

despite a few gripes, i highly recommend the series. i plan to watch it with my mother when i return home in august. she’ll be totally stricken by the magic of maestro kang, and that’s what one should take away from the series. the fact that korea has its very own heathcliff—er, byronic hero.

 

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friday feelings

♦ apologies for the spotty blogging as of late. after work i no longer want to do anything. for example, i came home yesterday, ordered unhealthy fried chicken (the soy sauce kind) and watched the last 3 episodes of beethoven virus (review to come). still it wasn’t a blissful experience as the inside of my mouth is out of whack (there are three or four painful areas due to stress; it’s getting better though).

♦ today i had four consecutive classes before lunch. then i missed lunch (second day in a row) because i helped set up the stage for a citywide conference they have at my school twice a year. then i had EOZ (english only zone) which is twenty-five minutes of english conversation time (with a few select students) during the latter half of lunch (i hate EOZ).

then the main office was chaos the rest of the afternoon because they plan on replacing all the teachers’ desks this weekend. yes, we’ll get brand new desks but god dang it, the office is a mess (we had to clear out all our stuff which was so fun). the good thing is, diana and i went home early because a) we had no classes and b) we had no desks.

♦ the stargirl project presentations started this past tuesday and i must say, i am very impressed with some of the students’ products. these korean high school students are so creative and tech-savvy. some of the movies they’ve produced make me wish they’d consider going to film school; the children’s books / comic books some of the groups have made are brilliant; there are even song and dance numbers (where the lyrics have been changed to reflect parts of the book); even the powerpoints are out of this world (i wish i could show you all this stuff).

these presentations make me think of the projects i did while in high school and it’s like night and day (from a technology standpoint). powerpoint? we didn’t even have a computer in our classroom; my teachers used OHPs (overhead projectors) most of the time. making movies? no one taught us how to splice scenes together. ::sigh:: i wonder what it’s like in american high schools nowadays…

♦ june 21st is father’s day. my father and i don’t have a bad relationship, but we’re not close, either. i can convey every conversation i have with my father with the following exchange:

father: are there any problems?
me: no. are there any problems at home?
father: no. if there are no problems then let’s hang up.
me: okay.

as he is getting older, he is getting more senile. and i think his hearing is weakening as well. i didn’t know what to get him for father’s day. since i ordered flowers for my mother on mother’s day, and my father would understand why i wouldn’t spend money on him, i still ordered my father a sun hat for when he mows the lawn. it’s practical, but still gift-worthy. i will call him this sunday evening to wish him a happy father’s day.