suddenly susan

moving on

2007-10-30T11:38:00.000+01:00

please visit my new home at desperatelyseekingsuddenlysusan.wordpress.com. don't come empty-handed. i'm expecting some comments or at least a decent bottle of wine.

i won't be updating this blogger site any more because i am no longer suddenlysusaninkorea.

czech, please

2007-10-25T09:17:00.000+02:00

the charles bridge, over the vltava river in prague

this was the view from my restaurant table. with such beautiful surroundings and excellent beer for cheap, i don't know why the locals never smile.

postcard from europe

2007-10-23T18:06:00.000+02:00

dear readers,

i'm having a wonderful time in europe. spent two weeks in prague, a week in london, 5 days in brussels and two weeks in paris. i'm soaking in the sun in the south of france now. wish you were here.

xoxo,
suddenly susan

so long sofia

2007-09-20T10:18:00.001+02:00

what can i say? i really loved sofia. she may seem a little aloof at first but get to know her and she'll reveal her many hidden charms. sofia has a terrific archaeological museum and it boasts the world's best tomatoes and peppers. it's also a great city for lada-sighting. sofia doesn't attract hoards of tourists so there are no big double-decker sightseeing buses or lines of people at the museums. i loved that i didn't see other tourists. go there now before that changes.

see photos here.

so far, sofia

2007-09-14T13:33:00.000+02:00

my first impression of sofia: my god, i can't read anything here. all the street signs are in cyrillic. whereas varna caters strictly to tourists, sofia is a real city that can't be bothered. luckily, i came across vagabond, a great english-language magazine that gives you the skinny on expat life in bulgaria. unlike some...ahem...magazines in seoul that just want to glorify korea, vagabond pulls no punches. here are some highlights from the mag:

"no" means "yes" in bulgaria

the low-down on shop assistants

next stop in bulgaria: the capital

2007-09-13T21:45:00.000+02:00

here's an excerpt from the welcome package at my apartment in sofia:

bulgaria

2007-09-11T09:24:00.000+02:00

golden sands beach in varna, bulgaria - the black sea coast

i'm in bulgaria now. yeah, that's right, i said bulgaria. it's not the most obvious choice as a tourist destination but that's what i was looking for. someplace completely foreign and unknown to me. the only inkling i had about this country is that it recently joined the EU and that it's famous for its weightlifters. other than that, i was clueless.

my first stop: varna or more specifically golden sands beach, a resort on the black sea coast. just gorgeous, actually beyond gorgeous. i don't know why it's called the black sea because the water is the purest azure and there ain't a black person in sight. apparently this is a tourist hot spot for germans. all the signs and menus are in german and every restaurant seems to offer a schnitzel special. and boy, i've never seen folks as pasty white as the deutsch. their kids are practically albino. i can say this smugly now because i am getting bronzer by the day.

i can also say that i've never seen so many out of shape people on the beach; burly men with hairy backs and middle-age beer guts wearing the tiniest speedos (heinous!) and even bigger balkan ajummas with their barrel-sized torsos, some even attempting to sunbathe topless! (eek! blind me now!)

as far as i could tell, there were no other north americans or people from english-speaking nations. everyone looked like they were from a nation where smiling is punishable by death. it really feels like a different world here.

after the miserable breakfast i had from the communist-style canteen of my hotel, i was skeptical about bulgarian food. was it all mystery cold cuts and brown bread? i was too quick to judge. the meals at the restaurants were delicious, all made with fresh local ingredients. cool, crisp salads with the most amazing tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, and olives, topped with crumbly, salty cheese reminiscent of feta. it's just like a greek salad but they call it "shopska salad." there's delicious grilled fish and the bulgarian specialty kavarma which is meat, tomatoes, onions and peppers baked with balkan spices in a clay pot. the waitstaff at these restaurants is super-friendly and they speak excellent english.

shopska salad

my one gripe with bulgarian food is the ketchup. my yummy fries were somewhat ruined by the weird runny tomato juice that came out of the ketchup bottles. i think it's spiced with oregano? when you grow up with heinz ketchup, every other ketchup in the world tastes funny to you. it's like trying to drink generic supermarket cola when you've been weaned on coca-cola. nothing beats a coke and nothing beats a heinz.

however, i am in love with bulgarian beer. every restaurant serves big steins of the freshest draft beer. 500 cc will set you back 3 bulgarian leva (=1.50 euro).

you know how sometimes you walk into a movie theater without having read any reviews and because of that you end up liking the film more than you would have? i'm getting that feeling with bulgaria.

so long budapest

2007-09-09T15:07:00.000+02:00

budapest has changed a lot since i was there 12 years ago. mcdonald's and subway sandwiches are everywhere, the price of everything has gone up dramatically and the locals don't look as happy. still, i love this city. it's a romantic place with stunning architecture. i like how you can see the many different influences from different cultures manifest in various ways whether it's the gorgeous mosaic in the turkish baths, austrian-style pastries or lingering traces of austerity from the communist era.

i've always romanticized budapest in my mind as an intellectual's city and the abundance of reading material confirms it. there are about as many bookstores here as there are duane reade drugstores in new york. also, the people love to play chess. any society that embraces board games is all good in my estimation.

i will miss budapest. i'm in a new country now. more on that later. click here to view photos.

have you ever watched M*SH?

2007-09-05T19:47:00.000+02:00

my phone call to western union in budapest...

man (or woman with very deep voice): something i couldn't understand in hungarian.

me: hello? do you speak english.

man (OWWVDV): yes.

me: how much is it to send money from korea to hungary?

man (OWWVDV): where are you sending it from?

me: korea

man (OWWVDV): silence

me: south korea

man (OWWVDV): yes, what country?

me: south korea is a country.

man (OWWVDV): i don't see it on my list.

me: maybe it is under "republic of korea?"

man (OWWVDV): no.

me: check under "land of morning calm?"

29-day kimchi deprivation ends today

2007-09-03T18:52:00.000+02:00

"seoul house" in budapest

kimchi jjigae with "banchan"

talk about finding your oasis in the desert, i discovered a korean restaurant in budapest! it's on a quiet street a block away from the danube on the buda (west) side. the waitstaff is hungarian, and like most people in budapest, they speak excellent english. the cute young waiter i had today even pronounced "kimchi jjigae" perfectly.

i've been generally impressed with the foreign food i've had in budapest; good mexican, amazing indian (i had the best saag paneer i've tasted in years at shalimar indian restaurant in the jewish quarter). still, i had my reservations that a korean restaurant could be good in hungary. boy, was i wrong. my kimchi jjigae today was kickASS! it was sour, salty and spicy with the kimchi cooked just enough. the jjigae came garnished generously with slices of fatty samgyeupsal throughout and a few cubes of tofu that had sucked up all the pork, spicy broth. i inhaled the contents of my earthenware pot, leaving only a 1/4 teaspoon of soup flecked with red chile flakes. the banchan was meager but tasty as well, using the best of local hungarian ingredients: cabbage, potates and pickling cucumbers.

during lunch a few korean business execs came in for a taste of their homeland and five tables were reserved for a bus load of korean tourists. i asked the waiter who usually eats here and he said the restaurant stays busy with all the honchos from hyundai, LG, kia, samsung - the usual lineup of chaebols that extend their brand overseas.

if you find yourself wandering budapest searching for that kimchi fix, check out 서울의 집 (seoul house). prices are reasonable for budapest. my jjigae cost 2400 hungarian forint (=9.6 euros) - trust me, in europe, that's a bargain.

guess who i saw in budapest today?

2007-08-31T18:15:00.000+02:00

i sat down at an outdoor cafe and was seated next to none other than austin scarlett from project runway season 1. a few hours later i ran into him again in another part of town. dang, he be skinny!

living la vida loca

2007-08-30T01:47:00.000+02:00

the town of vernazza in cinque terre, italy

if you've been wondering where in the world is suddenly susan, i have left korea. for good. my three years there were trying, filled with both good and bad moments. korea is my birthplace but ultimately, i don't consider it my home. i tried to adapt and make the most of my time there but you can only try squeezing a square into a circle so much before the square loses its corners and ceases to be a square. wait, did i just call myself a square in that analogy? well, you know what i mean.

i'm now on an extended holiday in europe. i've been traipsing around the italian boot for three weeks overdosing on pasta, prosciutto and wine. i never thought i'd be sick of pasta but i had at least one plate everyday for 21 days straight: bucatini in rome, pappardelle with rabbit in florence, ravioli in lucca, chitarra with scampi in cinque terre, trenette with pesto in genoa, spaghetti alla vongole in venice. as delicious as it all was, i need a break from pasta. the highlight of my trip was staying on a vineyard. what the italians call "agriturismo." (yeah, italians have a lot of funny names for things.) i had no tv, phone or internet connection. nothing but grapes, olive trees and a view of the tuscan hills so gorgeous, i know why diane lane bought that villa in that movie. the lowlight was paying 3 euros for 30 minutes of web access at internet cafes across italy. it was 0.15 euro/minute in cinque terre! they say italians and koreans have a lot in common (hot temper, disregard for the law, disorganization) but embracing new technology is not high on the priority list for italians. neither is sticking to generally accepted business hours.

this trip to europe is right on the heels of my three-week jaunt to vietnam where i was blasted by the sun daily despite liberal applications of sun screen. i didn't think it was possible but i actually developed a tan. the vietnamese sun must've triggered the melanin in my skin. anyway, i am now officially golden and my friends back home won't have to call me "powder" any more.

i'm currently in budapest in a furnished apartment with a very fast broadband connection. hallelujah! budapest holds a special place in my heart because i came here 12 years ago on a solo backpacking tour of eastern europe. it's changed. a lot. but the food still sucks. sorry, but there's a reason why you don't see hungarian restaurants all across the world. however, i was thrilled to discover that mexican food is pretty good here. i am avoiding the italian restaurants here like the plague. bad local food notwithstanding, the city is gorgeous, especially right around the banks of the danube which is so not blue, strauss must be rolling over in his grave. (the last time i used that line was 12 years ago and a hungarian man actually thought it was funny.)

it's late at night now. i am craving kimchi jjigae. i haven't had kimchi in 26 days. i think that's a record for me. i am considering changing my blog name because i am no longer "suddenly susan in korea." so what am i, "suddenly susan in europe?" "suddenly susan abroad?" "suddenly susan is homeless?" i am accepting suggestions for a new blog name. the winner gets...nothing really. you can leave your ideas in the comments section or just hack into my e-mail account and save it as a draft.

someone hacked into my e-mail account

2007-08-07T08:43:00.000+02:00

"someone" (and i have a very good idea of who this f*ckface is) broke into my e-mail account and sent out messages under my name to people on my contacts list.

if anyone has any information on how i can bust this asshole please let me know.

thank you.

hanoi

2007-07-31T08:42:00.001+02:00

i started my trip in hanoi, the capital of vietnam. it's noisy and polluted but charming none the less. not as busy as saigon but still loads of tourists flock here. "same same but different" as the vietnamese say.

seoul's got nothing on the traffic in hanoi. imagine a swarm of motorbikes, scooters and bicycles coming at you at breakneck speed with no intention of stopping - all the while tooting their horns. some intersections didn't even have traffic lights. i held my breath every time i crossed the street.

everyday i'd walk out of my hotel and be greeted by a chorus of "hello! cyclo?" "motobike?" drivers courting their daily fares so they can feed their families. you know they're trying to rip you off yet at the end of the day, it's just chump change for the tourists but that money is so much more important for the locals.

there are tons of expat restaurants and cafes in hanoi. they serve a cleaned up version of vietnamese food for tourists who may be averse to fish sauce and fragrant herbs. they've got jacked up prices and a veritable phone book for the menu however the draw is the menus are in english and they provide much-needed A/C.

yet i knew i could get better food on the streets so i tried to eat like the locals. there are mom and pop operations on every street. they set up plastic tables and chairs on the sidewalk with a small sign to tell you what's on offer. it looked like each place only served one thing which is always promising.

one night i chose the most crowded patch of sidewalk and pulled up a small plastic stool to the low table. (i felt like i was back in kindergarten.) nobody could understand my english or pigeon vietnamese so i'd just point to what the guy next to me was eating: a big plate of rice with stir-fried beef and pickled mustard greens. "beer" together with my index finger was understood because the vietnamese word for beer is "bia." the meal was served with a basket of sliced cucumbers, lettuce and mint leaves along with a bowl of chile sauce. it's like their version of 상추, 깻잎 and 오이 with gochujang. the meal was homey and delicious. total tab: 30,000 dong including the beer. that's less than $2.

i took over 500 photos in vietnam but i've whittled them down to a dozen or so for each place i visited. click here to see shots from hanoi.

my other favorite drink in vietnam

2007-07-30T03:33:00.000+02:00

freshly-pressed sugar cane juice

the lady cranks fresh sugar cane stalks through this contraption...

and out comes sweet sugar cane juice. served over a mugful of ice and big squeezes of lime juice. 5000 dong (= 30 cents)!

look what i made!

2007-07-23T10:49:00.001+02:00

i took a cooking class in hoi at at the red bridge cooking school. click here to see what i learned to make.

hoi an

2007-07-21T13:34:00.000+02:00

i've been relaxing in hoi an for the last nine days. it's a pretty little city about an hour south of danang. i've been riding to cua dai beach on a motorbike, swimming in the warm waters of the south china sea, and eating crab for lunch at the beachfront seafood shack. life is good in vietnam.

my trip to perfume pagoda

2007-07-14T16:22:00.000+02:00

i'm in hoi an - more on that later - but i thought i'd show and tell you about my trip to perfume pagoda.

perfume pagoda is one of the highlights near hanoi. it's actually a cluster of pagodas. the tour guide said it's called perfume pagoda because of it's "good smell." (i think that's from the incense.) it takes a whole day to get there and come back. first, our tour group was chauffeured in a minivan to the yen river. that took an hour...

then a small vietnamese ajumma rowed four of us out to the pagoda.
that took another hour...

then we took a cable car up the mountain. that took fifteen minutes...

finally! we made it!...p.s. this pagoda is in a cave

here's another pagoda with a monk and his dog

then we did the trip in reverse: cable car down the mountain. you can walk it but it was excruciatingly hot that day. vietnamese ajumma rowed us back down the river. minivan back to the hotel.

oh, i forgot to mention...

2007-07-13T11:41:00.000+02:00

i can't read my blog in vietnam. i can write posts on blogger.com but i can't see what i posted. i think the government put a block on the blogspot domain. so i can read your comments because they're sent to my e-mail account but i can't respond in the comments section. i'm still wondering if you can surf porn here...

thanks for the shout outs! gdog: sorry i won't be back in time for your farewell party but good bye and good luck. i had fun reading about your adventures in korea.

hue (hoo-ay)

2007-07-11T13:30:00.000+02:00

i've left hanoi with its motorbikes a constantly tooting and pollution to rival that of mexico city. i moved south to hue, the ancient capital. think of it as the gyeongju of vietnam. it's a sleepier town that gets many vietnamese tourists, but as far as i can tell, not many from outside the country. nobody understands english and when i take a stab at my few vietnamese words, i am met with blank expressions. also the locals are constantly staring at me. not just with gazes that linger a little too long. these are full on gawkings as if to say, "what planet is she from?" i wonder if it's because i'm so much fatter* than everyone here or because they think i am freakishly white.

*i bought a skirt in hanoi and was dismayed to know that i am an XL in vietnamese size...and it's still a little snug!

i was planning to explore other cities in vietnam but the comfort of my hotel is tempting me to stay put in this tropical paradise. i've been swimming in their pool everyday, sucking down glasses of "lemon juice." that's what the vietnamese call their lime-ade. it's a little bit tart, a little bit sweet and a whole lotta of refreshing deliciousness. and even at their inflated hotel prices, it costs about 44 cents.

all the guests at my hotel seem to be french. even the clerk at the front desk has a snooty french air about him. just imagine michel from gilmore girls in the body of a slight vietnamese man. his english is perfect yet it has a twinge of a pouty french accent. "when oood yooo lie-eek tooo cheque owwt?" "yoo ah een room numbear four-tee twuu." "ave ay nie-eese deh." anyway, he started out aloof but he seems more relaxed and friendly now.

the downsides: i am constantly getting ripped off by restaurant owners and unscrupulous cabbies. it's crazy hot in the afternoon. i can feel the sweat on my skin sizzle in the blazing sun. my back is soaking wet even when i walk around in a little sun dress of single-ply cotton. the upside: that's when i head back to the hotel and float in the pool with a tall glass of 44-cent lemon juice.

jokbal (pig's feet) - part 2

2007-06-01T16:12:00.000+02:00

part 2 of the jokbal vodcast of seoul glow. here's part 1 in case you missed it:

bon appe-feet!

happy rose day

2007-05-14T04:17:00.000+02:00

may 14 is rose day. it's also yellow day. so give someone a bouquet of roses and eat yellow curry. or just combine the two and give someone yellow roses.

blogger's confessional

2007-05-09T16:59:00.000+02:00

forgive me father, for i have sinned. it's been 4 days since my last blog post.

i have used the f-word about 87 times since my last confession - 19 of them while having unholy thoughts about gordon ramsay. i threw out egg shells with my general trash and pressed the "close" button on the elevator even though i heard someone's footsteps approaching.

i'm not catholic so i don't know what the appropriate number of hail marys are. can i drink three bloody marys instead?

나 어느날 예쁘게 말할거야

2007-05-05T03:21:00.000+02:00

in the so-hilarious-it'll-make-you-pee-your-pants book, me talk pretty one day, david sedaris describes a scene from childhood when he is interrogated by a speech therapist. young david has been diagnosed with a lisp or "lazy tongue." he subsequently avoids answering the therapist's tricky questions with any words containing the letter "s."

it reminds of my interactions with the natives here during my first few months in korea. if i spoke too much, i'd be outed and then faced with the inevitable, startled reaction, "한국사람 아니시나봐요? (oh, you're not korean?)" followed immediately by its chaser "어디서 오셨어요? (where are you from?)." in the U.S. i'm asked that question and the answer people are looking for is "korea." here the intended response is "[somewhere outside of korea]."

the inquiries would continue. "어떻게 한국으로 오셨어요? (what brings you to korea?)," "어디가 더 좋으세요? (which place do you like better?)"...you get the drift. i know they were just curious and meant no harm but i grew tired of the intrusive nature of the questioning. sometimes, i got paranoid; are they trying to figure out if i'm a north korean spy? but mostly, i didn't want to launch into explaining the finer points of my entire raison d’être in this country everytime i got a haircut, rode a taxi or in other situations where i was held captive by a korean service-provider.

so just like young david, i developed a coping strategy: utter as few korean words as possible, keep my distance and under no circumstances say anything with "ㄹ," that most elusive of korean letters. (there's a reason why koreans can't pronounce words like "really" or the name "Larry." well, guess what? most native english speakers will have an equally hard time getting "날라리" or "의류" correct.)

over the past three years, my spoken korean has improved and i've become less fearful of speaking korean to strangers. i have to admit, though, the "ㄹ" still exposes me. i wish i could be as quick on my feet as young david was in his therapist Q&A session and conveniently dodge the "ㄹ" landmines (모르겠어요, 알겠슴니다, 글새...).

but at some point, the questions shifted. instead of "한국사람 아니시나봐요? (oh, you're not korean?)," i get "외국에서 오래 살으셨나봐요 (you must have lived overseas for a long time)." it is minor linguistic accomplishment for me; wow, they think i'm korean. i'm somewhat pleased to hear it and i simply respond with "네."

scents and sensibility

2007-05-02T14:13:00.000+02:00

someone once told me that when you smell something, you are inhaling its airborne molecules and they become a part of you. a lovely idea when sniffing, say, freshly-baked bread, the briny ocean water or a baby's skin. not so much when you think about smelling rotten meat or feces.

whereas we have control over what we put in our mouths, we don't have any say in what goes up our nose. we breathe in the air and everything that the surrounding air contains. there is always a curious mix of smells, both good and bad, in the cities we inhabit. they are what mark the places we live in, just as certain landmarks are iconic for that city's skyline.

the odors i remember most distinctly from new york are the "piss-aroma" in the subways, the combination of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and cheap olive oil from the ubiquitous pizza joints, and artificial vanilla reeking from the flimsy car deodorizers cabbies hung in their taxis. berkeley is by far the best-smelling city i've lived in. it must be all those meyer lemon trees and flower gardens people have in their backyards along with the wild fennel that grows like weed throughout the area. (if i could capture that fragrance in a bottle, i'd call it "eau de boho.")

i thought about this today on the way to work. in a span of 40 minutes i was bombarded by the most aggressive smells that i've come to identify with seoul. first, there was the salaryman sweating in his suit next to me on the bus. his perspiration gave off hints of garlic and chile peppers with a top note of soju and stale cigarette smoke. when i got off the bus, the strong, toasty smell of sesame oil was hanging thick in the air from a nearby restaurant. then upon entering the building, i caught a whiff of the urinal cake as i passed the men's restroom. (i have always thought that the odd mothball-and-chemical cocktail in urinal cakes didn't neutralize the smell of urine so much as it just created a smell that was far worse.)

if it's true that these smells are becoming a part of me, i must be quite stinky by now.

the days of our lives

2007-04-30T18:45:00.000+02:00

the month of may sees a lot of holidays in korea. may 1st is may day aka labor day, the 5th is children's day, the 8th is parents' day. may 11th is adoptees' day.

then there are two manufactured holidays on the 14th: rose day (the day lovers give each other roses to express their love - gawd, how cliche is that?) and yellow day (if you missed eating jajangmyeon on black day, you eat yellow curry rice on this day).

may 15th is teachers' day.

may 24th is buddha's birthday.

trying to keep track of all these holidays is hard enough as it is but then i have to remember mother's day in the states because my mom could give a rat's ass that it's parents' day in korea. she wants her card and phone call on her day. crap - i have a feeling i'm already late on sending the card...when is mother's day??

gentlemen: grab those flat-irons...

2007-04-29T17:35:00.000+02:00

first, there was the metrosexual, then the uber-sexual, now here comes the "cross-sexual."

Cross-sexual Guys: Winning with Good Looks

“Cross-sexual” men are those who boldly infringe upon the realms of femininity by transcending the boundaries between masculinity and femininity to create a combination of both.

Men using hair-straighteners

Hair-styling devices are no longer intended for women only. Hair-straighteners, in particular, are indispensable for men who want to create feminine hair looks. The layered hair-style that is so trendy among male celebrities these days is created using not only gel and other hair-care products but also hair-straighteners.

Feminine male underwear vs. Boyish women’s panties

The boundaries between masculinity and femininity have been increasingly blurred in the area of underwear as well. One company producing underwear has recently introduced male underpants with huge flower patterns and embroidered G-string pants made of velvet-like fabric. Underpants featuring black embroidery against a pink background on the front have gained enormous popularity among men.

Other popular male underwear items include girdle-like underpants that support the hips and tight triangular underpants that cover the belly fat...

Female panties, on the other hand, are becoming more and more boyish...even featuring slits in the front, which are of course for decorative purposes only...The latest designs of women’s panties tend to forego ruffles and lace and feature neat designs. Boxer shorts for women that are designed to provide women with as much comfort as boxer shorts for men are also in high demand.

go to kbs global for the full article

while i've definitely noticed gender bending in men, i can't say i've noticed women becoming more masculine. ladies clothes in korea still seem cloyingly feminine to me with too many ribbons, ruffles and shit. personally, id' rather not go out in public looking like a doily.

what's worse than an alarm clock?

2007-04-28T04:53:00.001+02:00

"대단히 죄송합니다.
방송 시험증입니다.
(we're very sorry. this is a test of the annoucement system.)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8"

"대단히 죄송합니다.
방송 시험증입니다.
(we're very sorry. this is a test of the annoucement system.)"

repeated ad nauseum over the apartment speaker system in 3 minute intervals this morning.
not how you want to be woken up when you stayed out too late, mixed too many different alcohols and are way too hungover to call the building management and scream into the phone, "IT WORKS! SO SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!!"

update on j. scott burgeson and his book

2007-04-25T17:19:00.000+02:00

i contacted j. scott burgeson (thanks SK for the link to his web site) regarding his new book and he had the following to say about my original blog post and subsequent comments:

My new book Korea Consumer Report is just released in Korean for now, but you can read a couple of the original English-language essays in it on my site's Board, including Notes on Vulgar Nationalism, Another One Bites the Dust and Triumph of the Dear Leader.

I'm from Berkeley, not LA. I don't like LA. And my father's name is J. Travis Burgeson so my name just follows family tradition. We do it that way because we (including my grandfather and great grandfather) go by our middle names but have John as the first name. Don't think I will continue the tradition though as I'm not Christian.

oops, i guess i should apologize for saying his name is pretentious!

btw, you can access his site at http://www.kingbaeksu.com/

korea brings "sexy back"

2007-04-25T10:05:00.000+02:00

Turn Your Back on the World With Spring Fashions
from the chosun ilbo

now that ladies in korea have makeup and plastic surgery to fix their faces, they have to make sure they look just as good going as they do coming. the chosun ilbo says:

"Now, in a survey of 3,511 consumers by G-market, some 2,949 respondents or 84 percent said they are concerned about how they look from behind, and 1,299 or 37 percent said they feel confident about their back. For those who do, clothes and shoes that show off the back to its best advantage are widely available."

"If your hips are nothing much to write home about, don‘t worry, just fake it. Hip pads which add volume to a scrawny pelvis are available. Hipskorea.co.ltd, a hip pad merchandiser, reportedly earns W50 million(US$1=W928) a month. Sales are smooth mostly thanks to word of mouth. But beware: hip pads they can be spotted through thin clothes."

i'm trying to imagine the conversation in which a woman recommends the hip pads to her friends:

friend: 언니, 뒷 모습이 정말 예쁘다! 난 빼짝 말라서 고민이야...(unni, you look so good from behind. i hate being so skinny...)

j. roh: 나도 엉덩이 없었는데 이제 걱정 안 해도 돼. (i didn't have any junk in the trunk either but now i don't have to worry.)

friend: 어떻게 했는데? (what'd you do?)

j. roh: 난 히프패드를 사용하거든. (i use hip pads.)

friend: 히프패드라니? (hip pads?)

j. roh: 응. 폼 조각을 팬티 속에 쑥~ 넣어서 나 같은 빵빵한 엉덩이를 만들 수 있당! (yup. just slip two foam cups into your panties and you can have a bodonka-donk booty like mine!)

friend: 어머! 나도 할래!! (wow! i wanna try it!!)

i checked out the hipskorea web site and dozens of women uploaded their before and after shots. here's one bootilicious convert:

all you olive oyls looking for the perfect hourglass shape can stuff your bras and your booties, too!

summertime and the livin' ain't easy

2007-04-23T18:47:00.000+02:00

it was hot today in seoul - may have even reached 20 degrees at some point. well, i really have no idea what 20 degrees feels like. my brain still computes in fahrenheit. but let's just say it was warm enough to worry about pit stains this afternoon.

wtf? it isn't even may yet and i'm already bracing myself for summer weather. the magnolias and cherry blossoms have shed their petals too soon and i've worn my new spring jacket only about 7 times. i feel like i've been frackin' robbed of spring. if seasons were dishes in a restaurant, i wish i could send back the summer entree and ask for extra helpings of spring and fall. winter's ok too but hot weather and humidity leave a bad taste in my moutn, not to mention, a stank in my shoes. (um, was that an overshare?)

i wish i could hibernate during the summer. wake me up when the mercury dips below 20.

have you seen this book?

2007-04-22T15:57:00.000+02:00

i am curious about this book by the author of korea bug.
here's a blurb from the joongang daily* on-line:

*warning: if you are using firefox as your browser, the joongang daily link above will freeze your screen because their webmaster is retarded.

A slacker’s gripes

J. Scott Burgeson, a “California slacker based in Seoul” as this cultural critic calls himself, has published his third critique of the country where he has lived for the last 10 years.
“Daehanminguk Sayong Hugi” (Gallion publishing) is a Korean translation of “User’s Comment on Korea.” In a prologue Burgeson warns readers that a person who is in love with this country should never read his book. In particular, he criticizes the nationalistic atmosphere and condemns South Koreans for treating North Koreans as second class citizens, unless they are both watching a Korean team playing a foreign opponent. By Lee Min-a

kyobo only has the korean version but it sounds like there is also an original version in english. has anyone seen the english text or know where i can find it?

brush your butt with butt paste

2007-04-21T05:59:00.000+02:00

as i was compiling my list of things to order from drugstore.com, the column on the right read "may we suggest" and proffered the following items:

neutrogena sensitive skin sunblock 45
caudalie lip conditioner
boudreaux's butt paste

wtf? butt paste?! that's what it says on the tube. i thought it was a product to glue together your ass crack. but no, it's a diaper rash cream.

and when i add ricola cough drops to my shopping cart, drugstore.com responds with, "may we suggest"...

clearblue easy, e.p.t., and first response - all three are pregnancy tests.

are cough drops some kind of aphrodisiac? i don't understand the logic behind soothing your throat and getting knocked up.

is drugstore.com sending me subliminal messages to breed?

update on NYC jokbal - 2

2007-04-21T03:20:00.000+02:00

thank you to commenter steve for his the latest on finding jokbal in the NYC area...

"there is one in Flushing called "Seoul Soondae" It's at 158-15 Northern Blvd. Flushing, NY 11358"

i found this old review in newsday. if the critic's evaluation is still valid today, sounds like you'll be eatin' high on the hog.

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (or how i got soaked in the downpour due to bureaucratic bullshit)

2007-04-19T16:29:00.000+02:00

i often say that korea has changed a lot over the years but not in the way that i'd like it to. recently, the following changes have been made and i'm really annoyed:

subway and bus fares in seoul went up 100 won
the korea times revamped their web site and it totally sucks
yongsan cable changed the channel lineup AND got rid of the dongah TV channel (which carries gordon ramsay's show f-word)

as bad as that is given that i am completely in love with gordon ramsay, THE MOST IRKSOME CHANGE OF ALL IS...

the new seoul immigration office in downtown seoul - yeah, the friendlier one close to my home without the long waits, that one - no longer deals with residents of yongsan-gu and many other districts north of the river.

i found this out the hard way when i went to the new office in insa-dong, filled out the application to renew my visa, waited for my number and had the following conversation with the clerk:

clerk: 어디에 사세요? (where do you live?)

me: yongsan-gu

clerk: 죄송하지만 이 출장소에서 용산구는 관할구역 되지않습니다? (sorry but yongsan-gu doesn't fall within the jurisdiction of this office.)

me: 네? (what the fuck did you just say?)

clerk: [pulls out a pre-printed document] 관할구역은 이렇게만 되었습니다. 오목교에 있는 출입국관리사무소로 가야합니다. (these are the only districts we service. you have to go to the main immigration office in omok-gyo.)

me: 그런데 작년에 세종로 출장소로 갔는데요...(but i came to the sejong office last year...)

clerk: 예, 2007년 1월 1일 부터 관할구역별 분리 되었습니다. (we made the changes at the beginning of this year.)

me: [going into full-on ajumma mode] 아니 이게 말이 되나요? 누가 이거 어떻게 알으려고요? (this is fucking ridiculous! how the hell is anyone to know about these changes?!)

[sound of crickets. clerk has nothing to say.]

SO TO MAKE SURE THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN TO YOU, be aware that you can only go to the sejong branch if you live in the following 9 districts:

gangbuk-gu, nowon-gu, dobong-gu, dongdaemun-gu, seongbuk-gu, eunpyeong-gu, jongno-gu, jung-gu and jungnang-gu.

and they only handle limited services such as visa extensions and address changes.

everyone else must join the hoi polloi at the omokgyo location. yeah, the location that's way the hell out there with the long lines and rude staff, that one.

and one last thing. the seoul immigration office web site is one of the most retarded sites i've ever seen - even worse than the korea times site. here's a big, fat suggestion for them: maybe put a pop-up window letting people know about the changes in your service. geez louise, for all the goddamned pop-up windows i have to endure with from korean sites, you'd think one of them could actually be useful.

ok and end rant.

2007-04-18T09:19:00.000+02:00

as i watched CNN last night, a feeling of dread swept over me as i read the name "cho seung hui" prominently displayed in the chyron and that's when i knew that the virginia tech gunman was korean, or "of korean descent."

i'm wondering why i should feel bad that i just so happen to share the same ancestry with the perpetrator of the deadliest campus shooting in history. is it because those of us who are "of korean descent" will inevitably suffer some fallout from this tragedy? perhaps. then i think about the families of the victims and how they must feel...and then it makes me want to have a stiff drink with a cigarette.

i wish i had something more meaningful, more insightful to say about it but i'm still trying to make sense of this awful, awful killing spree. all i can offer are my condolences to the family and friends of the victims.

more tales of "the feminization of the hetero male in korea"...

2007-04-17T11:54:00.000+02:00

the korean yakult-yogurt lady

have you noticed that young korean men have started calling their female friends and colleagues 언니 ('&n-nE)? a few weeks ago, the very manly chef at yamamoto sushi called the ajumma waitress "언니" and one of the male sound engineers at the station called me "언니" the other day. i do know him to be straight so wassup with that? (언니 is what a woman would call her older sister or older female friend.)

on another, though not totally unrelated note, i find it interesting that certain jobs in korea are coded male and others are only female. for example, all recorded voices are female. from the bus stop announcements to the automated phone tree systems to that eerie voice at the parking lot gate that asks you to push the button for the parking stub. ok, i get it. in a society where your mom is always telling you what to do, you become accustomed to a female voice giving you guidance.

the person who greets you with a ninety-degree bow from a glass box as you drive into the department store parking lot will always be a pretty young woman. as is the person who pushes the buttons on the elevator for you. all right, fine. male customers need eye candy to be lured to the shopping grounds and are apparently too lazy to press a number to take themselves to another floor.

then as you walk through the department store in search of women's apparel, all the sales staff for female apparel are women, because who knows more about ladies' fashion than another lady, right? but then you get to the shoe section and all the ladies' shoes are sold by men. i could understand it if there were some women selling shoes, as well, but no, every single salesperson has a Y chromosome (and a heavy hand with the pomade, i might add). is it because there is something sexual and fetishistic about shoes? or because feet are dirty so they can't be handled by the fairer sex? i'm puzzled by this one.

we may see more korean men in makeup but will we ever see an ajushi in a yellow chickadee uniform peddling yakult? as both sexes in korea become more and more superficial and obsessed with physical appearances, will hot young studs in tight pants stand in front of department stores to greet ajumma shoppers and press their buttons too? if they do, i bet they'll be wearing foundation and toting around a sleek little man bag.

ETA: wow! these yakult ajummas make bank!

dreaming of gordon ramsay

2007-04-16T13:05:00.000+02:00

i think my obsession with gordon ramsay is getting out of hand. i watched 9 episodes of ramsay's kitchen nightmares over two days and have been desperately searching for more epi's but many of the torrent seeds are coming up empty. this show is one of the best restaurant programs i've seen on TV. (thanks guano for the tip.) basically, bad boy UK chef gordon ramsay visits a failing restaurant in each show and tries to turn their business around in a week.

he's masterful at what he does. he knows what he's talking about and you can tell he's a brilliant chef but mostly i love watching him fly off the handle. no one does ape-shit lunatic angry better than ramsay. he starts off all calm and reasonable in the beginning and i just wait for the climax of rage that inevitable comes. the string of expletives that shoot out of his mouth in rapid succession is like poetry.

"you're a limp dick in the kitchen," ramsay tells one poor schmuck of a chef. he then advises a mousy maitre d' to grow a set of balls as big as the restaurants bulky profiteroles. "if you cooked like this in france," he shouts at another lazy french chef "they'd hang you upside down on the Arch de Triomphe from your bollocks." sigh...everytime, ramsay says "bollocks" in that working class scot-brit accent of his, he makes me swoon.

between watching RKN, i finally finished reading that mammoth piece in the new yorker on ramsay written by profiler-extraordinaire bill buford. this is my favorite part of the article:

"When I heard that Maison Blanc had gone tits up, it added two inches to my cock," Ramsay was quoted as saying after Raymond Blanc's restaurant, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, in Oxfordshire, yet again did not get a third Michelin star, adding, "I don't give a fuck what that
jumped-up little French twat thinks-the only reason he's in Britain is because he failed in France."

it pained me to read that his manhattan restaurant only got two stars from the new york times. i think restaurant critic frank bruni may have it out for big name chefs and TV personalities. ramsay sounds like the tortured artist who is misunderstood by others. i mean we're talking about a man who got three michelin stars for one restaurant and a total of ten michelin stars in his empire and the new york times only gives him two stars out of four?? rubbish, i say.

i am also intrigued by this bit of trivia from wikipedia: Ramsay is 6'2, with size-15 feet and his shoes are custom-made.

that's fucking hot.

and in related men primping news...

2007-04-13T14:01:00.000+02:00

Men in Makeup: Coming to Korea?

Actor Cho In-seong, modeling for men’s toiletry brand Miraepa

Lipstick, powder, mascara, brow gel... How would you feel if you found these products in your boyfriend's backpack? A recent article in Forbes magazine reports that makeup for men is becoming popular in America.

And it's not just that special category of men who are buying these products. "Even some Wall Street men are wearing makeup these days," said the vice president of an American consulting company who was in Korea recently.

And what about Korea? 4VOO, a well-known makeup brand for men that was founded in 2005, has become popular in Korea. The company offers products designed to help guys look their best, like exfoliation scrubs, oil-absorbent powders and blemish concealers.

how would i feel if i found lipstick and mascara in my BF's backpack? i'd wonder if he fell into "that special category of men."

and regarding the title of this piece, "men in makeup: coming to korea?"...i think it's already here.

see the full article from the chosun ilbo

trend alert: wither ajushi?

2007-04-12T14:10:00.000+02:00

for the uninitiated, an ajushi is the male counterpart to the ajumma. literally, the korean word "ajushi," refers to an uncle. but the associated image of an ajushi is of a middle-aged man who fits the following profile:

wardrobe: usually sports an ill-fitting unfashionable sweater over a large gut, plaid polyster-blend pants with socks and slippers...members only-style jacket optional. in hot weather, the sweater is downgraded to a flimsy undershirt or wife-beater.

hygiene: minimal. daily bathing is a luxury for the ajushi. greasy hair often accompanied by coffee/cigarette/kimchi breath. at night, add soju to that list.

bad habits: hawking lugies onto sidewalks, often with loud guttural noises; raising his fly AFTER exiting public restrooms to the sheer horror of young women; expressing disapproval by sucking teeth or hissing, as if to say the swear words, shhheebal or sssseki; resolving conflicts with fists and angry glares.

preferred occupation: taxi driver

but just as the ajumma transformed herself into the jummarella, now here comes the nomu, the ajushi-alternative...as reported by YTN (original article in korean, plus a bonus video!)

Have you heard of ‘노무족' the “No More” group? It’s short for '노 모어 엉클족 (No More Uncle Group).' This newly-coined term refers to middle-aged men who refuse to be ajushi’s – a trend for this group who yearn for self-improvement.

On weekends, a certain Mr. Noh takes his helmut and leaves the hustle and bustle of the city. He hits the road on his motorcycle to relieve stress. He’s well over 40 years old but this hobby helps him revive the thrill of riding from his college days.

Like Mr. Noh and the older members of his motorcycle club, more and more middle-aged and over-the-hill men are becoming part of this so-called “No More” group. They make the time when it comes to self-improvement or their hobbies.

And they spare no expense when it comes to personal grooming.

One Mr. Jeon visits the dermatologist once a month despite his busy schedule. He gets facial treatments to minimize wrinkles and improve elasticity. He seems to have a more youthful body and mind. The male clients in their forties-fifties at this clinic have increased 10-fold over the last five years.

During this same span of time, with middle-aged men primping themselves, the growth in the male cosmetics industry has doubled and male plastic surgery is thriving in Korea.
In this era of self-improvement and competition to look good, instead of being ajushis, this is a trend for men want to be “oh-pa’s” forever.

well, the jummarella trend didn't wipe out ajummas so i'm not too hopeful about this nomu fad.

korean food finder

2007-04-12T03:36:00.000+02:00

a handy map to k-town restaurants in manhattan.

thanks john for the link!

CAR-CROSSED LOVERS

2007-04-11T18:18:00.000+02:00

from GQ magazine - UK edition...

A woman and a man driver are involved in a horrific collision, but amazingly both escape completely unhurt - though their cars are written off.
As they crawl out of the wreckage, the man sees the woman is blonde and strikingly beautiful. Then the woman turns to the man and gushes breathily: 'That's incredible - both our cars are demolished but we're fine. It must be a sign from God that we are meant to be together!'
Sensing a promise, the man stammers back, 'Oh yes, I agree with you completely!'
The woman goes on, 'And look, though my car was destroyed, this bottle of wine survived intact, too! It must be another sign. Let's drink to our love!'
'Well, OK!' says the man, going with the moment. She offers him the bottle, so he downs half of it and hands it back.
'Your turn,' says the man.
'No, thanks,' says the woman, 'I think I'll just wait for the police.'

update on NYC jokbal

2007-04-09T14:03:00.000+02:00

got a chowhound tip that the restaurant hanbat in manhattan's k-town serves jokbal.

here's a link to their address and menu.

if anyone tries (tried) it, please let me know how it is.

queer as pork

2007-04-09T13:03:00.000+02:00

when i first came to korea 3 years ago, i kept seeing all these flyers in my building for "버티클" (read as: buh-TEE-cull). and i kept thinking, "butticle? butticle?? what the hell is a butticle?"

i asked a relative who informed me that it's korean for "vertical" as in "vertical blinds." ohhh, i see.

i learned that the "하이크레스바" was the "high class bar" not the "high crass bar," as i first read it.

oh! and if you want koreans to understand you when you say these words, you have to use the korean pronunciation. ask for "a hamburger & french fries" at a restaurant and you will be given a blank stare. you have to ask for a "hem-BUH-guh & hoo-REN-chee hoo-RYE-ee." which is probably as mortifying to me as it is for a french person coming to the US to say, "pardonez moi, may i have a cra-SANT?"

i've become more used to getting these transliterated words from english but sometimes i still find myself reading something over and over until i have that "aha!" moment. for example, flipping through channels on TV, i came across this title on the upper left corner of the screen: "퀴어 에즈 포크."

i went over the possibilities in my head:

queer as poke?
queer as pork?
queer as fork?
queer as folk! ding, ding, ding!!

see if you can figure these out:

젠존 (a restaurant name)
리핑 (a movie title)
퓨처리즘 (a buzzword in fashion these days)
스테프 핫도그 (apparently, the most difficult thing you can request when you call directory assistance in korea)

pimp that maki!

2007-04-08T10:33:00.000+02:00

that reminds me of the time that "mr. 초밥왕" (mr. sushi king) pimped that maki for my birthday at his exquisite restaurant sushi hyo.

happy pimping easter!

2007-04-08T04:23:00.000+02:00

a "pimped" cadbury creme egg from pimpthatsnack.com

my latest obsession: gordon ramsay on the TV show called "cook-king" in korea (original title f-word). he's so much more charming here than he was on fox TV's hell's kitchen. the best part: they don't bleep out his potty mouth on korean TV and this guy drops the f-bomb in every sentence. (is it my imagination or do brits curse more than americans?)

anyway, just saw the episode with food critic giles coren "pimping" a jaffa cake and he submitted his creation on www.pimpthatsnack.com - a site you HAVE to check out. "to pimp a snack" is to make a grotesquely giant, oversized version of the original snack.

the site shows all the steps to pimping that snack from the ingredients to the finished product. i thought the humongous hostess cupcake in particular looked pretty true to scale.

so far, no one has pimped a chocopie. anyone up for the challenge?

vegetable matters

2007-04-05T15:32:00.000+02:00

we have a rotating crew of 5 or so ajushi security guards in our apartment building. i don't know any of their names so i've taken to assigning nicknames for them. there's "the korean biff henderson" (or "biff kim" for short) so named because he looks just like david letterman's affable stage manager - only paler. he's my favorite ajushi because he always greets me with a big beaming smile. then there are the others: "mean officer bellick," "saggy cheeks," and "woody" who has a chin so pointy it could tap out morse code on a tree trunk.

the latest arrival is someone i call "야채 아저씨" (mr. vegetable) because he sits behind the desk all comatose, NEVER looking up - which is not so desirable if your job is to keep an eye out for unsavory characters who may burgle my apartment. i've tried several times to catch his eye, just so i could 인사 to him but all he does is stare off into space. judging from the deep creases around his eyes and on his forehead, it seems like he's had a long, hard life. perhaps his wife left him for another man, or his neighbors ran off with his 곗돈, or maybe he is simply strung out on heroin all the time.

well, on my way to work today, i saw "야채 아저씨" on duty. determined to get his attention, i did my best carmen kass stomp all across the makeshift marble runway. the clack-clack of my 3-inch heels were so loud i'm sure the reverberations were felt up to the 6th floor...and guess what? he looked up! i gave him a respectful head bow and mouthed "안녕하세요" and he actually returned my greeting! i think i even saw a feeble smile on his old, leathery face.

it kinda made my day. it was a personal triumph for me...and i think for him, as well.

this is the REAL pizza crime

2007-04-04T15:06:00.000+02:00

as advertised by "korea's little sister" moon geun young...

the grand prix from mr. pizza: a cheese pie topped with shrimp, bacon and potato AND! a soft "european-style" cookie crust studded with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and raisins. as an added bonus, blueberry dipping sauce for the crust so you can have a sweet ending to our meal, oh boy!

W21,900 for a regular, W30,900 for a large (=US$22/$31 respectively)

you're giving customers something they really may want? that's not fair!

2007-04-04T14:00:00.000+02:00

Corporate watchdog orders Pizza Hut to correct unfair business practice

SEOUL, April 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's corporate watchdog on Wednesday ordered Pizza Hut Korea, the local subsidiary of U.S.-based restaurant chain Pizza Hut Inc., to stop their unfair practice of offering "excessive" gifts to customers.

The company offered raffle coupons for free imported automobiles, each worth 33 million won (US$35,244) when buying their products, the Fair Trade Commission said.

from yonhap news

10 things you (probably) don't know about women

2007-04-03T16:15:00.000+02:00

Ten Things You Don't Know About Women

Courteney Cox wants to remind you to pull your pants up and stop kissing like her face is an-all-you-can-eat buffet.

1. Pull your pants up. You're not fifteen, you're not a rapper, and we need to see the shape of your ass.

2. Pull your pants down. You're not eighty-five, you're not an accountant, and we don't need to see the shape of your balls.

3. Breasts are not a speed bump to the promised land.

4. Yes, we want you to be more verbal. No, burping doesn't count.

read the rest at esquire magazine

i somehow have more respect for courteney cox after reading this. but really what is she doing with that doofus david arquette??

i'm not in high school anymore

2007-04-03T08:14:00.000+02:00

went to grab a beer at a certain ex-pat bar in itaewon (rocky mountain tavern) last night. the korean barmaid asked me for ID and when i told her i left the house with just a wad of cash and my phone, she refused to serve me!

i was like , "do you know how OLD i am??" (note to readers: i am way past the legal drinking age of 20 in korea.)

the white dude behind the bar gave me a shrug, as if to say, "sorry, sister. rules is rules."

is this just a stupid policy they have?

i mean i was just a touch flattered but really more annoyed that we had to walk a whole block and a half to another bar for our beers.

saw this advertisement on the side of a bus today

2007-04-02T09:55:00.000+02:00

is your cooch under the weather? smell a little funny?

treat it with vagi-C! vitamin C for your vag~

(to watch the video ad, be sure to click on the "vagi-C 홍보용 CF 동영상" box on the lower left corner of the home page.)

charades with the waitress

2007-04-01T13:10:00.000+02:00

i've noticed an increase in foreign waitstaff at restaurants and drinking establishments. i think i had one the other day as indicated by our following exchange:

me: 여기요! 물티슈 좀 주실래요? (excuse me~can i have some wet naps?)

waitress: [opens her eyes wide. does not comprehend.] 네? (what?)

me: 물티슈나 물수건...손을 딲으게요. (wet naps or a wet cloth...to wipe my hands.)
[gesture wiping my fingers and motion to chicken wings.]

waitress: 아...네...(um...ok...)

i see her walk over to the manager and have a chat with him. he looks over at our table, curiously. waitress returns to our table and hands me a pair of disposable plastic gloves.

gloves?! she must've thought i was seriously OCD.

and speaking of pork...

2007-03-30T02:25:00.001+02:00

my 2nd vodcast is out for seoulglow: susan eats jokbal! part I

bon appe-feet!

i don't eat crow

2007-03-29T16:10:00.000+02:00

i had a hwae-shik (dinner and drinks with co-workers) the other night. as i tucked into my 12th piece of bossam, after already consuming 1 kilo of dwaeji galbi and like a liter of 50-seju, i realized so much business socializing in korea revolves around pork and alcohol...luckily, i am a glutton of both but i wonder how muslims deal with it? do they simply say, "i'm sorry, i do not partake of filthy swine and alcohol" and sip a coke instead? what about jews who keep kosher?

one of my college professors, a woman of indian descent and devout vegetarian, once stayed with a host family in japan. the hosts, unaware of her dietary restrictions, heralded her arrival with a live sashimi dinner. they pulled a carp out of their pond, filleted it at the table, and served it head and all. "they proudly offered it to me and the fish was quivering, still gasping for air!" she recalled. but not wanting her host family to lose face, she respectfully ate the carp and cleaned her plate - all the while suppressing her gag reflexes.

i always keep prof. viswanathan's anecdote in mind when i dine in another country or even have a meal at a friend's house. when do you just suck it up and eat what you're given, and when do you cite religious/moral/political/medical reasons for not eating something?

in the u.s., accommodating dinner party hosts will go so far as to ask in advance if there's anything you're allergic to or cannot eat. i'm sure the responses must throw a wrench into whatever menu the host had planned, especially if one of those guests happens to be vegan - every chef's worst nightmare. i mean, c'mon, at least vegetarians will eat cheese. what do you serve a vegan...a can of beans?

the french gastronome brillat-savarin said, "tell me what you eat and i will tell you what you are." i guess that would make me a pig, haha. sometimes, though, i find it more fascinating to know what people don't eat.

i pretty much eat everything but there are certain foods i categorically avoid. for example, alfalfa sprouts and white chocolate (because it tastes just like sweetened globs of lard and i like my lard on the salty side). everything else, if prepared well, is fair game for my gullet.

i once dated a guy who refused to eat cucumbers. by date #3 he revealed that he also didn't eat zucchini, eggplant and any meat on the bone. i thought to myself, "ok, so you won't eat anything that looks like a penis? and what kinda weirdo won't eat a fried chicken drumstick?" sorry, that was a dealbreaker for me. by date #4, i chucked him.

i'm curious, what kind of things do you NOT eat? and why?

are you an ugly american?

2007-03-27T09:31:00.000+02:00

praise for ugly americans, ugly koreans:

"humorous and revealing, i was surprised how much i wasn't aware of after twelve years of working with koreans. get your hands out of your pockets and read this book."
h. keith taft, semiconductor products sales manager
electro scientific industries

"as essential for the traveler to korea and a useful tool for the teacher of cross-cultural communication and understanding."
carl dusthimer, visiting professor, hannam university

"an astonishing eye-opener! a triumph of the human spirit! hilarious illustrations!!"
suddenly susan, blurb writer for book jackets, the world of blogs

i picked up this book, ugly koreans, ugly americans: cultural and behavioral differences between koreans and americans by min byoung-chul at kyobo bookstore last week. it's kind of a quick little guide to behaviors that americans find abhorrent about koreans AND the flip side: things koreans hate about americans (and by "americans" he essentially means "westerners.").

the first half covers "common korean behavior: americans find it upsetting or peculiar when koreans..." and i have to say, these are all complaints i've heard over and over again from foreigners in korea. i myself have voiced these complaints a number of times. (heck, i have entire sections in this blog devoted to this topic.) things that koreans do such as:

don't hold the door for the person behind them
bump into others in a crowd
spit in public
don't stay in line when they should
make invitations or important announcements at the last minute
ask personal questions
get into subways or elevators before others get off
drivers don't yield to pedestrians

admit it, you have all bitched and moaned about these things, too - and you could probably tack on another 10 items to this list, right? well do you want to know what koreans find "upsetting or peculiar" about you, 외국인? a few choice morsels from the book:

beckon people using an index finger -- koreans use their index finger only when beckoning animals
do the "i got your nose" thing to a child -- this gesture is the equivalent to the middle finger in the u.s.
are too sensitive about cutting in line -- koreans are very tolerant of people cutting in line
say "korean time" to describe being late -- many koreans feel the implied criticism is unfair because the term "korean" should only be attached to "wave" and "winner"
don't do anything for free -- because koreans would like to reinstate slavery
never buy dinner in return -- because koreans hate freeloaders
don't offer to share their food -- koreans may view this behavior as greedy and they are always hungry
use sarcasm -- they will not understand you and think you are an asshole
brag about themselves - because koreans never do that sort of thing

ok, i took some liberties on the explanations for some of the more absurd rationalizations but for the most part, i can see why koreans would find certain "western" behavior unsettling. if you've been in korea a long time, this stuff is old hat for you. newbies would benefit most from the tips in this book.

ira glass - breaking hearts around the world

2007-03-27T03:24:00.000+02:00

a big thank you to "anonymous" who left this link for me.

somewhere, rossini is rolling over in his grave...

2007-03-23T10:02:00.000+01:00

i've seen this TV commercial for a product called "joba" by panasonic, a few times now, and i'm still not quite sure what it's meant to be. a personal mechanical bull simulator? or a vibrator that's so enormous you actually have to mount it? like who in her right mind would have the balls to enter an electronics department and ask to try it out and buy it?

i can hear clearly now

2007-03-21T09:44:00.000+01:00

do you ever buy things and never use them? like you see something in a store or on the internet and you have this sense of urgency...kinda like a trigger in your brain that signals, "MUST BUY NOW!" even though you don't really need it? i've tried to limit this impulse because i'm running out of places to store my shoes and purses, and my cupboards can no longer hold the exotic ingredients that i tend to hoard just because someday i *might* cook up a recipe that requires tamarind paste or squid ink.

well, in one of my cyber splurges to load up on products i can't get in korea, i bought an ear candling kit. (a friend said that that she knew a friend who tried it...and the before and after was like the difference between mono and dolby surround sound...and who wouldn't want the best sound system for their ears?) the kit sat around in my house for about a year til i recently decided to give it a try.

i haven't developed supersonic hearing or anything but i immediately felt clearer, like when you swallow to get rid of the blockage in your ears but only like 10x better. when i told this to the koreans i work with, they were fascinated. one woman shrieked, "너무 신기하다! 나도 해볼래! 더 잘 들렸으면 좋겠어!! (that's amazing! i wanna try it! i wish i could hear better!!)" apparently, she read about it on the internet because it's become a luxury spa treatment in japan.

anyway, here's what i look like candling my ear. (the hubby thought it would be funny to take my picture seeing as how i had a fricking lit candle sticking out of my ear and i couldn't stop him.)

this is for henry

2007-03-20T06:50:00.000+01:00

there is a guy at work. his name is henry. i find him to be quite strange.

henry: let me know when you have succeeded in finding my blog.

battle of the bulge

2007-03-19T13:14:00.000+01:00

never mind the calendar and vernal equinox, the real indication that spring is here is in the fashion. you know that spring has sprung when you see the girls around town wearing the teeniest of skirts all up around their "see you next tuesday" with bare legs. the kind of skirt that is so short, it barely clears both butt cheeks and the wearer has to use her knock-off louis vuitton bag to shield her backside so gawkers don't look up her skirt when she walks up the subway staircase.

that's nothing new. gals in korea have been wearing their 동꼬치마's since the early nineties. what's new is that men are getting in on the action and showing off their ASSets as well. pants for gents are more form-fitting than i've ever seen them before. and unlike the ladies, they make no attempt to cover up when they climb the stairs. it's like two toight pork buns - bam! right in my face.

then on the subway, one of these antonio banderas wannabe's will sit across from me with his legs wide open...because he believes his member to be so large, it needs to occupy 2/3 of the seat. so then i have to try really hard to avert my eyes and study the advertisements on the wall. like dude! why don't you put your little man bag in front of your crotch so you don't have your man bulge on full display for everyone!

and that's why they call it "a crush"

2007-03-17T01:24:00.000+01:00

i have had a crush on someone for a long time. i've never met him. in fact, it was only recently i got a glimpse of what he looks like. i'm talking about ira glass, the host of the radio program this american life. he doesn't have a great broadcasting voice, per se. but it just so happens that i agree with EVERYthing he says and the way he says it.

i never wanted to know what he looks like but i caught sight of his photo while flipping through the latest issue of O Magazine. actually, he's better-looking than i thought he would be. with a lot more hair. based on his voice, i imagined that he would be this pale, scrawny fellow with a receding hairline. which was still OK to me because he is just perfect in my ears.

ira will be on TV soon when this american life gets aired on showtime. i wonder if i should watch him on television. i have the dreaded feeling that seeing him on the small screen will kill my fantasized image of him. like...what if he's the type of guy who punctuates his statements with finger guns?

at what price, beauty?

2007-03-16T13:13:00.001+01:00

A 21-year-old woman died in Seoul on Tuesday after undergoing a cosmetic procedure to create double eyelids. While such procedures are usually considered safe, there have been a few previous reports of deaths.

read the rest in the chosun ilbo Young Woman Dies After Eyelid Surgery

for all you spandex wearing men out there...

2007-03-11T15:31:00.000+01:00

hilarious article from stuff magazine...some highlights:

Rules of the Gym
Learn the proper etiquette of your neighborhood workout spot.

By Stan Horaczek and Cory Jones

The gym can be a social nightmare, but you can use these rules to help get through it unscathed. It's like a cotillion for big, fat, sweaty dudes.

Never let your balls touch the sink. Ever.

If you're naked in the locker room, don't put your T-shirt on first. Cover your balls…then worry about the T-shirt.

If, for some reason, you get an erection in the shower, don't lovingly wash it. Leave the shower immediately.

The towel you use to wipe down the machines should not be the same towel you use to wipe down your taint.

If you can smell your own balls, it's time to wash the gym shorts. If you can smell someone else's balls, you're not using the Nautilus correctly.

Spandex is like a Speedo: Only wear it if you're European and overweight.

A woman's exercising face is very similar to her sex face. Take this into consideration when hitting on women in the gym.

another reason why the bus beats the subway in seoul

2007-03-09T05:41:00.000+01:00

on my bus ride today, i looked down into the car (i think it was an equus) in the next lane and saw with my own two eyes, a korean businessman in a suit, wildly stroking his own personal gear shift.

i had to get off at the next stop and i'm guessing mr. happy hands got off a few stops later.

you know you're a reality TV addict...

2007-03-08T14:32:00.000+01:00

when you've just paid $19.99 on itunes for a " season pass" to america's next top model - season 8.
lord, help me.

days and confused

2007-03-06T15:01:00.000+01:00

heads up gentlemen: march 14 is "white day." no it's not a day to wear white or hug a white person. it's the day you give candy to your lady.

if you can't get all these mannufactured holidays straight, here's a handy cheat sheet:

January 14: Diary Day
The day of presenting your lover with a cute diary and a basket of flowers
February 14: Valentine’s Day
The day when girls and women present their boyfriends with chocolate and confess their love
March 14: White Day
The day when boys and men present their girlfriends with chocolate and confess their love
April 14: Black Day
The day when people who have no lovers eat black Chinese noodles together
May 14: Rose Day
The day when lovers present each other with roses to express their love
Yellow Day
The day when those who were unable to eat black noodles on Black Day go to eat yellow curry rice
June 14: Kiss Day
The day when lovers kiss to confirm their love
July 14: Silver Day
The day when lovers exchange silver rings to make a promise for the future
August 14: Music Day
The day of presenting a CD with love songs
September 14: Photo Day
The day when lovers take pictures to keep memories of their love
October 14: Wine Day
The day when lovers drink wine and share love
November 11: Ppeppero Day
The day of presenting Ppeppero cookies
November 14: Movie Day
The day when lovers go to see a movie holding hands
Hug Day
The day of giving hugs to your loved ones
December 14: Money Day
The day of spending generously for your lover
Sock Day
The day of presenting socks ahead of Christmas

as of this year, i'm declaring september 17 (my birthday) as "suddenly susan day" - the day you give suddenly susan chocolates, wine, socks and brooke shields memorabilia.

i heart my new producer

2007-03-06T12:59:00.000+01:00

we gots changes down at the radio station and i gots me a new producer.

he lets me talk at normal speed.
he turns his nose up at the michael b's (buble and bolton).
he detests cheese (not the edible kind).
he's not a nosy busy-body.
he's snarky and sarcastic, just like me.

i'm down with Oh PD.
yeah, you know me.

ajumma!

2007-02-27T13:01:00.000+01:00

is there someone you see everyday yet you know absolutely nothing about that person? i am throughly intrigued by this one ajumma at our studios. from what i can gather, her sole function is to clean the men's restroom. the only time i see her is when i'm exiting the ladies' room and i catch sight of her coming out of the men's room. i occasionally give her the friendly head nod. she returns my greeting with a scowl.

she's tiny yet sturdy, built like a piece of samsonite luggage that you can stow in the overhead compartment. i'd say she's all of 4 feet 5 inches tall. i like to imagine that if i opened a secret doorway in the men's room, i could find her hidden ajumma pad crammed with myriad containers of banchan, white cotton gloves and an obscene amount of home-perming solution. (she's got the tightest l'il perm i've ever seen on an ajumma.)

i want to ask her, "how come i never see you in the ladies' room??" i want to hear her say something - anything, to prove that she is human. maybe one day i'll trail her and she'll lead me to a pot of gold. or maybe it'll just be a pot of kimchi.

i heart KAL

2007-02-25T03:36:00.000+01:00

the next time you fly to or from korea, i urge you to take Korean Air Lines (KAL). each seat has its own personal video screen loaded with games, videos and like a gazillion movies. i watched the queen, little miss sunshine, scoop and school for scoundrels. i played yahtzee against the hubby (and beat him twice). i looped rain's music video for "i'm coming" over and over.

as far as in-flight meals go, their bibimbap is way better than the standard rubbery chicken with goopy sauce you get on other airlines. the flight attendants have been trained to be nice - even to other women!

i am already looking forward to my next 12-hour flight out of korea.

i cannot believe i'm about to admit this...

2007-02-24T04:01:00.000+01:00

but i loved LA. the picture perfect weather, friendly smiles from servers and store clerks, and holy guacomole - the delicious mexican food.

nobody's in a rush and everyone seems happy in los angeles. is it the year-round sunny weather or are they all on prozac?

holiday on the left coast

2007-02-15T12:58:00.000+01:00

it's been freeeezing the past few days. you can always tell when the mercury drops below 0 degrees celsius because you can see the frozen blobs of spittle on the sidewalk. i have to dodge them like landmines in the urban jungle that is seoul.

soon, i will be basking in the glorious sun of los angeles. the last time i was in the city of angels, i had to escort my 80-year old granny to all the old lady places. that was back in 1992. angelinos were still wearing fluorescent colors and i'm sure they thought i was some kind of freak of nature, what with my day-glo pallor, all-black couture and untoned east coast physique.

15 years later, i'm still pale as alabaster, wearing head-to-toe black and flabby. but this time, i am unapologetic. i'm a new yorker through and through and if people got problems with that i'll quip back with some famous lines about L.A.:

I don't want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light. --alvie singer in Annie Hall

frozen yogurt is not culture. --fancy indian lady in sex & the city

some amazing stats

2007-02-08T14:13:00.000+01:00

Missing money reported last year on Seoul subway lines number 1-4, totaled 150 million won.(1억 5000만원).
According to Seoul Metro, there were 25,398 cases of missing items, with about 70 per day on subway lines number 1-4.
It was found that 32.3 percent of missing items turned out to be bags, with 8183 cases, 13 percent being electronics such as cellular phones and mp3 players, while 8.9 percent said they lost clothes on the subway.
In some cases, people fall asleep on subways or are squished in between people, and so as they are rushing and pushing to get out, they lose these items, without even realizing it.

67.8 percent of those who lost items on subways got their items back.

Monthly, people lost more items during the months of March through June, while missing items lessened during the months of July to August, during vacation time.

The Seoul Metro recommends taking the following steps if you realize that you left something on the subway. If possible, write down the number of the train that you took and what time it arrived at your destination. If you give this memo to a station employee, it may help you find your missing item.

seoul glow #2 - pojang macha: tteokbokki

2007-01-25T14:40:00.000+01:00

this is the first of a series of video podcasts on seoul food that i'm doing with mike, the metropolitician. the program is called "seoul glow."

i think i have tourette's syndrome

2007-01-20T12:51:00.000+01:00

i have developed this uncontrollable urge to say socially inappropriate things in front of people and i feel like i can't suppress it. i speak of lewd acts and bodily functions. i scour out every indecent thought in the cess pool of my brain, flush them all down and release them through my lips. i have been using the "c"-word at such an alarming rate, i am sure i have set some kind of world record. in other words, i am howard stern with tourette's.

i find myself uttering the vulgarest words in front of the hubby, friends...even people i have met for the first time. but i only do this in english. why?

because i am sure that if i said these things in korean, i would be given a smack on the face or fired from my job. there are many things i feel i can't say in korean - and i'm not referring to a lack of vocabulary. i mean that i am so often forced to hold in my words, i have a chronic case of verbal constipation.

like when my supervisor at work said to me, "try not to sound so smart on the radio," i just nodded politely and replied, "네." when i really wanted to say, "what the f*ck? would you ever tell that to a male DJ?"

or like when my mother-in-law gets on my case about not having been to grad school, i simply smile and hear her out instead of telling her, "y'know, there are many ways to learn that don't involve sitting in a classroom, you narrow-minded nincompoop. by the way, they already think i sound too smart at the radio station so an extra degree is really not going to help matters."

or even when the nosy male colleagues at the office pester me with, "올해에 애기를 갖으시죠 (you should get pregnant this year)," i giggle and eke out, "글쎄요...(hmmm...)" rather than cleverly retort, "well, then why don't you just take my ovum, put it in a test tube and inseminate it with your sperm so that after the baby's born you can feed it and change its diapers, asshat?"

i wonder if my outbursts in english aren't some kind of backlash to all the times i've swallowed my words in korean. is the verbal diarrhea a solution to the verbal constipation? is my effort to be polite in one language, in fact, making me ruder in another language?

i wish i had a rat's ass of a f*ckin' clue. ^&%$!

and the germ phobe in me breathes a huge sigh of relief

2007-01-07T07:15:00.000+01:00

i no longer have to worry (as much) when faced with that iffy bar of soap in the public restrooms in korea. slate magazine's explainer answers the question, "is soap self-cleaning?"

p.s. the link is an audio file

a new year, a new stab at the blog

2007-01-05T17:38:00.000+01:00

now that all my favorite tv programs are on hiatus, i've found an extra couple of hours this week to restart my blog.

while i was away, i had been storing in the fifth corner of my brain, all the things i meant to post if i were still blogging. random little things like:

- i want to print a t-shirt that says, "all i got this x-mas was my hubby's d*** in a box."
- move over oprah, i think gail should get her own tv show
- does anyone else chuckle when they say the name "ban ki-moon" because it sounds similar to "방귀-문?"
- yes, a 12-year old boy resides in the left side of my brain
- i really ought to charge him rent...

i'm just counting the days til i can watch the next episode of prison break2.

life is cool

2006-09-08T16:26:00.000+02:00

this was THE week from hell...i had this epiphany: working three jobs doesn't give me a free moment to do much else. ah duh.

but, BUT...working at a radio station has its perks. i met jade villalon of sweetbox when she came to the studio for an interview. i even took a photo with her!

those of you who've never had the good fortune of going to noraebang with me may not know that i'm a huge fan of sweetbox and when i hog the mike, i will most likely sing one of their songs.

jade was awesome. so down to earth and really just sweet. she's also cute as a button. jade, you rock!

here's another one

2006-08-24T00:45:00.000+02:00

via marissa...

You Are Wind

Strong and overpowering
A force to be reckoned with, no one dares cross you
You have the power to change everything around you

You are best known for: your wrath

Your dominant state: commanding

What Type of Weather Are You?

mmm...donuts...

2006-08-22T15:02:00.000+02:00

i saw this on marissa's blog and couldn't resist...

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you.
But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft.
You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily.
You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

most people would pay to shut me up

2006-08-19T05:05:00.000+02:00

i should take vacations more often. i went back to work, refreshed, revived and recharged, feeling on top of the world. i even got a promotion, to boot. my boss offered me the DJ slot for their lifestyle show. that means 2 more hours of me, myself and my blather daily, 7 days a week, with some music spun in between. but also more responsibilities, expectations and demands - and the likelihood that i won't be able to leave the country again for a long time.

i left my heart in san francisco...chicago and new york

2006-08-12T23:17:00.000+02:00

i'm back in seoul after a 2 and 1/2 week trip to the states. that seems like a nice long vacation but i swear it all went by so quickly. i saw family and friends in three different cities and got my fill of all the food i've been dying to eat: my mom's decidedly unfussy home cooking; heirloom tomatoes and organic peaches from the berkeley farmers market; fish tacos, guac and avocado in everything in san francisco; steak tartare and impeccable greek dips also in san francisco; the masterful culinary prowess of jean georges vongerichten; hot steamed lobster with melted butter and a real idaho baked potato slathered with sour cream at the neighborhood seafood shack in brooklyn; and even greasy pork fried rice with hot and sour soup to relieve the hangover i got in chicago.

besides the food, i discovered there were other things that i didn't even realize i had missed. unexpected things like:
- friendly shop owners who chat you up about the most randomest things (eg lasik surgery)
- the coffee cart guy in manhattan who calls you sweetheart and talks to you like you've been getting coffee from him for ages
- the crazy homeless people in new york
- the crazy homeless people in berkeley
- the crazy road-raged people in suburban chicago (because i didn't see a single homeless person there)
- inept but well-intentioned wait staff who try really hard to please you, not because they're angling for a big tip but because they want you to have a good dining experience
- big boobs (they were everywhere in the form of friends who are either nursing or pregnant and especially in new york where the otherwise fashionable women on the streets looked like they work at hooters)
- kamikaze shots!
- karaoke bars where asians are the minority
- toilet seat liners!
- clever and culturally-referenced store names like "the lost weekend video store" and "the upper breast side"

really there are many countless things i was 반거워 to re-encounter and that's maybe the best part about living abroad. i can come back home and look at things with a new appreciation. things i probably would've taken for granted had i not been without them for so long.

i guess that goes double for my family, friends and fat, happy chococat. i hadn't seen them in over a year, some in over two years. i hope they know how happy i was to reunite with them.

what i love about the USA (so far)

2006-07-28T15:23:00.000+02:00

- i can flush tissue down the toilet with abandon
- i see black, brown and tan people
- hearing people say "excuse me" just to squeeze by you
- 600 channels on satellite TV
- DVR
- H & M
- nordstom rack
- getting specific and accurate directions with a smile
- cat calls from construction workers
- big, absorbent napkins even at the dinkiest restaurants
- affordable beef
- english spoken everywhere!

2006-07-25T11:45:00.000+02:00

dear faithful reader (aka marissa), occasional guests, and random visitors who stumbled onto this blog with search terms like "tranny kimchi spice" and "eating sloppy seconds":

suddenly susan will not be in korea for the next few weeks. she will be on her 2006 "suddenly famished" tour in the US, eating hot dogs in chicago, bagels with a schmear in new york and perfect organic green market fruit in san francisco.

and maybe by the time she returns to the land of the morning calm, she will have satisfied these incessant food cravings and even stop referring to herself in the third person.

keep it tranny kimchi spicy,
suddenly

he can always quit his day job

2006-06-04T16:42:00.000+02:00

one of the students from the samsung course asked me to give him private english lessons. along with his homework for tomorrow, he sent me some photos he took during his trip to new york. i think he captured the essence of the big apple quite beautifully. these pictures make me miss my hometown.

photos by hj kim

the hongdae spring festival

2006-06-04T16:19:00.000+02:00

jacco reunites with his long-lost friend

the food tents

jacco sure loves people in costumes

a hamburger eating contest
the winner ate 7 burgers, quite a feat considering they were from mcdonald's

dancers

snapshots in no particular order 3

2006-05-31T16:14:00.000+02:00

a table covered with delicious hanjeongshik dishes at durae

meat and two sides at the U.S. base restaurant

for an extra $6, you get unlimited trips to the salad bar
mmm...ranch dressing

when sadie's all curled up she looks like that steak on the plate

snapshots in no particular order 2

2006-05-31T16:09:00.000+02:00

finally found the mexican place near kangnam station that cory mentioned a while back

it was good (for mexican food in korea)

first day in ceramics class

admiring the ceramics teacher's masterpieces at his show in insadong

snapshots in no particular order 1

2006-05-31T15:50:00.000+02:00

i have a backlog of photos. here are some of them i thought i might share with you.

blowfish before

blowfish after

blowfish after meeting the deep fryer

a trio of smoothies

the best part of dogsitting is creating funny poses with the pooch

naming names

2006-05-27T10:54:00.000+02:00

in the aforementioned classes, the students (grown men and women mostly in their thirties) each chose an "english name." i guess they thought the english teachers would have trouble pronouncing or remembering their korean names.

i asked my students how they chose their names. here are some of the responses:

jerry: do you know the cartoon, tom and jerry? i like how the mouse is so smart. (his feline counterpart was in my second class.)

todd: "todd" was my favorite character from the dead poets society.

joyce: i heard there is a famous author with this name.

jess: i looked it up on naver.com

daniel: because i want to be like daniel henney.

aaron: my american friend gave me this name.

albert: albert king is my favorite blues musician.

chris: i want to be like christ so i chose "chris."

dave: the other guy took my favorite name, "chris" so i had to choose "dave."

i survived another week

2006-05-27T03:34:00.000+02:00

this week was exhausting. taught a one-week intensive training course on presentations and negotiations to employees at a major korean electronics company. 8 am to 5 pm, monday through friday plus extra hours each day for grading homework and preparing lessons.

i have to say, though, that i rather enjoy pointing out people's mistakes and telling them what to do. heh heh.

my poor neglected blog

2006-05-17T20:34:00.000+02:00

if you're wondering how i'm doing, rest assured that i'm alive but BBB (busy beyond belief). so much going on, my brain is fried and i barely have a spare neuron or enough motor control of my fingertips to write this entry...YAAAAWN. g'night folks.

a whole lotta of shellfish

2006-05-08T02:04:00.000+02:00

on the way home, traffic started to get clogged so we pulled off the highway and found a clam shack. their specialty, steamed CLAMS.

clams, oysters and scallops hanging out in the tank, unaware of their fate

clams and friends about to get cooked on our table.
one scallop was still FLAPPING!

clams and friends steamed wide open for us to pluck out their tender meat.
super fresh and DEE-LICIOUS, especially when washed down with cold beer.

i like ddongchimi

2006-05-08T01:47:00.000+02:00

the hubby and i took a trip up to heyri art village in paju, near the DMZ.

cool buildings

interesting art

i like dalki theme park
dalki, a korean cartoon character, means "strawberry."
she's got a strawberry-shaped head

you can see dalki's friends

my favorite is ddongchimi
he's a complete mess with a pile of poop on his head,
dirty cheeks and snot dribbling from his nose

refreshing! exciting! dynamic!

2006-05-08T01:20:00.000+02:00

at the hi seoul festival...

food stations representing different countries like turkey

and the czech republic

a capoeira demo

and korean mimes

today in korea

2006-05-04T19:22:00.000+02:00

it's children's day, buddha's birthday and cinco de mayo. to celebrate all three holidays i think i will:

- be nice to kids, even the bratty ones
- meditate and seek enlightenment
- and drink a margarita

happy children's day, buddha's birthday and cinco de mayo to all!

and the guests brought toilet tissue

2006-05-02T04:34:00.000+02:00

happy housewarming to you, happy housewarming to you...

it's not a celebration in korea without a cake and candles

canadians, americans and native koreans came together under one roof.

there were some cultural differences...

korean guy: 이상하다. 외국인들은 서면서 얘기하네. (it's strange. foreigners stand while talking.)

same korean guy [listening to my civil conversation with a gal from florida]: 이상하다. 싸움하는 거 같아. (it's strange. it sounds like they're arguing.)

canadian gal: i'm sorry, i can't eat beondaegi (silk worm larvae).
korean guy: it's delicious! try it.
canadian gal: but it smells awful.
american gal: if you think it smells bad, the taste is worse.
korean guy: eyuuu! [downs a chopstickful of the larvae]. crunch, crunch, crunch...see, it's good and it's all protein.
canadian gal: uh...it's ok. i'll stick to the fruit.

where to go in seoul

2006-04-24T19:15:00.000+02:00

this is my short list of seoul's best new restaurants and a few old favorites*, as seen in the may 2006 issue of food & wine magazine. but if you've been reading my posts, most of the write-up is probably old news to you. that's right, you can tell everyone you got the inside scoop, right here from suddenly susan.

*alas, due to an oversight in the editing process, the description of sujebi as hand-pulled pasta got changed to hand-pulled noodles for chon guseok.

using your noodle

2006-04-24T14:35:00.001+02:00

i enjoyed this article about the origin of 짬뽕 (jjambbong). it makes me curious about the jjambbong museum in nagasaki. maybe i'll check it out, after visiting the ramen museum in yokohama.

here come the brides

2006-04-21T19:26:00.000+02:00

i remember when i was in seoul twelve years ago, way before anyone ever heard of a frappucino, the place to go for a cup of joe was a "coffee shop." these luxurious cafes offered stylized interiors, lovely ambience and a private space for girls to have a smoke. these coffee shops have pretty much disappeared from the city but maybe they're making a comeback in a cleverly packaged new concept. i went to a "dress cafe," a romantic little space where you can pick an outfit, feel pretty and then pose for pictures while sipping your green tea smoothie. the dresses range from slinky cocktail numbers to big poufy wedding gowns. all the girls there chose the big white dresses, complete with tiaras, veils and gloves. well, i've already been there, done that (plus there's something about an unengaged girl trying on a wedding dress that kind of reeks of desperation to me). so i opted for the modernized hanbok with a sweetheart bodice and topped it off with a silly lampshade suzy wong hat. this is just the outfit i can wear...never.

the dress cafe is called princess diary.
near ewha women's university
dress rentals from w5,000-20,000
bring your own camera