1 It was Buddha's birthday this past Thursday, so it was a holiday in Korea. We had Friday off as well, but I missed out on a 4 day weekend, since I'm teaching on Saturdays. I had a cold Wednesday through Friday in any event, and Thursday was the worst day of the cold, so it's just as well that I didn't have 'big plans'.
2 Mosquito nets are cool. Six bites on my right cheek Friday night. None last night.
3 Proof of a social life = going out for dinner twice this past week. Samgyeopsal and bulgogi = mmm. At the end of every month, our students take us out for lunch or dinner, and I've got a couple more 'nights on the town' planned for next week. Last month, I had an all-male evening class with four businessmen and a pair of university students. The students were intimidated by the older men, and didn't speak much. They didn't come out for dinner either. "Strawberry" was the oldest of the businessmen, so he paid for the evening. Midway through dinner, he got a phonecall from his wife - she wanted to know when he would be home. Without skipping a beat, Berry explained to me that sometimes, businessmen get together at singing rooms, get drunk, and hire prostitutes. He was asking me if I wanted to paint the town 'love mud white'. Pressure: the other businessmen were clearly looking at me, hoping I would accept. However: I declined, and since I was the 'guest of honour' the rest of the dudes couldn't go out (apologies if I'm oversimplifying Korean culture.) Berry told his wife he'd be home early.
4 This reminds me of one of the biggest issues in Korea - the Japanese abuse of 'comfort women' during WW2. Tens of thousands of Korean women were forced into prostitution to service Japanese soldiers during the war, and they were very badly treated (victims of kidnapping, slavery, rape and torture; some were killed.) However, sixty years later, women aren't exactly treated well in Korea. Many are forced into the same sex slavery that is so often condemned in the daily press. You can't walk 10 minutes in Daegu without passing a blowjob barbershop (one spinning pole outside the store = a haircut; two spinning poles = a blowjob.) It's a really complicated issue. I think prostitution ought to be legal, but prostitutes ought to be protected from exploitation. So I'm pro-prostitution, but only when it doesn't exploit the prostitute. Fucking a young woman forced to have sex with three old businessmen and me ain't a cool thing in my book.
4 In any event. Listening to Rue Morgue Radio this afternoon. I downloaded the new episode last night - you should give it a listen if you haven't already. It's mostly music ("Too Drunk To Fuck" is currently playing), with some interviews and movie reviews. An hour long, and everything is horror-themed (lots of psychobilly, lots of really obscure, cool shit.)
5 I started exercising this week after I watched "Supersize Me". Yikes. Advice to myself = elevators and escalators are conveniences of Satan.
See you next week.
2 Mosquito nets are cool. Six bites on my right cheek Friday night. None last night.
3 Proof of a social life = going out for dinner twice this past week. Samgyeopsal and bulgogi = mmm. At the end of every month, our students take us out for lunch or dinner, and I've got a couple more 'nights on the town' planned for next week. Last month, I had an all-male evening class with four businessmen and a pair of university students. The students were intimidated by the older men, and didn't speak much. They didn't come out for dinner either. "Strawberry" was the oldest of the businessmen, so he paid for the evening. Midway through dinner, he got a phonecall from his wife - she wanted to know when he would be home. Without skipping a beat, Berry explained to me that sometimes, businessmen get together at singing rooms, get drunk, and hire prostitutes. He was asking me if I wanted to paint the town 'love mud white'. Pressure: the other businessmen were clearly looking at me, hoping I would accept. However: I declined, and since I was the 'guest of honour' the rest of the dudes couldn't go out (apologies if I'm oversimplifying Korean culture.) Berry told his wife he'd be home early.
4 This reminds me of one of the biggest issues in Korea - the Japanese abuse of 'comfort women' during WW2. Tens of thousands of Korean women were forced into prostitution to service Japanese soldiers during the war, and they were very badly treated (victims of kidnapping, slavery, rape and torture; some were killed.) However, sixty years later, women aren't exactly treated well in Korea. Many are forced into the same sex slavery that is so often condemned in the daily press. You can't walk 10 minutes in Daegu without passing a blowjob barbershop (one spinning pole outside the store = a haircut; two spinning poles = a blowjob.) It's a really complicated issue. I think prostitution ought to be legal, but prostitutes ought to be protected from exploitation. So I'm pro-prostitution, but only when it doesn't exploit the prostitute. Fucking a young woman forced to have sex with three old businessmen and me ain't a cool thing in my book.
4 In any event. Listening to Rue Morgue Radio this afternoon. I downloaded the new episode last night - you should give it a listen if you haven't already. It's mostly music ("Too Drunk To Fuck" is currently playing), with some interviews and movie reviews. An hour long, and everything is horror-themed (lots of psychobilly, lots of really obscure, cool shit.)
5 I started exercising this week after I watched "Supersize Me". Yikes. Advice to myself = elevators and escalators are conveniences of Satan.
See you next week.