Thursday, April 17, 2014
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
South Korea - Seoul
Well. I finally had my date in South Korea after a three year courtship. It all began with channel surfing. I landed on a Chicago PBS station showing a kdrama, "Alone in Love". I was surprised by the quality - performance and production. It was filmed (rather than staged), and the story was engaging, not corny. The acting and writing made me want to know what was going to happen to the characters. I did not know it was a serial drama until the end of the episode that I happened to see. I would haphazardly catch successive episodes. It was about a year before I finally found the entire series (and the final episode) on the Internet.
"Alone in Love" led to other dramas, including my favorite - "My Lovely Sam Soon" (you have to see it to appreciate it). This drama introduced two actors who are now favorites (Hyun Bin and Kim Sunah). The dramas led to variety shows (my favorite TV show - after Jeopardy! - is Running Man: can't explain it, you have to see it). In the midst of all this, I found kpop. G. Dragon, Big Bang, 2NE1, MBLAQ, Rain (YouTube him). There are other peoples who sing like us, but the kpop bunch dance like us as well. I was struck. The Michael Jackson, Usher, Amarion, Chris Brown, and Beyonce influences are stark. Still, many of the Korean groups are fun to watch. (I don't really like the girl groups - they are derivatives of each other). This affection lead me to want to teach in South Korea. Well, my new found affection combined with my growing loathing of the Chicago Public School system. I wanted to get out of the system so bad that I took a job in the Middle East (that's another post).
So, now I am here. Seoul, South Korea. Impressions: mountains - seems like the whole country is a chain of mountains; dense - there doesn't seem to be any unused space; apartment buildings - everywhere!; televisions and technology - both abound - you couldn't drive a km without seeing a TV screen atop a building broadcasting a commercial; Hangul - that is to say, I thought there would be more people speaking English (the UAE is like being in the US language-wise compared to Korea); 'streets of San Francisco" - the whole country is a mass of wending, winding, sloping streets. This last characteristic was one of my chief concerns about living in South Korea. Sloping sidewalks and snow/ice do not go well together. I spend my Chicago winters fearing falling on icy sidewalks - adding inclines to that fear would have been more than I could bear.
First day tour was great. I got to see (no, pass by) the Blue House (president house and headquarters). We went to the major Buddhist Temple, and an original royal residence (just outside of the Blue House). We had Korean barbecue (yeah!). Then, we went to a Korean historic village to tour and watch a farmer's dance show and a horse riding show. All fun.
"Alone in Love" led to other dramas, including my favorite - "My Lovely Sam Soon" (you have to see it to appreciate it). This drama introduced two actors who are now favorites (Hyun Bin and Kim Sunah). The dramas led to variety shows (my favorite TV show - after Jeopardy! - is Running Man: can't explain it, you have to see it). In the midst of all this, I found kpop. G. Dragon, Big Bang, 2NE1, MBLAQ, Rain (YouTube him). There are other peoples who sing like us, but the kpop bunch dance like us as well. I was struck. The Michael Jackson, Usher, Amarion, Chris Brown, and Beyonce influences are stark. Still, many of the Korean groups are fun to watch. (I don't really like the girl groups - they are derivatives of each other). This affection lead me to want to teach in South Korea. Well, my new found affection combined with my growing loathing of the Chicago Public School system. I wanted to get out of the system so bad that I took a job in the Middle East (that's another post).
So, now I am here. Seoul, South Korea. Impressions: mountains - seems like the whole country is a chain of mountains; dense - there doesn't seem to be any unused space; apartment buildings - everywhere!; televisions and technology - both abound - you couldn't drive a km without seeing a TV screen atop a building broadcasting a commercial; Hangul - that is to say, I thought there would be more people speaking English (the UAE is like being in the US language-wise compared to Korea); 'streets of San Francisco" - the whole country is a mass of wending, winding, sloping streets. This last characteristic was one of my chief concerns about living in South Korea. Sloping sidewalks and snow/ice do not go well together. I spend my Chicago winters fearing falling on icy sidewalks - adding inclines to that fear would have been more than I could bear.
First day tour was great. I got to see (no, pass by) the Blue House (president house and headquarters). We went to the major Buddhist Temple, and an original royal residence (just outside of the Blue House). We had Korean barbecue (yeah!). Then, we went to a Korean historic village to tour and watch a farmer's dance show and a horse riding show. All fun.
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