culture

OK. This is old news.
But I just watched the video of Stephen Colbert “challenging” Rain. I have to say I think it’s freakin’ hilarious, and I’ve never watched The Colbert Report. (David didn’t even know who he was—Colbert, that is. We are all too aware of the phenomenon that is 비.

I understand why some Korean netizens were offended by the M*A*S*H reference, but, really, when I lived in the States I don’t think I would have gotten the joke: “I’m gonna be all over you like egg on a bowl of bibimbap!”

I think it shows mainstream America has come a long way in changing its view of Korean culture. You have to be a certain level of cool before comedians will even think making fun of you is worth their time. (It is debatable whether that’s a good thing …) As for being derogatory, the whole point of the skit is that he’s dissing Rain for beating him out as the number one “most influential” person in the world—which is the real joke.

An article in the Dong-A Ilbo about Korean detective agencies going global contained some interesting anecdotes about Korean kids living abroad. (Well, not really “abroad” so much as living in the Great Western Satan United States, specifically.)

The parent asked, “It has only been a couple days since I sent our child money, but he is asking for more. I want to know if he is being bullied by other kids for money.”

The S Agency made a request to a partner detective agency in Los Angeles. The agency in Los Angeles soon pursued the whereabouts of the student, Lee (age 16), who is in the eleventh grade.

Lee had pretty much given up on school. He went to school, but he left right away with several friends. He would go to a restroom in a park, do cocaine, buy beer, and head to his friend’s house.

Wow. Here I was thinking it was likely he was blowing money on junk food, a new Xbox, and the latest Tommy Hilfiger. But if you think even that’s living a bit large for a high school junior, keep reading.

During weekends, he and four other friends would take an eight-hour drive to casinos in Las Vegas. Lee lost $3,000 in one night.

Well, I’ll say if there’s some kind of host family blacklist out there, I think this kid’s sponsors should definitely be on it. And, just to scare some more down off those goose fathers out there, we have this little tale:

In April, Mr. Han (age 46) asked a company to investigate his wife and son, who are living in Canada. He was worried because his wife seldom called and his son’s voice over the phone sounded somewhat strange.

Private detectives in Montreal reported that his wife often met with other men and his son, a high school student, went to bars practically every day. The Hans divorced and the son returned to Korea.

The rest of the article is boring, fairly well-supported stuff about how detective agencies are helping Korean multinationals thwart fraud and embezzlement, too. But that doesn’t pack nearly the editorial punch of those hard-partying exchange students.

I wonder which category supplies steadier business?

I’ve made two additions to the Books page:

Richard Harris’ Roadmap to Korean is a really essential companion to an English-speaker’s study of the language. Harris writes about learning Korean from the perspective of a native English speaker, focusing on elements of the language that are very different. He covers some of the trickier issues that most Korean language courses ignore, like the difference uses of punctuation in English and Korean, the lack of particles, misconceptions about verb conjugation, and the different ways that Korean uses verbs and adjectives.

The book also features details about Korean history and culture that provide essential context. Learn why you might have difficulty gettng your hamburger “your way,” for example. Or, why you should never refer to a woman you like as a “bad girl.”

I love to cook (and eat) so buying a starter Korean cookbook was one of the first things I did when we moved here. Cecelia Hae-Jin Lee’s Eating Korean provides easy-to-follow recipes for a lot of “standard” Korean dishes. So it’s a good introduction to Korean cuisine and culture. The pictures and essays interspersed with the recipes, in which Lee shares detailed memories from her childhood, make this book interesting to read from cover to cover, even when you aren’t cooking. It’s an interesting introduction to the role food and the concept of hospitality plays in Korean households.