Korean sleeping arrangements Let's draw a picture. I prefer pencil and paper. It's a nasty hot summer night. I'm in a one room hotel room with twelve (count them) twelve other people in a room smaller than anything Holiday Inn has to offer. Air conditioning comes in the form of a thick piece of paper attached to a wooden handle. I'm on the central west coast of Korea in a small resort town with a bunch of warm and friendly Koreans aged anywhere from newborn to unmentionable. I've got a single buckwheat shell-filled pillow the size of a large ziplock bag and a tissue-thin blanket to keep me covered. Everyone is occupied with something. The older people are up late playing card games while the younger ones are watching a variety show.... Show more

There were quite some interesting comments on my last post, about censorship in the Korean music industry. A few conflicting opinions, but I definitely enjoyed reading each and every comment. Thanks, guys! Today I bring you an MV. I may have mentioned 박효신 before - he's one of my favourites, with a smooth, soulful voice that's perfect for the ballad style he sings. He's actually been pretty quiet in the music scene for quite some time now. There were a few legal issues that I'm not entirely sure about (some problem with the label he's signed to, sueing, court battles, I don't even know what was happening but whatever it was it sucked), and to be honest I was a little worried that all of it would mean an even longer period of silence... Show more

Expatriate bloggers in Korea. No, I'm not talking about people who were once proud defenders of their country but have since disregarded their loyalty (ex-patriots) nor am I talking about former professional athletes for a certain Eastern division NFL team (ex-Pats). No, I'm talking about people who are currently living in a foreign country while still holding allegiance and identity to their home country (expats). There's a large foreign population in Korea. There are approximately one million foreigners living in Korea (an estimated 2% of the total population). Most English speaking foreigners work as English teachers at various levels and positions in and around the Korean education system. Some love it, some don't. See below. ... Show more

Hey fellow KC101ers! I'm reviving this category for a brief moment to share with you a video I made recently. It's a class speech I wrote (with extensive help from my teacher I might add) back in July of this year during my brief time at 이대. This speech was supposed to be the culmination of what all we had learned. I was in the beginner class and was nominated to deliver the speech. How nice. The problem is that I'm lousy at verbal communication in any language and I'm an awful reader to boot. So, when you combine this with a sweet country boy's accent you get a recipe for pure hilarity. I tried to read my speech from a crumbled piece of paper on stage in front of my peers and teachers. No dice. I got so nervous that my leg started... Show more

The Demilitarized Zone. No really, it's actually quite scary. But I had a lot of fun. But then again I like history. The Demilitarized Zone located in South Korea is not the only non-combat zone in the world. In fact, it is one of ten currently standing neutral or no-conflict zones. The largest zone is most definitely the one in Antarctica - the entire continent is deemed a no-combat zone by forty-six consenting countries! However, the Korean DMZ is likely the most famous and certainly the most heavily guarded DMZ in the world. Plus it inspires movies like nobody's business. One might think with an area that is designated a no-combat zone that that it would be fairly safe, right? Actually, here's a list of serious incidents from... Show more