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The papers have been full of all sorts of interesting news lately. Probably at the top of the list is a Korean willl appear in Playboy for the second time ever. There is a video of the sort of ‘Search for a Supermodel’ come ‘Popstars’ thingy that a hole bunch of young Korean girls had to go through to try and be in Playboy. See the Movie here.
In a similar vein apparently there is a powerful desire for untrammeled sexual expression among Koreans as illustrated here on the Chosuun Ilbo
Secondly this wicked video of some protest at a Korean university that gets a bit mental on it. Some people say French is the language of love, German the language of efficiency. I think Korean is the best language to complain and whine in: 왜그래~~! 어떻게~~~~!! And as this clip shows it’s quite cool to swear in. (Not that I know any swear words in Korean - at least not how to spell them)
Now to prove how unenlightned Korea can be in terms of society how’s this - This time from the Korea Times
Police said that it was very serious that teenagers were degrading themselves and showing no respect for the people who care for them.
This is the Busan Police response to underage prostitution in the Southern Port city. I’m not sure that respect for one’s parents is really the big problem here. By no way do I mean to condone underage prostitution but for me this comment really encapsulates the (very, very small number of) things that are wrong with Korea. I don’t think Filial piety should stand as the be all and end all in a society. But in saying that Korea hasn’t done too badly now has it. (Mind you all this progress did happen as a result of a rather totalitarian regime - and what is totalitarianism if not everyone working under the watchful eye of a father figure?) Speaking of which you can view the Official website of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea here http://www.korea-dpr.com/ - I was suprised one can actually access it from within South Korea. The lack of any sort of outside influence on North Korea really shows in that the page looks like it was made using a pirated copy of Microsoft Frontpage 1.0 running on Windows 95.
Your internet review starts here:
Now that I have internet at home I have spent pretty much every waking moment trawling through the internet. My usual Saturday afternoon routine of plugging in at work and downloading a weeks worth of podcasts to listen to on Saturday evening before that night’s festivities is no longer as I recieve my Engadget and TWiT and 95bFM podcasts fresh as. I have however come across the Ricky Gervais podcast which is enormously funny. See the Ricky Gervais site here or subscribe in iTunes.
Have you heard the one about the Croatian Lumberjack who received a female kidney by transplant and is now suing the local health board becuase he has been turned on to housework and knitting and has become a laughing stock amongst his mates? Read it
In other news:
Things are going swimmingly in The Republic. Things remain cold and I am looking forward to a week of warmth in New Zealand in 3 weeks time. Work trundles along at a most agreeable pace, rather fast actually. Although I have to get my shit together and get the paperwork ready for my new Visa - especially the whole original degree thing (Thanks fake Canadian dudes!)
I have spent a good deal of the week thinking about things back home - angrily banging on the desk occassionally - but nothing too drastic.And now for your gastronomical pleasure the fourth exciting installment of Bimbo Cuisine: Dokkbuki.
Ingredients
Beer
Korean Rice Cake 떡
Dried, Ground fish 어목
Red Pepper Paste 고추장
(These three are really the major parts - everything else is to taste)
1 Onion
1 Spring Onion
Broccoli
(Broccoli isn’t traditionally in Dokbukki but I like it so much I chuck it into just about everything these days)
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Garlic
Method
Drink Beer
Add a reasonable amount of Dokk and Ohmok to boiling water. Boil for a bit - or until Dokk is soft.
Add Vegetables
When Veges are cooked drain most of the water and return pot to heat
Add a big tablespoon of Red Pepper Paste, and a fair amount of sugar
Add salt and ppper to taste
stir in Red pepper and crushed garlic
Alow to simmer for a couple of minutes until the water and pepper and sugar has turned into a thick goo.
Serve in a bowl.
YUMMY!
Finally I have made some alterations to the Bimbo in terms of style etc. i am not entirely sure I like the new style sheet and may yet change it around again. I have updated all my links etc as well as adding two new photo albums at top left. One containing a couple of pics from my trip to Japan last year (yes it has almost been 12 months since I visited the Yasukuni shrine much to the astonishment of ‘The Boss’) and one with the pictures I took of Mum and my Step-Dad Mark when they were in Seoul on their way around the world. Those pics are from July - good to see me right on the ball with these things aye! Comments and questions regards the new style can be sent to my email for which there is now a handy link to at top left by the ugly photo of me.
Righto I’m off to watch Fight Club which I BitTorrented yesterday.
끝
PS I did actually take my camera out of my bag twice in Seoul here are the pics
A gold pagoda behind the Samsung building in Jongno and this pretty one
And this is Mr Jung Chul himself
