This isn’t so much of a post as it is an open question for you, the reader.
Can you justify the existence of national pride if you haven’t lived in every country in the world?
How is it any different from, say, claiming McDonald’s has the best hamburgers when you’ve never tried Burger King, Jack in the [...]
Entries from April 2007
April 28, 2007
Nationalism
April 26, 2007
My Big, Red Watch
There’s an internet shopping site that’s really popular here called GMarket. It’s like the Amazon of Korea, only it focuses more on house goods and clothing instead of books and DVDs. (Side note: There is no amazon.co.kr, just in case you were curious. Yes, it is a major inconvenience.)
GMarket is by [...]
April 25, 2007
Japanese Tools
Here I am, an American, sitting in my living room in Korea watching the NHK news in Japanese on TV. It’s probably not a very common scenario. But that’s not what this is about!
This is about my new entries, “日本語ニュアンス” Instead of adding the furigana to my entries, I’d like to introduce [...]
April 24, 2007
What Koreans Say
There’s a saying that Koreans have that I really like. “Words are the seeds of truth.” It’s similar to the English superstition of “knocking on wood”, but it covers more angles.
If you speak positively, things will be positive. If you always talk about the bad side of things, bad things will come [...]
April 22, 2007
Politically False
Racism is not cool. I don’t know what it feels like to have someone hate me to the point of murderous intent simply because of my skin color, but I know what it feels like to be called a white-devil by an old Korean lady. (Will that story never die?) But the [...]
April 22, 2007
Anyone Can Do Anything
Humans are proficient at three things: Killing each other, forgetting the past, and making excuses. It’s the latter that keeps us from making any progress in personal development, and it’s the largest hurdle to overcome when you decide to take on anything new as an adult.
You’re a big baby.
I mean it. [...]
April 20, 2007
Tourists, Hosts, and Overstaying Welcomes
If you want to be treated like a rock star, visiting Japan should be your priority. Japanese are famously superb hosts from ages past. Just consider the perfection emphasized in a traditional tea ceremony and you’ll have a perfect example.
As a tourist in Japan you’ll be welcomed with open arms, opened beers, and [...]
April 20, 2007
The Definitive Comparison Between Jobs in Japan and Korea
My second year in Korea is now commencing. It’s in the spirit of my one-year anniversary of living in Korea that I am making a definitive comparison between my jobs here and in Japan. This is for prospective expats, or for anyone who is simply curious about life in either country. Appropriately, [...]
April 18, 2007
Fall-back Posts
“Lost on Jeju” (LOJ), a blogger living in Korea, recently wrote an entry that sparked my interest - Why are posts about Korean food so commonly featured on blogs of expats living in here?
I thought about this for a while. It could be seen as a fall-back topic when there is nothing more interesting [...]
April 17, 2007
Somewhat Out of Character, but…
I don’t usually do this sort of thing, but what the hell - Here goes. (Warning, picture intensive)
This weekend our small family of three went out for an island drive-about. Basically, what that means is I forced my wife and daughter into the car and drove them to places that I wanted to [...]
