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  • 5 Centimeter Bangs

    Submitted by on

    While browsing the Korea Times this morning, I came across this article on laws and rules governing the length of student's hair. In America, there is the occasional controversy over boys having "girlishly" long hair at school but this was governing every student.

  • Haiti fundraisers

    Submitted by on

    Although I'm not the most philanthropic guy in the world, I will take the time to spotlight some fundraising events - especially if they sound like fun events I'd go to anyway. The first three letters of 'fundraiser' are, well, 'fun'.

  • Correction and Books

    Submitted by on

    Apparently, yesterday's post about EPIK is a mistake due to a misinterpretation of an email between EPIK and it's recruiters. Not surprising given the standard of communication in Korea but a relief for incoming teachers nevertheless. (See Brian's retraction here.)

  • The Hated Kang Shin-who Strikes Again

    Submitted by on

    If you read the Korean Times with any regularity (or indeed, any of the angrier kbloggers) you have probably come to despise Kang Shin-who just a little bit. His articles almost always have lovely racist jabs and constantly belittle foreigners in the education system without offering any sort of balance, counter-arguments or indeed, possible alternative viable solutions. Today's mess is a continuation of a previous piece on the horrid private English lessons that continue unchecked despite their illegality.

  • The 200th Post

    Submitted by on

    This seems like a huge landmark number. 200. That's pretty big. Then I realize I've been blogging for over a year and it seems much less significant.

    There are days when I love my job. Desk warming is really not a travesty. I can leisurely work on lesson plans, drink coffee to my hearts content and get caught up on everything I have to do online (and a billion things I didn't have to do). Today is not one of those days.

  • Random pictures, part 29

    Submitted by on

    Plenty more random pictures that don't necessarily fit into another post - but are still fun:



    Good morning soju? Not precisely the morning beverage of choice for most people... Maybe they're trying to change the perception that most mornings after soju involve blurred vision, nausea, and headaches...

  • Brownout!

    Submitted by on

    When I hear the word "brownout," I think of something that happens the day after I've eaten heaps of grilled pork and downed oceans of shitty, Korean beer. Electricity, or the lack thereof, isn't really the first thing that springs to mind. We happen to be in the midst of a brownout right now here in lovely Puerto Princesa, but alas, my computer still works, thanks to the generator that Kiwi Andy has fired up. The only drawback is the noise. Like everything else here, the generator is really LOUD.

  • Oh will power, how you mock me.

    Submitted by on

    Today, I was a good little adult. I went directly after work to pick up some take-out to eat later for dinner. Okay, so perhaps this wasn't Exactly good adult behavior but whatever, close enough. Dutifully I went home and ate my roll of kim bap which was the first kim bap I've ever encountered that was super salty, greasy and kind of gross. Like the McDonalds of kim bap. No matter though, i still ate it and it had multiple food groups so it counted as dinner.

  • Fail. F-.

    Submitted by on

    Brian in Jeollanam-do just did a fabulous piece on the latest EPIK (the government program that hires English teachers for public schools) bureaucratic nonsense. Despite constant news articles and government reports on the need for better qualified and trained English teachers in the public schools and cutting down private education demands, EPIK has decided to make teachers pay for their own training/orientation--with only two weeks notice for the teachers coming in for the new semester.

  • My First Korean Class

    Submitted by on

    It's possibly that after 14 months of Korea I should have signed up for a Korean class by now. Last year I taught far too many hours a day to have any drive to study after work. The problem was also that the majority of my co-workers spoke English extremely well. I knew just enough Korean to get by in restaurants, taxis and doctor's offices and really, what more did I need?

  • Konglish 2010

    Submitted by on

    Presenting the first Konglish post for 2010:



    OK, Buy the Way - 'Food Self Zone'. Do we eat ourselves, or fix the food ourselves?



    No, it does not. Hwaam Cave, Gangwon-do.

  • The COEX Aquarium and a Flickr Pro Account

    Submitted by on

    Chris in South Korea recommended a Flickr account for posting photos on blogs. I must say that the photos are displayed well, and it's very easy to use and link from. But unfortunately I've already used up my 200 photo limit, so after a bit of mulling around, I decided to get a US$25 pro account. Now I can upload unlimited photos for a year. The money was paid for by my awesome website sponsor, Korean Class 101, whose banner you can see on the right. So please click their link and learn lots of Korean from them.

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