For a foreigner living in Korea, I just realized that my blog isn’t really that Korean. As I browse the other blogs on the web and see all the other foreigners writing about the trials and tribulations of life here, I see how mine doesn’t really say much about the life I live here. I’ll tell you why I’m in two minds about the whole situation.

There’s a strange feeling I have when I contemplate going on about Korea. First, I don’t want to be one of ‘those guys’. The guys who crap on about “Oh my God Koreans always hawk and spit in the street” or “Me and my Korean girlfriend did this and that” or “I told the old lady in the store in my broken Korean ‘hana dul set tashi chusayo’”. There’s something about foreigners who seem to be blending in to Korean society a little like the teacher’s pet in class in grade school. Technically and behaviorally correct, but damn annoying.

On the other hand, there’s those people who can stay here for 10 years and don’t learn anything about the country. They live here to make money, to get whatever they can for themselves and don’t care about anyone in the process. They hold misconceptions about Korea, which inevitably turn into complaints against Korea and how dumb it all is. People like this are worse because they’re both annoying and stupid.

Now every time I pick up my Korean book to study, I feel like one of those nerds and every time I avoid it I feel like an ‘Itaewonite’, someone living in Korea but breathing a Western air. The only time I don’t feel like that is when I’m learning in a natural way. The reason I feel like this is I think due to the way each of the two main types of foreigners are exclusionist in their attitude.

The nerds seem to be at pains to invite Korea into their hearts, get points for being so culturally aware and feel superior to those who don’t. Their opportunity in Korea is based upon exploiting the natural interest in foreigners to fulfill what was missing in their life before (ie. girlfriends, boyfriends). The Itaewonites are here to make a quick buck or to run away from lack of employment, drive, future, etc and exploit the natural interest in foreigners for their own gain (ie. girls, boys, money).

I know a handful of both and like it or not, living here in Korea we all have an inherent competition with each other. Every foreigner living in Korea is a threat to another foreigner. Sound strange? Well consider for a moment what it means to live in a country where foreigners are still new. When you are the only foreigner in your neighborhood you are an icon. Can you imagine the feeling, coming from your hometown where you walk down the street unnoticed and then come to a place where everyone looks at you as though you were a celebrity? Takes some beating. Then some other foreigners move into your neighborhood and it’s not quite so much of a thrill. You went from being the hottest new thing to being just another foreigner. It’s at this point that most people will choose a side: nerds or Itaewonites. You find a way to distinguish yourself and make some effort or you give up and make more Western friends.

But what about me? Where do I stand on this spectrum? I can’t figure out what side I’m on, or if I’m actually on one. I live in Itaewon and I am technically an Itaewonite myself, though I have lived in other Korean-only places. I have Korean friends, but more Western ones. I can speak some Korean and make an effort once in a while to improve it, though mostly I don’t. I have a Korean girlfriend but don’t know what to make of her. I enjoy Korean food once a week, but prefer to fill my stomach up with Western food. I watch Korean movies a few times a month, but prefer my US TV shows for entertainment. Out of the 3000 plus songs on my iPod there are about 15 Korean songs. If I was kicked out of Korea for good I think I’d feel quite sad and would miss my life here, though I have a feeling that a large part of that equation is the girls…

I suppose everyone has their justification for the choices they make or don’t make. I just always picture my blog being about my life and my life as being about me more than it’s about the country I’m in. Tell me, is that a good justification or just the excuse of a lazy guy?

Popularity: 2% [?]

On Tuesday, a letter was made available to the press by the United Nations. Written by the President of Iran and addressed to George W, it was a significant gesture as there has not been any contact between the two nation’s presidents since 1979.

In the letter, the Iranian leader not so much attacks Western Liberalism and Bush’s policies (not that those are in any way the same thing), but rather sounds like he is giving Bush a lecture. “Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the liberal democratic systems,” writes the President. He seems to take an almost rhetorical style and one may surmise that he wrote it for a wider audience than just Bush. Mind you, he may have just dumbed down the language so that they guy might understand it.

He went on to say: “We increasingly see that people around the world are flocking towards a main focal point that is the Almighty God,” he wrote. “Undoubtedly through faith in God and the teaching of the prophets, the people will conquer their problems. My question to you is: ‘Do you want to join them?’ ”

I find it interesting that in the midst of turmoil and wars based upon ideology and creed, that he might think that more ideology is the solution. Especially when it is his religion that is so strongly divided. If one Allah worshipper wants to kill the other Allah worshipper over the same Quran, then maybe it’s time to step back and consider what religion is really doing to the world. I don’t believe it’s sacred, I don’t believe that it is above criticism, I believe that all religions have a duty to protect their own views in the face of reality. Religions don’t encourage development, but rather stagnation. Whether they have good intentions or not, religions with their imams, preists and clerics want to strap us to a moment in time and impede any development of mind or soul.

The Catholic Church is all smiles and laughs now, but let’s not forget that were it not for the deaths of so many who fought for more freedom, we would still be in the midst of medieval suffrage. “But what about the inquisitions, the tortures, the killings in the name of God?” you may ask your local priest. “Oh that. They were dark times, but now everything is ok. Those bad guys have been removed, are deceaced and we’re all nice. Especially now that we have removed all the paedophiles.” But all you have to do is give the Church a little voice, a little power and see how they use it. Stamp on stem cell research (potentially saving and repairing a multitude of lives), stamp on euthenasia (allowing someone to choose to end their own life), stamp on contraception (preventing unwanted pregnancies), stamp on criticism (and Da Vinci Code is just a novel!). Most religions desire to keep mankind in the exact same place and tell everyone what is good and what is bad. Like I said, it might be well-intentioned, but those same intentions inevitably lead to conflict and unfortunately, war.

But back to the letter. I think this letter presents a unique opportunity for Bush and his speechwriters to respond. It’s a real chance to finally throw open a debate about what the West is trying to achieve and our view of them. There is hardly any dialog between the Middle East and the West which is intelligent and which doesn’t involve guns. The lines are open now, and it’s important to use them.

It would be better that Bush write it down too, that way he can put it through a spell checker before sending. Also you can’t see the smirk in a letter. Here’s what I might write, were I him.

“Dear President Ahmadinejad,

Thanks so much for your thought-provoking letter. It was a total shock receiving it, I can tell you. At the time I got it I was doing some work on the ranch to take my mind off the Iraq thing and Laura came running down from the house crying “George, you’ll never guess who wrote to you.” Of course, it took us a while to translate it, being written as it were in those squiggly lines that you call letters, but it was well worth the wait, I can tell you.

I really enjoyed your openness and thought-provoking suggestions about our way of life. It’s touching that you would make that offer and I want to let you know that should I convert to Islam, you’ll be the first to know. Sometimes I really do think about it. Of course, I love my wife very much, and this is just between the two of us, but I get the occasional urge to stone her. The only problem is that by the time I’ve found a suitable rock, the urge has usually passed. I guess it’s that and the guilt. Oh and the Secret Service. If only I had the right brainwashing to easily justify it. I could brainwash them too and do whatever I wanted to. But like my father said, “George, nothing in life comes from wishing. To get what you want you have to pay people off.”

The fact is, you’re right about the mono-theo thingy. If I could have my way, everyone would be a believer like me and I wouldn’t have to worry about these silly arguments about stem cells and the like. But with so many people questioning religion it’s not like the old days any more. Back then, the Church said shut up, you shut up, no question. These days we have so many religions that there are new ones with names that I don’t even know how to say. Much like your name Mua…Muahaja….sorry the spell checker didn’t work on that one, but I think you know what I mean.

In some ways I envy you guys for keeping such a tight ship. It takes time to win it back. I think I’m making headways, but it’s an uphill battle. We have a saying in Texas that if you push a rock up a hill and you let go it rolls down. But it doesn’t gather moss. Some animals eat moss so moss can be a good thing. But the animal can possibly help you to pull the rock up. Essentially what I’m saying is it’s tough.

One of the things I like about your religion too, believe it or not is the clothes for the women. The amount of times I’ve cracked a woody on the podium when giving a Presidential address, I can’t even begin to tell you. But when you’ve been in the White House all day around Laura and those crusty old office ladies, then you see a cute reporter in a short skirt, well that little fella has a mind of his own! Luckily people are so concerned with trying to understand what I’m saying that they don’t notice.

Well, I really do have to go now. The dogs need walking and Laura is cooking roast pork tonight. If you ever decide to come to visit us Great Devils in the West, know that there will be a nice pork chop waiting for you. I guarantee you’ll love the dogs too.

Warmest regards,

George W. Bush “

I should be a speechwriter for the guy. Anyway kiddies, have to go. Remember, it’s not about saying no to religion, but saying yes to thinking first. Rant over.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I made Keith get the iPod craze. I’m always talking about mine and eventually he just caved in and got one. The other week we were shopping at Costco (a big wholesale store here) and we walked past a whole tray of the things. I really didn’t need to persuade him how good a purchase it would be, because I had already done that ad nauseum since buying mine.

I have to say though, now I’m a little jealous of him because mine is only 30 gigabytes and his is 60. I am fast approaching my limit and now I regret settling for the lower model. Nevertheless, I still have more music than I know what to do with and shuffle playing my library is always an adventure.

One of the features of the iPod is the records it keeps of your listening history. Each time you fully play a song, it increments the Play Count of that song. This makes it easy to sort the songs by most played and hear the songs you know you loved and some you don’t want to admit you love so much. Sometimes I am surprised by those that make their way up my list. I try and think back over when I had heard them wondering if there was some mistake. But the iPod never lies.

You can add your own playlists too, I have a Top 10, 40 and 100, plus a list of songs that I haven’t listened to yet. I figure that after a year, if there are still songs in this list I may as well delete them. It’s a great little system and it doesn’t matter whether I listen to the songs on my laptop or iPod because the tally gets synchronized every time I connect the player to my laptop. However this has led to a strange phenomenon: iPod politics.

I find myself intentionally wondering if I should listen to a song all the way through, thinking that somehow it will boost that song’s status to a level I don’t think it deserves. Other times I’ll want to listen to a song by my favorite artist all the way through to award it another addition to the play count, as though I’m rooting for my home team. A short time after Keith bought his, I accidentally reset my play counts and all those months of listening stastistics were lost. So I started fresh and not surprisingly my Top 10 didn’t reflect my true idea of what a Top 10 should be. For example, there was a song called ‘Only You’ by Ashanti which I liked for a short time. It had a nice beat and made me tap my feet on the subway. But it grew annoying quickly. Very quickly. Now it’s up there at #5 and I’m not happy about it. Time will sort that out, I’m sure, but I have the strongest urge to listen to tracks that I like more to push it back down. I could reset that song’s play count, sure, but that would be fixing the statistics.

I’ll just have to live with my past listening habits.

Popularity: 2% [?]