Confucianism at its best

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At least Koreans are speaking out about this. I saw the article on Soompi, where a user is encouraging Korean Americans with Daum accounts to sign a petition to overturn this ruling. This poor girl has suffered so much, and now she is the victim of outdated values and an apathetic judicial system.

What does this ruling say about violence, gender, people with disabilities, and paternalism in general? Old age and illness have little to do with it. This is the product of systematic errors propagated by distorted Confucian values and the cultural conservatives that buy into it! The idea that a disabled rape victim would have to return to the perpetrators for "care" just because they are her only family is beyond horrifying. They make it sound like she owes them for rent and food. I am not at all familiar with Korean social services, so I would certainly like to know what would happen to the girl if her relatives were incarcerated.

This story and many others about sexual assault/harassment in Korea is fodder for criticism from around the world. In my opinion, it's very much warranted, no matter what bad blood is brought up. How can people NOT judge Koreans after reading about an atrocity like this? It's not fair to the many who are protesting the case, but WHY hasn't anything been done before to prevent it? I'm sure many children have been forced back into abusive environments because of these laws/traditional values.

This reminds me of Eastern Social Welfare Society's facilities for children and adults with mental disabilities. Of the children and adults they take in, how many are victims of abuse? It seems like the older generation has not learned much about compassion, despite all of Korea's "modernization".

Last night I skimmed through the blog of some English teacher living in Seoul; according to him the stiff conservatism over there is a facade, and Koreans are just brimming with flamboyance, rebellion, and even open-mindedness. I guess we will just have to wait another 10 to 20 years for most of the crazy old farts retire or die off...

I have nothing interesting to post here because I'm not in Korea yet, so I am going to write book reports shazaamed with orientalism

So I wrote this pitiful essay about human rights in Korea...that was over 1 month ago, so obviously I am just now doing some hardxxxcore reading.

I found a book to school my ignorant ass on human rights in Korea. The title is very inventive: Human Rights in Korea . It's cover features some sketchy Korean men who I'm sure shoved some spicy kimchee up the photographer's ass. Asia Watch published this dooky in 1986 and I almost didn't pick it up because it's printed in COURIER NEW. This font kills moine oiyes.

I read the intro and a bit of Chapter 1, but had to stop because of the horrible COURIER NEW. Surprisingly, they only had few pages on Japanese colonialism and glossed over the violent oppression Koreans experienced under Japan. I think that is a major oversight that resulted because it's doubtful a Korean had much input for this book. Even though this book addressed current (1985) human rights issues, historical context is very necessary for understanding the mindset of Koreans just coming out of Japanese rule and transitioning to war. I don't like that Korea and Japan are basically assholes to each other these days, but the forced annexation certainly influenced the groundwork for a lack of human rights in modern 1980s Korea. Yes, right now I can only coherently discuss big bad Japan, but honestly, that's where all the juicy stuff is...

My little paper eventually did me a great service, but the prompt was ridiculous because it told me to explain how [Korea] could benefit from learning about [anything] from the US. How presumptuous is that? So I chose human rights because everyone can improve on those. Now that I'm reading this book and reviewing my essay, I am comfortable admitting that I know very little about human rights in Korea and what I do know is confounded my westernized perspective.

YAHOOO OCCIDENTALISM ME LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! MARRY ME PLEASE OCCIDENTYRIZM

If Keith Olbermann was more of a softy on his show, I might watch it more often.



I totally agree with him and this post is not really related to Korea. Well actually, Korean society and policy are not very forgiving or even open about homosexuality. Amber told me she read an official report by the Korean government that basically said "there are no homosexuals in Korea". I laughed at the idea that Koreans could be so silly, but look at the ridiculousness going on over here.

when you love a spicy chicken sandwhich you tell it that it's really wanted

Yeah, I've been listening to that song lately. Mainly because I have been hanging at the grocery store and they like to play creepy love songs. Actually right now I'm listening to Act I of Puccini's La Boheme. What a depressing story...but I wanted to listen to some old school Pavarotti and Racher and I watched Moonstruck last night, so I was forced into buying the whole thing off itunes.

Besides celebrating president-elect Barack Obama's victory, not much has happened this week.

Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì!!

Back to the point. I am so so so thankful I am a Phillips Ambassador. Even though I was miserable all Saturday, the returning Ambassadors really made the day worth it. They were all very intimidating because of their intellect and humorously eloquent advice about studying abroad. I think all of us out-bounders were so in awe by their amazingness that we just wanted to sit back and absorb as much as we could from them. The best part of the day was lunch when I got to visit with three returners and Julia W. from NHS. Second best was the presentations where I learned more than I thought possible about China, Thailand, India, Bhutan, and Japan in just 3 hours.

I peed too much. I blame it on the excellent facilities at the Rizzo Center. Damn those slaving house elves with their never ending supply of cranberry juice, coffee, disappearing water bottles, and magic refrigerator full of ice cream!!

O soave fanciulla!!

Sunday was less insane mainly because I got more sleep (but not much). I did my presentation on Ethnic Nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, and Legacy by Gi Wook Shin. It was a good read (skim). I was especially interested in Korean-Japanese relations, the great divide, and discrimination against minorities in modern Korea. How pleasant. Sorry to be so unforgiving, but Koreans need to do SOMETHING to makeover their attitudes about minorities and women! I know I'm generalizing about a large group of people...but for the purpose of being all ranty, I refuse to be more sensitive.

The history of Korean-Japanese relations never ceases to amaze me. According to Shin, Korean nationalists (like most of East Asia, I'm sure) were very (rightfully) skeptical of Japan's proposal for Pan-Asianism. In this case I would definitely side with the crazy nationalist Koreans...Japan was very dangerous back in the day (look at what they ended up doing to Asia!). I don't want to sound anti-Japanese (because I love Japan), but I am highly critical of some of the country's foreign and domestic policies then and now.

I did a presentation in Japanese last semester about the Japanese textbook controversy (日本の教科書問題）. I'm sure I horrified everyone when I gave them the translations and kanjis for comfort women (従軍慰安婦), mass suicide （集合視察）, and commie book (赤い教科書). I think I remember getting some nervous laughter with mass suicide and commie book. I am glad that Aratake Sensei allowed me to do the presentation; I'm sure not many students venture outside anime and "how to make sushi" when picking a topic to study about good old Nihon. If you're going to study Japanese and Japan, you might as well learn about the ugly side too. Same goes for any sort of studies...American and abroad.

Duuude I miss Japanese--this semester doesn't feel right without it. I fail at life without Japanese 5 days a week to keep me in line. Witness my atrocious 75 on a fucking gendered communication test!!!!! I am so burnt out I couldn't really care more than a few minutes. I earned that grade by not going to class and making a half-assed attempt to study the night before.

Since Japan and Korea have this awkward truce where both sides are still crusin' for a subdued brusin' at the first chance, I am curious to know why the Koreans protest outside the Japanese embassy still. I understand and support their purpose to have the Japanese government make a REAL apology and admit to everything, but is this because they are still stuck in the Korea vs. Japan mindset? Or have they progressed enough to consider those terrible wrongs to be violations of human rights? Very confusing, because I'm sure it's a mixture of the two.

Well, both sides try. Myself and many others appreciate it.

I liked the book, but it didn't address adoption! WTF. According to the author's definition of Korea's ethnic nationalism, myself and other adoptees are direct violations/abominations of the sacred Korean bloodline. Sorry, assholes.

Already into Act III...

Donde lieta uscì...

What else...

I feel so inadequate lately...mainly because I really don't care too much about my classes this semester. That usually happens anyway, but this time it's for real!! And my classes are very interesting! I am working to pull myself out of this cloud of apathy because I want to maintain my beautiful GPA and I actually like my classes and professors.



O and thank you president-elect Obama for selecting Rahm Emanuel for chief o' staff. I am still a newbie to American politics, but from what I gather, Mr. Emanuel is a bad ass. This sicko article made me giggle...or at least the part about Mr. Emanuel.

Halloween weekend was CRAAAZY.
Mainly because I think I got maybe...7-9 hours of sleep to hold me over Friday through Sunday. I know that Prof. Botswan apologized for having the retreat that weekend and we had plenty notice, but STILL. I didn't think I was getting the scholarship anyway, so I didn't think I'd have to worry. I got about 3 hours of sleep Friday night/morning AND I was hung over. Not very classy.

I was Peaches, the crazy cowgirl again this year. Except this time Peaches was preggo with a little bebe named Starr. That's right, Starr with 2 r's. Is Peaches pro-choice or pro-life? You will have to decide that for yourself. Sarah the cat maid and I met up with othas at St. Anthony's Hall, an artsy fartsy coed fraternity that was chock full of drag queens, fag hags, and lesbians, so no one hit on me because I don't think I look like a male in drag, I don't swing the other way, and people thought I was pregnant for real.

Please observe:









Yeah...so there it be

photoshop me...beginnings of a mission statement?

I created this blog over the summer because I thought it would be a great place to post musings on pooping. That failed, and my single post was quite explicit. At least I have cool music on my page T.T

But when I started looking at study abroad junk and scholarships, I decided to utilize the internet to further my academic aspirations and pay off student loans. Afterall, it's not really a learning experience unless you write mountains about it.

As part of my Phillips' Ambassadors essay, I wrote that I want to connect Carolina students to the world. A blog will definitely facilitate that process. I plan on posting pictures, video, and other research as I go, so it won't be all neat and pretty. The overall result I'm aiming for is a documentation of my experiences in Korea. As for the video content, I will definitely be posting videos of myself eating Korean food. I will also be in close contact with my adoption agency and hope to develop a relationship with other adoption agencies and nonprofit organizations around Seoul that deal with overseas and domestic adoption. Perhaps I will post a few recorded interviews or conversations with social workers, nurses, etc.

I am trying to figure out the best way to notify peeps about this blog. I intend it to be a thing for *everyone* to view, but my targets are students, educators, and perhaps policy makers (ambitious, I know). Even more specifically, I want adoptees, their families, and their friends to look at this blog!! I don't want people to come here and see a disgusting entry about my summer cleanse and my poorly photoshopped pictures. So when is the best time to notify people...?

The next time I remember to post here, I will probably have a few excerpts from my essays and a better outline of my informal project. And I need to decide what rating this blog has. I'm afraid it might have to be pg-13 or something because I can't express my feelings properly without using coarse language. Maybe I will take Dakwanda's advice and start using a thesaurus. But if I'm going to post real life happenings, then that will most certainly involve alcohol because I love Korean beer... Perhaps having 2 blogs will work?

Ok so now we move to the more interesting part...PHOTOSHOP. I don't know how to use photoshop like it should be used, but I try anyway. Most of my creations are horrendous, but I get by basically because I know a few tricks (liquify), I can read English, and right-click.

And I'm trying to figure out how this whole blogging thing works, so I'm trying out posting pictures. Of course, these photographs will be of myself and maybe a few celeberatories here and there...

Here I am on a lovely rainy day last spring. Since it was cloudy, my pupils dialated quite a bit!



At a lovely benefit dinner for Amnesty International with Mr. J. Irons >:-D



Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

With the generous Mr. Mortensen on Halloween last year.




I just love being a creep.
I VOTE AND GET MY FLU SHOT IN DOS DIAS!!