naisu!

O wow, it's finally here...

Taken without permission from TheBaffler commenting on this Huffington Post article about the film Slumdog Millionaire.

This might even be worse than Trainspotting. But the middle-brows and semi-informed hipsters love it, it's their flavor of the month, along with Aronofsky's latest bowel movement. Boyle, Tarantino, Coens, Nolan, Aronofsky, Fincher...we are in an era of faux-edginess, of empty, fatuous flicks, big on attitude and bathos, utterly lacking pathos and insight.

All I can say is PWNED.

Even though TheBaffler continues to provide a lengthy list of filmmakers with a sharp edge, this film snob makes an excellent point. I love this article, in which the parents of the child stars reveal that their children are STILL living in poverty, despite Slumdog's international success.

The film’s British director, Danny Boyle, has spoken of how he set up trust funds for Rubina and Azharuddin and paid for their education. But it has emerged that the children, who played Latika and Salim in the early scenes of the film, were paid less than many Indian domestic servants.

My other problem with Slumdog Millionaire is that it instantly reminded me of the Fair & Lovely ads in India.




I'm just as bad. I use Shiseido's White Lucent Serum, which is a skin brightening treatment that supposedly works miracles. I also use BRTC bb cream, which is a Korean foundation that comes in one shade...extremely pale. I have naturally fair skin and tan easily, so my skin tone is always uneven and too yellowy when it's dark.

Koreans worship celebrities with perfect pale complexions. I think Song Hyegyo, Go Ara, and Min Hyorin are especially known for their skin ...but don't trust this because I don't know much about Korean celebrities and what I do know is filtered through soompi forums. Take a spin around popseoul! for the dirt on Korean celebrities.

At the same time, (fake) tan skin is also seen on super duper pop stars like Lee Hyori and Rain. Doesn't Wonbin have a tan too? Tan skin is typically associated with the sexy image in Korea.

Asia is obsessed with skin whitening products. Similar to the double eyelid "controversy", many foreigners and Asian Americans believe the desire for pale skin/big eyes is a result of westernized beauty standards. The double eyelid thing is more complicated, but pale skin is not. Pale skin has been desirable in Asia and the West for a long long long time. Today pale skin is still the beauty standard in Asia. The end. Once again, bored, ignorant people who love hating on white people have beat this concept way too much and it's getting annoying (see Tyra Banks). Of course, I can only assume for East Asia in this case, because most Eastern Asians have naturally pale skin.

Many of my friends are studying modernization in Korea and the effects of globalization on everyday life. Plastic surgery is so common that many do not consider eye and nose jobs to be true body alterations, so many girls get surgery right out of high school before entering college. Plastic surgery and white skin...yeah you get it. Sometimes walking around in Shinchon is bizarre. I'm not trying to feed the stereotype that all Asians look the same, but the college girls here look like copies of each other. Similar face shape, huge eyes, long permed hair, white skin, same fashion, et etc. Korea is one of the most (or the most) ethnically homogeneous nations; you can't blame anyone for wanting to stand out. Korean culture also cultivates and encourages competition, so logically people would compete for good looks too.

Plastic surgery is like the latest accessory in Asia. Having a nose job, forehead implants, shaved, etc. is just another sign of affluence and comfort. Plastic surgery is not just for girls, either. The rate of male cosmetic surgery is also increasing. Sorry, but I'm too lazy to look up exact numbers, but from what I remember, America has one of the highest percentages of cosmetic surgery. Japan is also ranked in the top 20, while Korea (surprisingly!) is after Japan. The difference between Japanese and Korean cultures is hilarious when it comes to saving face; Koreans are generally open and honest about and extra "work" they might have had, while Japanese are too reserved and "polite" to talk about surgery.

Personally, I support cosmetic surgery to an extent. If it makes you feel better, then go for it. However, the extent to which Koreans go for perfection is sometimes frightening. Looking over some articles Ashley read for a class gave me an impression that while cosmetic surgery is great for improving your self-esteem, many people find it addictive. If you're interested, google articles on plastic surgery in Asia!

What I find most interesting is the notion that the dominance of Western beauty standards are frequently blamed for the plastic surgery craze. I think there is a universal standard of beauty that all cultures identify with. A classically beautiful face is called "classic" for a reason. Beauty trends change all the time, but most people can agree upon a basic standard for beauty. If you look at Koreans before 1960, what are the differences in what they considered beautiful before modernization and economic stability? A traditionally beautiful geisha had a flat face, small slanted eyes, and a tiny mouth. How much has Japan's standard of beauty changed?

Well, I'm glad I finally posted this. I apologize for its messiness, but finals are coming!

ddalgi waffle

My favorite food in Korea so far is...the WAFFLE!

Waffles are a popular snack/dessert in Korea. The basic waffle is thin and smeared with cream and jam, then folded in half. Ice cream is a popular addition to the cream and jam, and some places even sell waffles with fried fish, chicken, or pork cutlets. Basic waffle + jam + cream = 1000 won ($0.75) and the fancier meal waffle is 2500 won ($2.75).

My friend Remi and I went to a cute cafe called "Mr. Bean" in Shinchon. Mr. Bean sells traditional waffles (not folded and very thick), but they come in sets with ice cream and fruit. We were surprised when a waiter came to our table and brewed the coffee in front of us. He didn't use a french press, but slowly poured hot water over the freshly ground coffee beans and waited for the water to finish draining. It was almost like a tea ceremony, as his movements were precise and with definite purpose. We were first invited to smell the coffee grounds, then he poured a small amount of hot water over them, then presented the "cake" and motioned for us to smell it again. It took a little over 5 minutes for the entire brewing process, and when he finished, he quietly bowed.

Our waffle, ice cream, and fruit plate was glorious. The waffle was fluffy, with a perfect crunch to the outer edges. It was sliced in half, the insides buttered, and cut into quarters. The fruit (strawberries, kiwis, pineapple, and banana) were perfect and the sweet cream freshly whipped. Why doesn't America have cafes like this?!





I thought I was going to loose weight here, but I eat all the time. Food is cheap, delicious, and available everywhere. Family Marts, 7/11's, and other convenience stores have sandwiches, rice balls, instant ramen, and shelves stuffed with cookies, crackers, and chips. There are two cafeterias next to the I-house that sell whole meals for under 4000 won ($3.75) and the closest restaurant is a 2 minute walk downhill. Even the vending machines in the I-house promote gluttony. Who wouldn't want hot instant coffee or hot chocolate for only 250 won ($0.25)? Soju (rice liquor) and maekju (Korean beer) are the cheapest and most common alcoholic drinks...both are carbohydrate rich!

I am cutting out instant ramen and cookies. Also, I am going to make sure I eat an apple or orange every day. It's harder than it sounds because fruit is expensive in Korea.

I am enrolled in three regular classes and a 6 credit Korean language course. Mondays and Wednesdays I have Intercultural Communication; Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Politics of North and South Korea and East Asian Cinema and Cultural Crossing. Korean class is Monday through Friday from 4-6 pm. All of my courses are taught by Korean professors with extensive international travel and work experience, feature student presentations every week, fairly reading heavy, and discussion based. The positive aspect of student presentations is that we get a chance to interact with our classmates from a different perspective. The downside is that not all students are particularly skilled at presenting and printing handouts for the entire class is expensive. Many students read straight off the powerpoint slides because the majority of presentations are summaries of the weekly readings. My intercultural communication professor is a harsh grader, and announced that she will deduct points for "unprofessional" presentations; she went as far as giving us a 15 minute lecture on proper powerpoint slide formatting yesterday.

My politics class is still covering the historical and cultural background of Korea, so we haven't actually started discussing politics. The professor is very intelligent and a talented lecturer, but sometimes he seems a little flaky and is HIGHLY susceptible to brown nosers. My cinema professor is very soft-spoken and hardly lectures, as the class is composed of student presentations, discussion, and movie screenings.

A shoe store in Idae


Yonsei is truly a school of the elite. Middle and high school students' lives are consumed by 6 day school weeks, evening cram school, and extracurricular clubs. The standardized college admissions test determines the rest of a Korean student's life; the prestige of the high school and university are huge factors in determining the types of jobs and salaries a graduate can expect. Most of the students in my cinema class are Korean-Koreans with flawless English and excellent discussion points. The readings are complex and I had difficulty deciphering the "academic" language of some, but the Koreans seemed to have little trouble throwing around complex concepts and discourse...it was very intimidating. The disparity of my American public school education is even more pronounced when I talk with European students who seem to know more about world history and current events than most adult Americans. It seems like the rest of the world is very much self-aware and in the "in-crowd" of globalism.



Today is St. Patrick's Day and all the international students want to go drinking...it's Tuesday! It is virtually impossible to have privacy in this dorm. The rooms are tiny and people are EVERYWHERE. I don't usually mind it, but as an introvert, my tolerance for socializing is tested far more than recommended. Everyone here is nice and looking to have fun, but I haven't been able to get a lounge room to myself to kick back and drown in tv for an hour or two. I am fortunate to have met some great people, and my roommate is awesome.

So far, Korea is fun. I need to get out of the Shinchon area and do something different. Touristy activities sound ok, but I want to experience more unique things, like going to a jazz club or live music venue or see a traditional fan dance or even a modern Korean play. I haven't made it down to my adoption agency yet, but some of the other adoptees are interested in making a trip to Pyong-taek to the orphanage. I might visit a nonprofit agency that aids Korean adoptees visiting Korea. I tell myself I have plenty of time, but I've been here for almost a month and I have accomplished very little besides experiencing Seoul's bars and few clubs. This week I PROMISE I will find a more enriching or cultural experience.

EXTRA:

I saw Dragon Ball Evolution on Saturday and the movie theatre was amazing. The seats were luxuriously comfortable and roomy (no stains!), the floors were trash/food free, and NO ONE talked during the movie. This video is of a the escalator leading up to the theatre.

first impressions

Today was the first day I did not feel exhausted. The construction outside the dorm is slowly becoming background noise and my original habit of imagining the worker/action/etc that corresponded with the sounds I heard is fading. Now I just picture the legless man in Shinchon crawling down the hallway of the dorm when people walk by.

My first days in Korea were difficult. The combination of jet lag, homesickness, and a sense of foreboding made me shy, irritable, and generally miserable. I was excited to meet new people, but I couldn't get out of my own head or find much energy to communicate effectively. Thank goodness I'm adjusting to the time difference and classes have started.

Bulgogi grill~~


Perhaps I am actually still culture shocked, but when I walked around Shinchon the second night, the crowds, noise, and smells did not surprise me. I think I have unconsciously ignored the many peculiarities of the country that originally fascniated me. This is my third trip over, and it seems that Korea has lost some of the romance and mysteriousness I associated it with a few years ago. I have found that "feisty" perfectly describes Korean people.

Of course, once you've had the soju hangover, you will never forget how nasty it is...


Korean food, however, is delicious as ever, and I have dined out at least twice a day!!!!!


Chen and Inus at a mad busy restaurant. The waitstaff would not let us touch the food. Many eateries in Korea have table grills where the meat and toppings are grilled fresh in front of you. I guess we were so obviously foreign, they felt sorry for us or something...


I don't have any terribly amusing stories besides the club we went to for a birthday party on Saturday. Four other girls and I made a perilous journey from the dorm to Hongdae, a nearby neighborhood known for a plethora of clubs. My four inch heels, the walking, and the 20,000 won ($18) cover charge culminated in overpriced drinks (8,000 won/$6 for a heinekin!), a smoky, deserted dance floor, and awkward Korean techno heads swaying in straight lines. Half of the international students showed up and about half of them left immediately after glimpsing the innards of the club. The group of girls I was with was accosted by a strange little Korean man who kept on half-removing his shirt and waving his scarf around in the air. I stayed for an hour, then left with Inus, an Austrian student who has traveled all over Southeast Asia. We went to the nearest convenience store and bought a huge bottle of beer and snacks, then shared a taxi with a random American guy who happened to speak Korean back to Shinchon. As quickly as possible, we hiked back to campus and devoured the beer. Phew.

I had been warned about the "dancing" in Korean clubs, but I thought it only "happened" when the clubs were too crowded to move. Seriously, they sway back and forth and the more creative ones add in a few side steps to change it up. The music was so so and all in all, it was awkward, overpriced, and more awkward. Apparently M2 is a very popular club in Korea, and Inus and I missed the 1230 crowds just in time.

whitening meh skin

Taken without permission from TheBaffler commenting on this Huffington Post article about the film Slumdog Millionaire.

This might even be worse than Trainspotting. But the middle-brows and semi-informed hipsters love it, it's their flavor of the month, along with Aronofsky's latest bowel movement. Boyle, Tarantino, Coens, Nolan, Aronofsky, Fincher...we are in an era of faux-edginess, of empty, fatuous flicks, big on attitude and bathos, utterly lacking pathos and insight.

All I can say is PWNED.

Even though TheBaffler continues to provide a lengthy list of filmmakers with a sharp edge, this film snob makes an excellent point. I love this article, in which the parents of the child stars reveal that their children are STILL living in poverty, despite Slumdog's international success.

The film’s British director, Danny Boyle, has spoken of how he set up trust funds for Rubina and Azharuddin and paid for their education. But it has emerged that the children, who played Latika and Salim in the early scenes of the film, were paid less than many Indian domestic servants.

My other problem with Slumdog Millionaire is that it instantly reminded me of the Fair & Lovely ads in India.




I'm just as bad. I use Shiseido's White Lucent Serum, which is a skin brightening treatment that supposedly works miracles. I also use BRTC bb cream, which is a Korean foundation that comes in one shade...extremely pale. I have naturally fair skin and tan easily, so my skin tone is always uneven and too yellowy when it's dark.

Koreans worship celebrities with perfect pale complexions. I think Song Hyegyo, Go Ara, and Min Hyorin are especially known for their skin ...but don't trust this because I don't know much about Korean celebrities and what I do know is filtered through soompi forums. Take a spin around popseoul! for the dirt on Korean celebrities.

At the same time, (fake) tan skin is also seen on super duper pop stars like Lee Hyori and Rain. Doesn't Wonbin have a tan too? Tan skin is typically associated with the sexy image in Korea.

Asia is obsessed with skin whitening products. Similar to the double eyelid "controversy", many foreigners and Asian Americans believe the desire for pale skin/big eyes is a result of westernized beauty standards. The double eyelid thing is more complicated, but pale skin is not. Pale skin has been desirable in Asia and the West for a long long long time. Today pale skin is still the beauty standard in Asia. The end. Once again, bored, ignorant people who love hating on white people have beat this concept way too much and it's getting annoying (see Tyra Banks). Of course, I can only assume for East Asia in this case, because most Eastern Asians have naturally pale skin.

Many of my friends are studying modernization in Korea and the effects of globalization on everyday life. Plastic surgery is so common that many do not consider eye and nose jobs to be true body alterations, so many girls get surgery right out of high school before entering college. Plastic surgery and white skin...yeah you get it. Sometimes walking around in Shinchon is bizarre. I'm not trying to feed the stereotype that all Asians look the same, but the college girls here look like copies of each other. Similar face shape, huge eyes, long permed hair, white skin, same fashion, et etc. Korea is one of the most (or the most) ethnically homogeneous nations; you can't blame anyone for wanting to stand out. Korean culture also cultivates and encourages competition, so logically people would compete for good looks too.

Plastic surgery is like the latest accessory in Asia. Having a nose job, forehead implants, shaved, etc. is just another sign of affluence and comfort. Plastic surgery is not just for girls, either. The rate of male cosmetic surgery is also increasing. Sorry, but I'm too lazy to look up exact numbers, but from what I remember, America has one of the highest percentages of cosmetic surgery. Japan is also ranked in the top 20, while Korea (surprisingly!) is after Japan. The difference between Japanese and Korean cultures is hilarious when it comes to saving face; Koreans are generally open and honest about and extra "work" they might have had, while Japanese are too reserved and "polite" to talk about surgery.

Personally, I support cosmetic surgery to an extent. If it makes you feel better, then go for it. However, the extent to which Koreans go for perfection is sometimes frightening. Looking over some articles Ashley read for a class gave me an impression that while cosmetic surgery is great for improving your self-esteem, many people find it addictive. If you're interested, google articles on plastic surgery in Asia!

What I find most interesting is the notion that the dominance of Western beauty standards are frequently blamed for the plastic surgery craze. I think there is a universal standard of beauty that all cultures identify with. A classically beautiful face is called "classic" for a reason. Beauty trends change all the time, but most people can agree upon a basic standard for beauty. If you look at Koreans before 1960, what are the differences in what they considered beautiful before modernization and economic stability? A traditionally beautiful geisha had a flat face, small slanted eyes, and a tiny mouth. How much has Japan's standard of beauty changed?

Well, I'm glad I finally posted this. I apologize for its messiness, but finals are coming!

back in 2004

In June 2004 my family (excluding Beth) and I went to Korea on a tour organized by my adoption agency Eastern Social Welfare Society. We spent 14 days in Seoul and Busan doing touristy activities, but also stayed at the agency headquarters in Hongdae, received a partial read-through of my adoption file, met foster parents, held babies, did the host family thing, met adoptive Korean families, met social workers, toured a huge high school, etc etc etc and some people met their biological parents ( I didn't).



♥♥ We also traveled to Pyeong-taek (my hometown woot woot) to visit ESWS's facilities for older/permanent orphans, mentally and physically disabled, and birth mother shelter (Esther's Home). That was the roughest day for everyone. Meeting the birth mothers and orphaned children was a slap back to reality for us. I don't have any pictures of the birth mothers, for obvious reasons, but I guess I'm allowed to post pictures of the orphans we met.

Most of the children here were older or there were legal issues that prevented them from being adopted overseas. I will discuss the delicacies of adoption in Korea later, but basically, Korean policy DOES NOT favor orphans or the birth mothers. Illegitimate children and their mothers are some of the lowest of the low in Korean culture; "bastard" doesn't even describe the shame associated with being a fatherless child and who knows what the unwed mothers are called. It's not surprising that many of the women who come to ESWS do so in secrecy; some of them even run away from home or are disowned. Most of these children will remain at ESWS until they are adults. They will then be dropped into a society that still emphasizes paternal bloodlines and viewed as second-class citizens who are mostly prevented from obtaining higher education, reasonably paid jobs, and respect.



Some of the mentally disabled teenagers and adults in a work room. As I recall, many of them were also abandoned or had no where to go, so they can work at ESWS as janitors, cooks, and they also do specialized crafts that are sold at local markets.


This New York Times article shows that Koreans are making progress and their government is "trying" to help progress. We were fortunate enough to meet adoptive Korean families during the tour, and their stories were both beautiful and vexing. I don't know how much has changed in 4 years, but the difficulties these families experienced were unimaginable. One father told us that when he had a falling out with many of his friends and acquaintances after announcing their plans to adopt. As described in the article, many adoptive families choose to hide their child's origins in fear of the discrimination upheld by conservative Korean culture. Those who "reveal" themselves are very brave indeed!



I would compare the government's strategy of introducing laws that essentially resemble a quota system for reducing international adoption to the English stiff upper lip, except the Korean government seems to have mastered its capacity for compassion. Lowering standards for Korean adoptive parents and increasing difficulties for more than qualified foreign families is hilariously despicable. As one of the 230,635 adopted Koreans (a huge number tossed in the article), [edited out]. Besides my unlady-like manners, I don't consider myself a low-life failure because I was born an illegitimate child and adopted by white American parents.

Sometimes I really miss being 16. Ah yes, 16, the dawn of jail baiting. Back then I believed I was a very important person and destined to become even more important that I already was and make my mark and whatever...I'm sure all "older" people feel this way. 16 was my golden age of optimism and the world was to be mine. After its passing I became a burned out, mildly depressing, Land's End stretchy pant-wearing, chronic Harry Potter fan fiction reading (not writing, I'm not that creative), canned olive eating twenty something. I am still lamenting the end of Harry Potter and my tanned skin...I WEAR SUNSCREEN ALMOST EVERYDAY and WHY DID SNAPE HAVE TO DIE?! The fat, acne, burned out stuff also isn't my fault--I blame it on college. But more than being young, narcissistic, and ambitious, I associate 16 with my first visit to Korea.

Those 2 weeks in 2004 were the most illuminating of my life (so far). Thanks to that tour, I gained a new view of adoption and the problems Korea faced/faces with adoption. Even better, I got to spend time con mi familia and met other Korean adoptees and their families. I still (kind of) keep in touch with some of the people we met (Caitlin does a better job). So if you can, go on a tour organized by an adoption agency.