Who are these people?

I get a lot of spam these days on the blog and the people try to make it so their comments seem legitimate so that they can have a link on my blog somewhere. Here’s an example:

Fantastic blog! I dont think Ive observed all the angles of this subject matter the way youve pointed them out. Youre a correct star, a rock star man. Youve got so much to say and know a great deal in regards to the subject that i think you should just teach a class about it…HaHa!

Notice how the comment says nothing specific and has weird English in it. “Youre a correct star, a rock star man.” What on Earth does that mean?

Korean Taco Craze?

The "Korean Taco"

Special thanks to the Ask a Korean blog and its author, without which I wouldn’t have written this article. He’s also contributed to changing my idea of what “authentic” food is.

After reading this article in the New York Times, I don’t know how to react.  The article is about how the “Korean Taco” is becoming popular in the United States.  The trouble is, that in my opinion, the Korean Taco isn’t Korean.  It’s American to the core.  The title of the article is even “The Tortilla Takes a road Trip to Korea.”  Clever, to say the least, but the tortilla isn’t coming anywhere near Korea (at least not because of the Korean Taco.)  Korean-American restauranteurs are instead using Korean inspired marination techniques for their taco meat.  Korea itself has nothing to do with this story.

The American press has been buzzing about this kind of stuff lately, and I’ve even seen a few cases where the taco truck that they talk about in this article was featured on Korean TV.  But, this isn’t Korean food!  It’s American food inspired by the Korean-American idea of what Tex-Mex is (Tex-Mex itself often mistaken as Mexican food, when it really isn’t) and the Korean-American idea of what Korean food is.

You can search Google for “kogi truck” if you want more information about the origins of the “Korean Taco”.  I haven’t tried, it, and I’m in no way saying that it’s bad, but suggesting that it is Korean food in any way is just silly.  It’s 100% an American creation.  It also appears that it’s becoming really popular and it has inspired copycats.  Some have even attempted creating the “Chinese Taco” or the “Japanese Taco”.  And, if they make a delicious creation that people are willing to spend money on, more power to them.
Share

Was Seoul always called Seoul?

Should this be "Greetings Gyeongseong, we are Gyeongseongers"?

Even Old New York, was once New Amsterdam. Why they changed it I can’t say. People just liked it better that way! -They Might Be Giants

So go the lyrics in the chorus of a popular song about the name change of the city of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople). The quote can easily be remedied with minimal research. Wikipedia says that in 1664, New Amsterdam was surrendered to the British and renamed “New York”. So we have the reason and the date.

What does this have to do with Korea at all?

Plenty, actually.  You see, I live in a city called Seoul.  It is unique in that it is a major place name in Korea that cannot be written in Chinese characters.  Busan is 釜山 (“Cauldron Mountain”), Gwangju is 光州 (“Light State”), and Pyongyang is 平壌 (“Peace Land”).  Seoul, on the other hand can only be written in Hangeul, or phonetically.  In Korea, Seoul is written as 서울.  Outside of Korea it’s usually written as Seoul.  Japanese cities all have Chinese characters, so the Japanese get around the problem by writing the name of Seoul in katakana (ソウル) , as they write the names of other cities that don’t have official Chinese characters.

What about the Chinese?  Don’t they HAVE to use Chinese characters to write the name of the city?

In 2005, Korea wanted to make a Chinese-specific name for Seoul, and came up with 首尔 (uh… “you first”?  That might be a strange name for a city, but the characters weren’t chosen for meaning, but for sound in Mandarin Chinese.)  Shǒu’ěr is how it would be pronounced in Chinese.  Before 2005, they simply called it by an old name, 漢城 (er… “Chinese City”).

So wait, Seoul wasn’t always the name of the city?

No, not at all.

Banpo Moonlight Rainbow Fountain

Banpo bridge is a bridge that crosses the Han river. Recently they updated it into a kind of watershow, undoubtedly to attract tourism while showing off how Korea is really high tech. Probably the best thing about it is that it’s for freeeeeeee!

Banpo Moonlight Rainbow Fountain is the world’s longest bridge fountain with nearly 10,000 LED nozzles that run along both sides that is 1,140m long, shooting out 190 tons of water per minute. It’s a must-see when you visit Seoul.

Every day on my way to work, I cross the river, but I haven’t had the chance to see this bridge in action. Maybe one day I’ll stay late simply so I can get a peek of the bridge.

Share

2PM's got nothin' on Jay Park

Jay Park

This article will be mostly old news for K-pop fans, but for the casual K-pop listener, there is an interesting story behind Jay Park and his recent solo debut. The rest of the article will assume you don’t really know who Jay Park is to begin with.
Who is Jay Park?

Jay Park is a Korean-American B-boy and musician (singer and rapper) from Seattle, Washington, USA.  He auditioned for JYP entertainment and was accepted as a trainee.  He trained for 4 years under JYP until gaining his first exposure on a JYP themed reality show called “Hot Blood”.  Here, 13 male trainees were given various tasks and challenges.  The end result was an 11 member boy band called “One Day”.  This was later further split into 2AM and 2PM.  Jay, now going by his Korean name, Jaebeom, was selected as the leader of 2PM.

Tell me more about 2PM.

Okay, well, 2PM was a 7 member boy band that debuted in 2008.  After moderate success with their first single “She’s a 10 out of 10″ (10점 만점에 10점), their popularity skyrocketed with their 2nd single, “Again and Again.”  2PM for a time was the top boy band in Korea, consistently beating out Super Junior and Shinee for the top spot.  (Big Bang, Dong Bang Shinki, were on hiatus at the time.)  Again and Again was Korea’s song of the Year for 2009 at the KBS music festival.  Casual fans of K-Pop would have probably been able to name only two members of 2PM without doing research of the group.  Those two would have been Nickhun (a Chinese-Thai-American from California) who appeared in so many TV shows that he developed a popularity separate from 2PM fans, and Jaebeom.

What was so special about Jaebeom?

READER MISSION FINISHED!!!!

Thanks to all the people who participated in the contest.  I have chosen the winner, and the winner is:……..

Mildly Funny Korean Joke of the Week Part 8

What was everyone’s favorite snack in the Shilla Dynasty?

JYP's new girl group, Miss A debut!

So which ones are the bad girls, and which ones are the good girls?

Miss A’s debut single Badgirl Goodgirl released.

Out of all the entertainment companies in Korea, I think I have to say that I like JYP the best.  The big three companies are SM, YG, and JYP.  SM is the largest and most corporate.  They create stars and hits on an assembly line.  I get the feeling that SM’s music is mass produced, though I must admit that I really don’t know, because I’m not in the music biz.   YG is all about hip hop music, and in an earlier article, I mentioned that it was created by Yang Hyun Seok, who was originally a member of Seo Taiji & Boys.  YG has a definite hip hop flavor moreso than the other two companies.  Finally, I like JYP because Park Jin Young is a musical genius.  Some people like to say that he’s the Korean Michael Jackson.  I’d have to agree that Park Jin Young is in the same league when it comes to making music, but Michael Jackson was the greatest performer that ever lived.  JYP is at his best when he’s making music for other people (Rain, G.O.D., 2PM, Wonder Girls, etc.)  Yes, to make a long story short, I like JYP more than the other two large entertainment companies.

What’s special about Miss-A?

What's up with Google's Logo?

Google's July 20, 2010 logo, inspired by the work of Nam June Paik

Today, July 20th, if you look at Google’s website, you will see a picture of the Google logo made out of old TVs and radios and other electrical equipment.

Google’s logo changes frequently, and often changes to commemorate specific events on specific days.  Christmas usually has a Christmas themed logo, and Halloween will have a Halloween logo.  Most of these logos are all designed by Dennis Hwang, a Korean-American graphic artist (I learned this thanks to information from reader Elaine in Canada).

(Edit:  Mike Dutton from Google tells me that Dennis Hwang now does other things besides making the logos, and the logos are made by 5 artists on the Doodle team.  So Mike, did YOU create this one?)

Not knowing what this logo was, I clicked it to find that it lead to all kinds of information about a Korean-Hong Konger-Japanese-German-American artist, Nam June Paik.  (Okay, he’s really just a Korean-American, but he’s lived in so many places in his life, that simply calling him a Korean-American might not do justice to him.)

The late Nam June Paik was a pioneer in electronic art.

Who was Nam June Paik?

Weekend trip, forgot to pack toothpaste!

I think sometimes my American naivety gets the best of me here.  Usually there aren’t many problems, but sometmes I take American cultural standards for granted.  This past weekend, I went on a trip out of the city.  (Hoping to see the beach).

It rained all weekend!

Unfortunately it rained all weekend so I saw no beach at all.  So, I spent most of the weekend playing cards with a group of friends in our pension.  (Pension, for those who speak standard English American English, is a kind of low cost lodging with a shared bathroom. These kinds of facilities are common in Europe, Korea and Japan, especially around beaches or ski resorts.) It was still a lot of fun, but not what I had hoped for. I really really need to see the sea.

Back to our original topic, in America it’s usually standard that no matter where you stay, they usually give you toothpaste. This place had none. Whenever I pack to go somewhere, I almost never pack toothpaste because I’m either going to stay at someone’s house (and presumably they would have toothpaste) or I am staying at a hotel (which I assume will have toothpaste.) I’ll have to remember that and pack it in the future.

Well, what to do?