inside korea

Jinju's 2011 production of The Vagina Monologues is finally here!

2011-04-28T23:21:00.289+09:00

Last year, Jinju's 2nd annual production of The Vagina Monologues rocked much bigger and diverse audiences than it did in its first production in 2009, which back then was held in a much smaller venue, Sound Garden bar (click for a '10 Magazine' article I wrote on the bar).

This year, once again at Hyunjang Arts Hall in downtown Jinju and for the 2nd time organized by our super woman Jess Anderson, The Vagina Monologues are back with its biggest production in the city to date!

One is good, two is great, and three... is *awesome*! So, (women and men of) Korea, come support your women, expat and Korean, in Jinju's 3rd annual Vagina Monologues!

Tomorrow night (Friday the 29th) at 10:30 PM and Saturday the 30th at 7:30 PM.

-- Tickets are 10,000 won! 9,000 won for every ticket will be donated to the Jinju YWCA. The other 1,000 won will be sent to the women's shelters in Haiti.

V-Day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls.

Please, visit: http://www.vday.org/home
Please, watch: What is V-Day?
Please, check out: http://vimeo.com/vday

Now, ready to meet the gorgeous cast of Jinju's 2011 production of The Vagina Monologues?
Here we go! -- Oh, I'm in it, btw :)
Shots by our awesome and exclusive photographer Danielle Sarchet

Agatha Maia Pereira - Me :)

Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Angeline Vo

Northern Virginia, USA

Ann Sun-Ah Kim

Seoul, Republic of Korea

Christina Wells

Nelson City, New Zealand

Dana Meehan

Quito, Ecuador

Danielle Robare

Methuen, Massachusetts, USA

Jess Anderson (the show's organizer)

Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA

Jocelyn Christian

Canada

Kyle Riddle

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Marie-Laure

Vierzon-Ville, Centre, France

Samantha Chin

New Jersey, USA

Sarah Leroux

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sophie

Busan, Republic of Korea

Stephanie True

Eugene, Oregon, USA

Talisha Ramnarain

Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

V-Love to you all!

Korea has made him a star. In America, it won't be different.

2011-03-08T23:55:00.059+09:00

*The first post of the year will be musical!*

Remember Shay? No? Hmm, so let me quickly refresh your 'blog' memory: Oct 16, 2009, Oct 24, 2009 and Dec 20, 2009.

This young American musician who made history while in Korea during the years 2009 and 2010, appearing on Korean TV shows like the hugely popular Star King and also on a bunch of Korean news shows as well as on radio, has been making his way to the top at home. Shay's professional YouTube videos, a hardworking team and a good manager have been quite a perfect recipe for this young man's current success.

More powerful, mature and as talented and creative as ever, Shay, who turns 24 in July, seems to be more than ready to take over the competitive American pop rock scene by storm, town by town, crowd by crowd.

Shay's latest music video, which he posted on Facebook early today, is a must-see. In the video, Shay and his band Shayliff have turned Kings of Leon's "Pyro" into a beautiful and unique acoustic version of the original sound. So, if you missed out on Shay's appearances while he was in Korea, here's a perfect chance to learn about what he's done and the even bigger star this fearless musician has become.

Meet my buddy and musical idol Shay Bailiff, performing with his band Shayliff:

In late 2009, Shay rocked it solo at my birthday party in Cheongju City, near Seoul. -- I first saw Shay in a random featured video on YouTube early that year. He was singing in perfect Korean in the video and I couldn't get it out of my head until I finally ran to see him live at Rolling Hall in Seoul just a couple months later. We have been friends since then.

- Check out Shay's YouTube channel: Shayliff7 There you can also see all of his Korean work.

**Here are some cool shots taken at my birthday party in Cheongju, Korea on Dec. 5, 2009: :)

Shay, rockin' it solo at my super birthday party.


Me and Shay - Yep, at my party :)

12 years of Korea

2010-07-28T23:24:00.005+09:00

He came in June 1998 to work in the world's number one shipbuilding industry for 2 years. Those 2 years soon became 3, then 5 more popped up, then... Well, it turns out in June this year 2010 he proudly completed 12 years of Korea. This awesome guy is my dad.

My dad Mr. Pereira or just Celso, as he likes to be called, in his former office at Samsung Heavy Industries, Geoge City, early 2009. -- Now he works at Hyundai Heavy Industries, in Ulsan.

Friends tend to ask me how he's managed to stay in Korea for so long, and I always say that he loves his job and Korea, of course, he is really good at what he does and a true hard worker, really. Well, if you want to work in Korea, you'd better be a hard worker. My father, who turned 54 this year, is a naval architect currently working as a hull superintendent at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) - the world's largest shipbuilding company - headquartered in Ulsan.

When his Korean journey started back in 1998, he was working as a site inspector at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) - the world's second largest shipbuilder - located in Geoge. There, he worked on two car carriers and one bulk carrier until 2000. Then, in 2001 he moved to Ulsan to work on seven container carriers at Hyundai Heavy Industries. But, it was in 2002 that he had the job opportunity of a lifetime: to work on five LNG carriers as a hull/cryogenic inspector at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) - the world's third largest shipbuilder - located in Geoge, not far from SHI. Thanks to his experience working in the construction of Angra Nuclear Power Plant's Angra II reactor years before in Brazil, he was able to work on this 5-year LNG project which he successfully completed in 2006. Since 2007 he's been working on a "K" line (Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd) project that involves four LNG carriers and 14 container carriers. That's a lot, huh? The project started at Samsung Heavy Industries, but then moved to Hyundai Heavy Industries mid last year. From what I understood, he still has a good year and a half left there until the project is completed. -- Well, right now he's actually back home in Brazil on a 4-to-5-month "forced break" from the project, due to the world economic crisis. Many other projects across Korea are suffering from the crisis at the moment. It's only temporary, though.

--- If you wish to read about LNG (liquefied natural gas) and its great importance and also concerns in today's world, please click here.

-- Oh and yeah, Korea owns the three largest shipbuilders in the world, widely known as the "Big Three". Pretty cool, huh? -- My father says that his favorite is Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) - the third largest - for its privileged location surrounded by nature, its breathtaking internal gardens and, therefore, pleasant atmosphere. It is, as a matter of fact, the most environmentally friendly of the three.

As you can see, I love talking about my dad's years of work in this awesome country and I believe all that can be helpful to you if you had interest in reading this. In the end, that's pretty much why I decided to make this article anyway; well, to help expats like you (which is what I do here on the blog) and also to honor my dad, which is obvious, I guess. :) However, just as much as I admire his accomplished work life in Korea, I personally find his journey all the way here equally inspiring, and not only as a daughter, but as a human being. My father was born to a somewhat poor but extremely hard-working family in a mostly middle-class (but still very rural and very provincial) city called São Gonçalo, about an hour away from the great city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His childhood and teenage weren't easy. The youngest of 4 boys, he, just like his brothers, began working pretty hard at a very young age to help his parents bring home food and clothes. Though the money was little and he had to work before or after school, he was always encouraged to study hard and had to bring home good grades. Whenever he looks back, proudly, he says that every step of the way was important for him to get this far and that his wonderful parents raised him just the right way.

I first came to Korea in 2002 to visit my dad for a month in Geoge City. I fell in love with Korea and my dad's work never failed to fascinate me. He took us (my little sister and her mom too) to see the inside of this huge LNG tank he was working on at the time in this huge LNG carrier. I remember dearly how excited he was about that project, showing and explaining to us exactly what he did at the shipyard. He told us once that he would go to his empty office on a Sunday sometimes just so he could advance his work a bit and not have to worry about any kind of competition or headache in the office later. I don't understand exactly how things work at his workplace, but I guess I just took that as an example of determination and hard work.

At his birthday party, May 2009. The cake was a kind present from a Korean friend who owns a company called E-Max, hence the huge word on the cake. :)

"Korea (more specifically Geoge) feels like home to me now", my dad said to me not long ago. He has a special love for Geoge, its green, beaches and coziness. He's also made some really good friends there over the years, including a few Brazilians. He remembers how back in 1998, when he arrived, the Brazilian community living in Geoge was pretty much formed by him and about 5 other people, only - all working in the heavy industries. According to him, it wasn't until 2007 that many groups of Brazilians began to arrive in Geoge to work in projects connected with Petrobras (Brazil's oil company). By this time, the number of Brazilians living in Geoge has probably reached the 200. What I know for sure though is that, right now, there are over 400 Brazilians (including the ones in Geoge) working in the heavy industries across Korea, and more and more keep coming every year.

During this year's World Cup he was interviewed for a FLIK special show on the South Africa World Cup, along with other foreigners living and cheering for their countries in Ulsan. My dad is the only Brazilian on the show and was all excited when he showed me this video on the site. He's probably even more excited now that he's reading all this. :) To watch this cool short show just go ahead and click here.

-- FLIK stands for Foreign Life In Korea and is a kind of lifestyle and leisure department and media network of Hyundai Heavy Industries. Established in 2005 and located on the 3rd floor of the HHI Culture Building, FLIK's service center and staff assist expatriates and their families during their stay in Korea.

To wrap this all up, here's a thought I always like to think and ask my father about, -- if you know about how fast Korea has been changing in the last 60 years -- can you imagine how many changes he actually witnessed in this country in these 12 years? Loads. Some of them are, the way people dress nowadays, mostly the youngsters, is very different from 12 years ago - all these "microskirts" girls wear everywhere were nonexistent back then. Food wise, there were barely any fried chicken places or chain coffee shops back then. Now, you can count at least 5 of each on a single street and growing. Shopping malls, which here are actually department stores (백화점 in Korean), are also way more numerous now and they're always either very big or huge. As a matter of fact, Shinsengae Centumcity Department Store, located in the city of Busan, was officially recognized by Guinness World Records™ as the largest department store in the world just last year. Needless to say, Koreans shop way more nowadays than 12 years ago. My dad always talks about how that scares him every once in a while. However, one of the first changes he noticed was a simple but great one. How people began to make more of an effort to speak to him in English at the grocery store, on the street or anywhere really, as years went by. Even though he already knew some Korean at the time.

Now, I wonder what Korea is going to look like 12 years from now... Something fun to think about, for sure.

Photo album...

Ship naming ceremonies

2003, at DSME:

2008, at SHI:

2010, at HHI:

Celso's love for Geoge City

Great friends in Korea

With his best friend Gilles, from Belgium.

Family guy

With my little sister and her mother while visiting in Brazil early 2009.

Him and I at Eden Valley Resort in Yangsan early this year.

And, one of my favorites :)

At a Korean child's 1-year-old birthday party. Probably taken in 2005. Isn't it awesome?

Oh and here's a short video I made of Hyundai Group's annual spring festival in Ulsan this year. My dad participated in some of the competitions. Check it out (just sorry about my voice, I'd caught a cold):

Cheers and thanks for reading!

Peace at the DMZ: Woodstock comes to Korea!

2010-06-29T22:47:00.000+09:00

Artie Kornfeld, the man behind the original Woodstock Festival way back in 1969, is bringing his festival know-how to the peninsula. The Peace at the DMZ festival takes place August 6th, 7th and 8th this year and features UNKLE, 2 of the original Doors, Skid Row, Young Bloods, Safri Duo, Simple Plan, Keri Hilson, plus many Korean acts!

The 1969 music festival also took place in August, although on different dates, 15th, 16th and 17th, and was billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It's being said that the Korean peninsula is now living its most historic and dangerous moment since the end of the Korean War in 1953, which is pretty scary, well, if you live here like me, anyways.
So, how exactly can this interesting peace-driven festival affect this critical moment around here? I want to say that, hopefully, if anything, it could help both governments rethink about their behavior and maybe think about making more of an effort to just get along and respect each other. I believe this Korean version of the Woodstock - originally held during the Vietnam War - could also help promote a culture of tolerance and mutual respect among all kinds of people of various nationalities in the peninsula.

The truth is 3 Days of Peace and Music on the border between the two Koreas doesn't sound bad at all.

The 1969 Woodstock poster

Peace at the DMZ - Hot info:

Tickets: 3-day pass - 176,000 won / 2-day pass - 143,000 won / 1-day pass - 99,000 won.

Order from this site.
A Korean will be able to help here!
Location: Pyeonghwa Nuri Park, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Click on the festival's official site also for ticketing and much more info: www.woodstock.or.kr
-- Apparently there's no full English website, unfortunately.

I leave you with the fun movie trailer for Taking Woodstock, an incredible Ang Lee movie based on a true story. Hmm, could a movie be made about the DMZ Woodstock? I know I'd love to see that!

Peace out!

English teacher Craig Markley 'reports' from Seoul

2010-05-30T23:03:00.000+09:00

36-year-old Craig Markley, an outgoing guy who's been an English teacher in Seoul for over 3 years, was born and raised in the great city of Chicago, majored in journalism and worked in Los Angeles, California, at a public relations firm where he did hi-tech PR and Microsoft. Then, eventually, when he got bored with his other major job in banking where he worked for one of the largest Beverly Hills banks, he got clued into the opportunity of becoming a teacher in South Korea.

After learning about his interesting background and personality, it's easy to see that Craig is no ordinary teacher here. In 2008, Craig created his YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/craigcmarkley) and has, since then, shared on there his amazing experiences in Korea, interviews with his fun Korean girlfriend Min Jung and has shown he has a selfless goal to help improve the lives of other expats (especially teachers) who come to Korea to have a great time or even build a future here. This is especially true for newcomers!

Me and Craig at a chicken place in Hongdae, Seoul, in February this year, when I met him in person. -- I ran into one of Craig's videos on YouTube last year and was captivated by his selfless personality, the various topics covered by the videos, and his interesting transparent approach to amateur documentary filmmaking.

Craig's handycam resembles a handgun (hilarious), which allows him to shoot with one hand and point it easily and steadily to wherever he wants to. He just quickly edits his videos on the camera and posts them on his channel, no formalities. What will grab your attention right away is the smart (funny, at times) things he says, the interesting places he goes to, his cross-cultural experience with his Korean girlfriend and Korean friends, and his visible excitement about sharing his adventures with other teachers and newcomers.

Craig reports from the KBS Performing Arts Hall, Seoul, on RENT - The Broadway Tour, September, 2009 (Craig's video I ran into last year):

To me, what Craig has been doing with his YouTube channel is a model to be followed by all the other teachers who come to this fascinating land to teach a foreign language, enrich their lives and the lives of others - sometimes even more than their own.

Craig and I meet for the first time - Hongdae, Seoul, Feb. 2010 (next two videos):
--I also have a YouTube channel:
www.youtube.com/user/agathamaia1
Nothing compared to Craig's, though :)

The Vagina Monologues rock multinational audiences in Jinju

2010-04-30T23:31:00.006+09:00

The second production of The Vagina Monologues in Jinju City featured two Korean women (!) among a foreign cast and amazed people from various nationalities on the event's both nights -- 04/23 & 24

Second production, in Jinju??

That's right! This was Jinju's second time performing The VMs (click to see previous post with ad). Last year, the show was performed at SoundGarden bar in Gajwa-dong, outside the back gate of Gyeongsang National University (GNU). This year's organizer and cast member Jess Anderson also performed in last year's show and told me "it was a wonderfully intimate show since SoundGarden's capacity is about 70 people."

This year, however, The VMs were held in a theater downtown Jinju called Hyunjang Arts Hall, with 150 seats each night, which means they were able to raise more money for the three organizations the event donates to --10% goes to the Congo (more information at vday.org), and the other 90% is split between the Jinju YWCA and the Jinju Women's Shelter. Two Korean women took part in the show this year and did an outstanding job, performing in both English and in some Korean. Last year's show featured only one Korean actor. The truth is that it is a pretty big deal for a Korean girl or woman to take part in such a mature and sexual event held in Korea, especially in a small conservative town like Jinju. You can tell by how hard it can be to just get them, Korean girls, to simply come see the show. They will usually look at you shocked that you even invited.

This year's cast: Jess Anderson on the far right corner and the two Korean women on the front (one all in black and the other all in red)

Differently from last year, this year's show had Korean subtitles, so a lot more people were able to truly enjoy the show and understand every bit of what was going on.

Donna Corns, who is now back home in South Africa, organized last year's show along with a group of women from GNU. Most of the cast last year worked at the English Only Zone, at GNU, and all of them worked very closely in the organization of the show and the fundraisers leading to the show. Many women in Jinju were then invited to join the show, and that was when Jess, this year's organizer, decided to take part.

Watch a bit of The VMs' Saturday show:

CR Dobson, the show's director, opened up: "It was a very rewarding experience!"

The next day, CR posted the following on his Facebook: "I couldn't have done anything without Jess, my partner in crime", thanking his friend and co-director/organizer of the show Jess Anderson.

Directors CR Dobson and Jess Anderson being honored by the cast at the end of the show.

Now, I leave you with some more cool shots I took of Saturday's show. Enjoy ;)

I like this one :)

I know - I had to take these two!!

Jinju Vagina Monologues 2010

2010-04-01T17:49:00.014+09:00

The Vagina Monologues have come to the Southern Korean city of Jinju for the second time and promise to delight and impact multinational audiences in a can't-miss two-night-performance event.

American Jess Anderson, who teaches English in Jinju, is organizing the event.

Jess posted the following on the Jinju Vagina Monologues 2010 Facebook group page she created:

"The Vagina Monologues is a series of stories about women. Each story describes a woman's experience that has significantly changed her life. The goal of the monologues is to stop violence against women and girls by speaking frankly and openly about things they go through ALL OVER THE WORLD. Some of the monologues represent women who don't know their bodies in an intimate way or who are ashamed of their bodies. Others describe events where women were abused or violently attacked.

The show can be difficult to watch at times and heartwarming at others. It will bring tears to your eyes. At moments it is funny and sometimes innocent, but it is always empowering.

Although the show is about women, it is enjoyable to men as well. We feel that this show will give men a better understanding of women's feelings and needs. We encourage men to join this celebration of womanhood, because it opens a window into women's lives unlike ever before.

Eve Ensler wrote the first draft of the monologues in 1996 after she interviewed 200 women about their views on sex, relationships, and violence against women.

The Vagina Monologues raises money to go towards women's anti-violence groups and women's support groups. Each year between February 1 and April 30 these shows are put on around the world in order to raise awareness and support.

This year, Jinju's production of The Vagina Monolgues will donate funds to the YWCA's women's group, the Jinju women's shelter, and 10% of funds raised will go toward the women of the Congo. Any contributions are welcome and appreciated!"

Way to go, Jess! I'm there!

Although English may be the show's official language (**note that there will be Korean subtitles**), I truly hope that many Koreans (women and men) become interested in enriching their sexual and personal lives, broadening their global perspective on the matter along with meeting some real cool people from all parts of the globe!

Jinju Vagina Monologues 2010:

Night 1: Friday 4/23 at 10:30 p.m.
Night 2: Saturday 4/24 at 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Hyunjang Arts Hall - www.hjarthall.com
(Near Zio Ricco's, above the Northface athletic store, downtown Jinju)
Tickets 10,000 won

Contact Jess Anderson for more info: vdayjinju2010@gmail.com
---------------------

Check out The Vagina Monologues (V-Day) official Web site: www.vday.org

Exhibition brings the rainforest to Seoul

2010-03-10T18:54:00.024+09:00

The internationally famous exhibition Amazônia in Seoul, supported by Petrobras (Brazil's oil company) and the Brazilian Government, has been giving a tropical feeling to Seoul's coldest season since the 12th of last month -- ending this upcoming Friday the 12th.

Amazônia in Seoul is exotic, just like the country where it comes from. The exhibition includes not only photographs of and videos on the rainforest that has the largest concentration of biodiversity in the world, but also a fascinating display of some unique Amazonian handicrafts and tribal costumes as well as another one of mostly vibrant colored seeds found in the rainforest -- lots and lots of seeds.

To be able to see Koreans having this kind of intimate contact with what to them is so strange and different -- that it's almost as if it all had landed in Seoul from another planet -- gives me enormous pleasure as a Brazilian living in Korea.

Display of Amazonian handicrafts.

Korean Im Sue-Yeon, an English Education major at Sogang University's Graduate School, was amazed by the exhibition. "What a unique experience! I never saw anything like this and didn't know much about the Amazon before coming here", she shared. "Oh, I like touching these seeds - they feel funny", she added with a shy laugh.

Red Tento seeds: Largely used for making handmade jewellery.

Açaí seeds: Some of Brazil's most popular seeds.

Now, check out these other shots I managed to take at the exhibition:

At Seoul Art Center - Gongpyeong Gallery

-- Near Insadong.

Tel. +82-(0)2- 3210-0071

An unusual documentary on North Korea

2010-02-12T18:08:00.025+09:00

Google Images

City Center, Pyongyang. Barely anyone in the street.

Little is known (and in this case, it could actually mean you know "a lot") about what goes on on the other side of the DMZ border, where an entire nation is 100% ruled by one man, Kim Jong-il. It was driven by the idea of getting into North Korea and showing the world one of the insidest looks one could probably ever get at this mysterious isolated country, that Brooklyn-based VICE and VBS.TV founder Shane Smith, together with 15 other journalists, managed to get a tourist visa to enter NK in 2008 -- after having struggled for a year and a half to get it -- to now be able to share his experience with us.

Divided into 14 episodes, the documentary named 'The VICE Guide to North Korea' takes you on the freakiest journey you'll ever experience. "Perhaps the weirdest thing about North Koreans is that they genuinely don't seem to know that the rest of the planet hates and fears them", says Shane. The VBS founder also says that "being there was like being nowhere else on the planet."

Living here in South Korea, such an open and modern country, already feels a bit weird at times, as people's behavior, way of thinking and customs here are completely different from the ones in the western world. Therefore, I can sort of imagine how odd life must be across the border. I have met a few foreigners here who have gone to NK on package tours which are ridiculously expensive and you must go to China first. However, that's a trip I cannot wait to go on someday!

Now, watch part 1 of the documentary that CNN described on their web site as one that reflects "a very transparent approach to journalism, where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process."

For all the other episodes of The VICE Guide to North Korea, visit www.vbs.tv/newsroom
This interesting reporting approach is definitely worthy of watching till the last minute of the last episode. So, toughen up if you have to and try and enjoy the ride!
-------------------------
To read what Shane Smith wrote about his crew's bizarre trip to North Korea published on CNN's web site on February 10th, 2010, click here.

------------------------------------
VICE is an independent media company and web site based in Brooklyn, New York. VBS.TV is Vice's broadband television network.

Beautiful Geoje Island: fresh air, exotic beaches, mountains and... two of the world's largest shipyards!

2010-01-19T23:34:00.024+09:00

Once (not long ago) known as 'Koje', before the new romanization system of the Korean language kicked in, the island -- which is the principal island of Geoje City, on the southern coast of Gyeongsangnam-do province -- is famous for being home of the world's 2nd and 3rd largest shipyards: Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in Gohyeon and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in Okpo, respectively. I first visited the shipyards back in the Korean summer of 2002 when I was in the city visiting my father who was working at DSME at the time -- now he works at Hyundai Heavy Industries (the world's largest, in Ulsan City). I was amazed by the magnitude of the shipbuilders, and I just saw a little bit of each one. I had never seen such huge ships in my life, I mean they are freaking huge! You'll see hundreds of people driving, cycling and scootering around to get to places like in no other foreign shipyard, that's for sure. When it's time to get off work, at about 5 or 6pm, hundreds of men on scooters pretty much take over the streets around the shipyards, which scarily shows how the city and country's economic growth has long depended on their heavy industries.

Check out these pictures I took of the shipyards just last year:

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI):

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME):

Geoje Island -- or Geojedo (거제도), 'do'(도) means 'island' in Korean -- is the second largest island in South Korea (second to Jeju Island) and is filled with foreigners everywhere you look. Most of them obviously work at the monstruous shipyards or are visiting the ones who do. I like it how you can see so many foreign kids, of completely different backgrounds and cultures, playing and interacting with each other as well as with Korean kids, even though their English (any of the kids') might be poor or they might not speak it at all! I remember how my little Brazilian sister, who was just 5 years old back in 2002 when we were there visiting our dad, would make friends with other kids, Korean and foreign, in a heartbeat. She once brought this shy Korean girl (about her age) to my dad's apartment to introduce her to us. I remember my sister going like (in Portuguese): "people, this is my new friend! She can speak English! Listen!" She turns over to the girl and asks the only question my sister actually knew in English, "what's your name?", and the girl promptly replied! Haha. We were absolutely delighted.

For a long time, my memories of Korea were mostly of Geoje Island... Some beautiful memories that eventually brought me back to this amazing country, not to visit, but to live here. So, here I am.

I leave you with some more pics I recently took of beautiful Geoje. Enjoy.

In the center of the picture is London Pub, a good time on any night.

PS. HAPPY 2010 YA'LL! :)

I couldn't miss this little Korean boy posing for a picture by this huge 2010 ice sculpture outside Hyundai Department Store, in Ulsan City. :)

The two COOLEST bars in Cheongju city!

2009-12-20T22:04:00.013+09:00

Road King and MJ - if you're looking for a good time in Cheongju, these two names are all you need to know

Road King and MJ are in the hearts of each and every foreigner living in Cheongju, who are mostly adventurous English teachers. Of course there should be a few exceptions, since I don't know each and every foreigner living there, but still, if you get to go to both or either one of them a few times, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Before moving to Jinju, I lived in Cheongju for a whole year and these two wonderful Korean-owned foreign bars became my "everybody-knows-your-name" hangouts and the owners obviously became good friends of mine. Always thoughtful and kind to all their customers, Seung Woo (Road King) and Wonjae (MJ) are the coolest bar owners you'll ever meet in this country. They sure know how to get the fun started.

Something really cool about these bars' location: Road King and MJ are actually located right next to each other, in the Chungbuk University area! So, you can pretty much jump back and forth as much as you like - it's great fun. I love these bars so much that at least once a month I try to take the 3-hour bus ride all the way there just to hang out with my Cheongju friends at the two coolest bars in the city and definitely two of the very coolest in Korea!

Now, check out these cool photos I took at two very busy nights at the bars:

ROAD KING - HALLOWEEN PARTY 2009:

-- MJ also threw a kick-ass halloween party, as always, but it was the night before this one, when I unfortunately couldn't come :(

The Road 'King': Seung Woo :)

Now, here's a video I made for you to see how this party rocked!

- Road King's owner Seung Woo is on Facebook: Road King

MJ - MY BIRTHDAY PARTY, NOV. 2008:

These are The Radio Grifters, from Texas! Check them out: myspace.com/theradiogrifters

MJ's awesome owner: Wonjae

- MJ Bar's Facebook group: MJ Bar

- MJ's owner Wonjae is also on Facebook: Cobra Lee

LATEST: American singer SHAY BAILIFF freaking played at my b-day party at MJ Bar this year!

Here's a video I made of Shay playing The Galway Girl at my party - Dec 5, 2009:

Party shots:

Shay Bailiff, everyone!

Me and Shay :) Yay

Friend Liz dancing to Shay's sound

PS. This was Shay's first performance in Cheongju city - but definitely not his last!

-- Shay lives in Seoul.

Korean troupe rocks out on garbage

2009-11-21T23:55:00.312+09:00

Eco-friendly music: The socially-conscious Korean performance troupe Noridan plays all their music on all recycled material.

New York's got 'Stomp', Seoul's got 'Noridan'!

"We play, imagine and recycle" - That's the motto of this socially-conscious Korean performance troupe that has been going on since 2004 and is a good example of what social enterprising means in this country. Social enterprises are social mission driven organizations which trade in goods or services for a social purpose. The profit from the business is used to support related or unrelated social aims. In November 2007, Noridan was awarded a social enterprise certificate by the government in recognition of its contribution towards society.

"Self-employment is a very important issue in Korea", says Hong Dae-ryong, a self-proclaimed eco-friendly performing artist and director of Noridan. Hong created and rides with open arms the troupe's "merry-go-round" in these pictures below. The vehicle is made of abandoned bicycles and barbed wire he cadged from a construction site.

The bicycles are connected in a circular formation by way of the barbed wire and a "roof", made from abandoned plastic sheeting, sits on top. The performers hang from the "merry-go-round" as it rotates, showing off their acrobatic skills.

Apart from the "merry-go-round", dozens of other recycled contraptions and instruments are used in the performance. There is a xylophone made of scrap aluminum and even a drum made of plastic pipes found at a dump.

Noridan is the combination of the Korean words 'nori' 노리 (play) and 'dan' 단 (group,team). Any object can become a musical instrument in the hands of these guys, who delight audiences at home and abroad. -- They have performed in countries like Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

The troupe has currently 86 members whose ages and occupations vary as much as the sounds they produce. The youngest seem to be in their teens, the oldest in their 50s. Jobs range from architect to writer, driver, composer, guitarist, actress,... To break down invisible barriers among members, the Noridan players call each other by nicknames, such as Hwi, Ting, Dori, Lemon, Haneul, Simba and Miya. Conversation is definitely a lot easier between people of the same age group, especially in a country like Korea; but Noridan's composition of diverse groups seems to generate a different kind of interaction between them.

"It’s our job to breathe new life into things that are thrown away and considered useless", says Hong. "We find joy in discovering possibilities for old materials. For us, there is no such thing as something useless. The best part is that anybody can play these instruments. That is why as we perform, we become one with our audience", the proud director adds.

I personally love this kind of performing art, which is creative to its most, inspiring, innovative and beautifully exotic, like off-Broadway's Stomp. Unlike Noridan (formed by Korean members alone), however, Stomp obviously has members of all kinds of nationalities, including mine, Brazilian.
Hmm, could Noridan maybe develop into such kind of multiethnic performing group? I think I would very much like to see that. How about you?

Now, watch CNN's Kristie Lu Stout's fun report on the Korean troupe at its workshop in Seoul:

Also, watch bits of their remarkable musical 'PingPangPong':

noridan "pingpangpong" from noridan on Vimeo.

Check out Noridan's official website: noridan.haja.net

Not the average Korean car

2009-11-14T23:48:00.018+09:00

The Spirra - Korea's first supercar means the auto industry in Korea has reached a new era

The Korean automobile industry is currently the fifth largest in the world in terms of production volume and the sixth largest in terms of export volume. While its initial operations were merely the assembling of parts imported from Japan and the United States, Korea is today among the most advanced automobile-producing countries in the world. And now, its first supercar Spirra is finally here to spice it all up.

The Spirra is Proto's first complete car. The body of the Spirra is lean and low, but it's also smaller than most supercars. This 500-horsepower car can simply go from 0 to 100km/h in 3.8 seconds. Its creator Han-chal Kim calls it his "baby".

-- Yes, this supercar is 100% Korean and built with Korean hands, which beautifully shows that Korea has a valuable contribution to make to the world auto-making market.

Now, watch CNN's Kyung Lah's great report on the car that is also known as "the tiger":

Did you, for some reason, get bored with your job and 'found' yourself teaching English in Korea? This guy too!

2009-11-07T12:31:00.006+09:00

A lot of people get bored with their jobs. They no longer find the job challenging or find the daily routine has become incredibly uninteresting, no matter how high-standard their jobs might be.

36-year-old Craig Markley, an outgoing guy who's been an English teacher in Seoul for about 3 years, was born and raised in the great city of Chicago, majored in journalism and worked in Los Angeles, California, at a public relations firm where he did hi-tech PR and Microsoft. Then, eventually, when he got bored with his other major job in banking where he worked for one of the largest Beverly Hills banks, he got clued into the opportunity of becoming a teacher in South Korea.

On his own YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/craigcmarkley), Craig shares his experience, interviews his Korean girlfriend and shows his goal of improving the lives of expats (especially teachers) who come to Korea to have a great time or even build a future here. This is especially true for newcomers!

Now, watch this casual interview with Craig at a coffee shop in Seoul where he talks about how he ended up here and shares a bit of how he interacts with Korean culture and people:
--Video posted on his YouTube channel in November, 2008.

PS. How about you? How did you end up teaching English in Korea? What brought you here? If you are interested in sharing your experiences on this blog, send me an e-mail: agatha.maia1@gmail.com ;)
I hope to hear from you soon. Cheers and good luck in Korea!

Top 5 mistakes that Foreign guys make when meeting and dating Korean women

2009-10-27T23:02:00.011+09:00

This is a guest post by dating consultant BlueMystery

Living in Korea is very challenging. Even more so, building a life is even more work, especially a dating life.

Unfortunately, foreigners who come here make big mistakes when it comes to meeting and dating Korean women. In fact, I’ve taken the time to write down what I’ve found to be the biggest mistakes that foreign men make, during years of living in Korea and professionally helping men date Asian women.

#5 Thinking that Korean women are easy

Before I came to Korea, I was very excited because I imagined that Korea was a lot like South East Asia: Just show up and women will be lining up to go on dates with you!

Ahem.

Korea, I soon found out once I arrived here, is on the opposite side of the dating spectrum. In fact, I’ll even say that foreigners have more hurdles to go through in Korea than anywhere else in Asia. This is especially true the darker you are. What can I say? Life’s tough for us (I’m darker skinned as well) but if you really want to find and date the ideal Korean woman for you, it’s definitely possible and we’ll make it happen!

#4 Forgetting that the East and the West are different

It doesn’t take long to figure out that Western women and Korean women look different. What does take an eternity for guys to figure out is that Western and Korean women think, act, and do different!

This is more than just about the women themselves, but also the society and culture in which they’ve grown up in.

Korean women think that the man is responsible for escalating the date into something more. Therefore they won’t necessarily give you any sign, clue, hint, or impression that they want you to escalate the interaction. If they find you not wanting to hold their hand, caress their hair, or even kiss them, they will assume that you are not interested, and will move on.

Another key note is that Korean women love knowing that they have control of the date. This is quite different from Western women who enjoy being on the saddle more and feeling like they are taking control of the interaction. So they will act like they don’t like things more, will throw comments about your choices, BUT ultimately they want you to be in control and are more comfortable with it as well.

Also, Korean culture is quite the land mine. Have you hung out with Korean women? How about co-workers? Do you get the stares? Sometimes. How about those moments when you don’t get the stares?

She’s getting them. Big time.

Now I won’t get into the ‘whys’ or the “it shouldn’t be that way” debates. I will get into how they need to be considered when you’re going out with a Korean woman. For them, being looked at negatively by an adjoshi (which means ‘uncle’ in Korean) who could be her own father with whom she’s probably living with, is painful.

You see, being with a foreigner is still very new and different for her, regardless of whether or not you’re a gyopo or not. You want to calibrate how much hand-holding, touching, and especially kissing when you’re with her.

This is even stronger for when you’re approaching a random woman at the bookstore, or coffee shop or even the subway. You want to assume that she will be shocked and even frightened when you are going up to talk to her. Even more so, you want to expect that she will feel uncomfortable with the situation. Be sure to calibrate how you’re talking to her based off of that, and make sure that she feels comfortable with talking to you first, before you escalate the interaction.

#3 Don’t take advantage of that first impression

Ever wondered why Italians and French were so successful at scoring dates with American or Canadian women? It’s because they take advantage of the first impression.
Have you ever met an Italian man? To other men, they look like a typical guy with dark features, a weird accent, a slightly aggressive vibe, and an edgy look. What do they look like to women? An adventure…

Unfortunately, when I ride the subway, take the bus, hang out in Itaewon I see too many foreigners who look the same! They don’t have a ‘look’ going for them. They look like English teachers who just got off of work and are about to go to a bar. In other words, they look generic. They remind me more of the typical businessman adjosshi than the exciting and mysterious foreigner.

Foreigners are seen as different and exotic., Then how about using that to our advantage? Take a step back and look at how you can separate yourself from the rest of the foreigners out here. How can you make yourself look different than the rest of us?
Think about your hobbies, passions, ethnicity, home country, and find your image that radiates from who you are.

Gyopos! This is even more important for you because otherwise you will just come across as an English-Speaking Korean. The reason why most Gyopos tend to be treated like Koreans who want to be foreigners is because they come across as Koreans who want to be foreigners. You need to make your distinction even stronger.
For example, I’m from Texas, am learning Korean as a hobby, and have lived in the Mediterranean. When I go out, I tend to wear a cowboy hat, a T-shirt with Hangul in it, and leave a rugged look, similar to an Italians’. Do you think that I stand out? You bet! Do women come up to me and start conversations with me? You bet! Am I different from the rest of the pack? You bet!

Show your unique self more aggressively, and allow that to make women and people, curious about who you are and wanting to learn more…

#2 Not wanting to learn about their world

One thing that just gets be cringing is how many foreigners I meet who have lived here for years and know nothing about the culture besides Chuseok and Chinese New Years vacation! Most foreigners here don’t even speak basic Korean! Most foreigners don’t even bother trying!
Think about it. Imagine foreigners coming to your home country and not speaking the language. Not even bothering to! This is a big mistake!

Learning Korean is one of the BEST things you can do for yourself even if you’re only staying here for a month! You see, it’s not that you speak the language that counts, it’s that you’re willing to learn about them and their world. This gets you lots of points when it comes to meeting and dating Korean women. I mean even reading Hangul was designed to be easy! And what a great skill to have when you go back home and share your adventures with your social circle.

#1 Not going out at all!

This is THE biggest mistake I see guys make, and yet it’s the easiest one to deal with. Most foreigners who come here choose to go from work or school to their homes and only go out to go shopping!

Granted, this might be because it’s intimidating to be a foreigner in this country, or they might have kept the habit from their home country.

Whatever the reason, this habit must go! And you don’t have to go to Hongdae, high-priced clubs or massive social events.
You can go to coffee shops, bookstores, parks (during this time of year it’s great), such as Namsan park. Personally, I like coffee shops as Korea has become a coffee-drinking country, which I am happy to see.

Thanks for reading my article and if you have any questions, feel free to send me an email at BlueMystery@PickupAsia.com.
Also, visit: www.pickupasiatoday.com/
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Thank you for your expertise BlueMystery! :)

Agatha Maia

Seoul rocks underground

2009-10-24T22:06:00.003+09:00

Korean pop (or K-pop) is great. Fun, creative and hugely entertaining with all the boy and girl bands' synchronized dancing. But (if you live here) there's a chance you might feel like you've been getting a little too much of it, am I right? Well, in Seoul, you can always 'run underground', because that's where Rolling Hall will be rocking, literally!

Advertising poster for Rolling Hall's special night tomorrow, Oct. 25th!

You're in Korea (anywhere here, seriously), you take a taxi, K-pop playing on the radio -- and it might not even be radio, but a cassette tape (a new one -- which I actually think is awesome) :) --, you walk into a grocery store, a department store, a mall, a convenience store, a bar (Korean bar), a restaurant, a fast-food restaurant, a coffee shop, a beauty salon, etc etc and YES, there will be K-pop playing all over the place, most likely, yes. And yeah you will be hearing the same songs everywhere you go.

Being bombarded with K-pop is, pretty much, part of every foreigner's daily life in Korea, but as my ex-boyfriend (a British English teacher who's been here for almost 3 years) used to say, "from listening to it so much, you end up loving it" :). But if you're getting a bit sick of it and is craving some interesting 'rocky' change, get your kicks underground Seoul, at the Rolling Hall! -- Just a block away from Sangsu subway station's exit 1, right by a Family Mart, but underground -- It is THE place to go. You'll be amazed at how much high caliber rock will come out of fully Korean bands in that place!

The performing place opened in 1995 and I truly believe it's changed Seoul's nightlife forever...

A non-bar place, with just a stage, colored lights all over, lots of lined-up chairs, beautiful people and outstanding music, the Rolling Hall has become famous for various rock bands' showcases, first-rate weekly shows and monthly festivals, such as the recent Korea-Japan Rock Festival that took place just last August and featured the Japanese bands Kaneko and Zin-Sil.

Check out these cool photos I took of two Korean duos and a band on October 8th. -- That night also featured the remarkable American singer Shay Bailiff and his kick-ass Korean band (see previous post).
-- A simply awesome night. :)

Now, watch this video of American singer Shay Bailiff (see previous post) and his Korean band doing an exciting cover of The Calling's "Wherever you will go" for his Rolling Hall crowd's delight. :) -- Video posted on YouTube January this year.
- His band is called Shay Band (셰이밴드).

You really gotta go there and feel that vibe! Koreans play awesome rock, you'll be impressed. And Shay is on his way to becoming a Korean legend.

PS. I've been in Korea for over a year and just found out about this place a few weeks ago. I had an awesome time there on the 8th and strongly recommend that you go and check it out the minute you have the chance to. Good time guaranteed. ;)

Rolling Hall hot info:
website: http://www.rollinghall.co.kr/
Tel. 82 (0)2 325 6071 (Seoul)
Ticket prices range from 10,000 won to 30,000 won, weekly.

He sings in Korean, he has a Korean band, he is American

2009-10-16T15:10:00.001+09:00

To really understand a culture, you have to speak the language. Well, this 22-year-old native Louisianian living in Seoul can not only speak Korean fluently, but sing in it professionally.

Shay Bailiff live at the Rolling Hall, Seoul on Oct. 8, 2009: A first-rate performance.

Tall, blond, athletic and in possession of a guitar, Shay Bailiff shines on Korean stages with his amazingly powerful voice and constant smart fun interaction with his crowd, in fluent Korean. Shay told me -- we got to meet :) -- that a good Korean friend of his back in Louisiana taught him Korean language. And I'm actually guessing that was the same friend who, 2 or 3 years ago, suggested he sang a Korean cover song and put it on the internet, which, according to one of his interviews, was how it all began. I don't know when he started learning Korean, but he's been living here for over 9 months now.

Shay's unique talent has recently been spotted by major Korean television networks SBS and Mnet (the "Korean MTV"), and out in the public eye. His very first appearance on Korean television seems to have been this of a casual solo street performance in a busy university district of Seoul, which aired on an SBS news show just last month. "A westerner singing (unknown songs*) in Korean? And this well? Wow!", I believe those were some of the thoughts that made dozens of Koreans stop to watch him at this street performance. Some even sat on the ground, delighted. Click right here and see for yourself. -- Just don't mind all the Korean. ;)

Seoul being the metropolitan capital it is, you wouldn't think people would look that amazed by his performance -- as shown in the SBS video above (link). But the thing is that this young talented singer is a pioneer, given the fact that no other foreigner in this country is doing what he is.

His most recent appearance on Korean television took place Sept. 26th on SBS's Star King. A mostly comic show Koreans watch religiously. Here's a bit of what happened when he was on the show. You gotta check this out:

*About the unknown songs I mentioned earlier, well, Shay's producer writes the Korean songs, while Shay writes their English versions, beautifully. Together with his producer - and guitarist in his band - 'KooPD' (his pseudonym), Shay released his first Korean single 'Odyssey (항해)' July last year. A beautiful song, with beautiful meaningful lyrics which I'll try and put up here later -- its English translation, as well, of course. ;)

Check out the 'KooPD with Shay' Odyssey video clip:
-- Oh, I almost forgot, KooPD owns the independent record label Digipop.

Now, in this touching casual acoustic live performance somewhere in Korea, Shay combined the two versions (Korean and English) of his single Odyssey, for the audience's delight.
Check it out:
-- I truly encourage you to watch it till the very end.

And guess what, the latest news on this young singer's career is pretty huge. Just last Thursday, the 8th, he announced on his twitter page that his Korean debut album 'Dreaming' had just been released all over Korea (at this site: click here). And just today, another huge announcement: they freaking got the album releasing around the world (at this site: click here)! The album features 5 songs in Korean and 1 in English.
And here's also the Mnet page for his album:
http://music.mnet.com/ArtistAlbum/AlbumInfo.asp?AlbumID=184367

Also, you've gotta check out the official video clip of his Korean single Dreaming:
-- Another beautiful song -- awesome melody and lyrics.

What Shay has been doing is inspiring, exotic, daring, never done before such way. It is, I'd risk saying, groundbreaking, especially in such a particular country like South Korea that has "just" begun to open up more with the launch of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding agency in Seoul, January this year. At this present time, more than ever, Korea wants and needs foreigners for various reasons, and Shay has beautifully managed to make just the perfect connection between language and people/culture, through outstanding music with his kick-ass Korean band.

I leave you with more pictures I took of his live performance last Thursday (the 8th) at the Rolling Hall (http://www.rollinghall.co.kr/), in Seoul. -- The guitarist on his left-hand side is his producer KooPD. The band is known as Shay Band (셰이밴드).
PS1. The Rolling Hall (just out of Sangsu subway station's exit 1) is an awesome place to go, if what you're looking for (and I truly think you might be) is a smart alternative to Korean pop, if you know what I mean. :)

Shay's links:
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Shayliff7
Shay Band website: http://www.myspace.com/shaybandasia
Korean Fan Cafe: http://cafe.daum.net/loveshay
Follow Shay on twitter: http://twitter.com/Shayliff

PS2. Shay, of course, does remarkable covers, and so to wrap this all up in style, here's his cover of Sting's 'Shape of my heart' I personally love. :) Enjoy:

A must-see Korean

2009-09-30T14:10:00.008+09:00

A comic kimchi: The Korean acrobatic troupe Yegam's show mixes martial arts, slapstick humor and accomplished acrobatics

JUMP, the first martial arts dramatic performance in the world, is a creative combination of a variety of dazzling acrobatics and dynamic martial arts including taekwondo and taekkyeon – Korean traditional martial arts. Ever since it first hit the stage in July 2003 the show has been incredibly popular in Korea, drawing visiting and living foreigners from across the country to its Seoul theater every week. JUMP is a homegrown show targeting a global audience. Its exciting story is told in a non-verbal way, hence its remarkable international success. In 2005 and 2006 it took the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by storm, and then went on to tour around the world, ending up on London’s West End and New York’s off-Broadway.

Leaps, jumps and high kicks are set to an amusing storyline where the future (and very cute) son-in-law is coming to visit a family of martial arts masters. That night, a pair of clumsy thieves break into the house and engage in a battle with the martial arts family, and it's pure entertainment till the show's last minute.
-----
I saw JUMP for the first time on September 12th (a Saturday) this year and am already planning on a second time! The performances are so entertaining that you wish the show would never end.

I managed to quickly shoot this short video of the end of the show until one of the ushers came over to me, very politely, and gave me the "not-allowed" Korean arm "X"ing sign. Oh well. :)

And here's a real cool long video I found on YouTube of the show in some other country. It doesn't say where it took place, but I read that it originally aired on some major television network.
Enjoy and try and JUMP along! ;)

Jump Theater, Seoul: After getting autographs from all Jump cast members, Indian Ph.D. student Sonia Henam poses for a picture with cute actor Yoon Sang Hee, who plays the shy-brave son-in-law in the show on scheduled dates. Sonia's words were simple, "I had a lot of fun!"

Location: Jump Theater (33-1 Gwancheol-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul)
The show runs daily with two performances every day. However, be aware that there are three performances on Saturdays and one on Mondays.
Check out the following websites for all the info:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=684044
http://www.yegam.com/jump/kor/

Why people are coming from Japan to spend in Korea

2009-09-30T01:09:00.001+09:00

In this recession where people are not spending money around the world, well here in Korea they are and a lot, especially in Seoul. However, most of that money is coming out of Japanese-owned wallets.
The funny thing is that even though the Japanese economy is emerging from recession, consumers are just not in the mood to spend in Japan. Therefore, they have been coming all the way to South Korea where their precious yen goes a lot further, actually.

Here's CNN's Kyung Lah's great report on this new data:

Jinju: The charm of South Korea

2009-09-11T08:47:00.010+09:00

My new home in this small-great country is a city not many people I've met seem to know about, and I am including Koreans themselves. However, the funny thing is that that is what makes this city even more special than it already is.

Located in southern Korea (1 hour away from Busan and about 1 hour 30 min from Geoge City), Jinju City, also known as "Charming Jinju", is quite small (712.62km2) with around 350,000 people living here. In the cleanest city I have seen in Korea so far, people praise its tranquility and coziness.

During this conversation I had the other day with a Korean taxi driver here, I mentioned how much I loved the city and its unique atmosphere. He then interrupted me by saying that Jinju was changing too fast, that things were getting "worse" here... I couldn't possibly imagine what he meant by all that, since I've only been here for a month now and Jinju seems perfectly fine to me: safe, clean and peaceful (if that's what you're looking for in a city). As he continued, with a tone of disappointment from a man who is originally from Seoul and chose Jinju to work and raise his family, he managed to make himself clear (his English was surprisingly good), "5 years ago there were not as many cars as today; I don't like this". He showed some anxiety, but then added, "but I still prefer to live here". Korea is indeed changing and growing too fast and that somehow ends up not favoring some people who try to escape from all the noise and stress in the big cities.

Despite all the changes, Jinju finds itself deeply immersed in the Korean culture and has beautifully managed to preserve for decades pivotal memories of one of the most important chapters in this country's history: the 1st Jinjuseong Battle (1592), one of the 3 great victories during Japanese invasion, which took place in the imposing Jinjuseong Castle - which is actually a fortress.
Located right along the beautiful and quite famous Namgang river, Jinjuseong looks like a paradise on Earth! Lots of green and huge trees everywhere, children playing freely all around, cute friendly elders resting the Korean way (sitting on the floor of one part of the castle, barefoot of course) and this amazing wide view of the river are all just some of this castle's greatest delights.

The castle's backyard features the modern Jinju National Museum, opened in November, 1984. In a fairly small movie-theater-like fancy room, right past the museum's entrance, a fun presentation video and a short animation movie about the 1st Jinjuseong Battle (both in native American English! - I was surprised) run every day in scheduled times. According to this fluent English- speaking female Korean guide, who introduced herself as Allie, foreigners from all over the world come down to visit the fortress and the museum every week. Well, I have proudly just become one of them.

- Schedule a guided tour around Jinjuseong Castle & Jinju National Museum with the fun English-speaking guide Allie: 82(0)16-9611-9491 (cell phone)
- Check out the following Web site for all about Jinju City: http://english.jinju.go.kr/main/

I leave you with more photos I took on some beautiful sunny days in charming Jinju:

Korean-owned hostels and guesthouses will make you wanna postpone your flight home

2009-09-11T03:42:00.004+09:00

In a number of ways, Korea knows just how to provide people with choices and the value of doing so. Choices that go from video/cassette tapes, CDs, DVDs and all sorts of electronic gadgets and services to, well, nice affordable accommodations across the country.

Fellow backpacker adventuring yourself in this amazing country, this one goes out to you. Guess what, hostels and guesthouses owned by fluent English-speaking Koreans (who have mostly lived abroad) all over Korea, happen to leave you with lots to choose from. Cozy, quiet-like guesthouses are really popular among foreigners of all ages, but probably just as much as BBQ/party-every-night kind of hostels are around here.

So, check out this cool list of some of Korea's most popular hostels and guesthouses I've put together for you and just follow your taste:

- Click on their names for the web pages ;)

Seoul Hostels/Guesthouses
Hong Guesthouse
"A fun, comfortable and affordable guesthouse in the cozy central entertainment district of Seoul.
We offer our guests a friendly, interesting and vibrant environment."

-- I have actually stayed there already, met real cool people, had an awesome time and highly recommend it!
Look for Sean, the ultimate Korean hostel manager :)
The whole staff are awesome, by the way. Whenever I go to Seoul, that's definitely where I'm gonna be staying.

In this picture, the house front. Lovely, huh?

Backpacker Mr. Sea
"1. Mr. Sea knows your needs because Mr. Sea is also a backpacker
2. You can easily find our hostel! Just 30 seconds after getting off the airport bus!
3. We have many interesting tour programs
4. We also own a travel agency, so we can help you to check for and book flights and so on
5. Seee U Sooon!"

NAMU Guesthouse
"Namu Guesthouse is a very peaceful and cozy place in Hongik, just across the street from the university subway station (line 2). This is a very exciting and active place."

Busan Hostels/Guesthouses
Zen Backpackers
Latest guest review: "Amazing place. June is a great host and will help you have the perfect trip!"

Check out the common room in this picture!

Actor & Tourist Guesthouse
"Your best choice for a low budget trip to Busan, Korea!
Best location &amp; convenient for transportation. Homestay."

Jeju Island Hostels/Guesthouses
Yeha Guesthouse
"Are you coming to Jeju? Looking for a nice place to stay?
'Yeha Guesthouse' will satisfy all your needs."

Tae Gong Gak Inn
"Tae Gong Gak Inn Youth Hostel is located on top of the famous waterfall, Cheon Ji Yon!"
--------------------------------

This list was just a little preview of all the cool options you'll find across Korea. You can now go ahead and explore the following websites for more than you thought existed:
www.hostels.com/kr.html
www.hostelscentral.com/city-213.html
http://www.hostelworld.com/countries/southkoreahostels.html

To wrap this up, I must add that in Korea, hostel/guesthouse staff members are unusually kind, sweet and helpful and really enjoy interacting with their guests, unlike what you might experience in many other countries that may actually even be way more popular vacation spots than the ROK - which totally "ROKs", by the way.

Anyways, I hope you make a good choice and actually end up postponing your flight home ;) Happy trails!

Slow fun

2009-09-05T19:40:00.001+09:00

Saturday fun at a slow pace

Life moves at a much slower pace in most Korean neighborhood parks on weekends, like in the park downtown Cheongju shown in these pictures I took a while ago.

On a typical Saturday the elderly (lots and lots of them) can be spotted in any of these parks from early morning to late afternoon, sitting on benches holding their canes, reading the day's paper, telling each other stories, playing traditional Korean games, walking around and even dancing to some made up melody played by a fellow elder street vendor 'scissor player'. ("what?") That's right, elder street vendors in Korea tend to be very talented in playing scissors (you really gotta see it to understand it) to attract people's attention to whatever they are selling. When well played, (I don't really know what that just meant. lol) the usually huge and rusty scissors, always one in each hand, make an interesting loud and powerful sound that will instantly grab your attention and most likely make you stop to watch the casual happy performance. Fellow foreigner, if you stop to watch these lovely entertainers by nature, yes they will try and do a little dancing for you as well, which never fails to make me smile, by the way. So, if you're shy, you might want to just smile and keep walking; but if you're not, since you've already stopped, why not enjoy the exclusive attention and dance along? If that's in a big city like Seoul, you might even end up in the paper or on TV!

To talk about Korean elders and not mention the huge respect and praise this society has for them, is a bit hard to do. It's all pretty much thanks to the Confucian system, which has taught for centuries a great respect and praise for elders in this country. The elderly here are often cared for by their so dedicated children and the general public always, I mean always, gives preferential treatment to their dear "할머니들" and "할아버지들" ("grandmothers" and "grandfathers"). Korea does feel like it's all one huge family, and it won't take long until you feel part of it too, I promise.

Look at the huge rusty scissors in the man in the red vest's hands

Korea's BEST foreign-owned pubs await you! And so does '10 Magazine'!

2009-09-02T03:54:00.018+09:00

We all looove to interact with the usually energetic (shy-at-first) Koreans in the filled-with-Hof-&-Soju-and-Coffee nightlife and of course challenge them to a few soju-bottle battles through the night =). But... how about walking in a pub in some Korean city and feel like you're right around the corner from your house back home sometimes? Well, nowadays Korea can actually provide you with the very best in that department. A kick-ass article brilliantly titled "Where They're Always Glad You Came", originally published in the July 2009 issue of 10 Magazine, a top English magazine in Korea (and my favorite one), lists Korea's 10 best foreign-owned pubs - and there's more, you can count on 10 Magazine for an annual list of the top 10 bars and even send out suggestions!
Finally, you can see 10 Magazine's list of 10 Foreign-Owned Bars here. Enjoy!

Watts on Tap - one of the top 10 listed in 10 Magazine

World Students in Korea - 1st Camp of the very 1st batch of bloggers for the Presidential Council on Nation Branding

2009-07-29T14:08:00.003+09:00

Last Thursday, the 23rd, I and 38 other students from 25 different countries (including my own, Brazil) split in groups on two buses in Seoul and headed to a life-changing 2-day trip around 3 of Korea's most important cities: Pohang, Gyeongju and Ulsan. Together we form the very first batch of bloggers selected by Korea's Presidential Council on Nation Branding - PCNB to work on helping raise overall standards in Korean society and improve the nation's image in the international community through our blogs. This trip marked our 1st Camp as World Students in Korea, which is the project's name.
First stop: Pohang city, where the PCNB's project's coordinators Mr. Wonkyu Im and Ms. Suhee-Park took us on a tour around POSCO, which is not only Korea's but the world's top steel making company. POSCO owns the biggest steel making plant in the world, plant #2, which we all got to go inside. They also took us inside plant #1 where we had the closest look possible at steel being melted in a gigantic melting pot with fire being spit high before our eyes. Beautiful, really. The steel though, is imported from Brazil (VALE) and from Australia. HYUNDAI Motors happens to be POSCO's 2nd major client - which I think is awesome.
The steel making monster founded in 1968 calls itself Green & Clean POSCO, due to its long-standing efforts to preserve and watch for the development and well-being of its community. "We do patriotic service through steel manufacturing", said the environmentally friendly company's presentation video played for us the moment we got there, in a Disney World ride looking room, where curtains are rolled up automatically showing a panoramic view of the company's colossal yard at the end of every video session.
Second stop: Gyeongju city, where, after a pretty long day, we stopped for checking in a nice hotel called Kolon. There, the coordinators of our project had booked a seminar room to give us a lecture on blogging. The lecture was amazingly well given (in English) and filled with informative presentations, especially by a Google Korea manager who was extremely helpful. It was one enlightening hour, which even included some photography hints and trials.
Time to relax and act silly now! =) After the lecture, a recreation couple of hours had been scheduled for us in the hotel. As it is defined by the Merriam-Webster, "recreation: refreshment of strength and spirits after work" was just what we all needed. We mixed up and danced with one another (there was even a professional DJ and an entertainer!), showed a little bit of each others' country's traditional dancing and sang Korean songs at a karaoke on the room's stage. Then, at the very end, we began circling around hugging one another and exchanging "cross-cultural" smiles. Right after this inspiring moment, the project's coordinator Mr. Wonkyu Im took the microphone and opened up his heart by saying, "If there is anyone that believes that boundaries and differences between nations and people cannot be overcome, then they have not experienced nights like this because tonight is the answer!" Well said and loudly applauded.
The next day, we headed to 2 of Korea's most important buddhist temples, the Sukgulam and the Bulguksa (still in Gyeongju city), where they provided us with outstanding guided tours, even though it was pouring rain and most of what there is to be seen in those temples is outdoors. Anyways, that was the historical bit of our 2-day trip, so that we could softly be reminded of this country's origins, of its people's beliefs and sacrifices throughout so many years. - That was my second time in both temples, by the way.
Well, and speaking of sacrifices, the next stop is all about this one person, this one remarkable Korean man who sacrificed everything to build a dream shipbuilding company. This company is now the world's largest shipyard, HYUNDAI Heavy Industries, in the city of Ulsan, capable of making 110 ships a year. Asan, a man ahead of his time who was once a rice delivery man on an old bicycle, built and founded the top shipbuilder in 1973 on a former quiet fishing village. Asan devoted his entire life to promoting industry and to rebuilding Korea. His hardwork and persistence on placing HYUNDAI (현대 in Korean, meaning "modern times") into the position of world's number one shipbuilder, turned Korea into the world's leading shipbuilding country. Not to mention that the world's 2nd, 3rd and 5th largest shipyards are also Korean: SAMSUNG, DAEWOO (DSME) and HANJIN, respectively.
After going on a guided tour around HYUNDAI shipyard, where we watched another impressive presentation video and were absolutely stunned by the company's size as well as by the size of its ships all around, we had one last scheduled visit to pay just near the shipyard, still in Ulsan... HYUNDAI Motors was our last stop. Founded in 1967, the company is a global leading automaker that finishes one car every 12 seconds. In 1999, HYUNDAI Motors and the also Korean KIA Motors became one company after HYUNDAI bought KIA which had gone bankrupt. However, they still use separate names for different cars (Kia is Kia and Hyundai is Hyundai). Although, since KIA is being manufactured under HYUNDAI subsidiary, they share a lot of parts in their cars. For example, Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio are virtually same cars, Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima are virtually same cars, Hyundai SantaFe and Kia Sorento are virtually same cars, etc... I've got a question for you now: what do you think about this and which company would be your favorite??
The moment we got to the monstrous automaker, we were once again welcomed with a beautiful, this time more artistic, video about the company and its achievements throughout the years. Truly impressive what they have done in so little time... And so, to wrap up this amazing first experience with the World Students in Korea project, one of the HYUNDAI Motors' guide took us inside the plant where we all had a close look at how fast they make and assemble their
cars.
- Enjoy this fun clip of our recreation time at Kolon Hotel in Gyeongju city:

Already in Korea? Stay and get muddy next time! ;)

2009-07-22T00:27:00.005+09:00

This year's Mud Festival roooocked!

But if you missed it... no worries, 'cause there's more next year ;)

Plan ahead with your friends in Korea and
get muddy at the Boryeong City Mud Festival at Daecheon Beach!

This is the kind of thing you really cannot miss in this country!

Official site: www.mudfestival.or.kr

Have you heard of Oedo? And what about Haegeumgang?

2009-07-07T14:25:00.003+09:00

Oedo - Botania
A small island that will leave you breathless.
And Haegeumgang is just on the way...

Seven years have passed since I first set foot on Oedo. An idyllic island of Geoje City in Gyeongsangnam-do that is a must-see destination in Korea. The island is basically a marine western-style botanical garden located in Hallyeo Haesang National Park, and probably the most beautiful of its kind that you will ever see!
Back then, in a hot 2002 Korean summer, Oedo was already a hit among visitors who came from all over Korea and the world to usually spend just a couple of hours walking around the garden island, of which one can pretty much see everything in about an hour and a half. And now guess what, the island is even more beautiful and attractive to all kinds of visitors than it already was.
Late April this year, lovely Spring time in Korea, and there I am, on a ferry boat with my father (who's been living in Korea for many years, by the way) going to Oedo for the second time. And, as if seeing the garden island isn't already supposed to be the highlight of a person's day, on the way to Oedo (from Geoge City) the boat actually stops by this gorgeous rock island named Haegeumgang. Located 4 kilometers east of Samilpo Lake, Haegeumgang features an amazing scenery with breathtaking high rock columns in various shapes rising above the sea.
At the most exciting moment of the less-than-an-hour boat trip, the boat goes half way into a cave of the rocky island, drawing most of its passengers to the boat deck with their cameras ready and amazed-looking faces. Save your batteries though, because Oedo is near...

_ Gather your belongings... Paradise is here!

"Oedo, it's great to be back!", I said. "Oh dear, I have been here so many times", my father said bragging. "But I can never get enough of how gorgeous this place is", he then added. With a few new imposing Greek-looking constructions, relaxing music that is played on all corners of the botanical garden and tulips, in their various vibrant colors, that look as if they knew how breathtaking they are, the island is absolutely more fascinating than ever! And you just can't help but wonder how it all started... Well, I will guide you through it:

In the past, Oedo was just a barren island made of rocks. There were no facilities for electricity or telephone because of its isolated location. It was also quite inconvenient to access the island, since it lacked a dock in early times after Korea's independence. In 1963, the Korean couple Lee Changho and Choi Hosook started creating the whole garden. At first, they actually grew tangerines and bred swine. However, that ended up failing and the romantic couple came to think of building a botanical garden.
In 1976, their plan to cultivate a land of 1601235 ft2 (45,000 pyeong) was green lighted. Thanks to that, rare plant species such as agave americana, rose of sunshine, windmill palms and c. peruvianus (a kind of cactus) can be found all around the island which, by the way, remains as the first island in Korea ever to be owned and developed by an individual.
Oedo also features cultural spaces such as the sculpture park and art gallery, as well as a variety of amenities such as a coffee shop with an amazing view, a gift shop, a snack bar and a memorial hall.

As you walk around this small-great island, mesmerized, it doesn't take you long to feel the love of a husband and a wife who put their very hearts and souls into turning what was once an ordinary rocky island into an earthly paradise covered with more than a thousand subtropical plants.

Cool sites:

http://oedo.geoje.com/

http://english.geoje.go.kr/index.sko

Farewell speech for the Cheongju University KGS students - By Agatha Maia

2009-07-05T21:27:00.001+09:00

Korean language training - Cheongju University, Cheongju,
07/02/2009

We are the 'mixed' world

How lucky are we to be here in this great country and to have shared classes together...
We are not the same people we were a year ago; we cannot be, because we are better. Our differences, cultures, beliefs, experiences and opinions have only enriched each others' lives and helped shape who we are now.
We've managed to do something great, never done before, in this city or maybe not even in Korea. Our various nationalities mixed into one big community as we rehearsed and gathered for our memorable performance in Seoul late last year. Our love and admiration for one another were made public and applauded by hundreds of people from all over the globe. Make no mistake, we inspired them with our union and mutual respect.
Guys, we are the living proof of the success of cultural tolerance. Throughout these months, we've lived together and learned quite a lot from our roommates, we've thrown surprise birthday parties for each other, shared and introduced each others' countries' traditional foods and customs, babies have been born, we've met Huguito (Hugo's baby), we've heard Biru's beautiful singing and seen his talent for mimics, we've cried together, we've laughed together and of course we've encouraged one another when studying Korean wasn't easy.
In the end, despite all the problems and disappointments, we have truly evolved. Because not only have we been awarded a scholarship that will open doors of opportunities in the future, but we have also been awarded a lifetime of cross-cultural knowledge that we'll hopefully carry with us for the rest of our lives.
We are special and I'd say we've already made history as we'll probably be remembered as the very first group of foreign scholarship students to have come to this university, which is still growing.
What we have here is beautiful and together with our 선생님s we form one diverse and unique kind of family.
We have definitely accomplished a lot in very little time, and this is just the beginning!

Good luck and success to all of us!
Let's keep it up!