01 April 2007

about

yup, those are my pants on the couch. for the blogger, clothing below the waist is just distraction.
>more photos of korea (and me)


i grew up on a small island in the northwest corner of the united states. much of my childhood was spent drawing maps, harvesting sea life, and wishing i was puerto rican. after 8 years birthing and then resenting an NGO, it was time to leave identity politics usa-style behind for my mudder's mudderland.

because we share a special temperament, despite being mixed and homo i love korea and he loves me back. korea haters are boring. if you don't take yourself and/or your fetishes too seriously, you may enjoy my inconsistent mix of personal updates with regionally-relevant musings. i love maps. thanks for visiting.

email me here.

fyi: the homepage banner image was extracted from a photo by story sloane, jr., an american g.i. stationed in daegu during the korean war. it was taken in 1951 or 52.

16 comments:

Judith Bjini said...

you started this blog on march 2? how was i to know that? how have i only discovered this "an american in paris" blog two months later? nice job cross-marketing.

on another note, i love the header. this blog is much more approachable than the other. expect more comments soon bitch.

Lisette said...

so maybe we should warn mixed folks that after getting comfortable in their hybrid skin they may find themselves living in Korea or buying apartments in Brazil. You know, they got serious race issues in Brazil, but I still enjoy that they aren't the exact ones I've been used to marinating in for so many years in the good old U.S. of A.

looking forward to reading up on your expat adventures...

matt said...

well said. "at least the racism is different here" is something i've said many times. by which i mean that now it's my white half people either loathe or fetishize and speaking english (and not being half-black) is what insulates me from the terrible treatment korea's homegrown halfies face.

what was really getting to me in seattle and much more so in chicago was how dumb everyone's racism was. it wasn't particularly hurtful, just really dumb and a waste of my time.

Anonymous said...

congratulations, 한류 finally found the light~! 8.15

Anonymous said...

inspiring blog

you're 멋있어

나도 당신처럼 자신의 생각과 주장을 멋지게 글로 표현 할 수 있었으면 좋겠네요.

Anonymous said...

and the blogger is super cute...

matt said...

i'm less cute in person. i remember the days before photoshop and digital cameras when a dude's photo actually looked like him. ahhhh the good old days!

nayoung said...

As for me, (I'm a Korean) your blog is very surprising. The only word I could say is WOW!

matt said...

hi nayoung,
thanks for the visit and comment! xo

Anonymous said...

Hi. My name is Lee Narin and I am a student of Yonsei University. First of all I appreciate your consideration for Korea. I would like to introduce Korean culture more. We've been thought about many ways to spread our cultures, places well. Finally, we've developed "Korea Sparkling Widget"
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/AK/AK_EN_1_2_1.jsp
About that, I'll send yon an E-mail. Please check and reply

Stereocool said...

hi, are you latino? why i am asking this? well, im latino too and I was wondering how cool would be I a latino can explain me how Korea is? not as a tourist but as a citizen.. to know the "urban" tips to survive there.. because maybe next year might be my new home. If you aren't latino.. its okay... I'll want somebody to help me with my issue so welcome hehe

matt said...

hey there lilith,
nope, not latino. but asian + white often looks kinda latin. are you coming here to work, or teach or what? aside from the military, there aren't many latinos in korea. but then again, in a country that's 98% ethnically korean, there ain't many of anyone that ain't koko. mk

Stereocool said...

I might go next year to learn korean for a couple of years and later finish college there. So I will be there at least 7 years. I am looking people who can guide me in regards or the urban life of Korea. You know, im latino, kinda white but even thoguh I have a korean gf and I have been sorrounded by the korean culture for over 10 years, I still have my doubts of how my daily life will be if I move to Korea.

nathan said...

Hi Matt. I had to leave a comment because of how exceedingly rare it is that I ever come across a fellow queer hapa kolea fob/non-fob who basically has my dream job. I’m a recent college grad, studied sociology, have been to Korea, and am all-too familiar with the culture, language, and rampant homophobia characteristic of the country you so endearingly termed “the mudderland”. I want to advocate for queer rights, but would also love to work in a journalistic capacity and write about gender relations, racism, and a whole slew of other sociologyish topics, as they pertain to the societal milieu of the country and people I so dearly love. In short, I want to do what you’re doing. My question for you: how?
Any advice/suggestions much appreciated,
N.
P.S. I thought about sending you an email but I wasn’t sure if you’d respond or not (or if you’ll even respond to this) since your pretty much a celebrity (cause being on Wikipedia means you’re a celeb) and apparently former Pres W. had some nice things to say about you. ;) On a completely unrelated note, I’ve really enjoyed perusing your blog.

matt said...

hi nathan,
flattery works! let's discuss off blog. matt@mattkelley.info.

looking forward to hearing from you.

nathan said...

Email sent! Thanks.

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