i've been bizzy. (clearly)

i love japanese gay porn so much.

i imagine most aliens are tops. it's pretty toppy to leave your galaxy in search of new worlds to conquer.

jumpin rope wit jesus

no rope talent

just back from another of my occidental jesusland tours. the ill-timed trip was made possible by a speaking invite, which was rescinded last minute in very poor form. anyhow, popular hops were made in chicago, seattle and tokyo with a special stop in los angeles to see mr. brian, half-chinee and jericho (the latter pleased jesus very much). actually, the lovely company during the california stop salvaged an otherwise ill-fated trip. oh well, not all homecomings are sweet.

the games have begun!

12 of korea's olympians participating in the beijing games.

another reason why i love korea? shiz get done real quick here.

e.g.: i bought a tv last fall but waited nine months to plug it in. satisfying my crush on korean swimmer park tae-hwan made getting cable installed for the olympics a priority. but, i didn't actually make the call until thursday afternoon. however, korea encourages my procrastination! although i called c&m (cable and more!) at 2:30 pm on thursday, the technician arrived before noon on friday. try waiting 2+ weeks in amurrica.

over the past 24-hours i've been reintroduced to the geriatric joke better known as larry king and other cnn programming. russia invades georgia but john edwards's 2006 extra-marital affair is the lead story... (c'mon now, did you ever doubt gross golden boy's potential for philandering?) i've also realized that bbc world has about 6 hours of content for a 24-hour day. i need to find me some good korean dramas.

back to the olympics. i slept through much of what appeared to be an impressive (and really long) opening ceremonies. for its part, soko's 389-person contingent will compete in 25 events: (modern pentathlon, basketball, wrestling, badminton, boxing, shooting, cycling, swimming, equestrian, baseball, archery, weightlifting, sailing, judo, athletics, rowing, gymnastics, football, canoe, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, fencing, hockey and handball).

south korea usually makes the top 10 in the medal count. the adopted homeland is hoping for 10 golds in beijing. the following are among their best prospects:

park tae-hwan, aka "marine boy" is korea's best hope for its first swimming medal. the 18-year-old already holds a world championship title, three asian games golds and asian records in the 200- and 400m freestyle events. the prospect of a 175cm korean swimmer beating caucasian beefcake makes me happy.

jang mi-ran is a big girl and participates in the heaviest division for women (+75kg). she's a three-time world champion who won the silver medal in athens. in april she set an unofficial world record in the "clean and jerk". i don't know what that means. president lee myung-bak thinks she has a beautiful smile. that's nice.

park sung-hyun and yoon ok-hee are just two of korea's archery illuminati. soko's team has won every archery gold medal since the '84 games. the ladies hold every world record in the olympic standard, "outdoor recurve discipline" (i don't know what that means, either). yoon told reuters, "our sensitive fingertips, descended from our ancestors, and our spiritual strength and willingness to fight until the very end... they are the secrets." perhaps this also helps female korean dominance with a wide variety of weapons. kim chan-mi came within 1 point of china's du li in last year's asian shooting championships, while nam hyun-hee hopes to medal in women's fencing. finally, hwang kyeong-seon is hoping to continue korea's dominance in its national sport, taekwondo, by improving upon her bronze in athens.

re: dudes, choi min-ho is a men's judo star who is called the "little giant". in athens he sustained an injury and was disappointed with a bronze medal finish. yang tae-young should have one the individual all-around gold in athens. a judging mistake undervalued his start value on the horizontal bars. the extra 0.1 point would have given him the edge over the winner, who beat him by just 0.049 points. 20-year-old wang ki-chun hopes to medal in his first olympics. he won the 2007 world championships in judo last year. jung ji-hyun, or mr. cauliflower ear, won a gold medal in wrestling at the games in athens. and finally, son seong-cheol is soko's only diver. the national olympic training center in seoul does not have diving boards, so home dude trains in a student swimming arena swarming with kids enjoying their summer break. it's unlikely that he'll medal, but he's cute and we have the same family name.

good luck, and make sure to bring home more medals than the japanese! do it for dokdo!

i've regained custody of my blog

ok kids, sorry for the paltry posting of late. there are few things sillier than a neglected blog. but i'll be back home in soko in mere hours with trip reflection- and chapter 4 posts in the works.

(more on what "chapter 4" is is for-thcoming)

korean lesbians: the politician and the closet

this is another article i wrote for fridae.com, a gay asian website. you can see it here or just read it below (i even capitalized proper nouns and the beginning of sentences!).

bueno and very are two cafes near ewha womans university that are popular among lesbians in seoul.

Another barrier for Korean queers was shattered this month when Choi Hyun-sook (최현숙) became South Korea's first openly gay candidate.

Choi, 51, is the chair of the Democratic Labor Party's coalition of civic groups for sexual minorities, and is campaigning to represent Seoul's historic Jongno district. At a news conference earlier this month, she announced her candidacy for the April 9 elections and vowed to confront political corruption and discrimination against women and minorities.

Choi told reporters that she would "engage in political work for all citizens, not just for the minorities," and that her personal experiences enhance her qualifications.

She said: "Some may question the suitability of appointing a divorcée who is a lesbian as a member of parliament. But it is exactly the minority who have been through hardship who will appreciate the real politics and spirit of rendering public service to the majority, and to put the policies into action."

Although Choi came out of the closet shortly after her 2004 divorce, it is only recently that she has spoken openly with the press. Her public acknowledgment coincides with an unprecedented mobilization by Korea's iban (이반), or LGBT community in recent months.

last fall, korean homos resorted to guerilla tactics to protest the removal of protections for gays and lesbians from a landmark non-discrimination bill under consideration by lawmakers.

Last fall, business and conservative Christian interests pressured the South Korean Ministry of Justice to remove gays, lesbians and six other groups from a historic non-discrimination bill that was being considered by lawmakers. Choi participated in a series of protests, international media outreach and community meetings to get the protections reinstated. The ensuing controversy forced the bill's withdrawal for additional review. Although the legislation remains in limbo, LGBT activists fear that South Korea's new right-wing president, Lee Myung-bak, is no friend to sexual minorities.

It may be surprising that Choi and others' efforts on behalf of LGBT Koreans are not universally embraced by their intended beneficiaries. Zoe Kim is a 20-year-old student at Ewha Womans (sic) University. At a coffee shop popular among young lesbians near her campus, Kim says that while she was inspired by Choi coming out, she, and many young Korean lesbians like her, are wary of anything that brings a spotlight to their lives.

"We're really secretive and like it that way," Kim says about her lesbian coterie.

this lesbian samulnori (사물놀이) troupe performed as last year's korean queer culture festival (photo by 이정우).

Like most gay Koreans, Kim remains in the closet and uses a fake name even among her queer friends. She says that the older generation are not ready to accept homosexuality. Although she wishes she could snap her fingers and instantly make Korea as gay-friendly as some Western nations, her life as a Korean lesbian is generally comfortable, and she doesn't want to come out. "I don't really see the need of lesbians to become [activists]," she says.

It is, however, thanks to the work of queer activists that Kim and other women can enjoy gay social outlets on the peninsula. It was only 16 years ago that Sappho, Korea's first organisation for lesbians, was established by a group of nine expatriates who were living in Seoul. In the mid-1990s, other organizations were formed, newsletters and magazines published, and Korea's first lesbian commitment ceremony was performed in 1995.

Today, in addition to scores of venues for gay men, there are at least one dozen Seoul cafés, bars and clubs that cater specifically to lesbian and bisexual women. On Friday and Saturday nights, one hundred or more of them gather at Lesbos, Labrys, Pink Button and other venues in the Hongik University neighbourhood of Western Seoul. On the Internet, Korean lesbians connect via websites like miunet.co.kr. In addition to perusing member profiles and exchanging emails, visitors can set up "beong gae" (벙개) or offline group meetings.

Unlike some of its Asian neighbours, South Korea has no history of laws banning homosexuality, yet widespread ignorance and bias contributes to a hostile cultural climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. As evidence of this, a 2005 poll of 507 Korean women conducted by the Lesbian Rights Research Institute, found that 83 percent reported experiencing discrimination or disadvantages because of their sexual orientation.

Yun Ga-hyun is a professor of psychology at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, who has studied Korean attitudes about homosexuality. Next year, he will publish a paper examining how those attitudes are changing, but in a previous book, Yun argued that Korea's culture perpetuates misperceptions about homosexuality.

some of korea's homo friends across the east sea in japan. takako otsuji campaigns with her rainbow vanagon and some fabulous supporters in osaka (photo from here).

Such misperceptions, of course, extend to the families of queer Koreans, so last September, the Korean Sexual-Minority Culture and Rights Center organized the first-ever public forum for the families and friends of Korean homosexuals. One of the panelists was Takako Otsuji, who is the mother of Japan's first openly gay politician, Kanako Otsuji. Otsuji said that it is common for the parents of gay and lesbian children to also experience alienation from their peers. To address this issue, Otsuji and her daughter created a support group for the family and friends of sexual minorities in Japan.

Parliamentary candidate Choi also attended the forum, and she encouraged participants to move beyond the goal of emotional support to political empowerment. "This forum should be a starting point to use our collective power to make legislation to help this community in the long run." She added, "Family is important but so are our basic rights."

Of course, if Choi's bid to join South Korea's National Assembly is successful, she will be in precisely the right position to legislate on behalf of millions of LGBT Koreans.

white day

white day crap for sale on a street in edae. ps: lately my neighborhood has been overrun with foursomes in neon lycra and colorful wigs with a plus, minus, multiplication sign or obelus and fake guns. i think they are promoting math... or something.

maybe it's just the sickness passing, but it's been a gorgeous past few days. the yellow dust and thick thick smog are elsewhere (china?) and the balmy spring temps have my terrace door ajar and even inspired a (quickly aborted) short-sleeved shirt.

anyhow, on the endless korean holiday front, today is white day (화이트데이) in korea, japan and taiwan. white day is valentine's day's spoiled little sister. last month on v-day, girls gave their boys gifts (often chocolate). today, it's payback time, but guys are expected to triple the value of their girlfriend's gift... so ditch the chocolate in favor of jewelry. thank god (again) that i'm a homosexual.

i'm a bigger fan of black day, which arrives this time next month. on april 14, me and my fellow singles will gather over plates of black noodles (jjajangmyeon 짜장면) and take delight in our singled emancipation.

the yellow dust has arrived

the big picture.

ever seen yellow snow?

it's not the stuff on the ground you shouldn't eat. i'm referring to what fell from the sky in parts of korea earlier this week, when the peninsula was struck by light snowfall and the first yellow dust storms of the new year.

in korea it's called hwangsa (황사), and every spring dust storms across the huge gobi desert of mongolia, china and kazakhstan are picked up by prevailing winds and carried eastward to korea and japan. it's a shame since spring is an otherwise beautiful time of year in korea.

it's by no means a recent phenomenon, however. korea's oldest extant history book, the samguk sagi (삼국사기), records the first yellow dust event in 174 during the silla dynasty. at the time, instead of blaming china, the dust was attributed to an angry god replacing the rain or snow. in april 606, ancient baekje reported a dust storm so severe that the day sky was darkened like night.

blame china.

in contemporary times the dust has become deadly as it picks up industrial pollutants like sulphur, mercury, arsenic, lead and other carcinogens from our rapidly-industrializing big brother to the north, as well as viruses, bacteria, asbestos and antibiotics. when this toxic crap falls to earth, it causes respiratory, eye and skin problems among the healthy, and the korea environmental institute says up to 165 south koreans who are already weak or infirmed die annually from the dust. the yellow shiz also destroys crops, interferes with animal reproductive systems and destroys coral reefs. the economic damage is estimated to be in the billions of dollars annually.

off the charts.

over the past weekend, the korea meteorological association issued a dust warning advising folks to stay indoors with windows and doors shut. although the seoul area was spared, the southern provinces of jeolla and gyungsang were hard hit, and some schools were closed. the u.s. military has several yellow dust tracking sites, and the one located at camp walker (just a few blocks from my family's home in daegu) reported 1423 micrograms per cubic meter on sunday night. anything under 100 is ok, but dust concentrations exceeding 800 are considered "hazardous".

available in several springy pastel hues!

since the storms are expected to run through april, if you really must head outside, please sport a trendy surgical mask popular among the walking sick in asia. other tips include frequent hand washing, eschewing contact lenses in favor of glasses, and drinking lots of water.

march 1st movement

korean declaration of independence pamphlet produced by korean red cross (lots of great information and this image from here. thanks to gusts for the heads up.)

on a snowy february 8th, 1919, some 600 korean students studying in japan gathered at tokyo's kanda distrct ymca. inspired by japan's brutal colonization of korea and u.s. president woodrow wilson's "fourteen points" speech, which argued for the right of national self-determination, the students came together to read a declaration of independence written by yi kwang-su.

march 1st protest (also from here).

three weeks later, on march 1, 33 nationalists gathered in a seoul restaurant to read their own declaration of independence. in nearby tapgol park (탑골 공원), another student, chung jae-yong, read the document to a massive crowd. over the next year, the japanese military struggled to control the 1,500 protests by over two million koreans. after summoning the japanese army and navy to quell the movement, 7,509 koreans were dead, 15,849 were wounded and over 46,000 were arrested. western powers did nothing.

photo of the seodaemun prison where korean independence activists were tortured and killed by the japanese (photo by robert koehler).

on april 13, 1919, korean nationalists in shanghai founded the provisional government of the republic of korea, which served as the de jure korean government until japanese surrender in 1945. korea's march 1 movement served as inspiration for china's own may 4th uprisings against the japanese. today, march 1st or sam-il (3-1) is observed as one of korea's first widespread uprisings against japan's oppressive colonial rule. since 1949, samil undong (삼일 운동) has been a national holiday.

field trip #8: the house of sharing

visit a living memorial that documents japan's sexual exploitation of 200,000 women during world war 2.

over the past 15 years, if you strolled by the japanese embassy in jongro on a wednesday afternoon, no doubt you would have heard the handful of elderly korean women and their supporters protesting with signs demanding formal apologies from the japanese government.

former korean sexual slaves at a press conference in washington, dc last july (photo by ahn young-joon/ap).

these grandmothers in their 70s and 80s are some of the last survivors of an estimated 200,000 girls and women from across asia who were forced into an organized system of sexual slavery perpetrated by the japanese military during the 1930s and 40s. my distant connection to the issue is that my father's wife is related to jan ruff-o'hearn, an outspoken, former dutch-indonesian "comfort woman."

korean "comfort women" who found refuge in lameng, china (1945)

despite irrefutable documentary evidence, as well as testimonies by former sex slaves and the soldiers who raped them, the japanese government denies its role. last march, former japanese prime minister shinzo abe suggested that the women were willing prostitutes. the ensuing furor helped encourage the passage of u.s. house of representatives resolution 121, which asks the japanese government to formally apologize and to teach japanese students about their crimes. the resolution was introduced by rep. mike honda, a japanese american from california.

the museum includes a life-size, recreated "comfort station" cubicle. outside the door are rows of wood blocks with the japanese names given to slaves. if a woman was unavailable due to venereal disease, her block was turned over.

although commonly referred to as "comfort women", in korea, they are known as wianbu (위안부), or just "halmohni," which means grandmother in korean. this intimate and respectful name bestowed on all elderly korean women, is especially important since threats of shame and abandonment compelled most of korea's former sex slaves to keep their torture stories a secret to this day. during the 45 years that followed world war 2 and korea's liberation from the japanese, many of them never married, and many of those who did were sterilized by veneral disease or the japanese-administered mercury injections that severely damaged their reproductive system.

in 1991, kim hak-soon became the first halmohni to publicly testify her experience as a sexual slave. her courageous coming out helped expose the poverty, isolation and post-traumatic stress experienced by many of the halmohnis. in 1992, a home in central seoul was established to help care for a handful of these frequently-ill elderly women. in 1995 the house of sharing, as it's called, was moved outside of seoul to gwangju on land donated by korea's joggye buddhist order. nine halmohni's between the ages of 77 and 86 currently call the place home.

one of many gifts to the halmohnis from japanese and korean school children, which highlight the fragile but growing rapport between the korean and japanese people, despite the fact that the japanese government refuses to atone for its crimes.

18-months ago, the house began monthly english tours, having previously catered to korean and japanese-speaking guests. on an especially cold sunday in december, i met about 40 anglophones at gangbyeon station in southeastern seoul. via bus and taxi, 90 minutes later we arrived at the house of sharing. while seated on warm ondol floors, our guides provided an historical summary of the issue before touring the museum of sexual slavery by the japanese military. the museum, which was built in 1998, includes wartime photographs, a life-size "comfort station" cubicle, art by the halmohnis, and documentary evidence proving the japanese government's role. for me, the most touching part was an alcove full of posters, paper flowers and gifts, most of them from japanese school children. of course, the tour's highlight is the opportunity to hear a "testimony" from one of the halmohnis. but given their advanced age and poor health, it's common for visitors to watch a taped testimony instead.

this is a portrait of the halmohni whose testimony we watched. in this photo, she is sitting in the museum's recreated "comfort station" cubicle.

overall, the experience was moving, but especially during the q+a session, i felt like the american guide was most interested in cultivating a space to criticize japanese and korean misogyny. no doubt a necessary exercise, but the tone and venue made it feel like a version of the "isn't asia backward?!" diatribe i find popular among white expats. it was weird to be among 40-some foreign visitors and guides with no korean perspective, especially since we were in a home for korean women created thanks to funding from the korean government and korean and japanese individuals. righteous minnesota white lesbian guide didn't appreciate me asking if there were any korean guides.

nonetheless, the house of sharing is a powerful experience, and sadly, time is running out for these courageous halmohni. visit and/or donate as soon as you can!

getting there:

→ (house of sharing) take subway line 2 to gangbyeon station and walk to the bus stop in front of the technomart. take bus #1110-1 to gwangju city hall. from there, take a taxi to nanumae-jip. 5,000 won (students: 3,000). english-language group tours are available one sunday per month. visit the sharing house website to find out when.

→ (japanese embassy protest) take subway line 3 to anguk station (exit #6), then walk 250 meters west and turn left as you pass the somerset palace building. walk 100 additional meters and the embassy will be on your right. wednesday 12:00.

2008 all asia pass!

it's time to plan your asian travel extravaganza.

just minutes ago cathay pacific announced their 2008 all asia pass. it ain't what it used to be, but the 2008 program still includes roundtrip economy travel between la, sf or nyc to hong kong plus up to 4 "basic" asian destinations within a 3-week period for $1,699 (hong kong + only 2 = $1,099). you can add additional locations, travel during the summer and/or lengthen your trip for extra. full details can be found by downloading the brochure here.

you should really include seoul and busan on your itinerary :)

an actual tip, is that if you want to travel in southeast asia but don't want to use up all 4 of your destinations quota, flights out of bangkok (bkk) and kuala lumpur (kla) are super cheap, thanks to budget airlines like air asia. stopover in bkk for a week or two and take another airline to chiang mai, phnom penh, bali, etc. let me know if you want help planning.

here's the list of "basic" asian destinations (remember there are dozens of others that can be added to your itinerary for an extra fee).

cambodia: phnom penh
hong kong
indonesia: denpasar (bali), jakarta surabaya
japan: fukuoka, nagoya, osaka, sapporo and tokyo,
korea: seoul and busan
malaysia: kota kinabalu, kuala lumpur and penang
pakistan: karachi
philippines: cebu and manilla
singapore
taiwan: kaohsiung and taipei
thailand: bangkok and phuket
vietnam: ho chi minh city

escalator etiquette

what's your hometown's escalator etiquette?

there are plenty of points of divergence, but on this americans and koreans agree:

1) the driver sits on the left side of the car and drives on the right side of the road.

general walking protocol, however (e.g. between subway platforms, while crossing the street, etc.), is different. in korea, folks trend to the left, while the american right of way is (in theory, anyway) on the right. it's no wonder why i still have many awkward tête-à-tête's with koreans on busy sidewalks. as we approach one another, i reflexively step to the right just as they move to their left. rather than passing each other, we meet again... and repeat. it's yet another apt metaphor for living-abroad-culture-shock.

escalator etiquette is another point of divergence. with the exception of washington, dc's masses of very self-important suit-and-tie subway commuters, americans use the escalator to rest, not to move faster. maybe it's cause we're fat, but even in busy nyc, there are always several dopes blocking the way, oblivious to the backup behind them. let's blame the tourists.

contrast this to seoul, where i'd give the locals an 8+ out of 10 (maybe even a 9-) when it comes to leaving the escalator's left-side clear of obstructions for we walkers. even when an affectionate couple cuddles side-by-side, they can feel my stair-climbing feet behind them and merge back into the standing queue. this is surprising given typical korean subway behavior: ajussi will often give you a two-handed shove while their female counterparts throw their purses upon entering the subway car to "reserve" seats.

while cavorting around asia last year, i noticed that each country had a slightly different transportation protocol. re: escalators, singaporeans stand to the left while their colonial brothers in hong kong stand right. hong kong's central-mid-levels escalator lays claim to being the world's longest outdoor covered escalator system, at 800 meters long. in japan, tokyo riders should stand on the left but on the right when on osaka's escalators (it's the kantō-kansai rivalry thing).

although residents of major u.s. cities, london and paris are supposed to abide by the stand-right, walk-left system, this is not a NATO-inspired standard. draw whatever cultural conclusions you want, but canadians are not supposed to walk at all. in the name of safety, toronto's transit commission requests that no one walks on canadian escalators. walking (very fast), however, might have helped the 31 people who died when a london escalator caught fire and exploded in 1987. you know, i've always been scared of my shoelace getting caught between an escalator's sinister teeth.

first patented by a massachusetts yankee in 1859, and first constructed in 1896 by a new yorker, the continuous moving stairway we call the escalator moves masses efficiently while occupying no greater physical space than a staircase. a fine invention indeed!

anyhow, i'm curious to know your city or country's escalator etiquette. left, right or none of the above?

pacific northwest summary

timestamp is still hong kong time. looks like nite, but this was snapped at 8:35 am... 16-hours of darkness each winter is why this lovely city boasts one of the nation's highest suicide rates.

a little more than 10 hours after leaving honkers, i passed thru u.s. immigration and customs at canada's vancouver airport. strangely enough, america jr. allows its southern neighbors this convenience, tho i doubt we reciprocate (maybe one reason why canadian english teachers back in soko are so anti-american?).

foreigners seem impressed by the fact seattle is home to the world's first starbucks. here she is. yup, the logo used to have tits!

vancouver is one of the world's loveliest cities, but unfortunately, i was only there in transit. once back in my hometown of seattle, i was reminded how 16-hours of darkness per day and un-ceasing winter drizzle can be depressing even to the locals. for just 2.5 days of it among mama, eric, jayne+hyeong, and my ky, however, made for a nice reminder of where i come from.

it appears that i am enjoying myself more than they are.

after some last-minute holiday shopping, i wolfed down barbecued pork and vermicelli noodles at my favorite vietnamese restaurant before meeting my gender-bent/burlesqued mamasan at seattle's favorite lesbian haunt, the rose. wilma and shameless dancing at homo icon rplace followed. hungover the next morn, i was sad to miss the newly reopened seattle art museum's exhibit japan envisions the west: 16th-19th century japanese art from kobe city museum."

dumb joke, but a bit of oregon anyhow. pictured are my dad's one-eyed goat bill and bizarrely huge (beef) steaks.

jetlag and a busy list of to-do's kept sleep at a minimum before i traveled 200 miles south to the rural hinterlands of america's latest too-hip city, portland, oregon. down in wine country i spent a weekend among farm creatures at pop's vineyard, amazed by how the fertile red dirt makes everything grow like weeds and somehow found its way onto all of my possessions. contrary to plans, we left my remington wingmaster 850 shotgun in the closet and let the caged pheasants live.

field trip #5: singye-dong

note: no, i didn't rush back to korea to tour an abandoned shantytown. but before i left i stuffed a few field trips away in the kitty for later posts. this one's for starters...

slummin it seoul style.

palaces are pretty and all, but there's nothing like a good ole shanty town to really say authentic. i'm sort-of kidding. anyhow, based on an article on a popular expat website, 3 of my japanese friends and i woke up early one morning and ventured over to samgakji station in central seoul's yongsan-gu to explore the lost neighborhood of singye-dong.

(photo by my buddy, aka asougi shun).

in a city whose politicians are in love with major economic redevelopment projects, yongsan is probably the biggest. the area, which is translated as "dragon mountain," is probably best known as the home of the u.s. military garrison. but, since troops will relocate to pyongtaek at the end of next year, their 630-acre compound smack dab in the middle of seoul is a huge piece of prime real estate that's up for grabs.

no kids, this ain't dubai.

no surprise then, that a consortium, led by samsung corporation and korea's national pension fund service, just revealed plans to invest $31-billion dollars into developing a futuristic business town. the project, which is expected to be korea's biggest-ever, will be anchored by a 620-meter high, 152-story tower in the shape of... a huge tacky water drop! here comes mini-dubai, right here in seoul.

the catholic church on top of danggogae.

anyhow, with construction expected to start as early as next march, my friends and i ran over to see what the wrecking ball called progress is going to obliterate this time. well, we walked west from samgakji station over the train tracks and saw a small hill on our left, which is named danggogae. the hill is where ten korean catholics were martyred in 1839. if you climbed over the fence, which i did and still have a puncture scab on each palm jesus-style to prove it, you'd see rows of wooden pews and an altar... but no roof. yes, kids, it's... an outdoor church, or something like it (doesn't it seem kinda strange to demolish a shrine to 10 martyrs?). anyhow, the area around the hill is covered by a tight network of narrow alleys and old colonial-style homes.

virtually all of the homes were abandoned, most with lots of personal items left behind.

the whole yongsan area has historically been the home of foreign military forces in korea- first the chinese, then the japanese and now the americans. during the colonial period, japanese railway company employees lived here, which is why the architecture, in many respects, looks more japanese than korean. of course, any other evidence of their former japanese denizens has been scrubbed clean.

the singye-dong neighborhood is generally a series of narrow alleys between shanties. some of the sturdier buildings feature japanese-style roof tiles. on the left is the evacuation order by seoul city officials (photo by asougi shun).

on the whole, these homes have not been well cared for, and since most of the residents were required to evacuate in october, it's basically an abandoned shanty town, of what my friend hyocheol says is called sandongnae (산동네) in korean. but the maze of partially-demolished, empty homes and the ubiquitous red spray painted “cheol-geo” (철거) or “demolition” signs make it a kind of spooky.


the juxtaposition of these colonial-era shanties surrounded by glitzy high-rise apartments is certainly a sign of what's to come for the area. my hetero crush kenkichi used his superior korean to speak with a delivery man in the area who said the homes are expected to be demolished sometime in march or april. let's hope the former residents have been fairly compensated and are enjoying better living conditions today (unlikely).

singye-dong is dwarfed by the residential highrises that will soon take its place (photo by asougi shun).

so... if spooky neighborhood photo ops are your thing, head over to singye-dong while you still can.

getting there:

→ take subway line 4 or 6 to samgakji station (exit #8... i think) and walk several hundred meters west over the rail tracks until you reach a major intersection. turn left and walk until you see a hill covered in abandoned shanties on your left.

bem-vindo a macau

a row of pretty colonial buildings off macau's largo do senado.

for 329 years the portuguese ruled macau, a tiny 28.6 sq kilometer peninsula-plus-2 islands located an hour west of hong kong via boat. this oldest and last european colony in china was formally handed back to the prc in 1999, and is now a popular gambling destination for millions of mainland chinese. the area's namesake is the still-existing templo de a-ma, which was built in 1448 to honor the goddess of seafarers and fisherman. back in the day, when the hairy foreigners asked the locals the region's name, they replied, "a-ma-gao" (bay of a-ma), which the euros translated as "macau".

nice to see evidence of local efforts to preserve colonial buildings... even if only the facades remain.

since i forgot to bring my passport, i did a dry run to hong kong's macau ferry terminal before returning 90 mins later for the real deal. smart guy. but after a 1-hour cruise on the south china sea, macau's weird port came into view. colorful portuguese colonial buildings sat alongside a strange small volcano-theme park thing, which, in turn, was dwarfed by the atrocious, huge flower-shaped grand lisboa casino/hotel tower.

snapped while walking down one of macau's many narrow alleys.

wary of the local bicycle tour guides and not wanting to pay for a taxi, i hopped onto a #10a bus, about 30% sure it would take me to largo do senado, macau's main square. the copious carbon dioxide inhaled during my twenty minute, forty-cent ride got me naseous, but the bus did indeed take me to the central plaza, whose undulating black and white polished cobblestones reminded me of the sidewalks that run along the beaches of another former portuguese colony, brazil.

facade of macau's sao paulo church.

from the plaza i walked up a modest slope that curved to the left, exposing the impressive sao paulo cathedral- or, rather, its facade. once the largest church in asia, it burned in the 1800s.

awfully yummy eggy flaky pastry.

i spent the next 3 hours walking along the winding, narrow streets, eating delicious portuguese egg pastries and some kind of dead animal jerky, snapping photos and admiring the mix of chinese and portuguese cultures. i like reading signs that say "farmacia chinesa kam cheong yong".

needing to keep my trip short and sweet, shortly after 17:00 i found more signs for bus #10a and made my way back to the ferry and to kowloon. i'm spending tonight relaxing at the hotel before leaving for jesusland in the am.

hong kong holiday

a busy street on hong kong's kowloon peninsula.

after a hectic and sleepless final 30+ hours in seoul, it's been nice spending a coupla relaxing days here in hong kong. i'm enjoying the balmy temps, a nice hotel (an early xmas gift), and some sightseeing before heading off to the usa on tuesday.

predictably, hk's pungent scent immediately took me back to my asian travels from last fall. although i thought my travel bug was momentarily nipped in the bud, being here has me thinking about embarking on another mega-trip. i'm reminded of the fun to be had from a caffeine-fueled walkabout when unencumbered by an itinerary or destination.

a chinese junk at sail in victoria harbor.

i spent yesterday exploring hk's kowloon-side, enjoying a very hazy hk skyline from the "avenue of the stars", the ancient chinese ficus trees along nathan road linking jordan to tsim sha tsui, and "the great american landscape exhibition" at the hong kong heritage discovery centre in kowloon park. so much nice free stuff to be had.

so homo. a korean, 2 cantonese, a coupla half-breeds and a connecticut jew.

in the evening i met up with antony, the charming indonesian/chinese-aussie expat whom i met while traveling here last fall. together with several of his friends, we talked about korean fetishes and watched his king charles cavalier spaniel puppy pee and shiz on his cow pelt carpet. after wine while watching a thick mariah sing some of her favorites on dvd, we took two of hk's automatic door-opening taxis to the central district and propaganda, the special autonomous region's only homo dance club of repute.

tomorrow i'll take the ferry over to macau, a former portuguese colony that is now china's gambling mecca.

honkers-bound

festive lights

uhoh, guess who's been a little melancholy today with his seoul departure just hours away? it looks like the number one man in my life (me) is getting attached to this here nationland! sure, there are also people i'll miss, but me thinks it's the actual dirt of the place to which i've become attached.

in a few minutes i'll bid seoul adieu for a few days in hong kong before spending the holidays and then some with family and friends back in the usa. even though a part of me wants to stay in seoul, being among loved ones during the high holidays seems appropriate and man have i been craving some mid-western cuisine of late.

i visited city hall after dark today to see the lights and ice skaters before i left. the skaters were cute, the lights a little gaudy, if you ask me. if you watch the video below, the quality sucks but watch the couple. i'm a sucker for bloopers.

school daze

this is what we pay the big bucks for.

it's been almost 2 weeks since my level 2 korean classes ended and i don't plan to take level 3 just yet. life is much better since i'm no longer spending baffling amounts of time stressed because i'm not studying and then sad because i'm lazy. i've known for a while that it's avoiding education altogether that makes me happy.

overall, learning a new language is fun and not very difficult, but i'm not particularly good at it. my memory is shit, and while i can channel my OCD tendencies into making flashcards, it takes a special blend of caffeine, self-pep talks and accumulated guilt to get me to use them.

damn the youngsters, whose supple brains drink greedily from the gourd of knowledge! damn the nihon-jins, whose language is grammatically similar to korean, and, most of all, damn my absurdly visual memory, which means i must be able to see vocab words written in 한글 (the korean alphabet) in my head, before i can say them aloud!

except for the campy homophobe, i've been pleased with my teachers. but among my two batches of classmates, there have been some astonishing duds. to give you an idea of what i do in lieu of studying, here are two classmate sketches:


classmate sketch #1: the north american english teacher

"fuckin' dude!"

ahhhh, the sound of north americans teaching english in korea!
too socially inept and/or dumb to make it in america or america jr. (canada)? teach english abroad!

homedude always arrived late. as he disrupted class, we, too, heard the music emanating from his oversized headphones. in a desperate cry for attention that's heard in classrooms, theaters and funerals across the globe, his cell phone ring typically punctuated class. furthermore, since school policy is to only speak korean, our teacher spent a good 3-5 minutes trying to explain a single vocabulary word using korean words as well as elaborate pantomine, going to great lengths to help thai, chinese, french and japanese students realize translations into their native tongues. but much like a game of charades that this young buck desperate for affirmation hopes to win, my young american brother would blurt aloud, "oh, u mean 'coworker'?"

this is, of course, the same dude who was very angry about my f4 visa, which, since my mother is a former korean citizen, allows me to stay here without working or going to school. teaching and working visas, on the other hand, can be cumbersome and come with multiple restrictions. but during his protests i tried to explain that, 1) america's visa restrictions are considerably more onerous, and 2) it isn't "racist" for a country to provide perks for former citizens and their offspring. but mister dude wasn't hearing it. in lieu of listening, he kept saying "that's racist!!" at increasing volumes. later, he apologized, explaining, "you know, we just don't have to deal with this crap in america." we? actually, i face a lot more racist shit in my home country than this one. but, pained by this new thing called "racism," perhaps he's compelled to champion anti-racist causes back in the states. hmmmm... that seems unlikely.


classmate sketch #2: pitfalls of a one-child policy

she rarely came to class, but when she did, my lovely tall chinese classmate with bowl cut bangs and hair down to her mid-back, made an impression. during the first week of level 2, we sat at the same table. during an exercise where we asked about each others' weekends, she started pointing at me and saying that i was the "나쁜 의사" (the bad doctor). kinky! seeing my confusion, teacher intervened clarify that i am not a doctor. but, a little bit later, china points at me and makes the same accusation. humiliated that my cover was blown, i subsequently sat at another table.

bad doctors aside, usually she just looked really tired and spoke in an inaudible whisper. i don't think she knows 10 korean words. when teacher called on her she became very bashful, covering her girly giggles with a cupped palm but otherwise didn't respond. but one of the 1o words she knows is "boyfriend" and when she heard it, she always responded in an exaggerated fit of giggles while scanning the room to make eye contact with us. this was to ensure that we registered that our one-child policy dud was "in the know".

she may be dumb, but dear linda has phenomenal acting instincts. in a fit that still puzzles my polite classmates, one day she suddenly started screaming at good-natured william and stormed in and out of our classroom no less than 3 times. between her glares and repeated classroom door slams, i learned that rumor had it willy called her a bitch (of course he didn't). after three dramatic rounds, she hibernated in the women's bathroom, allegedly shedding tears, according to her mongolian consoler. was this behavior a flashback or PTSD? or, were these theatrics just cover for a 30-minute respite from class?


since i'm a jerk, i can write much more, but since i've already got lashings in the karma kitty for these bitchy (but remarkably observant and accurate!) peer sketches, i'll bid you adieu. thank you!

pride vs. hate

i'm a walking fool. while running amok near dongdaemun stadium, i found this endearing sticker on the back of a truck.


...but while stumbling home from artsy hongdae early this morning, i was disappointed to see this adulterated refuse bin.

komos strike back!

i wrote this article for fridae.com, a gay asian website. you can see it here.

seoul homos employ guerilla tactics!

there have been several times that I have been told that there are no gay koreans. 14 years after korea’s first lgbt organization was founded, the overwhelming majority of the nation’s queers still hide their sexual orientation from family, friends and coworkers. so, unless it’s saturday night in the seoul districts of jongno, sinchon or on itaewon’s “homo hill”, it’s easy to see why many heterosexual koreans assume the “gay gene” somehow bypassed their peninsula.

but this month, hundreds of korean “iban” – as they are known locally – convened to attend emergency meetings, to unfurl large rainbow banners across seoul’s busiest streets, and to rally outside the blue house, the official residence of korea’s president. their protests were inspired by the exclusion of gays and lesbians from an historic non-discrimination bill currently under consideration by lawmakers.

becoming active.

a growing number of foreigners and koreans alike feel marginalized by how the country’s confucian heritage perpetuates sexist and classist attitudes. In a groundbreaking move intended to encourage social unity, on october 2nd, the south korean ministry of justice (moj) announced a bill to criminalize discrimination on 20 grounds, including race, sex, educational status and sexual orientation. described by the moj as "the first fundamental law to actualize the principle of equality, which appears on the constitution," the law would punish direct and indirect discrimination in the areas of employment, services and education.

but when the draft bill was sent from the moj to the ministry of government legislation on its journey toward ratification, nine of the bill’s original 20 protections had disappeared. suddenly, military status, nationality, language, family type, educational status, ideology, appearance, criminal or detention record, and sexual orientation were no longer protected classes.

whereas business interests had advocated for the removal of some groups, it was south korea’s powerful conservative christian lobby that pressured the korean ministry of justice to exclude civil rights guarantees for sexual minorities.

in october, a group calling itself the assembly of scientists against embryonic cloning distributed a petition warning korean lawmakers that if the non-discrimination bill was passed, "homosexuals will try to seduce everyone, including adolescents; victims will be forced to become homosexuals; and sexual harassment by homosexuals will increase."

according to the group’s director, pusan university professor gill wonpyong, "if homosexuality is allowed, the morals of [korean] society will immediately collapse and the society will become a world of animals." lee chung woo, one of korea's gay rights' pioneers, says that korean christian groups are adopting the successful strategies of right-wing religious fanatics in the united states, who exploited widespread ignorance of lgbt issues to achieve their larger political goals.

discrimination smack down

unlike some of its asian neighbors, the south korean constitution and civil penal code do not criminalize homosexuality. however, gay men are banned from serving in the military and widespread anti-gay bias in korean society compels most lgbt koreans to hide their sexual orientation.

while there have been other issues that mobilized korea’s iban community, it was the christian lobby’s attempt to expressly remove them from the nation’s landmark non-discrimination bill that elicited an unusually potent response. although south korea’s queer activists are often unwilling to be photographed or filmed, during the protests several of them spoke on camera to national and international media.

in one press release, han chae yoon, the co-chair of the korean sexual-minority culture and rights center (kscrc) and a korean lgbt community spokesperson, said, "we are saddened that extremist groups have hijacked this important bill. lesbian and gay koreans are your daughters, sons, neighbors and coworkers." citing the bill's historic nature, she continued, "this law would protect the dignity and human rights that everyone in korea deserves."

because south korea is a signatory of the main united nations human rights treaties, which are understood to also protect sexual orientation, Han’s group worked with new york-based human rights watch. together, they drafted a letter to south korea’s lawmakers urging them to reinstate civil rights protections for lesbians, gays and bisexuals, as well as to add protections for transgender and transsexual people.

smiling, but pissed.

although quick passage of the bill was originally expected, the ensuing controversy caused it to be withdrawn on tuesday for further study and revision. it is expected to be re-released on november 27th before coming to a vote in the national assembly sometime in march 2008.

while the fate of the non-discrimination bill remains unclear, the current controversy may have sparked a new era for korea’s iban community. in their zeal to persecute korea’s typically inconspicuous queer population, the right-wing christian groups may have inadvertently inspired the next generation of korean lgbt activists.