No fun teaching English in Korea

Western English teachers I met in Korea were generally a miserable lot. It's a tough country to negotiate, especially for wide-eyed, idealistic twentysomethings looking for adventure. If Singapore is Asia 101, then Korea is definitely a graduate course. Here's an angry diabtribe from such teacher.
Basically, he hated everything about his experience there. Why he stuck around despite all, he doesn't say. Not a bad writer. But his anger and miserable attitude overrun the few valid points he has.
- Roger in DC

Jeon Do-hyun at Cannes

Predictably, the Korean media is going ga-ga over Jeon Do-hyun after she won the best actress award at Cannes for her portrayal of grieving mother in the movie "Secret Sunshine."
I'm not going to add to the hyperbole (especially since I haven't seen the movie), but suffice to say she's far and away the best Korean actress working now. She has been for some time, in my opinion.
Watch her throw it down in "Happy End" as an unhappy housewife or as an innocent schoolgirl in "Harmonium in My Memory." She was the only reason to watch "My Mother, the Mermaid."
She's made some clunkers, including the sappy (and inanely titled) "You Are My Sunshine," the overrated "Untold Scandal," and the immature "Contact." But she's a standout even in those movies.
Not blessed with the classic Korean beauty, she and her abilities make you wonder why Korean directors can't harness more from her acting contemporaries. Good actors are out there in Korea. You just can't find many of them in movies.
Oh...now that I'm a dad, I don't think I can bear to watch "Secret Sunshine." I'll settle for reading the glowing reviews trickling out of international media.
- Roger in DC

Thank the Moonies for that Delectable Sushi ...

I was reading an article on Japan's largest seafood market (Tsukiji) in this month's Vanity Fair and found out that a company run by the Moonies (aka Unification Church of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon) called True World Foods runs a large fleet of boats and fish distribution centers and supplies most of the sushi chefs in the US. One of these chefs is Nao Sugiyama, who runs Sugiyama, in NYC. This restaurant is generally known as a top rated sushi restaurant. According to a representative from True World Foods, the company purchases over 30,000 pounds of fresh seasfood monthly from large Japanese markets. About a fifth of this goes to the Tri-state area alone. (Photo of U.S. headquarters on the left)

-Pat in Seoul

Rain and Colbert

Time magazine says Korean singer Rain is the top vote getter in its Internet poll of the 100 most influential people in the world. Sleep-deprived Korean kids in PC bangs are at it again, apparently. It's the same reason why Yao Ming is always the top NBA All-Star vote getter. People in Asia take their online voting duty seriously.
Check out this spoof from Stephen Colbert, who's upset about the result ...all over you like an egg on bibimbap. Hilarious.
- Roger in DC

So how was your stay?

Interesting parting words from Stephen Bear, head of McKinsey Consulting, Seoul office, in an interview with a Korean newspaper.
Bear laments the Korean government was all words, little action on some of the most important issues - education, environment, labor dispute and regulations.
Korean companies will have difficulty attracting top talent unless they can change their employment models, he says. And their main problem remains the hierarchical decision-making process and promotion system is based seniorities.
Oh, and he says he will miss Korean food (After all these years of globalization, the Korean media still laps it up whenever foreigners declare their fondness for Korean food and culture.)
A key topic that went unaddressed: How did his company fare in helping Korean companies deal with some of the very obstacles he refers to? Isn't that why international consulting firms are sought after - for their supposed problem solving skills that can transcend cultural issues?
I'd have liked a few examples from him, if he had any to offer.
- Roger in DC

Korean shows

Check out this tongue-in-cheek treatment of how Korean soaps are increasingly viewed. (The story has a nice premise, though not very well executed.)
It's too bad that Korean TV generally stinks. I find it to be a good way to retain my Korean language skills, but I can't bear to watch most of it. I might get hooked on a drama show every now and then, but the ones decent enough to keep my attention are few and far in between.
The last time I casually enjoyed a show was two years ago - about a country girl who makes it in Seoul through her fortitude and outlook (based on an old tale about a girl named Geom-soon). Before that, a couple of years earlier, it was another show about a country girl who makes it in Seoul through her fortitude and outlook (and a side romance with a wealthy boy who happens share her attic room). Suffice to say, these shows - while deeply reflective of the Korean ethos of hard work, respect for authority, and stick-to-it-tiveness - also lack originality and utterly devoid of good writing.
- Roger in DC

A muscular executive

As I was watching an episode of ABC's Lost a few weeks ago, there was a scene in which the CEO of a large Korean conglomerate - the father of one of the characters, Sun - hires a muscle to do a job on an adversary. I thought it to be an instance of a TV show playing up to a stereotype - the mysterious Asian executive with too much power. Then I read this story.
- Roger in DC

Momentary bliss

Here at work on my twice-a-year Sunday rotation. No news breaking. Lots of idle time. A beautiful spring day in the nation's capital. Listening to some downloaded Yo-Yo Ma interpretation of Ennio Morricone pieces. Sifting through the Sunday NY Times (about Chien-Ming Wang's almost-perfect game yesteday) with a cup of warm chamomille tea. Yeah, I know, all the signs of middle-age adulthood very much present. But man, what a nice, easy Sunday morning.
- Roger in DC