Korean things, not k-pop

So this post will be brief, but maybe it will give you a better look into my life here in Korea, apart from my weird obsession with korean pop music and its stars.

I just read this article in the New York Times Style Magazine. Published just under a week ago, it is still fresh, but already hidden under the slew of Milan's Fashion Week updates. I don't often read the Style Magazine (with the exception of the rare click from the nytimes.com homepage), but I found this linked on a twitter account or blog of another ex-pat living in Korea. It's an interesting analysis and assessment of how Korea has developed in the shadow of centuries of rigid control, and how the author imagines how Seoul's booming growth will play out. Much of the article is pretty spot-on, in my experience.

For those of you who don't know, Seoul is, as far as sprawling modern metropolises go, amongst the most uninspired in the world. The architecture is mind-numbingly plain, consisting primarily of high-rise apartment buildings, mid-rise shopping centers, and more restaurants per capita than anywhere in the world. The greatest features of the Seoul "skyline" (if you can even call it the skyline) are Namsan Tower, an unimpressive tower that sits upon Seoul's South Mountain (Nam=South San=Mountain), the 63 building, a golden highrise in the financial district of Yeouido which sits at an unsurprising and uninspiring 63 floors (the tallest in Seoul), and the Samsung tower, a 1990s sci-fi film gray building with a section lifted up on support beams. The city also lacks Green Space almost altogether. Aside from Chonggyecheon Stream, which environmental scientists have claimed provides no significant environmental benefits as far as urban greening goes, there are very few parks, tree lined walkways, or plants at all, especially in the central parts of Seoul.

Similarly, Korea is very much homogeneous, ethnically, in that some 90% of people fall into one of the following categories: a) Korean, b) Chinese-Korean, or c) foreign English teacher.

However, Korea is taking steps towards making their gem of Seoul a more inhabitable (Korea has the highest suicide rate in the world), more modern, and more progressive. Seoul was recently named the 2010 World Design Capital (WDC), and projects are going on citywide to update the design, appeal, and appearance of some of the most important (and ugly) parts of the city. The Han River has various beautification projects going on alongside various environmental protection and rehabilitation projects. Dongdaemun is the site of the WDC emphasized constuction of Dongdaemun Design Plaza, which will house a library, shopping areas, and expansive (by Seoul standards) green space.

Going on now is the Seoul Design Fair, which has operated for two years before as the Seoul Design Olympiad. I attend the design olympiad last year and thought it was fascinating. This year, they are expanding the focus to heavy emphasis on green technology and green design, a popular trend in design circles worldwide. I plan on going to the Design Fair in Seoul next Monday, as my school has randomly given us a day of vacation for no apparent reason. Last year's olympiad was mostly a hodgepodge of impressive, elaborate, modern, and often un-implementable design spattered across Jamsil Sports Complex with little rhyme or reason (at least in my linear mind). Hopefully, this year's designation of Seoul as the World Design Capital will enable the Design Fair to achieve new heights and really be something impressive and real. We shall see. Information on the Design Fair can be found here. I'm certainly impressed by the much improved website as compared to last year's IE-only website.

So it goes.

xoxo
A

The Oil Spill

So, this is my second report on news. My first report was regarding the tensions between North and South Korea and can be found here.

This one is going to be about the oil spill.

Ok, so maybe I'm going to sound like a big insensitive evil planet-hating bitch, but it's like not even a big deal here. This doesn't mean I don't care, it just means that NO ONE here in Korea cares. Not one student has said to me, hey, teacha, you know oil spill? no. nothing. Students are talking about the world cup. They are talking about k-pop. They are talking about lots of things, but the oil spill is not one of them. It's weird.

And it isn't really because Korea is just not up on world issues. When the Haiti earthquake happened, my students asked me all about it. When the Chile earthquake happened, my stuents knew more about it than I did. They know about these things. But it seems like the most disastrous oil spill in history is totally lost on them. They follow world news (which presumably this oil spill is), but this is not even on the radar.

In fact, my students are writing essays about the environment for a contest and not one has so much as mentioned this once. Strange.

As a result, I feel that I am really disconnected from the issue. Of course, I saw that video when Obama says he's gonna kick some ass, and I watched a very interesting video posted from CNN saying that Obama and the government can't really do anything in the short-term to fix it so the media should turn it's attention to BP and pressure them. I also think that BP is a big ass-hole of a business, but then, at this point, who doesn't think that.

Yes, I've seen those pictures of birds covered in oil. Yes, it makes me sad. Yes, I understand that this spill puts thousands of miles of coastline in unnecessary danger, and is destroying whole habitats and such, but still. Where is the coverage here in Korea?

I read the NYTimes, but I mostly ignore the oil spill coverage because it would likely dampen my spirits.

Call me an ignorant, uncaring bitch if you wish, but it's hard to take a firm stance when it seems like nobody in the entire damn country has any idea what the fuck to do about it.

I guess everyone feels the way I do: Damn that's terrible. Now what?

I dunno. I guess maybe this will encourage the government to push even harder for alternative energy options.