In case of an emergency...giggle

Many people in this world, when faced with awkward, sad or disturbing circumstances, resort to a chuckle, a giggle, a tort or even just a strange smile. Although this repsonse may often be involuntary, I imagine that it may not always be received with a similar response. I myself am one of those people and have often found myself in situations when an uncontrollable giggle or smirk can get me in trouble, even in the tragic case of receiving and giving bad news. This, clearly, is not an appropriate response and the need to gain control over ones facial expressions becomes rather urgent. But then again, life is too short and always will be! So smirk away!
The 'giggle reponse' is quite prominent in Korea and from what I recall, in many other Asian countries too. And it is not an inappropriate (altough can be irritating if a hangover is involved) nor impolite repsonse. it is an endearing mixture of fear, happiness and downright confusion. Recently I realised that I have been living in Seoul for a year now and I still find myself subected to the 'giggle response'.
Ordering coffee seems to be the most prominent place where the 'giggle' takes place. Requesting a coffee in any format can often result in, not only one giggle, but a chorus of giggles from part-time teenage baristas. I'm sure there are many 'giggle' places where all different people observe the outburst and as far as i can see, its here to stay! Whether you are speaking korean or english, I'm afraid there's no avoiding it and if you have managed it please let me know the trick. But for the meantime, this endearing response is welcomed because when you imagine the alternative, it ain't so bad to be part of a giggle in a giggleless world :)

With Glowing Hearts????

The tagline from this years Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and a subtle representation of Canada's national anthem, 'With Glowing Hearts' is intended (I presume) to embody the olympic spirit and personify the games centre....?

Being Irish and not too familiar with the Winter Olympics (although we do have a womens bobsleigh team), I assumed that the pride and power associated with summer olympians and backroom staff stood true to those of the winter olympics? And to an extent they do and surely they may often reach higher levels of pride and purpose. It hasto be said, however, that controversy and evidence of indignation are evermore present in these games.

If I did not live in Korea, maybe I would have passed through life unaware of the crazy sport of short track speed skating, a sport that sees more disqualifications than any other. This is no surprise when you see the reasons for such disqualification: impeding, off-track, cross-tracking, team-skating, kicking out, unsportsmanlike conduct, wrong equipment......so on and so on and so on. In a highly competitive sport thats big in the olympic scene, South Korea hold 4 out of 5 men's world records and one womans. It is apparently, not a speed-skating event if there is not a Korean in the medal winners.

This winter olympics saw many South Koreans earning their place on the national team by winning medals but it also saw an array of disqualifications (some debated their worthiness) and a barrage of abuse from some other contestants (namely Apollo Ohno of the US). In response, it is quite evident inside a classroom in Seoul how people feel about Ohno, more than likely repeating their parents sentiments. I am unsure if a lot of the commentary is just and lets face it, he's not exactly a likable character but the back and forth of accusations from both sides seem slightly askew. Maybe, just maybe, the fact that his coach is Japanese might have something to contribute to the hate???

He is referred to as 'king of fouls'. A toilet paper company in Korea even put his face on their packaging, clearly not a positive marketing spin. According to NBC, there is even a video game with a character similar to Ohno that you can shoot in the head.......... This year in the olympics was no different to previous events with high tension between Ohno and Korean skaters, with Ohno being described as 'too agressive' in the lead to two korean skaters falling into each other and giving Ohno a silver medal. But Korea has one athlete who transcends all of these spiteful conflicts, Kim Yu Na, the figure skater who is as much a talented advertiser in Korea as anything else.

Kim Yu Na's face can be seen on everything from supermarkets, to bank slips to buses to cosmetic brands. She is loved and adored by the country but also pressurised to an enormous extent. Her world record and gold medal came at a time when Koreas female speed skaters were disqualified in the relay final, a comforting pillow to ease the blow.

At 19 years of age, she holds the hopes of a country and the advertising contracts that would leave David Beckham in the shade.

The eye of the White Tiger

This weekend saw the celebration of Seollal in South Korea. Seollal is the first day of the lunar calendar and falls on the same day as the more advertised Chinese New Year. Traditionally it is bestowed with a 3 day holiday but due to the fact that it landed on a Sunday this year, we were treated to the less accepted solo Monday off work. That said, a day off is a day off and this lassie is not one to frown at such.

So what should we do?
I'm not sure what 'we' as a pack af foreign gregorian calendar followers should do but traditionally Korean families all get together in their home towns and perform ancestral rites known as charye (차례). They down the traditional clothing of the hanbok and usually eat ricecake soup (tteokguk/떡국).
When asking students what Seollal involves, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was a commercial money orientated festival. Although many people give each other gifts, the gifts are often functional food and grocery hampers. The money aspect comes into play when the children of the family perform a deep bow and say saehae bok manhi badeuseyo (새해 복 많이 받으세요). Family members would then pass money into the hands of these enthused (but often less than deserving) children.

Tiger eh?
This year is the year of the White Tiger, an auspicious event as this glorious animal only graces these calendars every 60 years. White Tigers have often been seen as positive omen as the chance of stumbling upon one in the wilderness is one in a million. Maybe this white creature is responsible for the unusual amount of snowfall in Korea this year. If so, I'm thankful to him for creating good slopes for this (very) novice snowboarder.

Isn't february 14th also St. Valentines Day?
Yes. Another intriguing custom to be explained here and another interesting holiday in Korea. Growing up in Ireland, it is custom (whether defined by Hallmark or not) that couples, partners etc. give each other gifts and cards on this day. Usually its observed that the poor helpless male half of the couple spends most of the money trying to please his girlfriend and possibly outdo her girlfriends' otherhalfs. In Korea, alas, said boy has nothing to worry about (yet). The girl will buy chocolate for her partner on Valentines Day (note the dropping of the St.). The boy will have no obligations do purchase flowers, choccies, cards etc.....until White Day.

What in the world is White Day?
A month after Valentines day sees White Day (March 14) when it becomes the man's turn to adorn his love in chocolate and whathaveyanots. All is fair in love? But what about the poor souls that have no-one to give or receive chocolate to and from? Where's their holiday........well... Black Day!

Ok, What in living life is Black Day?
If I still have your attention, a month after White Day sees Black Day (April 14). The grim colour attached to this holiday is not an accident it seems. On black day, those who did not participate in either Valentines Day or White Day will go to their local restaurant and continue an informal tradition that developed from .... somewhere. They order jajangmyeon (자장면), a noodle with black bean sauce and 'celebrate' being single. Not for the cynically minded I think.

What next? I await for more colorful days.

Ode to an enigmatic recluse

To be a recluse is not to be known, not to be known of the face or of the mind, of thought, family and belief. To have fame as a recluse surely leads to your enigmatic status. To be famous for being a genius, adored for your writing (not millions of books, but a few select iconic tales) surely leads to public knowledge of your life and world.

To create a literary character that could stand next to Huckleberry Finn or Peter Pan in the fictional hall of fame would lead to global fame and 'cult status'. To identify with generations, to recognise and point out their ales and fears though Holden Caulfield however, enables a quiet voice to be heard from this recluse. It was not that such a man denies his ability or his inspirational thoughts, he simply became sick of seing his own photograph and the banalities associated with such living and reversed slowly out of the limelight and reverred in the murkiness.


To live life with an ironic cynicism eventually leads to an individual life quest that revels in such cynicism. Even to his death, he was more than cynical.

“I hope to hell that when I do die somebody has the sense to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetary. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.”

In truth, J.D. Salinger was what he was, he was himself, judged for it and labled as something else. Whoever he was, he was a literary genius. I may respect his writing but not respect him in fear that its truly not what he wanted.

"Who the hell knows, not me"

In other news....its still cold

After taking a little break from writing this blog, due to a little Christmas trip home, I figured it was about time I updated everyone on the popular converstational topic of Korea's weather conditions. Lets face it, weather is what everyone talks about, no matter what hemisphere you're in at the moment. As the world has started using the weather as a medium to communicate its anger to us (rather vigourously), people are experiencing abnormal rain, snow, ice and for the fortunate ones...sun.

The extreme ice and snow in Ireland at Christmas, which was beyond normal awful winters, hindered travel, driving and basic functioning. Under the influence of this crazy weather pattern, I in turn became under the illusion that Korea would be as cold as always but still quite stable. Alas, stable it was not.

I landed into Seoul Incheon airport on Monday January 4th to the worst snow fall in Korea in 70 years. The city was cuddled into a white blanket. The roads were indecipherable from the footpaths and road crossings were simply undeterminable. Coming from Ireland, where everything was cancelled, postponed or closed because of the weather, I became hopeful that my school would not be open.............eh? NO! It turns out Korea is perfectly capable of functioning in such conditions, much to my jet-lagged dismay.

2 weeks on and much of the snow has decided that it quite likes Seoul and would like to stay for the rest of the winter. The footpaths are still white, the parks and fields are little snow angel heavens and many rooftops are still virgin territory, waiting to receive their first footprints.
The 1km wide Han river was and remains frozen over from edge to edge. It resembles the Bolivian salt flats in some places. It is astounding to see and imagine the process by which so much water surface can freeze and not melt under the daily sunshine.

As temperatures have started to rise this week, more than likely in anticipation of another snowfall, it becomes natural to be excited by any temperature above 0 degrees. With -21 being the coldest we have experienced this winter, the spring warmth is hotly anticipated.

All I want for Christmas is.....whatever he has

Let me state a common fact! .....
We have all been kids at one stage! Not the most awe inspiring fact but relevant none the less.
And for many of 'us' (myself included) the 'kid phase' is taking longer than expected to escape from our systems. I'm sure 'we' are all professionals in our own right and possibly buying and renting property, trying to place our own little stamp on this world of ours. I'm sure some of 'us' even have crossed a metaphorical venn diagram whereby 'our' own children share the commonality of the 'kid phase' with us.
I'm not, in any way begrudging this beautiful little lapse in maturation. In fact, I think it is a necessity in the survival of particular situations. It even helps 'us' understand certain goings on such as the phenomenon of the 'trend'.

We have all witnsessed a 'trend' as a child. We have all begged and pleaded to be involved in anything that seemed like it was a 'trend'. It transcends all boundaries of race, nation and time. The 'trend' is even cyclical to a certain extent.
There is no time greater to notice these trends than at Christmas time, but its not these giant well marketed toys that I'm talking about here. It is the small but definite trend of the 'gadget', electronic or otherwise that emerges, not from advertisement but from availability.

Teaching in a classroom in Korea, these trends are evident to the most ignorant eye. Although it must be said that many of these privately educated children have psps, dslites, portable electronic godknowswhats and super applicated cellphones, it is not these devices that caught my attention and aided my nostalgia.
Korean children seem to be taken over by tiny little packets of ...... origami paper. 7 and 8 year olds will sit there and whip up a perfectly created paper crane, colorful flowers and ribbons made from these square sheets of paper. The paper is specially designated for origami folding. When one of my students attempted to teach me how to make one of these cranes, it emerged that in fact...my hands were too big (well thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it). It's a talent that I endeavour to perfect. For what reason, I'm not really sure, its not exactly CV material but it seems so innocent and actually fulfilling to a certain extent. Another innocent but definitely cyclical trend that is disturbing the classroom is the top trump. Although its not sports cars and football players gracing the cards, pokemon do warrant being 'trumped' and i never knew there were so many.

Whether its little pieces of coloured paper, a variety of stationary accessories, pokemon toptrumps, slingshots, stickers, tamagochies, pink feather topped pens or balls of green slime, available and affordable trends will always emerge in our classrooms. In a world where technology has in fact gone a little bonkers, its refreshing and almost reassuring to see little squares of paper make such an impact.

Beware...the power of the ajumma

Its not often that a day would pass in the life of a citizen of this fair country, whether Korean or foreign, that one would evade the wrath of the 'ajumma'. A being so powerful, that it will leave dispair and wonderment in its wake.
To the mere persecuted common creatures of society such as myself, the 'ajumma' and the power that follows her is an entity that warrants awe and envy and in this instance; an attempt at an explanation and description of their existence. I find that to delve into an exploraion of this social phenomenon may spark off a certain debate as to the commonly overtly discussed sociological issues in modern Korean society. I'll try to do so without too much disdane to society or boring opinions :)

1) What is an 'ajumma'?

The word 'ajumma' is often used to address a woman of marritable age and she would more than often work in or run a business. There is a stereotypical aestheitc image of an 'ajumma' which is a woman of short, stocky build who wears trousers in outrageous plum colours and has tightly permed hair. I'm not too sure where this stereotype emerged from and I can't find any reference to its origin but I assure you, stereotypes are there for a reason....... and the fact is that such a stereotype fits in with the commonplace judgement of people by their appearance.....
....... it even may be a case of the chicken and the egg here.
The term ajumma is shortened from the original 'ajumma pama' which identifies these individuals with their 'pama' or permed hair. It is, in all of its elements; a label. A label which omits negative conotations to most people. The fact sadly is, that 'ajummas' are busy hard working women, women that care not for themselves but for their families.

2) When can I call someone 'ajumma'?


The word conjurs up confusion and bewilderment in the face of foreigners in Korea. When do you call somebody 'ajumma'? and 'When do we encounter a situation where we deem it ok to address someone as 'ajumma'? We find ourselves working on our concept of age and the traditional binary of old and young. If an ajumma is simply a woman of marriage age and 'older' than you, then wouldn't it be ok to use it many circumstances? Its the pre-determined linguistic baggage associated with the word that causes us to pause and more than often not use the word.
It is also used to call women when in a restaurant, but it is better to be sure of their 'ajumma' status beforehand as you may cause offence...... of course.

3) Why such negative connotations?


It is probably fact that the permed hair and stocky nature of the 'ajumma' have not resulted in her being the bum of many jokes in Korea. Nor is it the fact that they run and work in businesses. It is more than likely their persistent elbows. Their elbows of stainless steel. They will not think twice before knocking you out to take what was presumed to be your seat on the subway. They may stare at you with eyes of a similar steel to persuade you to give up your already coveted seat. And believe me, they are a 'they', an entity of their own. By themselves they may be frightening and powerful but as a group........ ....... ........

4) Can I keep one?

Altough the stereotype of the ajumma is on a large basis outdated, their existence is futile in the functioning of Seoul. I would like to have my own ajumma, as for all of their previously mentioned bullish features, they are a wonder. They will help you and always remember you. The ajumma is an ultimate cog in society and should be admired and respected as such. But, keep those elbows to yourself.