An Article to Describe Korea Better Than I Ever Could

Koreans very much live in a competitive, "I want what my neighbor has and more" society. This is very evident by the simple fact that I am here with thousands of my western comrades who are getting paid handsomely for doing something that comes naturally.

However, today in the Washington Post there happens to be an article that talks about South Koreans and their atrocious savings abilities. While I'm not entirely interested in financial matters, it does get at the heart of how and why Koreans do what they do.

Take a second to read it... I absolutely love living here, and I think that education IS the most important thing in any culture, but does this kind of thinking actually lead to something catastrophic?

Some Fun English Reading...

I was told about this book earlier last summer, but recently found it here in Korea and decided to give it a shot. "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" by Lynne Truss is a book about punctuation and grammatical correctness. WAIT! Before you stop reading this post, and this blog, I swear to you its a funny book. If you're going to come here and teach English you will surely develop a great sense of humor about the English language and subsequently feel bad for any that have to learn it.

It's a short book of about 200 pages that takes a look at how punctuation can change the meaning of any written statement/passage. It pokes fun at misplaced commas and apostrophes and does so with a sarcastic humor that you can't help but love.

It starts off with the joke about the Panda who comes into a restaurant, eats some food, takes out a gun and shoots two shots into the air, and walks out. As he walks out he throws a badly punctuated wildlife book at the waiter and says, "I'm a Panda, look it up." The waiter reads the book and sees, "Panda. Large black and white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots, and leaves."

Which, if you're good, you should know that the statement should read something like, "Panda. Large black and white bear like mammal. Native to China, eats shoots and leaves."

Regardless, I find this kind of stuff amusing and it is a pretty quick read. The book points out everyday misuses of punctuation that will make you realize that you don't even notice this stuff half the time, but maybe you should be more careful. I thoroughly recommend it.

Getting Learned With New Books

I did one post in May. One. Some would call it laziness (me) and some would just say that there's absolutely nothing going on at the moment (also me), but that will change soon. Basically what I'd like to think is that I spent that time really researching the crazy thing I'm about to do in two months, and that's somewhat true. Although what would be closer to the truth, is I have gotten a bit lazy as the weather has warmed up, and have been making good use of the little time I've got left in New York (concerts, a Rolling Stone Mag Birthday Party, summer movies, outside drinking, etc. etc.). Ya know, I complain, but this city has been home for almost three years, and in the grand scheme of things it has provided me with an insurmountable amount of entertainment, and that's really all I'm out for. Perhaps I'm becoming a bit more nostalgic as the weeks wind down, and am romanticizing everything as time ticks away, but I think that there is a strong chance I'll return to New York after my stint in Asia. With that being said, I'm really in no place to make any predictions as I want to keep a completely open mind.

Anyway.... .... I wasn't kidding about the research thing. I have managed to pick up two books recently that I think have really enhanced my understanding of Korea and will continue to be useful throughout my stay there.

The first being Lonely Planet's Guide to Korea. I bought the most recent edition (which is currently sold out in most places such as Barnes & Noble) online at Amazon's marketplace, used, for $9 and it was in perfect condition.

Now, I've been needing an excuse to buy a Lonely Planet book, b/c they're so damn good. They give you a brief history in the beginning, some paragraphs on the culture and daily life, and then they break up the rest of the book into different areas and suggest every place imaginable to visit. I broke out the highlighter for things to remember and also got a pretty great history of Korea as far as their place as China's little brother, and a better understanding into their dislike for Japan. It also suggested some places in North Korea, which piqued my interest so now THAT is in the back of my mind.

Also, it talked a bit about Hangul, Korea's written language, which I'm slowly but surely becoming fascinated with. Expect a separate post in the coming weeks as I get a better understanding of the written script which is said to be so easy 2 year old Korean babies understand it. Korea does have a 99% literacy rate, so maybe they're onto something.

The second book I have yet to really crack open (maybe I'm a bit premature in writing about it then) but it can't be anything BUT useful. I bought Korean, At a Glance for $8 at a local Barnes & Noble. This book is no bigger than my hand and about two inches thick, and even comes with a removable plastic cover so it will most likely become a staple in my purse/bag for the next year.

The cover boasts that it has over 1500 phrases and expressions for everyday use, and is as well a useful dictionary. What I liked about it was the fact that it has a food section specifically to help decode menus, because that's not something found in most and will be something I will need in order to find sustenance.

Just from reading the first few pages, it gives an introduction into Hangul and uses English to sound out a word. Once I get further into this, I hope to at least go to Korea with SOME kind of understanding of how to speak, and/or read.

Maybe next I'll find some sort of Korean Fiction, or maybe Korean Lore, or something. Although maybe the next thing I should try and find are some teaching books, THOSE might come in handy. Keep a look out in my new BOOKS label on the sidebar.