Monster Island (actually a peninsula)*

Pearls of witticism from 'Bo the Blogger: Kushibo's Korea blog... Kushibo-e Kibun... Now with Less kimchi, more nunchi. Random thoughts and commentary (and indiscernibly opaque humor) about selected social, political, economic, and health-related issues of the day affecting "foreans," Koreans, Korea and East Asia, along with the US, especially Hawaii, Orange County and the rest of California, plus anything else that is deemed worthy of discussion. Forza Corea!

Sunday, April 2, 2006

Pusan, Taemado/Tsushima, and where else?

A co-worker has snared a doctor and will be marrying this man down in Pusan next weekend. I have managed to get away from my normal Friday, Satuday, and Sunday duties and am considering spending a long weekend down there: head down Friday morning and come back up on Monday morning.

Anyone down in the Pusan area who would like to meet up for coffee or a drink, let me know. Anyone up in the Seoul area who would like to see the sights down there, let me know. If I am not traveling alone, I may drive my pimped-out minivan and share the cost of gas. Otherwise, I'm taking the KTX and relying on public transport.

I would like to see some cherry blossoms, though I now have no working camera (my old Canon digital camera is kaput, my Sony camcorder needs to be sent to the shop, and my film camera is somewhere in Japan). I might head to Pŏmŏsa Temple (Beomeosa) to see the bamboo.

I am also considering taking a day-trip to Tsushima (Taemado) Island, the bit of Japanese territory a short boat ride off the Pusan/ Kyŏngsang coast. Maybe I'll check out real estate opportunities there.

If I have no travel partner and nobody to see down there (all relations in the area are currently in the States, as far as I'm aware), I might drive over to the Posŏng Tea Fields in neighboring Chŏlla-namdo Province.

One of the great thing about my minivan is that it is large enough in the back to sleep in comfortably (it's great for siestas) when the seats are pushed down. I might stay there if the condo for wedding guests is not available, but then again I might splurge for the 8000 won cost of entry for a steam/bathhouse (찜질방, jjimjilbang). However, the last time I stayed in one of them, the couple "sleeping" nearby started having sex. Apparently this is an extremely rare thing to happen in a legitimate establishment, but there they were, going at it as quietly and as inconspicuously as possible at 2 a.m. or so.

No comments:

Ask Kushibo.

My Google/Blogspot data shows that a lot of the 2 million people who have landed on my site (yes, that's the real number) are looking for cultural information on Korea (e.g., “When did Syngman Rhee die?” “What did the Indians bring to the first Chusŏk?’ etc., etc.), as well as practical or historical stuff.

That got me thinking that, hey, I have a master’s degree in Korean studies and a minor in Japanese studies, I’ve lived in Seoul far longer than most foreans my age (whether they're kyopo or non-kyopo), I teach introductory courses on Korea and its cultural trappings and history, so why not offer a free service where I attempt to answer people’s questions, point them in the direction of where they can get them answered, and/or offer my regulars (that’s you!) a chance to take a stab at some of this stuff, too.

So if there’s something you’d like to know from a “contrarian scourge,” click on ASK KUSHIBO and just ask a succinct question in the comments section below.

Oh, and play nice. Please don’t make me regret this.

九十五大怪獣란? 쿠시보의 몬스터 아일랜드란?

Pearls of witticism from 'Bo the Blogger: Kushibo's Korea blog... Kushibo-e Kibun...
Now with Less kimchi, more nunchi. Random thoughts and commentary (and indiscernibly opaque humor) about selected social, political, economic, and health-related issues of the day affecting "foreans" ("foreigners" in Korea be they kyopo or non-kyopo), Koreans, Korea and East Asia, along with the US, especially Hawaii, Orange County, and the rest of California, plus anything else that is deemed worthy of discussion. Forza Corea!

* Monster Island (actually a peninsula)

The name of this blog comes from a line in "Lisa on Ice," a beloved episode of The Simpsons, perhaps my all-time favorite television show (even though for several seasons there, it really did suck). Lisa is imagining being sworn in as president, but at the last minute, it is discovered that she failed P.E. (physical education) and she is thus "sentenced to a lifetime of horror" on Monster Island. "Don't worry," the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court confides in her, "It's just a name."

Fast forward to Lisa and other prisoners running in panic through a tropical jungle, chased by Godzilla-like creatures, including a monster turtle and a monster firefly.

"He said it was just a name!" Lisa screams to the man next to her. While he, too, runs for his life, the unidentified man calmly says, "What he meant is that Monster Island is actually a peninsula."

Anyway, I thought in some ways that punchline summed up modern-day Korea in a nutshell. For many people—foreigners and Koreans—the ups and downs and everyday travails of the Republic of Korea make it as precarious as a Monster Island would be (and with the DMZ being the only land border, it really is like an island). But it actually is a peninsula. Okay, it made sense in my head.

So as you can see, despite the hits I get from people looking for Japanese tentacle porn, it has nothing to do with anything salacious as that.

Monster Island (actually a peninsula)*

Sunday, April 2, 2006

Pusan, Taemado/Tsushima, and where else?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts