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!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Back in San Francisco

I'm always curious what odd thing the Immigration people will say to me here. When I flew into SFO a few months after 9/11, a surly agent asked me why, since I've lived abroad so long, I bother to even keep my US citizenship.

Oh, and ICN kicks butt. So does Singapore Airlines, which bumped my Asiana mileage-using self up to business class.

UPDATE: This person doesn't think ICN kicks butt so much.

10 comments:

reijeneTuesday, August 11, 2009 3:49:00 PM
Glad you had a safe trip. ^^
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kushiboWednesday, August 12, 2009 1:05:00 AM
I did indeed. Business class was a very nice way to fly across the Pacific, with those beds in their own little pod. It reminded me of sleeper cars on trains that they used to have in Korea before the KTX (I wonder if they still have them on the overnight routes from Ch'ŏngnyangni to Kangnŭng).

And at SFO I had a very nice chat with a very nice (and not at all unattractive) woman from Modesto but living in France who had recently graduated from college in Normandie. She was on her way to visit her sister in Hawaii, but alas, she will be returning to California just as I'm heading back to Hawaii. I gave her my email address anyway, just in case she stays longer or visits again (kushibo doesn't like the hard sell... which might explain why I'm still not married^^). Nice girl, though. Very smart.
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kushiboWednesday, August 12, 2009 1:06:00 AM
And I just now realized that in my still-sleepy state (despite jet lag I managed to zonk out and then wake up all on California time — yay!) I really said too much.
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reijeneWednesday, August 12, 2009 2:32:00 PM
LOL.. yes you did. =)
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kushiboWednesday, August 12, 2009 2:33:00 PM
Jealous, ma'am?
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kushiboWednesday, August 12, 2009 2:34:00 PM
Jealous, 아줌마?
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kushiboWednesday, August 12, 2009 2:34:00 PM
I'm waiting to decide which one is more offensive.
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reijeneWednesday, August 12, 2009 2:59:00 PM
neither (^^) i have long accepted the fact that even though i'm in my mid-20's i am considered an ajumma.

i think it's more offensive to me if you called me "miss" (heehee!)

however, i am hoping that kushibo would get a girlfriend soon. (^^) so not jealous. (^.~)
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kushiboWednesday, August 12, 2009 3:07:00 PM
reijene wrote:
neither (^^) i have long accepted the fact that even though i'm in my mid-20's i am considered an ajumma.

I think you might be an 아씨, which is a young (and maybe sexy) married woman.

however, i am hoping that kushibo would get a girlfriend soon. (^^) so not jealous. (^.~)

Are you sure you're not trying to vicariously live through whomever that is? ;)

Actually, I might be loath to write too much (if at all) about a current girlfriend. Even an ex-girlfriend with whom I'm on good terms might be largely off limits. I'm big on privacy.
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reijeneWednesday, August 12, 2009 3:57:00 PM
sexy? definitely (LOL).

Are you sure you're not trying to vicariously live through whomever that is? ;)

no. force of habit (^.~) we do that in adult classes.
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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.