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!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

And a Mele Kalikimaka to all!

Because the manger was not listed as a standard housing unit
or abode, Mary, Joseph, and their new baby were undercounted.
The City of Bethlehem, noting such shoddy work was endemic
for Census0000, sued the Roman Empire for greater
representation in the Senate, but they were unsuccessful.

It's still Christmas Eve here in the Aloha State, and I'm still working on end-of-semester stuff and I'm stuck in Honolulu (plus my MacBook Pro is giving me rare headaches — and rare headaches are often huge headaches), so I thought I'd post some links to past Christmas-themed posts.

My first-ever Christmas post, from 2005, which included the above picture of a Korean-themed Nativity and a brief explanation of why Christianity took off as it did in Korea.

My Christmas post from 2008, which includes a very snowy Big Island. I'm not sure, but I think NORAD tracks Santa from there (also in 3-D).

Here's hoping for a white Christmas in Hawaii again this year (the picture at right is Mauna Kea right this moment). It's 80°F here on Oahu, at least in California it's chilly enough to feel like Christmas.

Don't care much for gingerbread-flavored lattes at Starbucks.

Somewhere in Kim Jong-il's plot to take down South Korea's giant "Christmas tree" at Aegibong is the plot to Team America 2.

We've been celebrating Christmas since October here in Honolulu.

Story #6 from last Christmas: North Koreans detain "obese, jocular deer herder" who crosses Tuman River.

Sometime after Christmas I may write up about a conversation I had with "M," who is a Japanese Catholic, and her disgust that the birth of Christ has become a day for couples to get laid. Anyone in South Korea knows that Christmas for non-Christians (Catholics and Protestants alike) has morphed into a second Valentine's Day (making it hard to get reservations at restaurants and hotels in Seoul as well), so the idea may be familiar.

Feliz Navidad, Buon Natale, and Merry Christmas to all!

UPDATE:
Roboseyo has two videos that, I think, can really make your Christmas Day. Their only downside is that they're both too short.

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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.

Monster Island (actually a peninsula)*

Saturday, December 25, 2010

And a Mele Kalikimaka to all!

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