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!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Orange County finder #2011-01

I'm in California for Spring Break getting some important stuff done.

If you're from SoCal I would hope this is an easy Finder.

7 comments:

BuckyHermitFriday, March 18, 2011 10:17:00 AM
I'm not from Orange County but have a sibling there and am a fan of the Ducks. Does that count? lol

Anyways, it kinda looks like the church in SJC to me.

I usually know SoCal better than this but I haven't been back in a while so I might be wrong on that.
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LastnameKimFriday, March 18, 2011 1:11:00 PM
I was gonna say....this looks like the home of the swallows (birds, that is).
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kushiboFriday, March 18, 2011 1:34:00 PM
It is indeed the Stone Church at Mission San Juan Capistrano, destroyed in an earthquake in 1824.

So yeah, BuckyHermit, that does count.
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kushiboFriday, March 18, 2011 1:47:00 PM
Er... Great Stone Church.
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BuckyHermitFriday, March 18, 2011 3:43:00 PM
Cool! Miss the area a lot. :)
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kushiboTuesday, March 22, 2011 1:09:00 AM
Mission San Juan Capistrano is one of my favorite places to take visitors to Orange County or Southern California. After the Mission, we get a bite to eat and then usually head to the tide pools in Dana Point.
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kushiboTuesday, March 22, 2011 1:11:00 AM
Oh, the famous annual "Return of the Swallows" referenced by LastnameKim above actually occurred this past Saturday.

By the way, my uncle's euphemism for vomiting was "return of the swallows."
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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.

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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.